Geopolitics April 2016

DEFEXPO 2016 SPECIAL

geopolitics Vol VI, Issue XI, APRIL 2016 n `100

DEFENCE n DIPLOMACY n SECURITY

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INDIA MEANS BUSINESS

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CONTENTS

DEFEXPO SPECIAL

GEO Q&A PIERRE DE BAUSSET President & MD, Airbus Group India

BUDGET OR NO BUDGET (P10)

22

JD PATIL Omission of defence budgetary allocation from the Finance Minister’s general budget speech is believed to be an indication of the low priority that the present government attaches to the armed forces.

Sr. VP & Head Defence & Aerospace, Larsen & Toubro

34 ELI ELFASSI Corporate VP, India Operations, IAI

38 VERNON NORONHA

PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP (P18)

VP – Defence & Government Business, Tata Motors

If India wants to increase its indigenised military arm base through Make in India, it needs to bring the public-private sector together to make the indigenisation dream come true.

40 YOAV HAR-EVEN Rafael, President and CEO

41 MAKE IN INDIA MANTRA (P24) There is no doubt that a lot is happening both at the policy and ground level to make Make in India a success. But, it all is going to take time before it is seen on the ground.

KISHORE JAYARAMAN President, Rolls-Royce India & South Asia

44 PUSHPITA DAS Associate Fellow, IDSA

46

4

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contents

GEO q&a

DEFEXPO SPECIAL

T. Suvarna Raju HAL, CMD

MAKE IN INDIA PUSH (P28)

48 Loic Piedevache

While making India a ‘Design, Development, Manufacture and Export Hub’, it is necessary to first take up projects that contribute directly to enhancing defence preparedness by making up critical deficiencies in weapons, ammunition and equipment.

Head of MBDA, India

56 Inderjit Sial President & MD, Textron India

58 Puneet Kaura Executive Director Samtel Avionics

SMEs IN THE DEFENCE SECTOR (P42) More than 7000 MSMEs operate domestically in the A&D sector, supplying 20-25 per cent of all components to the DPSUs, DRDO, OFB and the armed forces.

59 Ashok Atluri MD, Zen Technologies

IAF’s TECH FORAY (P50) The Indian Air Force’s procurement efforts are driven by its desire to reduce the threat to its strategic assets from sub-conventional war, improve homeland defence against aerial threats and augment simulation based training.

61 Antoine Caput India Country Director & VP, Thales

65

Surender Singh Director General, CISF

74

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April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

INDIA 2016

CONTENTS

VOL VI, ISSUE XI, April 2016 Editor-in-Chief

K SRINIVASAN Editor

THE PROVEN UAS

(P63)

The strength of the ScanEagle and Integrator UAS is the commonality of the launcher, SkyHook recovery system and the Ground Control Station.

PRAKASH NANDA Managing Editor

TIRTHANKAR GHOSH Associate Editor

MAYANK SINGH Consulting Editor

M MURLIDHARAN Correspondent

NAVEED ANJUM Senior Proof Reader

RAJESH VAID Designers

MOHIT KANSAL, NAGENDER DUBEY

SATELLITES FOR SECURITY (P67)

Photo Editor

H C TIWARI Staff Photographer

HEMANT RAWAT

The advantage of small satellites is their ability to perform over-thehorizon sensing and non-line-of-sight communications with improved temporal coverage.

Director

RAJIV SINGH Publishing Director

RAKESH GERA Legal Advisor

VASU SHARMA Subscription

GEETA JENA Distribution

PANKAJ, BHUSAN

PARAMILITARY MODERNISATION (P70) Modernisation plans for India’s para-military forces battling odds have been seriously jeopardised.

DEFEXPO 2016 SPECIAL

geopolitics Vol VI, Issue XI, APRIL 2016 n `100

DEFENCE n DIPLOMACY n SECURITY

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INDIA MEANS BUSINESS

Cover Illustration: Satish Upadhyay

The total number of pages in this issue is 80

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April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

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DEFEXPO

BUDGET 2016-17:

DEFENCE FEELS LEFT OUT The omission of the defence outlay from the Budget surprised many but that should not worry the MoD which has its work cut out: it needs to ensure optimum utilisation of the allocated funds and bring clarity to existing policies

10

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

DEFEXPO

O

mission of any reference to defence outlay in the finance minister’s budget speech of February 29 is unprecedented. If nothing else, finance ministers generally make a token mention of how much is proposed to be allocated for defence and promise to allocate additional sums, should the need arise.

The omission jars all the more because in the very first budget speech he delivered on July 10, 2014, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley not only made a specific mention of the increase in the modernization budget but also talked about the defence rail network, one-rank-one-pen-

sion, procurement procedures, war memorial, and defence technology fund.

That not much tangible progress has been made on any one of these promises, except one-rank-one-pension, almost two years after those announcements were made, might have led to the realisation that exercising restraint in making announcements concerning such delicate matters is better than raising expectations which may turn out to be hard to meet.

There are some who believe that reference to defence outlay in the budget speech reflects the importance that the government accords to defence and security of the country. Therefore, they see the omission as an indication of the low priority that the present government attaches to the armed forces.

It would be uncharitable to take such a view. What matters more is adequacy of allocation and not whether that finds a mention in the speech. Mention of the defence outlay is not known to have ever boosted the morale of the armed forces or sent any message to the country’s potential adversaries.

Though there is no point in secondguessing the reasons for this omission, it is tempting to mention at least two more.

One, the eight Demands for Grant (DFG) which the Ministry of Defence (MoD) used to present to the parliament have been compressed into four, making it slightly difficult, albeit not impossible, to draw comparisons between the current year ’s allocation and the outlay proposed for the next fiscal 2016-17.

Two, increase of just about 1.84 per cent in the outlay for the three services and the joint staff is hardly something that any finance minister could proudly announce, especially if it also happens to be just 1.65 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 12.59 per cent of the total Central Government Expenditure (CGE) for 2016-17. On both these counts, the proposed allocation does not reflect any improvement on the past trend.

But the situation may not be as bad as these statistics suggest. The growth in the outlay for the armed forces works out to a respectable 11.17 per cent if the Revised Estimates (RE) for the current year are taken as the base. This compares favourably with the average annual rate at which the actual defence expenditure has been rising in the past few years.

Even so, the defence budget for the coming fiscal disappoints. The reasons for this disappointment lie in the halfhearted restructuring of the defence bud-

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April 2016

get, size of the outlay and the opportunities that have been missed.

The New Structure of MoD’s Demands for Grant

According to the budget documents, DFGs of some of the ministries and departments for the coming fiscal have been restructured with a view to providing ‘a holistic picture of budgetary allocations and effective expenditure monitoring’. (See Box) Consequently, instead of eight, MoD will henceforth present only four DFGs. Seven of the eight DFGs are affected by this restructuring; only DFG for Defence Pensions remains untouched.

This restructuring of the demands seems desultory as it will not serve its stated purpose of effective outcome oriented monitoring of implementation of programmes and schemes/projects and ensuring optimum utilization of the resources. The proposed outlay is not spread over any specific schemes, projects or programmes, except to a limited extent under the capital segment. Even under the restructured DFGs, allocations have been made as per the old budget heads which reflect the object of expenditure and not any specific programme.

Take for example the DFGs for the armed forces. Under the revenue segment, the allocation is spread over pay and allowances, transportation, stores, works, repairs and refits (in the case of navy), other expenditure, and so on. Similarly, under the capital segment, the allocation is spread over land, construction, aircraft and aero-engine, heavy and medium vehicles, other equipment, etc. Only a small proportion of the capital budget is earmarked for specific projects.

This will not help in identifying the funds earmarked for specific programmes, with a few exceptions, as mentioned earlier. Programme/project/ scheme-wise allocation of funds is a sine qua non for outcome-oriented monitoring of budgetary allocations. It is true that the entire defence budget cannot be subjected to outcome-oriented monitoring but by retaining the old system of classification of budget heads a good opportunity has been lost to subject a sizeable segment of the defence outlay to outcome-oriented monitoring.

Removing the night blindness of the armed forces, for instance, could be conceived as a programme, with specific allocations being made for the purpose and the desired outcomes being fixed for the year. Making up the deficiency of ammunition could also be conceived as a programme under the revenue seg-

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INDIA 2016

ment of the budget. This could facilitate monitoring of the outcomes because the outcomes of these programmes would have been distinctly identifiable and measurable. This concept can be applied extensively across the capital and revenue segment of the defence budget. It is disappointing that this has not been done.

Proposed outlay for defence

To cut to the chase, break down of the proposed allocation for the next fiscal and its comparison with the current year’s budget, rearranged as per the new classification, presents the following macro picture: Demand No. and nomenclature 20 MoD( Misc) 21 Defence Pensions Total 22 Defence Services (Revenue) 23Capital Outlay on Defence Services Total GRAND TOTAL

ing forces; defence ministries and other government agencies engaged in defence projects; paramilitary forces when judged to be trained, equipped and available for military operations; and, military space activities.

To elaborate it further, while calculating the military expenditure of various countries, SIPRI takes into account the expenditure on personnel, operations and maintenance, procurement, military research and development, military construction, and military aid (in the military expenditure of the donor country). For SIPRI, expenditure on personnel includes all expenditure on current military and Percentage increase with reference to BE 2015-16 RE 2015-16 -2.72 8.73 51.07 36.68 29.27 26.74 8.55 14.36

BE 2015-16

RE 2015-16 BE 2016-17

37144.55 54500.00 91644.55 132540.61

33233.32 60238.00 93471.32 125808.67

36133.16 82332.66 118465.82 143869.46

85894.44

74299.61

78586.68

-8.51

5.77

218435.05 310079.60

200108.28 293579.60

222456.14 340921.96

1.84 9.95

11.17 16.13

(All figures in Rupees in crore; BE: Budget Estimates; RE: Revised Estimates)

Mark Twain had famously said, “Facts are stubborn but statistics are more pliable”. Nothing proves this more than the comparison between the current year’s figures with those of the coming fiscal. If one looks exclusively at the outlay for the armed forces the increase works out to a miserable 1.84 per cent with reference to the BE for the current year, as against 29.27 per cent for all other organisations and defence pensions put together.

Even with reference to the RE for the current year, the allocation for armed forces looks similarly skewed – while for armed forces the increase works out to 11.17 per cent, for others it works out to 26.74 per cent. If, however, the armed forces, all other organisations and defence pensions are taken together the increase works out to 9.95 per cent with reference to the BE and 16.13 per cent with reference to the RE. In a sense, this truly reflects the increase in the defence allocation.

It is interesting that the definition of military expenditure adopted by a globally-renowned organisation like the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) is much wider. For SIPRI, military expenditure includes all current (revenue) and capital expenditure on the armed forces, including peace keep-

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DEFEXPO

civil personnel, retirement pensions of the military personnel and social services for personnel and their families.

Be that as it may, the budget figures are always confusing and lend themselves to varying interpretations. That is a good enough reason to look beyond the numbers to figure out what the proposed out-

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lay could mean for the armed forces in 2016-17.

Is the outlay adequate?

The first big question is whether the proposed outlay is adequate. There can be no prizes for guessing that it would be less than the requirement projected by MoD to the Ministry of Finance (MoF). During 2014-15, the gap was approximately `80,000 crore, which came down to approximately `40,000 crore during 201516. The allocation has generally always been less than the projection but that is not a reliable indicator of whether or not the allocation in a given year is adequate.

A lot depends on the capacity to utilise the available funds. Despite the huge gap between the projection and allocation during these two years, huge sums of money remained underutilised. Judging by RE 2015-16, the underutilisation is likely to be close to `22,000 crore this year alone.

Those, including the Standing Committee on Defence, who believe that the defence outlay should equal at least three per cent of the GDP would also consider the proposed outlay to be inadequate as the total allocation under all the four DFGs also amounts to just 2.26 per cent of the GDP. The fact of the matter is that an accurate analysis is not possible unless one goes into the finer details of what was planned for the current year and whether the cost of carrying out the planned activities was accurately worked out. Even

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IAF paratroopers jump from C-130J aircraft during the Iron Fist 2013 in Pokhran

so, some implications of the proposed allocation for 2016-17 are quite palpable.

Is the allocation for pay and allowances and pensions enough?

The recommendations of the seventh pay commission are due to be implemented in 2016-17. The allocation for pay and allowances had more than doubled between 2007-08 and 2010-11 after implementation of the sixth pay commissions recommendations spread over the two intervening years. This time the increase in allocation for pay and allowances is a little more than 15 per cent with reference to the RE 2015-16. For other organisations also the increase would generally be close to that figure.

Going by this, the allocation for pay and allowances may not be adequate to absorb the impact of the seventh pay commission rollout. Though it is difficult to carry out any assessment of the defence pensions because of implementation of one-rank-one-pension along with the recommendations of the pay commission, it will not be surprising if the allocation turns out to be inadequate. The government will obviously have to provide extra funds during the year to defray the additional expenditure on pay and allowances and pensions. This could impact the government’s ability to allocate additional funds for any other purpose, including capital acquisitions, should the need arise.

Filling the voids in the War Wastage Reserve (WWR)

After providing for pay and allowances

14

and other obligatory expenses on ration, clothing, transportation, etc., very little of the revenue budget is left for meeting the expenditure on upkeep of civil infrastructure and, more importantly, procurement of spares required for repairs and ammunition. In a report submitted to the parliament in August 2015, the Comptroller and Auditor General had highlighted critical shortage of ammunition with the Indian Army.

One expected some special focus in the budget on this problem but it is anybody’s guess whether an increase of less than `3,000 crore under the ‘stores’ budget head from which expenditure is incurred, among other things, on ration and clothing, apart from spares and ammunition, is going to be adequate. Incidentally, this budget head also caters for expenditure on maintenance of in-service equipment, weapon systems and other platforms. The operational serviceability of equipment has been a matter of serious concern. It does not appear that the situation is all set to improve in any substantial measure.

Other organisations facing the crunch

At least three other organisations are likely to face the crunch. The allocation for works to be undertaken by the Boarder Roads Organisation (BRO) has increased marginally from `2,145.20 crore in RE 2015-16 to `2,264 in BE 2016-17. The total outlay for the department of research and development has also increased only by `1,102 crore. The second largest chunk of expenditure after pay and allowances in the revenue segment of this department’s outlay is on stores. Under this budget

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

head, the allocation has gone down by about `300 crore. It would be unrealistic to expect any spurt in BRO’s output or that of the department of research and development. The outlay for ECHS has also gone down by about `245 crore. With increasing cost of treatment and medicines, this increase may turn out to be grossly inadequate.

Modernisation of the armed forces

The slow pace of capital acquisitions has been the bane of military modernisation.

This is not entirely on account of budgetary outlays. As of now, this seems to be more on account of the complexity of policy and procedures as well as a bewildering reluctance on the part of the officials to take quick decisions on issues that impede acquisition programmes. Going by the budgetary allocation for capital acquisitions in 2016-17, it does not seem that MoD expects its track record to improve.

That the allocation of `70,663 crore for capital acquisitions for the three services and the joint staff is just about `4,732 crore more than the RE 2015-16 is not as important as the fact that, going by some press reports, out of the total allocation the amount available for new schemes is `12,000. The rest of the amount will be spent on discharging the committee liabilities on account of the ongoing contracts. This amount is being seen as inadequate for pushing all the capital acquisitions that are lined up and promoting ‘Make in India’ in defence. Is this a correct assessment?

The Indian armed forces are un-

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doubtedly in dire need of personal weapons, artillery and air defence guns, bullet-proof jackets, light weight ballistic helmets, helicopters, anti-tank missiles, night fighting capabilities, ammunition, submarines, anti-submarine warfare helicopters, mine counter-measure weapons, fighter and transport aircraft, mid-air re-fuellers, and several other capabilities.

While proposals for these acquisitions are at various stages from planning to contract negotiation, not all of these are scheduled to be contracted for during the coming year. It is not necessary that funds equal to the estimated cost of a procurement programme should be available in the budget when the proposal is initiated or even when the tendering process commences. Availability of funds is not a pre-requisite for processing acquisition proposals.

Normally, only 10 per cent of the contract value is paid on signing of a new contract and the rest of the payment is made in stages depending on the contractual milestones. Such payments are staggered over the entire delivery period.

Therefore, `12,000 crore should be good enough to sign contracts worth `1,20,000 crore, which is close to the total amount of contracts that have been getting concluded every year in the past.

In any case, it is not as if the funds for new schemes are tied to specific projects. Therefore, funds can be utilised in the order in which contracts are signed.

Additional funds will be required if the ministry improves its track record of signing new acquisition contracts. However, omission of even a token customary mention in the budget speech of the government’s resolve to provide additional funds, if the need arises, has raised the spectre of an acute resource crunch for signing new contracts.

Make in India in defence

In May last year, MoD had set up a Committee of Experts to recommend the outline of a policy on ‘Make in India’ in defence and the changes required to facilitate implementation of that policy. While the committee submitted its report within three months, MoD is yet to come out with the new policy and the related procedure. Not that these were expected to be unveiled by the finance minister in his budget speech but it was a good opportunity to set the stage for the new ‘Make in India’ policy by announcing a composite package comprising a customised tax structure and incentives for domestic production-cum-exports, based on the recommendations of the committee.

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DEFEXPO

Army urgently needs such Howitzers

A few changes have been announced in the custom and excise duties for capital goods, MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) of aircraft and the ship repair units but these do not add up to a specific composite package for the fledgling defence industry. An opportunity to set the tone for the impending policy and procedural changes to promote ‘Make in India’ in defence has been lost.

What is significant from the point of view of ‘Make in India’ in defence is that the budget head which catered for expenditure on prototype development under the prototype development has vanished from the DFG for Capital Outlay on Defence Services. Not that any expenditure was incurred from a paltry sum of `144.21 crore allocated in the BE 2015-16 but it required some explanation in the budget speech as to how expenditure on prototype development is going to be met in future. This was all the more necessary as the Defence Technology Fund announced by the finance minister in his 2014 budget speech has also not materialised.

Talking of the vanishing act, the budget head that catered for the Defence Rail Network has also vanished, probably because even the allocation of `500 crore made in BE 2015-16 never got utilised.

This is a setback to the government’s efforts to improve the infrastructure in the border areas.

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

The success of ‘Make in India’ in defence depends, among other things, on the ease-of-doing business. The finance minister talked at some length on the steps proposed to be taken to improve the eco-system but these are not specifically targeted at the defence sector.

What next?

In so far as the FY 2016-17 is concerned, the die is now cast. To be fair, striking a balance between revenue generation and competing demands from various sectors is never an easy task for any finance minister, especially if the government of the day also decides to honour the obligation cast on it by the Fiscal Responsibility and Management Act, 2003. These constraints were perhaps further exacerbated by slowing down of growth and the consequent need to boost the economy. Hopefully, government’s revenues will improve in the coming years, making it possible to allocate more funds for defence.

Meanwhile, the ball is now in MoD’s court. There is a lot it can do not just to ensure optimum utilisation of the allocated funds but also cleaning up the mess surrounding the existing policies and procedures related to issues as diverse as civil-military relations and defence production/ procurement, none of which would require budgetary support.

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PM Narendra Modi and the President of France, Francois Hollande, at the IndoFrench CEO's Forum, in Chandigarh PIB

DEFEXPO

THE HOME RUN

The high table ambition of India needs strong backing of the indigenised military, using arms and equipments manufactured within the country. This cannot be done by Public production units alone. The marriage of Public-Private is sure to produce a win-win situation for all, writes MAYANK SINGH

T

he Indian economy is calibrating its priorities and resources towards becoming an economic superpower. A prerequisite for any emerging nation to become a true power is to possess a well-developed defence industrial base.

Self-reliance in defence is essential for a

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nation for strategic as well as economic reasons. The vision to see India placed on the high table is a prerogative to give the needed direction.

Lack of vision has stunted our hard power and it is being countered with the new policy changes and attention being paid on indigenisation in the real sense.

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

The expected result will be an outcome of the strategic vision. Lack of military industrial base has crippled the defence preparedness. One of the most illustrative examples of how our defence preparedness has suffered is the fact that for 25 years, the Indian Army has not been able to replace the Bofors 155 howitzer

DEFEXPO

gun, a vital force multiplier in our artillery arsenal. This was because no Indian firm made similar weapons. Thus, the new policy of opening up the defence sector to private players will go a long way in ending such self-imposed handicaps imposed on our defence forces.

Therefore, defence preparedness holds the key to our future as a nation.

Success in warfare in our age is greatly aided by technological superiority, information systems and the quality and precision of weaponry. We owe it to our men and women in uniform to give them the best-of-class military hardware. Even after having such dedicated and motivated manpower India has the dubious distinction of being the biggest arms importer of the world. India allocates about 1.8 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) towards defence spending, of which 40 per cent is allocated to capital acquisitions. Only about 30 per cent of our equipment is manufactured in India, mainly by public sector undertakings.

India has great power ambitions, and with justification. We are seeking a per-

manent seat in the UN Security Council and India is projected to be the world’s third largest economy by 2024.

Yet, unlike all other major powers in the world, India remains the largest importer of defence hardware in the world.

Nearly three-quarters of all our critical defence equipment is sourced from abroad thus making it strategically vulnerable. In the latest data released by the Stockholm International Peace research Institute (SIPRI) India is shown to account for 15 per cent of the global arms import which is three times larger than its neighbours China and Pakistan.

What needs attention is the way China is gradually receding its dependence on imported arms where it once was at the top. This is because China has got its act together to assiduously build a stronger DIB and is now the third largest arms exporter. While Pakistan (41 per cent), Bangladesh (16 per cent) and Myanmar (12 per cent) are its three biggest clients, China also exported arms to 18 African countries.

India’s defence revival can only be

possible with the involvement of the private sector. But, this can happen when the stakeholders are clear of the future.

The Ministry of Defence is the sole customer for the defence industry in the country. Without long-term contracts, certainty of volumes, a quick selection process, transparency and fair payment terms, there will be little incentive for private players to invest the huge resources required for defence production.

Realising this, the present government has recently taken few initiatives.

Push for private participation, Increase in FDI cap to 49 per cent, Issue of list of equipment requiring Industrial licence and liberalising regulations. Also, re-vamping of offset policy and DPP in progress with notifications for strategy for export of defence products. To fulfil the gap of sophisticated technology India has forged strategic partnerships and collaborations with the US, Russia, France, Vietnam in defence production, technology transfers and exports.

The issues which have accounted for India’s slow progress towards self-reli-

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DEFEXPO

Tata Advanced Systems Chairman S. Ramadorai (third from left) and Tom Bell, senior vice president, Global Sales & Marketing, Boeing Defense, Space & Security (second from right) sign the agreement to create a joint venture. Boeing International President, Marc Allen (second from left), Boeing India President Pratyush Kumar (left) and Tata Advanced Systems CEO Sukaran Singh (right) attended the signing ceremony

ance are low production rate, minimal sure on the capital budget, necessary for innovation, lack of transparency and the modernisation. accountability, limited R&D capability In such a situation, fair competiand manufacturing expertise. The intion, public private collaboration and tentions may be good but time is of esforeign tie ups can infuse the necessary sence for any initiative to succeed. While dynamism and innovativeness required the Defence Procurement Procedure to catalyse defence manufacturing.

(DPP) 2013 provides stress on With a fine balance between the indigenous development, motives of profit driven priIndia’s current manufacvate industry and the naPublic Private turing base has limited tional security objectives Partnership is an capacity to support the can be achieved with effective contracting model identifying and selectimplementation of the improved policies and ing suitable, capable but, it cannot be successful to transform noble competent priunless a planned, structured and ideas into reality. vate partners. With the and transparent acquisition/ government busy sortThe success stories from countries like ing out corruption, red production system United States of America tapism and tweaking of exists (USA), United Kingdom the contracts for personal (UK) and South Korea which benefits the possibility of have successfully inducted and success of such ‘forward lookimplemented the PPP model in their ing’ PPP programmes has increased. defence industry to deliver defence soluPPP is an effective contracting modtions can help us. India is in a situation el but, it cannot be successful unless where it needs to modernise its armed a planned, structured and transparent forces on a large scale, but within budget acquisition/production system exists. constraints. In the light of the rising revThere are huge financial risks and delays enue budget, it is normal to see the presinvolved in large scale defence acquisi-

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April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

tion programmes that do not ensure timely return on investments to the equity based private companies. Uncertain demand patterns, changing user requirements, behaviour by the private partner, rate of technological change and high project costs lead to further complications in the pursuance of the partnership.

The biggest motivator for the private industry is the huge capital outflow towards the defence related arms and equipments. Large amount of foreign currency is flowing out which otherwise will be put within the country. India imports 65 per cent of its military hardware and software by spending `1,03,536 crore ($16.72 billion) in direct payments to foreign armament companies in the last five years. The calculations show that India has spent over $120 billion on arms acquisitions over the last 15 years and will spend another estimated $120 billion in the coming decade. This once finds its way into the Public-Private Partnership realm, India's ambitions towards self-dependence in the military sector will be a matter of time. But this time is crucial!

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INDIA 2016

DEFEXPO

‘AIRBUS’ PROCUREMENT FROM INDIA HAS GROWN 16 TIMES’ India provides Airbus the exacting quality standards it requires from its suppliers who have the skill-set and a willingness to develop, says PIERRE DE BAUSSET, President & Managing Director, Airbus Group India to Geopolitics Can you give us an update on your procurement from India?

Embedding Indian companies firmly in our global supply chain is one of the pillars of our business strategy in India and we have done really well. In 2015, we crossed US$500 million in annual procurement from India which is a 15% growth over 2014. This is a major feat considering that this is independent of any defence offset obligations. Don’t take this as an indication of the possible growth rate going forward but just to give you a sense, in the last decade our procurement from India has grown 16 times.

What makes you source from India?

Airbus Group sustains a very deep supply chain across the world and for us the important thing is to find suppliers who can meet our exacting quality standards, deliver on-time and on-cost consistently. This is what brought us to India.

Here we have a supplier base which has the skill-set, and a readiness to develop.

They have passion and ambition to be in the global league and that’s exactly what we want. We are helping our suppliers get to the level that is required in this particular industry.

Do you intend to set-up final assembly lines in India for military aircraft?

Yes, we have already proposed that to the government. As I said earlier, we have bid C295W medium transport aircraft as a replacement for IAF’s Avro fleet. If selected, together with Tata, we will setup a C295W final assembly line in India and a supplier base to feed it. In addition, we have partnered with Mahindra for helicopter manufacturing in India.

We are competing for the Naval MultiRole Helicopter (NMRH), Naval Utility

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Helicopter (NUH) and the Reconnaissance & Surveillance Helicopter (RSH) programmes. We are already laying the groundwork and are readying ourselves for fast track implementation in case the government accepts our proposal(s).

Any update on your joint venture with Mahindra Defence?

We signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mahindra Defence

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

to produce military helicopters in India in July last year. Since then we have made significant progress in forming the joint venture which will compete for several programmes such as the Naval Utility Helicopter (NUH), Naval Multi-Role Helicopter (NMRH) and the Reconnaissance & Surveillance Helicopter (RSH).

Our idea is to put India on the world map for military helicopter manufacturing. While we close the JV formation for-

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Airbus C295W

malities, Mahindra and us are engaged in identification of potential industrial sites, screening the existing local supply chain and defining initial work packages to be industrialised in India. We want to have the ground work ready for a quick take-off in case we are awarded a contract.

Space is an important part of Airbus Group’s portfolio. What are your activities in space in India?

We have a close collaboration with ISRO/ Antrix. We have jointly designed, developed, and built communication satellites in India for European operators.

Not only this, we use Indian launchers to put our satellites in orbit, the most recent examples being SPOT 6, SPOT 7 and DMC-3 while we have put a majority of the Indian INSAT communications satellites in orbit in association with Arianespace. We are working to expand our cooperation with India on the space side.

Can you give an update on your engineering presence in India?

Around 80 per cent of our nearly 500 direct employees in India are engineers.

And these people are engaged in core engineering work. This gives you an idea

of the value we see in the engineers that graduate from India’s top schools. At our centre in Bengaluru, we have engineers working on structural analysis, digital mock-up, modelling & simulation, avionics software design & testing tasks.

The Airbus Emerging Technologies & Concepts group which works on disruptive innovation and has teams in France & Germany is headed out of our office in Bengaluru. Then we have a special team – Airbus Group Innovations – focusing on R&D in areas such as big-data, highperformance computing, and signal processing. This team has applied for 2 patents in an ongoing project on ‘cognitive radars’.

Some industry watchers are sceptical about the concept of Make in India and see it as a slogan more than anything else. Do you think Make in India can really enhance indigenization and in what time-frame?

It is fitting that a country like India seeks self-sufficiency in its defence needs and yes, it is possible. However, the aerospace and defence industry requires huge investments in capability and capacity building, skilling the work-force, etc. These investments show results in due time. A robust aerospace and defence industry cannot be built over-

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April 2016

night. That is why initiatives like ‘Make in India’ are valuable, because they set a strategic direction and help all stakeholders such as foreign OEMs, domestic industry, end-users and government officials focus on the objective of building a domestic defence industrial base. Even countries with a mature defence industry do not build everything themselves.

They focus on key technologies which are important for their sovereignty and which are not available on the world market. For the rest, they trade.

Recently, you hired Ashish Saraf as your ‘Make in India’ officer. How do you think will he help your plans?

Yes, we have hired Ashish Saraf as VicePresident – Industry Development, Strategic Partnerships and Offsets. In this role, Ashish will drive our existing ‘Make in India’ initiatives and conceive new ones across all the three Divisions of Airbus Group India. His overall mandate is to increase our industrial footprint here.

He is the best man for the job because he is a dynamic Indian executive with experience in leading industrialization initiatives in the aerospace and defence sector. As you would probably know, prior to joining us he was the India head of the Tata Sikorsky joint venture.

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efence manufacturing came out of the stranglehold of Public Sector UndertakingsOrdnance Factories (PSUOF) monopoly with major liberalisation in 2001 with 100 per cent private sector participation and the recently announced 49 per cent in Foreign Direct Investment. Policy footprints such as the Defence Procurement Policy (DPP) 2013 have created a level playing field for the private sector. The Defence Production Policy 2011 aims at higher self reliance in critical technology and the Offsets.

Historically, India has been availing of technology through licence agreements from Russia and a smattering of Western countries. The exceptions are some of the missile systems, small arms and their ammunition and tanks where technology has been indigenously developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas with Final Operational Clearance (FOC) will hopefully be a major ‘Make in India’ platform. It has had lots of deadline issues but finally it is happening. It is important to see that ‘Make in India’ should not become assemble in India with no IPR [intellectual property rights] and design control and thereby perpetuating our dependence on the foreign suppliers.

There is no doubt that a lot is happening both at the policy and ground level.

But, it all is going to take time before it is seen on the ground. Vijay Singh, Senior Fellow with the Centre for Land Warfare Studies told Geopolitics that it will take

PM Modi along with RM Manohar Parrikar, CAS Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, CNS Admiral RK Dhowan, COAS Gen Dalbir Suhag, Defence Secretary G Mohan Kumar and FOC-in-C West Vice Admiral SPS Cheema MOD

There is no doubt that a lot is happening both at the policy and ground level to make ‘Make in India’ a success.

But, it all is going to take time before it is seen on the ground, writes MAYANK SINGH

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COUNTRY IS ABUZZ WITH ’MAKE IN INDIA‘ MANTRA April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

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time before the results start coming. “The steps are being taken today and on the basis of it the organisations, public and private, are making investments and are starting their work. Thus it will bear result only after a gap of few years.” He said.

Defence Manufacturing is high gestation activity and there is a long way to go.

The principal reason for this state of affairs is our poor design capability in critical technologies, inadequate investment in R&D and our inability to manufacture major sub-systems and components. The Transfer of Technology route has provided India with the know-how without providing the clue for know why. It is due to this that even for an upgrade of the systems, defence PSUs are critically dependent on the original licensors.

The steps in the right direction are being taken. India has started traversing the

route of joint development, joint testing ing India’s defence R&D establishments and trials, joint production, joint marketin particular, the Rama Rao Committee, ing and joint product improvement over which submitted a review report in 2008 the life cycle of the equipment. But to on the functioning of the DRDO, had sugbecome co-equal partner India will have gested the creation of a dedicated defence to bring its prowess on the table when it technology university on the lines of the comes countries with advanced technolones set up by the departments of atomic ogies. While the design and manufacturenergy and space. The Prime Minister ing component hold significance, the cost Narendra Modi reiterated during his Aero and importance of software is reaching to India 2015 address to “set up special unithe tune of fifty percent of the total cost versities … to cater to our defence indusof modern defence systems. It is here that try, just as we have done in atomic energy India can leverage its position. Thus, if a and space”. The defence manufacturers new weapons development project needs have also realised the issue of creating a 500 software engineers, where else but in pool of manpower to fulfill their requireIndia can such a high quality work force ment and in this regard companies have be found? However, India cannot leapalready started to recruit and train their frog to a higher plane virtually overnight. manpower. Inderjit Sial, President and The endeavor be on Identifying right managing Director of Textron while talkkind of human resource (HR). The coming with Geopolitics said, “We have set-up mittee of experts headed by former Home our system through which we are hiring Secretary Dhirendra Singh, appointed to people from India and send them to our suggest amendments to the Defence Proparent facility for six month training." curement Procedure 2013, submitted its taking a step further Airbus Consortium report on July 23, 2015. It came up with is running a programme by which it is various suggestion in order to give a fillip bringing together the Indian compnaies to defence production within the country. working in defence manufacturing with These include setting up a defence a plan to bring them to international manufacturing sector skill council, initistandard. Talking to Geopolitics, Ashish ating a joint MoD-industry sponsored Saraf, Vice President, Industry develinternship programme, a proviopment, Strategic Partnerships sion to enable skill developand Offsets Airbus Group Inment through the offset dia told, “We help the inter“We have setroute, setting up of tool ested companies to come up our system through rooms around defence together. Then we assess which we are hiring people what can be done from industry clusters, and a university programme our side in order to from India & send them to for military engineerbring them to our stanour parent facility for six ing. These are impordard.” He added that month training.” tant when it comes to this has proven succreating a healthy pool cessful as Airbus does Inderjit Sial, of engineers and other not bind them with conPresident & MD technicians, but more is tract to do business with Textron India required to be done to meet them only. The company is the critical requirements of expected to maintain sanctity high end manufacturing and R&D, and supply in the particular product which require a vast workforce nurtured which the India based companies are in various defence technology areas. In to manufacture for Airbus. Yet, capacity case of addressing HR matters affectbuilding takes time.

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SUCCESS STORY time taken in arriving to the 'Make in TbutheIndia' stage has been questioned often we have a success story in the case of

the Indian Navy.

The Indian Navy’s foray into indigenisation began over five decades ago with the design and construction of warships in the country. Today, forty eight of its stateof-the-art ships and submarines are under construction in Indian shipyards, both public and private, a clear reflection of the Indian Navy’s enduring support to India’s indigenous warship building endeavor. Today the success is seen in the form of aircraft carriers, destroyers, frigates and submarines with high content of it being developed within the country by the local manufacturers. Navy involved the Public Sector Undertakings right from the planning stage and the biggest success came with the launch of the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier in August 2013.

The hull of the Indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant \was made of indigenous steel.

The warship-grade steel which was imported from Russia will now come from State run Steel Authority of India (SAIL). This will used to construct the latest seven warships. Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE) in Kolkata would be building three advanced stealth frigates under the Navy's Project 17A, while the rest will be built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd. The order is in line of Make-in-India initiative.

RM Manohar Parrikar and CNS Admiral RK Dhowan releasing the Indian Naval Indigenisation Plan MOD

has also taken note of the discrimination towards the defence manufacturing sector vis-à-vis other sectors such as power, telecom, refinery, etc., which enjoy a host of tax benefits and other incentives. One of the glaring discriminations meted out to the local entities is in the domain of offsets, according to the Expert Committee. It has observed that the current taxation policy prevents the development of in-house system integration capacity through the offset route as foreign companies do not find it cost-competitive.

In order to build the defence manuTalking on the issue, Laxman Behera, Refacturing base there are other steps also search fellow, Institute for Defence Studto be taken and one of them is Conducive ies and analyses pointed out that a level Financial Framework. playing field is a must if we want the loDhirendra Singh Committee cal manufacturers to compete with has laid much emphasis on those who are already well escreating a conducive fitablished. Laxman says, “We nancial framework for need to understand that The overall the local industry, parDirendra Singh Commitatmosphere seems to have ticularly the private tee talks about deliveracquired a sense towards sector, to do business ies by the Indian Offset in the defence secmaking the 'Make In India' a Partners (IOP) which tor. The committee be covered unsuccess right from the Prime may has taken note of the der the list of ‘declared Minister to the industry concerns voiced by goods’ and also given the private sector on the ‘deemed export’ stabigwigs, all are voicing various aspects of taxes, tus, which will provide the same sentiments duties, payments terms, necessary incentive to foster exchange rate variation, and local capability in the high-end cost of capital, which render its spectrum of defence manufacturproducts uncompetitive vis-à-vis the ing. At the same time, the Committee has products of public sector companies as also suggested various other incentives to well as foreign vendors. The Committee the local industry including the benefits

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of 300 per cent weighted tax deduction to the Industry’s for its contribution towards ‘Make’ projects.” Apart from policy changes few old projects have started bearing fruits. Indian navy is the best example of the way indigenisation is coming off the age (see the box). Light Combat Aircraft Tejas is also soon to be inducted.

Fire Power Demonstration exercise Iron Fist 2016 will be a reflection of what is happening in Make in India. Apart from Tejas, Light Combat Helicopter will also be participating in the firing exercise. Indigenously made Aakash missile will also be fired.

The overall atmosphere seems to have acquired a sense towards making the ’Make In India’ a success right from the Prime Minister to the industry bigwigs, all are voicing same sentiments. Also, the beaureacracy is geared to take quick decisions under the clear instructions coming from Raksha Mantri Manohar Parrikar.

Indian Corporate have come up with joint ventures and have also submitted their make in India plan to the Minsitry of Defence. A senior officer informed Gepolitics that vetting of the plans submitted by the companies is at an advance stage.

The atmosphere is definitely positive but it needs to be seen before we can say that Indian Defence manufacturing sector has broken its old shackles to compete with the best in the world. Capacity building takes time and defence manufacturing is definitely a long gestation exercise.

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While making India a “Design, Development, Manufacture and Export Hub”, it is necessary to first take up projects that contribute directly to enhancing defence preparedness by making up critical deficiencies in weapons, ammunition and equipment, argues GURMEET KANWAL

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o country that is not substantially self-reliant in defence production can aspire to become a dominant military power in its region and, in due course, on the world stage. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has selected ‘Make in India’ as a key feature of his policy for economic development.

While addressing investors during his visit to the United Kingdom in November 2015, he once again invited them to come and make in India. The aim of indigenisation of defence manufacture should be to make India a design, development, manufacture, export and servicing hub for weapons and defence equipment by 2025.

During the UPA-II regime, the Defence Minister, A K Antony, had repeatedly exhorted the armed forces to procure their weapons and equipment from indigenous sources. However, it was not well appreciated by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) bureaucracy that the government needed to drastically reorient its own procurement and production policies for indigenisation, or else the import content of defence acquisitions would continue to remain over 80 per cent.

It is axiomatic that the country’s procurement of weapons platforms and other equipment as part of its plans for defence modernisation, must simultaneously lead to a transformative enhancement in the defence technology base and manufacturing prowess. In case the

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INDIGENISATION OF DEFENCE PROCUREMENT

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measures required to upgrade the defence technology base are not instituted, defence procurement will remain mired in disadvantageous buyer-seller, patronclient relationships like that with the erstwhile Soviet Union and now Russia.

While India manufactured Russian fighter aircraft, tanks and other equipment under license, the Russians never actually transferred technology to India. Whatever India procures now must be procured with a transfer of technology (ToT) clause being built into the contract, even if it means having to pay a higher price.

Though it seeks to publicly encourage public-private partnerships, privately the government continues to retain its monopoly on research and development and defence production through the DRDO, the ordnance factories and the

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

defence PSUs (DPSUs). The Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP), which was first formulated in 2006 and is now in its sixth edition, was amended in April 2013 to reflect the new thinking on ‘buying Indian’. However, the changes were not far reaching and, in effect, the process still favours the defence PSUs over the private sector. Defence MNCs are allowed to bring in only up to 49 per cent FDI as against 74 per cent for non-defence sector joint ventures. Though the procurement of weapons and equipment worth more than `300 crore from MNCs has been linked with 30-50 per cent offsets, it is doubtful whether the economy is ready to absorb such high levels of offsets.

On May 1, 2015, the Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar, appointed a 10-member committee headed by former Home

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Among others, the DPP document is still too long and must be cut down to not more than 12 to 15 pages.

Secretary Dhirendra Singh, to review the defence procurement policies and procedures and to recommend fresh guidelines with a view to implementing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s exhortation to ‘Make in India’. The review was utilised to learn from the experience gained in the implementation of the current version of the DPP and many pragmatic recommendations were made by the committee. The Defence Minister has begun to implement its recommendations in earnest. For example, the policy on offsets has been reviewed and several pragmatic amendments have been made. Approval of necessity (AON) has been accorded to defence acquisition projects worth approximately `100,000 crore, mostly for make in India projects. However, many important issues remain to be resolved.

own Design Bureaus to inculcate a technology development culture. The armed forces should be given funding support to undertake research geared towards Acquisition of Defence Technology the improvement of in-service equipAs has been noted, the Soviet Union and ment with a view to enhancing operaRussia did not transfer any weapons tional performance and for the purpose technology to India. For that matter, no of product improvement during the lifetechnology has been transferred by US cycle of weapons systems and defence companies either despite $10-12 billion equipment. They should initiate R&D worth of weapons acquisitions in the projects in their training institutions. At recent past. However, in the purchases present very little innovation is taking made from the ToT was not part of the place within the Services, perhaps with contract as India had not insisted on it. the singular exception of the navy.

Defence technology is proprietary; the Since its inception in 1958, the DRDO selling company’s government must be has achieved some spectacular sucwilling to allow the transfer and the buycesses like the missile development proer must be prepared to pay for it. gramme, but also has many failures to its The essence of all efforts to achieve name. Programmes like the Light Comself-reliance lies in acquiring state-ofbat Aircraft (LCA) and the Main Battle the-art defence technology through Tank (MBT) Arjun have suffered inordioriginal research or by gaining access to nate delays and time and cost overruns. it through ToT. No country will give India However, to its credit, the DRDO worked strategic technologies, such as nuclear under extremely restrictive technology warhead and ballistic missile technolodenial regimes and with a rather low ingies, know-how on building nucleardigenous technology base. At present powered submarines and ballistic missile there are far too many DRDO laboratodefence technology (BMD), among othries. There is a need to rationalise the jusers. It is the responsibility of the DRDO to tification for these and close down those conduct original R&D into strategic techwhose work can be outsourced to the prinologies and this must continue. vate sector. The DRDO must scrupulousFor the development of hi-tech ly stay out of production. In 11 years, the weapons platforms like fighter-bomber DRDO budget has increased from `3,443 aircraft and sophisticated defence equipto `13,594 crore for FY 2016-17, that is ment like over-the-horizon (OTH) radars, about five per cent of the defence budthere should be no need to reinvent the get. This level of funding for R&D must wheel. These should be developed jointreflect in the results achieved. ly in conjunction with India’s strategic A few years ago, the P Rama Rao compartners. The route adopted should be mittee had gone into the functioning of to form joint venture (JV) companies bethe DRDO. The committee had asked the DRDO to identify eight to 10 crititween Indian defence PSUs (DPSUs) and cal areas that best fit its existing human defence MNCs or private sector comparesource pool, technological threshold nies and MNCs. In these cases, the role and established capacity to take of the DRDO and the Services HQ up new projects. Its recomshould be mainly supervisory mendations must be expeand to act as facilitators.

The essence ditiously implemented The design and deof all efforts to achieve after scrutiny by the velopment of low-tech Defence Technology items should be outself-reliance lies in Board headed by the sourced completely acquiring state-of-the-art Defence Minister. The to the private sector, with the DRDO monidefence technology through inputs of the Services HQ must be taken into toring progress of the original research or by account. This multiprojects. In fact, some gaining access to faceted approach will R&D projects should be help to raise India’s techoutsourced to universiit through ToT nological threshold over ties and IITs to involve the the next two decades by an institutions of higher learning order of magnitude. in this important national endeavour. Also, DRDO should invite and FDI in Defence Production and Offsets put in place a system for the evaluation Policies of project proposals from individual enAt the policy level, many contentious istrepreneurs. sues remain to be resolved. The starting Services HQ should establish their

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point for the acquisition of new weapons systems and other defence equipment are General Staff Qualitative Requirements (GSQRs – army term). It is often alleged that the Services ask for the moon when they formulate GSQRs. The services, naturally, strive to acquire the best. The MoD should ensure that representatives of the DRDO are made available to the Services’ teams assembled to formulate GSQRs. If there is still a disagreement between the desirable and the achievable, the DTB should act as the final arbiter. However, in order to avoid a situation where no bidder qualifies during trials, the Chiefs of Staff should be empowered to approve deviations from the GSQRs for single-Service acquisitions and the Chairman, CoSC, for tri-Service acquisitions.

The privatisation of most of the ordnance factories and some of the defence PSUs should be considered on priority.

Publicly owned manufacturing facilities are always inefficient and seldom meet the laid down production targets. They also lack dynamism and normally develop a risk-averse professional culture.

Today it is well accepted that it is not the business of the government to be in business. The private sector has shown its readiness and technological proficiency to take up the production of weapons and equipment designed and developed by the DRDO and must be trusted to deliver.

Though FDI in defence manufacture has been increased from 26 to 49 per cent, this is still not attractive enough for the MNCs to invest in India. Given the time and effort that goes into locating a joint venture partner, the risks involved and the fact that they are expected to bring in proprietary technology, the MNCs prefer to have a controlling stake. This policy should be reviewed by the government, but adequate regulatory measures should be built in to guard against the pitfalls of permitting majority stake.

While exports of defence equipment have been permitted, the procedures for according the approvals that are necessary and the regulatory framework need to be streamlined.

The offsets policy has not worked to India’s advantage. The defence industry’s ability to absorb hi-tech offsets is still limited. Absorbing 50 or even 30 per cent offsets is extremely difficult at present. It may be more prudent to consider offsets only in cases where the benefits expected to accrue will outweigh the additional costs and Indian JV partners can absorb the technology that is brought

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Indigenously built LCA Tejas lands while an LCH awaits

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in. In November 2015, the government restored 'services' as eligible offsets for defence contracts, opening up a business potential of over $3 billion in immediate projects. The government also added the development of software and engineering design to the list of eligible offsets, but limited it to 20 per cent of the project cost. This will bring some relief to the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and software industries, as also companies involved in the upgradation of military systems and life extension projects of defence equipment.

Streamlining Production

The inability to speedily conclude major defence contracts to enhance national security preparedness in the face of growing threats and challenges, exemplifies the government’s challenges in grappling with systemic flaws in the procurement procedures and processes.

Despite having promulgated the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) and the Defence Production Policy (DPrP), the government has been unable to reduce bureaucratic red tape and speed up ac-

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

quisitions.

From the submission of a Statement of Case for a new acquisition to according approval in principle (Acceptance of Necessity – AON) takes six months to one year. Then the case goes into RFI (request for information) and RFP (request for proposals) stages and prolonged negotiations with the selected bidder. The actual conclusion of the contract takes up to three years. The inconclusive negotiations for the Rafale fighter aircraft are an example. The delivery of the contracted item begins two to three years later.

Even according to the current DPP, this is excessive and must be cut down to less than one-third. The DPB should decide on a cut-off date for the conclusion of the acquisition contract and ensure accountability.

There is a need for pre-RfP consultations to avoid incidents of ‘no bid’.The policy of conducting trials on ‘no cost-no commitment’ (NCNC) basis, in which the prospective bidder has to bear the entire expense of transporting the equipment to the trials locations in India, providing crews and ammunition and organising

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logistics support for the crew, has put off many bidders. Like elsewhere in the world, the MoD should bear the cost of trials.

At present, the services find quality control to be grossly unsatisfactory.

The Directorate of Quality Assurance (DGQA), the organisation responsible, comes under the Defence Secretary. The DGQA must be transferred to HQ Integrated Defence Staff so that it is directly answerable to the Chairman, CoSC. Quality assurance during production also needs to improve. Close supervision during manufacture would help to avoid time and cost overruns. As the Services are the main stakeholders, armed forces officers should be positioned in manufacturing facilities for supervision.

The government should examine the feasibility of establishing Defence Economic Zones (DEZs) to provide incentives for indigenous defence manufacture. There is an inescapable need to establish an Institute of Defence Acquisition under the CoSC. The US has a Defence Acquisition University where all officers nominated for posts dealing with

defence procurement are trained. As an example it would be pertinent to mention that the ‘life cycle concept’ of evaluating defence equipment for acquisition was completely alien to the armed forces till very recently. In fact, an exchange programme should be instituted with defence acquisition universities and institutions in countries from which India acquires the bulk of its defence equipment.

Impact on Defence Preparedness

The procurement of defence equipment is an extremely important facet of preparedness for future conflict. Defence preparedness is a function of the training and morale of the combatants, the suitability of the force structure, the efficacy of the weapons with which the force is armed, the adequacy of the supporting equipment, the availability of the right quantities of ammunition and explosives, and the serviceability state of the war machinery. Due to critical deficiencies in several of these elements, the present state of defence preparedness – particularly that of the army – leaves a lot to be desired.

More than anything else, the former

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On May 1, 2015, the Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar, appointed a 10-member committee headed by former Home Secretary Dhirendra Singh, to review the defence procurement policies and procedures and to recommend fresh guidelines with a view to implementing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s exhortation to ‘Make in India’.

Army Chief, Gen V K Singh’s leaked letter to the Prime Minister and the CAG’s reports of 2012 and 2015, revealed that the state of defence preparedness is a cause for serious concern. Parliament’s Standing Committee on Defence has noted these developments with alarm. Attributing the deficiencies to ‘hollowness’ in the defence procurement system, Gen V K Singh reportedly wrote in his letter to the PM, “The state of the major (fighting) arms i.e. Mechanised Forces, Artillery, Air Defence, Infantry and Special Forces, as well as the Engineers and Signals, is indeed alarming.”

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The major issues raised by the former COAS include the following: the army’s entire tank fleet is ‘devoid of critical ammunition to defeat enemy tanks,’ the air defence equipment is ‘97% obsolete and it doesn’t give the deemed confidence to protect…from the air,’ the infantry is crippled with ‘deficiencies of crew served weapon’ and lacks ‘night fighting’ capabilities, the elite Special Forces are ‘woefully short of ‘essential weapons,’ and there are ‘large-scale voids’ in critical surveillance.

Military modernisation has two major facets: the replacement of obsolete and obsolescent weapons and equipment with modern ones, which results in increasing combat effectiveness; and, the qualitative upgradation of combat capabilities through the acquisition and induction of force multipliers. As the defence budget is invariably much smaller than the requirement, military planners face a major dilemma: how to improve operational preparedness while simultaneously making concerted efforts to modernise. Logically, operational preparedness must take precedence over modernisation. The art of leadership lies in finding an optimum balance so that all efforts that are made to enhance operational preparedness also contribute substantively to modernisation.

Hence, while implementing the policy to make in India, it is necessary to first take up projects that contribute directly to enhancing defence preparedness by making up critical deficiencies in weapons, ammunition and equipment. When

DEFEXPO

per cent immediately and to 74 per cent the funds are limited, the acquisition of in due course to make it attractive for long-term force multipliers must take MNCs. However, no MNC that is unable lower priority over the short-term needs to provide transfer of technology – eiof defence preparedness. However, those ther due to the home country’s restricprojects that have a long gestation peritive laws or due to proprietary considerod can be given some funds for the early ations – should be considered for future stages of the project where the costs are defence acquisitions. low; e.g. setting up a production As the largest importer line and putting in place the of arms and equipment in logistics chain for sourcing The art of the world, India has the raw materials. leadership lies in finding advantage of buyers’ India cannot leapfrog to a higher defence an optimum balance so that clout. This clout must be exploited fully to technology trajectory all efforts that are made further India’s quest virtually overnight. to enhance operational for self-sufficiency in Transforming a low the indigenous protechnology base to a preparedness also duction of weapons higher plane will need contribute substantively and equipment. The time, patience and immediate requirement large-scale capital into modernisation is to think big in keeping vestment. It will also need with the country’s growing strong support across the poeconomic clout and to plan for litical spectrum. In the interim the future with a level of confidence that period, inevitably, there will be a further policy planners have not dared to exhibit dip in defence preparedness. This shortbefore. In 10 to 15 years India must begin term weakness in capacity building will to acquire most of its defence equipment need to be carefully weighed against needs from Indian companies—with or long-term gains that will be strategic in without a joint venture with an MNC. nature. The risk involved will require fine There is an urgent need to cut red tape, political judgement backed by sound improve time-lines for the conclusion military advice. of contracts, ensure better quality conBuyers’ Clout trol, involve armed forces officers more The defence procurement process must effectively at every stage of the acquisition and introduce greater transparency provide a level playing field between dein the acquisition process. Only then will fence PSUs and private Indian compathe era of self-reliance in defence acquinies forming joint ventures with MNCs sition truly dawn on the country. It will where necessary. The amount of FDI that be a difficult quest, but not one that a MNCs can bring in must be raised to 49 great nation cannot realise.

To enable the armed forces to fight PM Modi and win the nation’s future wars in an during the reera of strategic uncertainty, the governlease of 'Make in ment must give a major boost to their India' brochure modernisation drive. The modernisation in 2015 plans of the armed forces require substantially higher budgetary support than what has been forthcoming over the last decade, the speeding up of the weapons and equipment acquisition process and the simultaneous upgradation of recruitment standards and, consequently, personnel skills so as to be able to absorb high-tech weapon systems. Doctrine, organisation and training standards will need to keep pace with technological modernisation to make the Indian armedforces a force to be reckoned with in the 21st century.

The author is a Distinguished Fellow, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) and former Director, Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), New Delhi

PIB

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DEFEXPO

L&T EXPERT IN INSTALLATION, INTEGRATION AND COMMISSIONING OF COMPLEX EQUIPMENT AND SYSTEMS JD PATIL, Senior Vice President & Head Defence & Aerospace, Larsen and Toubro, talks about the company’s capability of building front line warships and await opportunities to undertake construction of frontline warships One of the biggest questions in the minds of warship building watchers in the country is on Project 75I and who will win this tender. L&T was one of the shipyards that were evaluated. What do you think will make you a favourite to be part of this project?

L&T has been evaluated on multiple occasions over past one and a half decade and found competant for submarine construction. L&T’s state-of-the-art infrastructure, In-house technology for construction, workshop design and engineering capabilities and track record of construction distinguishes L&T from other Pvt sector Shipyards in India and positions L&T as a first choice for upcoming P75I programs.

L&T has track record in submarine construction through building of India’s first nuclear power submarine, INS Arihant, which is much more complex than a conventional submarine. L&T has developed certain unique technologies and expertise,in-house,for distortion free manufacturing in Quenched and Tempered submarine grade steels for pressure hull, outer hull, major structures, spherical bulkheads, equipment installation, outfitting and systems integration in dense layouts. Besides, L&T has also built track record in design and development of a range of platform specificequipment and systems for submarines including weapon complex.

L&T has two yards, one at Hazira and mega shipyard at Katupalli. Hazira Yard has conventional Slipwayswith side-ways launching facility, 1000 Ton / 500 Ton lift capacity covered (multiple) workshops, fitting-out Jetties and Ro-Ro facilities. The mega shipyard at Kattupalli equipped with shiplift of 21050T payload capacity, designed and built in-house, and associated Covered workshops, Dry berths and Wet berths. The covered workshops at Katupalli Yard have been designed to construct new build ships and submarines completely and then trans-

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fer them to shiplift for launching using a ship/submarine transfer system. This infrastructure enables simultaneous construction of multiple submarines with high productivity.

L&T has a dedicated Submarine Design Centre, specialised in total digital design, developing digital mock up integrated with Virtual Reality, PLM and ERP, in line with global best standards.

tion of a Floating Dock for the Navy was signed in May 2015. The vessel hasbeen designed in-house by our Warship Design Centre. The delivery period is 30 months. Production of hull blocks has already commenced and the program is on schedule.

The vessel is being fitted with completely automated ballast system and is capable of multi docking.

In June 2015, you bagged the order for building floating dock for the Indian Navy.

Will you share the work that has happened on this project till date, where are you building the FDN and what is the specialty of this platform, and what's the delivery schedule for this project?

In the last 10 years, L&T has building capacities and capabilities for a variety of products and systems required for warship building by participating in projects of other defence shipyard like MDL, GRSE and GSL. Has this experience gained from these projects enabled you to think of building 100 per cent capacities and capability

The contract for design and construc-

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

DEFEXPO

Indigenous Twin Tube Torpedo Lanucher (ITTL)

to independently handle warship building projects? When can we expect L&T to build entire warships and become a competitor to the PSU shipyards for full projects?

If you look at the trend of Indian Navy’s procurements over the last 15 years, over dependence on Public sector Yards is clearly evident. Out of ~1.5L Cr of platform-level contracts placed since 2010, ~93% of the orders have been placed on DPSU yards and only the balance ~7% have been ordered on Private Shipyards.

The argument of lack of capabilities in Private sector is overly generalised without identifying specific gaps with a clear plan to bridge. Under such nomination regime, how do we expect Private Shipyards to develop and sustain capabilities?

As can be seen in recent times the MoD is looking at things differently and we do have programs like LPD, ASW Crafts etc put in competitive mode with four subsequent shipbuilding programs to follow.

With strong in-house design and development capability, L&T has built a wide spectrum of products in Marine Engineering domain, Naval Weapon launchers, Fire Control Systems, Sensor Systems, Electrical Systems, Control Systems, etc., and these have been customised and fitted on board a number of warships. We thus provide a high level of expertise in installation, integration and commissioning of complex equipment and systems aboard the warships constructed by DPSU Yards as their trusted Tier 1 partners.

Besides, L&T has already delivered to Coast Guard, 28 Interceptor Boats,capable of chasing marine vessels at 45 kts. These are fully designed and built in house and produced in marine grade aluminium alloys with sizeable robotisation in construction. Construction

of balance 26 Interceptor Boats is in progress. L&T is also executing a contract for design and construction of 07 Offshore Patrol Vessels for Coast Guard and Floating Dock for Navy.

L&T has a modern Warship Design Centre equipped with high end design tools and we have done in-house design of Interceptor Boats, Offshore Patrol Vessels and Floating Dock. Besides, L&T’s Kattupalli shipyard, specially designed for modular construction of warships and submarines is yet another enabling factor.

With all the above differentiators, L&T is capable of building front line warships and await opportunities to undertake construction of frontline warships.

Does the warship building facilities that L&T possesses also have the capability to perform maintenance, repair and refit of warships? Are you working towards taking the load of repair and refit work on warship off the naval repair yards?

Yes, L&T’s Kattupalli shipyard is specially designed for undertaking new construction as well as repairs and refits of warships and submarines. As explained,the Yard has a ship lift of 21050 Tcapacity, with associated dry berths and wet berths to enable simultaneous repair of multiple vessels. Dedicated repair shops are available in immediate neighbourhood of dry berths for independently undertaking equipment repair and renewal of structures / piping / cabling / trunking. L&T’s experience in manufacture of marine engineering systems, weapon & electrical systems provide necessary expertise in repair of complex systems.

The ship lift also provides for immediate / exigent docking facility for undertaking urgent repairs. Unlike dry dock,

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April 2016

the ship lift allows far quicker cycle times to dock and undock a ship in few hours.

If the work emergency repair is expected to lengthen the ship is transfrred to dry berth freeing the ship lift for the next docking cycle.

We have already undertaken refit / repairs of dozens of vessels, both naval as well as commercial. We look forward to undertake more and more refits of CG and Naval vessels and adding repair / refit capacity to our overloaded Naval Dockyards.

Have you arrived at an arrangement with the Adani group on the Kattupalli shipyard?

Why would this arrangement be better from L&T's point of view?

L&T had built an integrated Port complex at Katupalli in addition to the Shipyard.

This facilitated construction of the mega shipyard in an efficient way.

The operations of the Port complex has been recently handed over to Adani Group as they are better suited to operate ports than L&T. With this arrangement the national asset in the form of Port Complex is better utilised and both L&T and Adani’s work in their own areas of core competence, freeing L&T’s resources to focus on design, engineering and construction, we know best.

Could you tell our readers the challenges you faced to make the K9 Korean gun suitable for Indian conditions?

The K-9 Howitzer is world’s most matured Tracked self-propelled Gun system with more than 1200 gun systems having been delivered. L&T and the Korean Partner Samsung Techwin (now Hanwa Corporation) could clearly see that to meet the Indian program requirements / specifications completely, some of the major

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BLT T72 Bridging Systems

subsystems were required to be changed.

We also had to bear in mind that with L&T as program lead, our team had to achieve >50% indigenous content at program level. These changes were taken up

by L&T with a joint program team with clear work share distribution.

The major challenge was to identify, build and successfully integrate various key systems such as Thermal Imaging sights for gunner and driver; Inertial Navigation System, Muzzle Velocity Radar, Auxiliary Power Unit, Air Conditioning System, Instant Fire Detection and Suppression System and NBC Sensing & Protection System as per Indian Army’s specific requirements. L&T successfully realised and integrated these systems in time bound manner and demonstrated performance to Indian Army’s full satisfaction during user evaluations in Pokhran.

The K9 THUNDER Korean Gun was designed to handle and fire only NATO ammunition whereas Indian Army’s requirement was to firea wide variety of ammunitiona majority types being nubbed. In order to adapt the K-9 gun to fire Indian inventory of ammunition, L&T indigenously and developed a ballistic solution and fire control computers to enable firing of Indian nubbed ammunition. We also carried out extensive trials by firing several hundred shells to validate the fire control solution and range tables evolved from these solution algorithms. Later the Gun system was successfully demonstrated to Indian Army during user trials in Pokhran, Rajasthan

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in the summer of 2013. For the same reasons of wide variety of ammunition, L&T also designed & developed a modified ammunition loading system.

Lastly, to flawlessly prove a product in Indian desert conditions during summers where the ambient temperatures stay around 50°C with higher temperatures under the steel armour was the BIGGEST challenge which L&T was able to successfully encounterto complete satisfaction of the user, resulting in a realising Desert gun (K-9 Vajra-T) perfectly suiting to extreme desert conditions.

What's your capacity in terms of missile making in the country? What's the level of your participation in weapons making in the country?

L&T began its journey into the Defence sector in mid-eighties with India’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Program. Since that time, L&T has been associated with various Missile programs as a trusted Development-partner to DRDO and Production-partner to DPSUs for missile systems.

We successfully demonstrated capability to conceptualise, design, develop and realise various elements of Weapon systems such as the Weapon Launch Platforms, Radar Systems, Fire Control Systems, Command & Control systems, Power generation systems and subsystems likeMissile propulsion Airframes,Solid Rocket Motor Casings, Canisters, Containers, Control Surfaces, electromechanical sub-systems, Gyros etc. Our expertise extends beyond manufacturing

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

of high strength steels to include exotic non-ferrous metals and advanced Composites.

L&T has participated in Akash Program right from its development phase having developed the manufacturing processes for manufacturing of motor casings using a range of materials. Today, as Akash system has entered into serial production, L&T is a partner to BDL for production of integrated Propulsion Airframe. We have set up dedicated production facility and infrastructure at our Coimbatore facility for series production and, till date, we have delivered more than 550 Akash propulsion airframe sets to BDL. We have stabilised production processes for serial manufacture, scaled up operations and achieved sustained delivery rate of > a missile-a-day and have put in place infrastructure and resources to ramp up the rate of production further to meet future requirements of the Indian Armed Forces and await further orders.

L&T has also been a long-standing development partner to BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited (BAPL) for development of 18 subsystems for the Missile including Airframe sections and Launch canistersusing advanced Composites and exotic metals. We undertake serial production of composite airframe sections for BRAHMOS missile at our Vadodara facility and have built scalability.

We are well geared up to serially producesubsystems for Missile Programs such as Astra, MRSAM, LRSAM, LLQRM, HSTD, etc.

How much of your revenue comes from your C4I products? What's the level of your participation in the Indian armed forces' C4I programmes.

Being a large engineering conglomerate L&T does not report segment level revenues. Suffices to say that L&T has been shortlisted in both the ‘Make’ programs – viz. Tactical Communication System and Battlefield Management system – announced so far in the field of C4I. L&T has successfully built and commissioned a VLF (Very Low Frequency) communication station for long distance communication with submarines. L&T has also built a secure communication network for the Indian Navy and were certified with SAG level 4 certification, to emerge as the only Indian Private sector Company to attain this unique distinction. L&T’s C4I product portfolio also includes a variety of subsystems for networking solutions including Modems, Radio Relays, SATCOM systems, Bulk Encryption Units and Software Defined Radios to name a few.

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‘OUR UNIQUE MINI-UAS HAVE PROVED EXCEPTIONAL OPERATIONAL CAPABILITIES’ Talking about the IAI's established working relationships in India for more than 25 years, ELI ELFASSI, Corporate Vice President for India Operations, covers the whole gamut of trials, local tie-ups, and proposals India has been a consistent customer to IAI over the last couple of decades now.

Could you explain how and why is India so much important for IAI's business?

IAI Ltd. is Israel’s largest aerospace and Defence Company and a globally recognised technology and innovation leader, specialising in developing and manufacturing advanced, state-of-theart systems for sea, air, space, land, cyber and homeland security. Since 1953, the company has provided advanced technology solutions to government and commercial customers worldwide including: satellites, missiles, weapon systems and munitions, unmanned and robotic systems, radars, C4ISR and more. IAI also designs and manufactures business jets and aero structures, performs overhaul and maintenance on commercial aircraft and converts passenger aircraft to refueling and cargo configurations.

Being the Israel’s largest aerospace and defence company, IAI established working relationships in India for more than 25 years. During this period IAI supplied Strategic systems to the Indian armed forces and other agencies including the co-deployment of the Barak systems with the DRDO. IAI invests a lot of efforts to expand the collaboration with government agencies and with local industries for so many years in different projects. The nature of systems and the large scale of projects and collaborations is very important to IAI and definitely we intend to support our customers for many years ahead.

IAI and India's DRDO have had recent successes on Barak-8 air defence systems.

Is there a timeline worked out on its production, have number of systems required been decided and the induction timelines?

Barak-8 is an advanced air and missile defence system which provides ultimate protection against a variety

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of airborne threats, for both land and naval scenarios. It was designed jointly with the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) in India and is in use with both the Israel Defence Force (IDF) and the Indian defence forces. The system includes an advanced Phased Array digital radar, command and control, vertical launchers and missiles carrying a highly-advanced seeker. Barak-8, with its naval and land versions, is a member of the elite club of the most successful Israeli military developments in the world.

The development of the system is reflected in its innovation, creativity and its remarkable personal dedication of all those involved in the matter.

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has conducted two successful tests of the Barak-8 Air & Missile Defence System in India. The operational capabilities of the Barak-8 were successfully demonstrated in both trials held by the Indian Navy and completed a series of consecutive tests which reinforce the impressive operational capabilities of the system.

These recent trials benefit both the Indian and Israeli navies, Barak-8 System is the most advanced of its kind, reflecting IAI's resilience, advanced and groundbreaking capabilities. The most recent tests were very successful and marked a significant milestone in the development of the system and its becoming operational. We see the Barak-8 Air and Missile Defence System as a major growth-engine for the company in the coming years. The project is in advance stage and we are coordinating the milestones ahead with our partners in India.The important vision of ‘Make in India’ is being made fully effective by this joint effort with the DRDO and for so many years.

It is a year since you joined hands with India's Alpha Design for Bird Eye UAS sys-

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

tem production. What has been the progress on this tie-up? What has been the development on Alpha Design carrying out a part of integration of the Bird Eye UAS?

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and India's Alpha Design Technologies have signed a teaming agreement for the production and marketing of mini-Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) in India.

The IAI-Alpha cooperation includes IA’s Bird-Eye 400 and Bird-Eye 650 mini UAS as well as other mini-unmanned aerial systems, to accommodate the operational needs of Indian customers. Production of the systems will take place in India, while the marketing will be a joint effort of the two companies.

Integration of additional applications and subsystems will be performed by

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HERON-1 CLOCKS 70,000 OPERATIONAL FLIGHT HOURS

I

Alpha in India with IAI’s support.PotenEndurance (MALE) UAS for strategic and tactical missions, The Heron is the tial customers in India include security leading Multi-Role MALE UAS in its agencies and all defence organisations class. Combat proven with hundreds including police forces, coastguard and of thousands of flight hours, serving Border Security Forces (BSF). more than 20 HERON customers. Best IAI's teaming agreement with Alpha flight performance and payload capacfollows India’s policy for “Buy and make ity Satellite Communication (SATCOM) India”. Our unique mini-UAS have Proven high MTBF/MTBL and low life proved exceptional operational capacycle cost Proven in extreme weather – bilities. IAI’s knowledge in producing cold, hot, humid, icy, snowy, and high the world's most advanced and innoaltitude runway vative unmanned aerial systems, with The HERON main features and caAlpha’s know-how and access to users pabilities are: will create a strong, fruitful partnership for the benefit of India’s defence • Safe, reliable and easy operation and security organisations.

• Simultaneously 6 sensors use The important vision of ‘Make in capability India’ is being made fully ef• Satellite communifective by this joint effort. cation for extended range Alpha will meet the huge IAI invest a (SATCOM) market in India and lot of efforts to • Two proven simulwill examine further, expand the collaboration taneous Automatic later exports by Alpha, through IAI to various with government agencies Takeoff and Landing (ATOL) systems for countries. IAI and Aland with local industries maximal safety pha since the mutual for so many years • Fully redundant, announcement are state-of-the-art avionworking very closely to in different ics fulfill this cooperation projects • Retractable landing for various customers in gear India.

IAI's Heron UAS are in serIs there a proposal on India buying 10 vice for many years in India with a full satisfaction of all the armed forces.

Heron TP drones? If so, what progress has We are not aware to any proposal for been made since September 2015 when the sale of the HERON TP UAS to India this likely deal was reported?

The HERON is a Medium Altitude Long at this stage.

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srael Aerospace Industries' (IAI) Heron-1 Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) recently marked its 70,000th flight hour in Afghanistan, after less than 7 years of operation in the country.This follows Heron's completion of 25,000 flight hours last month under German Air Force operations in Afghanistan.

After successful use in Afghanistan by several Western NATO members, including Germany, France Canada and Australia, this milestone demonstrates Heron's compatibility with challenging conditions in various areas around the world.

In an announcement from the Australian Ministry of Defense, Senator David Johnston, the Australian Minister of Defense said: “The Heron is a proven capability– providing 'eyes in the sky' for our troops in the Middle East. The retention of the system following their withdrawal from Afghanistan will ensure that Australia remains at the forefront of this advancing technology."

Heron-1 is a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAS that provides crucial intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance information in real-time to commanders and frontline soldiers. It has significant capabilities, such as carrying a wide variety of sensors, which are able to provide real-time information over a wide area for an extended period.

IAI is continuously raising the bar by further improving this system, as the new generation of the Heron family is based on the vast knowledge and experience accumulated in over four decades of planning, developing, manufacturing and operating UAS. IAI's UAS have reached over 1.3 million flight hours used by more than 50 global customers.

The Heron family alone has accumulated more than 250,000 operational flight hours worldwide.

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’RIGHT CREDENTIALS FOR LONG TERM DEFENCE PROGRAMMES REQUIRING COMMITMENT’ VERNON NORONHA, Vice President – Defence & Government Business, Tata Motors Limited. takes us through their journey of long association with Indian defence forces with supplies of multi-axle vehicles, tie-ups to make Futuristic Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV) and the export of its vehicles How has the delivery of the 6X6 all-terrain heavy mobility vehicles for the Indian Army progressed under an order you won for 1,200 vehicles?

Tata Motors has bagged an order to supply around 1200 numbers of its high-mobility 6X6 multi-axle trucks, from the Indian Army – the single largest order awarded to an Indian private OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers) in land systems under the DPP by the Indian army. The order for 6X6 vehicles is for ‘Material Handling Cranes’ for the loading-unloading and transportation of ammunition pallets, spares and other operational equipment.

We have delivered around 39 units of this vehicle to the Indian army so far and plans for delivery of another 100 by March 31 are on track.

Developed indigenously, the Tata 6X6 high mobility all-terrain all-wheel drive vehicle, has completed a total trial duration of 25 months, demonstrating maximum performance in the most demanding conditions. Designed to cope with extreme on or off-road loads, these vehicle have gone through trials like water-fording, on cross country terrains and plains and at VRDE’s (Vehicle Research & Development Establishment) torture track. Indian MoD has also announced the additional repeat order for 619 units for the same configuration.

What preparations have you made for the Indian Army's FICV programme?

Tata Motors, Bharat Forge & General Dynamics Land Systems have joined hands to lead the Indian MOD’s prestigious `60,000 Crore FICV Programme. While details of this partnership will soon be announced, we at Tata Motors, with more than five decades of relationship with the Indian defence forces, brings strong credentials to this bid. For instance, Tata Motors was the recently chosen partner for the development of an amphibious platform for a futuristic combat vehicle (Wheeled ICV – KESTREL), that was accomplished in a

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(in India) programme.

What is your interest in the Army's LAMV project and could you elaborate on your tie up with Supacat?

record period of 18 months.

The Wheeled ICV Kestrel was jointly developed by Tata Motors with DRDO, where Tata Motors was down selected as the development agency of DRDO, in a competitive tender process. Both Tata Motors and DRDO are extremely pleased with results of the Wheeled ICV Kestrel, in internal trials for mobility, amphibious capability and gunnery, witnessed by representatives of the Director General Mechanized Forces (DGMF). The Wheeled ICV Kestrel platform, will now be offered by the DRDO to the mechanized forces of the Indian army, for UATT (User assisted technical trials).

Tata Motors accordingly has the right credentials and expertise to successfully participate in the FICV tracked programme; especially as these kind of Defence programmes particularly needs partners with long-term commitment to see products through multiple generations of evolution. We are committed to the highest standards of ethics, based on our own proven capabilities and drawing upon pockets of excellence residing in Tata Group companies for defence technologies and solutions, required for this MAKE

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

Supacat has provided technical assistance to Tata Motors to develop a combat vehicle, based on a Light Armored Multipurpose Vehicle (LAMV) programme by the Indian Ministry of Defence. The LAMV incorporates crew protection and suspension technologies based on the Supacat Protected Vehicle 400 (SPV400) Light Protected Patrol Vehicle (LPPV) requirements of the UK Ministry of Defence. These include blast resistant features such as a Vshaped hull and an all composite crew.

With technical support from Supacat Tata Motors had been able to indigenously develop the LAMV, for vital reconnaissance mobility, protection and firepower for the Indian armed forces, giving them the much needed capabilities of rapid offensive thrusts into enemy territory.

Tata Motors has been associated with the country’s off-road defence and security forces, since 1958 and has supplied over 1, 00,000 vehicles to the Indian military and Paramilitary forces, so far. The company offers its products and services that not only meet the needs of the domestic market, but are also positioned to meet most stringent requirements across the world. Tata Motors exports its range of specialized defence vehicles to the SAARC, ASEAN and African regions. Export share is around 25 per cent of overall Tata Motors defence business.

With Tata Motors’ rich portfolio in multi-axle range like 12×12, 8×8 & 6×6, the company has started supplying to leading Missile OEMs across the world. The company has established itself as a supplier of specialist vehicles for UN peacekeeping missions. Tata Motors range of off-road vehicles have also being procured by the agencies, involved in AID & Development, across the world like GSA, AECOM, KBR, Oxfam, RONCO, RA International & Riders.

DEFEXPO

Exactly a year ago, Rafael had signed up with India's Bharat Forge for the Spike ATGM. What has happened to this arrangement in the last one year? What will be the role of India's BDL in this programme?

Rafael has completed all preparatory work with Bharat Forge for the creation of a Joint Venture. The JV envisages work commencing as soon as the Indian Govt signs the Spike ATGM contract. Bharat Forge is being kept abreast of all developments on the negotiations, and is in parallel being provided with technical know how appropriate to the status on the negotiations.

BDL was nominated by the Indian MOD as the prime integrator for the missile, and accordingly Rafael is engaged in discussions with BDL as well. The JV will become a Tier 1 supplier to BDL and help in indigenous manufacturing of the system by supplying subsystems to BDL. This will also give impetus to Make in India campaign launched by India Prime Minister.

RAFAEL ALWAYS BEEN WILLING TO TRANSFER TECHNOLOGY YOAV HAR-EVEN, President and CEO, Rafael gives an overview of his company’s support towards the ‘Make in India’ cause and how the LCA's combat capability will improve with its missiles

Your ties with BDL is over a decade old now.

Could you trace the journey and also explain how this relationship is likely to pan out in the next decade or so?

BDL is a Defence PSU which is dealing in missiles, an area in which Rafael has a core expertise. The Spike Programme will have BDL doing the final integration of the missile at initial stages of the programme, along with TOT that will allow manufacturing of the missile at later stages / Certain other missile programmes of Rafael are in the process of finalisation and it is envisaged that BDL will have a similar role in these programmes.

What has been your experience in integrating the Derby BVR missile on India's Light Combat Aircraft? Could you tell us how this missile system would enhance the LCA's sting?

The Derby is a reliable and efficient missile with a proven track record. It is a stateof-the art Beyond Visual Range missile.

Combined with the Python 5, they will allow the LCA to be used as an interceptor as well as in close combat support in the full spectrum of operations envisaged by the Indian Air Force.

It may be added that both these missiles are being used in the Spyder ground based air defence systems which are contemplated for induction into the Air Force and the Indian Army.

What has been the feedback from Indian customers for the SPYDER system that you have delivered? Is there a possibility for you

getting more orders for SPYDER.

Rafael is working very closely with the IAF in operating the SPYDER system.

How do you view the latest Indian government move to have only one 'Strategic Partner' for each of the major systems under the Make in India programme?

Rafael is committed to the Make in India programme as defined by the Prime Minister Modi. Rafael has always been willing to transfer technology as required as Israel and India have a special relation-

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ship and have in the past been cooperating in the joint development and TOT for certain weapons and electronic systems.

In addition, we would like to highlight that Rafael is in the process of setting up joint ventures with Indian companies on certain important and technologically advanced programmes such as the Litening, SDR and Anti Tank Missiles. Should strategic partnership come about by the MOD, Rafael will be happy to work with the appropriate agency identified by the Govt of India.

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PROMOTING SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN THE DEFENCE SECTOR I

t is estimated that in terms of economic value, the MSMEs account for approximately 45 per cent of the manufacturing output and approximately 40 per cent of the total exports the nation. Apart from forming the bulwark of industrial units in the country (up to 90 per cent), MSMEs play a pivotal role in the economic growth of India, contributing through high labour intensity and high potential of employment at lower capital costs. The MSME sector with its breakthrough innovation, agility, innovativeness and flexibility is suitably placed to take advantage of the evolving scenario in aerospace and defence (A&D) manufacturing in India.

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Current status and challenges

Volume: More than 7000 MSMEs operate domestically in the A&D sector, supplying 20-25 per cent of all components to the DPSUs, DRDO, OFB and the armed forces. These ‘A&D MSMEs’ came into existence on account of outsourcing of production by DPSUs and OFBs. Ever since the defence sector in India was opened to private sector participation (in 2001), their participation has been increasing slowly on account of offset related business; supply orders from foreign OEMs and in some cases even direct participation in MoD contracts Promising Trends: DPSUs have started

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

restricting their role to that of an integrator thereby allowing for larger work-share to the MSMEs in the Tier 2/3 space; foreign OEMs are spreading well differentiated Tier 1 and 2 supplier bases towards low cost centres; offset related business is increasing on account of increased capital acquisition; Indian OEMs with local supply chains are finally emerging on the back of increased indigenous capital procurement programs.

Workshare: Indian MSMEs have concentrated mostly on component level workshare in the manufacturing supply chain; the engineering services segment has seen workshare related to val-

DEFEXPO

idation, engineering and some design related modules. While this has helped Indian MSMEs build credibility and bottom line (owing to healthy margins even at a component level), scalability will be determined by focus on R&D and product/solution based approach, as this sector is inherently a technology intensive business. Most of this development will have to be organic owing to regulatory restrictions and denial regimes in A&D technology Challenges: Despite positive trends on the demand front, challenges remain  Access: Owing to cash pressures, there is often limited access to markets and information. Even raw material and labour for A&D is not easily available. Many MSMEs wish to present their capabilities to the buyers but are unable to identify the right channel.

Most OEMs (with offices in India) are integrators and have little relevance for a component level MSMEs. The lack of presence if Tier I players in India complicates matters.  Business development support: MSME hear big programs being sanctioned in news, but are unable to comprehend the addressable market for their own capabilities/offerings.  Funding and cash flow: It has always been difficult for MSME’s in the value chain to raise money from traditional sources like banks, private equity, venture capital etc. this is because of the long gestation period and longer procurement cycles, MSME’s in defence do not fit the traditional description of a high return business in the shorter term.  Certification: Due to the nascent nature of the industry, Indian MSMEs are unaware of global best practices, processes and standards. Lack of governmental testing infrastructure and world class certifying agencies add to the problem.

Governmental support specific to the Defence sector

Current  The Public Procurement Policy (effective 1.4.2015) seeks a mandatory 20% share for MSMEs in all government and public sector unit purchases over a period of three years  The Offset Policy, through DPP 2013 has introduced a multiplier of 1.5 if the Indian partner chosen to discharge the offset obligation is an MSME. To become an Indian Offset Partner (IOP) and avail the multiplier benefit for

MSMEs provided by the DPP 2013, the MSME must have and IEM II form filed with the District Industries Centre.  The Defence Production Policy was put in place with the objective of achieving self-reliance in design, development and production of equipment required for defence through private sector participation especially MSME’s  National Small Industries Corporation Ltd. (NSIC) is an ISO 9001-2008 certified Government of India Enterprise under Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. NSIC has been working to fulfil its mission of promoting, aiding and fostering the growth of small industries and industry related micro, small and medium enterprises in the country. To this end, it provides services ranging from Bank Credit Facilitation to Market Intelligence to the companies registered with it.

Required  Benefits such as exemption of Ernest Money Deposit (EMD) and other securities, exemption from no cost no commitment trials, provision of price preference and purchase preference etc. are some measures that may enthuse the industry to make significant investment in long term A&D projects.  Organise government funds at lower interest rates or as grants to help establish a sustainable A&D supply chain that may then become viable for private investors.  Category of defence acquisition to include compulsory component of procurement from MSMEs by the main vendor.

Getting ready for the next phase of opportunities - Notes for MSMEs

Starting out by supplying to the IndianDPSU and OFBhas traditionally been considered the easiest route of entry to the A&D sector for MSMEs due to the relatively easier qualification procedure.

However the following are expected to provide higher growth opportunities over the medium term:  DRDO: It has been DRDO’s much publicized goal for the past three years to induct private sector into the R&D fold and utilise their existing capabilities to conduct joint R&D and productisation. DRDO prefers to work with Indian MSMEs for joint development due to security concerns in working with foreign companies and the flexible nature and culture of innovation at MSMEs. Most of these projects are jointly funded

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April 2016

and MSMEs are often recipients of machinery and processes they would not otherwise have access to. There have been many success stories, especially in zones around DRDO labs (Bengaluru for aerospace and Hyderabad for missiles); having absorbed technology and best practices, these companies have gone onto take their place in the Indian and global A&D supply chains.  Foreign OEMs are looking to source from the Indian MSME base to cut costs and meet their offset obligations (currently expected to be a market worth USD 10 Bn). It is contingent upon the Indian MSME sector to get acquaintedwith the process of induction to global supply chains and fulfil the expectations of the global market:  Certification and approvals: Demand for global standards based on latest certification in respective segments.  Programme management: Efficient management of time and resource drives smooth delivery schedules.

OEMs expect deliveries not before or after, but on the specified date of delivery.  Quality: A&D sector demands for the most stringent of practices to produce the best quality products.

The best quality should not only be competent with Indian players but also the global market.  Repeatability: The ability to keep doing the right work over and over again. OEMs do not like to micromanage their vendors and expect smooth performance at all times.  Traceability: Every product should be traceable right from the raw materials stage to the end product. The data base must have the processes undergone, equipment used and personnel in operation.  Indian OEMs: With the focus of Indian defence procurement turning to ‘Make in India’, it has been made clear that most big ticket programs will be led by Indian companies and manufacturing will be done within India. Most large companies are expected to partner with the MoD as strategic partners for integration. This opens up a huge opportunity for the Indian MSMEs to capture business opportunities at a component and tier II level. The establishment of Indian A&D supply chains will drive the next phase of growth for Indian MSMEs. — Udit Narula & Ankur Gupta Ernst & Young

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DEFEXPO

‘ROLLS-ROYCE INDIA POISED TO CATER TO THE REGION'S GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES’ KISHORE JAYARAMAN, President, Rolls-Royce India & South Asia talks of offers to India in the form of technology, experience and innovation that can help to build indigenous defence industry that could support both domestic and export demand Last year, you had announced intentions of an engineering centre at Bengaluru. What's the company strategy on the centre? What value would this centre bring to your operations in India?

‘Make in India’ initiative is helping further build on this momentum and push India towards greater heights. At RollsRoyce, we are well poised to cater to the growth opportunities available in the India region.

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In view of the growth prospects in India, we decided on the expansion of our engineering capability in Bengaluru.

This will enable us to be closer to our customers and allow us to take advantage of new business opportunities, as well as maintaining our competitiveness in the market.

We are already leveraging the vast engineering talent pool and playing a leading role in the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. In terms of design, development and supply chain capability, this new engineering centre will recruit 500 people by 2017. These people will undertake aerospace engineering for customers in the region as well as support for Rolls-Royce’s regional supplier base.In addition, more than 1300 engineers, through our partnership with QuEST& TCS, work at Rolls-Royce managed engineering centres in Bengaluru.

Bengaluru is home to our partners and prospects, which are HAL, QuEST, TCS, etc. The state government is committed to the development of aerospace industry, by providing the adequate infrastructure, talent and a conducive business environment for the industry to thrive. It is also a part of RollsRoyce’s strategic aim to continue to establish a cost-competitive presence in key growth markets, ensuring it has the right people, with the right capabilities and skills to deliver to customers.

What progress has been made at IAMPL, your JV with HAL? The IAMPL production facility that produces components for the technologically advanced Trent family of civil aero represents our commitment to the long-standing partnership with HAL and the future of Indian aerospace

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

industry. It wasn’t required by an offset commitment but was the result of recognition of the value that both parties could add to each other in growing the Indian aerospace industry. The new government has already led to tremendous positivity for progress, and the ‘Make in India’ initiative is helping further build on this momentum and push India towards greater heights. At Rolls-Royce, we are well poised to cater to the growth opportunities available in the India region. We look forward to continue to offer India a unique combination of technology, experience and innovation that can help to improve the capability of our customers.

With the Naval Sector in India growing at a frenetic pace, tell us about Rolls-Royce's role, and what are the projects that RollsRoyce Marine/power systems engines are actively pursuing?

The Indian Navy and Rolls-Royce have been partners since the inception of India’s Naval services and a great example is 300 INAS, where we have worked alongside the squadron for over 50 years, and this partnership continues today. Rolls-Royce is committed to bringing high technology-oriented ecosystems to the Indian Navy. In the short term, our priority is to support the existing fleets — in particular the Sea Harrier as it plays a vital role in India’s maritime security. In the medium term, we will continue to support the operation of the Sea King, a critical military asset. We will also help the Indian Navy maximise its use of the Rolls-Royce powered Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer, which is crucial to the Navy’s combat aircraft capability. In the longer term, we believe a number of Rolls-Royce powered aircraft will be of interest to the Indian Navy. The most obvious of these is the US-2I amphibious aircraft which shares largely common engines with the Indian Air Force’s C130J fleet.

Our MTU engines and systems

DEFEXPO

Uboot Motor 4000U83

power more than 200 Indian Navy and Coast Guard ships as well as 118 Indian Army’s Arjun Main Battle Tanks. MTU Series 8000 engines have established themselves as the leading choice for navies all over the world. So far, more than 200 Series 8000 engines have been ordered, more than three quarters of them are or will be installed in naval and governmental ships. The Indian Navy and Coast Guard put trust in the Series 8000 engine in their most modern Offshore Patrol Vessels.Some of the MTU Series 8000 Projects in India are: 3 Coast Guard OPVs built by Goa Shipyard for Indian Coast Guard (20V 8000 M90); 6 Coast Guard OPVs being built by Goa Shipyard for Indian Coast Guard; 5 Naval OPVs being built by Pipavav Defence & Offshore Engineering Company Ltd for Indian Navy and 7 Coast Guard OPVs being built by Larsen & Toubro for Indian Coast Guard.

What are the possibility of more 'Make in India' programs from Rolls-Royce? Is there any other JV talks that have progressed under 'Make in India' initiative?

Today, India & South Asia as a region offers immense growth potential.

The government has a clear vision for an indigenous defence industry that

could support both domestic and export demand. As the new government sets itself to boost the infrastructure as well as modernisation and expansion of Indian armed forces, we, at RollsRoyce, remain committed to realising the country’s growth vision and efforts to indigenisation and reaching selfreliance. We already have world-class manufacturing facility here, exporting components around the world.

Our power systems division MTU established an Engineering and Research Centre (EARC) in Pune in 2011 to support new engine and component R&D activities as per requirement of the MTU Global Engineering Division.

We are constantly expanding our service centre and support infrastructure with special tooling & trained manpower to overhaul all engine types; including the Series 8000 by 2017.

Defence Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers is a long term Licensee partner of MTU for the Series 4000 marine engines used in several Navy and Coast Guard Patrol Vessels. MTU is preparing to expand license cooperation to include other larger engines for Navy Frigates and power pack solutions for Army Light Infantry Vehicles.

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We look forward to continued commitment towards the India region and work more closely with our stakeholders across businesses to enable them to benefit from our innovative products and technologies.

What is the focus going to be at Def Expo 2016 and what products shall be on display?

This year at Def Expo we will continue to focus on Rolls-Royce’s partnership with India – ‘Past, Present and Future’.

This will help us highlight the long standing partnership and our strong commitment for the Indian market. We have been present in India for the past eight decades and have been contributing to the development and modernisation of Indian armed forces.

Our Power Systems division - MTU will also be displaying their products at Def Expo under the theme of “MTU – the perfect match.” This claim embodies MTU’s aspiration of offering the best propulsion and/or power system tailored to its customers varied operational needs.

We believe that Defexpo is an important platform to showcase our capabilities and also network with our customers, partners etc.

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’THE LACK OF COORDINATION AMONG VARIOUS AGENCIES IS A DRAWBACK‘ DR. PUSHPITA DAS stresses upon the indispensable need of strengthening both the Territorial and maritime borders for making the country secure. She stresses on the use of technology as an enabler

What is the significance of Border Management for India?

Border management is intrinsically related to the security of a country. A better managed border is imperative as it is the first line of defence of a country not only against external aggression but also against various non-traditional threats such as unauthorized movement of undesirable persons and contraband which threatens the internal security of the country. India has long land and maritime borders which traverse through difficult terrain and cut across the socio-cultural landscape of the region, making them porous and difficult to manage. India is also surrounded by neighbours who remain hostile and encourage infiltration of terrorists and traffickers to destabilize the country’s peace and security. These characteristics of the international border have made India vulnerable to terror attacks, trafficking of narcotics and human, smuggling of guns, fake Indian currency notes and other contraband. Given such threats and challenges, it is essential for India to effectively guard its border so that infiltration of terrorists, traffickers and smugglers can be prevented and the movement of persons and goods can be regulated so that only legitimate goods and people can cross the borders.

How can the management of Borders, territorial and maritime both, be improved?

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April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

DEFEXPO

India has implemented a comprehensive strategy to effectively manage its borders.

This strategy has four important elements -1) guarding the borders between the points of entry and exist along the border, 2) regulating the movement of legitimate persons and goods at the designated points of entry and exit at the border, 3) development of the border areas so that the people residing along the borders are not compelled to indulge in criminal activities, and 4) soliciting the cooperation of the neighbours to discuss and deliberate the security and development of their mutual borders and implement measures to secure the borders. This strategy has proved to be quite effective in managing the country’s internal land and maritime borders, however, there are few inadequacies which requires urgent attention.

First and foremost is the issue of the shortage of man power and equipment for effective guarding of the borders. The union government should sanction funds to the respective organisations involved in border management so that they can recruit adequate manpower and acquire required equipment. Second drawback is the lack of coordination among various agencies involved in border management.

Turf war and absence of proper channels of communication among the agencies are adversely affecting the border management. The government should set up an institution at the apex level such as a Commission for Border Management which will ensure smooth coordination among various organisations as well as study emergent and existing threats and

formulate policies to deal with them. Third issue is the lack of cooperation from the local people, the state governments and India’s neighours. The union government has to take proactive steps to solicit the cooperation of the local people, state government and neighbours. At the local level, the people should be sensitized about the strategic importance of the borders and encourage them to act as ‘eyes and ears’ of the security agencies through frequent community interaction programmes conducted by the concerned organisations.

The Indian government should also urgently and effectively implement all development schemes in the border areas and expedite the construction of roads and other infrastructure along the border. The state governments have to be coaxed and incentivized to cooperate and implement various border management measures formulated by the union government. As far as the neighbours are concerned, India along with its neighbours should devise platforms where officials at every levels involved in border management can interact frequently and sensitize each other of their security concerns. India should also offer to assist its smaller neighbours in strengthening their border guarding forces for mutual benefit.

How can technology play a role in improvement?

Technology is increasingly playing an effective role in better border management.

Electronic equipments such as static radars, automatic identification systems, hand held thermal imagers, night vision goggle, direction finders, etc. have been employed to enhance remote surveillance along the international borders.

These equipments have proved effective in difficult terrain along the land border as well as along expansive maritime bor-

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ders. Technology is being extensively used for information and intelligence gathering for enhanced domain awareness. However, technology should be always used as a complimentary to the human efforts and should be given priority only where extensive human deployment is not possible because despite its usefulness technology does not measure up to human intelligence, endevours and interpersonal contacts which are vital for intelligence gathering and effective border management.

How has the India-Bangladesh Border Agreement 2015 affected both the countries?

The India-Bangladesh Border Agreement 2015 is the outcome of a gradually improving relation between the two neighbours since 2006.. Bangladesh has, since 2006, been addressing India’s security concerns by handing over the Indian insurgent leaders holed up in that country. India, on its part, promised to address Bangladesh’s long standing demand for the ratification of the Land Boundary Agreement of 1974, which it finally did in 2015. The unsettled nature of the Indo-Bangladesh border had generated lot of strains and frictions between the two countries, but the ratification of the agreement paved the way for the final resolution of the long pending border dispute through the demarcation of 6.1 km of the internal borders, exchange of 162 enclaves and surrender of approximately 6000 acres adverse possessions by both the countries. This gesture has a tremendous positive psychological impact on both the countries and has encouraged India and Bangladesh to cooperate with each other in resolving all their outstanding issues amicably.

Dr. Pushpita Das, Associate Fellow, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses

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tainability features. IAF has indicated requirement of around 100 numbers of LCA MK1-A aircraft.

The LCA MK1 aircraft in the IOC configuration is under production. The first series production aircraft was produced last year. The production of 20 aircraft against the IOC contract is expected to be completed by 2017-18. After this, we plan to deliver MK1-A aircraft at the rate of 16 aircraft per annum.

Will the LCA-Mk1-A acceptance mean the end of the road for LCA-MK2? Why do you think this variant of the indigenous aircraft is still alive as a programme?

The LCA MK1-A aircraft incorporates the desired features for IAF for this class of aircraft. The LCA MK2 variant which involves use of higher powered engine to cater to the enhanced thrust requirement will continue to be developed and would be utilised for the LCA Naval variant.

What happens to the LCA-Navy programme now? Will it continue or will there be any modifications at your end?

SOARING TEJAS HAL CMD, T. SUVARNA RAJU takes us through the journey of improved version of Tejas and its naval variant. He also touches on manufacturing of KA-226T helicopters and HAL's Basic Trainer Aircraft You had recently taken the LCA to the Bahrain air show, which marked the first ever foray into the export market. What are your export plans for the indigenous combat aircraft? Have there been queries?

India's own fighter aircraft, Light Combat Aircraft - Tejas (LCA) has flown at the recent Bahrain International Air Show. All we can say at this stage is some potential end-users have shown interest in the product. This is the first time that an indigenous fighter aircraft has been showcased in an international air-show. Given its excellent debut, we expect good mar-

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ket response for LCA in future.

When does HAL get ready for series production of the LCA-Mk1-A, now that IAF has agreed to accept and induct this platform in large numbers – 120 planes at least? When would the deliveries begin and when would you conclude the deliveries?

LCA MK1-A would be an improved version of LCA MK1. The Mk1-A configuration incorporates enhanced capabilities in terms of combat features, AESA radar, Air to Air re-fueling, Self Protection Jammer (SPJ), etc along with better main-

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

The LCA Naval variant is a separate programme with specific design requirements and aircraft features, the design and development of which is being progressed concurrently along with the development of the Air Force LCA. Two naval prototype aircraft are under testing having completed number of sorties so far including first Ski-Jump trial at Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF).

You recently unveiled the prototypes of HTT40. When do we expect to see this aircraft’s first flight? How long from first flight would this aircraft take to be ready for induction?

The Basic Trainer Aircraft being developed by HAL, the Hindustan Turboprop Trainer, HTT-40 has been rolled out in January 2016. The prototype aircraft manufacturing is completed and the aircraft engine ground runs have started. This will be followed by taxi trials. We expect the maiden flight to happen in next 60 days.

You recently signed a deal with Russian agencies for the Ka-226T manufacturing in India. Have you worked out clearly the technology transfer agreement? What part of the technology would continue to be with Russia?

The Inter-Governmental Agreement has been signed recently between Indian and Russian Governments for manufacturing Ka-226T in India under ‘Make in India’ and further discussion on the project is under progress. The details on technology sharing between the countries are yet to be finalised.

INDIA 2016

DEFEXPO

A modern IRIS-T air-toair missile

IAF AND DEFEXPO MOD

2016

The Indian Air Force’s procurement efforts are driven by its desire to reduce the threat to its strategic assets from subconventional war, improve homeland defence against aerial threats and augment simulation based training, explains VIJAINDER K THAKUR

T

he IAF's presence at the DefExpo is relatively muted as compared to its presence at Aero India in Bengaluru.

However, DefExpo has a lot of technology and systems on display that are of great interest to the IAF. The IAF's muted presence isn't entirely attributable to DefExpo’s lack of aviation focus. Other factors weigh in. For example, DefExpo

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is not hosted by the IAF, as is Aero India.

Also, DefExpo has been traditionally held at Delhi where IAF presence is limited as compared to Bengaluru.

What would senior IAF officers visiting DefExpo 2016 in Goa be looking at most? One approach to answering the question would be perusing recent IAF Requests for Information (RFI) for weapons and systems.

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

Recent IAF RFI

1. RFI for 100 Night Vision Devices for Garuds 2. RFI for Aerostat Systems 3. RFI for Procurement of Armored Vehicles for Garuds 4. RFI for Procurement of Integrated EW Suite for Mi-17 V5 5. High Mobility Vehicles for VSHORADS 6. NVG compatible Helipad Lighting System (NVGCHLS) for IAF 7. War gaming and Simulation Center for IAF 8. Passive Surveillance System 9. Procurement of Jaguar DARIN III and Jaguar DARIN II Full Mission Simulators 10. Procurement of Spatial Disorientation Simulator for Aircrew of IAF From the list above, it's evident that the

DEFEXPO

The Upgraded Mirage 2000 landing at Air Force Station, Gwalior

IAF's procurement efforts are driven by its desire to 1. Reduce the threat to its strategic assets from sub-conventional war 2. Improve homeland defence against aerial threats 3. Augment simulation based training We will discuss the IAF's procurement imperatives in greater detail after first putting them in perspective.

IAF's Warfighting Capability

When reporting on the IAF, the Indian press sensationally focuses on multi-billion dollar fighter, transport and trainer aircraft procurements, creating the perception that weapon systems alone determine the IAF's warfighting capability, when in fact the warfighting capability has other critical facets such as:

1. Sensors (ground and airborne) for early detection of threats.

2. Quick reaction capability to address threats that escape detection.

3. Modernisation of existing weapon systems.

4. Force multiplication through use of standoff precision guided munition (PGM).

5. Simulation based training.

During DefExpo, the IAF tends to focus on these other facets of its warfighting capability, not procurement of aircraft.

Let's now go back to the IAF's immediate procurement imperatives.

Preparing for Sub-conventional War

The RFIs for 100 night vision devices and armored personnel carriers to equip its Garud special forces reflect the IAF's

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concern over sub-conventional warfare aimed at destroying its strategic assets deployed well within the homeland.

Understanding sub-conventional warfare Traditional warfare entails cross border military engagements between adversary nations. Sub-conventional warfare involves surreptitious strikes on military assets, often by highly trained non military personnel, at the behest of the aggressor. When the aggressor is a hostile state, sub-conventional war is often referred to as proxy warfare. The use of non military personnel without overt cross border crossing gives the aggressor nation a figleaf cover of deniability.

In a war, the aggressor has a clear aim, Historically aggressors have been moti-

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INDIA 2016

vated by territorial ambitions, or subjugation and looting of weaker states. Advances in communications technology and economic interdependence have now knit the world so tight that there is little space for brute force conquest or subjugation through conventional war.

But economic interdependence and internet connectivity have also created space for sub-conventional wars. Economically powerful nations such as the US can orchestrate a regime change through media manipulations and economic sanctions for their long term political and economic gain. Radical non state aggressors can subjugate people and wrest control of large loosely administered tracts of territory as the ISIS has done.

India has faced several sub-conventional attacks of varying intensity on its military installation in the recent past and the IAF has been wary of the threat to its assets for a while. The attack on Pathankot airbase on January 2, 2016 didn't catch the IAF off-guard. The two RFI for Garuds predate the attack on Pathankot airbase.

The IAF's deployment of UAVs for perimeter defense proved very useful in neutralizing the sub-conventional attack.

In the days ahead, to safeguard its strategic assets, the IAF would need to spend more on light attack helicopters for perimeter defense. However, this is one area where HAL is ahead of the game with its Rudra helicopter.

An audit reportedly ordered by defence minister Manohar Parrikar within two days of the Pathankot attack estimated that the IAF would need to spend over $1 billion for securing its air bases in the days ahead. Between `100 to `150 crore each would be required to adequately secure 54 major IAF bases. Follow-up funding would be required to secure other installations.

The night vision devices RFI listed above is aimed at procurement of a modern binocular night vision goggle with wide field of view, effective handling, increased depth perception, simple maintenance with capability of mounting on a bullet proof helmet.

DefExpo 2016 is likely to see many vendors plugging perimeter defence systems such as UAVs, Night Vision devices, Optical and IIR surveillance equipment, and advanced intrusion detection systems. Senior IAF officers are sure to be checking out such vendor stalls.

Improved Homeland Defence

IAF RFIs aimed at augmenting homeland defense include 1. RFI for Aerostat Systems

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2. High Mobility Vehicles for VSHORADS 3. Passive Surveillance System Aerostat Radar Systems The IAF inducted 2 EL/M-2083 radars under a $145 million deal with Elta of Israel in 2004-2005.

The ELM-2083 is an aerostat-borne, solid state, L-Band, Active Electronically Scanning Array (AESA) radar system, which provides long range early warning and airspace control.

The ELM-2083 system enhances any ground based air defence network with the advantages of elevated sensor.

From an altitude of up to 13,000ft (3,960m), the EL/M-2083 can provide 3D coverage over a radius of 500-600 km (270-325 nm).

The IAF is reportedly poised to acquire 4 more EL/M-2083 aerostat radars as an extension of the earlier deal.

Additional procurement is likely to follow. MoD on December 30, 2015 released a RFI for supply of approximate 4/6/8 Aerostat Systems for the IAF. The Aerostat Systems would be used to provide low level air and sea surveillance and are required to be compatible with the Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS).

Responses to the RFI are required to be submitted by March 24, 2016.

High Mobility Vehicles for VSHORADS On July 29, 2015, MoD released a RFI on High Mobility vehicles (HMV) for installation of Launcher Mechanism of Very Short Range Air Defence System (VSHORADS) for the IAF. Earlier, the government accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for indigenous manufacture of a man portable Very Short Range Air Defense (VSHORAD) system for use by the three services under Transfer of Technology (ToT) from foreign Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).

The initial requirement is for 5,185 units (USD 5.8 billion). Eventually, as many as 15,000 units may be procured.

Five vendors submitted bids against a global tender floated by India's MOD. These include Russia's Rosoboronexport (IGLA), French Thales (Starstreak), South Korea’s LIG's Chiron, Sweden's SAAB (RBS-70 NG) and French MBDA (Mistral).

The IAF would use VSHORAD primarily for protecting its mobile and remote assets such as radars, missile batteries and helipads, Since VSHORADS procurement is yet to be finalized, it's likely that every vendor

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

in the fray, or the vendor's Indian partner, would be displaying the missile system that it is offering, as was the case in DefExpo 2014.

Passive Surveillance System (PSS) The IAF on December 2, 2014 released a RFI for development of a Passive Surveillance System (PSS) to be used by the Indian Air Force. The PSS is conceived as a ground based system deployed in field areas for generation of 3D Air Situation Picture (ASP) by detecting and processing the chance RF spectrum emissions and EM reflections of other transmissions, in the vicinity of the airborne platforms.

The PSS will intercept, process, analyze and generate all types of Radar transmissions across the complete band of Radar Operation Radio Frequency bands (30 MHz to 18 GHz).

PSS will provide location and dynamic tracking of airborne, surface (ground and marine), mobile and fixed targets. The system would be capable of detection, location, identification and tracking of active and passive targets within its area of coverage.

The system would comprise of a cluster of sensor stations all reporting their detections simultaneously to the Master Receiving and Processing Centre which will process the information for detection of targets and formation of tracks. The

Saab’s RBS 70 NG

DEFEXPO

system would be highly mobile, vehicle mounted with very less deployment time.

The PSS system will comprise the following two systems 1. Passive Coherent Location Based Surveillance System to detect presence of targets using reflected RF emissions available in the environment.

2. Elint Based Surveillance System to detect, track, locate, correlate and identify intercepted RF emissions of the airborne platform in the area of deployment and process this information for generation of 3D Air situation picture.

Air situation picture generated in both the systems would be integrated to form a comprehensive air situation picture. The output is to be in user defined format for integration in command and control system of IAF. Need for a PSS China is developing two stealth fighters: the J-20, a US F-22 Raptor analog for the PLAAF and PLAN; and the J-31, a US F-35 analog for export customers.

The J-20 first flew in January 2011 and is expected to enter service sometimes after 2018. The J-31 first flew in October 2012 and was showcased during the Zhuhai Airshow 2015 signalling that its development is on track.

It is likely that the J-31 could enter PAF service by 2020!

As things stand, IAF air defence systems would not be able to track and engage PLAAF J-20 fighters; they could enter and exit Indian airspace with impunity!

PAF J-31s would be somewhat easier to track, but our fighters would not be able to track and engage them in head on mode using their existing airborne radars.

A PSS would enable the IAF to detect and track intruding stealth fighters and vector AD missiles and fighters on interception paths. During the end game, the AD missiles and fighters would use their own Electro Optical (EO) sensors to engage the enemy.

A well implemented PSS would be system of networked systems integrated to present a complete 3D picture of the surrounding airspace with tracking data that can be used to launch and guide air defence missiles. It's possible that we will see PSS components on display at DefExpo. The Russian S-400 system, for example, is a networked system of systems that integrates active and passive sensors.

S-400 Triumf Air Defence Missile System (ADMS) MoD's Defense Acquisition Committee

Airbus’ AS565MB helicopter

(DAC) on December 17, 2015 approved the acquisition of five S-400 Triumf systems.

The DAC approval clears the way for India to open negotiations with Russia for purchase of the systems.

Russia’s Almaz-Antey, which had pitched the S-400 system at DefExpo 2014 and Aero India 2015, is likely to do so again during DefExpo 2016.

The S-400 is a networked system that is largely agnostic to the sensors and missiles that it fields. For example, the S-400 system could theoretically integrate the AAD and PDV interceptor missiles under development by DRDO for its Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system, as well as the MR-SAM being developed for the IAF and IA by DRDO in collaboration with Israel.

Simulation Based Training

Simulator based training has now matured to a point where it's considered essential to operational preparedness. The use of simulators cuts costs and reduces risks of accidents.

As stated above, the IAF has released RFI's for Jaguar DARIN III and Jaguar DARIN II Full Mission Simulators. Another RFI is aimed at procuring Spatial Disorientation Simulator for Aircrew of IAF. Some aspects of warfighting can only be simulated. Force attrition for example, using variables such as missile kill probabilities, tactics, likely degradation from Electronic Warfare (EW), etc. The IAF's RFI for Wargaming and Simulation Center for IAF shows the importance of simulation in reducing the imponderables of war.

It's likely that we would see private sector Indian companies plugging simu-

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April 2016

lators for airborne systems as well as ground systems such as AD missiles.

Weapons of Enduring Interests

Procurement RFI's released by the IAF mostly reflect fresh areas of interest. Often the IAF knows the weapons and systems that it wants for its fleet, and procures them through direct tendering or purchase.

The IAF's desire to modernise its existing fighters and improve their lethality is enduring. Modernisation of fighters involves fitting more capable radar, avionics, navigation and self protection systems to improve performance, weapon delivery accuracy and survivability.

Modernisation of its existing fighter aircraft fleet Upgradation of IAF fighters starts a few years after their initial induction and continues through their life cycle to obsolescence and eventual phase out. Currently, modernisation of the IAF MiG-29 and Mirage V fighters is underway.

The IAF would next be focusing on upgrade of its Jaguar and Su-30MKI fleet.

Jaguar Upgrade The Jaguar upgrade programmme involves 1. More powerful engines.

2. Higher capacity alternators.

3. Multi-mode radar.

4. Glass cockpit with DARIN-3 navigation and attack avionics suite HOTAS controls and improved HUD. 5. Autopilot 6. Helmet mounted Display.

7. An Integrated Defensive Aids Suite (IDAS) being co-developed by the DRDO’s Defence Avionics Research

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Illu ships off Vizag IF

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Establishment (DARE) and Cassidian (formerly EADS Defense Electronics).

The suite includes DRDO developed Tarang radar warning receiver (RWR).

Expect to see at least some vendor stalls relevant to the IAF's Jaguar upgrade programme.

Su-30MKI Upgrade The IAF plans to upgrade its Su-30MKI aircraft fleet with higher performance engines, improved radar and enhanced weapon-carrying capability.

Modernisation of the Su-30MKI fleet will start after all the aircraft on order have been delivered. (As in October 2015, 220 of the 272 aircraft had been delivered.)

Russia is likely to pitch Su-30MKI modernisation with great enthusiasm at DefExp 2016.

Precision Guided Munitions (PGMs) Precision Guided Munitions (PGMs) are considered force multipliers since they allow a smaller number of fighters to achieve results that earlier required many more aircraft or sorties. PGMs can be delivered with great accuracy from stand-off ranges allowing attacking fighters to be more lethal and stay out of harm's way from ground defenses. The IAF has an urgent need to procure more PGMs and upgrade its fighters to deliver them.

A future war with Pakistan or China is likely to be aimed at settling disputed borders. Since the disputed borders run through mountainous terrain, a future conflict would mandate that the IAF fly close air support (CAS) and interdiction missions in mountainous terrain.

The IAF is doctrinally committed to a fighter fleet made up entirely of multirole aircraft. Without specialised CAS aircraft like the A-10 Warthog or the Su-25 Frogfoot, the IAF would have to use PGMs released from multi-role fighters from

World’s most feared S400 Missiles

stand-off ranges for CAS and interdiction.

Currently, the IAF's PGM inventory is rather limited, so PGM procurement is likely to be an ongoing process for many years. Recent press reports that India is poised to purchase Spice 2000 Glide Bomb Kits and laser designator pods from Israel are relevant in this context..

Vendors plugging Short range standoff cruise missiles, glide bombs and laser designator pods are sure to draw IAF interest. Israel is a front runner for supplying PGMs to the IAF. India is poised to place an order on the country for 164 laser-designation Litening-4 pods for IAF fighters like Sukhoi-30MKIs and Jaguars, as also 250 SPICE (Smart, Precise Impact, Cost-Effective) kits for converting unguided air dropped bombs into EO/GPS precision-guided, stand-off glide bombs.

As in the past, Israel is likely to display several PGMs of interest to the IAF, as

SU 30

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hedge against delays in DRDO projects to develop PGMs for the IAF. Air-to-air Missiles Improvements in air combat missile technology are of enduring interest to the IAF. Diehl Defence would be plugging its IRIST air-to-air missile at the DefExpo, DRDO, its Astra beyond visual range (BVR) missile, and Israel, its Rafael's Python and Derby missiles.

Other Areas of Interest

Avro Replacement and LUH Procurement Airbus Group plans to display at DefExpo 2016 scale models of its C295W medium transport aircraft and three military helicopters - H125M Fennec, AS565MBe Panther and the EC725 (now marketed as the H225M). The C295W is the sole contender for replacing the IAF's 56 Avro aircraft. Airbus is pitching the aircraft in partnership with Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL). The DAC on May 13, 2015 accepted Airbus-Tata consortium’s bid despite it being the lone bid.

Airbus Group is partnering with Mahindra Defence to produce military helicopters locally. The group is pitching the H125M Fennec for the Reconnaissance and Surveillance Helicopter (RSH) project to procure 197 light helicopters - 133 for the army and 64 for the air force - to replace the ageing Chetaks and Cheetah helicopters. The RSH project still remains open despite HAL's tie-up with Russian Helicopters to locally manufacture the Ka-226T. The author is a former fighter pilot

India’s 1st indigenously designed & developed Wheeled Infantry Combat Vehicle

Jointly designed & developed by Tata Motors & DRDO / VRDE

India 2016

defexpo

With MBDA, advantages of meeting operational requirements are many Head of MBDA in India, Loic Piedevache, enumerates his experience with the Indian Defence Ministry and the various missiles and helicopter on offer In 2015, the Indian Defence Ministry gave its nod to DRDO to work with MBDA on the Indian Navy's need for a SR-SAM. Could you tell us what have you done about this project since? How have the talks progressed? Have the two sides been able to agree on anything yet?

As you know we have been discussing SRSAM with India for quite some time, both at government and at industrial levels.

All the advantages that have discussed over the years still apply – latest technology, latest air defence capability and most importantly, the transfer of latest, state of the art technology to India. We are now discussing with the DRDO on how best to meet the Indian Navy’s requirements and these talks are progressing well. Given that much of the groundwork regarding workshare and other aspects of the industrial partnership have already been gone through, development, validation and entry into service could take place very quickly once an agreement has been signed. India is undergoing a major capability upgrade of its navy with a number of ship classes either under construction or being planned so of course MBDA hopes that decisions regarding surface to air defence will keep pace with the ship build programme.

Do you hope to have more Milan 2T ordered

by Indian Army in the days to come, now that the last order placed has been delivered? Do you continue to have a role in the licensed production of this missile in India?

For sure we hope that the long standing relationship that we have established around the Milan missile with Indian industry, namely with BDL, continues well into the future. Milan has served India very well and we are now discussing a joint cooperation on a 5th generation ATGM based on France’s MMP.

Could you please provide an update on the progress made regarding the arming of Indian Mirage-2000 aircraft with MBDA weap-

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ons, particularly the MICA missiles? How much deliveries have taken place yet and integration on the aircraft fleet?

The contract for MBDA to supply its IR and RF MICA missiles for the IAF’s Mirage 2000 upgrade was signed quite some time ago. Deliveries are currently underway and progressing according to agreed schedules. With its ability to handle air combat from short to beyond visual range MICA, in its typical configuration on the aircraft, gives the pilot all the flexibility he needs to carry out air combat missions ranging from close-in self defence right through to interdiction.

Would MBDA be keen on offering your system through a tie up with an Indian company if India issues a fresh tender for its requirement of a VSHORAD?

We are very confident in our offer of MBDA’s Mistral MANPADS in response to India’s VSHORAD requirement. This tried and tested, very easy to use system offers all the advantages of a fire-and-forget, allweather IR seeker equipped, easy to use air defence weapon. The various successful firing campaigns, covering desert, sea and mountain conditions, that we have carried out as part of India’s field trials process have given us even more confidence in the suitability of our offer. An important aspect of India’s requirement is that production should be carried out under license by BDL. Of course we have a very long and successful track record of working with BDL in just such a manner so we would totally comfortable and happy to continue on this basis with regard to VSHORAD. Now we have to wait for the decision of the Indian MoD.

Have you made any progress on your offer of PARS 3 LR missile for Indian programmes to arm its Army helicopters? Why would you still be interested in this Indian programme?

Unfortunately, the original tender was cancelled by the Indian Army which was a big disappointment for MBDA be-

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cause we were totally convinced that with PARS3 LR we had the best solution to meet the indicated requirements. This conviction was reinforced by the exceptional results achieved by the weapon during firing evaluation trials that were carried on behalf of India. If the requirement for the ALH WSI is being re-evaluated or evolved then thanks to MBDA’s very comprehensive product catalogue, we have a number of other options we could suggest. Other than PARS 3 LR, India could consider MHT, the airborne variant of the fifth generation MMP ATGM. There is also Brimstone which has been much talked about in military circles around the world as a result of its success in recent combat operations. With its dual mode seeker offering both fire-and-forget and man-in-the-loop operation, Brimstone has shown itself to be capable of hitting both static and fast moving targets and of carrying out missions that no other current weapon is capable of. The fact that we have a number of options to offer for the ALH WSI shows the advantages to our partners of working with a company like MBDA when it comes to meeting operational requirements.

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‘WITHOUT SKILL DEVELOPMENT, THERE WILL BE NO ‘MAKE IN INDIA ‘ INDERJIT SIAL, President and MD, Textron India Private Limited, speaks about manufacturing specialised defence equipment in India and the problems associated with enhancing skills in the country What are the various programmes you are currently working on in India?

We are participating in the two major programmes called the RSH and NUH. Where we will field 407GXP in the RSH programme and for the NUH, we will field the 429, which is a twin-engine helicopter. We are working with the Government of India on the V22 Osprey, because for India it is Textron that is responsible and not Boeing.

So, I am working on that but along with the Boeing team. We are closely working on that and it will be a FMS programme. So, that is on Bell. We are going to drop Textron Systems’ SFW in March — the first live drop from a Jaguar aircraft. SFW, as the indications given by the Indian Air Force (IAF), it is an advanced feature for all aircraft. We are in discussions (for the SFW) with the Air Force on Hawk, MiG-29, Su-30 and LCA. We have MicroObserver. It is an Unattended Ground Sensor that is under Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) and we have signed an agreement with Bharat Electronics and we are promoting it in a big way. We are expecting to close one or two major programmes both for paramilitary and the Northern Command as a starting point. Then we have other products like Spider which comes from the same family. We have got the Scorpion which is again a mutation bomb which we have tried to promote; it was presented by the US through DTTI. On the UAV programmes, we are working with the Indian Army for the Shadow and we are working with the Navy on Aerosonde, which is a ship launch. It is a fixedwing UAV. The lightest and is a catapult launch. It’s all over in the US Navy. We are ready to Make in India.

What are the programmes you are going to push under ‘Make in India’?

It’s the 407 where we do the cabin in Bengaluru with Dynamatics. There is the 429 and Aerosonde for the Navy. Now, I come to the

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main product of ours which we are really keen to do and our board has accepted that we can do: it is the Scorpion aircraft. Scorpion aircraft is not a multi-role fighter jet.

It is more of an ISR aircraft with hard point delivery with six weapons including nuclear capability. It is an aircraft which is the cheapest procured aircraft by any country and its operational cost, if I compare it with the F-16, F-18 and Gripen, is the lowest.

The Scorpion is $3000 an hour. That is the beauty of our product. It’s a twin-engine powered by Honeywell engines. It’s an aircraft which has already flown around 4000 hours. It’s a 100 per cent composite aircraft.

Nobody has ever produced a fighter aircraft which is 100 per cent composite. We see Scorpion as a real aircraft which can be used with multifunctionality in India.

It can be used for various roles of the IAF and Indian Navy. It can be launched from an aircraft carrier so it can be used as an aircraft which is a light utility aircraft and as an advanced jet trainer. We are already in discussions to make it in India under DTTI. We can basically put the whole production unit here with the complete transfer of technology.

What is the acquisition cost of this kind of an aircraft?

Close to $18 million. If you compare it with the Rafale, which is around $54 million. So, this is around 18 million approximately.

And if you say the life cycle cost, Rafale is close to $120 million and we will be close to $40 million.

Are there any components being sourced from India?

Right now, no. Having said that, the engineering has been done in India. We have a technology centre. We are employing around 600 people, most of them in aeronautics for the Bell and currently examining because it’s a 100 per cent composite aircraft. We are talking to Honeywell on how they can indigenise it. We are looking

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

at a lot of composite suppliers here.

We are still struggling. Even if you go to the Tata-Sikorsky JV, they are importing their composites. So are we for the 407.

There was a very strong pitch by the Textron Systems a couple of years back on the LCAC. Can you share what happened to the LCAC? Is it coming back?

We have a product called Surface to Shore connector. It is the largest hovercraft produced in the world. It carries around 100 troops and two armoured personnel carriers. It used to be called Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC). It has been in the US inventory for very long time. It was fielded during a joint exercise with India a couple of years back and India wanted it desperately and they asked it to form a PNA with the US navy. So the US Navy gave them a price which was completely unacceptable to the Navy. Now things have changed in a way that India is cooperating in a big way with US on a lot of multiple programmes and DTTI. So, the US Navy actually created a new programme called an advanced version of LCAC and they awarded a programme called Surface to Shore Connector (SSC) which is nothing else but an advanced version from an avionics point of view of the LCAC. So, the basic design doesn’t change but it has faster speed and avionics. So, this programme was awarded to Textron in 2014 and we will deliver the first SSC to the US Navy in 2019. So, what we said was why doesn’t India explore the option of joining this programme under the co-development and co-production?

India will benefit. If we can have this product – it will be introduced in 2019 — the timing for India is perfect.

What is your take on the need to skill Indian industry?

We were one of the first aerospace companies to set up a technology centre. It’s been operational for 11 years. We have close to 600 engineers who are developing all

DEFEXPO

the new technologies in India. All our helicopters which have come out or which are coming out, the 505 and 525 have been designed in India. What it does to us is it expedites the programme. We have to take each engineer to the US for six months to train. These are the issues. To get new kids coming in and going to the US is a serious issue. But having said that, we have been successful. We are developing skill sets and we are supporting a big team of engineers also at Dynamatics where we build the 407 cabins, the SAR engineering team is also there. I am recruiting directly from the universities. It could be from IITs. Our belief is that these need to be trained about manufacturing. We are great at software as Indians. We are great at IT but not good at all in manufacturing. What we are trying to do is to change these engineers who are coming in — maybe doing aeronautics, electronics, mechanical — convert them into design plus manufacturing. So, we have a transition process. That is what I say is skill development.

We are mapping it up with the productivity rate in the US. Three-and-a-half years back, when I took over, I went to meet all the businesses across Textron and they said the productivity rate was not more than 50 per cent and today they say its 95 per cent. That is a big achievement.

But without skill development, there will be no ‘Make in India’. My idea is very clear and I have told the government also to bring DPP and bring clarity about what is ‘Make in India’. What is the percentage of realisation that you are looking at? Today we don’t have raw materials available. We are importing so much of raw material at Dynamatics because it is not locally available. We are three companies at Dynamatics — Airbus, Boeing and us. They do the parts for Chinook, they do the cabins for us and they do structures for Airbus. The Tatas have also the same problem.

What are the key elements in making this manufacturing sector robust from an aerospace and defence point of view?

I have a very simple diagram. If any industrialist thinks he can develop a missile, an aircraft or a helicopter he can’t do it. Because your system intervenes along with the foreign OEMs. You need to develop Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3. Unfortunately, in India, when you address these issues there are certain industrial lobbyists, they think they can do it. I have been in this industry for 30 years here. There’s no way you can expect me as the head of Boeing or Textron to set up everything. You have to develop a supply chain but the industrial lobby is not supportive.

‘SAMTEL CONTINUES TO SCALE UP OPERATIONS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET’ PUNEET KAURA, Executive Director, Samtel Avionics Limited, is confident that Prime Minister Modi’s initiative will help local, indigenous firms to scale up operations and will provide a strong manufacturing base in India How do you think is Samtel poised to cater to the demands of today’s military customer?

Samtel Avionics Ltd. (SA) is a key Indian player in high-technology products for avionics and military applications, rugged displays, cockpit displays and equipment for military and commercial platforms. Samtel Avionics straddles the entire value chain from design, development, manufacture, testing, qualification, repair & maintenance to obsolescence management of avionics products and equipment. SA has been granted the MSME status by the Indian government, which entitles its partners to get Offset multiplier of 1.5 as per current procedure.

Despite being comparatively young in the defence industry, Samtel has managed to carve a niche for itself and is already partnering with atleast 5 of the top 10 leaders in the global aerospace and defence domain. Samtel Avionics – along with its joint ventures with HAL and Thales is now on an accelerated growth path to newer domains in modern avionics systems and applications for military and commercial platforms.

Innovation and re-innovation of technology has always been the ‘mantra’ at Samtel. Ours is a dynamic industry, and it is very important for a company in this industry to foresee and ride the trends. From the very inception of the Samtel Group, we have developed an innate tendency to track future technologies and prepare ourselves well in advance to be ready with solutions when the indus-

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try demands it. It is due to this quality of Samtel that we have been able to successfully forge partnerships with the leaders in the industry, and will continue to enhance our focus on this.

Please let us know about your products that you have supplied to Indian Armed Forces.

We have a JV with HAL, which was created to address the avionics requirements for all Indian Air Force star platforms. Through this JV we have successfully undertaken the

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indigenous designing, qualification Could you tell our readers about your and serial production of multifunction displays for SU30 MKI, and have partnership with General Dynamics till date inducted approx. 130 shipsCanada, Honeywell, and other internasets (910 units) on SU30 MKI manutional players?

Samtel is in various kinds of partnerfactured.Besides, Su30 MKI displays, ships and contracts with world leadwe have also received the PO for ers in aerospace and defence. Besides supply of MFD for LCH from HAL our JVs with HAL and Thales, we have (MCSRDC). After the successful intea long-term contract with Honeywell gration on LCH, we have the opporand are supplying avionics equiptunity and potential to integrate the ment to them for their general aviasame MFD on ALH, thus replacing tion range in the US. We are a tier-II the imported MFDs. Samtel has also supplier to Bell, Sikorsky and Agusta supplied 3ATI units to BEL for their Tarang programme. These units are meant for Radar and Missile warning receiver systems which will be integrated on many platforms such as Su30 MKI, MIG 29, Jaguar, Tejas, IL-76, MI-25 etc. Samtel has also supplied 19” Rugged displays to BEL for the Battlefield Surveillance System (BSS) for Indian Army. These displays were required inside the command and control shelters to display a variety of information. Another order that we have received is for Integrated Standby Instrument Systems (ISIS) for HTT-40. Samtel will also be supplying wearable and handheld displays in sizes 2.8” and 7” to BEL for the InSAMTEL’S dian Army.

EFIS40

What has your JV with Thales achieved in terms of product development, production and revenues?

The Samtel Thales JV was signed in 2008 with an aim to bring Thales's technological expertise to India as part of Thales's strategy of partnering with leading industry players around the world. The JV specialises in the design, development, production, sale and support of aeronautical products for the Indian defence markets. Currently, the Samtel-Thales JV is partnering with Thales on the Mirage 2000 upgrade project. The JV has already started dispatching the displays for Mirage 2000 from its production facility in Delhi/NCR. Besides this, the JV will create offsets in the avionics and optronics fields as well as redesign and the treatment of obsolete materials, either for the Thales Group or others with similar offset obligations in India.

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Westland through our partnership with Curtiss-Wright Controls Defense Solutions (CWCDS) UK, where we are collaborating with them for a new generation of intelligent, rugged displays for the defence and aerospace markets. Besides these, Samtel has partnered with General Dynamics Canada for co-production and comarketing of products for military/ ground market. Along with these, we are in discussion with various other market leaders for partnerships and collaborations, the details of which cannot be divulged at this moment.

Samtel is on an accelerated path of growth, and with the world focus on Indian defence industry at the moment, Samtel is truly poised to become a partner of choice for all avionics system integrators across the world.

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

What is your view on the recent changes in the DPP that the government announced in 2016? In particular, how do you see the changes in the DPP in relation to MSMEs?

As another step in the ‘Make in India' journey, the proposed changes are an evidence that the government has a firm focus on developing the indigenous manufacturers, especially the MSMEs. We welcome the move to introduce the IDDM category in the DPP as it will back companies like us who have proven competencies in indigenous design, development and manufacturing. Furthermore, the announcement of funding by the government for R&D purposes will help build a technology base in the country. The growth of the Indian defence industry has been marred by delays. The new DPP addresses this through a definitive step to cut down the delays in procurement by reducing the time lag between AoN (acceptance of necessity) and the tender or request for proposal (RFP).

What are your views on the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the government?

We, as an MSME are very upbeat about the Indian Prime Minister’s ‘Make in India’ campaign as it is designed to improve and strengthen manufacturing capabilities in India and also act as a strong mandate to foreign players to develop manufacturing units in India. Such measures help create a lot of vibrancy in the country’s defence sector by increasing the possibilities of local production. Through PM Modi’s Make in India campaign, the government is stressing upon Indian companies to have local, indigenous firms scale up their operations for the international market. Here, it is of real significance that Samtel is already doing that for last few years now, and has been supplying to giants such as Honeywell, Thales and HAL for many years. The defence industry in India has a continuing focus on self-reliance, and it appears that through this campaign, there will be a push for reforms that encourage the private sector to make further inroads into the defence domain – which will surely bring in a surge of business for companies such as Samtel.

DEFEXPO

‘A TRAINING SOLUTION FOR SECURITY FORCES WILL BE LAUNCHED AT DEFEXPO’ ASHOK ATLURI, Managing Director, Zen Technologies is confident that with the government’s initiative, indigenous design firms will start innovating and make cutting edge products What are your plans for Defexpo 2016?

What is going to be the next big thing that will come out from your stable soon?

and additional sight are standard fitments to enable aimed shooting from an angle. Often in close encounters against well trained adversary there is little or negligible ability to predict the outcome, ShootEdge perceptibly changes the odds remarkably and provides the ability to shoot at the enemy from behind protection and cover. As it is light weight it can be carried along with weapon.

In Defexpo 2016 we will be launching Zen CTC - a one-stop training solution for Armed Forces and Central, Special & State police forces. The facility, equipped with modern training equipment/infrastructure, free from routine encumbrances and other disturbances, is designed to provide performance-oriented training in realistic, tactical and operational environment.

Combat Training Centre includesZen Combat Training Centre (Zen CTC), a training infra-structure to train forces the world over in combating Urban Insurgency/Terrorist strikes and in rural environment. In the Indian context, in light of terrorist threat in urban environment, Zen introduces a facility that will cater to all training needs of a force to combat insurgency and terrorism in an urban environment. Rural based insurgency which affects villages/small towns and the countryside has also been addressed.

The CTC is designed as a composite, stand-alone training centre. It houses latest training aids/simulators, live indoor and outdoor firing ranges, mock-up of built-up area, explosives training area and other facilities to carry out individual and sub-unit training for counter-terrorism operations. Trainees attain proficiency in Marksmanship , tactical expertise in close quarter battle (CQB), Built-up area fighting, Room Intervention and explosives training. Outdoor two-sided exercises can be carried out with Zen Tactical Engagement Simulator (TacSim) to train armed forces in engaging the opposition in outdoor rural areas. Performance levels of all trainees are recorded from event to event and record available for critique/After Ac-

What has been the success story of the ZenRockwell Collins tie-up? Could you tell us about the products you have jointly come up with and what response has it received in the Indian and global markets?

We together developed a generic Rotary Wing Simulator for Aero India 2015. Based on the inputs received there we have been interacting with potential customers. Offsets is another opportunity that we are focusing on. We expect new business in the financial years 2017/18.

What are your thoughts on the revised DPP 2016?

tion Review (AAR).

You launched ShootEdge recently. Could you please provide some salient features of this weapon system and how do you think this suits Indian armed forces?

ShootEdge™ is an attachment to a small arm which enables shooting without risk of exposure to retaliatory shooting by adversary. One can hide behind a shield or protection and fire at target.

These systems are necessary and are force multipliers in encounters with terrorists and insurgents in wide ranging situations from operations in built up areas to hostage situations.

The ShootEdge™ comes with accessories for aimed shooting, firing from the hip, firing during day and night. Camera

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For the past couple of decades India has been stating that we are importing 70 per cent of the defence equipment and indigenously producing 30 per cent. And our target has been to flip that ratio. But there has been no change for the past two decades because of the lopsided policy that we have had. Till now, the most preferred category in defence has been Buy Indian with 30 per cent indigenous content (IC).

There is no category that encouraged design, which is actually the most important and value capturing aspect of any equipment. The Apple iPhone 6 priced at $650 where the bill of material is $200 and the gross margin is round $450. And the major part of this gross margin is attributable to design and development of the

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Zen advanced weapons simulator

product. Foxconn which manufactures iPhone, barely makes any money. Typically 80 per cent of the value is captured by the company which owns the IP of any high end technology product.

As there is no incentive to the products which are 100 per cent designed in India the foreign OEMs and their Indian 'partners' would restrict the content to '30 per cent'. With no proper monitoring this category had become a joke.

For example, they give price preference for American manufactured defence items. With no such preference to the Indian designed product, any company which was foolhardy to design its own defence equipment was strategically under quoted by foreign companies.

Since L1 was the only criteria in defence procurement till now, in most cases, the Indian company and the design would die in no time as for most of these equipment have only one customer, the Indian Armed Forces.

For the first time in the history of Indian defence procurement the importance of design and development has been recognised by Ministry of Defence. The new category, Buy Indian IDDM, is going to ensure huge inflow of funds into research and development and will ensure that the scientific talent in India is engaged in developing cutting edge technologies in Defence. With such huge investments, going into R&D, India, from being a destination for outdated defence equipment, will become the source for cutting-edge technology in defence.

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Single vendor situations: Another issue that the Indian industry had was the insistence previously by the Ministry of Defence for having at least two vendors till TEC stage even under Buy Indian category. For much of the defence equipment, there are only 4 or 5 major vendors world-wide, expecting 2 Indian vendors under Buy Indian category was foolhardy. The new DPP ensures that even if single vendor situation arises at bid stage, the procurement will be concluded, if the product qualifies and due process is followed.

Make Procedures: Another major change that has happened is with respect to make procedures. Make procedure has four sub categories: 1. Government funded projects: Under this category 90 per cent of the funding is done by the government and 10 per cent is industry funded. There are two subcategories under this Projects under `10 crore are reserved for MSMEs  Open category if it is more than 10cr or if MSME cannot develop it even if it is under 10 crore 2. Industry funded projects:  Projects under `3 crore are reserved for MSMEs.  More than `3 crore it is Open category Bold Step - Refund of R&D Expenditure if orders not placed: One encouraging feature for all the make projects where the product devel-

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opment is successful is that if the Government does not place the order within 24 months of developing the product, the government will refund 100 per cent of contribution made by the industry. This increases the Govt's responsibility tremendously and insures the risk taken by the industry.

Again under make only firms with majority controlled by Indian residents will be eligible to participate. In addition the companies should be existence for 5 years (3 in the case of MSMEs) and they should be rated B++.Minimum net worth criteria of 5 per cent has been set in relation to the development cost only in cases where the development cost is exceeding `5,000 crore. Otherwise positive net worth is the minimum eligibility criteria to bid for projects.

Do you foresee an improvement in exports of defence equipment/technology by Indian companies?

Absolutely. With the encouragement given to indigenous design Indian firms will start innovating and make cutting edge products. Indian armed forces are one of the toughest customers to satisfy. Once they buy a product it will be easy to sell to other armies and security forces. And when the design is owned by Indian companies, the margins are healthy enough to reinvest for customising for foreign markets. So it will be a virtuous cycle and India will become a hub for cutting-edge defence exports from being a destination for outdated defence equipment.

DEFEXPO

THE PROVEN UAS IN THE WORLD The strength of the ScanEagle and Integrator UAS is the commonality of the launcher, SkyHook recovery system and the Ground Control Station (GCS) mous UAS that provides real-time ISR. Images are captured using onboard, inertially stabilized sensors and sent to a ground control station via an encrypted digital data link. ScanEagle flies either pre-programmed or operator-initiated missions guided by a global positioning system and its onboard flight control system. ScanEagle can be launched and recovered from naval vessels with or without helicopter decks.

ScanEagle incorporates a range of payloads, including a turret that combines an Electro Optic (EO) and MidWavelength Infrared (IR) camera. Alternatively, ScanEagle can be individually configured for day or night operations.

ScanEagle can also be fitted with various other ISR payloads, including custom payloads to meet specific end user mission requirements. As technology advances, ScanEagle is continuously improved with more capable payloads integrated onto the platform.

The ScanEagle UAS is the most proven maritime UAS in the world, with over 42,000 shipboard flight hours in over 5,600 sorties. With over 870,000 operational hours in combined maritime and land based operations, the ScanEagle provides vital ISR support to forces in both combat and humanitarian operations. No other UAS company can rival Insitu’s global experience and track record in integrating and operating its UAS safely and effectively from a wide range of naval vessels

Integrator UAS

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he Insitu family of UAS include the ScanEagle and Integrator fixed-wing UAS which are operated from a common software and Ground Control Station (GCS) environment using ICOMC2. Insitu UAS have been operationally proven under challenging, real world conditions with the Naval forces of a number of countries globally including the US, UK and Canadian, Dutch, and Singaporean Navies.

Although UAS have predominantly been used in the military domain, there is also now an increased desire to apply the technology for commercial ap-

plications. These commercial applications include areas such as the Mining, Oil and Gas (MOG) industry, which is exploring the potential for unmanned systems to drive improvements in efficiency and safety throughout their operations. Other applications include emergency services, environmental monitoring and protection (including anti poaching), precision agriculture and high value asset monitoring.

ScanEagle UAS

ScanEagle is a small-footprint, runwayindependent, long-endurance autono-

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April 2016

The Integrator UAS is based on concepts proven by ScanEagle and matured through ongoing research and development. It retains key ScanEagle features such as a small system footprint, long endurance, autonomy, stabilized imagery, runway-independent launch and recovery, low observable signature and hub-and-spoke operations. The Integrator UAS has the capacity to employ a mix of larger payloads, for longer periods, in equally austere environments.

These payloads include EO and IR sensors, an IR marker and a laser rangefinder with a total payload capacity for the Air Vehicle of 18kg.

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Interoperability and Commonality of Systems

The strength of the ScanEagle and Integrator UAS is the commonality of the launcher, SkyHook recovery system and the Ground Control Station (GCS).

This means that different UAS can be controlled and operated from the same hardware and software which provides for significantly lower training overheads while maximising operational mission flexibility. In addition the open architecture of the ICOMC2 software allows for other sensor systems to be controlled and monitored as well as other UAS. By leveraging the flexible plug-in nature of the software the Indian Navy can enable tightly integrated UAS operations with existing and future Naval Combat Management Systems as well as develop new plug-ins to control future UAS. The ScanEagle and Integrator UAS have successfully been adapted to fit in excess of 27 different vessel types ranging in size from under

50m in length up to 250m and above.

Neither aircraft require a helicopter landing deck to operate and are highly complementary to existing manned helicopter operations. They allow the deployment of a flexible range of sensors including EO/IR optical systems, SAR, Electronic Warfare (EW) systems and Communications Relays.

Extended Range through ‘hand off’ between Control Stations

Insitu UAS platforms allow for ‘Hub and Spoke’ operations that will significantly extend the range and capability of any fleet. The ‘Hub’ is composed of the full set of UAS equipment including the Launcher and Skyhook recovery systems. A ‘Spoke’ consists of a Ground Control Station and Directional An-

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DEFEXPO

tenna for forward control of the UAS in order to perform extended range operations beyond the electronic line of sight.

This allows a station over the horizon to launch an Air Vehicle and hand control of it to another location over 100km away for local tasking, before completing its mission. This capability can significantly extend the range of the UAS from the original launch location.

Maritime Environment

The capabilities of Insitu’s UAS will provide a significant boost for the INs fleet wide ISR capability. This advantage will be most pronounced for smaller Navy assets which previously may not have had access to organic, over the horizon, ISR capability. However larger fleet units will also benefit significantly by being able to leverage the UAS to create significant synergies in total ISR coverage in their AO through combined tasking of UAS, Rotary wing assets and other onboard ISR capabili-

ties. The modular design of ScanEagle and Integrator means individual ships can be easily ‘fitted for - but not with’ full equipment sets, enabling the utility and mobility to quickly redeploy UAS from one vessel to another as required.

The modular design also allows for easy storage, maintenance and for rapid embarked deployments when needed.

Importantly, ScanEagle and Integrator can be installed so they do not interfere with the flight deck and can be operated concurrently with shipboard helicopter operations. This enables the lower-cost ScanEagle and Integrator UAS to be deployed forward of the ship for long endurance ISR coverage, while rotary wing assets are retained for other critical combat operations as required.

ScanEagle and Integrator each have

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

an endurance of up to 20 hours depending on payload. This provides, persistent ISR coverage to the Ship’s Commander and in addition the ability to relay AIS signals collected from a large area to the Ship’s Combat Information Centre for integration with the overall situational awareness picture. Interoperability of UAS with the P8-I Maritime Patrol Aircraft adds another significant fleet capability force multiplier when working in the maritime environment.

ScanEagle is a Force Multiplier for Naval Commanders and can be deployed in support of any or all of the following activities: • Ocean and Littoral ISR • AIS collection and reporting for maritime domain awareness • Anti-Piracy / Boarding Party support • EEZ and Border Protection • Amphibious Assault Support • Communications Relay • Search and Rescue • Disaster Response – Initial Assessment & Monitoring Land Environment ScanEagle and Integrator have also been developed to be operated in the land environment.

ScanEagle has been, and continues to be, deployed in the Middle East region, operating in the most extreme environments possible, including mountainous and desert areas. Both platforms provide valuable ISR information to Commanders on the ground allowing them to make informed and timecritical decisions.

The modularity and deployability of ScanEagle and Integrator enable ground forces to maintain critical ISR coverage as they advance and also benefit greatly using the ‘Hub and Spoke’ capability to fly the UAS ahead of their positions. Both systems can also be utilized to support Artillery Units and the potential future integration with the AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter will have a significant force multiplier effect for Ground Units.

• Ground ISR, including Force protection • Border security • Artillery Support • Asset protection • Search and Rescue • Battle Damage Assessment • Communications Relay • Disaster Response – Initial Assessment & Monitoring

DEFEXPO

‘OUR FUTURE PLAN IN INDIA IS TO BECOME AS LOCAL AS POSSIBLE’ ANTOINE CAPUT, India Country Director & VP, Thales expands upon company's projects involving Air Froce, Navy and Indian academic instituions How is Thales working in the direction of “Make in India”?

Thales’ strategy is in line with the Indian government’s policy of ‘Make in India’ to develop the industrial defence base of the country. We have been actively partnering with Indian industry, sharing technology and expertise for years now.

Our association with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is over five decades old now. Thales has also been associated with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for over 60 years. During this period, it has collaborated with BEL on many successful and critical projects to service the Indian Armed Forces. In August 2014, Thales and BEL’s JV company was incorporated as BEL-Thales Systems Limited. Further, we have created JVs with Samtel to locally develop and produce helmet mounted sights and displays, military avionics and airborne sensor systems for the defence market and with L&T Technology Services to develop software engineering activities in India.

As part of our ‘Go to India’ approach, we have also been co-operating with the Indian private sector to build transfer of technology and supply chain partnerships.

Our future plans in India include partnering with customers, universities, commercial and technology players, and hiring and training local people for us to become as local as possible.

Please provide an update on the India upgrade for Mirage 2000?

Since July 2011, Thales and Dassault Aviation have been working on the upgrade of the Indian Air Force’s Mirage 2000 f leet. Four upgraded Mirage 2000 aircraft have been delivered to the Indian Air Force. The rest of the f leet is being upgraded under the responsibility of HAL with the support of Dassault

Aviation and Thales teams as per the contract.

The upgrade will enhance the technical-operational capabilities of the Indian Air Force’s Mirage 2000. As a result, the IAF will have a coherent platform-system combination for the next 20 years. The IAF’s air potential will be further enhanced by the integration of new capabilities. These include longer-range detection across the entire

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April 2016

spectrum, improved tactical situation awareness, longer-range weapon firing against multiple simultaneous targets, weapon stealth and an extended operating envelope with the capability to engage ground targets whilst countering airborne threats.

The Mirage 2000 upgrade programme serves the strategic requirements of the “Make in India” initiative of the Indian government.

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DEFEXPO

MINIE DIR Thales

What are your solutions for the Indian Navy?

Thales has been a trusted supplier to the Indian Navy and continues to closely follow their requirement. We have been actively supporting the modernization efforts of the Indian Navy. Some of the contracts in the naval segment include long-range surveillance radars (LW08 and DA04), electronic warfare systems, among others.

We look forward to further strengthening our presence in the country and capitalizing on the promising opportunities in the Indian defence sector.

Thales has been investing in 3D technologies in the recent years. Can you share some details of the competence centre in Casablanca?

Thales continues to invest in 3D printing. In December 2015, Thales gave the official go-ahead for the creation of a newindustrial competence centre specialising in metal additivemanufacturing (3D printing) in Casablanca.

The initiative is part of Thales’s broader cooperation with Morocco.

3D printing will reduce the time it takes to develop and manufacture high-value parts in complex metal alloys for aerospace and spaceapplications. Thales’s expertise in the ma-

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terials, processes and requirements specific to the aerospace and space sectors will enable the technology to reach maturity more quickly. With its proven industrial processes and manufacturing capabilities, the new competence centre is a further step in Thales’s ongoing pre-product investment programme designed to promote the use of this innovative technology in France and other countries of operation.

Could you explain the utility of the Damocles system?

Damocles is a multi-function pod with a laser designation function to provide a day/night smart weapons guidance capability as well as a full suite of sensors for navigation and air-to-air target identification roles. Damocles is currently in service on a range of platforms with France and a number of countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia and will continue to evolve. It is currently in service, combat proven and integrated on Mirage 2000, Mirage F1, RAFALE, SU-30, Tornado and Typhoon.

Can you share details of your partnerships with the Indian institutes?

Collaborating with the world’s most dynamic universities is a key aspect of innovation at Thales. In October 2015,

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

Thales and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore signed an MoU for a jointly supervised IISc-CNRS PhD fellowship scheme. In January 2016, Thales signed an MoU with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) to create a jointly supervised IIT Bombay-CNRS PhD fellowship scheme starting July 2016.

Our strategy of collaborating with the Indian academic institutions and grooming talents is in line with the Indian government’s Skill India vision and Thales approach of sharing technologies and expertise

What are the key technologies and systems that you would be showcasing at DefExpo2016?

DefExpo is one of the major events in the Indian defence sector. Backed by over six-decade long legacy in India, Thales is all set to participate in the upcoming 9th edition of Defexpo India 2016. Thales will showcase a wide range of systems and equipment designed to meet today’s critical needs of the armed forces at its Thales booth 5.1.1-b in Hall 5. The Thales booth will cover its capabilities in land (vehicle solutions and soldier modernisation systems), naval (undersea sonars and radars) and air defence (missile technologies, radars and support systems).

DEFEXPO

SMALL SATELLITES WITH LARGE CAPABILITIES FOR SECURITY INTERESTS The advantage of small satellites is that they have the ability to perform over-the-horizon sensing and non-line-of-sight communications with improved temporal coverage

S

pace exploration started with the scope for using the final frontier for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Information, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4I2SR). In the last decade, small satellites are changing the way defence forces approach the utility of space based C4I2SR. Their unique low-cost access capabilities today are moving to complement the operational capabilities of ‘larger’ space systems and are on a trajectory of replacing larger systems. This has largely occurred due to the miniaturization of sensors, subsystems, increased reliability of Commercial Off The Shelf

Operationally responsive small satellites are just one facet of enabling tactical users to take advantage of space. However, operational responsiveness via small satellites can only be fully capable by building responsive launchers

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(COTS), substantial reduction in the cost to access space.

Some of the advantages of small satellites that defence establishments are looking to take advantage of include: • The ability to provide coverage and support over very large geographic areas, ability to perform over-thehorizon sensing and non-line-ofsight communications with improved temporal coverage.

• Due to the rapid response capabilities in constellation deployment, they may be considered to provide support from the preparation of deployment from the sensed increase of tensions, through crisis and to support full-scale operations. This may add a critical edge in supporting military operations across the full spectrum of conflict management.

• Rapid responsive support from space for operational control (e.g.

Ability of tactical commanders to directly to task satellites as their own assets) which shall play a progressively more important role in the future of warfare on land, on the sea, and in the air.

• Ability of reconstitution to quickly deploy/replenish critical space based operations after current assets turned redundant due to natural causes, or have been damaged / destroyed by during ascent or orbital destruction via ASAT. Operationally responsive small satellites are just one facet of enabling tactical users to take advantage of space.

However, operational responsiveness via small satellites can only be fully ca-

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DEFEXPO

(l) Kent Ridge 1 (KR 1) is a hyperspectral imaging, (r)LEOS-50 is able to carry a vast number of payloads offering an excellent performance microsatellite

launch on demand capability for tactipable by building responsive launchers, cal users. responsive ranges and responsive comTo provide a holistic use case for opmand & control, tasking, processing, erationally responsive small satellites exploitation & dissemination. Decision with operationally responsive launchmaking chains into using of the space ers, a constellation for high-resolution based assets of the country for effecimaging is described. tive ground utilisation in responsive decision making chains in command Small Satellites for Earth Observation of space assets considering the impor(EO) tance of low latency in decision chains Earth Observation is one of the most of C4I2SR has been discussed in detail proliferated use cases for small satelfrom a technology and ground operalites. Satellites weighing less than 6 kg tions perspective. and in a form factor of 30cm x 10cm x The assembly line model when ap10cm are already imaging the Earth plied to small satellites can provide caat 3-5m from space. Similarly there is pabilities to launch swarms of satellites tremendous scope for using 100kg platwith specific capabilities in short time forms to perform sub-meter high resospans depending on the C4I2SR relution imaging. quirements. With the low-cost, low-life Such 100kg platforms can design approach these swarms image at resolutions of up can be put up into Low Earth to 0.7m in different bands Orbits (LEO) with specific With only (e,g LandSat channel mission timelines of a two launch pads 1,2,3,4). However, the year or less to provision rapid intelligence operationally available with trade off from tradisystems would gathering capability. the third under consideration, tional be in the swath they With only two India has a limited satellite would cover. The launch pads operaswath of such a sateltionally available with launch capability for rapid lite would be <15km the third under conresponse in putting up sideration, India has a against a possible four limited satellite launch times bigger swath of a space assets capability for rapid relarger satellites (such as sponse in putting up space CARTOSAT). However, this assets. There is a need for a comcan be compensated by flying prehensive outlook for utilizing the multiple of these satellites in the same canisterized solid booster based delivorbit so that there is an overlap of the ery systems of the country to be leverthe Area of Interest (AoI). aged as a solution to operationalising Having 8-10 satellites in the same

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April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

orbital plane can result in having a constellation that is much more agile and capable since they can possibly provide a total swath of 100km. Additionally each of these satellites can be fitted with video capabilities where a platform can be steered in space to provide direct video stream from space for up to 90 seconds of a particular AoI. Using COTS approach with a design life of about 5 years and specific state of the art technologies such as green propulsion, laser transmission can make such a constellation not only technologically advanced considering traditional EO satellite but will also build a case for limiting ASAT options.

An 8-10 satellite constellation of the above nature is estimated to cost about $10m/satellite where one single rocket can carry such a up to 10 satellites to orbit. The launch cost is estimated to be about $25m brining the overall cost to about $125m. This figure potentially matches that of a traditional single EO satellite launched with a dedicated launch on a rocket such as Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

Moreover, such a constellation could be easily replaced with a new generation constellation as well as advancements in miniaturized Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) can be used to further used to possibly fly a mix of optical and SAR sensors on-orbit for allweather, day-night capability. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Narayan Prasad, Co-Founder and Director, Dhruv Space Private Limited

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MOD

OBSCOLESCENCE MARS PARAMILITARY’S CAPABILITIES Modernisation plans for India’s para-military forces battling odds have been seriously jeopardised, reports MAYANK SINGH

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he paradigm shift in the security environment has made it necessary to opt for intelligent mesh of technology, equipment and manpower. But it seems India as a nation is yet afar from bracing itself for the current and future needs in security. Paramilitary forces which stand guard as the Border Guarding Forces and have been

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entrusted to safeguard the country from within have a long way to go when it comes to be equipped and trained for the requirements for the policy makers have shortchanged them in the name of modernisation.

The plight of India’s seven central para-military forces with a combined strength of a million that face terrorist threats and civil disturbances every

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

day, often with heavy casualties, is no one's concern. The situation is even more serious when one gets to know that the indifference pervades right from top including the planners sitting in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Paramilitary come under the domain of the MHA. The profile of the deployment is startling for their duties are onerous, to

DEFEXPO

ITBP Jawans patrolling northern borders in adverse condition

CPMF MODERNISATION BUDGET 2013-2017 2012-13

2013-2014

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

TOTAL

AR

6.91

309.68

427.75

404.30

396.83

1545.47

BSF

22.55

693.87

1285.45

1278.89

1289.31

4570.07

CISF

0.30

85.99

95.03

51.87

31.17

264.36

CRPF

43.03

873.22

781.54

630.18

291.19

2619.16

ITBP

7.91

141.45

306.07

107.53

123.91

686.87

NSG

0

118.19

129.93

213.28

203.22

664.62

SSB

4.88

66.19

132.98

268.51

186.08

658.64

TOTAL

85.58

2288.59

3158.75

2954.56

2521.71

11009.19

say the least. From being posted in terror hit areas to high mountains; from deserts to the coast line, from industrial safety to tackling Maoists, paramilitary forces have their hands full in every sense of the word. It is on them that the government depends to keep its internal house in order.

Thus paramilitary forces play important role in the overall security matrix of the country. With the way sophisticated technology and weapons are being used by the anti-national elements our men on ground are facing tough time. Keeping the multiple roles

and responsibilities that each force is playing on the ground their modernisation, in every sense, is need of the hour. But, this seems to be the last priority as reflected in the way the mandarins in MHA have dealt with the issue of modernisation.

The modernisation fund is meant for upgrading the forces. It includes purchasing modern weapons, hi-tech machinery, communication and surveillance equipment, clothing, motor vehicles and also conducting special training programmes.

Having allocated a pittance of 89

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crores in 2012-13 had dragged the modernisation back as the forces had drawn up Rs 2199.14 crore as demand for funds. This for the para-military forces who are pitched against adversaries who are focused, capable of employing better tactics and use superior weaponry. This badly effects the morale of the men on ground.

Although the death counts have declined but the sophistication of attacks on paramilitary has increased. For the men who handle Left Wing extremism, counter insurgency (CI) operations, terrorism, election duties, law and order engagements and VIP security, the amount doled out is peanuts. It could well push up the rate of suicide, fratricide and resignations and is becoming a cause of worry. An officer of the Central Reserve Police Force told Geopolitics, "The resignations have come down in the recent time as people are waiting for the VII Central Pay Commission." He did not want to be named.

These forces come under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), whose para-military division runs their affairs in close coordination with their director general bosses under close watch of the special secretary internal security.

In 2002, a well intentioned and foresighted step was taken when Implementation of the Modernisation Plan-I for para-military forces was initiated. But, the foresight turned out to be a blind alley; the first modernisation plan supposed to conclude by 2007 overstretched itself by five years.

The second phase of the modernisation plan which began in 2012 saw allocation of a measly sum of `89.45 crores for the combined strength of Assam Rifles, BSF, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo Tibetan Border Force (ITBP), National Security Guards (NSG) and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). Of this amount, `28 crore was given to Assam Rifles and `20 crores to the BSF. Mr SK Sood, former Additional Direcor general of Border Security Force says, “Modernisation does not only mean acquisition of weapons and ammunition. It includes the well being of men battling the country’s internal and external threats. It also includes clothing, tentage, communication and medical equipment like night vision devices, Global Positioning Systems and warm clothes for high altitude.”

Training remains an integral part of modernisation and is prominently

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DEFEXPO

Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh inspecting the Guard of Honour, at the 52nd anniversary parade of Sashastra Seema Bal

mentioned in all proposals before `competent decision and policy makers’. It is here that questions have been raised over the `experts’ understanding, grasp and the foresight in handling the internal security paradigm.

Ideally, say officials, there should have been a third modernisation plan in place by now. They say that acquisitions delayed in time and procurement will create problems even if more money is pumped in the subsequent years.

Modernisation needs acquisitions which are done under a due process of tendering and contracts, which is gradual and time consuming. Typically, every tender needs the support of suppliers and in case a year’s requirement is added to the next year’s procurement, the supplier might not be able to meet the demand, causing further delays and red tape. This is an important reason why the modernisation plan continues to be delayed.

Security experts believe that threat perception and modus operandi are dynamic, the tactics and nature of operations fast evolving. It becomes essential to keep upgrading technology and strengthening the forces to counter changing tactics of anti-nationals.

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But that by no means is the only focus. release the money due to other considModernisation has to take into account erations," said a senior Border Security saving invaluable lives of the force perForce officer. sonnel under hostilities in treacherous Prakash Singh, former director genterrain and inclement weather by domeral, BSF, said the government is overinating the enemy. Sadly, in an era of looking the country's security while vote bank politics, national security is pumping money into issues which will none’s baby – not even the mandarins earn them votes. who run the MHA. "The entire mechanism of overseeTalking of the second modernisaing the modernisation of paramilitary tion plan, with a budget of nearly Rs needs to be given due importance for 11,000 crore for five years (2012internal security has become far 2017), was approved by the too complex. The involvement Union cabinet. The indifof external forces has made ference has reached to a it dangerous in the sense The entire stage where the indithat while Pakistan is vidual forces have not helping terrorists in mechanism of overseeing been given any budget Kashmir, Chinese the modernisation of under modernisation equipment and arms, paramilitary needs to be subhead or have been which it denies, have given in the range of been found with ingiven due importance for few crores. surgents working in internal security has north east India. The The budget which is state police force is not become far too earmarked as per the able to control situations complex plan is big but where does like these and it is here that the money go? central assistance is need.

“When the amount sanctioned Thus, the role of the paramilitary for the forces is seen by us it makes us forces becomes very important. These feel happy but this turns into disapforces are also involved in securing and pointment when government does not guarding our borders. They are made

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DEFEXPO

to switch roles such as disaster relief, holding mega events, law and order and VIP security.â&#x20AC;?

It is essential to upgrade the forces regularly to meet the challenges of internal security Government compromises on security. A senior officer of the ITBP said that neither the people are serious nor do they have a sense of how the things on ground work. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Every year this practice of earmarking a certain budget in the name of modernisation is done and at the end of the year you hear that it has not been released. Also, people incharge of paramilitary forces in the home ministry do not have any idea of the real issues.â&#x20AC;? he said.

This point of the officer is true on ground. There is an acute shortage of the Very High Frequency (VHF) communication sets. The men in uniform also informed that due to lack of understanding by the men in decision making position there are problems faced by the men on ground. "Equipments like the satellite phones and the Global Positioning System (GPS) are very important in operational duty. But, someone in MHA says that saellite phones have hardly been used for 100-200 minutes thus there is no need to buy more without realising that units have rationed their use as they are expensive.

Also, GPS is very helpful in patrolling Rajnath Singh under the Annual Proas there are so many operational arcurement Plan as well as forces modeas where movement is hindered due ernization plan. to fog or bad weather. In these situaThe existing delegated authority tions the GPS gives an accurate picture for procurement of arms & ammuniof direction." In fog movement in cities tion and machinery & equipment have like Delhi is so difficult thus one can been increased from `5 crore to `20 imagine the difficulties faced crore each. Similarly, DGs by our men operating in can now procure on their thick jungles and high alown, clothing and tentNeed is to bring titude. age amounting to `15 a comprehensive change The total budget for crore, as against ` 6 2014-15 modernisacrore earlier. The exin our approach towards tion plan was `3,100 isting delegated powInternal Security and Border crore but it also trickers for procurement Guarding. The tasks need le down in the range of computers and peof few crores which ripheral items have to shift from manpower was enough to meet been raised from `25 centric to network the inflation on the lakh to `1 crore. DGs centric system arms and equipments. financial prerogative of One positive step spending up to `50 lakh in taken by the National demoeach case of trial evaluation cratic Alliance was enhancing the of new items was increased to `1 financial powers of the chiefs of the crore for all CAPFs except National Security Guard where it ws increased to paramilitary forces. But, what is power `2 crore. to sanction money when there is no The earlier limited financial powers money given to the individual forces. delegated to paramilitary chiefs were Paramilitary chiefs were granted seen as a roadblock to timely procureenhanced financial powers by up to ment. The enhancement in these pow400% for speedy procurement of arms ers was done with a belief that it will and ammunition, machinery and speed up procurement and strengthen equipment, items for trial and evaluthe operational capabilities of CAPFs. ation etc, for their respective forces. It But, by seeing the budget allocation was approved by Union home minister one can understand that this was of no use.

Modernisation will not be a panacea to mitigate the forces involved with the internal security but it will evolve an all encompassing build up right from training, clothing, habitation, health to equipments like weaponry, communication and movement. Thus a lot of stress will be ameliorated.

Change is the need of the hour.

There is a need to bring a comprehensive change in our approach towards Internal Security and Border Guarding.

The tasks like observation and surveillance needs to shift from manpower centric to network centric system. In the personal space, we are integrating technology to make our lives better and comfortable but in service space we are still slow in integrating technology in order to increase efficiency and improve the habitat and the life of jawans.

The modernisation, which is in doldrums, needs to bean all encompassing exercise in order to brace-up the forces to be ready to serve the country which is ready to take leadership in the international arena.

MPV DENIED: CRPF jawans targeted by the Left Wing Extremists

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â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;OUR ENDEAVOUR IS TO TRANSFORM CISF TO CONFRONT MULTIPLE CHALLENGESâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) gears up to handle the fast changing internal security with updated training and modern equipments tells Director General SURENDER SINGH in an interview to MAYANK SINGH

What is your assessment about the way Internal Security has changed?

Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is deployed in every nook and corner of the country to protect and safeguard critical infrastructure and sensitive establishments in core sectors which contribute immensely towards our national development. Each establishment is different from the other in view of locational vulnerability, sensitivity, threat levels and terrain etc. For example, seaports, some of the atomic energy establishments and other installations are lo-

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cated along sea coast. These are exposed to the water fronts and face threat from sea side. Accordingly, our men guard the water fronts in our area of responsibility and carry out patrolling by the boats equipped with required weapons and gadgets.

Trans-national terrorism, naxalism and anti-national outfits do pose threat to the national security. Besides, there are conventional threats such as theft/ pilferage, white collar crime, sabotage, espionage, subversion etc. This makes our task more diversified and challeng-

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

ing requiring high order of professionalism and multi-skilled capability. In addition, over the year our mandate has broadened. CISF is no longer a PSU centric force as responsibility of security in the field of VIP security, Govt Building security, Heritage Monuments, Airports, Delhi Metro etc. has also been added to our responsibility. Constant technical modernisation, up-gradation of gadgets and weaponry, extensive use of dog squads and Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS), well equipped QRTs, manual and CCTV surveillance,

DEFEXPO

specialised training to our personnel has enabled the force to move with the times and provide requisite services to our client. We constantly review and update our operational plans which are adapted for different sectors including airports, seaports, atomic energy, space establishments etc. CISF has over the years transformed itself into a professional, multiskilled and tech savvy security agency to handle and neutralise any kind of challenge in our area of responsibility.

CISF is providing security cover to almost all the sensitive and critical infrastructures of the country having large public interface

CISF has been assigned multiple roles.

Does it not affect the training?

It is true that CISF has to discharge of its duty in various diversified areas. Our officers and men have been able to undertake these multifarious tasks largely on account of the training only. Proper orientation and specialised training makes the force personnel multi-skilled and enables them to perform under varied situations and different circumstances efficiently. CISF has to constantly keep abreast of emerging requirements through specialised training of personnel, upgradation of knowledge and managerial skills, besides induction of sophisticated gadgetry in aid to security functions.

CISF Academy NISA at Hyderabad has the distinction of being a “Centre of Excellence”, a distinction accorded by the Ministry of Home Affairs (GOI) in the field of Industrial Security on September 30, 1999. Our academy has been successfully shaping the officers and sub-officers to cater the need of the hour. Modern training aids have been provided at CISF Academy (NISA) as well as at the other six RTCs (Regional Training Centres). At each of the 6 RTCs, we have developed additional training skills for specialising in a particular aspect of security. NISA has been developed as a premier institute in the country and is imparting training not only to the personnel of CISF, but also to others including IRS, Indian Air Force, Navy, ONGC, State Industrial Security Force, Nepal Police etc.

CISF handles very sensitive installations and also places which see mass public interface. What is the mechanism of the force to study the threats and then of their incorporation on ground?

CISF is providing security cover to almost all the sensitive and critical infrastructures of the country having large public interface. The occurrence of even a small incident at these places could have far-

reaching ramifications. Recent incidents of attempts to target mass rapid transit system and aviation sector abroad has demonstrated continued terrorist interest in targeting these sectors.

CISF is deployed at 59 major airports and the Delhi Metro, whole network consists of seven lines with a total length of 213 km with 149 metro stations spanning Delhi, Gurgaon and UP. Almost 26-27 lakh commuters use Delhi Metro network every day of which about three lakhs are lady commuters. Today, Delhi Metro is known as the “life-line” of Delhi NCR. The concept of Delay, Deter and Detect are the watch words for our security system. Delay through preventive physical security measures and numbers of technology; deter through manpower positioning in the metro network; and detect through pro-active observation and intervention strategy. We also have in place a properly approved plan to handle man-made or natural contingencies through participation of all the stakeholders. Our dedicated teams keep surveillance through manual and CCTV network at the metro stations which enables the personnel to swiftly come into action during any kind of requirement.

Concerned CISF units have well-trained men and women contingents, QRTs, Dog Squad and BDDS etc which are dedicated round the clock to ensure security.

Our women commandos are specially trained in the Filipino martial art “Pekiti Tirsia Kali” which makes them strong and fit to ensure the safety of women commuters against any opponent.

Civil Aviation is increasing fast and so are the threats. How has the force beefed up itself?

CISF was inducted at the airports after

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April 2016

the hijack of IC-814 from Kathmandu.

Purpose of handing-over the security of Airports to a Central Armed Police Force was to bring about standardisation in security protocols followed across the country. When CISF was inducted at airports, its primary duty was access control and anti-hijacking duties. Today, however, CISF is providing holistic security to airports which includes protection of assets and people from terrorist attack or sabotage, in addition to anti-hijack functions. A high level of integrity and transparency in work and a genuine concern for passenger facilitation are other value additions made by CISF, which makes it a truly professional force.

Threat to the aviation security has to be seen both from a national and international perspective. IC-814 was hijacked from Kathmandu and landed at Kandahar. There are three fundamental threats faced by airports across the world- hijacking, sabotage and an armed terrorist attack; however, these threats can manifest themselves in various ways.

The actual assessment of threat depends on vulnerability and criticality of the target, which is place and time specific.

You bring a long experience and exposure as far as civil aviation is concerned. Which practices or technology in the field of civil aviation security can make even safer?

The entire purpose of deploying a professional armed police at the airports is to reduce the levels of vulnerability. It is however, important to understand that at airports, or for that matter, any mass public transport system, our men are dealing with a dynamic and ever changing situation. Our personnel have an arduous task on their hands to identify the potential threat from amongst millions of transiting passengers.

It is realised that the task of preventing a threat from occurring, by giving prior information, is the job of intelligence agencies. At all airports, we have surveillance staff for profiling of passengers.

Our Aviation Security Group conducts regular mobilisation drills and mock drills, to ensure operational preparedness and alertness and these measures are not only effective deterrents to any potential attack but also keep our men proactive and in fine fettle to react to any contingency effectively. The growth of technology is equally helpful to both the law enforcing agencies as well as the perpetrators of terror. The most important element for a safe and secure environment for aviation security is profession-

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Quick Reaction Team of CISF securing airport

alism which means developing correct knowledge, skills and aptitude.

How tough is securing a VIP? How do you keep the security and the safety without being invasive with a public figure?

During the year 2006, CISF established its Special Security Group to provide personal protection to the various categories protectees. Security of protectees includes proximate, escort & house protection. Category of protectee is determined by the Govt on various information and intelligence inputs.

Securing a VIP requires specialised training and alertness all the time.

The training module of Special Security Group has been developed in such a manner that without being invasive, force personnel provide protection to the VIP. There are various techniques and drills which enable the SSG personnel to discharge their duty effectively.

What is your assessment of future threats which will be faced by your force? How are you preparing against them?

Security is a dynamic process and adaptation to the changing needs and scenario are in-built. CISF was raised to

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protect and safeguard the public sector undertakings owned by central and state governments. Over a period of time, CISF officers and men proved their credibility due to hard work, dedication and professionalism. Since then, CISF kept on growing and moved to newer areas having multiple challenges.

The demand for deployment of CISF has increased day by day. The process of introspection and exercise on making CISF a lean and efficient Central Police Force along with optimal balance in manpower and gadgetry is already in progress. We are also looking into the aspects which make the CISF cost effective.

In view of present security scenario and threat perception, we have adopted new initiatives to make the force personnel multi-skilled to handle any challenge effectively. Training modules are being reviewed on a regular interval and changes are made according to need. Our endeavour to transform CISF into an efficient and thoroughly professional force having specialisation to confront multiple challenges is an ongoing process.

How important will be the role of canines in the future?

April 2016 www.geopolitics.in

Well-trained canine teams are considered essential for deterring criminal activity and assisting police departments in locating illegal drugs and explosive, in tracking fugitives, and finding missing persons. Canines play an important role in strengthening of the security system.

The training of the dog starts at the age of six to nine months. Dogs and handlers are imparted training in disciplines as specified and demanded by their respective departments. The training of the Dog and the Handler is conjunctive in nature.

Dog does not rationalize the world like humans do. They are not cognizant about saving lives, or caring about the realities of terrorist actions, or worried about drug use and smuggling. All they are obsessed with is finding the bomb or contraband, signalling their handlers and getting the best thing imaginable.

That is the difference maker in the level of intensity with which the animals does its job and ultimately achieve results.

Role of canine are bound increase in the prevailing security environment. Canines boost the confidence of the force personnel and make the environment more secure.

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