Guwahati: The first-ever defence tech show in North Eastern region, which will present cutting-edge technologies needed for solving operational challenges before the Indian Army as a whole and the Eastern Sector in particular, will be held in Guwahati next week.

The two-day ‘East Tech 2023’ showcasing the latest in defence technology will get underway on October 10, a defence release said.

Being jointly hosted by the Eastern Command and Assam government’s department of Commerce and Industries, the show is an initiative to identify cutting-edge technologies needed for solving operational challenges of the armed forces.

In order to facilitate Eastern Command in meeting its operational challenges by incorporating contemporary indigenous technology, a large number of Indian manufacturers, including MSMEs, DRDO, DPSUs, R&D organisations and academia, will showcase their latest and most advanced weapon and 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 Assam and other North Eastern states to showcase their latest innovations in the Defence sector, the release said.

The tech show will seek 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.

The event is also expected to give a much needed push to the defence manufacturers in North East and help in closely integrating them into the supply chains, the release said.

A seminar on niche technologies with IIT-Guwahati and a medical symposium with AllMS, Guwahati, have also been planned during the event.

“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 release added.

The event will also help identify suitable technologies and products for subsequent trial and induction in the Eastern Command, as also facilitate interface of Defence manufactures with the Field Army to orient their products and further their Research and Development towards specific operational requirements, it said.