Procurement of new weaponry and equipment for the armed forces is a long, complex and arduous process. Funds involved are enormous and the quality of equipment selected has a profound influence on national defence potential. Therefore, most countries have evolved elaborate procedures aimed at procuring the most appropriate equipment at affordable prices.

Defence planning is essentially a subset of overall national level planning in the political, economic and social spheres and has to be evolved in the context of global and proximate factors affecting the nation. . It has also to take into account the philosophy and ethos animating the national psyche; in other words the historical and cultural forces which have shaped the collective memory and outlook of the people over the centuries.