Navy chief Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi

NEW DELHI: Stressing the need for stronger industrial preparedness for modern warfare, Navy chief Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi on Friday said recent global conflicts have challenged the long-held assumption that wars would be short and decisive, highlighting the urgent need for nations to build resilient defence industrial capacities.Speaking during a session at the ongoing Raisina Dialogue 2026 in Delhi, the Admiral said developments over the past few years have underlined the importance of sustained military readiness, technological adaptability and large-scale defence production. “There is obviously a thought process that the post-Cold War peace dividend has certainly ended. Therefore, countries must be ready for their own national security, and that requires building their own defence industrial complexes,” Admiral Tripathi said.The Navy chief touched upon the need to stay abreast of fast-evolving technology in the defence sector. “Not only must one produce [military equipment] at scale, but one must also be ready to upgrade while producing, because technology is changing at the speed of thought. We have seen the need for that and must be ready on that count,” he said.He said rapid adaptation is a must because time waits for no one, and surge capacity must be sufficient to deal with challenges.“It is not that you will be subjected to situations when your equipment is ready. Managing inventory is critical, and we need the capacity to surge when required. That requires very evolved defence industrial bases. These are some of the lessons learnt from what is happening around the world,” the Navy chief said.