first thing first, lets clear certain misconception. Indian armed forces are very tough customer and hard to please. the Job of the Indian Armed forces is to secure our water, land and Air. for that Indian army will procure the highest quality armaments for its needs regardless of where it is going to come from.
i keep hearing the arguments that India army is not giving orders to local companies.. blah blah..blah blah...
Look... It's not Indian army's responsibilities to supports yesterday's startup companies but rather procure best weapons for it's needs in order to secure our country. at the same time, all the local companies needs to compete globally by proving highest quality weapons. they should not make Indian armed forces as their only targeted customer.
if you don't have a product that you can compete globally with, then you may not get orders from Indian armed forces. Period. if you have a yesterday's startup, then please don't expect Indian army to shower you with orders unless you have globally competitive product.
at the same time, in my opinion, Indian armed forces do support local industries as much as possible. pinaaka, missiles like agni, prahaar etc, dhruvs, dhanush, satellites, radars, etc are some of the finest examples... we can discuss more about this later.
now coming back to your post.
if i have an appetite for 1 briyani then i will order one biryani only. may be i will order an desert too if forced. likewise IA thought it had appetite for 100 k9's so it ordered 100 k9's with options to buy 50 more if required. (the word here is options to buy, not obligation to buy). by the way, IA cannot keep on ordering guns when there is no need.
now L&T needs to compete globally, find different buyers for their guns since it has now setup factory and all. again, don't just sit on laurels and expect Indian army to shower with order every single day. it's not going to happen. L&T knows this too..
you also mentioned that Saudis are interested in kalyani group howitzers? guess what? so is Indian army. Matter of fact, Indian army went one step ahead and started trails at jabalur. has Saudis started user trails? - if yes, then its good for both of us. kalyani guns came into existence just 2-3 years go and Indian army is not going to place order without risk analysis, cost evolution and user trails.
one thing that i am proud of kalyani group is unlike other crybaby private local industries, the kalyani group is trying to compete globally and already trying to make a sale with saudis and some other countries.. kuddos to baba kalyani.. hats off!!!
i listed out some of the ongoing procurement like ships and subs to help you understand that Indian armed forces are actively working on acquiring new ships and stuffs. it seems like you are not interested in facts.
i said, 3 ships from Visakhapatnam class were laid down with names.. an indication that some work is being done in getting new ships. you were talking about INS Visakhapatnam ship itself which started construction around 2013.
same goes for nilgiri class ships
also, if you read my post, i never claimed that BJP order or laid down arihaants. i merely alluded the possibility that this subs are best kept secrets and we probably will never know. instead of reading what i have written.. you decided to bring BJP and UPA into this spit feast.
i would also advise your so called friend to develop a product that can complete globally rather then waiting for orders from Indian armed forces.
I am also not fan off delays like tejas for ex; i agree on that area.
aatmanirubhar concept is not limited to defense sector only. its a wonderful concept which will evolve slowly and progressively. our country is headed in that direction. this will take time to mature.. its not easy like i ate biryani tonight and tomorrow morning i am going to poop it out.
sole reason why US can't afford to leave Pakistan. China is immediate threat but India is the future. India knows it & that's why we've been playing them all these years.
