Chief of the Naval Staff, CNS Admiral Krishna Swaminathan has said, the Indian Navy must speed up the process of turning promising ideas into operational capabilities, as he outlined a five-point roadmap for industry, MSMEs and startups at Swavlamban 2026, the Navy’s annual flagship seminar on innovation and indigenisation in naval defence technology.
Highlighting the growth of Swavlamban since its inception in 2022, Admiral Swaminathan said the number of Navy-specific Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) challenges had risen more than tenfold, from 20 to 229. He credited this progress to the innovation, enterprise and commitment of industry partners, MSMEs and startups, and congratulated all stakeholders, including the iDEX challenge winners.
The CNS said, rapid advances in artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, robotics and quantum sensing offer opportunities to reimagine and reinforce naval capabilities.
Pointing to this year’s theme, “Strength and Power through Innovation and Indigenisation”, he said it underscores the need to stay ahead of the technological curve and translate innovation into operational capability.
