Aditya Ramanathan

“doesn’t want the technology or its missile secrets to go to its adversaries, and it also wants to abide by its commitments to the Missile Technology Control Regime, which gives India several advantages,”

Aditya Ramanathan · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-26

Ramanathan said the Indian government wants to prevent missile technology from reaching adversaries and abide by its commitments to the Missile Technology Control Regime.

“the companies that are most likely to get the missile contracts are all old hands”

Aditya Ramanathan · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-26

Ramanathan pointed out that the companies most likely to get missile contracts are all experienced players in the defence sector.

“I don’t think this move would have happened as soon as it did if not for the experience of recent wars. Indian decision-makers have been looking at Ukraine, they’ve been looking at the US war with Iran, and of course they’ve been imbibing the lessons of operations from last year,”

Aditya Ramanathan · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-26

Ramanathan suggested that geopolitical events including recent wars in Ukraine and Iran accelerated India's decision to transfer missile technology to the private sector.

“It will include surface-to-air missiles, air-to-air missiles, anti-radiation missiles, antitank systems, and so on. It will also include more heavy-duty hardware like land-attack cruise missiles,”

Aditya Ramanathan · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-26

Ramanathan told Al Jazeera that the announcement spans a wide range of missiles including surface-to-air, air-to-air, anti-radiation missiles, antitank systems, and land-attack cruise missiles.

“Ultimately, I think the success or failure of this move will depend on how the Indian government places orders,”

Aditya Ramanathan · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-26

Ramanathan said the success or failure of the technology transfer move will depend on how the Indian government places orders.

“They’ve been involved in the defence sector in some capacity for decades, and they have experience in dealing with confidentiality and secrecy,”

Aditya Ramanathan · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-26

Ramanathan said the companies likely to receive missile contracts have decades of experience in the defence sector and in dealing with confidentiality and secrecy.

“Private companies have been making missile components for years, but what this decision does is allow them to move up the value chain and become prime integrators for these systems,”

Aditya Ramanathan · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-26

Ramanathan said the decision allows private companies to move up the value chain and become prime integrators for missile systems.

“So India has good reasons, in its own self-interest, to ensure that missile technology doesn’t leak.”

Aditya Ramanathan · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-26

Ramanathan concluded that India has good reasons in its own self-interest to ensure that missile technology doesn't leak.

“it is very far from developing the sort of military-industrial complex that [former US President Dwight] Eisenhower worried about. Power in India still resides overwhelmingly with the government.”

Aditya Ramanathan · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-26

Ramanathan said India is very far from developing the sort of military-industrial complex that former US President Dwight Eisenhower worried about, and that power still resides overwhelmingly with the government.

“To be a viable and effective force, it’s going to require serious magazine depth, and this cannot be achieved without the active involvement of the private sector,”

Aditya Ramanathan · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-26

Ramanathan added that India's planned tri-services conventional missile force requires serious magazine depth that cannot be achieved without private sector involvement.

“Making missiles is an incredibly complex and costly affair, and companies are going to have to invest a lot in infrastructure, technology and people. These sorts of investments will only pay off if the government places large enough orders to justify them and also, hopefully, leave these companies with some profits that they can pour back into research and development.”

Aditya Ramanathan · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-26

Ramanathan explained that missile manufacturing is complex and costly, and investments will only pay off if the government places large enough orders.

“One reason you’re going to need large stockpiles is that, as we’ve seen recently, you’re going to burn through your inventory pretty quickly. The other reason is that your adversary could also degrade your stockpiles using their own precision-strike systems.”

Aditya Ramanathan · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-26

Ramanathan explained that India needs large missile stockpiles because inventories deplete quickly in warfare and adversaries can degrade stockpiles with precision-strike systems.

“wants to build a wider defence industrial base”

Aditya Ramanathan · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-26

Ramanathan said India wants to build a wider defence industrial base but is far from developing a military-industrial complex.

“India believes that to deter China, which is its most capable adversary, it will need to demonstrate that it can both inflict and absorb really punishing attrition over weeks of gruelling warfare,”

Aditya Ramanathan · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-26

Ramanathan said India believes it needs to demonstrate the ability to inflict and absorb punishing attrition to deter China, its most capable adversary.