Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh at the Chanakya Defence Dialogue 2025 called for India to emulate China's successful "hybrid defence industrial machine."

He highlighted that this model blends central government direction with market discipline, enforces dual-use research and development (R&D), and enables rapid scaling of complex defence systems.

Singh emphasised that adopting such a hybrid model, integrating public-sector strength and private-sector agility, is essential for India to become a global defence industrial and technological powerhouse under the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.

Singh detailed that India's current path, where Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) partner with private firms, is a step forward but insufficient without creating a unified, market-responsive defence ecosystem.

He proposed reforms like merging DPSUs and private firms into dual-production pipelines, mandating clear operational targets for DPSUs, ensuring a level playing field for private sector participation, and leveraging government procurement power to boost domestic industrial base and exports.

These transformational reforms aim to foster indigenous innovation, bolster self-reliance, and achieve technological and industrial superiority, which Singh described as key to national security and conflict victory.

The address also stressed breaking legacy silos, promoting jointness among armed forces, industry, academia, start-ups, and innovation ecosystems, and nurturing a collective approach towards defence reform.

How Does The Chinese Hybrid Defence Model Work In Practice

The Chinese hybrid defence model works by integrating centralised government control with market-driven discipline, combining military and civilian sectors closely through "military-civil fusion."

This model ensures that defence R&D, production, and innovation leverage both state direction and private sector efficiency. It enforces dual-use research and development, where technologies serve both military and civilian purposes, enabling rapid scaling of complex defence systems.

In practice, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) emphasises joint operations and integrated training across all military branches—army, navy, air force, and rocket forces—with unified command and real-time combat drills.

These training exercises focus on interoperability, coordinated tactics, and the use of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and networked communication to sharpen combat readiness in modern warfare scenarios.

China also stresses disrupting legacy institutional silos by fostering close collaboration among military units, defence industries, academia, and innovation ecosystems. The system rapidly shifts between peacetime innovation and wartime mobilisation, driven by strong central policy guidance fostering a whole-of-nation approach.

This allows China to develop, produce, and deploy advanced weapon systems quickly and maintain a strategic advantage through technological superiority and efficient resource allocation.

Thus, the hybrid model is a combination of central planning with market dynamics, integrated military training and operations, dual-use technology development, and civil-military fusion to build scalable and technologically advanced defence capabilities.​​

Closing Perspective

This "whole-of-nation" approach aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, calling for collaborative synergy across sectors to strengthen India’s defence capabilities and national power. Singh’s roadmap demands structural reinvention over incremental change for India to emerge as a leading defence power comparable to China’s hybrid model.​​

Agencies