Military – Civil Technology Fusion (MCTF) For Making India Atmanirbhar Global Drone Hub@2030

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About the Monograph

This monograph examines civil and military drone policies, organisational structures, technology development initiatives, ecosystems, strengths, challenges, and proposes a way forward. It recommends formulating a civil drone atmanirbharta policy, designating nodal ministry of drone technology, creating organisational structures for civil drone R&D, launching civil drone technology development initiatives and instituting course corrections in defence UAV development programs. It also emphasises that academia, Incubation Centres, private sector, public sector and users need to focus on filling drone technology gaps. It advocates creation of robust ecosystem comprising trial based certification, civil drone testing facilities, formulation of Indian standards, and standardisation guidelines in drones. It lays emphasis on atmanirbharta in critical drone technologies, sensors & payloads; creating indigenous design and Indigenous Content (IC) certification mechanisms, indigenously designed and iDEX products vertical in GeM and promulgating Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme. Most importantly, it proposes formulation of military-civil technology fusion (MTCF) policy for making India atmanirbhar global drone hub@2030.

About the Author

Gp Capt (Dr.) Rajiv Kumar Narang, VM (Retd.) is Senior Fellow, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (MP-IDSA). He is former Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter pilot, qualified Flight Safety and Accident Investigator, holder of Commercial Helicopter Pilot License (CHPL), alumnus of Defence Services Staff College, India and PhD in International Relations.

He authored a book titled “India’s Quest for UAVs and Challenges”, HQ IDS-SIDM report titled “A Roadmap for India Becoming Atmanirbhar in Counter Drone Technologies/ Systems” in 2022 and research papers on aviation, drones, Make in India and Self-Reliance. He was a member of Drone Working Sub Group, Department of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) in 2020-21, High Power Steering Committees (HPSC) of Innovation for Defence Excellence (iDEX) in 2021-22 and Study Group on Drones set up by NSCS in 2022-23; and participated in track-1.5 and track-2 dialogues.