India Military Power in 2025: The year 2025 has turned into a very important year for India’s defence system. The Defence Ministry has pushed hard for changes and growth. From building weapons inside the country to using new war technology, the year showed big progress. All this work followed the Aatmanirbhar Bharat idea, which means making India strong by using its own power and skills.
Just before New Year 2025, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting with all senior officers of the Ministry of Defence. They checked how different defence schemes and projects were moving forward. During this meeting, everyone agreed to declare 2025 as the ‘Year of Reforms’ in the MoD.
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Record Production and Exports
India reached a new record in defence production during the financial year 2024-25. The country produced defence equipment worth Rs 1,50,590 crore. This showed an 18% rise compared to the last year and nearly 90% growth since 2019-20. At the same time, defence exports also touched a new high of Rs 23,622 crore. Indian defence items reached more than 100 countries across the world.
Private companies played a bigger role than ever before. Around 23% of defence production now comes from the private sector. Small companies also became very important. About 16,000 MSMEs joined defence supply chains and helped make parts, electronics, drones, and systems. New rules like the Defence Procurement Manual 2025 helped speed up decisions by reducing paperwork delays.
The Defence Ministry also worked on big structural changes. The Army, Navy, and Air Force started moving towards joint theatre commands. These commands focus on western, northern, and maritime areas.
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Navy Indigenous Warships
India reached big milestones in making its own warships. INS Surat was commissioned in Mumbai in January. It is the last ship under the P15B Guided Missile Destroyer Project. INS Surat carries 75% Indian-made parts and stands among the most advanced destroyers in the world. It uses modern weapons and sensors, and “a statement released from the PMO had said” it has strong network-based fighting ability.
The Navy also inducted INS Nilgiri under the P17A Stealth Frigate Project. It is designed by India’s own Warship Design Bureau. The Navy said this ship is much better than older frigates and has strong stealth features with low radar visibility. India also completed Project 75 with the commissioning of INS Vaghsheer on 15 January 2025. This submarine is the final Kalvari-class boat made with help from France and shows India’s growing submarine-building skills.
Aircraft Power
The government approved the execution model for the AMCA, which will be India’s 5th-generation stealth fighter. The Army also placed a huge order worth over Rs 62,000 crore for 156 LCH Prachand helicopters.
Missile strength also grew strongly. DRDO and Strategic Forces Command successfully tested the Agni-Prime missile on September 24, 2025. The missile can hit targets up to 2000 km away. It was launched from a rail-based mobile system for the first time. The missile launch went exactly as planned and met all mission goals. This test will help India use rail-based missile systems in the future. The road mobile Agni-P missile has already joined the armed forces.
Private Companies
The defence sector also saw a big push from private companies. India moved away from only government-run factories and welcomed partnerships. One major step was the Tata-Airbus C-295 aircraft plant in Vadodara. This factory now builds aircraft in India and marks a big success for private defence manufacturing.
