Need to indigenise weapons, sensors: Indian Navy

Indigenisation remains a major focus, and weapons and sensors made in India would give a major boost to the process of designing and building ships, a top Indian Navy officer said here Tuesday.

Director General Naval Design Rear Admiral A.K. Saxena Tuesday briefed journalists ahead of the golden jubilee celebrations of the naval warship design department.

He said the process of designing and building a ship gets delayed as the technologies of weapons and sensors to be mounted get upgraded.

"The technology of weapons and sensors get upgraded every four to five years. In countries where weapons and sensors are build simultaneously, the design can be changed as per requirement," Saxena said.

"I hope soon we develop weapons and sensors of our own. In that case, changes can be made in designing of the ship as per requirement," he said.

Indigenisation of production in the defence sector has been in focus in India, which still remains one of the biggest importers of defence equipment and arms.

India meets nearly 80 percent of its defence needs with foreign imports.

India is the world's ninth biggest military spender, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's (SIPRI) report of world military expenditure spending for 2014.