Army Chief General MM Naravane inaugurated the Ahmedabad Design Week 3.0 hosted by Karnavati University in Ahmedabad on Saturday where he delivered a speech on design innovation in the defence and aerospace sectors.
“68 per cent of whatever we buy as armed forces– Indian Army, Navy and Air force– the orders will go to our own Indian companies. Let me also tell you, as far as the Army is concerned, we are far ahead. 85 per cent of whatever the Indian army buys is indigenous. Side by side, a defence corridor is being set up. We already have in Chennai and Lucknow,” Gen Naravane said.
He added, “With all these things in place, putting all our minds together, young entrepreneurs and designers, the assistance the army is giving and various initiatives of the government. We will give you opportunities and you will all give us solutions. With those solutions, we as a nation will fight and win tomorrow’s war with Indian equipment.”
Gen Naravane emphasised the importance of new design and innovation, as well as keeping up with rapidly evolving new technologies.
Giving examples, the army chief said, “We have to change and create innovation. Kodak and Nokia are the best examples. They did not change. Currently, I am wearing a 39-year-old HMT watch, but the time keepers of the nation (HMT) could not keep pace with the time and today is nowhere to be found. The change is exponential and changes fast. Changes have to be made all the time. Ships and aircrafts are no longer the same as they used to be 100 years old. However, the tank has remained the same. From World War till now, more or less tanks have remained the same.”
Gen Naravane said that the new design we make should be made in a way that remains effective for the next 50 years. He gave classic examples like, “the trucks in the army are the same as we use in deserts, Himalayas or difficult terrain. Do we need the same truck for sea level and mighty mountains?”
Raising the issue of how innovative ideas and solutions are still needed even for simple things like drinking water, the army chief said, “We talk about drones and UAVs, however, getting drinking water to our team in forward post is so difficult and we spent a lot of money to take water through huge water tanks to forward post. We still don’t have solutions. So the field is large and a lot of things can be done.”
Gen Naravane also put light on the future of defence. He said, ” The future is electric. We use a lot of fuel in forward post through generators. Is there any replacement? The future is miniaturism. The size of ships and aircrafts needs to be small but be loaded with features. Development has to be far-sighted.”