The Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, visited Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) in Bengaluru on February 16, 2026.

The Defence Minister remotely inaugurated the Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Artificial Intelligence (CoE-AI) located in Pune and formally launched the company's Artificial Intelligence Policy.

During the visit to BEL’s Bengaluru Complex, the Defence Minister launched the Mountain Fire Control Radar of BEL. He also inaugurated the Missile Integration facility at BEL-Bengaluru and flagged off the Akash 3rd and 4th Regiment Combat systems.

The Defence Minister was briefed on a range of advanced indigenous defence technologies, including artificial intelligence based solutions developed by Indian Startups, highlighting the growing emphasis on innovation and indigenisation in the defence ecosystem.

The Defence Minister interacted with Industry Partners – BEML, BDL, L&T, MSMEs and Startups for manufacturing Missile Systems in collaboration with BEL. Interactions were also held with partners from Academia (IIT-M and IISc) for the development of advanced Indigenous technologies.

During the briefing, indigenisation initiatives undertaken by Central Research Laboratories, CoE-Electronics Warfare & Photonics, CoE-Communication, CoE-Radar & Weapon Systems & Product Development and Innovation Centre (PDIC) of BEL were showcased. Also, startups and Industry partners exhibited their products. BEL’s significant contributions towards strengthening domestic defence manufacturing and research capabilities were highlighted to the Defence Minister.

The Defence Minister was also apprised of ongoing research and development activities at BEL aligned with major national defence programmes, like the Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile Systems (QRSAM), Light Combat Aircraft Mark II (LCA Mk II), Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), Project Kusha (MR SAM/LR SAM), Counter Drone Systems, Naval Weapon Control Systems, etc.

One of the key focuses of the briefing was the role of BEL in the indigenisation of strategic semiconductor devices, like Secure System on Chips (SoCs), Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits (MMICs), and Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), aligning with the objectives of the India Semiconductor Mission and the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat in critical technology domains.

The briefing highlighted that indigenous research and development initiatives are enhancing operational preparedness across land, air, naval, and strategic domains, while reducing dependence on foreign technologies.

The Defence Minister encouraged the R&D community at BEL to collaborate with Startups, Industry, and Academia for agile product development using the latest technologies in AI and autonomous systems. The Defence Minister also stressed upon the need for BEL to prioritise cross-disciplinary collaboration, innovation, and rapid prototyping to create world-class products, aligning with the vision of a Viksit Bharat.