NEW DELHI — Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday noted that modern warfare has undergone a 'fundamental transformation' with the battlefield now extending to 'space and cyberspace', IANS reported. Addressing the Delhi Defence Dialogue 2026 in New Delhi, Singh said recent conflicts across the world have demonstrated that the character of warfare is changing: 'The battlefield is no longer confined to land, sea or air. It extends into space, cyberspace and the digital domain. The distinction between conventional and unconventional warfare is being increasingly blurred.'

Source: IANS via NewKerala

Singh also pointed to a transformation in the economics of warfare, as recorded in the text of his speech: 'Relatively inexpensive drones and autonomous systems can challenge sophisticated and costly military platforms. The ability to innovate rapidly, manufacture at scale, and replenish capabilities has become as important as possessing advanced weapon systems.' Military preparedness in the 21st century, he said, cannot be separated from technological and industrial preparedness, and a nation's defence strength must increasingly rest on its ability to develop technology, manufacture critical equipment and sustain its capabilities independently — capabilities that require the right institutional environment, enabling policies and responsive processes.

Source: Text of the Defence Minister's Delhi Defence Dialogue speech, rajnathsingh.in

4Elements Singh named for the defence transformation: reforms, atmanirbharta, collaborations, exports
7Defence PSUs created by corporatising the erstwhile Ordnance Factory Board
2025Observed as a 'year of reforms' in the Ministry of Defence

Self-reliance as technological sovereignty

'Reforms represent our willingness to change. Atmanirbharta represents our determination to create. Collaborations represent our confidence to partner with the world, and exports represent our readiness to compete with the world,' Singh said, cautioning that self-reliance without reform may not deliver its full potential, self-reliance without collaboration may limit technological horizons, and self-reliance without exports may not achieve the scale and competitiveness a modern defence industry requires. 'Together, these four elements define the transformation we seek in India's defence ecosystem,' he said, IANS reported.

Source: IANS via NewKerala

Singh said India has made considerable progress over the past decade in strengthening its domestic defence industrial base through reforms: defence industrial corridors have been established to expand manufacturing, the erstwhile Ordnance Factory Board was corporatised into seven Defence Public Sector Undertakings to improve autonomy, efficiency and competitiveness, and private industry is being encouraged to participate in programmes including the advanced medium combat aircraft, propulsion systems, artillery ammunition and shipbuilding — creating opportunities for private industry, MSMEs, start-ups and academia. He said 2025 was observed as a year of reforms in the Defence Ministry, with emphasis on jointness, integration, emerging technologies and innovation.

The Dialogue speech was a separate engagement from Singh's other Tuesday meeting — a Consultative Committee meeting on modernisation of the defence forces in Jaisalmer — and focused on doctrine and industry rather than budget lines. What happens next: the test of the framework Singh set out is execution — whether reforms, collaboration and exports together deliver the technological sovereignty he described, as warfare moves into the domains he named.