Smells like BS..what source? A4 is not a new missile SFC has to test it for validation rest has been tested many times.
New Indian Express is Prabhu Chawla. If the Sarkar wants to tell its 'attitude' then they will speak to these people.
If its ToI or NDTV, then the sarkar is probably trying to way lay you.
I think this is getting confusing Ashwin is a substitute for S-400 in some regimes so I will not be surprised if Modi ji wants to hold it to have the S-400 going. But I don't know man. Even for things that are straight forward if there are delays then there are only a very limited set of conclusions to be drawn from the delays - moles, lobbies, resource-poverty.
I think BJP sarkar itself first has to see that they do not end up equalizing artificially the versions of truth of the Armed forces vs. DPSU vs. DRDO/BARC.
Armed Forces will always say that they do not have enough 'critical levels' to take on a two front enemy.
DPSUs will always say that they do not have enough 'order book' to justify faster production.
DRDO/BARC will always say that they do not have enough 'engineers+budget' to see the products through.
But all these views are not equal.
Look at it like this BARC is actually same size if not bigger than DRDO in scientific manpower. Certainly it is bigger in budget if the hidden budget is accounted for. BARC got to sit at the high stakes table during 123 years. Even during those days when the need was to negotiate with the Americans it was the Ex-DRDO guys who were made to stick their necks out.
In 1971 the Armed forces needed 8/9 months of planning plus 3:1 to 6:1 ascendency even after 9 years of re-armament. Today they talk glibly about Cold Starts and moving tanks into TAR in their spanking new C-17. While actually they just haul water for the Maldivians.
DPSU well they have been around town since before we were born. Kya bolein inke liye? Even today HAL the premier DPSU inflitrated by IAF some dogyears back has a LCA price escalation request pending. Leave aside that they pay back the dividend and have huge surpluses and order books. Yeh to bhagwaan jaise permanent ho gaye.
You can compare for yourself who is at what stage in their development cycle.
DRDO labs are small and many and taken separately they will always fall in between the demands of the Armed Forces and the DPSUs. But is it wise to allow that to happen?
Today if some lobby is not happy the DRDO chiefs are made to shunt around. Just remember, people who cannot respect their brain-banks will ultimately hurt themselves. It is easy for lobbies to walk the corridors of power and trash talk indigenous efforts. The slant of the debates on the net are a dead give away to what is actually wanted by the foreigners. But while working with foreigners know that they are foreigners.
Modi ji has shown that he considers DRDO demands for budgets seriously. As a fanboy I am thankful for that.
But then the gap is so big that we will always have to keep questioning the wisdom of imports. China was spending 17% of its defence budget on R&D as far back as 2003. Most developed countries have that figure at around 20% today. China and developed countries too face difficulties with weapons development. Do you ever see any report instigated by their DPSUs or their Armed Forces, disparaging their brain banks? No.
Modi ji has to walk quite some distance before the massive 10%-14% gaps are met and like 'standards' demanded of DRDO. Right now we are facing a situation where every 5 years you get a 10 year term of a UPA like people. But that, a BJP dispensation is better than a Congressi one in this regard, is only a consolation. That is not a plan. TINA can never be a course of action. All these engineers hired in DRDO will easily get jobs elsewhere if their fair share and their fair projects are continuously undermined. Only the country will lose in the process.
So for example if there a fire in a defence lab, then it could easily mean that the budget was not enough to provide for security. It need not necessarily mean that the head should be cut off because the mouth on it did not speak often enough about the dangers to security. Just saying...