Here is an interview of Dr. Paul Raj talking about some of the problems facing DRDO, the Defence Research and Development Organization, the premier defence organization of India. DRDO has an annual budget of Rs. 4000 crore, and it comprises of over 50 hi-tech laboratories, yet the expertise in defence technology attained is questionable. Dr. Paul Raj now heads the Smart Antenna Research Group at Stanford.
The DRDO model was necessary in the '50s, '60s and '70s when the private or
public sector did not exist as far as defence research was concerned. And there
are segments that should never go to the private sector (like nuclear weapons
and rocket motors). But DRDO should have transitioned to a largely private
sector model. Another need is for the DRDO and the private sector to jointly
develop weapon systems with multinational defence firms to share costs and
talent.
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