The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has further strengthened India’s defence manufacturing ecosystem by deepening its partnership with Hyderabad-based Apollo Micro Systems Ltd.

In a recent development, announced on 29 August 2025, DRDO officially designated Apollo Micro Systems as the production agency for the Multi-Influence Ground Mine – Vighana, a cutting-edge naval mine designed to enhance India’s maritime security.

Alongside this, DRDO has also signed a transfer of technology (ToT) agreement with the company for the Omni-Directional multi-EFP (Explosively Formed Penetrator) warhead, a highly sophisticated weapon subsystem engineered for maximum effectiveness against naval targets.

This technological advancement carries crucial significance as the warhead serves as a central element of the Naval Anti-Ship Missile – Short Range (NASM-SR), a new-generation missile under development by DRDO to vastly bolster the Indian Navy’s short-range strike capabilities against hostile ships and maritime threats.

The NASM-SR, conceptualised to be launched from helicopters and other front-line naval platforms, has been designed to deliver quick-response anti-ship attacks at relatively short ranges, where agility, speed, and pinpoint accuracy are imperative. Its compact size and adaptability make it an ideal weapon for enhancing India’s naval strike assets across both littoral and deep-sea operational environments.

With the integration of the omni-directional multi-EFP warhead, the missile gains a potent terminal lethality factor, ensuring effective engagement against a variety of enemy vessel types.

This technology is indigenous and marks a step toward replacing foreign-sourced systems, thereby reinforcing the strategic push under the government’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India) vision in defence manufacturing.

By positioning Apollo Micro Systems as the key production partner, DRDO is not only enabling the private sector to play a larger operational role in sensitive defence technologies but also ensuring large-scale production capability, faster turnaround for deployment, and long-term sustainability for the system’s lifecycle.

Apollo Micro Systems, already recognised for its expertise in high-end electronics, mission-critical systems, and precision-engineered solutions for India’s defence and aerospace sectors, will now be responsible for translating DRDO’s lab-scale innovation into a secure, battle-ready weapon system.

This will also open avenues for robust supply chain networks in India, involving ancillary manufacturers and MSMEs, and create a multiplier effect for employment and technology upgradation in the defence sector.

Strategically, the synergy between DRDO and Apollo Micro Systems addresses a critical capability gap for the Indian Navy, which has long required a modern, helicopter-launched anti-ship missile solution—particularly given the changing maritime threat landscape in the Indian Ocean and beyond.

Global navies continue to invest heavily in fast-deploying, precision-guided missile systems to counter surface threats, and India’s NASM-SR is projected to place its naval forces on par with advanced maritime combat doctrines.

Furthermore, the adoption and induction of the Multi-Influence Ground Mine – Vighana into the naval inventory will widen India’s layered sea denial capabilities, thereby providing defensive depth and offensive leverage in strategic choke-points and littoral warfare scenarios.

Taken together, DRDO’s decision to entrust Apollo Micro Systems with both production responsibility for naval mines and advanced warhead technology signifies not only an operational milestone but also a policy-level transformation in India’s defence industrial base.

It signals a decisive shift toward public-private collaboration, wherein critical, high-value technologies are being entrusted to private firms for full-scale realisation. In the longer run, this evolving model is expected to consolidate India’s indigenous capabilities in the niche spectrum of missile technologies, reduce vulnerability on imports, and enhance the country’s position as a dependable regional maritime power.

Based On NDTV Profit Report