India’s recent military engagement, Operation Sindoor, has served as both a live demonstration and a testing ground for the country’s rapidly expanding indigenous defence capabilities. Conducted in May, the operation marked the deadliest exchange between India and Pakistan since the 1999 Kargil conflict, leaving more than 70 dead through a combination of missiles, drones, and artillery strikes.

For India, however, this confrontation was more than a military exchange; it was a stage to validate its evolving defence ecosystem and project technological self-reliance.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh emphasised that the conflict symbolised a new vision of warfare rooted in indigenous technological advancements, signalling a shift from import dependence to domestic innovation.

One of the key systems showcased was Akashteer, or “Sky Arrow”, a vehicle-mounted, artificial intelligence–driven air-defence solution designed to neutralise volleys of hostile missiles and drones. Its combat debut demonstrated India’s growing emphasis on networked, autonomous, and layered air-defence systems.

Unlike earlier defensive structures, which often relied heavily on imported or reactive interceptors, Akashteer integrates real-time AI-enabled decision-making with rapid engagement protocols. Its successful operational use during Sindoor gave Indian defence planners “golden insights,” in the words of a senior Army officer, particularly about performance under saturation attack scenarios — exactly the type of threat posed by evolving unmanned systems and stand-off precision weapons.

This strengthens India’s broader strategy of building a flexible “invisible shield”, an indigenous equivalent to Israel’s Iron Dome now under development as Sudarshan Chakra.

At the offensive end of the spectrum stood the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, co-developed with Russia and already the centrepiece of India’s missile export campaign. Fired against Pakistani airbases during the operation, BrahMos once again captured international attention by demonstrating precision strike capability, high reliability under combat pressure, and operational integration with frontline units. Rajnath Singh confirmed that following BrahMos’s performance, as many as 14–15 countries had opened dialogue for potential procurement.

Analysts like Ashok Malik aptly described the operation as a “market demonstrator,” proving that field-tested systems inspire greater buyer confidence than those with only paper or test-range credibility. Coming on the heels of BrahMos’s first export deal with the Philippines, the weapon’s successful combat employment deepens India’s claim to be a trustworthy exporter of advanced strike systems.

Beyond showcasing individual platforms, the operation underscored India’s shifting defence-industrial trajectory. Long acknowledged as one of the world’s largest arms importers, India has accelerated domestic manufacturing under its “Make in India” initiative. Efforts now span advanced projects such as indigenous fighter jet engines, multi-domain air-defence shields, and a burgeoning unmanned aerial sector.

The drone industry, in particular, is expected to be worth $11 billion by 2030, with local firms partnering international players such as Israeli manufacturers. Still, bottlenecks remain: nearly 39 percent of critical small drone components are sourced from China, highlighting vulnerabilities in the supply chain that must be addressed to achieve full strategic autonomy.

Nevertheless, the metrics reveal significant progress. According to official figures released for FY 2024–25, defence exports touched a record $2.8 billion, representing a 12 percent annual increase and a 34-fold leap compared to a decade earlier. Domestic defence output surged to $18 billion, doubling in just five years, an indicator of sustained capacity building across missile systems, artillery, software, electronic subsystems, and naval platforms.

India now exports to over 100 countries — among them advanced economies like the United States and France, as well as security partners such as Armenia. Representative items include missiles, rocket launchers, boats, radar, electronic warfare modules, and software solutions, many now benchmarked against global competitors.

Operation Sindoor thus emerges as a crucial inflection point. Domestically, it validated battlefield systems like Akashteer and BrahMos through real-world use, providing military planners with operational feedback and instilling confidence across the armed forces. Internationally, it functioned as a live marketing demonstration, bolstering India’s credibility as a producer of combat-proven hardware. 

Strategically, it reinforced New Delhi’s determination to move from being one of the world’s top arms importers to a self-reliant defence power and credible exporter. While obstacles remain, particularly supply-chain dependence and the steep learning curve for developing high-complexity technologies such as jet engines or advanced A2/AD networks, the trajectory is clear.

India is no longer content to solely consume foreign technology; it now seeks to shape the global arms market by exporting durable, field-tested solutions that both meet its national security requirements and appeal to international demand.

Agencies