On 26 October 2026, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called for "Aatmanirbharta 2.0", a second and harder phase of defence self-reliance. He was speaking at SWAVLAMBAN 2026, the fifth edition of the Indian Navy's Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Seminar, held at the Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi on 26-27 October.
The same afternoon, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), which he chairs, accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) to capital acquisition proposals worth about ₹2,12,000 crore. The Ministry of Defence said about 82% of this will be procured from Indian industry.
The two events tell one story. The speech set out what the next phase of self-reliance must achieve. The DAC list shows what the forces want to buy now, and how much of it Indian industry can already supply.
What "Aatmanirbharta 2.0" means
The Minister's argument was that the first phase built a foundation, and the next must target what is hardest. His main points were:
- Top-end technology, not just quantity. Indigenous products must be cost-effective, operationally superior and globally competitive. The next phase must focus on their quality, efficiency and affordability, not only on how many are made at home.
- Supply chains as strategy. He called supply-chain management "a strategic imperative directly linked to national security". He asked for a time-bound roadmap that names, for each item, the technology to be developed, the industries to develop it and the resources required. He named rare earth elements as a raw-material dependence. He also asked that buffer stocks and domestic production capacity be assessed in advance, not during a crisis.
- A different attitude to failure. Research is risky, and even advanced R&D systems fail often. He asked whether India can create funding mechanisms for high-risk, high-reward projects and draw in more private-sector R&D, since private firms take risks more readily. He also urged low-cost technologies, which allow results from smaller experiments. He pointed to the R&D cultures of Israel, South Korea and the United States.
- People and institutions. He called for stronger industry–academia collaboration and more R&D careers for young people. He also asked for technologies with both civil and military uses, and for systems that more than one Service can use, to promote jointness.
He also gave a measure of the Navy's start-up pipeline. Through iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence), the Navy has issued 229 challenges and received over 4,000 proposals, and naval contracts from this route are worth over ₹1,900 crore. He singled out one remaining weakness: Buyer Nominated Equipment, the systems the Navy specifies from particular, often foreign, manufacturers for installation on Indian-built ships.
That last point explains why Navy self-reliance is uneven. India builds its warships' hulls at home; its import dependence lies in the propulsion, sensors and weapons fitted inside them. Aatmanirbharta 2.0 is aimed at that inner layer.
SWAVLAMBAN: five editions in five years
| Edition | When | Highlight |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 18-19 July 2022 | Prime Minister addressed it; unveiled the SPRINT challenges to induct at least 75 indigenous technologies into the Navy |
| 2nd ("Swavlamban 2.0") | October 2023 | Fifth Positive Indigenisation List of the Department of Military Affairs (98 items); the Navy's updated indigenisation roadmap |
| 3rd | October 2024, Bharat Mandapam | ADITI 3.0 and DISC 13 challenges; over 2,000 SPRINT proposals |
| 4th | November 2025, Manekshaw Centre | Theme: "Strength and Power through Innovation and Indigenisation" |
| 5th | 26-27 October 2026, Manekshaw Centre | "Aatmanirbharta 2.0"; two documents released |
SPRINT stands for Supporting Pole-Vaulting in R&D through iDEX, NIIO and TDAC. The seminar is organised by the Navy with the Defence Innovation Organisation, which runs iDEX, and the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM).
At the 2026 edition, the Minister released a Compendium of Technology Imperatives, Problem Statements and Future Concepts and a "Swavlamban 5.0" document, both meant to tell industry what the Navy needs. The exhibition's 100-plus stalls showed autonomous maritime platforms, quantum and AI applications, persistent surveillance, resilient navigation, advanced communications and counter-drone systems. Sessions covered quantum technology, AI, autonomous systems and hypersonics.
How iDEX works, and how start-ups are funded through it, is covered in our explainer on iDEX and defence procurement.
The DAC list: what each item does
AoN is the first, in-principle approval in the procurement process, not a contract. The procedure that follows it is explained in our article on the DAC's September approvals. Here, the useful exercise is to understand the equipment.
Army
| Item | What it is for |
|---|---|
| High Mobility Vehicles | Moving troops and stores across difficult terrain |
| Self-Propelled Tracked Gun System | Artillery mounted on a tracked chassis, so guns can keep pace with tanks and infantry combat vehicles. India already operates one such gun, the K9 Vajra-T |
| Gun Shot Response System | Detects small-arms fire and locates where it came from, in real time; such systems typically use acoustic sensors |
| Light Multi Role Helicopters | For both the Army and the Air Force: reconnaissance, combat search and rescue, and disaster relief |
| Very Short-Range Air Defence System (VSHORADS) | The innermost layer of air defence, against small, new-generation aerial threats such as drones |
| Platform-based Counter-UAS | Anti-drone systems mounted on vehicles, to protect tanks in particular |
| Long-range kamikaze drones | Loitering munitions that circle over an area and then dive onto a target |
| Surveillance UAVs; long-range UAS; Integrated Surveillance and Strike System | Finding targets and linking sensors to weapons |
The pattern is clear. Several items deal with drones, either as weapons (kamikaze drones, strike systems) or as threats to defeat (VSHORADS, counter-UAS on tanks). Recent wars have shown how cheap drones can destroy expensive armour, and the Army is buying protection for its tanks as well as drones of its own.
Navy
- Active Offboard Decoy System: a decoy launched from a ship that moves away from it and emits signals to draw an incoming anti-ship missile's seeker away from the ship.
- "Other major naval platforms", described as indigenously designed and constructed.
Air Force
- Helicopters, including Special Utility Helicopters for air transport tasks.
- Air defence systems and weapons.
- A Mobile X-Band Doppler Weather Radar for high-resolution, local weather surveillance in forward areas. Two terms here are examinable. Doppler radar measures the motion of raindrops, and hence wind, from the shift in the frequency of the returned signal. X-band radar uses shorter wavelengths than the S-band and C-band radars used for long-range weather watch. That gives it finer detail, but over a shorter range, which suits a mobile unit at a forward airfield.
Reading the 82%
The DAC has now cleared three large packages this year, all of which we have covered:
| Date | AoN value | Share from Indian industry |
|---|---|---|
| 3 July 2026 | about ₹52,000 crore | mostly Indian sources |
| 7 September 2026 | about ₹1.10 lakh crore | about 98% |
| 26 October 2026 | about ₹2.12 lakh crore | about 82% |
The lower share on 26 October is not a retreat. It reflects the mix of items, including helicopters, air defence systems and advanced weapons, where some components still come from abroad. This is precisely the gap the Minister described at SWAVLAMBAN the same day. The 82% shows what has been achieved; the remaining 18% is the agenda for Aatmanirbharta 2.0.
🔑 Revision block
- SWAVLAMBAN 2026: fifth edition of the Navy's Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO) seminar; Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi, 26-27 October 2026; theme "Strength and Power through Innovation and Indigenisation".
- Organisers: Indian Navy with the Defence Innovation Organisation (runs iDEX) and SIDM.
- Aatmanirbharta 2.0: top-end, cost-effective technology; supply chains as a strategic imperative, with a time-bound roadmap; rare earths named; buffer stocks assessed in advance; funding for high-risk, high-reward R&D; private-sector R&D; civil-military and joint technologies.
- Navy iDEX numbers: 229 challenges, 4,000+ proposals, contracts over ₹1,900 crore; remaining gap = Buyer Nominated Equipment.
- History: 1st edition July 2022 (PM; SPRINT, 75 technologies); 2nd 2023 (5th PIL of DMA, 98 items); 3rd 2024 (ADITI 3.0, DISC 13); 4th 2025.
- DAC, 26 Oct 2026: AoN for about ₹2.12 lakh crore; ~82% from Indian industry.
- Army items: HMVs, self-propelled tracked gun, Gun Shot Response System, LMRH (Army + IAF), VSHORADS, platform-based C-UAS, kamikaze drones, surveillance UAVs.
- Navy: Active Offboard Decoy System (against anti-ship missiles) and indigenous major platforms. IAF: helicopters, air defence, weapons, Mobile X-Band Doppler Weather Radar.
🎯 Practice MCQs
Q1. SWAVLAMBAN is the innovation and indigenisation seminar of the: (a) Indian Army (b) Indian Air Force (c) Indian Navy (d) Indian Coast Guard
→ (c) It is organised by the Navy's Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO).
Q2. The SWAVLAMBAN 2026 seminar, at which "Aatmanirbharta 2.0" was called for, was its: (a) first edition (b) third edition (c) fourth edition (d) fifth edition
→ (d) The first edition was held in July 2022.
Q3. The SPRINT initiative, unveiled at the first SWAVLAMBAN seminar in 2022, aimed to induct at least how many indigenous technologies into the Navy? (a) 25 (b) 50 (c) 75 (d) 100
→ (c) The target was linked to the 75th year of Independence.
Q4. In the Defence Acquisition Council's approval process, "AoN" stands for: (a) Acceptance of Necessity (b) Approval of Negotiation (c) Authorisation of Nomination (d) Assessment of Need
→ (a) It is the first, in-principle approval, not a contract.
Q5. About what share of the ₹2.12 lakh crore of AoNs accorded on 26 October 2026 is to come from Indian industry? (a) 52% (b) 82% (c) 92% (d) 98%
→ (b) 98% was the share for the ₹1.10 lakh crore package of 7 September 2026.
Q6. An "Active Offboard Decoy System" on a warship is meant to: (a) seduce an incoming anti-ship missile away from the ship (b) jam enemy satellite communications (c) detect submarines by sonar (d) clear sea mines
→ (a) The decoy moves away from the ship and draws the missile's seeker towards itself.
Q7. The Light Multi Role Helicopters cleared by the DAC are meant for use by: (a) the Navy only (b) the Army and the Air Force (c) the Coast Guard and the Navy (d) the Army only
→ (b) Their roles include reconnaissance, combat search and rescue, and disaster relief.
Q8. A "loitering munition", also called a kamikaze drone, is a weapon that: (a) is fired from a submarine torpedo tube only (b) is used only for reconnaissance (c) circles over a target area and then dives onto a target (d) is a ground-based anti-aircraft gun
→ (c) It combines surveillance and strike in one expendable vehicle.
Q9. Compared with S-band weather radars, an X-band Doppler weather radar provides: (a) longer range and coarser detail (b) the same range and the same detail (c) no information on wind (d) finer detail over a shorter range
→ (d) Its shorter wavelength suits local, high-resolution watch, such as at a forward airfield.
Q10. At SWAVLAMBAN 2026, the Defence Minister identified which category as a remaining area of import dependence for the Navy? (a) Ship hulls (b) Buyer Nominated Equipment (c) Naval uniforms (d) Dry docks
→ (b) These are systems the Navy specifies from particular, often foreign, manufacturers for Indian-built ships.
📋 How this gets asked (PYQ pattern)
Defence is the largest single current-affairs lane in the NDA GAT, and self-reliance stories produce three kinds of question.
The first is the institution question: who chairs the DAC, what AoN means, which organisation runs iDEX, which Service runs SWAVLAMBAN. These have one-word answers and recur year after year.
The second is the equipment question: what a loitering munition does, what a decoy defends against, which Service uses a named helicopter. The examiner gives a description and asks for the system, or the reverse. Learn each item on a DAC list by its function, as in the tables above.
The third is the number question: the value of a DAC package or the share from Indian industry. Note the trap in this one: the 98% and 82% figures belong to different packages, and the examiner can switch them.
At the SSB, "Aatmanirbharta in defence" is a common lecturette and group discussion topic. A strong answer goes beyond the headline numbers to the difficult part: engines, sensors, rare earths and the supply chains behind them.
Preparing for NDA? For every DAC list, write each item against its function and its Service — that one table answers most defence questions in the GAT. Build the base with our NDA study material, follow the daily NDA current affairs, and train with serving-standard faculty in the upcoming Cavalier courses in Delhi.
✍️ Written by Col Vijyanat Thakur — Veteran, Indian Army; SSB & defence-studies faculty at The Cavalier. Reviewed by the Cavalier Faculty Desk.