It's a fact , LF , but have we with us the tech for the Engine transferred by the Russians, As some of our Scientists argued that Russsians are not giving TOT for engines of BrahMos, some days earlier. If it is done then well and good.
I think in case of BrahMos they were for JV, but were refusing TOT.
There are issues with T90 armour too, but lets go deeper, Kanchan armour now being improved by Israelis is expect to be better than the T90s armour. India is developing the scramjet of Brahmos-2. Here we already have the necessary expertise, ToT for these products is to allow domestic production to keep costs low, allow for local upgrades, and keep production free of vagaries.
Similarly, Refusal of tech transfer to overhaul/manufacture saturn engines of MKI's is a major issue for us.
but we still do BUY some equipment, dont we? wouldnt getting that tech be useful in long run?
exactly. reason why we SHOULD reverse engineer.
no one will give the cake, so we need to learn some way.
Well is it better to buy equipment than reinvent the wheel all over again. Really depends on the tech and equipment. India should concentrate on our core competencies and go for jt development or off the shelf purchases from nations where we lack expertise.
Singhji, I have not mentioned the Uncle Sam,as liberals here, I agree with you that we have enjoyed with Russians a relationship that neither country have enjoyed before hand, but in past we had their products licensed built and also the tech transferred, but Singhji, assimilation and utilisation of tech comes only after the tech transferred totally.
Licensed production is different from Tech transfer. Licensed production helps to keep costs low, delivery times tight, etc. You don't need to know the tech to license produce. IIRC India never specifically paid for tech transfer(deep) and whatever tech that was passed was due to the generosity of the Soviet.
It is only recently that we started insisting for ToT, to help bring our domestic industry and capability up to date and to keep foreign dependence post purchase minimal.
Even if Russia transfers complete(deep) tech doesn't mean we have the ability to assimilate and utilize that tech.
That is the main reason as per your logic , the Indian MiG -29 , line is in service, compared to Russian MiG-29s most of them were being grounded. This is because we were assimilated with MiG-29 Techs. However, now a days the Russians are little bit conservative regarding the TOT.
Russian Mig issue is different from ours. I disagree, IAF did well to keep Mig29s flying as quality spares were hard to comeby post Soviet collapse. Necessity here was the mother of invention not tech transfer. Though we had the ability to manufacture and overhaul Kilmov engines.
PS: IIRC Russia offered us jt production righter of Mig-29 which Congress govt refused.