Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) : News and Updates
- Thread starter Ashwin
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First time seeing a Flameless Ration Heater (FRH) in the field
LRDE, DRDO and HAL Nasik starts aerodynamic load studies of radome for Virupaksha Radar on Su-30MKI Platform.
How can same missile be used for both usecases? A2a missiles need significant more maneuverability and eccm compared to a2g missiles
Because its for hunting slow moving, low maneuverability drones in A2A mode.
Even much simpler laser guided rockets like APKWS can do it, a guided and more smarter ULPGM can also do it as proven in recent tests.
I was searching for new R&D allocation for DRDO and came across the following statistics when conducting a search using Gemini. The Deep-Tech Initiative inspite of all the drums that have been beaten stands at 2000 Cr.
To let you understand where that stands - The MoD just paid NIBE close to 300 Cr to get the PULS into service as part of a EP that they had put out. That's one singular small order.
To let you understand where that stands - The MoD just paid NIBE close to 300 Cr to get the PULS into service as part of a EP that they had put out. That's one singular small order.
- Total Allocation: The DRDO's budget allocation for the 2026–27 fiscal year is approximately ₹23,816 Crore .
- Growth Rate: This represents a modest increase of about 8.5% compared to the previous year's allocation .
- Share of Defence Budget: Historically and currently, the DRDO accounts for roughly 6% of India's total military budget .
- Deep-Tech Initiatives: Out of the existing R&D budget, approximately ₹2,000 Crore has been earmarked specifically for new deep-tech defense initiatives
Peril of Government funded R&D in a democracy. Ideally Private players should collaborating with our universities under DRDO's guidence to work on such deep tech solutions. 70% of the funds should be coming from there.
I have question how can GoI make our dhandos fund R&D? Like what could be done?
I understand your pov. However, how about increasing the budget for a couple of years and see its outcome? There are plenty of schemes that are run by GoI and states that do not generate any income. If the agency does not provide decent results, pull the funding back to its avg. levels. Never understood this half hearted attempts. If you are serious about Deep-Tech and want DRDO to be in a position to produce decent results; give them a commitment of X years and if they don't deliver you have the option to pull the plug.
I agree that DRDO could use higher funding for a few years. My concern is that budget allocation alone doesn't automatically translate into better outcomes.
Take ISRO as an example. In many cases, funds are allocated for projects, but work proceeds phase by phase. Organizations often can't move to the next stage until testing, validation, or approvals for the current stage are complete. As a result, part of the allocated budget may remain unutilized and get returned.
Deep-tech R&D is also different from conventional spending. It's not something that can be scaled simply by increasing the budget. There are structural constraints such as availability of skilled researchers, testing infrastructure, industrial capacity, and project management bandwidth.
That's why I think India needs a more decentralized R&D ecosystem. DRDO should remain the lead agency and provide direction, requirements, and technical oversight, but universities, startups, and private industry should be much more deeply involved in the actual research and development effort. Otherwise, DRDO ends up trying to do everything itself, which limits how much additional funding it can effectively absorb.
So I'm not against increasing the budget. I just think higher funding should be accompanied by stronger private-sector and academic participation if we want the best return on that investmentfor sure.
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