Army chief Gen VK Singh writes to PM, warns of security risk to India

[JAYRAM]

Pakistan media feels 'smug' over letter leak

Sameer Arshad, TNN | Mar 30, 2012, 03.56AM IST

NEW DELHI: Indian Army chief General V K Singh's leaked letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about ammunition shortage among other things has made headlines in the Pakistani media. Most newspapers have quoted Gen Singh's letter highlighting "two inimical neighbors (Pakistan and China)" and the "lack of preparedness of the Indian Army".

Express Tribune had a headline, 'India's million-strong army exposed as hollow', outlining details from the letter like Indian tanks lacking ammunition, the IAF's defences being "97% obsolete" and India's elite forces short of essential weapons.

It then says how, anachronistically, the India is the world's biggest military hardware importer.

The News had the report prominently placed on the front page, headlined 'Leaked letter reveals India's military weakness'. "The leaked letter lists shortcoming in embarrassing details in a serious blow to the government and the Asian giant's military prestige," it said.

The News, Pakistan's largest English daily, noted that the letter's publication "also ups the stakes in a public battle'' between Gen Singh and the government.

It noted Gen Singh's claim of having been offered bribe and described India's defence procurement processes as "notoriously corrupt".

The Dawn had the report on its back page, 'Indian army in bad shape, Gen Singh tells PM'. It said the letter's contents leaked on Wednesday "were more likely to make Pakistan feel smug than lead to any imminent catastrophe". It quoted former chief Gen Shankar Roychowdhury ruing on TV that "Pakistan must be laughing all the way".


Pakistan media feels 'smug' over letter leak - The Times of India

 

[JAYRAM]

Inside India's defence acquisition mess

NEW DELHI, March 29, 2012

Even as armed forces are being called on to prepare for a two-front war, they're short of everything from tanks to helmets

Less than two years ago, Defence Minister A.K. Anthony directed the armed forces to prepare themselves for a nightmare scenario: a two-front war with nuclear-armed Pakistan and China. In the years since, two new mountain divisions and a third artillery division have been raised; an air assault division, two mountain divisions, and an entire new corps are being assembled.

In a leaked March 12 letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chief of the Army Staff General V.K. Singh has revealed a somewhat darker reality: the artillery and tanks that make up the backbone of these formations are near-defunct and the air-defence systems protecting them obsolescent.

Gen. Singh's letters have provoked outrage and alarm — but reveal little that Indian military experts haven't written about for years. Gen Singh made similar points in an earlier letter to Mr. Antony, which made it to newspaper front pages on March 4. In public speeches, both Gen. Singh and Mr. Antony have pointed to the need for change — and yet, little has happened.

Case of missing howitzer

India's search for a 155-millimetre howitzer to replace its ageing arsenal of Swedish-made FH-77B Bofors guns helps demonstrate multiple factors that have contributed to the making of the mess. First, the Army sought weapons with characteristics that are now widely acknowledged to have been unrealistic: tenders were issued, withdrawn, and reissued after multiple rounds of tests.

Then, in March, the government blacklisted leading contenders Singapore Technologies Kinetics and Rheinmetall Air Defence, for their alleged role in a 2009 corruption scandal at the government-run Ordnance Factory Board.

The Delhi High Court, meanwhile, blocked plans to spend $647 million on purchasing 145 M777 155-mm howitzers manufactured by the United Kingdom's BAE Systems, and laser pointing systems built by Selex.

The end result has been the Army's artillery wing being degraded to a point of near-helplessness. Less than half of the 400-odd Bofors howitzers purchased in the 1980s are now in use. The 180 Soviet Union-made 130mm M-46 field guns used by India's artillery regiments were upgraded in the hope of giving them characteristics similar to 155mm howitzers, but insiders say their performance is far from satisfactory. For the most part, India's regiments are dependent on unmodified M-46 guns, D-30 122mm guns, and 105mm field guns — all designs dating back decades.

Widespread malaise

In case after case, the story is much the same. The Army had planned to equip its 59 armoured regiments with 1,657 T-90S main battle tanks — 1,000 of which were to be Indian-made. Production of T-90S tanks has been slow — the consequence, the Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) says, of piecemeal orders from the Army and delayed technology transfers.

The 100-odd Indian-designed Arjun tanks delivered to the Army, meanwhile, didn't function as marketed. The CVRDE then set about making 93 improvements — several of them major, such as giving the tank a new engine and the ability to fire Israeli-made 120mm anti-tank missiles.

Efforts to plug the gap by upgrading India's T-72 tanks in the interim also ran into trouble. Indian-made 125mm smooth bore barrels blew up during field use, forcing the Army to seek emergency imports which haven't materialised. Imports of equipment which would have given them critical night-fighting capabilities are running years behind schedule.

Efforts to replace the obsolete Aerospatiale SA316 and 315B helicopters — known locally as Chetak and Cheetah — have run into similar problems.

In 2007, the Ministry of Defence scrapped an $800 million deal to acquire 197 Eurocopter A550 C3 light helicopters, after it emerged that there were irregularities in trials that ran for four years. The Ministry is now assessing the claims of Russian-made Kamov Ka-226 and Eurocopter's AS 550, after fresh tests.

In early 2010, the Army reported it was short of 3,90,000 ballistic helmets, 30,000 third-generation night vision devices, 1,80,000 lightweight bullet-proof jackets, 15,000 general purpose machine guns and 1,100 anti-materiel rifles. Later this year, the Army is expected to begin the process of testing the 66,000 5.56mm assault rifle it needs to replace substandard but Indian-made weapons it was arm-twisted into accepting in the late-1990s.
Big plans, small progress

Part of the problem is this: procurement programmes that were to be completed in 48 months routinely take twice as long to come to fruition. Even equipment ordered under the Ministry of Defence Fast Track programme, which envisages deliveries in a year, have often taken three times as long to materialise.

The Army complains, with reason, that the Ministry is often obstructive, and that defence production facilities are sub-standard. The P. Rama Rao and Vijay Kelkar committees, which investigated these issues, have never been discussed in Parliament.

It is also true that institutions, other than the Army, have negotiated the bureaucratic system with success. Last year, a report published by the Confederation of Indian Industry and international financial consultants KPMG said that the Army had acquired just $420 million of equipment since 2007, compared with $6.16 billion by the Navy and $17.46 billion by the Air Force. Even the Coast Guard had made acquisitions worth $616 million.

Factionalism within the Army, legal manoeuvres by defence firms, and dysfunction in the defence production system have all thus contributed to the mess — along, of course, with outright corruption. Fixing the crisis needs sustained commitment to reforming India's defence acquisition system from root up — not just outrage or alarm.


The Hindu : News / National : Inside India's defence acquisition mess

 

[arya]

well money is for officer ,MOD Babus you can see money is flowing here but no money for the weapons or for soldiers

well only in india you can make money very fast

 

[sob]

As per Jaswant Singh in his interview to Barkha Dutt, during the NDA regime, it was made a practice that all the three service chiefs would sent in their threat assessment and preparedness reports, monthly to the PM who is the head of the CCS.

So the questions that need to be answered is:

1. Were the reports from the COAS on same line or was this an individual alarming report.
2. Most important the letter whose contents were leaked, in which month was it submitted to the PM.

 

[anoop_mig25]

well now that we know that we do not have enough ammuniations to sustain a war what we think when would china attack us ??

 

[ejazr]

Brajesh Mishra takes a very harsh stand on Army Chief. Brajesh Mishra was the NSA under NDA

 

[JAYRAM]

Army Chief did not leak letter to PM: Intelligence Bureau sources

Nitin Gokhale, Updated: April 02, 2012 17:36 IST

New Delhi: The confidential letter written by Army Chief General VK Singh to the Prime Minister was not leaked by the General or his supporters, say sources in the Intelligence Bureau, which has just begun its investigation in the matter. The agency is working on collecting more information. It has been asked to identify the mole, who will, according to Defence Minister AK Antony, receive the "strongest punishment under Indian law."

The letter, dated March 12, warns that the army is stuck with obsolete equipment. After a section of opposition leaders blamed him for the leak, General Singh issued a statement describing the leak as "treason" and said that the allegations against him were "a cynical approach to tar my reputation."

The Defence Minister then said that all three serving chiefs enjoy the Government's confidence. That helped to diffuse unprecedented tension between the Chief and the Government.

Opposition parties have agreed that the leak of the letter, as much as its contents, is alarming.

The CBI is also looking into the Army Chief's allegation that he was offered a bribe of Rs 14 crore to clear the purchase of "sub-standard" trucks, six months after he took office in 2010. The disclosure led to a new scrutiny of defence procurement. A CBI case has been registered against Ravi Rishi, the head of Vectra, which supplies trucks to the army via BEML, a defense public sector undertaking. In violation of basic rules, the CBI alleges, Vetra has used a middleman in its dealing with the army. Defence equipment is meant to be bought directly from the original manufacturer. The FIR or case field by the CBI also mentions unknown defense and BEML officials. Vectra provides parts for Tatra trucks which are then assembled at BEML in Bangalore.

Army Chief did not leak letter to PM: Intelligence Bureau sources

 

[JAYRAM]

why this thread is here in Subcontinent & Central Asia?..

 

[Bhadra]

Among the list of critical imported ammunition that will last for just 10 days in case of conflict is key mainstay 125 mm tank ammunition called the Fin Stabilized Armoured Piercing. Reserves for it in 2009 were just for 5.85 days. However, 16000 more rounds are under procurement from Russia, which are yet to arrive.

The 122 mm high energy reduce charge used by the artillery will last for just 1.27 days if there is a full-scale war. The procurement has once again been re-tendered.

Imported items aside, the ones being manufactured by indigenous Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) are no better. Once again there is a list of ammunition that is stocked for less than 10 days of war.

According to the presentation in June 2008 the 120 mm Mortar Bomb was available for just 7.43 days of war. The government is still struggling with a fresh tender.

Ammunition for the 155 mm illuminating gun is available for just 4.65 days of conflict. The OFB is yet to make up this deficiency. The 155 mm SMK, smoke ammunition will last for 6.29 days.

There is a realisation that the deficiency for this smoke ammunition is likely not to be fulfilled since the OFB in an year manufactures ammunition that will last for just about 1.85 days of war. As if the shortage was not worrying enough a large amount of ammunition provided by the Ordnance Factory Boards have been found dud and faulty.

In 2008 as the document shows more than 86,000 rounds of 125 mm ammunition was found faulty, in many cases causing injury.

The ammunition for the basic INSAS rifle has been found faulty to the tune of more than 137 lakh rounds.

 

[Ray]

Brajesh Mishra takes a very harsh stand on Army Chief. Brajesh Mishra was the NSA under NDA

Well, Brajesh Mishra has been proved that he was talking through his hat and was flying over the cuckoo's nest!

As a former bureaucrat, it is obvious that all this muck is pointing to the Bureaucracy and their stranglehold will now become loose. No more dadagiri will be tolerated any more.

So, it is another attempt to ensure that the Army is rubbished and the Bureaucrats rule supreme.

He is the son of the Congress CM of MP, DP Mishra. He was an IFS Oficer.

But like all good bureaucrats, he could change goalposts to suit his purpose.

He was a BJP man.

After demitting office, he had initially expressed reservations against the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal following which the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh had him briefed specially to address the concerns Mr. Mishra had about the deal. Thenafter Mr. Brajesh Mishra extended his support to the deal and publicly endorsed the deal. (This latter position of his was found to be at variance with the Bharatiya Janata Party's, the party to which he once belonged to and in whose government he had been the National Security Advisor of the country, which was opposed to the deal.)

 

[arya]

now he should open the names let the dirt clear from army