[Evaluate the role of DRDO in achieving **Atmanirbhar Bharat** in critical defence technologies with reference to recent missile programmes. (GS-III)](/upsc-mains-answer/evaluate-role-drdo-achieving-atmanirbhar-bharat-a4df3e5)

Atmanirbhar Bharat in defence seeks indigenous design, development and production of critical technologies denied under export-control regimes. DRDO, under the Department of Defence R&D, is the principal design agency of this effort — its recent missile record shows substantial success, though translation into scale remains uneven.

Merits: demonstrated technological self-reliance

• Strategic shield indigenised: DRDO's June 2026 back-to-back trials off the Odisha coast validated a multi-layered Ballistic Missile Defence, placing India among the few nations with BMD reaching ICBM-class threats [1].
• Mastery of denied technologies: the Phase-II AD-1 interceptor uses a two-stage solid motor with indigenously developed control, navigation and guidance algorithms [2]; the Phase-II system validated a network-centric chain of long-range sensors, low-latency communication and mission control against 5,000-km class missiles [3].
• Import substitution: the maiden NASM-MR flight-test [1], built on the NASM-SR salvo launch from a naval helicopter [4], replaces ageing foreign anti-ship missiles and strengthens sea-denial in the Indo-Pacific.
• Ecosystem creation: user-agency co-development — as in the DRDO–Navy BMD interceptor trial from a naval platform [5] — anchors a domestic missile industrial base of DRDO labs and private partners.

Limitations

• Long development-to-induction cycles; BMD Phase-I began testing in the 2000s and full deployment is still incremental.
• Continued reliance on imported systems such as the S-400 and on foreign sub-components like seekers and specialised materials.
• Integration burden: fusing radar–interceptor–command chains across three services is an administrative, not merely technical, challenge.

On balance, DRDO has moved India from import-dependence to design-led autonomy in strategic missiles, even if serial production and timelines lag. Pairing DRDO's proven design capability with Positive Indigenisation Lists, private-sector co-development and defence exports would convert technological success into industrial self-reliance — making Atmanirbhar Bharat a foundation of credible deterrence rather than a slogan.