Major reforms cleared for Army

[Screambowl]

A major recommendation is that the defence budget should be 2.5% to 3% of the GDP. The committee called for redefining the revenue and capital heads in the budget.

That's good news! There has been a successive decline in the defence budget’s share in both central government expenditure and the GDP. With a share of 1.56 per cent of the estimated GDP of 2017-18, the defence budget is the lowest since 1956-57!!

2.5% to 3% of the GDP would mean approx Rs 5 lakh crore compared to the present 2.5 lakh crores!

are Bhai khush toh aise ho rahy ho jaise thaari jaib maa ja raha ho rokda..

on serious note, out of this 0.5% increase, 0.25% should be for research and rest 0.25% for procurement.

 

[Indian Sniper.001]

Something to chew.....

http://www.thecitizen.in/index.php/...y-Reforms-Demonstrate-Lack-of-Strategic-Sense

NEW DELHI: The media is abuzz with the government pushing for Army reforms based on recommendations of the government-appointed Lt Gen D B Shekatkar Committee "Enhancing Combat Capability and Rebalancing Defence Expenditure of the Armed Forces”.

The report was submitted to the Defence Minister on December 21, 2016. 65 of the 188 Committee recommendations stand approved that mainly pertain to the Army and involve redeploying some 57,000 personnel.

The highlights of the approved reform include:

one, optimization of Signals Establishments;

two, restructuring of repair echelons in Army;

three, redeployment of Ordnance echelons;

four, better utilization of Supply and Transport echelons and Animal Transport units;

five, closure of Military Farms and Army postal establishments in peace locations;

six, enhancement in standards for recruitment of clerical staff and drivers in Army;

seven, improving the efficiency of the NCC, plus retired officers and jawans to replace serving personnel for running NCC;

eight, performance audit of non-combat organizations under MoD, plus Defence Estates, Defence Accounts, DGQA, Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), DRDO be accountable;

nine, establish joint services war college for training middle-level officers;

ten, ‘Roll On’ plan for fresh acquisitions be introduced to overcome ‘surrendering’ funds at the end of every financial year, and;

eleven, financial powers of all three chiefs and vice chiefs be enhanced further to quicken the pace of acquisitions.

As per reports, these reforms, termed Phase 1, are to be completed by end 2019. Significantly, the Committee had stated that if all 188 recommendations are effected within five years, it would result in saving Rs 25,000 cr that could be utilized for modernizing the Armed Forces.

Interestingly, MoD sent only 99 of the 188 recommendations to the Armed Forces for making the implementation plan, of which 65 sent to the Army have been approved, while balance 34 are to be taken up in Phase 2.

It is unclear how many, if not all, of the 89 recommendations not sent to the Armed Forces are being shelved.

Significantly, of the 57,000 personnel being redeployed, 31,000 are civilian-defence officials. Was there scope of phasing out the latter after attaining normal retirement? Where are they being redeployed? And what functional problems will aggravate with the Army already facing this with civilian-defence officials paid more than their military counterparts based on which they claim superiority over same ranks?

The creation of new posts in AFHQ Civil Service is catalyst to the problem. When we are calling for nationalistic rock concerts in universities, how about ‘combatizing’ the AFHQ Civil Service?

The bit about performance audit of non-combat organizations under MoD and making organizations like Defence Estates, Defence Accounts, DGQA, Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), DRDO accountable is inherent responsibility of MoD, which has been utterly lacking. Adding these as part of ‘Army reforms’ is mere bullshit; meant for impressing the public.

Similarly, the ‘Roll On’ plan for fresh acquisitions to overcome ‘surrendering’ funds at the end of every FY is a misnomer, as it still leaves loopholes. Why not simply say that the unutilized defence budget will be carried forward to the next Financial Year, as was recommended by a defence minister during NDA I, and also in various reports by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence?

There is need to guard against changes in manning of NCC from becoming ‘political’ appointments, as has happened in ‘some’ Zila Sainik Welfare offices. At the same time, there is need for providing NCC training in all schools, colleges and universities. Enhancing the financial powers of Chiefs and Vice Chiefs is good and ‘reduces’ red-tape but if the overall defence budget continues to be negative, like the current and previous one, then enhanced powers don’t leave much to play around.

Army would have surely worked out the implementation plan for the rest of the issues mentioned above; optimizing relevant components for boosting combat capabilities including force multipliers like intelligence, information systems, cyber warfare, electronic warfare, and optimizing logistics and maintenance.

But at the end of it all, this announcement is kneejerk, devoid of any holistic and strategic sense – obviously stamped on bureaucratic advice for selective approval.

Why have the reforms not been looked at top down, starting with the Higher Defence Organizations (HDO) and the MoD? What has been approved suits the bureaucracy perfectly, including the redeployment of civilian-defence officers. The government despite being in-charge since May 2014 has not even commenced the process to define a national security strategy since that will make the bureaucracy accountable.

The way reorganization of MoD is being orchestrated too is obvious. On one hand, there is news of middle-level appointments in MoD being identified for manning by military officers. On the other hand, Cabinet has approved creation of seven posts of Principal Directors (PDs) and 36 posts of Director on regular basis of in the AFHQ Civil Service, MoD. The reason given is stagnation in the cadre; and assigning higher responsibilities will result in greater productivity and accountability.

Rest assured, with much higher pay and allowances, these PD’s will claim to be senior to Lieutenant Generals / equivalent of the military – so welcome to more obstructionism, red tape and bureaucratic control in future. Yes, the CDS / or Permanent Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) may come in due course but he will be without full operational powers.

Besides, the CCS note on which HQ Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) was raised is explicit in saying “As and when the CDS is established, he will have equal voting rights as the Service Chiefs, and if two Service Chiefs disagree, MoD will arbitrate”, implying the CDS can hardly speak as one voice to the government, given the bureaucratic finesse of ‘divide and rule’.

The inside news is that the proposal of CDS is shelved anyway – end of story and perhaps Theatre Commands. HQ IDS was raised for being merged with MoD but that did not happen, and will not unless the political authority stops being subservient to the bureaucracy. Many stories circulating of purging bureaucrats – ever heard this applied to MoD?

The Kargil Review Committee and the follow up Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by the Deputy Prime Minister-cum Home Minister during NDA I, had both recommended not only establishment of the CDS but also DQQA (Director General Quality Assurance) and DGAFMS (Directorate General Armed Forces Medical Services) to be brought under HQ IDS, but MoD did not permit this – for very obvious reasons.

Post the announcement of Army reforms, Lt Gen Shekatkar has reportedly stated that government should implement all 188 recommendations, but that is utopian with this bureaucratic hold. So, we may see a similar kneejerk announcement with respect to reforms in the Navy and Air Force in Phase II at a politically convenient time – perhaps post another Doklam.

Implementation of course is a separate issue altogether but in the ultimate analysis there is not much to say beyond what Late K Subhranyam (father of Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar) kept repeating in his lifetime – that India lacks strategic sense.

 

[Prashant12]

Ministry of Defence’s cyber, space, special operations divisions

According to sources, the proposals for the three new formations — Defence Cyber Agency, Defence Space Agency and a Special Operations Division — are with other ministries for approval as the resources for them have to come from “accretion and not under save-and-raise”.


Five years after they were first proposed by the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is expecting the three new tri-service agencies in the field of cyber warfare, space and special operations to be raised shortly. Their formation was announced by the MoD in July this year, and the proposal is with the government for approval. “The new Defence Minister is also keen on seeing them through, and we are just awaiting requisite approvals from the Law Ministry and other government departments,” said an official source.

According to sources, the proposals for the three new formations — Defence Cyber Agency, Defence Space Agency and a Special Operations Division — are with other ministries for approval as the resources for them have to come from “accretion and not under save-and-raise”. The approvals are expected “within a couple of months”, said sources, after which these agencies, to be headed by officers of the rank of Major General and equivalent in the Navy and Indian Air Force, will be raised.

The cyber and space agencies will be based out of Delhi, for close coordination with their civilian counterparts, while the Special Operations Division will be based outside the national capital. The Special Operations Division will have components of the Special Forces of the Army, Navy and IAF, and will be equipped and trained together for various external contingencies. The Army currently has Special Forces battalions, Navy has Marine Commandos (Marcos) and IAF has Garud. This division, which will be based at a location which already has training infrastructure, will have two SF battalions at its core, along with teams from Marcos and Garud, sources explained.

Working in close coordination with the National Cyber Security Advisor, the Defence Cyber Agency will be have over 1,000 personnel. These experts will be distributed to various formations of the Army, Navy and IAF, and will focus on non-civilian cyber issues, including safeguarding critical infrastructure.

The Defence Space Agency will have over 200 personnel, who will work closely with ISRO and DRDO for better utilisation and integration of space resources. This includes information sharing from individual satellites, and surveillance from other satellites which can then be shared with the concerned defence service.

In 2012, the Chiefs of Staff Committee had recommended creation of three joint commands — in the areas of cyber, space and special operations — due to their increased relevance in modern warfare. The new joint military doctrine, released earlier this year, also underscores the need to prepare the defence forces for the “emerging triad” of space, cyberspace and special operations for future combat. But it was only in July this year that the Defence Secretary apprised the Unified Commanders Conference that the Defence Cyber & Space Agencies and Special Operations Division would soon become a reality.

While the 2012 proposal envisaged commands to be headed by army commander equivalents, the current proposal is only for agencies to be headed by Major Generals. Sources said the agencies may eventually be upgraded to commands, after they have stabilised in their functioning. As per the 2012 proposal, a Navy officer was to head the cyber warfare command, an IAF commander was to be at the helm of space command and an Army officer would head the Special Forces command. It is expected that the same arrangement for division of agencies between the three services will continue even now.

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...r-space-special-operations-divisions-4892404/

 

[Prashant12]

Govt moves on integrated theatre commands; amends rules to bring three forces under single leadership


NEW DELHI: India has finally taken the first step towards eventually having integrated theatre commands, where all the manpower and assets of the Army, Navy and IAF are under the operational control of a single three-star general, by amending command and control rules for joint organisations and establishments.

Sources said the government has notified new “statutory rules and orders” to ensure an officer from any one service can now “exercise direct command” over personnel from the other two services, who are all governed by different acts and rules, in tri-service organisations.

The move has been implemented especially for the strategically-located Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC), which was established as India’s first theatre command in October 2001 but has largely failed to achieve its potential due to internecine turf wars among the three services, general politico-bureaucratic apathy, fund crunches and environmental concerns.

“It might seem a minor structural reform but represents a huge cultural, fundamental shift in the Indian military system, where the three services often pull in different directions. If the country is to have a chief of defence staff (CDS) and theatre commands in the years ahead, this tweaking of the Army, Navy and IAF rules is the first step towards it,” said a top source.

The naval commander-in-chief of the ANC can now directly control and discipline Army and IAF officers and other personnel under him, even as similar moves are afoot to eventually bring all land and assets under him in the archipelago. “It will serve as the template for theatre commands in the future.

Moreover, we need a fully unified approach in ANC due to the expanding Chinese threat in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR),” he added.

The NDA government had initially shown some drive for meaningful reforms in the country’s higher defence establishment in the shape of creating a CDS post and theatre commands to ensure much-needed synergy in training, logistics, planning, procurements and operations among the 1.5-million strong armed forces.

There was, for instance, even a proposal to create integrated theatre commands in the shape of one or two (one each for west and east of Nepal) for the northern border with China, a western command for Pakistan, a counterinsurgency operations command and one or two peninsular commands for the maritime borders.

But nothing concrete has come out of it. The armed forces currently have 17 single-service commands, with only two unified commands in ANC and the Strategic Forces Command to handle the country’s nuclear arsenal.

China, meanwhile, has reorganised its 2.3-million People’s Liberation Army into five theatre commands to crank up its offensive capabilities as well as establish better command-and-control structures.

Its western theatre command now handles the entire Line of Actual Control with India instead of the earlier Chengdu Military Region in the east and the Lanzhou Military Region towards the north, as was reported by TOI.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=TOIDesktop

 

[Mikesingh]

Govt moves on integrated theatre commands; amends rules to bring three forces under single leadership


NEW DELHI: India has finally taken the first step towards eventually having integrated theatre commands, where all the manpower and assets of the Army, Navy and IAF are under the operational control of a single three-star general, by amending command and control rules for joint organisations and establishments.

Sources said the government has notified new “statutory rules and orders” to ensure an officer from any one service can now “exercise direct command” over personnel from the other two services, who are all governed by different acts and rules, in tri-service organisations.

The move has been implemented especially for the strategically-located Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC), which was established as India’s first theatre command in October 2001 but has largely failed to achieve its potential due to internecine turf wars among the three services, general politico-bureaucratic apathy, fund crunches and environmental concerns.

“It might seem a minor structural reform but represents a huge cultural, fundamental shift in the Indian military system, where the three services often pull in different directions. If the country is to have a chief of defence staff (CDS) and theatre commands in the years ahead, this tweaking of the Army, Navy and IAF rules is the first step towards it,” said a top source.

The naval commander-in-chief of the ANC can now directly control and discipline Army and IAF officers and other personnel under him, even as similar moves are afoot to eventually bring all land and assets under him in the archipelago. “It will serve as the template for theatre commands in the future.

Moreover, we need a fully unified approach in ANC due to the expanding Chinese threat in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR),” he added.

The NDA government had initially shown some drive for meaningful reforms in the country’s higher defence establishment in the shape of creating a CDS post and theatre commands to ensure much-needed synergy in training, logistics, planning, procurements and operations among the 1.5-million strong armed forces.

There was, for instance, even a proposal to create integrated theatre commands in the shape of one or two (one each for west and east of Nepal) for the northern border with China, a western command for Pakistan, a counterinsurgency operations command and one or two peninsular commands for the maritime borders.

But nothing concrete has come out of it. The armed forces currently have 17 single-service commands, with only two unified commands in ANC and the Strategic Forces Command to handle the country’s nuclear arsenal.

China, meanwhile, has reorganised its 2.3-million People’s Liberation Army into five theatre commands to crank up its offensive capabilities as well as establish better command-and-control structures.

Its western theatre command now handles the entire Line of Actual Control with India instead of the earlier Chengdu Military Region in the east and the Lanzhou Military Region towards the north, as was reported by TOI.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=TOIDesktop

Like the appointment of a CDS, this so called 're-organization has been discussed ad infinitum for the past 30 years but zilch has come out of it so far. Inter services rivalries and egos are one of the main issues that are yet to be sorted out.

 

[indiatester]

Like the appointment of a CDS, this so called 're-organization has been discussed ad infinitum for the past 30 years but zilch has come out of it so far. Inter services rivalries and egos are one of the main issues that are yet to be sorted out.

Arrange for warrior games between contenders and the winner will have control of that unified command.