The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has set its sights on three niche technologies: aero-engines, advanced materials used in the military technology and a production line for semiconductors, with “Make in India” being the driving force.

Target Areas

1. Aero-Engines: Discussions are on with leading manufacturers to co-develop a new engine that can provide a 110 kilo Newton thrust to a jet. French company Safran, US’ General Electric and UK’s Rolls Royce have made offers.

2. Semiconductors: The MoD has tied up with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to manufacture “chips” and develop an “Indian micro-processor chip”. The chips will be ready by the end of 2023 or early 2024, a source says.

3. Materials for the military: An MoD-appointed task force has identified the 10 most critical and strategic materials being imported today. It says the technology gaps can be bridged only by creating a national-level infrastructure.

4. Semi-conductors — also known as ‘chips’ in the engineering terminology — are used in fighter jets, copters, tanks, naval warships, submarines, missiles, night-vision devices, radars, displays for pilots, space applications and communication networks.

“Separate projects are in progress to achieve the goals. These technologies will form the basis of self-reliance.”

In case of aero-engines, discussions are on with leading manufacturers to co-develop a new engine that can provide 110 kilo Newton (kN) thrust to a fighter jet. To put this into perspective, the TEJAS uses a GE-404 engine that has 84 kN thrust.

French company Safran, US-based General Electric and UK-headquartered Rolls-Royce have made competitive offers to tie up with India’s Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE). This will be a “Make in India” project — from the design to the production stage.

As for semiconductors, the MoD has joined hands with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to manufacture “chips” and develop an “Indian micro-processor chip”.

“The MeitY will manufacture the chips. The ministry aims to get these by the end of 2023 or early 2024,” a source said.

The two Union ministries will benefit from the “deployment-linked incentive (DLI)” to facilitate indigenous designing and manufacturing of secure semiconductor devices.

The primary goal is to have two versions of indigenously designed and developed ‘secure chips’. About 50,000 such chips are expected to be deployed in systems and equipment for the armed forces.

At present, the forces are partially dependent on in-house labs of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for semiconductors. Semiconductor Laboratory, Mohali, is the manufacturing unit. A majority of the chips are imported.

On indigenous materials for the military, an MoD-appointed task force had, on October 18, released a report on what all it needed.

The report states: “The task force identified the 10 most critical and strategic materials being imported today, with a total estimated annual import value of Rs 6,892 crore.”

The task force has said the technology gaps can be bridged by creating a national-level infrastructure. In some categories of military materials such as carbon fibre, tungsten powder and boron carbide powder, full-scale capability does not exist. For these materials, high capital investment is required initially.