India, Aug. 15 -- In June 2025, somewhere in the mountains in some northern part of India, a machine gun scanned the empty range with cameras and sensors and locked onto a target. No human command or involvement. The gun aimed, and fired at the dummy target and hit the mark.

This was a real Indian Army trial of a gun manufactured by Indian company BSS. It was also a glimpse into a future where decisions once made by soldiers will be increasingly handled by algorithms.

India's defence tech startups are not watching from the sidelines. They're building the systems that could define the next era of national security.

According to Inc42's India's Defence Tech Startup Ecosystem Report 2025, the global AI military market is worth $16 Bn in 2...