Innovative disruption is the future of arms race and India has a bright chance at excelling
In the arms race, India can’t race ahead. Catching up is its best bet.
Col Samir Srivastava 14 April, 2021 12:52 pm IST
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There is a distinct line between invention and innovation; the thickness of the line being what one perceives it to be. The exact meaning may differ from one dictionary to another, but an invention is essentially something newly produced which never existed earlier, unlike an innovation which improves upon something already existing. Military hardware, since the dawn of civilisation, has been more a product of innovation rather than invention. While the bow, cannon, musket, and atomic bomb can be regarded as inventions, a tank is actually an innovation — something you get by putting together an internal combustion engine, a gun, wheels (with tracks) with armour around it. So the payoffs of innovation are greater than that of invention.