DRDO accelerates into AI, Quantum, Hypersonics, and Swarm Tech to rule India’s Battlefields
By R Anil Kumar
Bengaluru, January 6, 2026. These Battlefields where algorithms outthink adversaries in milliseconds, quantum-encrypted networks defy all hacks, and hypersonic missiles scream at Mach 6+ before anyone can blink.
That’s the vision Dr Samir V Kamat, Secretary of the Department of Defence R&D and Chairman of DRDO, laid out in a riveting interaction with Raksha Sutra, the Ministry of Defence’s insider publication.
He zeroed in on the game-changers: artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), quantum technologies, cognitive systems, and photonics. These aren’t just buzzwords—they’re delivering “disproportionate impact” on modern warfare, from predictive analytics in command centres to photonics-enabled laser weapons slicing through drones.
The pace of technological evolution has accelerated dramatically, rendering systems obsolete within mere five years. “You have to keep running just to stay in the same place,” Dr Kamat remarked, highlighting the relentless churn that demands constant innovation.
To address this challenge, DRDO has overhauled its innovation framework, centring it on young scientists, academic institutions, and start-ups. The organisation has established Young Scientist Laboratories, where all personnel, including directors, remain under 35 years of age.
These labs foster agility, innovation, and a bold willingness to experiment, bolstered by robust linkages to universities and entrepreneurial ventures pursuing cutting-edge technologies. Dr Kamat explained that DRDO meticulously balances its efforts across immediate operational imperatives, long-term futuristic research, and inventive applications of extant technologies.
This equilibrium ensures enduring relevance to present-day conflicts while methodically preparing for tomorrow’s wars. Among DRDO’s most consequential achievements, Dr Kamat spotlighted the ground-based demonstration of a scramjet engine that sustained operation for nearly 1,000 seconds—a feat heralded as a global first.
This breakthrough furnishes the foundational technologies indispensable for hypersonic cruise missiles, cementing hypersonics as a cornerstone of future deterrence postures. No less transformative is DRDO’s advancement in quantum communication, marked by the triumphant demonstration of free-space quantum communication leveraging entanglement.
Such accomplishments pave the way for ultra-secure defence networks, revolutionising military information security. Dr Kamat anticipates that unmanned platforms will overwhelmingly dominate warfare dynamics over the ensuing 10 to 15 years, propelled by autonomous systems.
Although private industry has cultivated formidable expertise in compact drones, DRDO directs its focus towards high-altitude long-endurance UAVs and unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs). Counter-drone technologies will emerge as critically indispensable, paralleling the strategic weight of offensive drone arsenals.
Gazing towards 2026, Dr Kamat characterised it as a defining inflection point for India’s indigenous defence capabilities. Anticipated milestones encompass the maiden flight of the TEJAS MK-2, user trials for the light tank jointly developed with Larsen & Toubro, and the formal induction of potent missile systems like PRALAY.
Moreover, numerous systems already in production will commence induction, vividly illustrating the ripening maturity of India’s home-grown defence manufacturing ecosystem. Regarding industry collaborations, Dr Kamat firmly rejected any preferential distinctions between public and private entities, asserting that partnerships are forged purely on the basis of technical prowess and cost competitiveness.
Smaller start-ups inject nimbleness and a penchant for risk, while established conglomerates supply the requisite architecture for complex system integration. Both archetypes are vital, with some of the most pioneering contributions originating from start-ups in cyber defence and command-and-control paradigms.
In a stirring exhortation, Dr Kamat implored India’s youth to actively partake in this epochal technological nation-building mission. Through mastery of these disruptive domains, DRDO not only aspires to match global adversaries but to pioneer secure, sovereign paradigms for tomorrow’s battlefields.
(DRDO Newsletter)
