Defense technology hiring in India has nearly doubled over the past three years, from around 3,500 roles in 2022 to nearly 7,000 in the current period, with nearly 60 percent of skills demand now focused on radar, RF and secure communications technologies, HR solutions provider CIEL HR Services said in a report.
Compensation for high-tech defense roles has increased by around 30 percent from 2022, underscoring the demand for specialized skills critical to execution, the report added.
“Defence has always been a critical sector for India, but we are now seeing a structural shift in the nature of the employment it generates.
Warfare is increasingly driven by technology and this is directly reflected in the demand for recruitment. Radar, RF and secure communications are now core skills across platforms, while aerospace continues to anchor large-scale employment. Defense technology is emerging as a source of highly skilled, credible and globally relevant jobs,” said Aditya Narayan Mishra, MD & CEO, CIEL HR.
The report is based on a quantitative study that analyzed defense job openings between October 2024 and October 2025 on job portals, specialized technical boards and career sites of more than 50 defense technology companies.
The report further found that aerospace and avionics accounted for nearly one-third of defense technology hiring demand, driven by domestic fighter jet programs, aircraft modernization and deeper private sector participation in manufacturing and avionics. Cyber, C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), electronic warfare and space technologies together contribute 26 percent of demand, highlighting the growing importance of secure communications, sensor fusion and data-driven decision-making systems.
Naval and maritime systems (19 percent), land systems (14 percent), and unmanned platforms (10 percent) further reflect the shift toward electronic, autonomous, and networked defense platforms.
As India builds indigenous capabilities in avionics, electronic warfare, autonomy, artificial intelligence and secure systems, the complexity and depth of work increasingly mirrors global benchmarks, the report said, adding that this positions defense technology as a credible destination for professionals seeking long-term and critical careers with national impact.
To cope with the increasing demand for specialized skills, about 20-25 percent of defense organizations increasingly rely on internal mobility and structured lateral movement.
In terms of geographies, the report revealed that more than 75 percent of the demand is concentrated in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad-Vadodara, in line with naval, avionics, cyber, missile and ship programs.
Besides, Chennai, Pune, Lucknow-Kanpur, Coimbatore, Nagpur, Visakhapatnam, Goa and Nashik account for the remaining roles, reflecting a geographically concentrated defense technology ecosystem, he added.
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