Abstract 

The Indian military has always been in great need of modernization and better weapons. India has always been dependent on foreign countries for its military supplies. From the Russian T-90s to Sukhoi and from artillery to engines, India is completely dependent on imports. India tried to make progress with its first ‘Marut’ aircraft which flew in the Bangalore skies under the leadership of WWII Luftwaffe aircraft designer Kurt Tank. but with regular engine failures, the plan to make it India’s legendary aircraft was dropped and Mig-21 was acquired instead. India has been among the top-ranking arms-importing countries for decades by holding 9.8 per cent of total global arms imports. The current Narendra Modi government has made it an agenda to reduce defence imports and achieve self-reliance in the sector. In 2023-24, the annual defence production hit a record high of 1.27 lakh crores. The defence exports also showed an increase of 32.5 percent to ₹21,083 crores. Defense Minister Rajnath singh also promised to increase the exports to 50,000 crores by 2028-29. This paper looking at the development highlights the framework which the services follow for procurement and modernization. The procurement of weapons, its procedure and the challenges faced by the military or created by them are all highlighted. With the biggest problem being India’s dependence on foreign technology, a glance at the problems regarding the sanctions faced by India and why the industrial capacity doesn’t all complete technology transfer. Following the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat plans, the paper looks at India’s ambitions, plans and the dilemma between indigenisation and foreign import. Bureaucracy which controls the military has been a point of problem as it creates delays in the process. The military also faces the growing cyber security threats with the increased dependency on technology. This paper looks at the problems with a case study. Solutions and recommendations like quarterly reports, specialised committees and steps to make India’s defence industry have also been looked at to resolve them. 

Literature Review 

A Book, ‘India’s Military Modernization: Challenges and Prospects’ sheds light on the theory of civil-military relations and how the bureaucracy controls the military. He also talks about the absence of dialogue in the current structure of the military. Talking about the achievements and changes, the report mentioned the old problems with still remain and continue to negatively affect the military but failed to show the complete picture of challenges in procurement, contracts, technological transfers and indigenisation progress. 

An Article, ‘Risks in Defence Procurement: India in the 21st Century’, ISSN: 1024-2694 (Print) 1476-8267 (Online), by Oishee Kundu was published in the Defence and Peace Economics Journal in 2019. This article discusses the risk in contracts and the reason for delays of several projects. The article also deals with the technological risks that the Indian Military has to deal with and the problems faced during International Procurement. This article fails to show our progress in the field and why we fail. It also doesn’t shed light on the international laws and relationships with countries which affect our modernization. 

An Article, ‘Indian Defense Policy at a Crossroads’, written by Harsh V Pant was published in the Asia-Pacific Review, Vol. 17, No. 1, 2010 talking about our history and path towards military modernization. It analysed India’s relationship with Russia, Israel and the West and how it is growing. The article highlights the problems faced by the military like the inability to use power and lack of institutional capacity. This article fails to highlight the legal challenges hindering the relations and neither does it provide any ways to solve it. 

This is a widely covered topic with many papers and articles written on including topics like the advancement in the military, how NPT is affecting us, the failure and the comeback of ‘Arjun’ MBT, bureaucratic hurdles, the Army vs Navy issue and the Indigenisation progress. This paper tries to look into the nuances of the issue and explain how project failure and delays are associated with more than one problem. This paper will also explain the hurdles created by the forces themselves hindering modernization. The main aim of this paper is to bridge the gap between the scattered information and to present an informative paper on the legal challenges for the Military.

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