NEW DELHI: Private firms that manufacture Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) designed weapon systems will now be able to access the software source codes running them, under a framework the government launched on Tuesday to let licensee industries carry out upgrades and manage electronics obsolescence without going back to the designing laboratory each time.
The framework was among a clutch of policy initiatives unveiled by defence minister Rajnath Singh at a DRDO-industry synergy meet held in the capital. According to the government statement issued on Tuesday, the framework is "standardised, secure" and has been launched "to accelerate software-defined defence capabilities and obsolescence management".
Source code is essentially the set of instructions that tells a weapon system’s software how to function.
Access to it allows authorised engineers to fix software, add new capabilities or adapt the system when electronic components become obsolete.
However, access to source code has long been a sticking point between DRDO and the companies that manufacture its designs. Firms producing a system under transfer of technology (ToT) have generally received hardware drawings but not the rights to modify the software running it, leaving them reliant on the parent laboratory for patches, capability upgrades and the substitution of electronic components that go out of production during a platform's service life.
Industry has argued for years that this dependence slows both delivery and mid-life upgrades, particularly for radars, missiles, avionics and electronic warfare suites, which are shaped as much by code as by hardware.
The question has further gained weight since last month when the ministry cleared the transfer of technology for all conventional missile systems developed by DRDO to private industry, with firms allowed to compete for technology and production rights subject to technical qualification and certification requirements.
Defence secretary and DRDO chairman Rajesh Kumar Singh said the expansion of technology transfer had helped establish parallel production lines and eased constraints on a limited manufacturing base. "Till date, over 2,300 Technology Transfers have been handed over to more than 1,100 industries," he said.
The other initiative announced is a framework to lower technical and financial entry barriers for MSMEs and deep-tech start-ups, "offering direct funding, incubation support and dedicated access to DRDO testing facilities", the statement said.
Nine licensing agreements for transfer of technology were handed over to 13 manufacturing partners in the presence of the defence minister to enable commercial production.
Singh said DRDO-industry collaboration should no longer be confined to production alone but should span research, design, testing, certification and manufacturing.
"DRDO possesses knowledge and technology, the industry has scale and manufacturing capability, start-ups bring innovation and agility, and the youth hold the dream of a New India. When these four forces converge and move forward together, no goal is impossible," he said, as per the statement.