Seeking to prepare itself for futuristic warfare, Indian armed forces are planning to spend around Rs 6 lakh crore to get hi-tech equipment such as robots for combat roles, precision-guided missiles and watch-dog satellites, according to a Defence Ministry document.
In the document 'Technology and Capability Roadmap' for the armed forces for next 15 years, Defence Minister A K Antony has also made it clear that his department will make these acquisitions in a holistic manner "without compromising transparency, fairness and probity at any level."
"In the next 15 years, Indian forces are poised for major modernisation... The volumes are high and the financial outlays large. There is substantial scope in the process for Indian industry to harness this market around USD 100 billion (Rs six lakh crore) to develop indigenous capability; especially in high technology areas," it said.
The TCR has been provided by the Ministry as a step to provide a roadmap to the private and public sector indigenous industry about the requirements of the armed forces so that they can gear up themselves to provide the solutions.
"The document is being put up in the public domain to establish a level playing field for the Indian defence industry, both public and private sector," the Ministry said.
In the field of space, the TCR says the armed forces would require "watchdog satellites" to guard against the anti-satellite weapons, which have been developed by China.
"With the advent of anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) a concept of 'watchdog satellites' to guard other satellites could also be explored," it said.
