The Eastern Command of the Indian Army will host a Mega Defence event “East Tech 2024” showcasing the latest in defence technology, at Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan,Kolkata on 5th to 6th November.
Witness the true spirit of Atma nirbhar Bharat in action, as India march towards a self-reliant future. It is an initiative to identify cutting-edge technologies needed for solving operational challenges in the Eastern Sector and the Indian Army as a whole.
The aim of the event is to facilitate Eastern Command in meeting its operational challenges by incorporating Contemporary indigenous technology.
In the true spirit of “Atma Nirbhar Bharat’, the event strives to engage large number of Indian Manufacturers including MSMEs, DRDO, DPSUs, R&D Organisations’ and Academia, to showcase their latest and the most advanced weapon & equipment technology at the event. It is also an initiative to promote and provide a platform to various Start-Ups and major players of the Defence Industries belonging to West Bengal, Assam and other NE States to showcase their latest innovations in the Defence sector.
The two-day event cum demonstration is being carried out here in Kolkata for the Second time .The main objective of the East Tech is to augment technological knowledge base of the participants and acquaint them with prevalent “State of Art” technologies and Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) solutions available in the defence sector. It is with an underlying aim to create awareness of contemporary technologies and hardware solutions available with Indian Defence Manufacturers under “Raksha Atmanirbharta”, to meet ever evolving operational dynamics in Eastern Command with indigenous, innovative and future proof technologies, thereby promoting “Soldiering through Self Reliance”.
The event will also give a much needed push to the defence manufacturers in East and entire North East region will help in closely integrating them into the supply chains.
The Indian Armed Forces have identified technologies required to be inducted for enhancing its existing and future capabilities. Over-reliance on imported hardware has the potential to compromise the country’s defence preparedness in times of crisis, through imposition of various technology denial directives/ mandates by the supplier.
In wake of the same, the event is focused to provide all the tools to enable our forces with Battlefield Transparency, Command and Control Architecture, Communication Systems, Information Dominance, Electronic warfare, Nano Technology IMEMS, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Unmanned warfare systems, Mobility, Chemical Biological-Radiological-Nuclear (CBRN) Defence, Advanced Weapon System, survival systems and Non-Lethal Weapons.
The Eastern Command with its Headquarters at Kolkata, is the oldest and Largest Command of the Indian Army spanning around 10 states, with its troops incoordination with all the three elements of Indian Armed forces and the Para Military forces are deployed to counter any threats from its neighbours. The event will help identify suitable technologies & solutions customized to meet operational requirements of the Field Army and create an effective eco system for swift procurement and effective maintenance of the selected Defence products. The event will help identify suitable technologies and products for subsequent trial and induction in Eastern Command, as also facilitate interface of Defence manufactures with the Field Army to orient their products and further their Research & Development towards specific operational requirements.
(Author is a Senior Journalist working for British Media with 20 years of experience in covering the east and northeast, with specialisation in Defence and Sports.In her illustrated career she has covered many major events and achieved International and National media awards for Journalism)
