India’s defence forces are in dire need of technology upgrades.

[nandu]

India’s defence forces are in dire need of technology upgrades.
Items Required Immediately

Navy - Submarines, frigates and destroyers, naval advance jet trainers, carrier operated fighter aircraft, networking of weapons and platforms, medium range maritime surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, UAV

Air Force - Basic, Intermediate and Advance Trainer Aircraft, Fighters, Helicopters, Replacement of obsolete radars, Anti Aircraft Missiles, Upgradation of air defence environment, Replacement and Augmentation of Transport Fleet, Upgaradation of Fighter Aircraft, Development of Air Field in forward Areas, Upgradation of Navigational Aids, Precision Guided Munitions, UAVs.

Army- Light Artillery Guns, Night Vision devices for Armoured Corps, Modernisation of Special Forces, Light Tanks, Air Defence Weapon System, medium and light weight Helicopters, UAV

Military and geopolitical imperatives are changing at a rapid pace in the region. But India’s defence planning machinery continues to be slothful, if not completely dysfunctional. As a result, for the past six years, a significant portion of the funds allocated in the annual Union Budget for defence technology upgrades has remained unutilised.

In the latest Union Budget, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has made provisions to the tune of Rs 1, 47, 344 crores for the defence sector. Of this amount, Rs 60,000 crores is meant as Capital allocation for procurement, modernisation and land acquisition, among other exercises that are crucial for the growth of the defence forces. Chances are that a part of this amount will be returned to the national exchequer by the end of the fiscal year. In fiscal 2009-2010, when the total outlay was Rs 1,41,703, of which the Capital allocation was nearly Rs 55,000 crores, the defence establishment had surrendered Rs 5539 crores.

Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Kapil Kak, additional director of the Centre for Air Power Studies, attributes this tendency to return a significant percentage of the Capital allocation to the complete indifference among the defence top brass to planning and strategy.

The repercussions of this dangerous drift are being felt on the ground. The number of air squadrons has dwindled to 30. The firepower of Indian artillery, too, has diminished appreciably. The Indian forces have seen no addition of guns since 1984. The armoured corps is grappling with the lack of night-vision equipment. The Indian Navy is facing prospects of the strength of its submarine arm dropping to just ten vessels.

The Revenue allocation for defence, which is always appreciably larger than the Capital outlay, takes care mainly of recurring expenditures like salary disbursals, transport cost and maintenance of existing facilities. The Revenue provision in the current Union Budget is Rs 87, 377 crores. The annual increase in the defence outlay is actually negated by inflation. So even when the government announces that it is pushing up its defence budget, it does not amount to much. And when the sum that is returned is factored into the equation, the scenario can only become more worrisome.

Indeed, the amount being surrendered from the Capital outlay year after year is causing great concern among defence analysts. It boils down to lack of planning, inept management and a failure to keep track of what is happening in the neighbourhood.

The United States is arming Pakistan with state-of-the-art weaponry and platforms like modern F-16s and guided munitions. It has left India behind in missile technology with help from China. China, on the other hand, has started its own production of fighter aircraft and has been steadily improving its nuclear submarine arm and missile technology. In contrast, Indian defence planners are in the grip of severe myopia when it comes to steering the national security apparatus towards consistent improvement. Defence and strategy analyst K. Subrahmanyam says, “The defence planning mechanism in India has been erratic. It takes us 10 to 12 years to make up our minds about the type of aircraft we should buy.” Subrahmanyam points towards another crucial shortcoming that is taking its toll on the defence planning set-up. “In all other countries, the Chiefs of Staff are an integral part of the planning process whereas in India they are busy dealing only with day-to-day affairs,” he says.

As India dilly-dallies on defence acquisitions, the cost of equipment and armament escalates. India is compelled to purchase most of its weaponry from the international market because the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which was set up 52 years ago, does not have a particularly impressive track record.

AVM Kak is of the view that the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) should play an active role in assessing the national security environment. He says, “It was NSAB which developed the Nuclear Doctrine. We should task it to come up with a Defence Strategy Document or we should introduce planned budgetary allocation for a longer period and based on a clear vision of what we have to achieve.”
Source:IIPM(indian institute of planning and management)

 

[ppavri]

completely agree. High Time we did something. First we need to shorten the procurement processes & prevent last minute delays & interventions by affected parties.

 

[ajtr]

The thing is MOD babu only knows how to sleep on their butts.They will show urgency only in buying VVIP choppers or tracing lost CM's chopper otherwise indian bureaucracy works like lazy person.

 

[Agantrope]

This report is completely based on business view. Doesnt support about the Nation's Interest IMO. They eying only the big money.

For example Induction of 1000 Brahmos may take 10 Years time. But after 10 Years we will be tasting some new technology. A Technology doesnt get obsolete that soon.

But what the problem happened to Indian Armed Force, they lagged behind to replace the obsolete technologies. There comes the difference.

 

[ajtr]

Castles in the air, Indian defence preparedness!

MODERNIZATION of Indian defence is being justified as essential in light of changing scenario in and around Asia. Indian current defence allocation at the tune of Indian Rupees 1,47,344 crore compared to last year’s allocation of Rs. 1,41,703 crore is not sufficient for a long shopping list. This account to increase in the defence outlay by only 3.98 per cent in fiscal 2010-2011, is meaningless in front of 8 per cent rate of inflation as announced by Indian Finance Minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee. It is interesting to note that we can further deduct a large share from this allocation in the light of the fact that Indian Ministry of Defence as a normal routine surrenders unexpanded amount annually. The amount surrendered in 2009 was close to Rupees 7,000 crore. One wonders that how India is going to counter threats altogether from Pakistan and China as announced by the Indian Chief of Army Staff.

Chinese have an impressive military hardware and infrastructure all along the Himalayan border with India while Pakistan is confident to give even better performance than Kargil, if New Delhi tries to wrestle utilizing land and air forces. The recent provision of laser-guided bomb kits, surveillance drones and F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan is being viewed with suspicion by New Delhi but it is part of the same game in which India is being provided much of what even it did not ask for. Although in the last five years, India has been successful in making some progress in improving its defence preparedness but it cannot in any way parallel China military and public developments in the area. Indian projects including border roads, improve airstrips and deployment of Sukhoi-30 fighters, Israeli drones and its half blind satellite in the area are not sufficient to check mate either Peking or Islamabad. One of the major problems India is facing is resistance from the tribal, warring elements and Non Governmental Organization as the projects cannot be completed without compromising a lot of forest area.

The existing Indian Army and Navy war machinery and otherwise overall preparedness is not in a state which can be regarded as satisfactory while Indian Air Force is even worse than that of the two other services. Due to the same reasons, out of the amount meant for acquiring new weapon systems and accessories i.e. Rupees 60,000 crore, the Indian Air Force has got the Rupees 24,954 crore, the Army Rupees 16,969 crore and the Navy Rs 2,972 crore. These figures reflect that India has put all its eggs in one basket and its defence and security is on the mercy of Tel Aviv and Washington. One wonders that how much India has already compromised and how much further it is going to compromise as regard to its sovereignty in accepting the so called aid to combat Pakistan and China. Indian politicians are not conscious that the military might New Delhi is dreaming is on the crutches of rivals, which is not more than castles in the air. India must develop its own technology to get rid of dictations from the west how and where to use it. The latest failure of India’s Prithvi missile is serious setback to the Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) shield programme. BMD systems are not only costly but are technologically very complex. India’s present security requirements demands that it should possess them but instead of paying billions of dollars to western vendors, New Delhi should go for indigenous production.

India airpower remained quite unimpressive as aerial display teams performed very poor. The Indian Air Force Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team (SKAT) and the Sarang helicopter display team and Indian Navy Sagar Pawan Aerobatic Team (SPAT) met failure one after another, which is, in fact, an eye opener for all those who grade India’s defence preparedness satisfactory. The much talk about ‘India Aviation 2010’ meant to exhibit country’s potential in aviation sector, turned out to be total failure when a Kiran MK-II aircraft of the Navy’s Sagar Pawan aerobatics fleet crashed into a residential building while performing at the inaugural ceremony, killing a number of people including Commander Suresh K Maurya and Lieutenant Commander Rahul Nair. Indian Navy’s “Sagar Pawan” and US aerobatics team also saw fatal accidents which seriously injured India’s credibility.

Indian is one of the biggest buyers of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) from Israel, which are extensively used by all three services. Since Tel Aviv is selling the UAVs at very high rate, India has approached Russia to provide transfer of technology of UAVs. In the regard, in mid 2009, India secretly shipped Israeli UAV to Russia for transfer of technology. The reverse-engineering of Israeli UAVs would allow India to make UAVs at home and get rid of foreign vendors. In a swift move, the Indian Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), for the same reason has announced that it has been working on the Nishant UAV, which has an endurance of four and a half hours. DRDO also claimed that its longer endurance version Rustam is in the pipeline. However, there are many ifs and buts between the productions of UAVs in India. In the past too defence scientific made announcement about producing a Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) followed by a Medium Combat Aircraft (MCA) but both the projects are running several years behind schedule due to insistence of high up in Ministry of Defence to go for foreign technology. Everyone knows that by this way there would be no kickbacks in military and other deals.

Ironically some of top countries who are providing hi-tech defence related stuff to New Delhi are also aiding Pakistan and China through third parties in a number of ways to counter New Delhi. One wonders that in the name of western black-markets and underground vendors how long US and Israel would be fooling the world. The encryption keys of high tech equipment sold to India are intentionally being offered in black-markets of western capitals to create balance in military might in the area. That’s not all; it is an open secret that corruption within the Indian Armed Forces has been growing to an extent that one doubts transparency in almost all the military deals. Some of the Indian Army officers, in the past, proved so low that they even did not spare those killed in the defence of the country. According to Indian CBI Major General (Retired) Arun Roye, Colonel (Retired) S.K. Malik and Colonel F.B. Singh have took kickbacks from Buirtron and Baize, the US-based manufacturer of the aluminum caskets and supplied sub-standard coffins for transporting the bodies of Indian Army personnel killed in the 1999 Kargil conflict. In the name of up-gradations amount equivalent or in case even above the cost of new piece is being expanded. Being neighbours, it is in our interest that there is balance of power in the region. We need to be conscious of aliens’ conspiracies that aim to weaken all the countries by engaging us in internal controversies, suspicion and mistrust. We must go for transfer of technology, reverse engineering and indigenous research and production.

India Air Force is all set to purchase 126 multi-role fighters, attack helicopters and also transport helicopters, besides new training aircraft for its fighter pilots. It is also purchasing critical equipment for Air Defence. Indian Navy is going to purchase some hi-tech equipment and an aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov. India Army is also buying heavy vehicles, some new weapons and trying to improve structures. However, this is not sufficient. India needs change in its entire planning process. Today, what India is having in hand is obsolete radars, outdated Air Defence weapons, and unreliable artillery. Keeping in view the threat perception, India needs to build new roads, railway lines and airports for the jet fighters operations right up to the borders as has been done by Pakistan and China. New Delhi also needs a transparent panel of dead honest officers to make defence purchases otherwise India is going to again buy obsolete and outdated weapon systems and equipments at double the rates of the market. With the shortage of 14,488 officers in Indian Army, Air Force and Navy, India cannot dream to achieve its objective. One wonders, in case India is successful in inducting bulk of personnel after offering attractive pays and privileges, how New Delhi is going to modernize its Armed forces with in meager amount of ,44,344 crore. There is no harm in dream becoming a world power but for that India need to come out of the sway of western conspirators and rely on its own strength. It is not the gun that matters much but it is man behind that gun, hence, there is also a need to bring Perestroika and Glasnost in Indian Armed forces.



Navy’s “Blue Angels” are the only two naval aerobatics teams in the world but delay in the bailout indicated some serious defect with the aircraft. The Navy authorities have grounded entire fleet of 20 Kiran aircraft to play safe till reasons of failure are not confirmed. It is pertinent to mention here that on February 27 too, an ALH Dhruv of the Indian Air Force’s Sarang helicopter display team crash-landed in Jaisalmer while rehearsing for the ‘Vayu Shakti’ Air Show. Last year India’s Surya Kiran aerobatics team also saw fatal accidents which seriously injured India’s credibility.

Indian is one of the biggest buyers of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) from Israel, which are extensively used by all three services. Since Tel Aviv is selling the UAVs at very high rate, India has approached Russia to provide transfer of technology of UAVs. In the regard, in mid 2009, India secretly shipped Israeli UAV to Russia for transfer of technology. The reverse-engineering of Israeli UAVs would allow India to make UAVs at home and get rid of foreign vendors. In a swift move, the Indian Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), for the same reason has announced that it has been working on the Nishant UAV, which has an endurance of four and a half hours. DRDO also claimed that its longer endurance version Rustam is in the pipeline. However, there are many ifs and buts between the productions of UAVs in India. In the past too defence scientific made announcement about producing a Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) followed by a Medium Combat Aircraft (MCA) but both the projects are running several years behind schedule due to insistence of high up in Ministry of Defence to go for foreign technology. Everyone knows that by this way there would be no kickbacks in military and other deals.

Ironically some of top countries who are providing hi-tech defence related stuff to New Delhi are also aiding Pakistan and China through third parties in a number of ways to counter New Delhi. One wonders that in the name of western black-markets and underground vendors how long US and Israel would be fooling the world. The encryption keys of high tech equipment sold to India are intentionally being offered in black-markets of western capitals to create balance in military might in the area. That’s not all; it is an open secret that corruption within the Indian Armed Forces has been growing to an extent that one doubts transparency in almost all the military deals. Some of the Indian Army officers, in the past, proved so low that they even did not spare those killed in the defence of the country. According to Indian CBI Major General (Retired) Arun Roye, Colonel (Retired) S.K. Malik and Colonel F.B. Singh have took kickbacks from Buirtron and Baize, the US-based manufacturer of the aluminum caskets and supplied sub-standard coffins for transporting the bodies of Indian Army personnel killed in the 1999 Kargil conflict. In the name of up-gradations amount equivalent or in case even above the cost of new piece is being expanded. Being neighbours, it is in our interest that there is balance of power in the region. We need to be conscious of aliens’ conspiracies that aim to weaken all the countries by engaging us in internal controversies, suspicion and mistrust. We must go for transfer of technology, reverse engineering and indigenous research and production.

India Air Force is all set to purchase 126 multi-role fighters, attack helicopters and also transport helicopters, besides new training aircraft for its fighter pilots. It is also purchasing critical equipment for Air Defence. Indian Navy is going to purchase some hi-tech equipment and an aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov. India Army is also buying heavy vehicles, some new weapons and trying to improve structures. However, this is not sufficient. India needs change in its entire planning process. Today, what India is having in hand is obsolete radars, outdated Air Defence weapons, and unreliable artillery. Keeping in view the threat perception, India needs to build new roads, railway lines and airports for the jet fighters operations right up to the borders as has been done by Pakistan and China. New Delhi also needs a transparent panel of dead honest officers to make defence purchases otherwise India is going to again buy obsolete and outdated weapon systems and equipments at double the rates of the market. With the shortage of 14,488 officers in Indian Army, Air Force and Navy, India cannot dream to achieve its objective. One wonders, in case India is successful in inducting bulk of personnel after offering attractive pays and privileges, how New Delhi is going to modernize its Armed forces with in meager amount of ,44,344 crore.

There is no harm in dream becoming a world power but for that India need to come out of the sway of western conspirators and rely on its own strength. It is not the gun that matters much but it is man behind that gun, hence, there is also a need to bring Perestroika and Glasnost in Indian Armed forces.

 

[gogbot]

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Who ever wrote that is more focused on telling a propaganda story , then the actual the reality on the ground.

That article is a joke