Editor’s Note

The changing nature of warfare, rising conflicts and the never-ending great-power competition has given rise to complex geometries in global geopolitical positioning. The world's future is filled with eternal uncertainty. The advances in technology such as quantum computing. artificial intelligence and digital surveillance have transformed the military worldwide. As a driving force, technology has embedded itself in the power showbiz and has initiated an unprecedented competition between global powers including the emerging middle power. Acquiring innovative power, capacity to invent and adapting fast to new technologies is now a key determinant for all involved in the ongoing power game in the emerging new world order.

Raksha Anirveda’s latest web feature attempts to evaluate and understand the impact of technology in reshaping India's power aspiration through its Indian Armed Forces’ modernisation programme. The featured articles have been diligently curated. These articles analyse Indian Armed Forces’ adoption of innovation and technology. procurement of critical technology to become Aatmanirbhar, adaptability to disruptive and emerging technologies, and its digitisation efforts to emerge as a strong future-ready force. Raksha Anirveda invites esteemed readers - the driving force behind its evolving benchmark to indulge, explore and evaluate the feature presentation. Happy Reading!

Girl in a jacket

Defence Start-up AROO Collaborates and Makes ECWCS for the First Time in India for the Indian Army

Defence Industry

New Delhi: AROO is India’s first defence start-up that creates the Intellectual Property in specialized defence clothing. AROO was started by Rohit Bedi and Munish Hinduja, in the defence space for apparel and gear, and through its OEM manufacturers the ECWCS (Extreme Cold Weather Clothing System) and other specialized defence clothing. AROO’s business approach is unique as it creates the products and applications for a specialized category of clothing and gear and then partners with the most capable OEM (original equipment manufacturer) to supply the product to the Armed forces.

AROO’s first product was ECWCS where they passed field trials in 2017 and are currently manufacturing this product in India through its OEM based out of Bengaluru. ECWCS is a 3-layer modular clothing system worn together, which is designed to operate in temperatures of up to -50 degrees Celsius. This product is used by our Indian soldiers at high altitude regions including the Siachin Glacier which is the highest battlefield in the world. This clothing system was being imported for over 25 years. We can with pride comment that AROO ECWCS outperforms the imported clothing systems provided to the Indian Army. It is also at a lower cost thus providing savings to the Indian government. Furthermore, the Indian Army is no longer dependent on foreign companies for this life-saving apparel. AROO is also in advanced field trials with the Indian Army for the new Trouser ECC (extreme cold clothing) which operates in temperatures up to -30 degrees Celsius.

Rohit Bedi, Co-founder AROO says, “We were inspired by the government’s policies of “Make in India”. Our vision started with the Indian government’s focus to promote the indigenization of key imported products to decrease the dependencies on imports. Our mission is to provide world-class protection solutions for our ‘JAWANS,’ and our ambition is to exceed any world manufacturer in terms of product, quality and pricing.

With the government’s initiative and thrust of encouraging Indian defence manufacturing. AROO realized the potential in this segment because a large portion of the special clothing and mountain equipment (SCME) was being imported into the country”

Munish Hinduja, Co-founder AROO says, “The manufacturing process designed by AROO is focused on creating a defect-free product. The manufacturing lines at our OEM’s facility combined with our quality standards and rigorous raw material testing conducted at our OEM’s in-house testing facility, provide us with real-time product performance, with an eye on the CLO value (warmth level) and waterproofness of the garment our production supply outperform foreign specifications by 20% to 75% on key performance parameters”

“AROO creates high-performance military-grade textiles with a functional design sensibility that provides comfort, performance, and protection to the end-user. The product’s complexity requires a high level of technical ability in sewing and apparel construction. Our OEM for ECWCS has specialized infrastructure for seam sealing, sewing, and testing at both the textile and garment manufacturer levels”.

The Brand AROO: AROO is the phonetic spelling of the wolf’s call/howl and exhibits wolf’s immaculate foresight, balance and agility. The brand AROO relates with the Indian soldiers wolf like capabilities – instinctive understanding of leadership and goal-oriented tasks, intuitive threat assessments, organizing themselves naturally into packs applying strategy, patience and competence, operate on a code of conduct, working together with sophistication, relentless with an unwillingness to quit.