Dinesh Shivanna (CTO) and Vivek Krishnan (CEO) lead SSS Defence, a Bangalore-based private defence company that’s part of the SSS Group. They're one of the first Indian firms to design and build sniper and assault rifles from scratch, aiming to cut down India’s dependence on imported weapons.

Focused on the needs of the Indian armed forces and law enforcement, SSS Defence is developing next-gen small arms, optics, and tactical gear tailored for real-world Indian conditions. 

In this episode, Vinamre and panel talk about:

- Why India needs to build its own weapons—and why our armed forces still hesitate to adopt them.
-How weapon design actually works, from making them look good to figuring out spare parts when there are none.
-The risks India faces in a real war—being cut off, China’s moves in Djibouti, and even silent threats from Germany.
-What’s really going on between public and private arms makers, global partnerships, and whether India can stand on its own.
-Wild stories from war-like situations, the rise of drone warfare, and what it takes to run a defence company in India.

A no-nonsense breakdown of India’s defence manufacturing and why building our own weapons matters more than ever. Don’t miss this deep dive into the arms shaping the wars of tomorrow.

00:00 – Introduction

01:22 – The need for indigenous weapon manufacturers in India

07:27 – Public vs. private manufacturers of weapons in India

12:36 – What made them design such aesthetically impressive weapons

16:29 – The process of designing the weapons

20:21 – Major barriers to the adoption of indigenous arms by the armed forces

26:51 – How India could be isolated during a war

29:26 – How Germany can threaten our national security

33:11 – The need for self-reliance in weapon manufacturing

37:22 – India’s capacity to produce arms at scale in the coming years

45:57 – What China is doing in Djibouti

48:32 – The iteration process in arms development

56:42 – If we have international collaboration, why still push for indigenous weapons?

1:01:06 – Critical materials: earlier access vs. now

1:08:48 – Cannibalizing weapons due to lack of spare parts

1:12:30 – Will the next war be fought with drones instead of traditional arms?

1:22:12 – Crazy stories from war-like situations

1:27:10 – Scaling their company in the future

1:31:19 – Challenges faced by those in the defence business

1:34:22 – Conclusion