By Lieutenant General (Dr) V. K. Saxena

Years and decades of service in uniform and dealing with numerous acquisition cases therein, the author senses that our acquisition procedures are FAR TOO SLOW. There have been numerous instances where, by the time the acquisition cycle runs its course, the equipment under procurement was nearing obsolescence, with upgraded versions already in the market. As against the standard 18-36 months for a typical acquisition project as stipulated in the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP), typical acquisition cases run for 4-6 years on average!

Many factors are responsible for this end-state. Buyers setting Service Qualitative Requirements (SQRs) that are impossible to meet by the industry, frequent retractions of Requests for Proposals (RFPs), durations of approval-of-necessity (AoN) running out before the acquisition cycle can get its act together, unending field trials, vendors promising the moon at the RFI stage but failing to deliver in the field… the list is long.

Incompatible with Today’s Realities

Unfortunately, the above pattern fails miserably in today’s reality, where technology is changing very fast. Every few years, there is a new upgraded system. Talk of drones, swarms, loitering munitions, or cruise missiles, for instance. If these were to be acquired using the existing provisions of DAP 2020, equipment would arrive in the hands of the users several years after it has already become obsolete.

It is no wonder, therefore, that most of our acquisitions where urgency is the prime consideration have had to resort to Emergency Procurement Procedure (EPP), cutting through the red tape. For instance, post-Operation Sindoor, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) initiated as many as 13 EP cases worth more than INR 40,000 crore. Why Emergency? Why can our normal procedures not handle the ask of our warfighters? Why can’t we beat the technology run-cycle?

An Attempt to Usher in a Change

These are serious questions for introspection. The MoD has tried to address some of these in the forthcoming edition of DAP 2026 to be released shortly. Here is a brief look at some of the relevant provisions in the said DAP that specifically address the cause of cutting delays in defence acquisitions.

Preventing Vendors from Hijacking the System

This important provision will effectively prevent vendors from making false capability claims upfront at the RFI stage and later failing to deliver at trials, throwing the buyer back to square one, besides a loss of several years in waiting. The provisions now demand verification of the Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) of the vendor at the RFI stage itself.

Such verification will classify the vendor into one of the four TRL levels. These are TRL 1-5 (make and design and development stage), TRL 5-9 (mature technology – ‘good’ for qualifying as an IDDM vendor), TRL 6-9 (proven system), and TRL 8-9 (operational readiness – ‘good’ for qualifying in the acquisition category ‘Buy Indian’ / ‘Buy Global’ and manufacture in India). Verification must be done through a government-recognised agency, Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA) or National Establishment for Technical Readiness Assessment (NETRA). The TRL classification will enable the buyer to know upfront the ‘true worth’ of the vendor and will cut out their capability to make a false claim upfront.

Making Emergent Procurements Passé

Whenever urgency was critical, the go-to option used to be emergency procurement. DAP 2026 attempts to cut out this practice. Under the Low Cost Capital Acquisition (LCCA) procedure, the armed forces will now be able to place an initial order of up to INR 75 crore per project, with an annual cap of INR 2,500 crore, for quick procurement from domestic vendors such as MSMEs, start-ups, etc.

It will be possible to initially induct small quantities for quick testing (‘try before you buy’). If trials succeed, bulk procurement can follow seamlessly. No elaborate SQRs, no RFIs, or no full-scale trials. This procedure will particularly suit low-cost, hi-tech, short-technology-cycle hardware and software purchases without resorting to EP.

Refining the Fast-Track-Procedure (FTP)

DAP 2026 attempts to refine the FTP to address the challenge of quicker acquisitions of emerging technologies with short life cycles. The downward delegations of financial powers have been enhanced (Army Commanders – INR 100 crore from INR 75 crore earlier, Service Chiefs – INR 125 crore from the earlier INR 100 crore). To further address the need for immediate procurements, the requirement for centralised vetting has been done away with.

Besides the above, several new provisions have been incorporated to cut the long cycle of field trials. These include targeted testing, maximum use of simulators in trials, acceptance of digital validation and data-based evaluation, etc. Moreover, Services can now choose the mode of QA trials, and self-certification from vendors is now allowed by DGQA. That the FTP really becomes ‘fast’ – that is the hope.

Spiral Development – An Innovative Thought

Hi-tech software-embedded systems have a typical development cycle. Starting bottom up, these are developed in iterative steps, each leading to the next threshold. At each level of technological maturity, the product has value, which gets upgraded as we move along the spiral.

Take the case of an Anti-Drone System (ADS), it has value if the surveillance range is 5-8 km; it will have greater value if this range gets enhanced to 15 km. At stage 1, the ADS laser-kill range was only 800 m; it had utility. If this range climbs to 5 km, it will have greater utility, and so on.

The ‘Make’ procedure under the iDEX now allows iterative upgrades of the same equipment to be fielded incrementally. As is well known, iDEX (or Innovation for Defence Excellence) is an MoD initiative to promote innovation and development of critical technologies by MSMEs, start-ups, individual researchers, and more.

Spiral development procedure demands all stages of the spiral to be defined ab initio, each with its provisional QR (PSQR). Also, the tentative minimum order quantity (MoQs) must be stated upfront with assurance of five years of order continuity. This is to assure the vendors and inspire them to stay invested through the spiral development.

Successful players automatically qualify for the next spiral with no fresh approvals needed. To promote Atmanirbharta (Self-Reliance), the non-negotiable requirement for the vendor in the spiral is to hold the ownership of the architecture, including the software source code, and have the authority and expertise to upgrade the system when operationally required.

Bottom line

All the proposed measures detailed above address a single menace – DELAYS IN ACQUISITION CYCLE. Experience has it that this delay becomes ‘crippling’ when it comes to the acquisition of short-life-cycle hi-tech equipment, where the pace of technological development is unforgiving. If you delay, you will acquire the ‘obsolete’, which is the bottom line. It is hoped that the new proposed provisions achieve the desired aims. For now, it is ‘wait-and-watch’.

(Lieutenant General (Dr) V. K. Saxena, PVSM, AVSM, and VSM, is a retired senior Indian Army officer, who was Director General of Army Air Defence)

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