Defence Technology Council: To Determine the Country’s Defence Technology Roadmap

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Why in News?
• Background in which the Vijay Raghavan Committee was Constituted
• Recommendations of the Vijay Raghavan Committee
• About the Defence Technology Council
• Secretariat of the Defence Technology Council

Why in News?

• According to an expert committee, a top body - the Defence Technology Council, should determine the country’s defence technology roadmap and decide on major projects and their execution.
• The 9-memberexpert committee is headed by the former principal scientific advisor Prof K Vijay Raghavan.

Background in which the Vijay Raghavan Committee was Constituted

• It was set up by the government last year to review the functioning of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and is learnt to have submitted its report this month.
• The government’s decision to review the functioning of DRDO comes against the backdrop of several of its projects suffering from huge delays.
  • Recently, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence had expressed concerns that 23 of its 55 mission mode projects could not be completed in time.
  • In 2022, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had flagged that 119 (or 67%) of the 178 projects scrutinised by it had failed to adhere to their initially proposed timelines.
  • According to the CAG, multiple extensions were primarily sought due to factors like persistent alterations in design specifications, delays in completing user trials, and in placing supply orders.
  • The practice of seeking multiple extensions defeats the very purpose of projects taken under Mission Mode category.

Recommendations of the Vijay Raghavan Committee

• At present, DRDO remains engaged in all aspects, from research to development to production, in its projects.
• The Vijay Raghavan committee has observed that the DRDO should focus on its original goal of research and development for defence.
• It should refrain from involving itself in productization, production cycles, and product management, tasks that are more suitable for the private sector.
• Furthermore, there are numerous technologies that DRDO doesn’t necessarily need to get into. For example, why should DRDO engage in drone development?
• There is a necessity to identify expertise within India and internationally for various technologies. Every defence solution to a problem doesn’t have to only come from DRDO.
• This is precisely where the committee believes the Defence Technology Council would play a pivotal role in identifying the right players for specific defence technologies.

About the Defence Technology Council

• This top body, called the Defence Technology Council by the Vijay Raghavan committee, is chaired by the Prime Minister, with the Defence Minister and the National Security Advisor as its Vice Presidents.
• It is proposed to have an executive committee chaired by the Chief of Defence Staff.
  • The Principal Scientific Advisor, along with the three service chiefs and their vice chiefs, will also be its members.
• Furthermore, it will include representation from academia and industry, with two members from each sector.

Secretariat of the Defence Technology Council

• The panel has also suggested the creation of a separate department under the Defence Ministry - the Department of Defence Science, Technology, and Innovation.
• This department, proposed to be headed by a technocrat, will
  • Promote defence research and development in the academic and start-up ecosystem.
  • Serve as the secretariat for the Defence Tech Council.
  • Operate labs for testing and certification, a function also performed by DRDO.
• As the DTC secretariat, this department will draw scientists from DRDO and academia, building a repository of knowledge on production expertise and conducting background research for the DTC.
  • Hence, the department will aid DTC’s decisions on technology production.

Q1) What is the role of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)?

DRDO is the R&D wing of the Ministry of Defence, Govt of India, with a vision to empower India with cutting-edge defence technologies and a mission to achieve self-reliance in critical defence technologies and systems.

Q2) What is the Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS)?

In order to boost domestic defence and aerospace manufacturing, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has launched DTIS in 2020 with an outlay of Rs 400 crore for creating state-of-the-art testing infrastructure in partnership with the private industry.

Source: Defence upgrade roadmap: Apex body led by Prime Minister, MoD sci-tech unit