Future of defence design is electric, says Army Chief

Ahmedabad, February 26

Electric and miniaturisation are the future of design and innovation in the defence sector with less dependence on fossil fuels, Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane said here on Saturday.

Addressing a three-day event here, he said the design of tanks had hardly changed since the World War I, and now the challenge was to design something that would be radically different and future-safe.

“What is the future as far as design and innovation is concerned in the fields of defence and aerospace? There are two aspects we have to concentrate upon. One is, electric things, which are not dependent on fossil fuels and the other is miniaturisation,” he said.

“The size of our ships, aircraft has to be small out of necessity, and in that small space, we have to pack more and more features. And therefore, miniaturisation is one area in which we have to proceed,” he said.

Stating that the “VED” aspect, vital, essential and desirable, must be kept in mind when designing for the armed forces, General Naravane said requirements of the modern-day battle fields were very daunting and diverse.

“And designing a system that fits everything, all in one, not only it is daunting, but sometimes it also becomes a non-starter and impractical to be achieved. If we do not change, we would perish,” he said, citing the example of companies such as Kodak, Nokia and HMT.

The Indian Army required a design which could remain equally effective 50 years on, he said —