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Focus inward for military needs in post-Covid-19 world, say top Army officials

prasad1

Active member
India must turn focus inward for its military needs in the post-Covid world and make every effort to cut dependence on imported military hardware that could not only become cost prohibitive but also hard to come by in the coming years, three senior military officers said on Tuesday on condition of anonymity.

The armed forces will have to get rid of their traditional appetite for imported weapons and equipment, and work in harness with the domestic industry to guarantee self-reliance in defence, said the officers with direct knowledge of the military’s modernisation goals.

Despite pursuing the Make in India programme vigorously to reduce military imports, the country was the second-largest arms importer in the world over the last five years, according to data published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute last month.

“Indigenisation with Make in India as the dictum can no longer be a mere slogan. If the coronavirus crisis has energised us to produce ventilators, personal protective equipment and other gear for our healthcare workers in a matter of weeks, the focus in the coming times should be on fueling a new wave of innovation in the defence sector,” said the first officer cited above.


Imports account for 60-65% of the country’s military requirements and it has signed contracts worth billions of dollars during the last decade for a raft of weapons and systems, including fighter jets, air defence missile systems, submarine hunter planes, attack helicopters, heavy-lift choppers and lightweight howitzers.

“This is the time for us to look inward. The local industry is willing to support indigenisation, although it may not be able produce the best weapons and equipment. But if given the opportunity, it will reach global standards over time. It requires the full support of the armed forces. The temptation to import hardware will have to be resisted,” said the second officer cited above.

From warships, fighter jets to air defence systems and helicopters, modern artillery gun systems to ammunition, the domestic industry has demonstrated that it has potential to contribute to building a stronger military, the second officer pointed out.


One of the key responsibilities assigned by the government to the department of military affairs, headed by chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat, is to promote the use of indigenous military equipment in the armed forces.

“After the 2016 Uri strike, the armed forces scrambled to fill worrying gaps in their arsenal, including ammunition. We can’t allow this to happen. Encouraging the domestic industry will help us get more bang for the buck and ensure we are not in dire straits in times of conflict,” said the third officer cited above.

He added a robust indigenous defence industry would allow the armed forces to cut costs by holding lesser stocks of weapons and ammunition because production and supplies could be ramped up when required.


“Storage in itself is cost prohibitive because high-grade weapons and ammunition require special storage conditions, including air conditioning. Round-the-clock security of large ammunition and weapon storage depots also adds to the cost,” he stressed.

The draft Defence Production Policy-2018 visualises India as one of the top five countries in the aerospace and defence sectors in the coming years, with defence goods and services accounting for a turnover of Rs 1.7 lakh crore by 2025. It also seeks to drastically reduce India’s dependence on imported military hardware over the next five years.

 
Defence industry experts wonder about India: Why has a country with a thriving space programme, a world-class information technology industry and a leading automotive components industry failed so conspicuously to build an indigenous defence industry? An examination of the “Make” initiative brings out some lessons.

In 2004, the newly elected United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government appointed Vijay Kelkar to plan a strategy for indigenisation. Nine months later, the Kelkar Committee submitted a report titled “Towards strengthening self-reliance in defence ...

 
The modern nation state has certain core components, including killing machines such as fighter jets, battle tanks and nuclear-powered submarines. Countries maintain armies because it’s the state’s duty to protect its citizens.

In the 20th century, countries started to pursue organized defence research to ensure their military is well equipped. This led to some of the greatest inventions of modern times, notably the Internet and rockets.


The process also resulted in the establishment of massive industries making deadly war machines, employing millions and generating billions in sales. Today, the Military-Industrial Complexes (MIC) that emerged is at the heart of the industrialization of most developed and some emerging economies. There is an exception: India.

India has the dubious distinction of heading the list of the world’s biggest arms importers. The list includes undemocratic oil-rich countries in West Asia. Other traditionally big arms importers such as China have moved away from buying and towards creating their own military-industrial complex.

The problem is clearly part DRDO incompetence, part conspiracy and part systemic weakness. All of this means India is losing out on what could be a key driver for the economy.

According to some estimates, a Rs 5,000 crore defence contract can sustain or create about 20,000 high-end jobs. For each high-end job, there are about four support jobs. So, India’s projected $80 billion arms imports over the next decade could create six million to seven million jobs within the country.





Read more at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...ofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
 
India still unable to develop indigenous rifles, rues Hamid Ansari.


India still imports 60 per cent of its defence requirement and has not been able to develop a proper rifle for its armed forces, Vice President Hamid Ansari said today, bemoaning the government's "inadequate" push for research and development.

Ansari's comments come after an indigenously built rifle "miserably failed" the firing tests conducted by the Army, which is seeking a replacement for the ageing INSAS model.

of its GDP for scientific research, compared to 2 per cent by China and 2.8 and 4.6 per cent by Germany and Israel respectively.

The number of PhDs in the pure sciences in the country is "abysmally low" and India is "far behind" in the fast-changing world, he said, and questioned why this had gone unattended by several governments.

"The governmental effort into the R&D is inadequate. After 70 years of independence, we still import 60 per cent of our defence requirements...not kitchen requirements (but) defence requirements," Ansari said.

He added, with apprehension, that India is totally dependent on suppliers and what they would do in "certain conditions".

"We, to this day, cannot prepare a proper rifle that is used by our army. We have to go and buy rifles outside," Ansari said.



Read more at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...ofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
 

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