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P R E PA R I N G F O R F O U R T H G E N E R AT I O N W A R
geopolitics VOL I, ISSUE IV, AUGUST 2010 RS 100
D E F E N C E D I P L O M A C Y S E C U R I T Y
SCRUTINISING
AFSPA
HAL SPREADING WINGS
AMMUNITIONS TO
INFANTRY
INDIA-FRANCE
COMING CLOSER
RACE UNDER WATER The key to India’s aspiration for controlling the seas by neutralising Pakistan’s policy of sea-denial lies in augmenting the submarine-based offensive capability
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DEFENSE AND SECURITY
TECHNOLOGY TO MAKE THE WORLD MORE SECURE Homeland Security
Radar
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Space Simulation and Training IFF/BTID
Electro-optics
EW Automatic Test Systems
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War under water COVER STORY P40
Indian Navy is on a voyage for becoming a true blue water navy. GEOPOLITICS takes stock of its submarine strength...
SPOTLIGHT (P14)
SPECIAL REPORT (P37)
SPREADING WINGS
EQUIPPING FOOT SOLDIERS
Though HAL has broken new grounds in aeronautics, it’s time for this Mini Ratna to look beyond the “captive orders” from Indian defence forces. Plus: Interview with Ashok Nayak
To modernise its infantry and paramilitary battalions, Defence Ministry will vest them with a variety of weaponry gears worth $500 million
FOCUS (P26)
DEF BIZ (P34)
PERSPECTIVE (P22)
Battles of the mind
Air power for Navy
Soldiers of South Asia
The Fourth Generation Warfare goes beyond the armed forces’ traditional area of operations into the society as a whole, as evident in the conflict zones of J&K, the north-east and the ‘Red Corridor’
To meet future contingencies, the Navy is on the look-out for carrier-based aircraft for its under-construction indigenous aircraft carrier
What are the minuses and pluses of the Armies of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Myanmar? A reality check
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August 2010
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IN DEFENCE OF DEFENDERS (P52)
There is no need to repeal or dilute AFSPA, which gives the military necessary powers to conduct counter-insurgency operations
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RESOLVING THE DICHOTOMY (P56) The government can deal with rogue elements without violating human rights
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SELF-DEFEATING DOCTRINE (P65)
LONGING FOR WARMTH (P68)
India’s No-First-Use (NFU) nuclear doctrine has provided space for its adversaries to engage in proxy wars, cross-border terrorism and militant attacks
It seems that India is not taking the opportunities available within Ecuador seriously enough
DIPLOMACY (P74)
Growing camaraderie Taking cognizance of India’s potential as Asia's upcoming power centre, Paris is forging an all-inclusive politico-strategic relationship with New Delhi
GLOBAL EYE (P9)
g GEOPOLITICS
K SRINIVASAN
REPRESENTATIVE MILITARY
Editor
TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE DIVERSE CULTUR-
Editor-in-Chief
THE US MILITARY CULTURE WILL HAVE TO
PRAKASH NANDA
AL AND RELIGIOUS BACKGROUNDS OF ITS
Consulting Editor
NEW RECRUITS DRAWN FROM LARGE
VISHAL DUGGAL
GROUPS OF IMMIGRANTS
Conceptualised and designed by Newsline Publications Pvt. Ltd., D-11 Basement, Nizamuddin (East), New Delhi -110 013, Tel: +91-11-41033381-82 Managing Editor: TIRTHANKAR GHOSH All information in GEOPOLITICS is derived from sources we consider reliable. It is passed on to our readers without any responsibility on our part. Opinions/views expressed by third parties in abstract or in interviews are not necessarily shared by us. Material appearing in the magazine cannot be reproduced in whole or in part(s) without prior permission. The publisher assumes no responsibility for material lost or damaged in transit. The publisher reserves the right to refuse, withdraw or otherwise deal with all advertisements without explanation. All advertisements must comply with the Indian Advertisements Code. The publisher will not be liable for any loss caused by any delay in publication, error or failure of advertisement to appear. Owned and published by K Srinivasan, 4C Pocket-IV, Mayur Vihar, Phase-I, Delhi-91 and printed by him at Nutech Photolithographers, B-240, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-I, New Delhi-110020. Readers are welcome to send their feedback at geopolitics@newsline.in.
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P R E PA R I N G F O R F O U R T H G E N E R AT I O N W A R
geopolitics VOL I, ISSUE IV, AUGUST 2010 RS 100
D E F E N C E D I P L O M A C Y S E C U R I T Y
SCRUTINISING
AFSPA
HAL SPREADING WINGS
AMMUNITIONS TO
INFANTRY
INDIA-FRANCE
COMING CLOSER
RACE UNDER WATER Cover Design: The key to India’s aspiration for controlling the seas by neutralising Pakistan’s policy of sea-denial lies in augmmenting the submarine-based offensive capability
Jitendra Rawat
August 2010
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gONLOOKER CIVILIAN DISCUSSING AF-PAK RULE EH?
ARMY CHIEF General V.K. Singh has rued that civil administrators have not built on the successes of security forces in Jammu and Kashmir where law and order has been severely disrupted after relative calm. “So far as the Army is concerned, I think as security forces, a lot of work has been done. The situation has been brought to a particular level when other initiatives should have started to make way for betterment,” he told NDTV in an interview. “The Kashmir situation has been tense for quite sometime and the reasons are many. The basic reason being that we have not been able to build on the gains that have been made,” General Singh said. But the Abdullahs’ were riled to no end: Union minister Farooq Abdullah attacked the Army Chief holding that the Army Chief should “keep silent” and restrict himself to ensuring his force remained “alert and ready”. “He should not make political statements. I am totally against any Army Chief or police chief making political statements. Political statements should come from politicians, who can answer in the assemblies and Parliament,” Abdullah said. Son Omar came to Delhi, met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram and said : “all is well”
DEFENCE MINISTER A K Antony during his recent meeting with US Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen here also expressed his apprehensions that American arms aid was disproportionate to the war on terror for which it was meant, Defence Ministry sources said. Antony told Mullen, the highest ranking US defence official, that they should ensure that aid was used only for the purpose it was meant. The Indian side conveyed its serious concerns over the aid to Pakistan being misused against it and asked the US to establish a “monitoring mechanism” to prevent it. The blunt non nonsense Mullen also had as few other things to say during his Delhi visit: “I see them starting to emerge as a larger, regional, global threat. One of the things I’ve watched in the FATA, in the region between Pakistan and Afghanistan is the merging of these terrorist organisations,” he said about the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Admiral Mullen is expected to work on three defence pacts between India and the US ahead of President Barack Obama’s New Delhi trip later this year. These pacts, which have been deadlocked, are the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA), the Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum Agreement (CISMOA) and the Basic Exchange and Co-operation Agreement for Geospatial Co-operation (BECA). LSA, if signed, will enable the Indian and American militaries to provide logistics support, refuelling and berthing facilities for each other’s warships and aircraft on barter or an equalvalue exchange basis. Meanwhile US Special Representative Richard Holbrooke said that the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is only one of many such organisations which are trying to destabilise the region by igniting a military conflict between India and Pakistan: “They seem to be growing closer together... (and) their long-term objective is the same: to create the maximum number of problems between India and Pakistan... to create a crisis,” Holbrooke, who was on a two-day visit to India, said. But the best interpretation of July’s international conference on Afghanistan that had brought Mullen and Holbrooke to the sub-continent came from the right wing www.huffingtonpost.com:
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This week ( July 21) the State Department bragged about the really important conference on the U.S./NATO war in Afghanistan held in Kabul, hosted by the Afghan President and including dozens of international political leaders. So why was it relegated to page 10 of the New York Times and the equivalent in most of the mainstream media? The answer is actually pretty simple: It just wasn’t that important. Most of the decisions Hillary Clinton was so proud of were old news: The Afghan government will fight corruption and build up the Afghan National Army (ANA) better! The U.S. and other NATO countries will train the ANA! The U.S. will help the Afghan government fight corruption! Why should anyone think these plans will work any better this time around? The bottom line is that the White House is having a hard time convincing us that we’ve somehow “turned a corner” in Afghanistan, that counterinsurgency is winning, that 2010 would be “the year of Kandahar”. Rather, New York Times reported on the front page, those same White House officials, once granted anonymity, “acknowledge that the chances of progress there are growing more remote”. Those officials are wrong. “Progress” in Afghanistan is not “growing more remote”. It started out back in 2001 as completely remote and now, nine years later, it’s pretty much impossible. Making U.S. troop withdrawal dependent on the Afghan army’s ability to “defend its own country” is specious. The problem with the Afghan soldiers isn’t illiteracy or lack of capacity. The problem is lack of commitment — to the “government” in Kabul widely understood as the government of Kabul. There’s simply no basis for a “national” army to defend a government with no legitimacy, whose survival remains dependent on occupying forces. August 2010
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O N L O O K E R
POLICE UNIVERSITY! PEOPLE WITH an interest in criminology need not restrict themselves to thrillers and television. A police university, Gujarat Raksha Shakti University, the first of its kind, was launch in July. Plans for launching this university have been in the pipeline for last two years after announcement by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. The varsity, being projected as a launching pad for getting into police forces, armed forces and private security agencies, has taken 160 students in its first batch. The university has commenced the first batch with a sixmonth diploma course from academic year 2010-11. Speaking at the inaugural function, Modi said that the university was part of forward planning towards meeting the need of specialised training. "In the time of ever-growing threat in form of naxalism, terrorism, cyber and n e w - a g e crimes and volatile internal security situation, we need to
think in terms of future. I am sure that the university will work as a perfect platform for the aspirants for uniformed jobs in years to come," he said in his speech. University officials stated that the new campus has been finalised near Gandhinagar, where construction work will commence by the year-end. Meghaninagar campus has started with diploma courses and will eventually offer courses in graduation and post-graduation. Close on heels is another police university, which is probably expected to come up in Mumbai, and will provide formal degrees in subjects ranging from investigation to forensic science. Any person with an interest in learning about the force can apply for admission, once the guidelines are formulated. People within the force too can enter to learn more about a particular subject. The university (Mumbai) is being set up by the state government with 90 per cent funding by the Centre, the idea having been approved by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram. Still in the initial stages, it is expected to be in operation after two or three years. If Mumbai has a space crunch, the university could come up either in Raigad or between Mumbai and Pune.
SUICIDES DIP IN ARMY AFTER A series of years of rising suicides and incidents of fratricide in its ranks, the Army has recorded a drastic drop in the same following the introduction of welfare measures. There has been a 30 per cent drop in the number of soldiers committing suicide over the past year while the fratricide rate is virtually down to zero. The second-largest standing Army in the world with 12 lakh personnel, it had been averaging a loss of 120 soldiers to suicides annually till 2008. At the half-way mark this year, the number of suicides stands at 43. Taking the rest of the year into account, and approximating a figure of around 6.7 suicides per lakh, the rate is far lower than the national average of 11 suicides per lakh. The incidents of fratricide are down from a high of 13 in 2006 to only one in 2009 and none till now this year. While the revised
pay scales are believed to have helped, so has a series of simple but effective measures introduced over the past two years under a Stress Amelioration Action Plan (SAAP). These range from improving the ration of troops posted at altitudes of over 12,000 feet, to measures like providing training counsellors and sensitising commanding officers to problems of their men.
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Cops terror links
SUSPENDED KERALA InspectorGeneral of Police Tomin Thachankary faces further action for his alleged links with operatives of terror outfits whom he is reported to have met during his recent visits to Persian Gulf countries, including Qatar. The Inspector General was suspended last month for making unannounced visits to Persian Gulf countries after lying about his travel plans. The action followed a protest note sent by the Indian embassy in Qatar to the External Affairs Ministry, claiming the officer met “dubious persons” during his visits and kept the mission in the dark. It is mandatory for visiting officials to keep the local embassy in the loop. Reports said Thachankary had met absconders from Kerala with links to terror outfits, and promised to help them if they returned to India. Thachankary had allegedly told his superiors he was going on a holiday to Kashmir. But when he was spotted in the Gulf, he said he had changed his travel plans. A probe revealed he had made trips to the region without seeking permission. Thachankary denied any wrongdoing, saying his superiors, including DGP Jacob Punnosse and state Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan were aware of his trips. He said he hadn’t divulged the details to embassy officials as the visits were confidential. Balakrishnan seemed reluctant to act against Thachankary, who is reportedly close to leaders of the state’s ruling CPM. But the CM ordered Thachankary’s suspension. This was stayed by a central administrative tribunal. The matter is now in the Kerala HC.
August 2010
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g PANORAMA
T
HE $ 80 BILLION surprise that Deloitte sprung during Eurosatory2010 defence exhibition in Paris in mid June(The CII-Deloitte report released there on ‘Prospects for Global Defence in Industry in Indian Defence Market’ said the defence capital expenditure budget was expected to achieve a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10 per cent from 2011 to 2015 and that the country was likely to spend nearly $80 billion(Rs 32000 crore) over next five years (201015) on new capital acquisitions) has now been reconfirmed by the global consulting company with a mid-year 2010 outlook that defence spending in India and the Middle East is expected
BIG BUCKS
to rise dramatically. The Indian defence procurement for the year 2010-11 is budgeted at $32 billion (Rs 13000 crore) — including $13 billion (Rs 5200 crore) for acquisitions for new weapon systems, equipments and services. So, what are the opportunities for India? The sheer volume of planned expenditure is expected to create new opportunities for global A&D (Aviation and Defence) companies, as total spending will grow in absolute terms. Further, having a burgeoning spending on A&D and significant offset requirements, India is also looking for necessary technologies from these companies. The sheer volume of planned expenditure is expected to create new opportunities for foreign firms, as total spending will grow in absolute terms. India is also host to a mature manufacturing sector, which means it will often be able to offer more cost-competitive terms for large platform builds. While global companies are looking for costsaving programs while increasing revenue, India is a critical market and potential engineering and manufacturing partner that A&D companies can leverage for future business. Despite the country’s desire to seek a high level of self-sufficiency in delivering its defence equipment and expansion programmes, it was also evident that there would be much reliance on overseas interests to supply the necessary technology in a number of areas. Foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers are now looking at India as a critical market as well as a potential manufacturing partner and India could use the opportunity to become a key outsourcing hub for the global defence industry. The continuous revisions of the defence procurement procedures in the recent past suggested the intent of the Indian government to streamline the procedures and make the system more transparent and speedier which will only help accelerate the process.
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August 2010
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SHOPPING!
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THE SHOPPING LIST AIR FORCE: 180 Sukhoi Su-30MKI MMRCA to replace MIG 21s Advanced and Intermediate
Jet Trainer aircraft The Fifth Generation
Fighter Upgrades of more than 60 MiG 29 fighters, Jaguars and Mirage aircraft Airborne Early Warning Aircraft (AWACS) The Air Force has recently inducted mid-air refuellers, aerostats, airborne warning and control systems and new generation air defence systems. It would also upgrade avionics in the Chetek helicopter and in MiG-29s, instal more powerful radar and newer avionics of the Su-30MKI aircraft and modernizing its airfields with sophisticated radars, DF and communication and equipment and with enhanced perimeter security arrangements.
ARMY: Upgradation and purchase of artillery and tanks.for eight divisional-sized armoured battlegroups The Indian Army has plans to acquire handheld battlefield surveillance radars, handheld thermal imaging devices for night vision, stand alone infrared seismic and acoustic sensors, integrated observation equipment and short range secure radio sets and modern strategic and tactical command and control systems. They are also seeking industry partners to codevelop technology related to gallium nitride semi-conductors and nanotechnologies related to structures, sensors, propulsions and communication
NAVY: Submarines A range of additional warships Sea choppers and aircrafts The Indian Navy is seeking sonars,
navigational radars with Low Probability of Intercept (LPI) capability Multi-functional radars with capability to integrate various surveillance/weapon delivery systems New generation gyros, new generation logs and new generation echo sounders The Coast Guard is seeking coastal surveillance radars and sophisticated long range electro optic solutions for offshore security
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GLOBALEYE
TOWARDS AN INCLUSIVE MILITARY As fast demographic changes sweep the American society, the US military culture will have to take into account the diverse cultural and religious backgrounds of its new recruits — drawn from large groups of immigrants — and accommodate these differences into the system, points out AMIT GUPTA
T
WO PRESS releases — one by the United States (US) Census Bureau in 2008 and the other by the United Nations Population Division in 2009 — highlight the changing nature of the global population and more importantly of that in the US. The data provided by both organisations suggests that the population of most of the developed world is depleting, the existing population is graying and, within the US, there is a demographic shift taking place that will see minorities become the majority. Both the international and domestic demographic trends will have a major impact on the US military.
The UN Population Division and the US Census Bureau have identified the following trends in global and American population: The developed world and China are ageing to the point where several developed nations — Germany, Japan, Russia, and Italy — will have shrinking and significantly ageing population. The developing nations will maintain high population growth rates with a youth bulge. In 2008, the median age for Afghanistan was 16.8, for Pakistan, 21, and for India, 25 (see tables below for the comparison with the developed world).
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The population of the United States keeps growing and in 2050 it remains, along with India and China, as one of the three largest countries in the world. In 2042, minorities become the majority in the United States accounting for 54 per cent of the country’s population. By 2023 minorities will comprise more than half of all children in the country. The working age population — 18 to 64 — is expected to become 50 per cent minority in 2039. In 2030, one in five US residents is expected to be 65 years or older. Between 2010 and 2050 the United August 2010
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REFLECTING CHANGE: The demographic profile of US military is all set to be transformed to accommodate different ethnic identities States is expected to receive 1.1 million migrants annually. The fear in the rest of the developed world is that graying societies will face negative economic and military-strategic consequences. Economically, the lack of a ready base of young people will hurt the productive capability of major developed countries (Japan by 2050 will have a median age of 55 while Germany’s will be 51) as ageing population causes a shrinkage in the work force and a consequent drop in national Gross Domestic Products. These countries will also have the burden of caring for a large ageing population.
Moreover, older societies are likely to be more conservative and less innovative thus further reducing their economic competitiveness. From a military-strategic standpoint, ageing societies with a small base of young people will be reluctant to commit forces to wars — especially if they risk facing a significant number of casualties. We have already witnessed, in Iraq and Afghanistan, the sensitivity of coalition partners to taking casualties. As this author was told by the former vice-chief of the Australian army, 10 body bags would have been enough to push the Australian public to call for a withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
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IMPLICATIONS FOR THE UNITED STATES Of all the developed countries the shift in demography favours the United States. Its population remains stable albeit getting older. Economically, it will have a larger portion of the developed world’s GDP — according to one estimate the United States will control 54 per cent of this amount by 2050. Additionally, the United States will continue to have a large population and its median age of 41.7 will be lower than that of other developed nations. It will also benefit from the inflow of an additional 1.1 million immigrants every year from 2010 to 2050. August 2010
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DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION: SELECT DEVELOPED COUNTRIES Country
2009 (population in millions)
2025 (population in millions)
2050 (population in millions)
2009 (median age)
2050 (median age)
Australia
21.2
24.7
28.7
37.5
42.9
Bulgaria
7.5
6.7
5.3
41.5
49.5
France
62.3
65.7
67.6
39.9
44.8
Germany
82.1
79.2
70.5
43.9
51.7
Japan
127.1
120.7
101.6
44.4
55.1
Poland
38
36.9
32
37.9
51
Russia
140.8
132.3
116
37.9
44
UK
61.5
66.6
72.3
39.7
42.5
US
314.6
358.7
403.9
36.5
41.7
The latter group will remain important for the exercise and projection of US military power. Under current US immigration laws, immigrants willing to serve in the armed forces are fast tracked to citizenship thereby providing a strong incentive for migrants to pursue military service. The inflow of such migrants fits well into the long-term plans espoused by Secretary Gates for making the United States armed forces culturally aware and having the ability to operate in a complex global environment. Such migrants come with linguistic skills, cultural awareness, and in most cases high levels of adaptability and innovation that would make them suitable soldiers for the new types of missions that the US military must perform in the future. Lastly, the US is moving towards a society where today’s minorities will, by 2042, constitute the majority and, by 2023, over 50 per cent of the children in the school system will be non-Caucasian. By 2030, over 50 per cent of the working population of the US will be minority groups so this will be reflected in the composition of the US military. What, therefore, are the implications of this
demographic change for the US military as it crafts its policies on diversity and inclusion for the coming decades? It is important to understand that in the coming decades we will no longer be talking about minorities but, instead about pluralities — large groups of ethnically distinct people within the broader American society. Unlike a minority, a plurality is conscious of its demographic and voting power and will also have a greater share of political and economic power. Consequently, it will seek to increasingly shape American society to reflect its own aspirations and its cultural attributes. The late Samuel Paul Huntington in his book Who are We? lamented the decline of the American creed — essentially its White Anglo-Saxon Protestant character — and saw it being replaced by the pull of various sub-nationalisms that could conceivably destroy the fabric of American socie-
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ty and national unity. One can make the counterargument, however, that these minority groups seek the same goals — economic advancement, social acceptance — that past immigrant groups have and, therefore, would seek to work within the parameters of American nationalism and society. What will happen, however, is that American identity will be partially reshaped to allow such groups to have a greater visibility within American society. Some would argue that this has already happened as what is American culture is increasingly a blend of Caucasian and minority inputs. The emergence of this plurality is also being witnessed in changing school curricula, in the changing morays in the workplace, and in the way different ethnic and racial groups are reflected in popular culture. By force of circumstance the US military, in the coming decades, will be seeing an increasing number of minorities coming into the services at both the enlisted and officer level. The US military culture, therefore, will have to take into account the diverse cultural and religious backgrounds of its new recruits and accommodate these differences into the system. Such accommodation could range from relatively simple issues like diet and body hair — turbans and beards — to a symbolically less religious military. As European football team managers have found out
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g GLOBALEYE in trying to build unified teams out of players from different national, racial, and cultural backgrounds, it is the small things that matter. So taking into account different cuisines, for example, is one simple instance of this type of accommodation. A more practical one will be over-accommodating the religious practices of minority groups like Muslims and Sikhs whose religions require them to have facial hair or long hair. Other militaries have been able to work around these religious requirements — the Indian Air Force for example allows its Sikh pilots to wear mini-turbans under their flight helmets while the Royal Air Force has added turbans to its official uniform for Sikh airmen. Second, in order to bring in different ethno-religious groups, the military will have to strike a balance between providing religious counselling for its new recruits and the creation of an overt secular image. In practice this would mean the abolition of prayers and religious symbolism from ceremonies and functions within the military since as they stand, and despite the best efforts of a well-meaning Chaplin corps and military leadership, they are perceived as being Christian in orientation. This orientation, however innocuous it may seem, has the potential to cause offence and, therefore, there will have to be a move-away from such open displays of religious symbolism. At the same time, the services of Hindu, Muslim, and Buddhist religious counsellors will be needed more and more within the armed forces. What we are likely to see, therefore, is a move to follow the models of some of the European nations where religion and prayer are put into the private space by the military rather than being in the very public space that they presently occupy in the US military. Third, the officer corps will have to be
SECULAR FACE: Azza Meshal, a Muslim, has worked in the US Army for 27 years trained to take into account the new demographics of the United States. The Air Force has instituted a languages programme as part of increasing the cultural awareness of its officers but the officer of the future will have to start her/his career being multilingual so as to deal effectively with both the external environment and the shifting demographics and the new recruitment base within the country. The officer corps will also require a strong foundation in cultural issues that will have to be brought in at the service academy level or be made part and parcel of the university education that the prospective officer is pursuing. Corporate America already does this with the executives it sends abroad by giving them cultural training so as to help them
DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION: SELECT NON-WESTERN STATES Country
2009 (population in millions)
2025 (population in millions)
2050 (population in millions)
2009 (median age)
2050 (median age)
Afghanistan
28.1
44.9
73.9
16.8
23.5
Bangladesh
162.2
195
222
24.1
39.2
China
1.34 billion
1.45 billion
1.41 billion
33.8
45.2
India
1.19 billion
1.43 billion
1.61 billion
24.7
38.4
Iran
74.1
87
96
26.3
41.9
Mexico
109
123
128
27.2
43.9
N. Korea
23.9
25.1
24.5
33.6
41.9
Pakistan
180.8
246.2
335.1
21
32.7
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adjust to the countries they are going to. While expensive, it may make sense, therefore, to give young officers the equivalent of a semester abroad so as to increase their appreciation of different cultures. Fourth, the military will have to make a conscious effort to recruit within the different ethno-religious groups and this will require a better partnership with schools and universities to attract such personnel. Building relationships with community leaders would also be part of this effort. The goal is not only to fill the enlisted ranks but to attract young people of all races, ethnicities, and religions to the officer corps. In fact a concentrated effort would have to be made to bring a greater number of Muslims from the country’s bourgeoning Islamic community into the force. The long-term impact of such an effort would be felt both in the greater cohesion within the US military and in the image it would present when it conducted missions abroad. The United States is not the only country that has to recreate its ethno-religious identity in the wake of immigration and a changing population composition. The countries of Europe face similar challenges and the United State may well serve as the role model for these countries to institute their own social and military restructuring. (The writer is Associate Professor at USAF Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. The views are his own, not of US Air Force) August 2010
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THE CABINET Committee on Security (CCS) has empowered Defence Minister A K Antony to approve military hardware purchases up to Rs 500 crore on his own, and up to Rs 1,000 crore with the concurrence of the Finance Minister. The previous limit for the Defence Minister was Rs 100 crore and that of Finance Minister Rs 200 crore. With this approval, capital acquisitions only above Rs 1,000 crore would be brought to CCS for approval. Sources said that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee backed the enhanced limit citing the need for speedy clearances to defence purchases as well as the increase in the financial powers of other administrative ministries from Rs 100 crore to Rs 150 crore last April. The new limits were agreed to by Mukherjee and Antony and were sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for approval so that the Transaction of Business Rules could be suitably amended. The CCS proposal recommended greater financial autonomy to the two ministers on grounds that defence purchases were a “peculiar requirement” considering the ongoing defence modernisation programme with India adding strategic weight in global terms.
‘YES’ TO DUAL PENSION THE REGIONAL Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) in Kochi has recently ordered that the widow of a reemployed soldier is entitled to dual family pension. Disposing of a petition filed by Sobhanakumari of Malappuram, wife of the late Sergeant Sivasankaran Nair, the AFT comprising Justice K Padmanabhan Nair and Lt General Thomas Mathew pronounced the Ministry of Defence’s stand against the petitioner’s entitlement to get two family pensions simultaneously as “illegal and unsustainable”. The petitioner’s husband, after being discharged from Indian Air Force, got reemployment in Canara Bank and died in harness while serving in the bank. Till the date of his death, he was getting the Air Force pension. But, after her husband’s death, when the petitioner claimed family pension, the Air Force rejected it on the grounds that she was getting pension from the bank. In her petition before the Tribunal, Santhakumari pointed out that there is no
provision that disentitles her from getting two family pensions at a time and that the pension from the Canara Bank is not paid out of the consolidated fund of India. The MoD took the stand that she was not entitled to get two pensions based on Regulation 195 (a) of Pension Regulations of Air Force 1961, according to which, a legal heir shall be eligible for family pension from Air Force only if he or she is not in receipt of another pension from the government. Pointing out that Canara Bank is a statutory body incorporated under the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act and that its funds are not part of the government funds, the AFT made it clear that the pension from Canara Bank cannot be treat-
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ed as pension from the government. Hence there is no justification in denying family pension to the petitioner on the grounds that she has been already receiving pension from the bank. The tribunal directed the MoD to disburse the pension within three months, failing which with interest at the rate of 9 per cent a year. August 2010
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g No more Mayapuri READY FOR TAKEOFF THE CABINET Committee on Security (CCS) has sanctioned Rs 285 crore for development of system and equipment for protection against any kind of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and leakages. The complete system is being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which besides preparing NBC (Nuclear Biological Chemical) suits will also design dedicated platforms for soldiers to operate. The systems including the vehicles would be completely radiation and contamination proof, shielding the soldiers in all kinds of environment. Besides that, unmanned
ground vehicles and special robots are also being designed for highly contaminated environment where no human can enter. The de-contamination teams would work in cooperation with medical teams on standby, which besides taking care of the soldiers would also assist the civil administration.
NAG
If the senior officers of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) are to be believed, the weapon system for the Akash missile is now ready for production and induction. After the first order of the Akash missile system from the IAF, the DRDO has managed to secure a bigger order from the Army, taking the total volume of business to Rs 27,000 crore. The research organisation has been long under fire for having sunk large amounts of funds into research projects. The Army has ordered 12 batteries of Akash anti-aircraft missiles. Each Akash battery has three launcher vehicles, a radar vehicle and several support vehicles. Each launcher is self-propelled, carrying four missiles, and costs Rs 10 crore. Each search radar, which can support several batteries, costs Rs 40 crore and each battery has weapon guidance radar, which costs Rs 50 crore. About 300 industries in public and private sectors contribute to the production of the weapon system. Hyderabad-based Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) will be the system integrator and nodal production agency for the Akash-Army variant.
FINAL TRIALS COMPLETED
THE BRAINS GONE “DAKSHIN!” “WITH ALL scientific institutions located in Bengaluru, this city has all the brains and Delhi is now facing acute shortage of the same.” This is what Air Chief Marshal P V Naik had to say at the recently-held Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE) Raising Day celebrations, an annual fest for the scientific community. Stressing on modern-day warfare, Naik said: “The gap between requirements of electronic warfare and scientific advancement is huge. At present, the approach of DRDO is demand driven. The scientific fraternity provides required technology for war whenever necessary. But it should be the other way round: we should be able to structure our defence forces as per advancement of technology,” he stated.
Third generation anti-tank Nag missile is expected to be inducted into the Army’s arsenal next year with the successful completion of “final validation trials” in the Chanan Air Force ranges in Rajasthan. The hit-to-kill missile has proved its capability against both moving and stationary targets with precision. In all, four missiles — two each against a moving target and a derelict Vijayanta tank — were fired to cover varying ranges of 500 metres to 2,600 metres on July 14. The “fire-and-forget” missile was bang on target. Each time, two missiles were fired consecutively within a span of few
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minutes against a moving and another stationary target. Moving with a speed of 210 metres per second, Nag caused extensive damage to stationary Vijayanta tanks on both the occasions. The next day, the “flotation trials” of the Nag Missile Carrier (Namica) were held in the Indira Gandhi Canal, Nachna, during which the entire system manoeuvred through the canal and established its “channel-crossing ability”. Namica was produced by Bharat Electronics Ltd, while the reconfigured launcher platform was developed by Larsen & Toubro, Mumbai. Each Namica can carry eight missiles in ready-to-fire mode.
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FLYING HIGHER INDIA READY FOR HI-TECH LEAP (14)
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Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has come of age to scale new heights in aeronautics but it should look beyond the “captive orders” from Indian defence forces for its sustenance and growth in the years ahead, feels RADHAKRISHNA RAO
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HE IMPRESSIVE, 20-minute maiden flight of India’s homegrown dedicated attack chopper Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) on the sunny morning of May 23 at Bangalore was a vibrant testimony to the stretching of wings by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), one of Asia’s largest aerospace industrial enterprises under the Defence Ministry. Indeed, from an era of licensed production and supply of spares and components to the global aerospace and defence majors, HAL has come of age to scale new heights in aeronautics. But then HAL would need to shed its “bureaucratic legacy and fauji culture”, which have been responsible for stifling its all-round growth in addition to hindering its transformation into a forward-looking aerospace major with a global reach. There is
no denying the fact that HAL’s long-standing obsession with meeting the needs of defence forces implied that it could do very little in the area of civil aviation and non-defence aeronautics. Moreover, the absence of competition resulted in “complacency and slackness” creeping into the work culture of this “mini navaratna” public sector enterprise. The message is loud and clear: HAL should look beyond the “captive orders” from Indian defence forces for its sustenance and growth in the years ahead. However, this is not suggesting that HAL stop catering to the needs of the Indian defence forces. Indeed, as aeronautical analysts point out, HAL should strive to adopt the “corporate culture and operational philosophy” of the global aerospace majors by taking into account the imperatives of the Indian milieu to give a global
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edge to its operations. On his part, HAL Chairman Ashok Nayak has revealed that HAL expects to get an initial contract for 65 LCHs from the IAF. Nayak also expressed the hope that the Indian Army too would buy a substantial numbers of LCHs. For like IAF, Indian Army is also on the lookout for a well-equipped, high altitude gunship suited for anti-armour and anti-infantry role. As envisaged now, the twin engine LCH with a take-off weight in excess of 5,500-kg is expected to play a major role in defence operations against slow-moving aerial targets, destruction of enemy air defence operations, escort to special heli-borne operations, anti-tank role and scout duties. Featuring a sleek and narrow fuselage and tandem cockpit LCH with its stealth features is designed to carry 20-mm turret guns, rockets, air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles. LCH is expected to get initial operational clearance by 2011-end. Designed and developed in around 40 months, LCH has fallen back on many of the technological elements of multi-role, multimission ALH (Advanced Light Helicopter) Dhruv, India’s first indigenous rotary wing flying machine designed to meet the needs of both civil and military operators. The features that are common to LCH and Dhruv include rotor system transmission, power plant, hydraulics and avionics. A flagship programme of HAL, Dhruv is not only in service with the Indian defence forces, coastguard and para-military forces and civilian users including government agencies but has also been exported to a number of countries including Ecuador, Peru, Turkey, Mauritius, Israel and Nepal. HAL has been promoting both the military and civilian variants of Dhruv in the global market. Last year, HAL supplied seven Dhruv choppers to Ecuador under a US$ 51million contract. However, this major breakthrough in the export market was marred by the crash of a Dhruv during a military parade at Quito in October 2009. The military version of Dhruv is mainly used in transport, reconnaissance and evacuation of casualties. The attack version of Dhruv equipped with a high performance Shakti engine and capable of operating in high altitude battlefields is now ready for induction into the services. Sometime back, Indian Home Ministry had mulled the deployment of Dhruv for antiNaxalite operations. However, Indian Navy, which already operates eight Dhruv choppers for utility purposes, has decided against buying additional Dhruvs. HAL has decided against going in for foreign assistance for the light observation helicopter project. In 2009, India’s Defence Ministry had directed HAL to develop and produce 187 light observation helicopters for the use of IAF and the aviation wing of the Indian Army. It was expected that HAL would take the assistance of the winner of a global tender for the supply of 187 light utility helicopters. As part of its long-term strategy of August 2010
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THE FLIP SIDE Notwithstanding many of its achievements, HAL has often come under severe criticism for the time and cost overruns in many of its projects. In addition, many of its products have been found to be deficient. More importantly, HAL’s failure to turn India into a major hub of aircraft production has also come under fire. While speaking at the national convention on “Frontiers of Aerospace Technologies” held in Bangalore in April this year, Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force (IAF) P K Barbora had observed: “The role of aerospace industry is not limited to meeting defence needs but to civilian applications as the aviation sector plays a vital role in the economic growth of the country. While China produced an entire
“WHILE CHINA PRODUCED AN ENTIRE AIRCRAFT, SOME OF OUR STATE-RUN FIRMS LIKE HAL, SUPPLY ONLY DOORS OR UNDER CARRIAGE FOR PASSENGER JETS.” VICE CHIEF, IAF, P K BARBORA aircraft, some of our State-run firms like HAL supply only doors or under carriage for passenger jets.” Similarly, a report from Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had stated that as many as 40 ALH Dhruvs in service with the Indian Army could not fly above 5,000 metres due to technical shortcomings though the chopper was designed to fly up to 6,000-metres. The delay in the delivery of ALH Dhruv could further deteriorate the preparedness of the Indian armed forces, observed CAG. For Indian Army cannot continue to depend on its ageing fleet of Cheetas and Chetaks for meeting its logistics and operational needs in high altitude areas under harsh weather conditions, observed CAG.
acquiring the knowhow and expertise for “bigger and better” helicopters, HAL has set up a new helicopter complex division that brings together its rotorcraft design, development and manufacturing under one roof. HAL, which has a robust order book position of worth about Rs 80,000 crore, is exploring the possibility of attaining threefold growth in revenue in about a decade through some high-profile projects that are in the pipeline. Sales for the year 2009-10 stood at Rs 11,415 crore, registering a growth of 10 per cent over the previous year. The US$ 11-billion Indian defence contract to acquire 126 MMRCA (Medium, Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) of which 105 will be licence produced by HAL under the technology transfer would not only help HAL boost its bottom-line but also acquire the expertise for the development of state-of-the-art fighter aircraft. HAL would also stand to benefit enormously from the offset clause forming part of India’s defence acquisition programme. The defence offset clause stipulates that 30 per cent of the value of a defence contract worth Rs 3,000-million and more would need to be invested in India by the contractor by way of sourcing goods and services from Indian companies. Perhaps, one of the big ticket projects that HAL has on its hand is the production of 140 SU-30MKI multi-role air dominance fighter with multi-mission capabilities with the technology transfer from Sukhoi bureau. By 2015, HAL will deliver the last of the Sukhoi aircraft to IAF. Su-30MKI, a variant of Sukhoi-30, was jointly evolved by HAL and Russia’s Sukhoi bureau to meet the specific needs of IAF. The Su-30MKI, which carries Indian systems and avionics as well as French and Israeli subsystems, serves as the mainstay of the frontline fighting fleet of IAF. By 2015, IAF hopes to have 230 SU-30MKI in service. HAL has also bagged a US$ 30million contract for the supply of avionics for Su-30MKM aircraft in service with the Malaysian Air Force. On another front, HAL which has closely been associated with the development
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of India’s home-grown, fourth generation multi-role supersonic tactical fighter LCA Tejas would be the agency for production of Limited Series Production (LSP), Mark-1 and Mark-II versions of the fighter aircraft which was taken up for development to replace the ageing Mig-21 frontline fighters in service with IAF. IAF has committed to buy 40 MK-I versions of Tejas powered by F404 GE IN20 engine. The MK-II version of Tejas would be powered by an engine of higher thrust to meet many of the stringent needs of IAF. HAL will also produce the naval and trainer variants of Tejas. For IAF, the supersonic Tejas trainer will serve as the stage-four trainer. However, HAL’s plan to produce 42 Hawk AJT jets under technology transfer from BAE Systems has been delayed by the “poor quality equipment and mismatch in raw materials supplied by Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). So far, HAL has been able to deliver just 12 Hawk AJTs to IAF. Under a 2004 agreement for 66 Hawk AJTs, 24 aircraft were to be delivered in flyway condition by BAE Systems while the 42 were to be built by HAL under technology transfer. Hawk AJT has been deployed to serve as the stage-three trainer of IAF. Meanwhile, Intermediate Jet Trainer (IJT) Sitara designed and developed by HAL would replace Kiran MK-II two-seater aircraft as stage-two trainer for the IAF. But then Sitara is not likely to be available for use before 2012. The fatal crash of naval HJT-16 subsonic Kiran during the aerobatic display at the south central Indian city of Hyderabad in March this year — coinciding with India Aviation 2010 show — had prompted the demand for its replacement. As things stand now, Indian Navy and Air Force are expected to order more than 200 Sitaras. Similarly, HAL-built HPT-32 Deepak ab initio trainer has been grounded following a series of accidents and engine flaws. In an accident in Andhra Pradesh in July 2009, two instructors on-board the aircraft were killed. HAL has said that it could deliver a replacement to Deepak in six years. HF-24 Marut, built by
August 2010
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g SPOTLIGHT HAL in 1960s was the first Indian fighter jet. HAL has been designated as Indian partner for the joint Indo-Russian project for the fifth generation combat aircraft. Featuring stealth characteristics, super cruise speed, multi-role capability, integrated weapons and navigation systems controlled by artificial intelligence, this fifth generation fighter would help IAF meet the challenges of the future with a greater degree of confidence. Under the inter-governmental deal signed in 2007, India and Russia have agreed to share the funding, engineering and intellectual property of this project under a 50:50 proportion. HAL’s work share in the project would include critical software, mission computers, navigation systems and countermeasure dispensing systems. With a view to preparing the ground for the successful realisation of a slew of high ticket projects and also with the focus on boosting HAL’s capability in assembly and production of various types of aircraft, an investment of Rs 25,000 crore on creating new facilities over the next one decade has been envisaged. To diversify its portfolio with an increasing thrust on civilian sector, HAL will soon sign an MOU with the Bangalore-based National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) for the production of multi- role transport aircraft Saras which is yet to obtain clearance. The 1-seater Saras, India’s first home-grown civilian aircraft, is claimed to be ideally suited for air-taxi operations, VIP transport, cargo carrier, aerial survey and remote sensing. IAF and Indian Postal Department have evinced interest in the potential of Saras. HAL will also form a part of the consortium that would develop a 90seater regional transport aircraft (RTA) designed for flying in short haul feeder routes. This aircraft will be realised through the public-private partnership route. HAL has been producing Dornier-226 transport aircraft for Indian defence forces. On another front, HAL has made significant contribution to the Indian space programme by participating in the production of structures for the satellites and launch vehicles being developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). HAL is not unduly worried over the possibility of competition from private players entering the aerospace sector in a big way. For instance, the industrial house of Tatas has an agreement with the European outfit Agusta Westland for the assembly of AW-119 helicopter. Similarly, Tata group has announced a tie-up with Sikorsky to manufacture cabins and components of Sikorsky choppers. Mean-
FILLIP TO INDIGENISATION: HAL has been closely associated with the fourthgeneration LCA Tejas while, HAL and Rolls Royce have signed an agreement for setting up a manufacturing joint venture in India. This 50:50 joint venture, to be based in Bengaluru, will undertake the manufacture of compressor shroud.
“THE COMPOSITE 777 FLAPERON THAT HAL WILL PRODUCE REPRESENTS A SIGNIFICANT LEAP FORWARD IN TECHNOLOGICAL CAPABILITY AND SUPPORTS BOEING’S STRATEGY TO WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH INDIA’S AEROSPACE INDUSTRY FOR THE LONG TERM.” BOEING INDIA PRESIDENT , DINESH KESKAR
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Meanwhile, HAL has begun supplying fuselage parts of Boeing f/A-18E/F Super Hornet Fighter jets in what has been perceived as a global recognition of India’s aeronautical industry. HAL has already sent five sets of Super Hornet’s gun bay doors to Boeing and 13 more are under production as part of initial contract. Boeing had inked a US$ 4.5-million deal with HAL for the weapons bay doors for eight maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine aircraft that India is buying from US aerospace major at an estimated cost of US$ 1.1 billion. HAL has already on hands orders from Boeing and Airbus industries for the production and supply of components. “The composite 777 flaperon that HAL will produce represents a significant leap forward in technological capability and supports Boeing’s strategy to work in partnership with India’s aerospace industry for the long term,” says Boeing India president Dinesh Keskar. HAL has also bagged a contract to manufacture 1,000 TPE-337 aircraft engines for Honeywell worth US$ 200,000 each. More than one third of HAL’s revenue comes from international deals for the supply components, spares and aircraft materials. Nayak has made it clear that HAL would place an increasing thrust on making use of the potential of the Indian private industrial outfits at a vastly accelerated pace. “We hope to do a lot more outsourcing to private industries which have wherewithal to meet our requirements,” said Nayak. August 2010
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”WE WOULD FURTHER IMPROVE OUR BUSINESS PROCESSES” It is celebration time at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) after the successful flight of Light Combat Helicopter (LCH). In an exclusive interview, HAL Chairman ASHOK NAYAK throws light on a wide range of issues, including his efforts to transform this mammoth PSU into a leading global aerospace player. Excerpts :
Q
Congrats on the successful debut flight of Light Combat Helicopter (LCH). When do you expect the LCH to enter production stage? Do you have any specific plan to export LCH? LCH has entered the flight evaluation phase just now and considerable flight evaluation is required to achieve its certification. We have plans to build two more prototypes to speed up the process of flight evaluation. Initial flight performance indicates that major changes to configuration may not be required. Production helicopters are expected to roll out from 2012 onwards. The priority of HAL is to launch production phase of LCH and meet the requirement of the Indian armed forces. Besides meeting the domestic requirement fully, HAL plans ultimately to export LCH to friendly countries that would have a requirement for such a product.
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Armed forces, civilian users and overseas buyers at some point of time did express their dissatisfaction on certain aspects of the functioning of home-grown helicopter Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv? What steps have you taken to ensure that buyers of Dhruv are fully well satisfied with its performance? Has HAL been successful in bagging new export orders for both the military and civilian variants of Dhruv? ALH Dhruv has been accepted as an exceptional helicopter considering its flying qualities. As with any new helicopter, improvements have been incorporated into the helicopter based on user inputs. A new active vibration control system has been introduced. Modifications to the gear box have been made to increase its reliability. A new ALH MRO division has been created to provide a responsive customer support. HAL has secured export orders for the August 2010
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ing global aerospace company. HAL’s current exports are already moving in the direction of building aero-structures for aircraft of leading international aerospace companies including export of fully built green aircraft (Dornier DO-228) to Germany for final equipping. The ALH that we recently exported to Ecuador and Mauritius will be projected as a versatile helicopter in other market segments also. The potential for export of LCH, Intermediate Jet Trainer (IJT) and Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) also exists after the initial deployment of these is completed to the Indian defence services. Would you please explain the preparations being made by HAL for licensed production of 108 combat aircraft under the ambitious MMRCA (Medium, Multi-role Combat Aircraft) deal described as the most lucrative Indian defence order to date? Full-fledged preparation can commence only after the selection of the aircraft is completed. HAL has signed MoUs with the MMRCA bidders as offset partner to meet the offset obligations. HAL has also plans to establish dedicated facilities for manufacture and export of large aero-structures to meet export opportunities of offset. HAL also expects to supply different systems designed and manufactured in HAL’s various divisions such as Hyderabad, Lucknow and Korwa against offset. How well equipped is HAL to exploit the business opportunities offered by the defence offsets in the pipeline? HAL’s track record in garnering business from leading aerospace companies has been impressive. Airbus, Boeing, Ruag, IAI and Embraer have been sourcing aerostructures from HAL, recognising our capability to deliver cost-effective aerospace quality supplies. Most of these contracts have been signed at a time when there were no offset obligations for these companies. HAL recently received ‘Supplier of the Year Award’ from Boeing.
Dhruv military variant from Ecuador, Mauritius and Nepal. HAL has delivered the civilian variant of Dhruv to customers in India like Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Jharkhand government, Border Security Force (BSF) and Geological Survey of India (GSI).
and flight test. The required infrastructure is in place. Light Utility Helicopter project was naturally sanctioned to HAL as an indigenous development project. HAL would be sourcing engines and some other system equipments from global companies.
What prompted you to develop light observation helicopter without going in for foreign assistance? HAL has managed the ALH programme right from inception to certification and has developed comprehensive capabilities in the design and development of a light helicopter. Re-engining the Cheetah/Chetak helicopters and introduction of several modifications on these helicopters have further boosted HAL’s confidence in handling light helicopter projects. The Rotary Wing R&D Centre (RWRDC) has independently handled all the core activities like design, prototype build, ground test
When do you expect to deliver first of the 187 helicopters that HAL would be building?. The first flight on the prototype is expected in mid-2012 followed by certification in 2014. The production could commence in 2015. What initiatives have you thought of for transforming HAL from being a supplier of components and subsystems into a major global aerospace player capable of supplying fully assembled aircraft of different categories? HAL is transforming gradually into a competitive player in line with its vision to be a lead-
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There have been reports in media which suggest that Su-30MKI frontline fighter being produced by HAL is costlier than the combat aircraft imported straight from Russia? The cost of the indigenously produced aircraft, compared to the imported, reduces with increase in indigenous work content in the raw material phase. The average cost of the indigenously manufactured aircraft is lesser than the import option, considering the entire envisaged production cycle. It is widely perceived that the myopic vision of the defence establishment has proved to be a major stumbling block in the way of turning HAL into a forwardlooking aeronautical major of global standing. Your comments. Indian defence forces have been the major August 2010
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customers of HAL with nearly 90 per cent of the sales attributed to them. HAL is a Navratna Company with associated financial and administrative autonomy. It has the autonomy to invest in ventures related to core aerospace business. We are pursuing several export options in both defence and civil aerospace sectors from global aerospace majors. The Industrial Marine Gas Turbine and the Aerospace Divisions of HAL are a testimony to its diversification efforts. HAL is also a partner in 10 joint ventures whose business spectrum includes both defence and nondefence aviation. Why has HAL been blamed for both cost and time overruns in many of the projects of national importance it has been handling? There could be overruns in any project due to mid-course changes in project scope like standard of preparation, introduction of new systems, changes based on evaluation during development phase, selection/clearance from customers for systems, transfer of technology issues, etc. Any overrun is to be judged after accounting for such changes. In addition, dependence on foreign suppliers for systems like engines and advanced sensors with the associated supply chain procedures adds to the time overruns. In the backdrop of HAL-built trainers, KiranMKII and HPT-32, long been saddled with a variety of problems, what prevented HAL from initiating advance action for realising suitable replacements in a timely manner? Here are some statistics about the bulwarks (Kirans and HPT-32) of our pilot training programmes. Kiran-MKII aircraft that entered service in 1984 has proved to be a robust and reliable training platform, considering the Cat-1 accident rate of less than 1 per 10,000 hours of flying. The aircraft fleet has logged around 1.5 lakh hours since its inception. Sixty-two aircraft were produced from 1983 to 1989. Around 130 HPT-32 were inducted into IAF during 1984-1997. HPT-32 is utilised as a basic trainer aircraft. The lead aircraft has completed 5151 hrs and the fleet has flown more than 4,00,000 cumulative hours since its induction. The annual average flying of
HPT-32 fleet is approx. 23,000 hours. More than 4,000 pilots have been trained on this aircraft so far. In view of the above, the premise that KiranMKII and HPT-32 have for long been saddled with a variety of problems is misplaced. During 1987-89, HAL developed a basic turboprop aircraft (HTT-34) based on the HPT-32 airframe replacing the piston engine with a turboprop. Unfortunately, that project could not take off. Later, HAL proposed to develop a new basic turboprop trainer in 2004 which could have entered production phase in tune with the requirement for replacement of HPT-32. However, the project approval was considered too early then and the development programme was received by HAL only in 2009. Do you think HAL’s participation in the IndoRussian fifth generation fighter project and the multi-role transport aircraft would benefit the country in the long run? Presently fifth generation aircraft viz. F-35 is with USA only and in due course of time it will be with the consortium of countries while the rest of the world would be operating only the fourth generation aircraft. By joining the project with Russia, India will not only be one of the select few countries to have this class of aircraft but it will also upgrade the technology base in India in design, development, and series production. This project involving the DRDO and the private industries in India is expected to bridge the huge technological gap in the military aircraft production in particular and the Indian aerospace industry in general. The multi-role transport aircraft will provide a major breakthrough in India’s design and development programme in the category of transport aircraft. With the potential to
HAL’S TRACK RECORD IN GARNERING BUSINESS FROM LEADING AEROSPACE COMPANIES HAS BEEN IMPRESSIVE
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develop commercial aircraft in 100-seater class, this will then considerably enhance the global competitiveness of the company besides further strengthening the co-operation between India and Russia. What are the plans you have drawn up to boost HAL’s involvement in the area of civil aviation, which is considered a sunrise sector? Presently, the focus at HAL is to achieve accelerated progress in all the projects (both development and production) of Indian defence services. HAL would participate in the regional transport aircraft programme being mooted as an Indian civil aircraft project. With the high-profile corporate outfits like Tata Sons, L&T, Mahindra and Mahindra, all set to enter the aeronautical sector of the country in a big way, do you foresee any threat to your business opportunities both in the domestic and overseas markets? New entrants in any business do pose a threat to the existing players. HAL certainly recognises the existence of potential threat from these new entrants, though the entry barrier in the aerospace business is perceived to be higher. Nonetheless, HAL would put in measures to further improve its business processes to be competitive both in domestic and overseas markets. Do you think that the Indian industry has matured enough to support your high technology projects of the future? Most of the airborne structural items undergo a multitude of operations for conversion from raw material to finished items. Major operations carried out in typical structural items are machining, sheet metal forming, heat treatment, welding, surface treatment, nondestructive testing (NDT) and painting. Processes like heat treatment and surface treatment require extensive infrastructure, which are not cost effective for small enterprises to set up and to maintain the aeronautical quality standards. Also, all the processes and operators have to be qualified as per the quality system requirements by the certification agencies for both military and civil use. A couple of industries have set up such facilities. HAL has helped them by providing inputs in technology, quality management system and other production support. Sourcing of work packages from private industry by HAL commenced with the empennages and other structural items of Su-30MKI. Outsourcing in the area of machining of components is being done successfully both in NC/CNC and in conventional machining areas in all the projects. August 2010
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What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Armies of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Myanmar? ABHIJIT BHATTACHARYYA does a close reality check
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F THE 164 standing armies of states (with a total of 1,41,97,290 heads) in the world, only 37 countries can boast of having between 1 and 16 lakh active soldiers in their barracks. Interestingly, the combined strength of four nations of China, India, Russia and the USA take the cake making the total army size thereof to 37,52,132 which makes it 30.7 per cent of the global military strength as on date (Military Balance 2010 and Jane’s World Armies). However, what seems to have gradually, but drastically, changed pertains to their deployment, task and operations. In this analysis, we take on six countries of South Asia: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, all of which have had a fairly deep link with the British Empire and the imperial army thereof. It thus would be important to remember that twelve years ago the present 95,753strong Nepal Army consisted of 46,000 men, the 5.5-lakh-man Pakistan Army had 5 lakh soldiers, the 1,26,153 guards of Bangladesh Army was 1,00,010, the 1,17,900 Sri Lankan
SOLDIERS OF Army was a force of 95,000 men and the present 11,29,900 man Indian Army had 9,80,000 soldiers in her regiments. The only exception has been the Myanmar Army the strength of which has more or less been stable at 4,00,000 soldiers during the period. Question could be asked as to how did Myanmar manage to stabilise the number of its soldiers despite sporadic internal turmoil and unrest over two decades. The answer perhaps lies in the fact that Yangon’s external defence has never been a major preoccupation of the Army owing to India and Thailand being comparatively benign neighbours, Laos beset with her own internal problems and China pursuing silent diplomacy of a “good Samaritan” for her own strategic, geo-political and economic interests. The Army is by far the largest service of Myanmar which has played a prominent role in the regime’s struggle against the 20 or more insurgent groups which have intermittently challenged the federal government of Yangon since independence in 1948. Understandably, therefore, the Army has usually received the greatest share of the defence
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budget and effectively ruled over, and overruled, all political processes in the country. Nevertheless the Army of Myanmar could face an unprecedented and unusual crisis of conscience as well as confidence in future owing to its (perceived) chronic uncomfortable and unhealthy relations with the unarmed civilians of its own country. Unlike in Myanmar, the Royal Nepalese Army, traditionally, had been a ceremonial force with limited combat experience as both China and India, the two neighbours of Kathmandu, prefer peaceful co-existence of a stable and neutral land-locked Nepal as buffer state between the two Asian giants. The recent political insurgency of the Maoists, however, gave a severe jolt to the Army of Nepal. With the departure of monarch and the arrival of the Maoists at the centre of power, the expanding Army of Nepal continues to face a not-so-bright future with a further prospect of a downgraded status in the hierarchy as allegations are still hurled at the Army’s high-handed and hot-headed activities of its soldiers swinging to singe the systems of the political movement of the August 2010
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SOUTH ASIA The six countries of South Asia — India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Myanmar — have had a fairly deep link with the British Empire and the imperial army thereof. The supremely neutral Army (see above picture) is the most reassuring and enduring of all achievements of the 63year-old Indian nation.
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people during the days of national turbulence. Like Myanmar, Sri Lanka also became independent of Britain (by whom it had been annexed in 1796) in 1948. Interestingly, however, Ceylon (as it then was) had no regular, locally recruited force owing to its being tranquil and without any external threat. The only indigenous military force was the volunteer, part-time Ceylon Defence Force with the Ceylon Light Infantry being the most important unit. In fact, like the Army of Nepal, Sri Lankan Army too does not appear to face or fight any external enemy in the foreseeable future. It was extensively used for the suppression of internal disorders in 1958 and 1971, and later it fought a prolonged civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Of all the South Asian Armies, Bangladesh is the youngest and perhaps amongst the most intriguing and enigmatic forces with a rare experience of frequent change of loyalty, name and nationality from Delhi to Dhaka via Islamabad. Assuming that a person born in Dhaka joined the Indian Army in July 1947, and became a part of Pakistan Army officer corps on 14th August, 1947 and returned to his roots as Major General of the Bangladesh Army on 18th December, 1971, it would reveal the jarring psyche of identity crisis through which the man from Dhaka must have had undergone. Little wonder that the Bangladesh Army has always been a nervous entity with a suspicious mind which is always searching for a new way to establish the rule of its own kind. Bangladesh is yet to develop a healthy tradition of its armed forces partly owing to an excessive non-military interest shown by the military in Dhaka’s political corridor and an equally shaky and indisciplined para-military with a rebellious psyche and hate-filled actions against the military. Although Bangladesh does not face any threat from its neighbour India, nevertheless the New Delhi bogey continues to be a permanent agenda for all shades of Dhaka’s political class and military clan for extension of their own plan of action and suppressing the opposition. Bangladesh, from her birth, has been a contradiction of political aim, military vision and fundamentalists’ mission thereby resulting in Pakistan-type coups and frequent backseat driving by its Army. Nevertheless, the principal roles of the Bangladesh Army still are internal security and preservation of territorial integrity. Thus, following serious deterioration of the law and order situation in late 2002, the then Dhaka Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia deployed 40,000 soldiers and sailors across the country in the anti-crime “Operation Clean Heart” in August 2010
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g PERSPECTIVE which the troops assumed police duties, hunting and arresting suspected criminals and recovering illegal arms, ammunition and explosives. Although the soldiers were withdrawn in January, 2003, to be redeployed and re-withdrawn in 2004, the action was an admission that the Bangladesh police are inefficient and incapable of discouraging and dealing with the criminal activities. It thus happened on February 25 and 26, 2009 when the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) in a 20-hour siege, killed 75 Army men and its own chief thereby plunging the country into a serious civil war-like crisis. Consequently, the BDR was renamed Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) with massive structural change and operational role. Bangladesh continues to be volatile owing to its comparatively violent political tradition since birth. Hence, one certainly would not rule out the possibility of a bigger role of the armed forces in future too. Of all the South Asian countries, the Army of Pakistan has been the busiest owing to its principal role comprising the continued animosity against India, its perpetual offensive
THE SRI LANKAN ARMY DOES NOT APPEAR TO FACE OR FIGHT ANY EXTERNAL ENEMY IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE, DESPITE THE ARMY’S DIRECT INVOLVEMENT IN THE PROLONGED INTERNAL STRIFE IN RECENT TIMES.
BANGLADESH ARMY HAS ALWAYS BEEN A NERVOUS ENTITY WITH A RARE EXPERIENCE OF FREQUENT CHANGE OF LOYALTY, NAME AND NATIONALITY.
posture on Kashmir and the unusual interest in taking up the mantle of the office of head of state as well as the head of government. However, militarily the loss of its eastern wing has considerably reduced the burden and enhanced the operational flexibility of the Pakistani Army beset with a nightmarish task of waging war on two yawning fronts. The stark beauty of the Pakistani Army also radiates from its multifarious and multidimensional presence and role in the life of the nation ranging from forceful occupation of the seat of the President or killing and licking the country’s ex and serving Prime Ministers to capturing virtually all possible and impossible jobs, including the economic ones, of every civilian department. The Pakistani Army has also been used repeatedly in internal security operations, most notably in the savage war of repression it fought against the Bengali nationalists between March and December of 1971. In recent times the Army has been employed in fighting guerrillas in Baluchistan, and Taliban, Al-Qaeda and the Islamists across the NorthWest-Frontier Province, Waziristan and areas bordering Afghanistan. Despite its multidimensional approach to, and interests in, military, civilian and political life of the nation, the Pakistani Army continues to be well trained, reasonably well equipped and have good morale for fighting the conventional warfare in the eastern border facing India. However, the Army of Islamabad seems distinctly uneasy while fighting the jehadis,
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Islamists and the co-religionists in the western part of the country wherein it has also been doubted in some quarters that the rank and file and a few officers of the Pakistani Army still prefer controlled “surrender”, and being branded as “captured” or “abducted” to avoid spilling the blood of Islamic fraternity. Having gained experience in training, helping, motivating, aiding and suicide attacking on the Soviet troops in the terrain of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1988 and using the Afghan expertise on the soils of Kashmir in colluding, collaborating, complementing and conspiring with the jehadis and Islamists, fundamentalists and terrorists from 1989 to 1999 and beyond, the Pakistani Army was safely ensconced as the soldiers of Islam were fighting the proxy war on behalf of Pakistan from Kashmir to Kandahar and from Khyber to Kabul. However, the post-9/11 disturbed all equilibrium and turned the world upside down as USA could no longer accept the action or inaction of the Pakistani Army on its face value. In one stroke, therefore, the 5.5 lakh-strong Pakistani Army today faces a possible multitheatre front from Kashmir to Karachi, and from the courts of the state capital to the Kalashnikov-wielding jehadis and the diplomatic smile of Clinton to the Qaedas of Kabul and Kandahar and Kurram and Quetta. One of the finest and the best descendants of the British institutions, the Indian Army is the second largest in the world and by far the
THE OVER-AMBITIOUS PAKISTAN ARMY, WHICH HAS OFTEN OVERTHROWN CIVILIAN RULERS, SEEMS DISTINCTLY UNEASY WHILE FIGHTING THE JEHADIS, ISLAMISTS AND THE CO-RELIGIONISTS. August 2010
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THE ROYAL NEPALESE ARMY HAS BEEN A CEREMONIAL FORCE WITH LIMITED COMBAT EXPERIENCE AS BOTH CHINA AND INDIA PREFER PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE OF A STABLE AND NEUTRAL LANDLOCKED NEPAL. largest standing force in South Asia the capability of which goes well beyond those of its South Asian neighbours. Yet the 10-month operational deployment along the Pakistan frontier in 2002 plus the inevitable degradation of its equipment has added to the “problems of an over-burdened, overstretched force with a growing shortage of quality officers” in the junior and middle-level cadre. Although the principal role and task of the Indian Army is to safeguard the territorial integrity of the state against external threats, covering a 16,500-kilometre border, it has also been allocated, along with various ad hoc and para-military forces, an enhanced and expanded role in protection against internal security threats. In addition, a largely anti-terrorism role has been recognised as a core mission thereby altering the training, logistics and doctrine of the country’s Army. In matters of operations, the Northern, Western, Eastern and South-Western (created with effect from August 2005) Commands are the most significant of the Indian Army as these face the two potential adversaries with whom New Delhi has had conflicts in the past
— China and Pakistan. Northern Command has the responsibility to tackle the continuing insurgency in Kashmir as well as the lowintensity conflict in the high altitude area. Eastern Command’s operational area spans the insurgency areas of Assam, Manipur and Nagaland along with the entire North-East and Eastern India. Western and South-Western Commands, although at a medium readiness state for conventional war, prima facie have no major internal security duties on their plan of operation. An inevitable fall-out of the prolonged deployment of troops in the high-tension, unconventional warfare area with invisible enemy lurking around the bush and camps of the troops, however, has seen the snapping of mental equilibrium of some soldiers thereby resulting in suicide and fragging in the barracks of the Indian garrison. This is understandable as the American soldiers also had faced a somewhat similar situation in prolonged out-of-area operations beyond the shores of the soldiers’ home. However, what has been the most stabilising factor in India is the apolitical nature, attitude and action of the Indian Generals. Indeed, the supremely neutral Army is the most reassuring and enduring of all achievements of the 63-year-old Indian nation. In the final analysis, thus, the Myanmar Army is unlikely to give up its pre-dominant
THE MYANMAR ARMY HAS USUALLY RECEIVED THE GREATEST SHARE OF THE DEFENCE BUDGET AND EFFECTIVELY RULED OVER, AND OVER-RULED, ALL POLITICAL PROCESSES IN THE COUNTRY.
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THE INDIAN ARMY IS THE SECOND LARGEST IN THE WORLD AND BY FAR THE LARGEST STANDING FORCE IN SOUTH ASIA THE CAPABILITY OF WHICH GOES WELL BEYOND THOSE OF ITS SOUTH ASIAN NEIGHBOURS. position without intense and tenacious fighting capability of whosoever wants to rule Yangon. In Bangladesh too the Army’s role has always gone beyond the barracks and cantonments of the soldiers with ambitious Generals resorting to coups. Nepal’s three-dimensional Monarch, Maoist and Minister’s cocktail of chaos and contradiction, co-operation and confrontation makes the military of the nation somewhat confused and non-plussed. The island nation of Sri Lanka, at present, does appear to be out of the woods. However, it now all depends on the political acumen of the civilians as to how and in which direction they wish to take the nation, battered by 25 years of turmoil. In Pakistan, the latest foe of the Army Chief is neither India nor Obama, but the civilian leaders, civil court pleaders and religious preachers fighting from the roads of Karachi and Islamabad and from inside the madrasas and mosques of Lahore. And the Indian Army, despite provocation and occasional consternation, does not face any major crisis per se; civilian chaos and growing Pakistani-trained, equipped and financed terrorism notwithstanding. (The writer is an alumnus of the National Defence College of India and a Member, International Institute for Strategic Studies, London) August 2010
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BATTLES OF THE MIND
The Fourth Generation Warfare (4GW) is not centred around the armed forces on a battlefield. It goes beyond the forces' traditional area of operations into the society as a whole. Democracies such as India are likely to experience 4GW, shades of which can be seen in the conflict zones of J&K, the north-east and the 'Red Corridor'. SAMARJIT GHOSH analyses
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HILE NATION-STATES still remain to be the key actors in the international system, this role is not synonymous with their presence on the ‘battlefield’ (or battlespace), which is witnessing the presence of more non-state actors than ever before. The rise of such actors has been reasoned on the discontent and disenchantment amongst people with their respective political, social and cultural establishments, as also with the interaction of such establishments on a global level. Given the same, these actors feel free to indulge in their activities on a scale yet unprecedented, both in scale and in violence. Therefore, it behoves nation-states and militaries to understand and appreciate the challenges emanating from such quarters. This ‘transformed’ landscape of security was well elucidated by James Woolsey, formerly Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA): “We have slain a large dragon, but are now finding ourselves living in a jungle with a
bewildering number of poisonous snakes. In many ways, the dragon was easier to keep track of.” In 1989, William Lind, Col Keith Nightingale, Captain John F Schmitt, Col Joseph W Sutton and Lt Col Gary I Wilson created the terminology of the ‘generations’ of warfare. Lind et al stated “the peacetime soldier’s principal task is to prepare effectively for the next war. In order to do so, he must anticipate what the next war will be like.” Napoleon Bonaparte’s army, marching in straight lines, forward on to the opposing army in a war of attrition on Europe’s battlefields, signified the first generation warfare (hence 1GW). This generation reflected the tactics of the age of the smoothbore musket, line and column formations, to maximise the effect of firepower. These developments were products, not just of the inventions of the implements of war being utilised, but also of the politicosocio-economic transitions leading the transformation of Europe from feudalism to
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monarchy. Politically, the nation-state led to huge armies being structurally raised, trained and equipped for long periods of time. Economically, these armies could only be: Raised if the necessary wealth could be provided through the advancements in agricultural and transportation. And socially, the development of the spirit of patriotism was essential for this generation of warfare. Barbed wire, machine guns and indirect wire were the key tactics of second generation warfare (2GW), which was based primarily on the massing of firepower rather than of troop formations. The movement from the smoothbore musket to the rifled musket was the first indicator. The principal change from the first August 2010
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indicator was the increasing reliance on indirect fire. Yet, similar to 1GW, 2GW remained linear and the battles largely of attrition. And while ideas did have a role to play in the development of the tactics, particularly of lateral dispersion, technology was the prime mover, both in terms of heavier artillery and also in the capability of an increasingly industrialised economy to fund such battles. Technological developments in the non-war sphere were essential as well, to allow for the coordination of such forces via rail and telegraph networks, which could only be fostered by the wealth available as a result of increased government control coupled with a boom in population. Non-linearity was first witnessed on the battlefields of third generation warfare (3GW), which saw the combination of manoeuvre and firepower, as opposed to attrition. Attacks on the battlefield now relied on infiltrations, to circumvent the enemy’s combat forces and collapse them from within, rather than fight face-to-face. While these tactics were in use by the time the First World War drew to a close, it was the addition of the tanks to the battlefield that really revolutionised this generation. The shift this technological advancement led to was the blitzkrieg. However, there was more to this development than just the tanks. While other countries in Europe had witnessed severe reversals in the support for the armed forces, in Germany, it continued to hold strong. While every other nation had probably the same economic and technological wherewithal to unleash the force blitzkrieg did, it was only the Germans who were able to exercise the political, strategic and intellectual imperative necessary for the engagement of the same. In fourth generation warfare (4GW), the
war is within, amongst, and sometimes even against, the people, and is not centred around the armed forces on a battlefield. Its objective is to foster a collapse of the enemy internally, rather than that of its armed forces physically. It goes beyond simply the armed forces’ traditional area of operations into wider society as a whole. The objective of a 4G warrior is not limited to the destruction of military targets, but also includes political, economic, social and even psychological facets. 4GW while constructed on the structure created by the preceding three generations, substantially differed in terms of incentives, targets and techniques. A defining point separating 4GW from the previous three generations of warfare is that the latter were defined by increased complexi-
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ty in the methodology and weaponry being employed by armies of nation-states. However, the playing field changes in 4GW because one of the opponents now is not a state. So while the assumption may well be made that irregular fighters have always been involved in conflict, they have been so as adjuncts to the conventional forces and never as principal actors themselves. Politically, the 4G warrior uses organisations and networks across all forms of borders and frontiers to convey its messages. Strategically, the focus is on breaking the will of the enemy decision-maker, while at the same time, maintaining the will of one’s own people and seeing to it that those were neutral, stay neutral, insofar as neutrality is taken as tacit approval. Tactically, direct contact is avoided as much as possible, with attacks making use of items widely dispersed in society. These organisations are not signatories to Geneva Conventions and they do not follow the laws of war, quite simply because there is no distinction between peace and war and no one to tell them different. They use the freedom present in a democratic society and turn it on its head. There has been a surge in the avenues of media that are now accessible to actors in a battle space, ranging from news organisations of the print and television, to those on the internet. These very outlets, apart from facilitating the rapid dissemination of information within and outside the battle space, are also responsible for facilitating funding and other kinds of economic support to a particular combatant/actor from anywhere on the planet. Their involvement has become so ingrained that some have resorted to referring the media of participating, or even worse, being a comAugust 2010
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BRAINWASHING GAMES: Extremist ideology has provided a fertile ground for raging fourth generation warfare batant in the battle space. Further, in terms of the media, perceptions or ‘images’ are key in 4GW. Isolation, from being difficult, has become impossible. There are, quite plainly, too many sources and avenues through which ideas can be disseminated, in real time. While the battle for the domination of the mind space of combatants and non-combatants has always been central to any conflict, especially an insurgency, governments had always enjoyed having the upper hand. But now, the tables have turned. It is the 4G warrior whose ability to manipulate has been magnified. He can subvert government statistics and information by blowing minor tactical successes out of proportion. General Rupert Smith’s analogy of rival combatants as film producers, competing with each other for the best narrative and strategy to influence people, is an appropriate one. A specific selling point of 4GW is that it has not isolated itself in the technologically driven conception of war, which looks to a ‘silver bullet’ solution in operations. It pays much-needed attention on the larger landscape in which wars are engaged, exploring the revolution, not in military affairs, but in security affairs, which is of crucial importance in the study of war. Democracies such as India are likely to experience Fourth Generation wars in the future (shades of which can be seen in the conflict zones of J&K, the north-east and the ‘Red Corridor’). For their militaries and politicians to resolve these conflicts successfully, they will have to understand the unique nature of such conflicts and adapt flexibly to the dynamic nature of the challenges they posit, insofar as
not just force structure, strategy and doctrine are concerned, but also in the areas of tactics, effective employment of technologies and jointness. There are many labels to the conflict variants which rage around us every day, across the world, particularly in Afghanistan and Kashmir, and there has been no dearth of terminology to describe them. Yet, the worst error that one can make is to categorically state that conventional war is obsolete, that state v/s state conflict has reached its nadir — it hasn’t.
“WE HAVE SLAIN A LARGE DRAGON, BUT ARE NOW FINDING OURSELVES LIVING IN A JUNGLE WITH A BEWILDERING NUMBER OF POISONOUS SNAKES. IN MANY WAYS, THE DRAGON WAS EASIER TO KEEP TRACK OF.” FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (CIA), JAMES WOOLSEY
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But there is little reason to believe that it will take the shape of previous conflicts between states. It would also be highly erroneous to assume that just because one nation would like to engage the enemy state in a specific way, that it would consent to be engaged so accordingly. While we accord the non-state actor with the ability to utilise any tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) it sees fit to combat or counter the state’s conventional power, we tend to either forget or ignore that the state, every state, is more than capable of doing the same, conceivably at lesser cost. The generations model is particularly suited to study modern wars for certain salient reasons: (1) While there may be revolutions in politics, there is only evolution in warfare, though its speed may change with the concordant development of technology; (2) It is evolution because that is what happens to a society, based just not on innovations in technology, but also in politics, economics and social mores — and since such developments are a function of people rather than of institutions, it applies across the board, regardless of whether it is a state or a non-state actor; (3) As in generations of people, one does not subsume the other. On the contrary, it is the gap between them, which leads to their delineation and the resultant generational gap. Some proponents of the generations of warfare model have posited the idea of the evolution of a fifth generation of warfare. While a prospective 5GW may well speak of super-empowered individuals and biochemical attacks, fighting for causes rather than nations, one would contend that it concurs quite neatly within the rubric of 4GW itself and introducing the next generation before one has finished tackling the previous one would make the generational model and its proponents guilty of the generational tyranny that it is already accused of. Given that 4GW encompasses the engagement of war in political, economic, social and military fields, the Army would be expected to carry out offensive, defensive, stability and support operations in the course of its duties in this regard. The training imparted will necessitate that instead of encouraging specialisation amongst merely an elite of troops, individual soldiers should be trained to take on all kinds of tasks. This would be a more sensible approach than attempting to increase the ranks of the special forces, which would only be possible by taking the best from the regular infantry forces, thereby depleting them dangerously. (The writer is with CLAWS, New Delhi) August 2010
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AIR POWER FOR NAVY The Navy is augmenting its fleet of carrier-based aircraft
FIRMLY ON THE ROUND India is modernising its infantry and paramilitary battalions in a big way
Hundreds of Infantry soldiers rushing towards simulated enemy targets at Madhavpur beach, Gujarat, during Exercise Tropex-09, a joint services exercise by the Army, Navy and the Air Force.
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RS 15,000-CRORE INDIA MAY INK MMRCA PROJECT SUKHOI DEAL CLEARED THE CABINET Committee on Security has quietly cleared one of the biggest defence orders of recent times. The almost Rs 15,000-crore order for an additional 42 Sukhoi-30 MKI fighters would add up the total number of these modern Russian fighters for IAF to 272. When the entire Sukhoi-30 MKIs, including the 42, are delivered to IAF by around 2018, it would become the single-largest type of fighters in service, marking a huge technological transition from the dominance of MIG-21 fighters today. By the time HAL begins manufacture of the 42 aircraft sometime in 2014, each of them would cost in the range of Rs 350 crore, according to present-day projections.
The new order for Sukhoi-30 MKIs comes even as attention is fully on the tender floated by the Air Force for $10 billion worth 126 MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft). But by the time the MMRCA enters the service, it would be the Sukhoi-30 MKI that would actually be the dominant fighter of the Air Force. And the combined contract value of SU-30 MKIs would be more than double than that of the MMRCA. HAL has been steadily stepping up its Sukhoi-30 MKI delivery schedules. While last year it delivered 23 of these fighters, this year it is expected to produce 28. HAL has already supplied 74 of these fighters.
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EVEN AS the Americans, Europeans and Russians jostle to bag the “mother of all defence deals’’, India too is now pressing the throttle to ensure that the contract to acquire 126 new fighters under the Rs 42,000-crore medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) project is inked by mid-2011. IAF, after all, wants to induct the first lot of these 126 fighters by 2014 to retain its combat edge. It is left with just 32 fighter squadrons (each has 12 to 18 jets) at present, down from the “sanctioned’’ strength of 39.5 squadrons. This when Pakistan is getting new American F-16s and Chinese fighters, while China assiduously builds new airbases in Tibet and south China. “We are ready with the flight evaluation trials (FET) report of the six foreign fighters in contention. Based on it, we are right now generating the staff evaluation report. Both will be submitted to Defence Ministry by this month-end,’’ said IAF chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik, recently.
August 2010
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SUPER HERCULES DONS IAF COLOURS THE FIRST of India’s six C-130J Super Hercules airlifters, considered to be world's most-advanced transport aircraft and manufactured by Lockheed Martin, has emerged from the paint shop located in Georgia in Indian Air Force colours, roughly six months before its scheduled delivery. Purchased from the US in a $1 billion deal, the tactical transport “aircraft now enters flight test in preparation for delivery at the end of the year. Lockheed has released an image of India's first three of six stretched-fuselage C-130J-30s in final assembly and said the first example would arrive in India next February. The plane would provide the Indian Army and Air Force “new special operations
capabilities using the world's mostadvanced airlifter”. Equipped with an infrared detection set (IDS), the aircraft for the first time will provide the IAF an ability to conduct precision low-level flying operations, airdrops and landings in blackout conditions. The C-130J Super Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft.
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It primarily performs the tactical portion of an airlift mission. The aircraft is capable of operating from rough, dirt strips and is the prime transport for air dropping troops and equipment into hostile areas.
August 2010
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F-35 FIGHTERS FOR NAVY US DEFENCE major Lockheed Martin has said that it would offer its latest fifth generation F-35 fighters to meet Indian Navy’s requirements for carrier-based combat aircraft. It has already received the Request for Information (RFI) from the Navy seeking information about the F-35 aircraft, which are capable of taking off from aircraft carriers.
The Navy, which will acquire the under-construction indigenous aircraft carrier around 2015, is likely to build another larger-size carrier and is looking to procure fighter aircraft for it. American Boeing, Swedish Saab, European EADS and the French Dassault Aviation are also likely to offer their aircraft to the Navy.
INDIA TO BUY HAWKADVANCED TRAINERS INDIA IS in the process of finalising with the UK the terms of reference for buying an additional 57 Hawkadvanced trainer for the Indian Air Force. Details of the contract and the terms of reference of the deal are being negotiated with the British Aerospace. India, which had earlier signed a deal for purchase of the two-seater Hawk trainer planes, has already received 24 of the single-engine aircraft in a fly-away condition. Of the other 42 of the planes, which were to be produced by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, six have been supplied to the IAF. The Hawk, which can also be used as a combat aircraft, provides advanced stage three training to IAF pilots. It can fly at a maximum speed of 1.2 times the speed of sound. The Hawk is used by the Royal Air Force and 900 of them have been supplied to 18 countries so far.
Eyeing stealthy fighters INDIAN ARMED forces have entered the global market in search of stealthy, unmanned combat air vehicles with “low radar cross-section, high-service ceiling and an expected range of 500 nautical miles”. The military authorities have requested information from defence companies in Europe, Israel, the United States and Russia about the aircraft. The Indian armed forces want the aircraft to “carry precisionguided weapons in an internal
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weapons bay”. Among the options India is said to be considering are the Boeing Phantom Ray, the Dassault-led Neuron, the EADS Barracuda, General Atomics Predator Avenger, Northrop Grumman X-47B and the RSK MiG Skat. India has previously worked with Israeli manufacturers in supplying the country with drones. Israel though has yet to disclose any designs for a stealthy, unmanned aerial vehicle for the Indian Air Force. August 2010
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g NAVY TO BUY SMILE ISRAEL, EU TO DEVELOP RADARS INDIA IS close to finalising a developmental partner for a next generation radar that will be the eyes and ears of the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) in the future. With other contenders falling off the race due to different reasons, the race now is between European Consortium EADS and Israeli company Elta, which are vying for the initial contract to co-develop 10 prototypes of an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar with India. While the initial contract is for 10 prototypes, industry estimates put the requirement of the Indian defence forces at close to 600 radars for different types of fighters, making the deal potentially worth over $ 3 billion over the next decade.
SAP BAGS NAVY CONTRACT ENTERPRISE IT solutions provider SAP has bagged through system integrator Wipro a turnkey project from the Indian Navy for implementing an online financial information system. SAP solutions will help the Navy lower overall maintenance costs, improve management decision-making and resource management, therefore enhancing combat readiness. The US-based company is already working with public sector units like BSNL, ONGC and HPCL.
THE INDIAN Navy is planning to buy Submarine Mine Laying Equipment (SMILE) to augment existing capabilities of its conventional fleet. It has issued a Request for Information (RFI) to vendors and manufacturers seeking details in this regard, a Navy officer said recently. SMILE, according to the RFI, should be capable of laying 24 ground mines and withstand maximum underwater speeds of the submarine. The basic design of SMILE should comprise components and sub-systems such as two independent magazines capable of housing at least 12 mines each. Each magazine should have a glass reinforced plastic hull and need to be attached to the submarine. Its design should suit the con-
tours of the submarine for a snug fit. Laying of ground mines is controlled from the submarine through cable connections from the mine-laying control unit inside the vessel. Each mine is separately laid in armed and unarmed mode, through an arming device unit. In case of an emergency, the complete mine saddle can be released.
DPP FINALISED
THE GOVERNMENT is finally ready with a spanking new Defence Production Policy (DPP), which seeks to drastically reduce India's overwhelming and strategically-vulnerable dependence on foreign military hardware and software by bolstering indigenous R&D and private sector participation in a major way. If sources are to be believed, the DPP’s final draft holds “only those weapon systems/platforms will be procured from abroad which cannot be made/developed within the country” in specified timeframes to meet “critical” operational requirements. All such “buy” projects will necessarily include transfer of technology, unless “exceptions are required for specific reasons”, to ensure subsequent generations of the weapon systems are developed indigenously. The Defence Acquisitions Council (headed by Defence Minister A K Antony) will now take up the DPP for final approval in its next meeting. The DPP specifies futuristic weapon systems, required after 7-8 years and beyond, will by and large be developed/integrated
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within the country after the long-term integrated perspective plans of the armed forces are analysed by sectoral multi-disciplinary indigenisation committees (SMDICs). For every weapon system to be developed, two Indian companies with the lowest quotes will be selected, with the L-1 (lowest bidder) getting 65 per cent of the order. The second company, or L-2, will get the remaining 35 per cent but on the L-1 price. The defence sector was opened up in 2001-2002 to 100 per cent private investment, with up to 26 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI), but the results so far have not been very encouraging.
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AIR POWER AT SEA
Keeping future contingencies in mind, the Navy is looking out for carrier-based aircraft for its under construction Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IACC), writes ROHIT SRIVASTAVA
EPITOMISING NAVAL POWER: Aircraft carrier is the key to any country becoming a true blue water navy
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NDIAN NAVY is in the pursuit of the weapons and platforms which can provide it with the lethality and reach required for its vision of being a true blue water navy and a dominant power in Indian Ocean region. The Navy recently released Request for Information (RFI) to major aircraft manufacturers for information about their carrier-based aircraft. The Navy is currently operating its lone Aircraft Carrier (ACC) INS Viraat, which is being overhauled at the Cochin Shipyard. The era of Sea Harrier jump jet is over and there are just 11 of these aircraft out of which 3 are trainer aircraft with the Navy. This has made the air arm of Indian Navy obsolete and ineffective. To bridge the gap between the existing capability and requirement, the Navy signed for Admiral Gorshkov (44570 tonnes) aircraft carrier, renamed as INS Vikramaditya, with 16 Mig 29K carrierbased fighters but the deal, which had a delivery date of August 2008, got further extended to 2012 and the amount has exceeded to around $2.3b. The earlier deal inked in 2004 was of $1.5b as a package deal with $974m for Gorshkov and the rest for 16 Mig 29K. This delay has jeopardised the planning of Indian Navy. But recently the Navy has signed for 29 more Mig 29K for $1.6 billion. The total number of Mig 29K that India is buying has now reached to 45. In the mean time, the naval version of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Tejas, was rolled out by Defence Minister A K Antony recently in Bengaluru. The aircraft's first prototype is now ready for the ground test and in next six months will take to the sky for flight trials. Around 40 of these aircraft are going to be inducted for the under construction Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IACC), weighing 40000 tonnes, at Cochin Shipyard Limited. It has become pertinent for the Navy to have capability in line with the future contingencies. India's location in the Indian Ocean and the close proximity of the energyrich region and important global sea line of communication, coupled with problems like terrorism and piracy, have forced the Navy to actually look out for a capability to operate far from the country. Nothing can better suit the requirement as an ACC would. Therefore, the Navy is planning to have second IACC of around 65000 tonnes weight. The RFI is actually to look out for the options available with the Navy for this carrier which might get under construction once IACC is completed around 2014-15. The second one
is expected to be completed around 2018-19. The aircraft for this ACC must be futuristic, must have the technology to compete with the best aircraft at high sea in the next decade. Though India is buying carrier-based aircraft Mig 29K and LCA, it doesn't have the technological edge which will be the required in times to come. Therefore, RFI was sent to Dassault, SAAB, EADS, Boeing and Lockheed Martin to get the information about the latest aircraft which are operating or are about to get operational. The Navy pilots are undergoing training in Russia and the US for the carrier-based operation. Currently, India is building the Shore-Based-Test-Facility (SBTF) in Ins Hansa, Goa which will be used by its LCA and MiG 29K fighter jets pilots for training before they start operating from the carriers. This is going to be the second of its kind in the world. The ski-jump is sea facing and similar to the carrier Admiral Gorshkov. The big surprise last year was the presentation by Lockheed Martin team to Indian Navy of F35, an aircraft which is yet to be inducted by the US. This is the second fifth generation stealth fighter along with F22 Raptor and only one capable of operating from a carrier, with no carrier-based stealth
THE AIRCRAFT FOR ACC MUST HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY TO COMPETE WITH THE BEST ONES AT HIGH SEA IN THE NEXT DECADE
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fighters under development across the globe. The US is trying to become major weapon exporter to India and of late has been offering many under-development products to India — P8I long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft which will be inducted almost simultaneously by both US and India and E2D carrier-based airborne early warning radar system. According to Commodore (Retd) Ranjit Rai, an IAF-trained Fighter Controller, "The Joint Strike Fighters (F35) is a very expensive air combat single capability aircraft produced by the US for the defence of the airspace and designed for the Net Centric Capable countries of the West — UK, Australia, Turkey and Singapore. The plane is designed to strike targets with sufficient accuracy to minimise collateral damage and provide options for deployment in support of a regional coalition with the capacity to provide air defence and support for deployed ground and maritime forces. The cost is high as the development costs were shared by nations, and it was hoped some 4000 would be ordered to replace the F-18s, F-16s and other aircraft. It may not suit the needs of IAF, which has the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft T-50 from Russia on the cards, but the aircraft- carrier version, which is still to prove its jump jet capabilities, may be looked at by the Navy for the large 65,000 tonne aircraft carrier being designed by it. The two British aircraft carriers are presently planned to carry the JSF-35A. There are very few aircraft capable of operating from aircraft carriers and the Navy has sent out RFIs and hence the excitement."The information sought is going to be very crucial as the Navy is going to redesign the carrier based on them. August 2010
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AUGMENTING THE FLEET When approached for the information regarding the Sea Gripen, Peter Nilsson Vice President Operational Capabilities, said: “The Sea Gripen Programme is aimed for naval-/carrier-based operations.” The Sea Gripen is a development programme with its origin from the Gripen NG programme. It is aimed for both CATOBAR and STOBAR operations. The main technical re-designs are: New undercarriage and nose gear to cope with higher sink rate forces and catapult launches. Strengthened air-frame in some areas. Redesigned arrestor hook “Marinazing” of the aircraft (increased requirements on salt water protections, operations in hot and humid conditions etc). All together the re-design will add weight on the airframe which will give an empty weight between 7500 and 8000 kg (~400 kg extra weight compare to Gripen NG). Due to its balanced size there are no needs for structural changes like folding wings. Sea Gripen will be a very appealing alternative for nations with smaller size carriers. Its well-balanced weight/size compared to heavy twin-engine alternatives will allow nations to move from “air defence” carriers to a concept with strategic capabili-
ties, without a replacement of their carriers. All sensors, avionics and weapons within the Gripen NG programme will be offered in the Sea Gripen. ***** For the first time in naval aviation history, radar-evading stealth capability comes to the carrier deck. The F-35C Carrier Variant (CV) sets a new standard in weapon systems integration, lethality, maintainability, combat radius and payload that brings true multi-mission power projection capability from the sea. The internal weapons bay is reconfigurable for all air-to-ground ordnance, all air-to-air ordnance or a blend of both. A missionised version of the 25 mm GAU-22A cannon is installed or removed as needed. When stealth is not required to execute a mission, the F-35C external pylons are loaded with ordnance, giving the aircraft a weapons payload of more than 18,000 pounds. Any deal regarding F 35 will have to be approved by the Department of State, Government of United States. The Department of Defence has given the go ahead for the presentation. ***** The LCA will operate from an aircraft carrier with a concept of ski-jump take off
EXPANSIVE ASPIRATIONS: Indian Navy is ambitious of becoming a major sea power
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but arrested recovery (STOBAR). Aircraft gets airborne over a ski-jump in about 200 m and lands 90 m using an arrester hook engaging an arrester wire on the ship. Derived from the Air Force version, it is a longitudinally unstable fly-by-wire aircraft, making it an agile war machine. Flight control system is augmented with Leading Edge Vortex Controller (LEVCON) aiding reduction in approach speed for carrier landing. Auto-throttle function reduces pilot load by maintaining constant angle of attack during the critical phase of a flareless carrier landing Fuel Dump System enables safe landing by reducing weight in event of an emergency landing immediately after launch from carrier. The only carrier-borne aircraft in the light category in the world, it will be operating with a wide variety of operational weapons and equipment like the Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missile, Anti-ship Missiles, conventional bombs, air defence guns, CCM’s and drop tanks. The NP1 is now ready to undergo the phase of systems integration tests leading to ground runs, taxi trials and flight. The aircraft would be flying with the GE-F-404-IN20 engine and is specifically designed for skijump take-off and arrested landing, with high-landing loads compared to its Air Force counterpart.
The next IACC is going to be of around 65000 tonnes but if the Navy decides upon the aircraft or at least shortlists couple of them, it can design its next IACC based on the specifications of the shortlisted aircraft. Say for instance, if the aircraft shortlisted are smaller in size and require shorter runway, the design would be different. The takeoff mode is the most crucial of all the consideration, as this will have impact over the complete design, whether it will be ski-jump, short take-off and vertical landing or catapult launch and arrested recovery. These parameters would be selected once the aircraft are shortlisted. Though it is too early to predict how things will move — especially with the bigger deals that involves longer processes of decision-making — it is a good beginning for the Navy and its futuristic aspirations may fructify at the right time, experts say. The important thing is to explore the best options available. August 2010
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EQUIPPING FOOT SOLDIERS To modernise its infantry and paramilitary battalions, India has set up a fast track route to procure a variety of weaponry gears worth about Rs 2,250 crores, notes PRAKASH BHANDARI
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NDIAN INFANTRY forces have reasons to cheer as they will receive huge funds from the government towards the modernisation of their arms and ammunition. Until recently, they were sore that while all other infantry forces in the world were modernised and were provided with weapons that were not only light in weight but also helped in greater maneuverability, they had been left far behind. While India spends a lot of money on fighter aircraft, naval vessels, and heavy ground equipment like tanks and carriers, very little has been spent on taking care of the infantry. However, now the defence ministry is trying to change that by building an ambitious Infantry-Soldier-As-A-System (INSAS) programme. One of the major things that India wants to build as part of INSAS is a domestically-produced multi-caliber individual weapon and a programmable air-bursting grenade launcher for the infantry. This is basically the same thing that the US Army’s Objective Individual Combat Weapon (OICW) was supposed to be. The Indians currently have 28 line (nonspecialist) infantry regiments and 28 infantry
divisions, including the 10 specialised mountain divisions. The Indians also have seven separate infantry brigades along with four Reorganised Army Plains Infantry Action (RAPID) divisions. The total of 359 infantry battalions, plus 66 paramilitary units in India need better equipment to effectively do their duties. The army numbers around 1,325,000 active soldiers with another 1,800,000 troops in reserve. Despite the massive amounts of money the Indians are spending on their military, equipping all 28 infantry regiments with the new system (which hasn’t been designed or manufactured yet) a major drain on resources is being feared by 2020. Even for a wealthy country like France or the US, completely re-equipping 28 regiments with entirely new weapons and gears is an expensive and lengthy proposition. The defence ministry has decided to upgrade the weaponry of the infantry and has set up a fast-track route to procure a variety of weaponry gears, with Rs 23,627,547,160.90 ($500 million) having been earmarked to meet this requirement. The $500 million order cleared by the defence ministry for immediate purchase
from the global market is part of a big ticket purchase programme under which the infantry troops will be equipped with advanced weaponry. The Indian army would buy Helmut Mounted Display systems, anti-tank rifles, thermal-imaging sights, precision-guided ammunition, protective clothing apart from other weapons and equipment. The weaponry and equipment is to be purchased from the global market and tenders will be floated in the next one to two months. The procurement will be made on a fast track basis and as such even a single vendor can be hired, said a defence ministry official. Around 10000 troops are to be trained with the new weapons and equipment for specialised warfare by the Israelis and India’s training facilities at Mhow Infantry Training School in Madhya Pradesh, said sources in the defence ministry. The special forces will be trained to fight behind enemy lines and will be trained to fight quick and decisive battles. The objective of the plan is to enhance the capabilities of infantry soldiers in terms of
AIMING FOR PRECISION: Indian infantry soldiers are keen to match world-class skills
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g DEFBIZ lethality, mobility, survivability, sustainability, situational awareness and battle command so as to improve them operational adaptation and make them a multi-mission war fighter. Indian army is also raising another 15000 mountain troops for deployment along the India-China border and it is not known whether the current purchase programme is for equipping part of these mountain troops. Sources in the Indian army, however, said that another big ticket purchase was in the offing for equipping the mountain troops that would be deployed along the Sino-Indian border. In recent times, there has been heightened tension on the disputed border for sometime, with reports of cross-border firing. The two countries fought a brief battle in 1962 over the disputed territory, an issue which still has to be resolved. So far the Indian army has been concentrating on the western Indo-Pakistani border and the specialised troops being raised with Israeli help will have the capability to fight from behind the enemy lines. These troops will be equipped to fight the Taliban inside their own territory, said sources in the defence ministry. Under the big ticket $500 million plan to be executed in the next 10 years, the Indian Army plans to train the infantry soldiers to operate in the information age battle space through use of digital technologies. The Indian army has been demanding to equip its troops with new generation for the last seven years but the process of procurement will begin with the latest Rs 23,627,547,160.90 clearance of the Union government under which the weaponry will be purchased on a fast-track basis. Equipment on the wish list for the future infantry soldiers include clothing with protection from nuclear, biological and chemical agents; advanced radio systems; night and laser aiming sights; Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation equipment; armored vehicles with anti-mine protection; and weapon systems such as rocket launchers, mortars, fire-control systems, automatic grenade launchers and anti-tank weapons, The new clothing will be made of protective materials and will house sensors. F-INSAS has been taken up to equip Indian infantry with the future weaponry, communication network and instant access to information on the battlefield. [This programme is similar to the future soldier programmes of other nations. F-INSAS includes a fully networked all-terrain, allweather personal-equipment platform,
THE HUMAN SIDE: An infantry commander having an interaction with his staff enhanced firepower and mobility for the digitalised battlefield of the future. In the first phase, to be completed by 2012, the infantry soldiers will be equipped with modular weapon systems that will have multi-functions. The Indian army intends to modernise its entire 465 infantry and paramilitary battalions by 2020 with this programme. The intention is to equip the soldiers to ensure a dramatic increase in their lethality, survivability and mobility while making the soldiers “a self-contained fighting machine”. The helmet is an integrated assembly equipped with thermal sensors, video cameras and chemical and biological sensors. The visor is intended to be integrated and to act as a heads-up display monitor equivalent to two 17-inch computer monitors. The personal clothing of these soldier of the future would be lightweight with a bulletproof jacket. The futuristic jacket would be waterproofed yet breathable. The new attire will enable the troops carry the extra load and resist impact of chemical warfare The new uniform will have vests with sensors to monitor their health parameters and the soldier will be equipped with a palmtop to be able to communicate with other soldiers, and will be aware of the battlefield. The palmtop will tell the soldier where others are in relation to themselves. It will also enable them to transfer messages. Thermal imagers, sensors and night vision equipment, currently deployed in weapon systems such as artillery and main battle tanks, will be customised to make them portable for soldiers to carry in the
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battle ground. Seven years ago, the Union government spent Rs 3,071,430,804.69 over the next four years to train and equip a commando (“Ghatak”) platoon for each of its infantry battalions. The new platoons were intended to make the infantry more effective in dealing with terrorists in Kashmir and the northeast tribal areas. The Ghatak troops were trained to perform commando type operations (raids, long-range patrols), especially at night. Thus one of the things the Ghatak troops found handy were the night-vision equipment. There will also be more radios additional weapons (sniper rifles, more compact assault rifles, day/night scopes) as well. This programme gave India another 12,000 commando-type soldiers. In addition to the Ghatak units, Rs 2,929,308,607.38 ($62 million) were spent to equip engineers with better mine detection and clearing equipment, as well as equipment for detecting and disabling all manner of explosive devices terrorists used in ambushes. The mines and booby traps are, as can be imagined, bad for troop morale, and this programme is expected to be even more popular than the Ghatak platoons. A number of retired army officers who served infantry units and saw action in the three wars against China and India were of the opinion that while equipping the infantry forces with state-of-the art weapons, it should be kept in mind that they are foot forces known for their valours and courage. And, the foot forces fight with courage rather than weapons. “Provide them good light weapons and ration and that would work wonders,” said Col Sumer Singh Shekhawat. August 2010
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WAR UNDER SEAS
A picture of the Virginia-class attack submarine USS New Mexico. Its nuclear powered cousin,USS George Washington is presently going through naval exercises with South Korea. All Virginia class subs are nuclear powered.
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Though the very possibility of a resurgent maritime India has come as a rude shock to the West, the submarine squadrons of New Delhi are, however, facing the age-old time and cost over-run disease. What are the hindrances in India’s quest for a submarine-based offensive capability? How are scales ranged in the war of attrition between New Delhi's “sea-control” Navy and the formidable submarine unit of Islamabad, specialising in “sea-denial” strategy? ABHIJIT BHATTACHARYYA takes stock
Courtesy: www.defense.gov
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UBMARINE IS the most potent, versatile and offensive submerged platform of naval hardware. It is also most secure and least detectable of all marine units, and also the most expensive to acquire, operate and maintain. Little wonder, of the 164 navies listed by Jane’s Fighting Ships 20092010, only 17 countries produce submarine which in turn makes it competitive and cashrich product if bulk orders are received. Known for being a high-tech industry, newcomers like India, Pakistan and Brazil have found the manufacture of submarine to be extremely difficult to keep the cost and time over-run under control. India today, according to Jane’s, has 16 patrol submarines in operations (sea the table) most of which, however, are past their prime-time efficiency and performance. Thus, the two former USSR made Foxtrot class Vela and Vagli, submarines, the survivors of an original eight of the class, are 37 and 36 years old. Vagli was decommissioned in June last, thereby further reducing the Indian navy’s submarine fleet to 15. The ten Sindhughosh (former USSR/Rus-
sia made Kilo class) underwater vessels, the first of which was commissioned on April 30 1986, have rendered between 10 and 24 years service. In fact, six are aged between 20 and 24 and only the comparatively younger vessels, Sindhurakshak (December, 24, 1997) and Sindhushastra (July 19, 2000) are in their teen or below thereof; 13 and 10 years old respectively. Interestingly, India was the first foreign customer to acquire the Kilo-class submarine, which was launched in the former Soviet fleet in 1979. Subsequently, this class was used by Algeria, Poland, Romania, Iran, and China. Furthermore, the original Indian plan for six Kilo class was expanded to 10 owing to an uncharacteristic German inefficiency pertaining to time over-run on HDW Howaldstwerke, Kiel S-209 programme. India’s first experiment of ship acquisition beyond Moscow, however, reverted back to Bonn with the induction of four German HDW Type 209/1500 class submarines, rechristened Shishumar, on September 22, 1986. It also marked the beginning of an indigenous submarine construction enterprise as the third and fourth ships were built my Mazagaon Dock Ltd, Mumbai. Being the beginner, nevertheless, brought its related complications, as the first ship Shalki took almost six years (June 1984 to February 1992) to be completed, in comparison to German ship’s four years. Lack of submarine manufacture experience clearly spoke. Even the second product, Shankul, built by the Mazagaon Dock, took four year and eight months (September 1989-May 1994) to be completed and commissioned. Pakistani submarine is the only one to compete with that of India in South Asia. The nearest other submarine squadrons operate from Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, and Singapore,
all with comparatively limited operational duty and combat radius zone. But what may come as surprise to many is that Pakistani submarine unit is one of the senior-most (second only to Indonesia) navies in the east of Suez, i.e. between Red Sea and the Malacca Strait. What appears intriguing in hindsight is that when India was rejoicing the commissioning of an ex-British majestic class aircraft, carrier Vikrant, on March 04, 1961, ostensibly for “sea control”, Pakistan silently negotiated with the USA to “transfer on loan” an ex-US Tench class submarine, “converting her into a Fleet Snorkel Type”, after extensive overhaul and refit at the Philadelphia Navy Shipyard. Thus was commissioned into the Pakistani navy the first submarine renamed Ghazi (meaning Defender of the Faith) at the US Submarine Base, New London, Connecticut on June 1, 1964. The primary task assigned to Ghazi was “sea denial” thereby implying a challenge to India’s surface carrier ship Vikrant. Since, in reality a carrier by itself is unlikely to fulfil its “sea control” task without having submarines to guard its underbelly and an armada of aggressive escort vessels like destroyer, frigate, and a logistics flotilla in a conventional hostility, Ghazi’s quest for Vikrant in 1971 war is understandable. Though Ghazi was sunk off Visakhapatnam, it managed to sneak so far away, through the hostile waters, undetected and unchallenged. One may now swerve to the philosophy of submarine warfare in and around India’s threefront sea and Islamabad, arguably the two most deeply-embedded psychological foes, recent attempt of dialogue at the behest of the US (which wants its flank and rear to be secure in land-locked Afghanistan), notwithstanding. Clearly, therefore, India’s quest for offensive weapons like submarine (thus far a monopoly
Courtesy: www.defense.goe
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g COVERSTORY possession of the West) is understandable, as it still continues to be an oasis of stability in the midst of a dangerous and vast ocean-like-area of ethnic violence, armed coup masters and a kind of state-sponsored religious fanaticism and bigotry in its neighbourhood. Thus, “the very possibility of a resurgent maritime” India came as a rude shock to the West as gleaned from the comments and analysis of world naval bible, Jane’s Fighting Ships1986-1987: “It is hardly surprising that the rapid and varied growth of the Indian Navy is of concern. The Indian naval enigma has been increasing over the years and this fleet now has the capability of disrupting the trade and the affairs of any of the Indian Ocean littoral countries, were the government in New Delhi so disposed. Any attempt to discuss the philosophy behind this rapid built-up has been defeated by the unusually discourteous refusal of the authorities in Naval Headquarters to answer any form of correspondence.” Regarding Pakistan, however, the observation of the naval bible was soft and subdued: “India’s neighbour Pakistan... has a short coastline with a single major mercantile port and seaboards which invite clandestine or overt landings.” Clearly, the West simply could not take the reality of India’s nightmarish vulnerability into account in the mid-1980s; perhaps because there were no Al-Qaeda and taliban, mujahideens and fidayeens as yet and 09/11/2001 were still a few years away. Hence the best of Anglo-Saxon naval pundits and dadas ignored the fact that whereas India has a long and treacherous 4104-nautical-mile coastline with the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Mannar (separating Delhi from Colombo) and the Bay of Bengal, Islamabad has only 567 nautical mile sea line with the Arabian Sea. To put the matter in sharper focus, it was also forgotten (perhaps unwittingly) that when the Jane’s was heaping its criticism on Delhi about its “naval discourtesy”, the submarine strengths of 4104-nautical-mile coastlines of India (with nine submarine) and 567-nautical-mile shoreline of Pakistan (also with nine submarines ) were at par. The acid comment of mid-1980s on Indian navy made it clear: “This is not the inventory of a country whose only purpose is to remain at peace in a peaceful ocean. It is far more the fleet of a country determined to establish a maritime hegemony amongst much weaker neighbours.” The suspicion and mute hostility to a resurgent Indian Navy continued unabated through the 1980s as the 12 submarine force was pooh-poohed thus : “This is, by any standards, short of the super-powers, a formidable force and the main query for an outside observer is ‘why’?” That the West did not like one bit the
“IT (ARIHANT SUBMARINE) DEMONSTRATES A QUANTUM LEAP IN THE SHIP-BUILDING CAPABILITIES OF THE COUNTRY. IT IS A NUCLEAR-POWERED SUBMARINE, WHICH IS INDIGENOUSLY DESIGNED AND CONSTRUCTED.” NAVY CHIEF, NIRMAL VERMA prospect of an Indian Navy’s “increasing” offensive capability was re-iterated bluntly in 1988: “Major navies are set apart from the others by the acquisition of fixed-wing carrierborne aircraft and nuclear submarines. India now belongs to that very select club which has both.” The India-specific tirade concluded, “Whatever the true purpose of the build up of this fleet, and military expansion cannot be excluded, it must be recorded that India is also sponsoring a UN conference in 1988 to try and turn the Indian Ocean into a ‘zone of peace’ and set limits on the number of warships allowed in the area. The outsider is left wondering whether one hand is in touch with the other, or whether such proposals merit rather closer international inspection than they have so far been.” The Indian Navy’s score-card of 1980s was concluded thus: “That India intends to be the dominant regional maritime power from Suez to Malacca can no longer be in doubt.” It was even apprehended that India nurtured a wish to be able to “challenge superpower supremacy at least at the level of normal US and Soviet Indian Ocean naval force deployments.” New Delhi-naval phobia of the West continued with fresh words of description and derision: “The intention to build a navy which dominates the region (Indian Ocean) cannot be in doubt”, and India’s “willingness to project power has caused a tremor of anxiety as far as the eastern ASEAN states and rather stronger reactions in the other Indian Ocean
island groups of the Comoros, Malagasy, Mauritius and the Seychelles. In the search for control of natural resources in the region, India clearly intends to be in a strong position when the time comes to exploit them.” With the advent of the 21st century came a unique, left-handed compliment to New Delhi, laced with an unprecedented comparison between two unequal navies: “If it were not for the heavy US naval presence in the region “(Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf ), the “Indian Navy could dominate the waters of Southern Asia from the Straits of Malacca to the Gulf of Aden”. Little wonder the adoption of Indian Maritime Doctrine, in May 2004, surprised the conventional naval powers as “India clearly abandoned its earlier defensive doctrine some years ago and its ambitions to become a regional power, capable of projecting force throughout the Indian Ocean”. According to Jane’s Fighting Ships 2005-2006, one of the core themes which was emphasised on was building a submarine-based “non-provocative strategic capability”. Indeed, it is the fleet submarine which usually makes or mars a navy’s offensive capability owing to its being an inherently invisible, clandestine, lethal and mobile platform. In 2005, two simultaneously important submarine developments took place in South Asia. Whereas Pakistan decommissioned four of its 1960 vintage Hangor (French Daphne) class vessels, thereby slashing the underwater flotilla from 11 to 7 (included in which were three Italy-made Cosmos Midget submarines), India contracted, for the licensed production of six French Scorpene submarines at Mazagaon Dock on October 06, 2005. India, however, realised the grave maritime threat after 26/11/2008 when a group of 10-odd religious fanatics, sponsored by Pakistan, stormed Mumbai and shook the entire country. Today, however, the submarine squadrons of New Delhi are once again facing the age-old time and cost over-run disease which, more often than not, afflicted the defence machinery of India in the past. There now will be a minimum three year delay in the delivery of the first locally built Scorpene submarine as confessed by the official in charge of Mazagaon Dock thereby denuding the current Indian fleet of 16 to 09 in 2012-2013. And there is little hope of the first Scorpene being inducted before 2015. With the latest report about the fresh deal worth more than Rs 50,000 crore to buy six new-generation submarines for the Navy, India’s enterprise is based on the “help of a foreign collaborator”. Obviously, therefore, something somewhere must have had gone August 2010
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BUILDING MUSCLE BELOW THE WAVES CLASS
NAME
.
COMMISSION DATE
STATUS
Foxtrot class
INS Vagli
August 10, 1974
To decommission 2011
Shishumar (Type 209) Class
INS Shishumar INS Shankush INS Shalki INS Shankul
September 22, 1986 November 20, 1986 February 7, 1992 May 28, 1994
Refit completed, in Sea Under Refit at Mazagoan Dock Under Refit at Mazagoan Dock Refit completed, in Sea
Sindhughosh (Kilo) Class
INS Sindhughosh INS Sindhudhvaj INS Sindhuraj INS Sindhuvir INS Sindhuratna INS Sindhukesari INS Sindhukirti INS Sindhuvijay NS Sindhurakshak INS Sindhushastra
April 30, 1986 June 12, 1987 October 20, 1987 August 26, 1988 December 22, 1988 February 16, 1989 January 4, 1990 March 18, 1991 December 24, 1997 July 19, 2000
Refit completed , in Sea Refit completed, in Sea Refit completed, in Sea Refit completed, in Sea Refit completed, in Sea Undergoing refit Refit completed, in Sea -
Akula (II) Class
K-152 Nerpa/INS Chakra Not yet named
2010 2011
Sea trials -
Arihant Class
INS Arihant ATV-2
2012 2011
Launched on 26 July 2009 Being built by the Ship Building Centre, Vishakhapatnam
ATV-3 ATV-4 ATV-5 ATV-6
2012 2013 2014 2014- 2015
Under construction -
Scorpene Class (Project 75)
Scorpene-1 Scorpene-2 Scorpene-3 Scorpene-4 Scorpene-5 Scorpene-6
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
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Project 75B/I
P75B-1
2015
P75B-2 P75B-3 P75B-4 P75B-5 P75B-6
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Request for information have recently been issued to the French DCNS, Spanish Navantia, Russian Rubin and German HDW -
August 2010
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g COVERSTORY awry in the past. If indeed the Navy will be left with just nine in 2013 and seven submarines by 2015, then the question is who is responsible for this grave miscalculation? As mentioned earlier, with the decommissioning of the INS Vela (S-40), one of the last two USSR-made Foxtrot-class (Project 641) dieselelectric submarines in service, on June 25, 2010, the underwater fleet of India now stands at 15 only. By the end of 2010 this could further come down to 14 with the departure of the last Foxtrot Vagli (S-42) a few months from now. The curious point at present, however, emanates from DCNS of France, the common source of submarine for both India and Pakistan. Since armament industry is all about commerce, cash, market and profit one expects care and caution in one’s purchase plan. It needs no expert to state the obvious: that no nation till date has succeeded in becoming a naval power with borrowed technology and imported ships in perpetuity. Hence, the present Indian plan to buy six more submarines for Rs 50,000 crore should come as music to all the foreign bidders with the hope of emerging as “collaborators” with Indian Navy. Of the four foreigners, however, the Spanish company Navantia is the new entrant. Not surprisingly, the USA’s mega defence contractor Lockheed Martin holds a considerable share in the Spanish concern too. And the present US interest in Indian military is more important and necessary than it had been before. Like French submarine supplier, US too has its interests in supplying military hardware simultaneously to the two implacable foes of South Asia, New Delhi and Islamabad. On December 4, 1971, when Karachi got a brutal blow from the Indian Navy’s missile boats, the need for a navy to counter the threat to Pakistan’s only port and naval base was born. Pakistan’s geography of comparatively limited landscape made its fleet follow the fleet-in-being tactics, thereby implying strong deterrent against a superior Navy’s quantity of ships. It also made its naval logistics look West to have several dispersed naval bases to reduce strategic dependence on Karachi’s geographical vulnerability owing to its Indian proximity. Hence, from one naval base, Karachi, and 13,000-man navy in 1987-1988 (Military Balance figure), Pakistan now has 25,100 personnel (2,980 officers) including 1,200 marines and 1,000 seconded to Maritime Security Agency (set up in 1986) and 5,000 reserves and four ports/naval bases of Karachi, Gwadar (naval base), Port Qasim and Port Ormara; the latter opened on Wednesday, May 7, 1997 as a major naval base and repair facility to reduce the burden on Karachi. Ormara in future will be the base of half of the Pakistani Navy’s major units and all the submarines. Situated
MARINE EMPOWERMENT: Indigenous submarines are developed at Mazagaon Dock 300 km west of Karachi on the Makran coast, Port Ormara is a desolate place with a coastal road connecting Karachi in the east and Gwadar (which is another 290 km) to the west down the sea shore. This remote location tactically makes the Pakistani Navy comparatively less vulnerable to first-strike attack, thereby giving it more punch to its fleet for classical maritime (hit-and-run type) counter-stroke called fleet-in-being. Thus, the shifting of submarine base west of Karachi, on the Makran coast, to Ormara Port will give the Pakistani Navy a vital edge to disrupt the sea lanes of India’s oil import from the Persian Gulf, should a crisis take place in the future. That is not all. There now will be three layers of screening areas at the disposal of the Pakistani Navy for the Indian crude’s voyage from Muscat to Mumbai or Dubai to Kochi; Gwadar, Port Qasim and Port Ormara. The design here is the art and craft of a smaller navy’s maritime strategy to take on a superior
THE PRIMARY TASK ASSIGNED TO GHAZI WAS “SEA DENIAL” THEREBY IMPLYING A CHALLENGE TO INDIA’S SURFACE CARRIER SHIP VIKRANT.
navy with a modern submarine fleet acquired from France. It is the Agosta 90B class SSK (Pakistani name Khalid) submarines which neatly fit into the disruptive role of the Indian crude’s sea lanes, with or without crisis. Built by DCN Cherbourg, France, the 1,510tonne (surfaced), 1760 dived Agosta 90B’s greatest asset is its diving depth of 320 metres (1,050 feet) which outdives all Indian submarines (HDW 209-type 1,500-260 metres = 853 feet; and Kilo-type 87 EM/636 class-300 metres = 985 feet). Other parameters being conventional, what makes the French-built Pakistani submarine ominous for India’s strategic raw material crude oil is its plan to have a 200kw MESMA liquid oxygen air independent propulsion system, which would quadruple the dived performance of the submarine at four knots. And finally, the three Italian origin Cosmos Midget submarines of Islamabad are clearly meant for harbour penetration. With 118 tonne (dived), the midget has a range of 2200 nautical miles (surfaced) and 60 nautical miles (dived). With improved sensors and weapons and an endurance of 20 days and 1000 nautical miles, India’s blue water Navy certainly cannot be too sure of the eight swimmers on board of a Paki midget, operating in shallow brown muddy waters along the vast unguarded coastline of New Delhi. The Mumbai blasts of March, 1993 and the Mumbai mayhem of November 26, 2008, had the origin of their plan and operations from Pakistan; and both had a simple and straightforward Karachi connect. Hence it would be interesting to watch the war of attrition between the “sea-control” Navy of New Delhi and the “sea denial” flotilla of Islamabad in future. August 2010
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INTERNAL SECURITY
RIGHT OR WRONG? The security forces are much maligned for ‘violating’ human rights, while performing internal security duties
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PM’s appeal not enough AS ONE Chief Minister stayed away and another made a show of his differences with the Centre’s anti-Naxal strategy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a recent meeting of Chief Ministers from Naxal-affected states not to let inter-personal issues stand in the way of forging a united front to tackle this grave internal security. “We must be — and also appear to be — united and one in our resolve, and in execution of our strategies,” Singh told the conference. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, who had skipped such earlier meetings on anti-Naxal strategies, did not share Home Minister’s views on how to combat Maoism. He distanced himself from the security component of the twopronged approach — development and firm security — as suggested by the Centre. The West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya too stayed away from the conference, sending his Health Minister instead. Similarly, the Centre’s proposal to set up unified commands in the Maoist-affected states headed by their respective Chief Ministers with retired major generals as members did not elicit unanimity. While Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal readily agreed, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra were not enthusiastic. However, the meeting unanimously approved raising 34 new battalions of the India Reserve Battalion (IRB) for combating Maoists. The states agreed to fill up around 97,000 vacancies in the police forces. Similarly, the meeting approved, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS)’s Rs 800crore modernisation plan to empower state police forces to stand on their feet and fight back. The new plan aims to equip nearly 400 police stations in 90 districts of Maoist-affected states with advanced communication and reconnaissance, better weapons and anti-landmine vehicles.
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Pillai’s disclosure IN THE first official statement on the interrogation of Headley — a US citizen of Pakistani origin who was arrested by US authorities in Chicago last year and questioned by a team from India in May — Home Secretary G K Pillai said it was now clear that both the ISI and Saeed were involved in the Mumbai attacks from the beginning till the end. Headley made several visits to India and is accused of scouting targets for the attacks. “The real sense that has come out from Headley’s interrogation is that the ISI has had a much more significant role to play (in the Mumbai attacks, than was earlier thought). It was not just a peripheral role. They (ISI) were literally controlling and coordinating it (the attack) from the beginning till the end,” Pillai said, recently. “The same goes for Hafiz Saeed. He was also not a peripheral player. He knew everything,” Pillai said. For example, Pillai said, Headley told interrogators that at one point his wife had approached Hafiz Saeed and complained that he (her husband) was not giving her any time and neglecting her. Hafiz Saeed apparently told this to Headley. Headley then told Saeed that he was taking a few days off to be with his wife but in that case the “Mumbai project” would suffer. At this point, Hafiz is said to have instructed Headley to continue working on the “Mumbai
project” and that his wife could wait, said Pillai. The Home Secretary said the government was hoping that Islamabad would share information on some concrete steps it had taken against the planners and perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks. AS was proved subsequently, Pillai’s plain talk did not go well with the Pakistani authorities. In fact, this Pillai factor was cited by the Pakistanis to be the most important one behind the fiasco of the recent talks between the Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan.
CRPF voices concerns
AFTER LOSING over 100 personnel in two deadly attacks by the Naxals in Chhattisgarh since April, a beleaguered Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has raised concerns over the deployment of its forces by the state government at scattered locations — some of them 28-30 km away from each other. This, the force feels, is making them an easy target. The Centre has deployed 24,000 forces, including 14,000 from the CRPF, and 5,000 each
from the BSF and ITBP in Chhattisgarh to assist the state police in its fight against the Naxals. In its meeting after 27 CRPF men were killed by Naxals in Narayanpur on June 29, the CRPF’s top brass disputed the state government's operational strategies and asked it to review the deployment of central forces. It demanded that the distance between two CRPF camps not be more than five km. The CRPF also put across a
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proposal to deploy two companies (200 personnel) at each camp instead of 100 in view of 200-300 Naxals participating in attacks. It demanded the state deploy one battalion (1,000 personnel forces) in 25 square km area. However, the CRPF proposals have not cut much ice with the state police which felt that the forces must be located in different places to assist the police stations in the Naxal-hit areas.
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BSF likely to lead anti-Naxal ops THE CENTRE is thinking of using Border Security Force (BSF) in specific special operations against Maoists in view of CRPF men getting hit again and again by Maoist rebels in Chhattisgarh. Compared to the CRPF, the BSF is far more experienced in counterterrorism and jungle warfare. The BSF, which is deployed in Kashmir and the northeastern states, is also better equipped to counter Maoists, who have now graduated from guerrilla tactics to military warfare. A clear hint that the BSF is likely to be given responsibilities to fight Maoists was available when Union Home Secretary Gopal K Pillai visited a BSF camp in Kanker. Pillai also visited BSF's Bhanupratapur camp to meet officers and jawans. The Centre has also stationed a battalion of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, another highly motivated fighting machine, in the Bastar region.
INTERNAL SECURITY
Pepper guns to quell slingshots
According to sources, in new redeployment plan, the central paramilitary forces — the CRPF and the ITBP — may be asked to work under tactical guidance of the BSF. However, within the BSF, there are some reservations about getting involved in the internal law and order situations.
ANGRY WITH DHAKA MEDIA’S ROLE: THE BSF, besides dealing with smuggling and illegal migration, has another headache — that of countering Bangladesh media for allegedly carrying disinformation campaign against the force — at the initiative of Lt Col Zahirul Alam, commander of the 21 battalion of the BDR at Sylhet in the neighbouring country. The BSF has cautioned Bangladesh media to find out the truth regarding the border situation in Meghalaya rather than giving fabricated reports about the “illegal cultivation and encroachment of Bangladeshi land” by Indian nationals. The BSF has also urged battalion to realise that the commander of the 21 of the BDR wants to keep the issue of land of adverse possession held by India alive, thereby becoming a messiah of the local Bangladeshi population. Apparently, Alam is trying to garner support of the locals in the border areas by giving them false promises that they would be allotted plots of land in the areas of adverse possession once the BDR is able to take them over.
CRPF IS finally going to have pepper guns, in a development which can have a bearing on moves to tackle trouble-makers in J&K who used mobs to provoke the security forces and then exploited their response to stoke anti-India feelings. Billed as a cutting-edge nonlethal solution for crowd control, the pepper gun produces the same psychological impact as being shot. The balls fired from these guns emit a super-irritant. Wiser from the experience where separatists unleashed mobs on paramilitary troops to provoke them to open fire, CRPF, spearhead of the law-enforcement effort, plans to induct an automatic and a semi-automatic version of pepper guns.
Cattle smuggling thrives CATTLE SMUGGLING continues unabated along the 4,096-km India-Bangladesh border, despite the increased fencing in recent months. The BSF, which is entrusted with the task of guarding the border, has this year gunned down 25 smugglers, 18 of whom are Indians and the rest Bangladeshis. According to reliable sources, cattle smuggling has become a thriving business for Indian and Bangladeshi smugglers with the quantum of money transaction being over Rs 10,000 crore per annum. About 15,000 cattle, mostly cows, are smuggled from India every month with the help of touts. An Indian smuggler pays 500 takas per cattle as bribe to the Bangladeshi customs official.
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August 2010
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IN DEFENCE OF THE DEFENDERS ON THEIR TOES: Security forces in India face formidable challenges from insurgents
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There is no need to repeal or dilute AFSPA, which gives the military necessary powers to effectively conduct counterinsurgency operations, argues GURMEET KANWAL
GEOPOLITICS
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HE ARMED Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has come in for some sharp criticism in recent years. Its provisions are being reviewed at the highest levels and a decision by the Cabinet Committee on security is expected shortly. While the Min-
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istry of Defence (MoD) and Army HQ are said to be opposed to changes in the basic provisions of the Act, the Ministry of Home Affairs is reported to have recommended a major overhaul of the Act to bring it in line with egalitarian human rights practices. Commenting on the demands of some August 2010
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political parties and human rights activists to dilute the provisions of AFSPA, General V K Singh, the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), said recently that those who demand its dilution “probably do so for narrow political gains”. Earlier, as the COAS-designate, he had stated: “Any dilution of the Act will impinge adversely on the manner in which the armed forces operate… While operating against terrorists, insurgents and antinational elements in constrained and trying circumstances, the armed forces need requisite legal protection.” Lt Gen B S Jaswal, GOC-in-C, Northern Command, responsible for all operations in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), has likened the Act to a holy book. “I would like to say that the provisions of AFSPA are very pious to me and I think to the entire Indian Army. We have religious books, there are certain
guidelines which are given there, but all the members of the religion do not follow it, they break it also… does it imply that you remove the religious book…?” Quite obviously, the Indian Army sees AFSPA as a capstone Act that gives the Army the powers necessary to conduct counterinsurgency operations efficiently, without having to wait for civilian magistrates to arrive on the scene of action. The Act also provides its personnel with Constitutional safeguards against malicious, vindictive and frivolous prosecution and considers its provisions mandatory for conducting active counter-insurgency operations. If it is repealed or diluted, the Army’s leadership is of the view that the performance of its battalions in counter-insurgency operations will be adversely affected and the terrorists or insurgents will seize the initiative. However, certain sections of civil society view AFSPA as a draconian Act and consider it an Act that violates the fundamental rights granted by the Constitution to all the citizens of the country. It has even been dubbed a license to kill by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, a hard-line separatist Kashmiri leader who is believed to take orders from his handlers in Pakistan’s ISI. He allegedly masterminded and coordinated the actions of some of the stone-throwing youth of the Valley through his cohorts in June-July 2010. The Act has been opposed in the northeastern states as well. Even before Manorma Devi, a member of the outlawed People’s Liberation Army, was allegedly raped and murdered by soldiers from a battalion of the Assam Rifles in 2004 — allegations which were found to be false — activists in the north-eastern states had been demanding repeal of the Act. Irom Sharmila, a Manipuri
THE ARMY FOLLOWS A 'ZERO TOLERANCE' POLICY TOWARDS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS.
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“ANY DILUTION OF THE ACT WILL IMPINGE ADVERSELY ON THE MANNER IN WHICH THE ARMED FORCES OPERATE… WHILE OPERATING AGAINST TERRORISTS, INSURGENTS AND ANTINATIONAL ELEMENTS IN CONSTRAINED AND TRYING CIRCUMSTANCES, THE ARMED FORCES NEED REQUISITE LEGAL PROTECTION.” CHIEF OF THE ARMY STAFF , GENERAL V K SINGH civil rights activist, has been on a political fast unto death since November 2000 to force the government to repeal AFSPA from Manipur and other north-eastern states. She is being force-fed through the nose in a hospital in Imphal. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said in a recent interview, “The perception of the average resident of J&K is that the AFSPA is abused while there is a sense that it is indispensable for the security forces. The need is to address both views.” Mehbooba Mufti, president of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has demanded immediate revocation of AFSPA and the withdrawal of the Army from J&K. In her view, the situation does not justify further operations by the Army. This runs counter to the fact that infiltration has increased substantially in the summer months of 2010; there is a heightened sense of tension in Kashmir Valley; and, the Army had to be called out to enforce a curfew after 15 Kashmiri youth had died in CRPF firing. Various other Kashmiri leaders have also made demands for August 2010
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g INTERNALSECURITY the repeal of AFSPA. The Act was promulgated in 1958 in Assam and Manipur and in 1990 in Jammu and Kashmir. The main criticism of the Act is directed against the provisions of Section 4, which gives the armed forces: The power to open fire and even cause death, if prohibitory orders are violated. The power to destroy structures used as hideouts, training camps or places from where attacks against security forces could be launched. The power to arrest without warrant and to use force for the purpose if necessary. The power to enter and search premises without warrant to make an arrest or recover hostages, arms, ammunition or stolen property. Human rights activists object on the grounds that these provisions give the security forces unbridled powers to arrest, search, seize and even shoot to kill. They accuse the security forces of having destroyed homes and entire villages merely on the suspicion that insurgents were hiding there. They also point out that Section 4 empowers the armed forces to arrest citizens without warrant and keep them in custody for several days. They also object to Section 6, which protects the security forces personnel from prosecution except with the prior sanction of the Central Government. Critics say this provision has on many occasions led to even non-commissioned officers brazenly opening fire on crowds without having to justify their action.
DOWN WITH AFSPA: Manipur’s noted human rights activist Irom Sharmila Chanu is all for the Act’s repeal
The criticism is mostly ill-informed and baseless. Critics forget that Section 5 of the Act mandates arrested civilians must be handed over to the nearest police station ‘with the least possible delay’ along with a report of ‘circumstances occasioning the arrest’. Army HQ have laid down that all suspects who are arrested will be handed over to civilian authorities within 24 hours. This instruction is strictly adhered to. As for firing on civilians, the internal instructions are that firing may be opened only in self-defence and that too when the source of terrorist or militant fire can be clearly identified. If soldiers were allowed to fire indiscriminately, there would have been hundreds of more civilian casualties and thousands of refugees would have deserted their home and hearth in Kashmir over the last 22 years. A committee headed by Justice Jeevan Reddy was appointed in 2004 to review the provisions of AFSPA. Though the committee found that the powers conferred under the Act are not absolute, it nevertheless concluded that the Act should be repealed. However, it recommended that essential provisions of the Act be inserted into the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) of 1967. The Second Administrative Reform Commission headed by Veerappa Moily, now the Union Law Minister, also recommended that the AFSPA should be repealed and its essential provisions should be incor-
ARMY PERSONNEL MUST BE GIVEN IMMUNITY FOR ANY ACT DONE IN GOOD FAITH. HOWEVER, SUCH IMMUNITY MUST NOT BE ABSOLUTE, NOR IS IT SO UNDER THE PRESENT AFSPA.
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“THE PERCEPTION OF THE AVERAGE RESIDENT OF J&K IS THAT THE AFSPA IS ABUSED WHILE THERE IS A SENSE THAT IT IS INDISPENSABLE FOR THE SECURITY FORCES. THE NEED IS TO ADDRESS BOTH VIEWS.” CHIEF MINISTER, J&K, OMAR ABDULLAH porated in the UAPA. If this course of action is adopted, it would be a retrograde step that will substantially harm the national cause. The key recommendations of the Reddy Committee were as under: In case the situation so warrants, the state government may request the Union government to deploy the Army for not more than six months. If it is considered necessary to extend the Army’s deployment, the details of the case should be tabled in the State Assembly. The Union government may also deploy the armed forces without a request from the state. However, the situation should be reviewed after six months and Parliament’s approval should be sought for extending the deployment. Non-commissioned officers may continue to have the power to fire. Arrested persons should be handed over to the civil police. The Union government should set up an independent grievances cell in each district where the Act is in force. In over 40 years of counter-insurgency operations in various parts of India, the image of the Indian Army has not been tarnished with the equivalent of a My Lai massacre where an entire village was razed to the ground and most of its inhabitants were tortured and killed in cold blood by an American Lieutenant’s platoon that had gone berserk in Vietnam. The Indian Army has never had a prison like Guantanamo Bay or an interrogation facility like Abu Gharaib. While there have been some individual excesses, committed by soldiers in the heat August 2010
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g INTERNALSECURITY of the moment — and these have been swiftly punished — the Army as an organisation has maintained an exemplary record, in keeping with its professional ethos and venerable traditions. The Army fights with one hand tied behind the back. Its “iron fist in a velvet glove” counter-insurgency doctrine emphasises the use of minimum force, people friendly operations and simultaneous development work to win hearts and minds. Unlike the scenes from Afghanistan and Pakistan’s NWFP and FATA, seen on television scenes almost every day, heavy weapons like fighter aircraft and artillery are not used for counter-insurgency operations in India. Even a rocket launcher can be fired only with the permission of a senior officer, who invariably assesses the situation personally before giving such permission. Maj Gen (later Lt Gen) Inder Varma almost lost his right arm during a personal reconnaissance of a house in which militants were holed up in Baramulla District in 1993. His Colonel, General Staff died on the spot. The Army follows a ‘zero tolerance’ policy towards human rights violations. Its determination to bring individual violators of
SECURITY FORCES CASUALTIES 5,962 security forces personnel
have been killed by terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir since 1988. In 2010, 45 security forces personnel have died in the State fighting militants. Since 1992, 939 officers and soldiers have lost their lives in Manipur; 783 in Assam; 81 in Meghalaya and 22 in Mizoram. 1,226 security forces personnel have died fighting Maoists between 2005 and 2010; this year 204 men in uniform have fallen to Maoist bullets. (Source: South Asia Terrorism Portal, www.satp.org) (Up to July 5, 2010)
VOICES OF DISCONTENT: AFSPA has its share of detractors
THE INDIAN ARMY HAS NEVER HAD A PRISON LIKE GUANTANAMO BAY OR AN INTERROGATION FACILITY LIKE ABU GHARAIB. human rights to justice is without parallel. Since 1990, the security forces have been accused of 1,511 cases of human rights abuse. All of these were thoroughly investigated, including by the National Human Rights Commission. 1,473 cases were found to be completely false and had been possibly instigated by terrorist organisations. Where culpability was established, 104 soldiers, including 40 officers, have been punished in 35 cases so far. (Source: http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/armydefends-special-powers-act-31642.php) Lt Gen Harwant Singh (Retd) has written: “Abrogating the AFSPA or removing some of its key provisions in an attempt to make it ‘humane’ could place the security forces at a great disadvantage in their fight against a vicious insurgency. Any watering down of the Act will result in de-motivating
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the troops whose lawful actions may expose them to decades of litigation in civil courts.” Extraordinary situations require special handling. As the Army does not have any police powers under the Constitution, it is in the national interest to give it special powers for operational purposes when it is called upon to undertake counter-insurgency operations. The promulgation of the AFSPA along with the Disturbed Areas Act is inescapable. Army personnel must be given immunity for any act done in good faith. However, such immunity must not be absolute, nor is it so under the present AFSPA. The Central government can and has sanctioned prosecution where prima facie cases existed. Without these powers, commanding officers and young company commanders are likely to follow a wait-andwatch approach rather than go after terrorists and militants with zeal and enthusiasm and risk prosecution. On its part, the Army must make it mandatory for its battalions to take police personnel and village elders along for operations which involve search of civilian homes and the seizure of property. The practical problems encountered in ensuring transparency in counter-insurgency operations must be overcome by innovative measures. The Army must be completely transparent in investigating human rights allegations and bringing violators to speedy justice, with exemplary punishment being meted out where the charges are proved. (The writer is Director, Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), New Delhi) August 2010
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BRUTE DISPLAY: A protestor being manhandled by the police in J&K
RESOLVING THE DICHOTOMY
The State can firmly deal with rogue elements without compromising on human rights, writes D M (JOHN) MITRA
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HE LIST of individual’s rights given in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights can be divided into two types depending on their enforceability against the state. In the Constitution of India, the enforceable rights are embodied in the form of Fundamental Rights and the rest as Directive Principles. Human rights take the shape of legal rights of the citizens vis-à-vis other citizens or social, political and corporate organisations, and become human rights vis-à-vis the state. These rights are also the foundation-stones of liberal democratic form of governance. Therefore, it is a liberal democratic state’s fundamental duty to protect both the legal rights and the human rights of its citizens. In a liberal democracy like ours, a failure to do either can severely question the legitimacy of the state.
The social, cultural, religious, and ethnic diversity and complexity of India surpasses that of the European Union. Liberal democracy is considered ideal for a plural society like ours. Compared to all the earlier legal systems and forms of government, the supremacy of the rights of an individual, and individual’s freedom, enshrined in the Constitution of India, makes the form of governance adopted by us a liberal democracy. In our constitutional legal system, an adult individual has all the legal rights to choose his/her way of life, irrespective of what his/her family and kin or society in general think about his/her choices as long as such choices are not patently illegal. Moreover, unlike the traditional social systems in different parts of the world, all Indian citizens, including women, people of lower ritual status, and non-believers, enjoy
equal rights, guaranteed by the country’s Constitution. The state protects the legal rights of the individual through the laws promulgated by it and administered through its justice system. If, for reasons of remoteness or conflict, the legal rights of the citizens are not protected by the state, people living in these areas are forced to obey the local normative structure enforced by caste (khap), tribe, religious authorities, or the diktats of those who yield the firepower locally. However, these coercive structures or organisations cannot be regarded as legal entities of the state and components of its criminal justice system, as they have not been created by the state under the provisions of its Constitution. The value-system on which these coercive entities operate blatantly contravenes some of the basic concepts of human
RENOUNCING THE GUN CULTURE: A terrorist surrendering arms before the then chief minister of Kashmir, Ghulam Nabi Azad
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BONE OF CONTENTION: The so-called human rights violations have been a favourite past time with the civil rights activists in India rights like those related to legal rights of an individual or equality among individuals. Therefore, they are not tenable or legally enforceable under our Constitution. Many of the terrorist and rebel groups derive their vision and ideology from traditions based on hierarchy and inequality. Others like the Maoists, fired with ultra-political vision, oppose all institutions of liberal democracy. For them, political and other rights of citizens can wait as long as the ongoing revolution lasts, and India is turned classless, as happened in countries where communist revolutionary governments were in power, such as former USSR and People’s Republic of China and others. Thus, under the pretext of revolutionary activity, the rights of the individuals in the areas dominated by terrorists, rebels or insurgent groups are severely crushed and/or altogether obliterated.
ALL SUSPECTS INCLUDING CRIMINALS, INSURGENTS AND TERRORISTS SHOULD BE HELD AS INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN OTHERWISE IN A COURT OF LAW.
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Therefore, fighting insurgency is not only a necessity for our nation’s security, it is also a matter of necessity for the state’s commitment to uphold the human rights of its citizens. Any sign of reluctance to take the challenge from non-state actors is bound to be interpreted in terms of the state shying away from its commitment to protect citizens’ rights. In this context, the definition of state should be seen both from a limited perspective as the government of the day, and from a broader perspective to include legislature, civil society and others who belong to and believe in the liberal democratic polity. However, while fighting terrorists and armed rebels, the state has to respect its commitment to human rights. Firstly, it is logically and morally inconsistent for the state to ignore its commitment to human rights. Secondly, counterinsurgency is an asymmetric struggle in which the state has August 2010
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g INTERNALSECURITY relative advantage in size, resources and legitimacy, while the rebel has relative advantage in operational freedom and intelligence. However, the state security forces cannot afford to increase their operational freedom without proportionally decreasing the overall legitimacy of the state. In view of the increasing awareness of public, sensitivity of civil society, spread and penetration of communication channels, globalisation and connectivity, and international scrutiny of state action, the Indian State and its security forces can illafford to usurp operational freedom to any substantial extent without inviting widespread censure. Unless the government forces behave according to the ideals proclaimed by the state, how can the target population distinguish whether the government forces are different in their conduct from the rebel forces ? Leaving aside the false allegations and the ones arising out of genuine problem of interpretation, there are instances in which members of the security forces have deliberately, whether for malicious reasons or otherwise, violated human rights of innocent local citizens or of those owing allegiance to rebel groups. Such instances prove most damaging for the legitimacy and moral authority of security forces. No wonder, the local populace develops anger and a deep grudge against the government and its security forces, as in most instances of violation of human rights, the victims are perceived and proclaimed innocent by their relatives. Therefore, apart from the ostensible illegality of such actions, purely from the strategic point of view too, such violations should be avoided by government forces and should be dealt with severely in order to send a clear signal to everyone that the government will not tolerate such violations of human rights under any pretext. Often, attempts are made by uninformed persons based on half-baked understanding of the situation to justify violation of human rights. For example, some people point out that since the population obeys the rebel out of fear, the government forces should also be able to counter-balance the fear in the minds of the target population. However, unlike rebels, the government forces have the legal machinery and authority vested in them by law to make the population obey but do not have the operational freedom to adopt just any means exceeding their legal authority. The balance of fear should be between rebels’ extralegal actions and government forces’ legal actions.
“DURING THE PERIOD JANUARY TO JUNE, 2010, THERE HAVE BEEN 1103 INCIDENTS OF VIOLENCE PERPETRATED BY LEFT WING EXTREMISTS. WHILE 97 EXTREMISTS WERE KILLED AND 1,341 APPREHENDED, 209 MEMBERS OF THE SECURITY FORCES ALSO LOST THEIR LIVES. THESE FIGURES UNDERSCORE THE GRAVITY OF THE CHALLENGE POSED BY LEFT WING EXTREMISM.” HOME MINISTER , P CHIDAMBARAM Secondly, it is often argued that in the dangerous situation and difficult terrain it is inevitable that certain niceties of legal procedures have to be ignored. Such suggestions look justified in view of the lack of appropriate structure, manpower and wherewithal with the police and the security
THE COMMITMENT OF MODERN INDIAN STATE TO HUMAN RIGHTS IS WHAT QUALIFIES IT TO BE A LIBERAL DEMOCRACY
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forces. Alternative but unsuitable methods are adopted because strengthening the police in these remote areas and creating appropriate security forces both demand time and funds. However, the government cannot avoid cost or time in fighting insurgency. Postponement of these expenditures only results in ultimately increasing expenditure on counterinsurgency operations in the long run. On the other hand, dependence on unacceptable shortcuts only allows the weaknesses in state’s security apparatus to grow, similar to the decreasing standards of a student who adopts malpractice to get good results in examinations. Therefore, violation of human rights is not inevitable but is a result of our reluctance to take timely action and make appropriate and timely expenditure. Thirdly, it is often argued that if the terrorists or the insurgents do not care about human rights, the state need not bother about their human rights. This argument is totally untenable. Every criminal in certain way violates the human rights of some other person(s). It is the duty of the state to take action against the criminal but in doing so the state has to honour the human rights of the criminal. All suspects including criminals, insurgents and terrorists should be held as innocent until proven otherwise in a court of law (It may be clarified here that every encounter or killing of a criminal is not illegal. Only those, which amount to murder or culpable homicide being not done in self-defence or as per law, are illegal and violate human rights). Lastly, it is also pointed out that faced with mindless and treacherous violence by the insurgents, security personnel are likely to lose their cool. However, any illegal action by the victims against the offender out of a feeling of revenge cannot be condoned because of our sympathy for the victim. This applies to members of security forces also, who have to play by the rule in face of extreme provocation. There are ways and means to fight terrorism and insurgency without violating human rights of either the rebels or the inhabitants of an affected area. We have had mixed experience in this regard and have some models which can be followed. There are tested strategies which the governments can adopt in order to fight insurgents and rebels, minimising the chances of violation of human rights. (The writer, an Additional DGP in Madhya Pradesh, is also a Visiting Research Fellow in the Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi) August 2010
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TEJAS: A PILOT'S DELIGHT TEST PILOTS flying India's muchdebated home-grown fighter Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) will soon experience a cool and compact cockpit. The fifth limited series production (LSP-5) platform of Tejas, set to fly in the first week of August, will have an onboard “re-arranged and modified cockpit” to increase the comfort levels of the pilot. The layout changes will make the glass cockpit more pilot-friendly and even enhance its night flying capabilities. The new cockpit will be a pilot’s delight, it is claimed. The pilots are happy as they are also doubling up as designers. All the 12 pilots who were part of the Tejas programme from the beginning have contributed their bit to the cockpit modifications. Sources say that the information
flow to the pilot has increased 10-fold as compared to before. Earlier the pilot had to manually involve in many actions, but today he is fed information intelligently in a format which can input it. This will enable him to choose the correct weapon and use them very optimally.
AIT software for UAV THE ARMY Institute of Technology (AIT) has developed a software programme which, it claims, increases the precision in landing of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by doing away with the need for even a human remote operator. The institute has developed a MATLAB software programme that not only increases the precision of landing of the UAVs to 97 per cent but even makes it happen automatically without these vehicles being guided by a hand-held remote. Instead of human operator, the landing of the UAV will be controlled by its inbuilt microprocessor that will recognise the already stored images of the landing space and accordingly guide the UAV for landing. The webcam of the UAV will take the pictures of landing space for the microprocessor to recognise them.
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g New concept from Mercedes-Benz MERCEDES-BENZ IS setting the new standard in armoured patrol vehicles showing the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon Light Armoured Patrol Vehicle 6.X CONCEPT. Improving on its cousin, the LAPV 5.4, the new Mercedes-Benz LAPV 6.X Concept now boasts greater agility, higher protection and greater payload capacity. Weight has been minimised to increase agility while still not compromising on protection and payload capacity. Running a high torque common rail diesel engine, the 6.X is capable of 150 km/h speeds while being able to transport 1.3 tonnes of cargo with its impressive payload. The monocoque full steel body provides ballistic protection and sits upon a compact 2850 mm wheelbase. The vehicle's modular armour plate system allows damaged plates to be removed quickly and be replaced with new or extra plates, and includes a mine deflector plate on the vehicles floor. The variable lift front and rear coilover air shock absorbers, which are adjustable while driving, help lift the LAPV 6.X to an unprecedented 450 mm of ground clearance. Coupled with the performance hydraulic braking system and four ventilated disc brakes no up or down hill slope will pose a problem.
Based on the G-Class's proven axles, the LAPV 6.X ensures thrilling off-road capabilities and low drive train wear. An individual tyre inflation system is also able to detect ground conditions and adjust accordingly for best traction. Mercedes-Benz in collaboration with EADS, a leading supplier of military technology brings a host of innovative high performance systems to the LAPV 6.X. These include: EADS vehicle data recorder system to automatically document vital mission data such as position, data link and vehicle usage status. EADS integrated communication system for UHF or VHF bands including a mobile Tetrapol base station for radio coverage out of a range of other networks EADS integrated mobile command, control and information system for seamless relay of commands through all levels. EADS jamming system for greater security, flexibility and scalability. With the LAPV 6.X Concept, MercedesBenz has created the ultimate “go anywhere” vehicle.
SOLAR PLANE SMASHES RECORD AN UNMANNED solar aircraft has smashed the world record for continuous flight. The “Zephyr” plane, developed by UK defense technology company, QinetiQ, took off from the US Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona on July 9. It flew high for as many as 14 days. The aircraft has more than doubled its own unofficial record of over 82 hours and smashed the previous world record for unmanned flight of 30 hours and 24 minutes, set in 2001 by US aerospace company, Northrop Grumman's RQ-4A Global I. The Zephyr project was conceived in 2001 and secured funding from the UK's Ministry of Defense (MoD) three years later. After several prototypes, Saltmarsh believes QinetiQ has now created an aircraft that demonstrates genuine military utility. It has the persistence to stay up there for long periods of time and it carries payloads that are doing things that the military will find useful. Its key role will be in aiding communications. And it could also carry surveillance payloads. Weighing just 53 kilograms (117 pounds), the plane has a wingspan of 22.5 metres (74 feet) and a wing area of around 30 square metres (323 square feet), the top side of which is covered in solar panels thinner than a sheet of paper. The panels are rigged up to lithium-sulphur batteries which power the plane at night. QinetiQ began building the latest Zephyr model 18 months ago and hope to start full scale military trials a year from now.
ASTRA’S NIGHTTEST DEBUTS INDIA ON July 13 conducted its maiden night time test-firing of sophisticated Astra missile from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)-run Interim Test Range (ITR) located at Chandipur in Orissa’s Balasore district. Meant to be used for fighter air-
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crafts belonging to both the IAF and the Indian Navy, Astra had its last successful test launch on January 11 this year. However, that test was conducted during day time. The 3.8-metre-long missile which weighs around 160 kg, can hit a target at a distance of 80 km carrying conventional warheads up to 15 kg. One of the smallest missiles developed by the DRDO, Astra can be fitted to any fighter aircraft currently possessed by the IAF, which included sophisticated ones like Sukhoi-30, MIG-29 and the Mirage.
DRDO DEVELOPS UAV ‘NETRA’ DRDO HAS developed an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV ) specifically for anti-terrorist and counter-insurgency operations, which will be inducted into the armed forces by the year-end. DRDO scientist Dr Alok Mukherjee, who demonstrated the UAV, recently said Netra would be ready for induction into the services within the next six months after it is subjected to some more trial tests. Apart from that, Netra is equipped with a resolution CCD camera with a pan/tilt and zoom to facilitate wider surveillance. It can also be fitted with thermal cameras to carry out night operations.
RADAR TO TACKLE IEDS INDIA IS deploying a cutting-edge technology to defeat a simple insurgent weapon that J&K militants and Naxals are using to lethal effect: the Improvised Explosive Device, or IED. Swedish company Saab has offered to partner DRDO in fitting Saab’s CARABAS radar on India’s Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), which would allow the scanning of wide swathes of territory to detect IEDs well before they can be exploded. Naxal IEDs — explosives that are detonated with a timer, or with signals from a mobile phone, to blow up jawans or vehicles — are blamed for over 60 per cent of all casualties caused by the group. In only the most recent example, on May 17, a Naxal IED, buried inside a metalled road, blew up a civilian bus in the Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, killing 36 people, including 12 Special Police Officers. In the new system being evaluated, Saab CARABAS radar, fitted in a Dhruv helicopter, does an aerial scan of the
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area in which security forces will be operating. The CARABAS radar is specially designed to detect metallic components of an IED, even when it is buried 5-6 metres below the ground. A computer quickly compares the image of each flight with the images of the previous flight over that area; any new metallic objects are highlighted, and their exact location mapped. Armed with that information, a bomb disposal team is sent to defuse the IED harmlessly. Best of all, the exceptionally lowfrequency waves from the CARABAS radar ignore vegetation, reflecting only off man-made objects. This is especially useful in jungle terrain, where the dense foliage provides both visual and electro-magnetic cover. Naxal IED tactics involve burying IEDs several feet deep, sometimes under tarmac roads; such a system would detect even the deep-buried IEDs, which conventional, hand-held scanners, and even sniffer dogs, often cannot pick up.
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DIPLOMACY
GROWING CAMARADERIE France is forging an all-inclusive politico-strategic relationship with India
A NEW BEGINNING
INEFFECTUAL DOCTRINE
COME CLOSER, INDIA
Will Kyrgyzstan emerge stronger from its internal turmoil?
NFU has provided space for India’s adversaries to engage against it
India is not taking the opportunities available in Ecuador seriously
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UNREALISED PROWESS: India lacks an aggressive nuclear doctrine
SELF-DEFEATING DOCTRINE
Ever since India adopted No-First-Use (NFU) nuclear doctrine, it has provided space for its adversaries to engage in proxy wars, cross-border terrorism and militant attacks across the country — as in the case of Parliament attack 2001 and Mumbai, 2008. Shouldn't India give up NFU, wonders D SUBA CHANDRAN
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NDIA'S NUCLEAR doctrine cannot remain static; it has to evolve according to the changing threat perceptions. While there was a set of issues and threats that India faced in the 1980s, there were considerable changes in the 1990s, which made New Delhi realise that the existing level of deterrence (referred as recessed deterrence or whatever phrase one would like to use it for the situation in the 1980s) was not sufficient. Hence, it was decided to conduct nuclear tests in 1998. At least, this was the pri-
mary reason that Vajpayee, the then Prime Minister, provided for going nuclear, changing the security environment in the process. Subsequently, India formed a National Security Advisory Board (NSAB), which came up with a draft nuclear doctrine. The draft doctrine, made public by the NSAB in 1999 said: “The fundamental purpose of Indian nuclear weapons is to deter the use and threat of use of nuclear weapons by any State or entity against India and its forces. India will not be the first to initiate a nuclear strike, but will
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respond with punitive retaliation should deterrence fail.” Now that it is more than a decade since India made it public that it would not be the first to use nuclear weapons, it is time today to review this doctrine. Understandably, the fundamental purpose of nuclear weapons should be aimed at deterring the use and the threat of use of nuclear weapons, as the doctrine has rightly identified. What if the adversary, in this case Pakistan, takes advantage of this aspect — that India will not be the first to use nuclear August 2010
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DIPLOMACY weapons and hence decides to play within the nuclear redlines, but use other strategies to destabilise India? What if India, on the other hand, takes Pakistan's First Use doctrine seriously and is not willing to give a fitting reply for cross-border terrorism and the use of proxies by Islamabad and the ISI? Second, as stated by the Prime Minister of India in 1998, the nuclear tests were aimed at securing the regional environment. Hence, any nuclear doctrine that India may like to pursue should also make the regional security environment stable and secure. Since, China is explicitly mentioned as a reason for India going nuclear and play an important role in India's nuclear arsenal designs and platforms, this security debate should include both Pakistan and China. A decade after the nuclear tests and the promulgation of a doctrine, does India's NFU (and the subsequent Credible Minimum Deterrence argument) lead to a stable and secure environment vis-à-vis Pakistan and China? If the primary Indian objective is to have a stable nuclear South Asia, then New Delhi should consider giving up its No-First-Use doctrine for the following reasons. India's NFU contradicts its other nuclear emphasis — Minimum Credible Deterrence, and has the potential to convert its deterrence into maximum and not minimum. NFU means that India will not be the first to use its nuclear weapons; this prepares India to absorb the first strike. Why would India prepare to take the first strike and how can this secure India from receiving a first strike? India's NFU implies that to be safe and secure, and prevent any first use against it, India should have a large second strike capability. This second strike capability should frighten the adversary to an extent that none will consider using nuclear weapons against India in the first place. Since, there are only two likely adversaries Pakistan and China in India's neighbourhood, who could consider using nuclear weapons against India, what will be the size of nuclear arsenal, that will take the first strike, and deliver the second one? To have a deterrence that should be considered 'credible’ by India, in case New Delhi is willing to take the first strike, will that number be minimum or maximum? From the adversaries perspectives, if China and Pakistan are to be frightened against using the nuclear weapons against India, what will be the size that will scare the hell out of them? The first question is inward looking in terms of what will make us safe and protected against the first strike. The second question is how our adversaries will feel in terms of getting
INDIA HAS TIED ITSELF WITH AN NFU DOCTRINE, HENCE PAKISTAN DOES NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT A FIRST STRIKE FROM NEW DELHI. absolutely frightened so that they will dare not strike us first. The numbers may not be the same in both cases. For example, India may consider X-1 number of weapons to have a credible deterrence with second strike against a Y-1 number of weapons with its adversaries. On the other hand, China and Pakistan may consider India to have X-2 number of weapons if it has to be credible to avoid their first strike with Y-2 number of weapons. The danger in this calculation arises if X-1 and X-2, and Y-1 and Y-2 are not the same numbers. Second reason why New Delhi should give up its NFU is that it makes India’s credible deterrence no more minimum. NFU, as discussed above, means that India is willing to take the first strike. This essentially means that India not only should have sufficient second strike capability — to first, prevent the first strike, and second, to have sufficient number of nuclear weapons that will survive the first strike. According to the draft doctrine, “India’s nuclear forces will be effective, enduring, diverse, flexible, and responsive to the requirements in accordance with the concept of credible minimum deterrence. These forces will be based on a triad of aircraft, mobile land-based missiles and sea-based assets in keeping with the objectives outlined above. Survivability of the forces will be enhanced by a combination of multiple redundant systems, mobility, dispersion and deception.” If the above is what is needed to have an efficient and credible second strike, will it keep the deterrence minimum? This will not only result in increasing the number of India’s nuclear arsenals, but will also take New Delhi on to the dangerous path of building a triad. Second-strike capability necessitates the triad, especially nuclear weapons in mobile platforms. Second-strike capability is undoubtedly an option, which India has the right to pur-
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sue. But unfortunately, such an option will not only be expensive, it will also affect its deterrence numbers. As a corollary to the above argument, not only will the NFU will result in India preparing for larger arsenal, resulting in an insecure environment, but also provide space for Pakistan to engage in proxy wars, cross-border terrorism and related strategies to destabilise India from within, using the militant groups. Besides, from an Indian perspective, New Delhi’s NFU is self-defeating vis-à-vis Pakistan. Since India has NFU doctrine, for Pakistan it provides a space to make calibrated military efforts (as in the case of Kargil) and support proxy war and militant attacks across India (as in case of Parliament attack 2001 and Mumbai, 2008). There are numerous theories and related published works trying to understand the rational and reasons for Pakistan to undertake, what it did in Kargil in 1999. Many analysts today believe that the nuclear weapons provided the space, under which Pakistan’s military believed it could carry out smaller military adventures under the disguise of militant groups. Since there is a threat of nuclear war, India cannot retaliate strongly, leading to any escalation. Moreover, since India has tied itself with its NFU doctrine, Pakistan does not have to worry about a first strike from New Delhi. India has proposed a limited war doctrine to undercut this strategic deficiency, but Pakistan has not taken this seriously. As a result, Pakistan not only disbelieves in India’s NFU but also uses the same against New Delhi to make military and militant exercises under the nuclear umbrella. On the other hand, India is tied down, not only because of its own doctrine but also due to Pakistan’s First Use doctrine. To sum up, theoretically, India cannot escalate the crisis, for there could be a first strike from Pakistan; on the other hand, Pakistan could escalate the crisis and still keep it conventional, because India has a NFU. One could argue that had there been no NFU from India, it would have played a considerable role in Pakistan’s decision making, with regard to initiating the crisis in Kargil or giving a go ahead to the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammad to attack the Indian parliament in 2001, or Mumbai in 2008. If the presence of nuclear weapons has already dented India’s conventional superiority, its NFU has, in deed, given an edge to Pakistan. NFU is not in India’s interests and is only destabilising. India should give up its NFU doctrine. (The writer is Deputy Director, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi) August 2010
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AMBASSADOR’SJOURNAL
LONGING FOR WARMTH
India is not taking the opportunities available in Ecuador seriously as compared to China, and is focussing more on the countries on the Atlantic side of South America, rues Ecuador's Ambassador to India CARLOS ABAD
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Photo by: H.C. Tiwari
S A developing country, Ecuador attaches great significance to its relations with India. Given the present global situation, SouthSouth cooperation is the need of the hour. Unfortunately, however, people in this part of the world, particularly the media, overlook significant developments in our part of the world — Latin America. It is a sign of our faith in South-South Cooperation that we Latin Americans have created two important institutions. One is the “UNASUR”, which was formed in 2008 with 12 countries as members. Its intention has been to model the new community after the European Union, including a common currency, parliament, and passport. Presidents of the seven founding countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Venezuela and Uruguay) have already committed themselves for developing a bank — The Bank of South — that will finance economic development projects to improve local competitiveness and to promote the scientific and technological development of the member states. It will reinforce South American integration to reduce asymmetries, and to promote egalitarian distribution of investments. The other institution is Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America or ALBA. It is an an international cooperation organisation based on the idea of social, political, and economic integration between the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. It is associated with eight socialist and social democratic governments (important of them being Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Ecuador) and is an attempt at regional economic integration based on a vision of social welfare, bartering and mutual economic aid, rather than trade liberalisation as with free trade agreements. ALBA
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nations are in the process of introducing a new regional currency, the SUCRE. It is intended to be the common virtual currency, instead of the US dollar. We greatly value our natural resources and economic sovereignty. My country has recovered recently property from multinationals. We are not against foreign investments. But we would prefer investments from relatively advanced countries from South such as India. But importantly, our new constitution, which incidentally is the largest constitution of the world with 444 articles, has made it clear that the State will keep at least 51 per cent share in all investments. It may be noted that 20 per cent of Ecuador's 12 million people are indigenous ethnic tribes. They inhabit in the regions that are rich with mineral resources. So my government has taken a very bold and innovative decision that for any industrial activity — be it mining or any other industry — the investors will negotiate not only with the government but also with the indigenous community for approval of a project. Their approval is a prime requisite. Talking specifically on my country's relations with India, let me say that we value our friendship with India greatly. We want Indian companies to come to Ecuador strongly, particularly in the industries such as pharmaceuticals, information and technology and petrochemicals. I am happy to share with you the fact that Tata Consultancy Service (TCS) is doing a great job in my country, particularly in our banking sector. At present TCS has about 1300 employees in Ecuador; this number is going to be doubled. However, I am surprised that India is not taking the opportunities available in Ecuador seriously as compared to China, which, in the last five years, has invested more than $5 billion, mainly in oil exploAugust 2010
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AMBASSADOR’SJOURNAL ration. India, it seems, is not interested in our oil, which is in plenty. I am really surprised at this, particularly when India is opening more oil refineries and expanding the capacities of the existing ones. Similarly, we have huge gold deposits and would like India to come and extract. So is the case with our hidden natural gas. We are keen that India comes in a big way in helping us develop our renewable sources of energy. We are greatly impressed with Indian jute industry and would like its technologists and experts to go to my country to develop banana-fibers, since we have enough banana plantations and we are the world's largest exporter of bananas. In fact, such an interaction will rejuvenate your jute industry, which is in poor health at the moment. And this will be a great example of South-South cooperation. By keeping South-South cooperation in mind, Ecuador has developed a healthy military equation with India. We decided that out defence material should not come from the US, which was the case earlier. We have bought seven Dhruv helicopters from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), one of them being used by my President, His Excellency Rafael Correa. In fact, this was the first selling of any Indian helicopters to Latin America. We are happy with the helicopters and are planning to buy more. Unfortunately, one of the helicopters was crashed not long ago, but that was not due to any technological fault. The accident happened because of human error. The important feature of our experience with Dhruv is that 20 engineers and
WE HAVE HUGE GOLD DEPOSITS AND WOULD LIKE INDIA TO COME AND EXTRACT. SO IS THE CASE WITH OUR HIDDEN NATURAL GAS mechanics are there in Ecuador all the time to maintain and repair. When we were buying helicopters from the United States, we did not have this advantage as the machines were sent after every six months back to the US for servicing. Even otherwise, we will further develop our military ties with India. I have a military attaché in the embassy to help me. We want to buy various military products from India. We would love Indian military officials to go to Ecuador to train our military personnel. Similarly, we would like to learn from Indian military its experience in United Nations peace operations, in which India has an enviable record. This will be important for us since we do participate in the peacekeeping missions in Latin American region, particularly in Haiti. Politically speaking, we will love to support India in international forums. We are
surprised that India has not so far asked our support for its campaign to gain the permanent membership of the UN Security Council. We will readily support India's candidature, if asked. I must point out, and that is sad, one gets an impression that India is focussing more on the countries on the Atlantic side of South America, neglecting us on the Pacific side. India's Latin American policy is overwhelmingly dominated by Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Mexico. But we can play an important role too. It is sad that India does not have an embassy in Ecuador. Its ambassador to neighbouring Colombia deals with my country. It really hurts sometime that for coming to India my countrymen have to go to all the way to distant Bogotá. How will you feel if my embassy would have been located in Pakistan and you all were required going to Islamabad to collect your visas? Incidentally, you need not worry. Indians have been granted the facility of visa-on-the-arrival — in Ecuador. We really love India. Unfortunately, we do not get the reciprocity. My President is keen on a visit to your country. But dates are not easily available. Not a single Indian Prime Minister or President has ever visited Ecuador. The interactions between our political leaders are minimal, indeed. This is getting reflected in our declining trade figures. In sum, we need some reciprocity from India. (As told to Prakash Nanda)
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ON THE PRECIPICE Will Kyrgyzstan, ruled by the interim government of Rosa Otunbayeva, emerge stronger from its internal turmoil? What would be India’s standpoint in this regard? And, is the Russian resurgence somewhere embedded in the latest happenings? UDDIPAN MUKHERJEE finds out
FLAMES OF UNREST: Kyrgyzstan is passing through a phase of prolonged turmoil
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INALLY, AMIDST the uncertainty of political and ethnic clashes, Kyrgyzstan appears to have survived. The referendum to decide on a new constitution was held on June 27. The results indicate an overwhelming success — both in terms of voter turnout and from the prospect of the first parliamentary democracy being erected in the arena of the ‘Great Game’. The plebiscite, in which around 2.7 million citizens took part, was marred to a considerable degree because of the large quantum of Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) as fallout of the Kyrgyz-Uzbek riots in the southern cities of Osh and Jalal-Abad. Nonetheless, about 90 per cent of the voters vouched for a parliamentary democracy. They had had enough of Presidential autocracy. Rosa Otunbayeva was equanimity exemplified. She stays on till December this year as the interim head of State by when universal adult suffrage would have been held. So far, so good. This small land-locked State in Central Asia has witnessed enough of the mayhem, terror and pogrom for the last three months. It was in a pendulous anarchical condition. Nevertheless, hopefully the opportune moment has come when the people of Kyrgyzstan are on the verge of being anointed for an enlightened democracy. Perhaps this ‘cataclysm’ was essential for their rejuvenation. Neither was it the first time that the country has gone through such a state of ‘entropy’ nor is it the only State of Central Asia to have proclaimed any sort of ‘revolution’ post-1991. In fact, apart from the obvious geographical proximity, the Central Asian region may boast of a close connection with some momentous phases of history in erstwhile Soviet Russia. When riots broke out in Petrograd, it was 08 March 1917. The subalterns clashed with Tsar’s infantrymen. In the process, forty people were killed. But any ‘revolution’ can claim a resounding success and more so be embedded in the annals of international history, if and only if the civilians and the army act in unison. And that’s what happened on that day in St Petersburg. The rest was simply obvious. The Tsar had to abdicate the monarchy and the Russian Duma took over, bowing down before popular diktat. Ninety-three years later — a lower latitudinal plane, a different racial denomination but a part of erstwhile Soviet Union — the streets of Bishkek witnessed a grossly similar upheaval — a spontaneous people’s move-
ment, not marred by any ‘political’ colour or ‘external’ flavour. It might not be a very futile exercise to chart the reasons behind the upsurge which swept Bishkek and the rest of the country in April this year but a meticulous student of International Relations prima facie may not diametrically differ with the apparently simplistic rationale that it was the primary demands of livelihood which were unmet by the then President Bakiyev and his coterie, thus leading to the outburst. The man on the street, the worker below the bridge, the peasant with the plough, the student lurking in the library and the intellectual pressing the keyboard of his laptop hugely differ in their demands for satiation and merrily find succour in completely contrasting items. However, when one finds people from the full spectrum of the populace sum up their demands and zero in on
the Presidential palace to engineer emancipation, then one needs to be absolutely sure that the State, instead of adhering to the conditions of social contract, has bungled to the extreme. When Hobbes’ State of Nature becomes a viable formula of redemption for the commoner, then the scrupulousness of the State is genuinely under the scanner. But then when was there a ‘State’ in Kyrgyzstan since 1991? Or for that matter, is there a ‘State’ in the Central Asian ‘stans’? A framework might have existed or still may exist, but democracy even up to the standards of the ‘mafia-politician-bureaucrat nexus ridden India’ is lacking in the former Soviet colonies since their political freedom. Arguments can be posited forthright: the Central Asian ‘stans’ are callow compared to India. After all, how can one compare a six-decade-old ‘democratic haggard’ with a
EXPLORING COMMON GROUND: Kyrgyzstan Minister of Natural Resources Kapar Kurmanaliev with Minister of State for Commerce & Industry Jyotiraditya Scindia
THE PEOPLE OF KYRGYZSTAN ARE ON THE VERGE OF BEING ANOINTED FOR AN ENLIGHTENED DEMOCRACY.
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two-decade-old ‘parliamentary youth’? Moreover, did the Kyrgyz people derive their notion and position on democracy from the ‘White men’ who were glorified by the Glorious Revolution? Rather, they had in fact translated the dictates of constitutionalism from the ‘Slavs’ who were anointed by the Marxian dogmas of financial distribution and were bathed in the culture of popular revolts. Stalinism, the skewed and warped form of Marxism-Leninism, was a unique feature of Bolshevik Russia. Furthermore, post-1917 Russia (read Soviet Union) put in humungous efforts to diffuse the ideological dictum of Stalin’s perception of ‘Dictatorship of the August 2010
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Proletariat’ into the neighbouring satellite states of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia. Hence, when the USSR collapsed under financial and political turmoil, the aforementioned ‘Kultur’ was to an extent rooted in the psychology of the political masters of the ‘stans’. Thus a series of ‘dictators’, in the garb of democratically elected leaders usurped office in the Central Asian Republics. Constitutions were also fabricated, sometimes at the behest of the West. Nevertheless, the Strategos continued ‘ruling’ with an iron hand, masked themselves behind a constitutional façade and squeezed the masses with the aid of an ‘apparatchiki’. Nepotism, corruption, inflation and unemployment surged. And the boiling points were reached in two republics: Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The former was a witness to a civil war from 1992 to 1997 with a somewhat useless result of planting into office the ‘never-ending regime’ of Emomali Rakhmon. On the other hand, Kyrgyzstan has shown a better ‘political maturity’ vis-à-vis the other ‘stans’. In 2005, it evinced brouhaha with the Colour Revolution by virtue of which Bakiyev claimed office. And once again in 2010, after the malfeasance exhibited in the 2009 elections, the Kyrgyz masses hemmed in Bakiyev from all sides, forced him to flee to Belarus; thus avoiding a civil war, which nonetheless has not been completely averted with reports of bloodbath and fisticuffs from the southern part — Bakiyev’s traditional stronghold. The germane question at this critical juncture is what holds in the future for Kyrgyzstan? And how does this people’s movement affect the other ‘stans’, if at all it does ? Though the nation-state of Kyrgyzstan is at the cross-roads, to project its future may not be an overt challenge to the French apothecary Nostradamus. The interim government led by Rosa Otunbayeva is slowly tightening its grips over the southern part. However, a couple of issues would bother it in the recent future. First, the loyalty of the armed forces needs to be sorted out. Though Bakiyev has found refuge at Minsk, his loyal followers are still trying to wreak havoc both in the civilian and in non-civilian sectors. Secondly, the country warrants a ‘proper democratic election’ and an amended constitution which would proffer equity and justice through better distribution of powers. One thing might be guaranteed without hedging. Total anarchy in Kyrgyzstan would be avoided, if not by the interim govern-
IN THE DUSTBIN OF HISTORY: Bakiyev had to flee the country to escape people’s wrath
IT WAS THE PRIMARY DEMANDS OF LIVELIHOOD WHICH WERE UNMET BY BAKIYEV AND HIS COTERIE, THUS LEADING TO THE OUTBURST. ment, then at least by either of the external stake-holders — the USA or Russia. After all, the geographical location of the nation-state and presence of the military bases of both the cold war protagonists shall not allow them to de-focus from this ‘stan’. The global war on terror in the Af-Pak region and the consequent suppression of the Al Qaeda-Taliban there might as well provide fresh breeding grounds for the terrorist groups in Kyrgyzstan and the neighbouring ‘stans’ in the Ferghana Valley. The old adage goes: "Dissatisfaction foments disruption." And it is dissatisfaction that is merrily needed by Osama’s men. Then only can the secular social-fabric embroidered in the Soviet-era ‘stans’ be outrightly lambasted. Thus this time round the Islamist groups like the Hizbut-Tehrir or the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan may not spurn the opportunity.
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The June 27 referendum has thus been a shot in the arm for the interim government. Bypassing the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) or the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) or the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Otunbayeva’s government went overboard to invite Russia to send in its forces during the ethnic clashes. However, Putin had enough political acumen to not accept the offer publicly. One just could not help guessing that Otunbayeva’s request had a ‘in the black box’ Russian command. It served a two-fold purpose for Russia. One, to Washington, it was an insignia of the Russian resurgence. And another was a clear signal for the other ‘stans’ as regard to the Russian muscle. However, as regards India, the ‘wise heads’ of South Block in New Delhi are waiting for the total pacification of the state of affairs in the land. In fact, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) remained totally tight lipped regarding the present run of events in that country. Indian foreign policy had always been wary to take a pro-active stance and that culture is still persisting. At least it could have offered a solution to the KyrgyzUzbek riots in the form of sending a ‘peacekeeping’ force under the auspices of the United Nations. New Delhi needs to realise that the central Asian Region (CAR) holds significance on many counts. It is not only geo-economics or the Pakistan factor that should fuel India’s strategic interest in the region but China’s rapid incursions into CAR has to be a worrisome factor. Presently, by all estimates, India may opt for any or all of the following: 1. Offer a team of ‘expert constitutionalists’, which would visit Bishkek to ‘aid and advise’ the Kyrgyz people to draft a ‘better’ constitution, on the lines of the Government of India Act 1935. 2. Offer to send a team of ‘expert supervisors’ to oversee the process of electioneering. 3. Would appeal to the ‘conscience’ of all ‘peace-loving’ people of Kyrgyzstan to abjure violence and look for an ‘all-encompassing’ solution which suits the best interests of all the sections of the populace, cutting across ethnic domains, religious denominations and gender groups. Nonetheless, the Indian government has at least performed a decent job of evacuating the 105 students from the southern parts of the perturbed land. The MEA seems to be really busy with students, be it Malaysia or Australia or now Kyrgyzstan. August 2010
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Taking cognizance of India’s embryonic potential as Asia’s upcoming power centre and a force stabiliser, France is forging an all-inclusive politico-strategic relationship with New Delhi, of which the defence alliance is an integral part, deciphers MONIKA CHANSORIA
INKING FRIENDSHIP: The then Atomic Energy Chairman, Anil Kakodkar and the France Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner signing an agreement in 2008 on civil nuclear cooperation as Manmohan Singh and Nicholas Sarkozy look on
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S NATIONS labour towards amalgamating mutual areas of interests in the pursuit of accomplishing far-reaching foreign policy objectives, the tool of defence cooperation has certainly emerged as a consequential one at that. The warmth or chaleur in Indo-French relations has stood the test of time with Indian security concerns having found profound hearing from France. It may be recalled that France played a key role in fending off efforts by the international community so as to isolate India globally in the postPokhran-II geo-strategic set-up. Defence collaboration is widely considered a visible manifestation of a strategic relationship and the Indo-French defence cooperation is a vital pointer to this reality. It was way back in 1982 that an IndoFrench Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on the supply of defence equipment especially in reference to the sale of the Mirage Aircraft and also towards the uninterrupted supply of defence equipment, services and related technology from France to India. Resultant of the initiative by former French President Jacques Chirac during his visit to India in 1998, a Government-to-Government agreement facilitated assistance in the field of defence following which the
Indo-French High Committee on Defence Cooperation meetings are conducted every year alternatively in India and France. This committee could aptly be described as the fundamental driver for prospective defence-related activities which primarily accentuate joint ventures and transfer of technology. The High Committee on Defence comprises of three sub-committees in which, the sub-committee on military cooperation features representatives from the headquarters of the integrated defence services and the three armed services and is essentially responsible for rolling out plans for service-to-service activities for the forthcoming year. The second sub-committee deals with strategic issues while conferring on matters relating to regional issues and the third one is on defence industry procurement and research and technology debating upon transfer of technology, joint development and production. The pattern of major French arms and equipment supplies to India is inclusive of AMX Light tanks, antitank guided missiles, combat aircraft (Mirage 2000) and the Alfa Jet Trainer Aircraft (France is advancing the sale). Recently, in April 2010, India and France finalised a $2.2 billion deal facilitating upgradation of its fleet of Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft. Even though debate surrounds the cost of the
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upgrade, speculated to be on the higher side, the French have justified it by stating that the aircraft would display a new radar system and weapon suite, missiles, electronic warfare system and modern electronic warfare, while converting the combat-proven aircraft into next-generation fighters. Notably, a visible manifestation of the comprehensive defence agreement signed between Paris and New Delhi in 2006 came about by means of the growing naval partnership between the two nations. France was the first country with which India conducted a naval exercise after the 1998 Pokhran-II nuclear tests. Consequently, in the past decade, India and France undertook annual bilateral naval exercises, termed Varuna, involving many assets. The much publicised Indo-French naval exercise primarily has been subjected towards enhancing interoperability between the two navies. It was from June 27 to July 4, 2009, that the joint naval manoeuvres took place outside Indian waters, off the French port of Brest in Brittany. Placed between the English Channel to the north and the Bay of Biscay to the south, Brittany occupies a large peninsula in the northwest of France. Being the flagship of a fleet of four Indian vessels, it casted off along with three French warships and 1300 Indian Navy personnel
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almost 6,000 nautical miles away from home territory in the Atlantic Ocean. The Indian Task Force comprised the indigenously built Destroyer INS Delhi, the frigates Brahmaputra and Beas and the replenishment tanker Aditya along with its integral helicopters, Chetak and Sea King. On the other hand, the participating French assets placed under the CECLANT (Commandant En Chef Atlantique) command included the French frigate Primauguet primarily equipped for anti-submarine warfare, which is fast becoming a priority for the French. This facet was evident in a statement by Captain Arnaud Provost-Fleury, Commander of Primauguet, when he said, “Varuna concentrates particularly on anti-submarines… given the rising number of submarines in the world we will all be confronted… so it is interesting to train ourselves.” Moreover, the French fleet also displayed a helicopter and a nuclear-powered attack submarine Emeraude. In addition, French aircraft including maritime patrol and navy’s fighters also participated in the exercise. With a concerted surge in piracy and terror attacks across the globe there seemingly is a robust objective to focus upon training for anti-piracy and anti-terrorism operations in ongoing Indo-French defence exercises apart from aiming simply at conventional and anti-submarine warfare. As a matter of fact, Indo-French naval cooperation transcends onto activity in the Indian Ocean, where both navies are coordinating on suppression of piracy off the Somalian coast. A deal which has been of critical significance to India’s naval requirements, namely the French-origin Scorpène submarine deal (also known as Project-75), remained stuck with over a nine-year delay. As recently as March 2010, a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament condemned the Ministry of Defence for the delay in awarding the contract to French firm Thales so as to build six Scorpène submarines in Mumbai. Resultantly, the delay has caused cost overruns (by more than Rs 2,800 crore along with an additional 27.05 million Euros commitment on the procurement of missiles for the naval vessel). Notwithstanding this loss, it has also impacted the Navy’s operational preparedness in an unfavourable manner. In reference to the 2008 Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, the Committee observed, “Despite the Indian Navy’s depleting force level, the Ministry took nine years to finalise a contract for the construction of the six submarines.” It should be recalled that it was way back in October 2005 when New Delhi confirmed
“FRANCE SHARES WITH INDIA A STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP THAT INVOLVES COOPERATION BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES IN EVERY FIELD POSSIBLE… WE HAVE INTENSE COOPERATION FOR THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM, EXCHANGE OF INTELLIGENCE, MANPOWER AND TECHNOLOGIES.” FRENCH AMBASSADOR TO INDIA , JEROME BONNAFONT that it would buy six Scorpène submarines by means of a deal signed between India and Armaris (a subsidiary of France’s Thales group) and Direction des Constructions Navales (DCN). The submarines will be developed by DCN, in cooperation with the Spanish industrial company Izar-thus placing it as the largest-ever partnership with France. Currently, India’s submarine fleet comprises 16 submarines, of which 13 are said to be operational. Further, Indo-French cooperation has been sufficiently perceptible so far as aerial exercises and training are concerned. The Indian Air Force’s first bilateral exercise in 2003 with a foreign counterpart was Garuda I, performed alongside the French Armée de l’Air. The highlight of this manoeuvre was India’s maiden exposure to French mid-air refuelling tankers. Following Garuda I, the Garuda II series took place in June 2005 at southern French Air Force Station, 125 Charles Monier in Istres-focussing on Beyond Visual Range (BVR) combat and InFlight Refueling (IFR) procedures. The fact that France and India share the veracity of New Delhi’s centrality as a force stabilizer in Asia was underlined in a statement by French Ambassador to India,
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Jerome Bonnafont, when he stated, “France shares with India a strategic partnership that involves cooperation between the two countries in every field possible… We have intense cooperation for the fight against terrorism, exchange of intelligence, manpower and technologies.” In light of this statement, joint production and collaboration projects are progressively becoming more recurrent between French and Indian defence companies. For instance, the French aviation giant Snecma is collaborating with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on the production of aero-engines powering the Advanced Light Helicopters (ALHs). It is also functioning with the DRDO on producing Kaveri engines for the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). In addition, Turbomeca is cooperating with HAL to co-develop the Ardiden 1H (called Shakti) engine for the twin-engined Dhruv ALH. In what could well be described as perhaps one of the most decisive aspects of India’s relationship with France is the IndoFrench Cooperation Agreement vis-à-vis the development of nuclear energy for peaceful civilian purposes, which entered into force following ratification in January 2010. According to a statement released by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, “The Agreement gives a new impetus to the IndoFrench partnership and will further strengthen the longstanding cooperation… As responsible States with advanced nuclear technologies, India and France intend to develop multifaceted civil nuclear cooperation covering a wide range of activities including nuclear power projects, fuel supply, R&D and nuclear safety.” It was in September 2009 that India and France confirmed the landmark agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation, covering the supply of reactors and atomic fuel, whilst bringing a halt to New Delhi’s 34-year-long nuclear trade isolation. During the course of the past decade, the rapid progression in Indo-French defence collaboration from in essence being a buyerseller model to one that of a mutually trusted relationship, has been promising. France appears to have taken cognizance of India’s embryonic potential as Asia’s upcoming power centre and it is this identification that stimulates Paris to construct an all-inclusive politico-strategic relationship with New Delhi, of which the defence alliance is an integral part. (The writer is a Visiting Professor and Associate Director of Studies at the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris) August 2010
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HOW ANCIENT INDIA FOUGHT Gorkhali reminds us of the way battles were fought in India in olden days in terms of military tactics, divisions, and formations
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NDIA IS one of the oldest civilizations on earth, going back more than 7,000 years. Although divided from the rest of Asia by the Himalayan mountains, India has for most of its history been fighting numerous and violent wars among itself. During its long history, there could be anywhere from 16 to more than a hundred kingdoms, all fighting each other, making and breaking alliances. In the harsh deserts to the northwest were the fierce Rajput (literally sons of kings) kingdoms, who fought on horseback and camelback. In central India were mighty kingdoms descended from the Aryan invaders who invaded India around 1500 BC. In the jungles to the south were other large and formidable kingdoms, more ancient than the Aryan ones, the original inhabitants of India. In the Deccan Plateau, where the Kingdoms of the north and the south met, were other smaller nations, but with some of the fiercest fighters on the subcontinent. To the east were the kingdoms of Bengal and Assam, to the north was the feared kingdom of Nepal. Warfare in ancient India centered around the chariot. Indian chariots were nothing like the light, sleek chariots of Egypt. They were massive, made of wood and iron, and intricately decorated in gold. They had four wheels, and typically held two men — the charioteer, and an archer who also had a weapon for hand to hand combat. This archer, standing on the chariot, would be a good six or more feet off the ground, giving him a significant advantage over enemy infantry. Some chariots held more men; the largest could hold seven men. Indian chariots were so large and heavy that they required four to six horses to pull them. Unlike Egyptian chariots, which moved quickly and fired arrows into the enemy ranks, Indian chariots often charged right into melee battle. They crushed enemy soldiers under their wheels, trampled them under the horses, all while the soldier(s) on the chariot fired arrows into them, or fought it out hand to hand. No description of India's ancient military is complete without mentioning the elephant. India was the first nation to use the elephant in battle (~1500BC) and the last nation to stop using it in battle (1800 August 2010
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g FROMHISTORY AD). Wars were frequently fought over territories that had a great deal of elephants. Elephants from the tip of south India and Sri Lanka were the most prized as they were considered the fiercest in battle. Often times, a king's wealth was measured in how many elephants he owned. A single Indian prince might own more elephants than all of Carthage. According to Kautilya, the army of the Indian emperor Chandragupta Maurya had more than 21,000 elephants. War elephants typically were heavily armoured. They had a castle like structure on their back where several warriors and a mahout, who guided the elephant, would be housed. The number of warriors varied anywhere from one to six warriors, and would be armed with an arsenal of weapons, bows and arrows, long lances, javelins, tridents, and a variety of pole arms. The elephants themselves had long daggers or swords, sometimes several feet long, attached to their tusks. The way in which elephants were used in battle varied widely as well. One common tactic, used by Porus at the Hydaspes, was to place the elephants a distance apart, anywhere from 40 to 100 feet. These elephants would act like mobile fortresses, where the rest of the army could rally around. Another common tactic, probably the most dangerous and effective one, was to use the elephants to directly assault enemy lines. The elephants would be arranged in a wall formation, and be heavily armoured in iron or steel from head to foot. Long steel swords, often coated with poison, would be attached to their tusks. The mahouts would then drive them forward in a coordinated charge, wreaking havoc in enemy ranks. Archers or lancers on top of the elephants would pick off enemy soldiers as well. One king even went as far as to train his elephants to swing heavy iron balls on chains with their trunks. The very sight of a wall of heavily armoured elephants charging, whirling huge iron balls with their trunks, their tusks tipped with poisoned swords, the soldiers on the elephant wielding enormous lances, would often cause the enemy to break ranks and flee. The cavalry of Indian armies is, for the most part, not noteworthy. The cavalry of the Middle Eastern and Arab armies were probably superior. There are exceptions though. The Rajput cavalry was extremely skilled, and man for man, was more than a match for the Mughal cavalry, as they proved several
times. They were lightly armoured, and moved extremely swiftly. Armed with a light curved sword and a small circular shield, they could charge and fight with incredible speed. Many carried bows and arrows, and were expert archers. The Rajput army was almost entirely composed of cavalry, and was powerful enough that they were able to keep the Muslim forces in check for many
years. In the other armies of India cavalry were also used, sometimes in large numbers, but rarely were they equipped with bows and arrows. Their role was either to protect the elephants and chariots, or to charge into melee battle. The bulk of the Indian army, and most other armies in the world, were the infantry, or foot soldiers. The infantry were equipped with a huge variety of weapons, which differed hugely across India. Probably the most common weapon was the sword, but even this came in hundreds of shapes across India. Indian archers used a bow similar to the English longbow, in that it was as tall as the person using it. However, Indian bows were also recurved. Armies in India were typically larger than those of Europe. It was common to see armies of hundreds of thousands fighting on the battlefield, even thought the kingdoms themselves might be small in size. As infantry formed the majority of the army, a typical battle would look like a sea of infantry and cavalry fighting, while the chariots and elephants stood out. India was one of the first nations to implement tactics, divisions, and formations. Armies did not simply rush out onto the battlefield; there were commanders who carefully put their massive armies in intricate formations. Some formations were: Chakra (wheel) Vyuha, Suchi (needle) Vyuha, Chayana (hawk) Vyuha and Mala (garland), and Garuda (eagle). Another one was the lotus formation, where the archers would be on the inside, and the infantry and cavalry would be arranged like a lotus flower, protecting them. Their armour differed greatly as well. Some kingdoms, especially in south India wore no armour, because of the extreme heat. Others wore tough sturdy armour, made of interlocking iron, steel, and leather plates. Many warriors wore no armour, but instead wore silk clothing. This actually worked to block arrows, which couldn't penetrate the silk fibers. Ancient India has been home to many unique weapons. The world's first all steel bow was made in India. Some other weapons from the subcontinent are the famous kukri knife, the tiger claw weapon used by assassins, tridents, the long handled mace, swords, axes, and spears of all shapes and sizes. (All Empires History Forum — a web-based community for world history)
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Richard Holbrooke, Obama’s special envoy to the N ANY genuine democracy it is the civilian region. He was directly quoted as saying he felt leadership that controls the military. The “betrayed” by Eikenberry, who, incidentally , was importance of this democratic principle has once his senior in the Army and who, according to been reinforced with the US President Barack the General, wanted to lord over everything taking Obama firing General Stanley McChrystal, the place in Afghanistan. supreme commander of NATO forces in In other words, most of what was said in the Afghanistan. But the question is: Did General interview attacked the individuals’ personalities and McChrystal deserve to be sacked? Perceptive Amerskills rather than the overall mission. But given his icans seem a divided lot on this. One section, and position, it was inappropriate for that happens to be the predominant McChrystal to express his views pubone, is of the view that Obama, like licly. It was definitely an “error of President H Truman in 1950s, did the judgement”. Therefore, the other viewright thing by showing the high profile point on the episode is that McChrystal General his right place. was not being insubordinate to the In 1951, President Truman fired President; he was being a loudmouth General MacArthur, who was the comjerk. Therefore, he should have been mander of the Allied troops during the admonished, something Obama did by Korean War. After the Chinese directly Prakash Nanda summoning him to the White House. intervened in the war to support the The President could have warned the General to Communist North Koreans and force advancing become tactful but should not have relieved him of United Nations troops away from its border, his command. MacArthur agitated in public to attack the Chinese The McChrystal episode has emboldened those mainland. Truman refused to entertain the idea of a in India who view the Indian armed forces with great wider war, or the use of nuclear weapons. The relasuspicion. In fact, these elements, drawn from acations between the two soured and became demia, civilian bureaucracy and active politics, uncivilised. So much so that once the revered Genwould not even grant our armed forces the operaeral greeted his Commander-in-Chief, the President, tional autonomy. They remind us how Jawaharlal with a handshake instead of a salute. But Truman Nehru had once said that there was no significant ignored the episode. In fact, at that time MacArthur role for the military in India. These very elements was wildly popular in the US for his exemplary are also openly opposing the idea of India having a record in the World War II. But Truman had to act “Chief of Defence Staff”, a post every comparable when MacArthur sent a letter to a Congressman that democracy such as the US and UK allows. They fear questioned the President's limited-war strategy, that it will provide a military officer too much power. which was read on the floor of the House of RepreAnd worse, these very elements are bitter that the sentatives. That was impossible to ignore — and the government has tolerated the remarks of two Army world was watching. Truman had to sack MacArthur. Chiefs. Former Army Chief J J Singh had once said The story is different in the case of General that India should not withdraw from Siachen glacier McChrystal. Obama did not fire him because of any in the name of promoting good India-Pakistan ties. policy differences in Afghanistan. In fact, while Likewise, the present Chief, General V K Singh, has announcing his ouster, Obama emphasised that he openly defended the controversial AFSPA, an issue remained fully in support of the programme of miliwhich we have covered in this issue of GEOPOLITICS. tary escalation and counter-insurgency warfare with which McChrystal is identified. “This is a change in I think that these elements are overreacting a bit. personnel but it is not a change in policy”, he clarified. The Generals are within their limits to express the McChrystal’s nemesis was his controversial interview points of armed forces on some issues which view to a freelance journalist that appeared in directly concern them. The government should take Rolling Stone magazine. In this interview, the Generthese as important inputs while making decisions. al said that he was “disappointed” in his first meetThe point is that being a democracy, our armed ing with an “unprepared” President Obama. He also forces should have a voice on important strategic apparently was not happy with Vice President Joe issues, though they cannot dictate what the ultimate Biden, National Security Adviser James Jones, US decisions will be. That is the prerogative of the politAmbassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry and ical establishment.
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Trusted Partner
Every day, Raytheon customers undertake vital missions across air, land, sea, space and cyberspace. Our mission is to provide innovative, integrated technologies across these domains to ensure customer success. Raytheon delivers proven and powerful solutions in four core markets — Sensing, Effects, C3I and Mission Support — that bring our Mission Assurance promise of trusted performance to new levels. Our expertise means customers can trust Raytheon to deliver a true operational advantage, mission after mission.
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