april 2016
Volume 7 issue 7
India : Partnering with defence giants
editor-in-chief
D
efence is one sector where it is not always possible to make all of the equipment required for national needs. Not all the ships, aircraft, tanks and such other hardware can be made in toto by one country alone. There is always a need to share or import, some parts of the equipment or wholly, when it comes to fulfilling defence requirements. An open mind on this aspect of defence needs to go a long way in overcoming delays and difficulties in equipping national armed forces. A closed mind will only create further hurdles and delays, helping none in the process. Which doesn’t necessarily mean blindly accepting anything and everything on offer. There has to be a well thought out analysis of what the country needs, how much and by when. From that assessment begins the process of equipping the armed forces, through domestic, international or such other means that fulfil the demands which exist. There must be a holistic study of what the national requirements are currently and likely to be in the mid to long term future. That study, then, shapes equipment policies and national security budgeting and planning. Which then opens up various avenues, growth, employment, opportunity, technology and all through defence. Make in India has been launched as the test case programme of the current Government of India. It covers various aspects of the economy, production and investment opportunities for global players to partner with and in, India. Once a no go area, the defence sector too has been thrown open to international players to invest in and manufacture in India. Indian players have been encouraged to partner with global defence manufacturing companies and begin making domestically. This opportunity opens up the sector dramatically, just as it provides for large scale investments and employment domestically. There is a critical need to cooperate with global defence manufacturing companies that have evinced interest in India. This is essential in order to overcome equipment shortfalls from which the armed forces are suffering as well as bringing a completion to long pending domestic defence programmes. Nowhere is international cooperation critical than in the need to find partners for the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft project. The Tejas has been flying for more than a decade and has crossed numerous milestones in its exciting journey. But it still requires some help in making it a more complete aircraft. The missing component is its engine. And which is a technology India has for some strange reasons not been able to master. It has been able to send a craft to Mars, but jet engine propulsion still seems to elude Indian researchers and designers. All of this can change when Indian and international manufactures begin cooperating. Despite decades of trying, India has yet not mastered the jet engine. Experienced international players can help, but for that India has to make the conditions. Nobody is waiting in queues to enter Indian defence manufacturing unless the country makes the environment more conducive. The defence manufacturing sector can only grow in India if the domestic research and development monopoly is shaken. The Defence Research & Development Organisation currently controls with a know-all grip. There is no doubt that the DRDO has contributed to national security when the conditions were far less conducive than they currently are. In those bleak days, the DRDO made efforts to keep India going. That determination and resilience cannot be ignored for sure. But times have changed and with global political conditions likely to remain as dynamic as they are, it is unlikely India will have to face those bleak days again. Unlikely, but not impossible. It is vital, therefore, that the various Indian private sector players partner with their global business allies. Bring manufacturing to India, create employment opportunities and further domestic defence capabilities while equipping the armed forces with first rate weaponry. But in all this euphoria, it mustnot be forgotten that at the end of the day equipment made in India is only good for the country if it can use it the way it wants, when it wants and against whomever it wants. Any restrictions are unwelcome and unnecessary. So, when Indians partner with global players to manufacture defence equipment in India it is critical that control keys remain domestic. For those are game changers.
Manvendra Singh April 2016
Defence AND security alert
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publisher’s view
Partnering With Global Defence Giants
An ISO 9001:2008 Certified Magazine
Volume 7 | Issue 7 | April 2016 Chairman Shyam Sunder Publisher and ceo Pawan Agrawal President Urvashi J Agrawal Director Shishir Bhushan Editor-in-chief Manvendra Singh Corporate consultant KJ Singh Corporate communication Mamta Jain Natasha Sales Anup Kumar Sinha Creative Amit Kumar Gaur Representative (J&K) Salil Sharma Correspondent (Europe) Dominika Cosic Production Dilshad and Dabeer Webmaster Sundar Rawat IT operations Ankit Kumar Photographer Subhash Circulation and distribution Ashok Gupta E-mail: (first name)@dsalert.org info: info@dsalert.org articles: articles@dsalert.org subscription: subscription@dsalert.org online edition: online@dsalert.org advertisement: advt@dsalert.org Editorial and corporate office Prabhat Prakashan Tower 4/19 Asaf Ali Road New Delhi-110002 (India) +91-011-23243999, 23287999, 9958382999 info@dsalert.org | www.dsalert.org Disclaimer All rights reserved. Reproduction and translation in any language in whole or in part by any means without permission from Defence and Security Alert is prohibited. Opinions expressed are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher and/or editors. All disputes are subject to jurisdiction of Delhi Courts. Defence and Security Alert is printed, published and owned by Pawan Agrawal and printed at Graphic World, 1686, Kucha Dakhini Rai, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002 and published at 4/19 Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi (India). Editor: Manvendra Singh
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T
oday the world’s development and economy are based on two major factors – collaboration and consortium. It is analogous to the match-making between two like-minded persons, economies, businesses, industries and sumptuous players. When we scrutinize the history of any advanced economy on the globe, we realise that these nations have reached the pinnacles of development, growth and productivity when they opened their gates for collaboration and allowed their industries and business houses to make consortiums with other like-minded groups and industries in accordance with their requirements under various segments. India got freedom in 1947 and of course, some measures were taken for the development of the country. Unfortunately, they were quite inadequate and we all see the result today that there are still some sectors where we seriously trail behind countries like Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and many more which are much smaller in size as well as in resources. It was only towards the end of last century that our government realised the importance of consortiums and collaborative efforts and the Indian economy was allowed access to foreign partners. Regrettably, the Defence and Security domain in India which was supposed to be on top priority has still a very long way to go in being self-sustainable. We would like to believe that equations have changed after the new government came to power in 2014. With conscious attention to strengthen national security, important decisions have been taken to boost the morale of stakeholders in Indian Defence and Security arena. Special measures have been instituted by the current government to encourage collaborative efforts. Some good initiatives have become very lucrative for various industries in a quest to enter the Defence sector. For the first time, many industries in the private sector have demonstrated their dynamism for joint ventures with global leaders in Defence and today we see that Indian industry leaders like Mahindra, Tata, Reliance, Bharat Forge, Larsen and Toubro Ltd, Godrej, Jubilant Aeronautics Pvt Ltd, Bharat Electronics Ltd and others have formed joint ventures with other international giants like Boeing with Tata, Airbus and BAE with Mahindra, Cassidian of Germany with Larsen and Toubro, Thales with Bharat Electronics Ltd, Russia with HAL etc. These joint ventures are going to play a vital role in the future for the national security of India. This phenomenal metamorphosis has happened as a consequence of tenacious and determined initiatives and government support under the leadership of our Prime Minister Modi who is one of the best visionary leaders we have ever had. His focussed approach and understanding of an immediate requirement to strengthen the Indian Defence apparatus has actually made it possible otherwise most industries were occupied with their family business activities and they never thought of entering the highly competitive and technology-oriented domain of Defence production. We, at DSA, salute Mr Modi for his guts and enterprising direction in tackling critical issues with result oriented initiatives and we are very sure that in due course of time, India’s national security will be effectively strengthened and our people will feel safe and secure under the current leadership of the country. Dear Readers, I feel elated and proud that this edition of DSA eulogizes and applauds a living legend, Arjan Singh, Marshal of the Indian Air Force and a perfect personification of the highest amplitude of a bonafide defence officer on his 97th Birthday, 15th April. Marshal Arjan Singh has exemplified patriotism and is synonymous with courage, duty, respect, selfless service, moral values and ethics. He is an embodiment of honour and integrity around the world. This edition on ‘Partnering with Global Defence Giants’ deliberates on joint ventures for Indian defence along with an analytic and critical appraisal of DefExpo 2016. It is, probably, the first edition of any magazine covering this subject. Our esteemed contributors have tried to highlight the entire gamut of the current defence scenario. Happy reading! Jai Hind!
April 2016 Defence AND security alert
Pawan Agrawal
Contents
TM
An ISO 9001:2008 Certified Magazine
A Tribute To A Living Legend Air Chief Marshal N C Suri
05
DSA Interview Marshal of the Air Force
06
Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) Amit K Maitra
12
Defence Modernisation-Ways Lt Gen OP Kaushik (Retd)
18
Create DRDO-User Synergy Manvendra Singh
22
Supersonic Missile System Praveen Pathak
25
Independent Armed Forces or Smart Cantonments Col KV Kuber (Retd)
30
Saab - Indian Collaboration Jan Widerstrom
34
Giants exposition : an overview Cmde Rajit B Rai (Retd)
36
BEL-Thales Systems Limited Dr Ajit T Kalghatgi
40
NSS and Global Nuclear Instability Vice Admiral Arun Kumar Singh (Retd)
44
The Saga Of Indian ‘Weapons of Peace’ 48 Ravi Gupta
4
Defence Industrial licence KA Badarinath
52
Pitfalls In Policy Brig Gurmeet Kanwal (Retd)
54
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