Evaluate the **Development-cum-Production Partner (DcPP)** model adopted by DRDO with reference to recent missile projects.

Q. Evaluate the Development-cum-Production Partner (DcPP) model adopted by DRDO with reference to recent missile projects. (15 marks, 250 words)

The DcPP model inducts private/PSU firms as partners from the development stage itself — not merely as post-design manufacturers — to compress the lab-to-launch cycle. DRDO's Long Range Land Attack Cruise Missile (LRLACM), with Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) and Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) as DcPPs, is a flagship illustration [1].

Merits - Early industry integration: partners engaged in "development and integration", easing transition to serial production and cutting delays [1]. - Atmanirbharta: LRLACM's sub-systems — propulsion, guidance, airframe — are wholly indigenous, reducing import dependence [1]. - DRDO as anchor, not sole builder: frees labs for R&D while consortia industrialise, a shift validated by LRLACM's successful June 2026 flight-test off Odisha [2]. - Structured funding: routed via DAC with Acceptance of Necessity as a Mission Mode Project, ensuring committed demand [1].

Limitations - PSU-heavy: reliance on BDL/BEL narrows the private-sector base the model was meant to widen. - Concentration risk: two-partner dependence can bottleneck scale-up. - IPR and cost-sharing ambiguities and long gestation (maiden test Nov 2024 to follow-on 2026) persist [2]. - Absorptive capacity of partners remains untested at export scale.

Verdict: The DcPP model is a genuine advance over the linear develop-then-transfer approach, demonstrably de-risking production, but its promise hinges on broadening beyond PSUs toward a competitive private ecosystem. Deepened via DAP-2020 reforms and iDEX, it can make India a credible defence exporter, advancing self-reliant security.

(~250 words)

Sources: 1. DRDO conducts successful flight-test of Long Range Land Attack Cruise Missile — PIB (2026) — DcPPs (BDL, BEL), indigenous sub-systems, DAC/AoN Mission Mode route 2. DRDO conducts maiden flight-test of LRLACM off Odisha coast — PIB (2024) — maiden Nov 2024 test, development-to-production lineage