As India celebrates its 77th Republic Day on Monday, the country’s defence landscape reflects a year of sweeping transformation, with 2025 having been declared the ‘Year of Reforms’, marked by far-reaching changes across the tri-services, rapid strides in indigenous technological capabilities, the raising of new battalions, and decisive operations targeting terrorism.
Strong emphasis was placed on deepening integration among the three Services, guided by the JAI (Jointness, Aatmanirbharta and Innovation) framework, which has emerged as the cornerstone of India’s ongoing defence reforms. The thrust of these measures is to build a more cohesive, self-reliant and technologically advanced force structure, ensuring the armed forces are well prepared to meet emerging threats and respond effectively to any operational scenario.
Emphasising that battlefields of tomorrow will not recognise service boundaries, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan had called for swift and decisive joint responses across domains to ensure victory in future wars. The CDS, during his keynote address at Ran Samwad, a first-of-its-kind Tri-service seminar on war, warfare, and warfighting, on the theme ‘Impact of Technology on Warfare’ at the Army War College in Dr Ambedkar Nagar, Madhya Pradesh, on August 26, 2025, termed Aatmanirbharta in defence and integrated logistics as key to emerge victorious in the wars to come.
Stating that ‘jointness’ is foundational to India’s transformation, the CDS said that there was a need to institutionalise joint training and absorb constantly-evolving technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Cyber and Quantum to enhance operational capability.
“Serious research needs to be done on various dimensions of war, leadership, motivation, morale and technology. India needs to be Sashakt, Surakshit, Aatmanirbhar and Viksit. This can only be achieved when all stakeholders participate collectively in the process of building future-ready forces,” he had said.
Furthermore, India also recorded unprecedented gains in its defence industrial sector, with manufacturing output rising to Rs. 1.51 lakh crore in FY 2024–25, marking an 18 per cent year-on-year increase and nearly doubling since FY 2019–20. Defence exports also scaled new heights, reaching Rs. 23,622 crore, underscoring the expanding capability and global competitiveness of the domestic defence ecosystem.
This upward trajectory received strong backing in the Budget 2025–26, which earmarked Rs. 6.81 lakh crore for the Ministry of Defence, including Rs. 1.80 lakh crore for capital acquisitions. A significant 75 per cent of the modernisation outlay has been set aside for procurement from indigenous sources, reinforcing the push for self-reliance.
Supplementing the financial push, policy-level reforms gathered pace with the review of the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 and the introduction of the Defence Procurement Manual 2025. These measures are expected to simplify procurement processes governing close to Rs. One lakh crore in annual revenue purchases, while supporting the government’s long-term goal of achieving Rs Three lakh crore in defence production and Rs. 50,000 crore in exports by 2029.
Indigenous aerospace capability was significantly strengthened with new production lines for Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk-1A and Hindustan Turbo Trainer (HTT)-40 at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Nashik, raising fighter output capacity, alongside approval of the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) execution model, enabling public– private participation in fifth-generation fighter development.
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved capital acquisitions exceeding Rs. 3.84 lakh crore, while record contracts worth Rs. 2.09 lakh crore were signed, 92 per cent with domestic industry, covering fighters, helicopters, missiles, artillery, radars and naval platforms.
This capability build-up was complemented by the inauguration of the BrahMos Integration and Testing Facility in Lucknow, the DPSU Bhawan in New Delhi to enhance inter-DPSU synergy, and Aero India 2025, which further positioned India as a global hub for defence and aerospace innovation.
The Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS) continued to play a pivotal role in advancing jointness, integration and capability development among the three Services. Leveraging insights gained from ongoing operations and large-scale military exercises, HQ IDS pushed forward a series of structural and procedural reforms aimed at strengthening tri-service coordination and improving operational preparedness.
During the period, eight Joint Doctrines and Manuals were promulgated, alongside the issuance of key Joint Orders and Instructions, while the Defence Procurement Manual 2025 was released to streamline acquisition processes.
A renewed emphasis on Multi-Domain Operations, particularly in the cyber and space domains, further enhanced readiness for future conflict scenarios.
Progress was made on more than 350 capital acquisition cases, supported by the formulation of the Annual Acquisition Plan 2025–27 and a strong push for indigenous procurement under the Buy (Indian-IDDM) category.
Optimisation based on Operational Research and Systems Analysis (ORSA) was also undertaken to build integrated capabilities and generate efficiencies. Jointness was further institutionalised through 197 identified initiatives spanning operations, intelligence, logistics and training.
In September, a month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Mission Sudarshan Chakra, to establish an Iron Dome air-defence system, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh confirmed that a committee has been formed to examine the project and prepare a “realistic action plan”.
The announcement was made by the defence minister during the Combined Commanders’ Conference 2025 held in Kolkata, West Bengal, in September last year. He had suggested devising a medium-term plan for the next five years and a long-term plan for the next ten years to bring the vision to fruition.
According to the reports, the proposed air defence system is intended to build a resilient framework and operational capabilities for detecting, tracking, and intercepting enemy missiles, drones, and aircraft using both conventional and directed-energy weapons.
According to defence officials, the system is expected to incorporate assets like satellites and radar networks where many modern missiles ascend before descending toward their targets.
The initiative will also leverage technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), advanced computing, data analytics, and quantum technology to enhance decision-making and threat analysis.
Additionally, there is a plan to create an integrated network spanning land, air, sea, undersea, and space domains. This interconnected system will allow commanders to access a unified operational picture in real time.
