DEFENCE AND SECURITY OF INDIA - OCT/NOV 2011 issue by Armada International & Asian Military Review

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REGION

DEFENCE and SECURITY of INDIA

OFFICERS AND BUSINESSMEN Many South Asian militaries are in business – from hotels to bakeries to golf courses I Rahul Bedi AVIATION

BROKEN WINGS High peacetime attrition due to accidents continues to be a matter of great concern for the IAF I V.K. Bhatia OCTOBER 2011

CHANGES

IN THE

DSI VOLUME 4

ISSUE 2

` 250

AIR?

MAY BE IT IS TIME TO INSTITUTE AN OVERARCHING AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION NOW THAT THE SECTOR IS ON THE CUSP OF FAR REACHING CHANGES I AJAI SHUKLA

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OCTOBER 2011

LETTER FROM THE

DSI

editor

ctober 8, and it’s Air Force Day. All over the country, in various air bases, there will be parades and ceremonies marking the 79th anniversary of the Indian Air Force (IAF), which was established way back in 1932. Anniversaries like these are not in themselves unusual but they are an appropriate time for the security establishment to reflect on the direction that the IAF is taking, especially as a number of new platforms will soon be entering the aerospace sector. Over the next decade, the IAF will increase its technological capability dramatically: The long awaited Tejas Light Combat Aircraft being developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency – which is also working on a Fifth Generation medium fighter – is in its production stage finally; then the acquisition of the 126 Multi-Role Medium Combat Aircraft with Dassault’s Rafale and Eurofighters’ Typhoon is inching towards the finishing line; the formidable Sukhoi 30MKI is being upgraded even as the Sukhoi and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited are working together on the Indo-Russian Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft. But while India’s combat aviation strength will be impressively enhanced, there are doubts whether these development programmes will fully meet their potential. A lack of coordination between the Ministry of Defence and the IAF; the absence of synergy between the civil aviation and defence sectors and various academic and defence institutions can hinder India’s air power capability. To ensure optimal use of aerospace technologies, make administration effective, harness resources and make the best use of managerial strengths, DSI makes a case for creating an overarching Aerospace Technology Commission. We also focus at another aspect of the Indian Air Force – safety. Since 1970 to this August, the IAF has lost 1,000 fighter planes to accidents, and the numbers of mishaps don’t seem to be decreasing. Though periodically policies have been outlined to achieve a zero accident rate the results have been slow. Given the spate of accidents, especially of the older Russian-made aircraft, it’s all the more important to single-mindedly prioritise the modernisation of the IAF and reduce these shameful statistics. From safety to diplomacy, and, security. Once again, India is again pressing for reform in the United Nations. The expansion in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is necessary for it to be an impartial, credible and effective world body. This is the message that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave as he addressed the 66th UN General Assembly in September. DSI looks at why India is aggressively reviving its quest to be a permanent-member of the UNSC. As usual we look forward to your feedback, comments and suggestions. Write to us at feedback.DSI@mtil.biz. Should you want to subscribe you can contact us at dsisubscriptions@mtil.biz and our marketing department will do the rest.

Mannika Chopra EDITOR Defence & Security of India

But while India’s combat aviation strength will be impressively enhanced, there are doubts whether these development programmes will fully meet their potential. A lack of coordination between the Ministry of Defence and the IAF; the absence of synergy between the civil aviation and defence sectors and various academic and defence institutions can hinder India’s air power capability.

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CONTENTS

OCTOBER 2011

AERONAUTICS

DSI

MOMENT OF OPPORTUNITY With many new platforms being inducted into the IAF, creating an overarching Aerospace Technology Commission will integrate the defence and aviation sectors effectively.

DIPLOMACY

PUSHING FOR REFORM

COMBAT AIRCRAFT

In the face of successive defeats India has revived its quest for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council. Perhaps this act of — as some say — misplaced bravado could end up hurting the country’s interests and international reputation.

BROKEN WINGS

Since 1970, the Indian Air Force has lost 1,000 planes due to accidents, half of them are accounted for by variants of the MiG. Human error and technical defects are major reasons for aircraft accidents followed by bird strikes.

REGION

ENTER THE DRAGON

China’s recent actions, together with its long term naval production plans, confirm that Beijing intends to ‘recover’ sovereignty over major portions of the South China Sea, thus establishing its dominance over this maritime territory.

REGION

OFFICERS AND BUSINESSMEN

TECHNOLOGY

EYES AT SEA

The Navy is modernising its radar capability through indigenous development and a comprehensive acquisition programme. 2

Several South Asian militaries are running lucrative commercial ventures rivalling private business that threaten not only to militarise civil society but corrupt the Services. The Pakistani Army has built an economic empire; in Sri Lanka, the administration is encouraging the armed forces to get involved in commercial activity; in Bangladesh, the Army is expanding its financial and industrial operations and in India there has been an increase in the corruption of military officers.

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CONTENTS

OCTOBER 2011

AERONAUTICS

DSI

MOMENT OF OPPORTUNITY With many new platforms being inducted into the IAF, creating an overarching Aerospace Technology Commission will integrate the defence and aviation sectors effectively.

DIPLOMACY

PUSHING FOR REFORM

COMBAT AIRCRAFT

BROKEN WINGS

REGION

ENTER THE DRAGON

REGION

OFFICERS AND BUSINESSMEN

TECHNOLOGY

EYES AT SEA

The Navy is modernising its radar capability through indigenous development and a comprehensive acquisition programme. 2

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CONTRIBUTORS

OCTOBER 2011

DSI

DEFENCE and SECURITY of INDIA OCTOBER 2011 VOLUME 4, NUMBER 2 AJAI SHUKLA

V.K. BHATIA

MRINAL SUMAN

P.K. GHOSH

JAYADEVA RANADE

Ajai Shukla works in both the visual and the print media. He is consulting editor (strategic affairs) for Business Standard . He was also consulting editor (strategic affairs) for NDTV, a reputed news broadcaster in India, for which he has anchored prime time news and special programmes. He is currently working on a book on Sino-Indian frontier policy.

A fighter pilot, Air Marshal V.K. Bhatia (retd.), has 5,500 hours of flying to his credit. A qualified pilot attack instructor, he has spent several years on flying instructional duties both in India and abroad. He was the Deputy Director-General in the Defence Planning Staff; Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Operations) and the Inspector-General Flight Safety and Inspection. Currently, he writes on aviation and defence issues.

Mrinal Suman, Major General (retd.), is an expert on various aspects of India’s defence procurement regime and offsets and has been closely associated with the evolution of the new defence procurement mechanism. He is often consulted by policy makers and the Parliamentary Committee on Defence. He also heads the Defence Technical Assessment and Advisory Service of the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Dr P.K. Ghosh is a senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation and the lead co-chairperson and India representative at the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific International Study Group on Maritime Security. He has also served with numerous think tanks and was a research fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. A foundermember of the National Maritime Foundation, he has edited three books and written many research articles in national and international journals.

Jayadeva Ranade, a former Additional Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, is a security and intelligence expert. A seasoned China analyst, his foreign assignments have included Beijing and Hong Kong, the last one as minister in the Indian Embassy in Washington. He writes on defence for many leading publications.

SIDDHARTH VARADARAJAN

RAHUL BEDI

Siddharth Varadarajan is the editor of The Hindu and a leading commentator on foreign policy and strategic affairs. He has reported extensively from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Nepal, Bangladesh, the former Yugoslavia as well as Kashmir and the North East. He has edited a book on the Gujarat riots, Gujarat: The Making of aTragedy in 2005. An economist, he has taught at the New York University before returning to India to work as a journalist in 1995.

Rahul Bedi is the New Delhi correspondent for Jane’s Defence Weekly, UK, and contributes to it on a diverse range of security and military related matters. He is also the India correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, London, and the Irish Times.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Maneesha Dube EDITOR

Mannika Chopra SENIOR SUB-EDITOR

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CONTRIBUTORS

OCTOBER 2011

DSI

DEFENCE and SECURITY of INDIA OCTOBER 2011 VOLUME 4, NUMBER 2 AJAI SHUKLA

V.K. BHATIA

MRINAL SUMAN

P.K. GHOSH

JAYADEVA RANADE

SIDDHARTH VARADARAJAN

RAHUL BEDI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Maneesha Dube EDITOR

Mannika Chopra SENIOR SUB-EDITOR

Urmila Marak CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Bipin Kumar DESIGN

Sunil Gujral PRODUCTION & PRE-PRESS

Sunil Dubey, Ritesh Roy, Devender Pandey MTC PUBLISHING LIMITED

323, Udyog Vihar, Ph-IV, Gurgaon 122016 Ph: +91 0124-4759500 Fax: +91 0124-4759550 CHAIRMAN

J. S. Uberoi PRESIDENT

Xavier Collaco FINANCIAL CONTROLLER

www.mediatransasia.in/defence.html http://www.defencesecurityindia.com

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AEROSPACE

OCTOBER 2011

DSI

MOMENT OF OPPORTUNITY With new platforms being inducted into the IAF, creating an overarching Aerospace Technology Commission will integrate the defence and aviation sectors effectively

AJAI SHUKLA

The IAF will be buying fighter aircraft worth USD 90-100 billion over the next 20 years. n Air Chief Marshal Browne has recently called for far-reaching reforms in the current aerospace structure. n The current MoD-led system suffers from a debilitating lack of technological judgement. n

owards the end of 2008, a secret meeting was held in the office of the then IAF (Indian Air Force) chief, Air Chief Marshal Fali Major. Key players in the Indian aeronautical sphere – including Secretary, Defence Production, K.P. Singh and Secretary, Civil Aviation, M. Madhavan Nambiar, gathered to discuss how to effectively invigorate India’s growing aeronautical establishment. On the table that day was the idea of an Aerospace Technology Commission along the lines of the Space Commission and the Atomic Energy Commission. But nothing was to come of it. Even though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself had backed the idea of an overarching body that would holistically integrate the

development of India’s defence and civil aviation sectors, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) did not want the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) mucking around in its jealously guarded aerospace sector. The meeting was fruitless and clearly India’s purchases of military aeronautical assets continue to be rivalled only by its expenditure on civil aviation. The aerospace community may now be looking at another moment of opportunity. When Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik handed over the Indian Air Force on July 31 to his successor, N.A.K. ‘Charlie’ Browne, IAF watchers knew that its heavy focus on Russian equipment will be switching to one that has substantial space for western equipment. After all, while Naik flies MiGs, Browne is a Jaguar man in a Service where loyalty to one’s aircraft is as deeply ingrained as loyalty to one’s country. Within a month after taking charge, Air Chief Marshal Browne has called for more far-reaching reform, suggesting that the current aerospace structure — with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) monopolising the landscape completely — undermines the IAF as well as the aerospace community at large. Addressing executives of private sector defence companies in New Delhi on September 1, Browne lamented the

Flight cadets of the Indian Air Force Academy celebrate their graduation at Dundigal, Hyderabad AFP

KEY POINTS

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AEROSPACE

OCTOBER 2011

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MOMENT OF OPPORTUNITY With new platforms being inducted into the IAF, creating an overarching Aerospace Technology Commission will integrate the defence and aviation sectors effectively

AJAI SHUKLA

Flight cadets of the Indian Air Force Academy celebrate their graduation at Dundigal, Hyderabad AFP

KEY POINTS

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AEROSPACE Air Chief Marshal Norman Anil Kumar ‘Charlie’ Browne with former Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik

inadequacy of the existing aerospace structure and called on the private sector to, in effect, bail out HAL. As the country’s lone aerospace manufacturing hub, overhauler, upgrader and systems supplier, HAL is overwhelmed with work and faces potentially serious problems in keeping the IAF’s fleet aloft. Although the Air Chief did not explicitly call for radical restructuring, he has taken a cautious first step down that path. New Platforms Consider the astronomical figures in play here. Browne revealed that the IAF had signed 271 capital acquisition contracts between 2006-11, shelling out `1,12,000 crore (USD 25 billion). Separately, the top IAF acquisitions managers forecast that an additional `2,24,000 crore (USD 50 billion) may be spent on some more new aircraft from 2012-2017. These figures are significantly higher than various estimations made in the past. According to the IAF Chief, the new platforms being inducted during the 11th and 12th Defence Plans (from 2007-2017)

Within a month after taking charge, Air Chief Marshal Browne has called for far-reaching reforms, suggesting that the current aerospace structure — with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd monopolising the landscape completely — undermines the IAF as well as the aerospace community at large.

”

include the Su-30MKI; the new Light Combat Aircraft (LCA); the Medium MultiRole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) (“If we can sign that contract it will be a big relief for us,” he said); the Indo-Russian Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA); the Very Heavy Transport Aircraft (Boeing’s C-17 (Globemaster III); the Medium Transport Aircraft; and a range of helicopters that are being developed by HAL. Browne also mentioned new surfaceto-air missile systems; air defence systems; and the modernisation of 29 airfields that will conclude by 2014. All this adds up to a hefty sum. Enumerating the costs, Defence Minister A.K. Antony told Parliament on September 7, that the, “total cost of procurement of the Su-30 MKI is over `55,717 crore (USD 12 billion) while the cost of procurement of the Tejas is about `8,691 crore (USD 1.9 billion).” Given that this is for just 40 Tejas Mark-I fighters (two squadrons) the IAF will pay out at least another `21,727 crore (USD 4.7 billion) for the five LCA Mark-II squadrons that it plans to buy, this without factoring in cost escalation.

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AEROSPACE

OCTOBER 2011

Development Organisation) laboratories has gained crucial expertise in writing the complex algorithms of fly-bywire systems; in developing mission computers; in radar technologies; and in avionics software. The Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification is now there to assess and certify aerospace components and systems. A world-class flight-testing agency, the National Flight Test Centre, is up and running. Production agencies, in both the public and private sectors, have learned the precision machining that is needed for aerospace components (like spacecraft and submarine parts, aerospace components have to be certified as suitable for use in aircraft); the art of fabricating components from composite materials; and the forging of technology partnerships with foreign companies to quickly import and absorb useful technologies.

AFP

A test pilot in a Light Combat Aircraft prototype

A more realistic assessment, factoring in escalation due to upgraded systems and inflation, will put the cost of those five squadrons at ` 27,600 (USD 6 billion). The impending purchase of 189 MMRCA, whose initial tender is for 126 aircraft, could cost around `1,15,000 crore (USD 28 billion). Around 250 Fifth-Generation Fighter Aircraft, which will be codeveloped with Russia and built in India, will cost about `161,000 crore (USD 35 billion); and the development and manufacture of around 200 Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) will cost at least another USD 20 billion. Totting up these figures, the IAF will be buying fighter aircraft worth USD 90-100 billion over the next 20 years. The expenditure will cross USD 150 billion if one also budgets for naval aviation assets; transport, refuelling and early warning aircraft; the radar and missile assets needed for upgrading India’s woeful air defence system; and the airfield and airspace control infrastructure. Going forward from there, things will only get more expensive as Unmanned

The Aerospace Technology Commission will integrate the functioning of research organisations on one side and production organisations on the other. Clear lines of authority and financial control will be essential, to avoid the pitfalls that held back the Aeronautical Development Agency from functioning effectively in the Tejas programme.

”

Combat Aircraft — stealthy, pilot-less drones that carry tonnes of smart weapons — become the norm. While bayonets and boots will continue to determine success on the ground, technology is rapidly becoming the key differentiator between victory and defeat in air battles. Some of those technologies will simply not be purchasable; others will be unaffordable. India’s need for credible conventional deterrence leaves it with little choice but to develop the expertise and the infrastructure needed for designing and producing the sophisticated, yet affordable, aerospace assets that can shape the future battlefield to our advantage. This involves one simple process and several extremely complex ones. During the development of the Tejas fighter, the complex challenges have, to a significant degree, been overcome. Project management skills, and expertise in systems integration, have been acquired by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), which also gathered a stable of aeronautical designers. A network of DRDO (Defence Research and

Unfinished Business Creating this complex mosaic of building blocks was the difficult challenge in creating an aerospace industry. But strangely it is the easy part that still remains to be done — the unfinished business from that meeting in the Air Chief’s office in 2008. This involves creating an overarching structure — the Aerospace Technology Commission — that can integrate all these crucial building blocks into a coherent and purposeful effective eco-system. The current MoD-led system, where apparatchiks make all the key decisions, suffers from a debilitating lack of technological judgement. Crucial technological and scientific inputs are given short shrift or misevaluated. The MoD’s other great drawback is its lack of authority over organisations under other ministries, which can play crucial roles in the realm of aerospace design and production. One example, the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), a highly regarded laboratory under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). NAL has made significant contributions to the Tejas LCA programme with its expertise in composite technologies and is currently engaged in several transport aircraft development programmes. But, with no formal integration into India’s big military aerospace programmes, Dr Satish Dhawan

once famously described NAL as, “a beautiful bride, all dressed up and nowhere to go.” Particularly, the Aerospace Technology Commission will integrate the functioning of research organisations on one side, and production organisations on the other. Clear lines of authority will be essential, along with the financial control, to avoid the pitfalls that held back ADA from functioning effectively in the Tejas programme. As a DRDO organisation, ADA was unable to marshal HAL’s resources, with HAL focussing more on the lucrative production lines (for instance, the Su-30MKI line in Nashik) that generate the bulk of its turnover. For these reasons the Aerospace Technology Commission needs to be an apex-level, fully empowered organisation. It must be headed by a scientistmanager of the rank of Secretary to the Government (former President, Dr A.P.J. Kalam typifies this breed but there are

DSI

many others of almost equal competence who can deliver). Such a profile will assist the commission in marshalling the capabilities of India’s myriad laboratories, agencies, academic research establishments and production lines. Each one of them has areas of specialisation that can feed into an aircraft development programme. The commission should be charged with tapping the expertise available; identifying gaps in technology; plugging gaps by allocating R&D priorities to aeronautical establishments based on their specialisations; and arranging the forming of joint ventures and R&D partnerships with global players for obtaining crucial, but otherwise difficult to obtain, technologies. The commission will also ensure the exploitation of technological breakthroughs by giving a suitable facility charge of continuing down that research path. In setting up an Aerospace Technology Commission for India it is important to

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AEROSPACE

OCTOBER 2011

AFP

A test pilot in a Light Combat Aircraft prototype

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AEROSPACE

AFP

Employees of HAL at work at the helicopter division, Bengaluru

note that, worldwide, civil aviation requirements tend to overshadow those of the military. Even though India is implementing a major ten-year IAF modernisation plan, its civil aviation requirements are enormous. Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Vilasrao Deshmukh, announced last month, that India will need over USD 100 billion worth of civil aircraft by 2025, which will include some 1,000 airliners of different capacities. But New Delhi has shown little interest in developing an indigenous airline industry, the way it has pursued a military aerospace capability. NAL, which functions under the CSIR, has designed some small civil aircraft over the last two decades, but not in a concerted manner. After designing and building India's first all-composite aircraft, the twoseater Hansa, NAL has pursued the development of a 14-seat, light transport aircraft, the Saras. This programme suffered a jolt when a Saras prototype crashed in 2009, killing three IAF test pilots. Now NAL is developing the five-seater NM5 general aviation aircraft along with the Mahindra Group. It is also spearheading the

development of a 70-100-seater airliner under the `8,300 crore National Civil Aircraft Development Programme. Ideally, all of these programmes should be brought under the Aerospace Technology Commission and synergised with the military aviation programmes. Not a Novel Idea This vertically integrated structure for the Department of Aerospace is not a novel idea. The advantages of such a structure have been illustrated already by the successes of the Department of Atomic Energy and the Department of Space. Vertical integration will provide aerospace with the same synergies and prevent the dissipation of resources, especially within the private sector where companies simply cannot afford to put effort into R&D unless it is government-funded or directed so precisely that it will almost certainly yield commercial orders. In consolidating its aerospace resources under a single structure, India will be following a global lead. In Russia, individual design houses like Mikoyan and Sukhoi once played wastefully with designs that went nowhere. These have now been

consolidated with the Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation providing oversight while the United Aircraft Corporation brings together design bureaus and production agencies. It is time for India to embrace a similar model. The high-powered Naresh Chandra Committee, which is looking at reform of the national security set-up and of higher defence organisation in India, is currently examining proposals like this one. The new Air Chief has confirmed that the committee recently, “had a session with us in Air Headquarters just a few days ago”. Says Browne: “All those issues will be discussed. We’ve given them our viewpoint about how to amend and reform our system. We have a tremendous potential in the country, both in the ministries concerned and the defence forces. I’m hopeful they’ll do an excellent job and, once it is accepted by the Government, hopefully things will improve.” Even if the Naresh Chandra Committee comes up with the necessary recommendations, it will take complete commitment on the part of New Delhi to implement them without any further loss of time.

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COMBAT AVIATION

OCTOBER 2011

DSI

BROKEN WINGS

The mangled remains of a MiG-27 aircraft which crashed at a village in Midnapore District, West Bengal

Peacetime attrition due to accidents continues to be a matter of great concern for the IAF

V.K. BHATIA

KEY POINTS n The Indian Air Force has lost ten times more aircraft during peacetime than in all the wars it has fought till now. n In the past 40 years since 1970, out of the nearly 1,000 aircraft lost, half are accounted for by variants of the MiG-21. n Induction of 41 ‘Avian’ radars aim to boost the IAF’s ‘prevention of bird strikes’ campaign.

AFP

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ince Independence in 1947, whenever the air arm of the armed forces was used India never lost a war against its adversaries. Whether it was the 1947-48 military action in Kashmir, the India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971 or the not too distant Kargil operation in 1999, participation by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in all its classical roles including offensive, always ensured the successful outcomes of the military campaigns. The only time India suffered a humiliating military debacle was in the 1962 Sino-Indian conflict in the Himalayas when India chose not to use the IAF

offensively against its adversary – a politico-military or diplomatic lapse regretted and rued till today. On the other hand, the IAF’s finest hour perhaps was the rocket attack carried out by a formation of MiG-21 jet fighters on the Governor’s house in Dacca (now Dhaka) during the Indo-Pak War of 1971. The pinpoint accuracy of the air strike resulted in Dacca’s immediate capitulation and surrender by the enemy’s 93,000-strong Army in East Pakistan – it also gave birth to a brand new nation, Bangladesh. More recently, day-night Laser Guided Bomb attacks by Mirage 2000 during the 1999 Operation Safed Sagar in Kargil against Tiger Hill also greatly hastened Pakistan’s illegal occupation of territory on the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC). Undoubtedly, the IAF has not only covered itself with glory during wars but also with excellence during its peace-time encounters – its participation in a large number of international air exercises, including the highly prestigious US Red Flag amply prove the point. But if there is one unending war which the IAF seems to be fighting since its inception, with victory still nowhere on the horizon, it is on aviation radars the flight safety front. The IAF might have won an

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COMBAT AVIATION

OCTOBER 2011

DSI

BROKEN WINGS

The mangled remains of a MiG-27 aircraft which crashed at a village in Midnapore District, West Bengal

Peacetime attrition due to accidents continues to be a matter of great concern for the IAF

V.K. BHATIA

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versus flying hours is considered to be a universally accepted norm to calculate the aircraft accident rate. If one compares the IAF with, say, the US Air Force (USAF), it becomes apparent that the flight safety record of the USAF, at an average of 1.0 per 100,000 hours, is more than ten times better than the IAF which since 1970 maintains an average of around 1.07 per 10,000 hours.

Unfair Comparison Some flight analysts feel, perhaps rightly so, that this sort of comparison is not fair to the IAF. The USAF has global operations with a large proportion of its total flying hours per annum being devoted to air transport operations which are inherently much safer than fighter operations. Secondly, there is the issue of the duration of sorties in fighter flying. In the case of the USAF this averages more than an hour mostly because of the lengthy transition times required to reach their local flying areas for peacetime training. In

comparison, air transport operations in the IAF, including the hazardous tasks of air maintenance in the high altitude areas of Ladakh and the Northeast — are mostly confined within Indian territories. Consequently, their contribution, vis-à-vis fighters’ with respect to the IAF’s total per annum flying effort, is proportionately much less compared to that of the USAF. Additionally, much of the IAF’s fighter force still comprises different types of MiGs such as the MiG-21 variants, MiG-27 and MiG-29 aircraft, which have restricted endurances due to their lower fuel carrying capabilities. This necessitates close proximities of local flying areas to the launch bases, resulting in short sorties, the average being in the vicinity of 35 to 40 minutes. This automatically increases the risk quotient, impinging directly on accident rates and flight safety records. Considering these factors, it is highly unrealistic in the present and foreseeable scenarios for the IAF to try and match the USAF’s flight safety record. At over 1 per

In most Air Forces around the world, the major Statistical Breakdown causes of accidents are human error, technical Human Error (Air Crew) 40 percent defects and those related to environment. This is Human Error (Servicing) 2 percent true for the IAF as well. Technical Defect 40 percent Human error and technical defects are major Bird Hit 7 percent reasons for aircraft accidents followed by bird Unresloved (UR) 6 percent strikes Human Error (HE) Accidents can further be Others 5 percent sub-divided into HE (Air Crew), loosely known as (1970-2010) pilot error and HE (Servicing) which cover the lapses by ground crew responsible for aircraft servicing/technical operations. Technical defects deal to systems/components/material failure and design/manufacturing deficiencies and so on. Pilot error comprises factors such as lack of airmanship which includes lack of situational awareness, lack of flying skills, disorientation, controlled flight into flight (CFIT), mishandling of controls, improper emergency handling and, psychological factors such as under/over confidence and yes each misplaced egos which can also result in accidents. Similarly, HE (S) factors pertain to lapses in servicing and maintenance of the flying machines. On the other hand technical defects also have a direct relation to the level/vintage of technology of the aircraft in question. It is natural for all Air Forces in the world to dream of achieving a utopian zero accident goal. In reality, the aim is to create conditions to come close to the ideal scenario of zero accident by targeting, all or as many as possible factors which causes an accident. The USAF for example, targets everything which concerns human error, technical defects and environmental issues. Some of the European Air Forces concede the fact that pilot error accidents cannot be completely eliminated and have concentrated towards zero tolerance in other aspects such as technical defects in furtherance of their flight safety records. Most importantly, sharing a common factor of staying abreast on the technology front has helped all the leading air forces in the world to reap rewards as regard to their flight safety records. —VKB

The number of accidents versus flying hours is the universally accepted norm to calculate the aircraft accident rate. If one compares the IAF with the US Air Force (USAF), it becomes apparent that the flight safety record of the USAF, at an average of 1.0 per 100,000 hours, is more than ten times better than the IAF.

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10,000 hours Category-I accident rate — in which the aircraft is totally written off — the IAF is way off the mark in terms of achievable target rates which requires it to considerably increase efforts to improve its flight safety record. Though the IAF tom toms that it is one of the leading Air Forces in the world at the same time it is also its own worst enemy primarily because of the rate it loses aircraft during peacetime operations. Typically, every time, an IAF aircraft is lost, the media comes down heavily with all kinds of accusations, ranging from lack of professionalism, poor training, flying unserviceable and non-airworthy aircraft. As the losses, man and machine, mount, the headlines keep getting more shrill. However, having served in the IAF for more than four decades with more than 5,500 hours on different types of fighters (including the MiG-21), transports and helicopters, nothing could be further from truth. The IAF’s commitment to its professionalism, to its integrity and to the

Victim of Circumstances

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odd battle now and then in this area but generally it has been caught on the wrong foot as far as its flight safety record is concerned. After a comparative lull this year, the IAF has lost three jet fighters in quick succession last month: the first on August 2, added a bleak statistic of being the 1,000th aircraft lost in accidents since 1970.This by itself is a dismal record but if one was to add the number of aircraft lost in the previous 20 years since the 1950s, the total could easily cross 1,500. With the total inventory of all types of fixed and rotary wing aircraft hovering around this figure, the IAF has the dubious distinction of having its peacetime losses being more than ten times of the combined attrition in all the wars it has fought till now. Peacetime attrition due to accidents continues to be a matter of great concern for an Air Force which is not only the fourth-largest in the world but also considered to be one of the operationally most capable. The number of accidents

nation is unquestionable. Only consider the IAF has so structured itself that apart from the five operational commands, it has full-fledged training and maintenance commands to look after all types of requirements. These so-called support commands have been functioning much before most of the operational commands came into being. In fact, the IAF was also the first Service to put into place a robust Inspection and Flight Safety Organisation starting with an independent branch at Air Headquarters with flight safety setups down to the lowest field levels. This clearly indicates the seriousness with which the IAF has sought to provide the best possible training, maintenance and flight safety standards in its quest to be a world class professional and capable service.

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BSF officials lay wreaths on their colleagues’ coffins who died in a helicopter crash in Rajasthan’s Sirohi District

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Having said that, from the beginning of its evolutionary journey, the IAF has often been a victim of circumstances – mostly not of its own making – which not only led to a creation of imbalances and deficiencies in its inventories, but, indirectly, also had adverse effects on its flight safety records. Starting from the mid-1950s, the IAF has started acquiring jet fighter and bombers from western sources. These included the French Dassault Mystere IVAs for ground attack role and the British multi-role Hunters and Canberra light bombers. Then came the light-weight Gnat which was also offered by the British for license-production in India. The Gnat was probably the smallest jet fighter ever produced with attendant design problems of such magnitude that it was not inducted into the Royal Air Force (RAF) in its singleseat version. However, mass-produced in India, it equipped a large number of IAF squadrons. And while it proved to be a highly agile and nimble fighter – earning the sobriquet of the ‘Sabre Slayer’ during the 1965 India-Pakistan War – it also turned out to be a highly accident-prone aircraft. These aircraft were lost in droves causing a big dent in the flight safety statistics of the IAF in the sixties and early seventies. The Chinese debacle of 1962 and its Non-Aligned policies very quickly pushed India into the Soviet camp to meet its defence needs. The IAF was flooded with Russian aircraft starting with the MiG-21s,

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MiG Story The MiG-21 in its first avatar was designed and developed as the first Mach-2 aircraft by the Soviet bloc to counter the US F-104 Star Fighter. It was essentially a supersonic interceptor to take care of high altitude threats, including the US U2 spy planes. When it first came to India, the pilots were made to fly the aircraft clad in partial pressure suits and helmets not very different from the ones used by the Russian cosmonauts on space flights. (A slight digression: Uri Gagarin, the first person to travel into space, rather sadly, actually died while piloting a MiG-21.) The IAF very soon realised the futility of using this aircraft as a high altitude interceptor and quickly converted it to be used for myriad roles such as low-level ground attack for counter-air and, countersurface force operations in aid of the land and naval forces. MiG-21, in its almost ten different variants was also mass-produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in its Bengaluru facilities, to fill the vacuum caused by the retirement of jet fighters of western origin and also the early retirement of the Su-7 fleets. Till not so long ago, two-thirds of the IAF’s jet variants fighter squadrons consisted of MiG-21 flying almost 60 percent of the fighter sorties annually. The truth is that the MiG-21 has a razorthin delta wing which because of high-wing loading calls for excessive take-off and landing speeds. This also makes the aircraft prone to super-stall conditions during manoeuvring with the aircraft rapidly losing height in spite of a nose-up attitude – a sure recipe for disaster at low level, especially for the uninitiated. Additionally, its forward visibility is low. The interceptor versions carry big radomes in the nose restricting the air intake areas, which incidentally is low even in the nonradar versions of the type, making all variants highly vulnerable to bird strikes, which invariably result in engine flameouts and a certain destruction of the singleengine aircraft. Pilot survivability entirely depends on timely ejection which may not

In the past 40 years, since 1970, out of the nearly 1,000 aircraft lost, half are accounted for by variants of the MiG-21. As can be testified by most of the fighter fraternity of the IAF who have mastered the demanding beast – it is still being used in a limited way for advanced jet training of rookie pilots.

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Air Force personnel inspects a Kiran trainer aircraft which crashed on the outskirts of Bengaluru

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be possible in all circumstances. Couple all this with the IAF’s somewhat flawed earlier policy of encouraging growth of vegetation which brought in unprecedented dangers from increased bird or animal activity at airfields and one can anticipate the end result. With a combination of all these factors it is not surprising that in the past 40 years since 1970, out of the nearly 1,000 aircraft lost, half are accounted for by variants of the MiG-21. In fact, as can be testified by most of the fighter fraternity of the IAF, who have mastered the demanding beast – it is still being used in limited way for advanced jet training of the rookie pilots. It is time for the IAF to say adieu to the MiG-21 in training roles with increasing inductions of Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer (AJTs) into the IAF. By the same logic, MiG-21 variants need to be phased out from the IAF’s operational squadrons as well except perhaps the avionics-upgraded Bison version which would have to serve in the IAF till 2020 or so. The suggestion has nothing to do with the age of the aircraft. Any aircraft is flyable as long as it is airworthy. An oft cited example of

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later followed by the Su-7s, MiG-23 variants, MiG-25s, MiG-27s and MiG-29s. The latest to join this long line inventory is the Su-30MK-Is. In the present context, it is the MiG-21 variants which have impacted the IAF’s flight safety record.

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this is the B-52 bombers which have served for more than half-a-century and still going strong and, that too with the best flight safety record in the USAF. But, these aircraft have been continuously upgraded, reengined and refurbished and equally importantly, used in the comparatively sedentary bomber role. On the other hand, MiG-21s – supersonic interceptors of yesteryear – have no viable option left for any further upgrade and need to be phased out on the grounds of old technology. But the reality is, already depleted to nearly two-thirds of its earlier combat force

levels, the IAF is in no position to retire its MiG-21 fleet in one go. It will have to wait for a gradual phase-out, which should be linked with the inductions of new aircraft. It is therefore important to quickly complete the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) selection process and increasing the rate at which Su-30MKIs and the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas are being built by HAL. Hopefully, in a few years from now, apart from the five or six Bison squadrons, the IAF will be in a position to re-equip all other MiG-21 squadrons. The infusion of

new technology aircraft with inherent flight safety features, the availability of Hawk AJTs in greater numbers to take on the entire burden of advanced jet training should have a salutary effect on the IAF’s flight safety statistics. In addition, the de-vegetation process, started almost 15 years ago to clear the surrounding environment at the IAF airfields, has started showing results in terms of reduced bird activity and lesser number of total bird strikes. It is imperative that the concerned State Governments join hands with the IAF to sanitise the entire

airfield zones to further reduce the bird menace. A proposed induction of 41 ‘Avian’ radars will also boost the IAF’s ‘prevention of bird strikes’ campaign. The recent release of the APF (Accident Probability Factor) Calculator is a small but yet another step in the right direction. But these steps alone are not sufficient for the IAF to win its unending war on the flight safety front. Spearheaded by its specialised branch, the IAF as a whole will need to adopt a proactive approach to achieve the desired goals – a zero accident rate.

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Air Force personnel inspects a Kiran trainer aircraft which crashed on the outskirts of Bengaluru

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ESSENTIAL INFUSION Foreign investors view India’s Foreign Direct Investment Policy in the defence sector as discouraging in intent and content

MRINAL SUMAN

KEY POINTS Since India needs Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in defence primarily for technology infusion its policy should be technology-centric n No foreign company will part with its closely guarded technologies unless it has a controlling stake in a joint-venture. n India should aim to be a hub for global outsourcing of defence equipment by partnering foreign defence manufactures. n

o country can aspire to attain a place of influence in the comity of nations unless it possesses a vibrant and technologically advanced defence industry. As modern defence systems are highly complex and technology intensive, the defence industry is characterised by rapid obsolescence of technology. Therefore, regular infusion of the latest defence technologies is essential for the survival and growth of any defence industry. India has singularly failed to develop its defence industry despite repeated protestations of self-reliance. And the primary reason for this is a lack of required technology. There are only four routes through which a country can acquire defence technologies – indigenous development through research and development; purchase from foreign sources; against offset obligations; and through joint-ventures with foreign companies. If India continues to import more than 70 percent of defence equipment even after more than six decades of Independence it is only due to its inability to exploit the routes to upgrade technologies and modernise defence production. While opening the defence industry to the private sector in May 2001, the Government allowed 26 percent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the hope that foreign investors would rush in with their bags of money. However, all these hopes

Armed forces march at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate monument on Independence Day, New Delhi

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have been belied and the policy has been acknowledged as a total failure. Most prospective foreign investors view the policy to be highly discouraging in intent and content. There has been a total lack of enthusiasm on the part of foreign investors. According to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, total FDI inflows to the Indian defence sector were a paltry ` 7 million up to 2009. As a result, there has been a strong demand for a review of the policy.

Chain Reaction The main reason for the failure of the FDI policy has been the Government’s inability to differentiate between defence and other sectors. For sectors, like infrastructure and retail trade, it is primarily a question of an infusion of foreign funds. But in the case of defence, the foremost aim of inviting FDI is to get critical technologies. FDI sets in motion a chain reaction through which the initial FDI upgrades local technology which, in turn, attracts more inflows of higher technology and the cycle goes on. Further, the whole process brings in the latest managerial practices, techniques and skills, thereby upgrading the entire managerial environment in the country. Although FDI pre-supposes a foreign partner’s long-term commitment, its intensity is directly proportional to his stake in the venture. No foreign company is going to part with the latest technology unless it has a significant interest in the success of the venture. Therefore, foreign companies have to be offered commercially irresistible terms through an enhanced FDI component. The international arms trade does not follow the dynamics of an open and free market. Most of the major defence equipment producers follow the ‘Global Factory’ concept, through which various functions are spread over a number of locations in a number of countries. The aim is to draw maximum benefits in terms of technological expertise, cheap labour and abundant raw material that different locations offer. Therefore, any nation that covets FDI in defence has to tailor its policies to make itself an incomparable and an indispensable constituent of this worldwide network. It is recognised by all that India needs to review its policy on FDI in defence to make it deliver. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion circulated

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ESSENTIAL INFUSION Foreign investors view India’s Foreign Direct Investment Policy in the defence sector as discouraging in intent and content

MRINAL SUMAN

Armed forces march at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate monument on Independence Day, New Delhi

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POLICY in the private sector to continue. All the three major industry associations/ chambers forwarded similar recommendations. Being the ultimate users and the most affected party, it was the Services that advocated a removal of all caps and wanted the Government to be flexible in its approach. They were supported by small and medium enterprises who believed that the entry of foreign companies even with full controlling rights would throw open enormous opportunities for growth to them. Much to the detriment of India’s security interests, however, the views of the MoD prevailed and FDI in defence continues to be capped at 26 percent.

FDI: A READY RECKONER Dismal Track Record As regards indigenous development, the track record of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has been dismal – exaggerated claims, tall promises, unexplained delays and sub-optimal products. Purchase of technologies under ‘buy and make’ route has failed to ensure infusion of meaningful technologies. Even Defence Minister A. K. Antony has admitted that India had not benefitted much from the technologies transferred to it in the past. Offsets provide an incomparable leverage to demand critical technologies. India has, most surprisingly, resolved not to accept technology against defence offsets, thereby depriving itself of an excellent opportunity to upgrade the industry. Failure to formulate a well-evolved policy to attract FDI in the defence sector has dissuaded foreign companies from participating in joint-ventures in India with the result that a valuable route of infusion of technology remains unexploited so far.

Understanding the Dynamics First of all, the Government has to understand the dynamics of a FDI flow. Investable funds are limited in world commerce and prospective investors are guided purely by economic considerations. They carry out a comparative appraisal of all likely destinations to identify the best option for optimum returns. Therefore, if India is serious about attracting FDI in the defence sector, it has to position itself as the most lucrative FDI destination with an improved FDI Confidence Index. In addition to the availability of a skilled work force, low cost of production and large market, India must make structural adjustment to provide functional freedom to joint ventures to respond to market dynamics. As has been the practice in the past, the ghost of security concerns is raised by selfseeking entities to defend an indefensible

Policy Mandates A cap of 26 percent is considered to be highly unreasonable as foreign investors get no significant control over the enterprise. The policy mandates that the Chief Executive has to be a resident Indian and management control must remain in Indian hands with majority representation in the board. Many policy provisions are perceived to be highly restrictive – a licensee can produce only the licensed products and in the sanctioned quantity; he can neither diversify nor enhance production; the Government can give no purchase guarantee; and the licensee will have no open access to other markets, including exports.

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A visitor in the cockpit of Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet during a defence exhibition, New Delhi

decision. Opponents of higher FDI cap are expressing apprehensions that foreign investors may close production and deny supplies to the armed forces during warlike emergencies. There cannot be a more specious argument. No foreign vendor will ever risk his total investment by such a hostile move. In any case, factories cannot be shut and shifted in a moment. As a matter of abundant caution, while granting licenses, the Government can reserve the right to take over critical industries under certain circumstances. The fact that indigenous production through joint - ventures is infinitely more reassuring than imports that can be cut-off unilaterally by foreign suppliers is conveniently overlooked. As stated earlier, India needs FDI in

A paramilitary soldier walks past a mural depicting the Mumbai 2008 terror attacks at the DefExpo 2010, New Delhi

defence primarily for technology infusion. Therefore, its policy should be technologycentric. In a true sense, two points need to be kept in mind. One, no foreign company will part with its closely guarded technologies unless it has a controlling stake (minimum 51 percent) in a joint-

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a discussion paper in May 2010, advocating raising of the FDI cap to encourage ‘established players in the defence industry to set up manufacturing facilities and integration of systems in India.’ Importantly, it argued that the limit should be raised to 74 percent to provide needed incentive to foreign manufacturers to share their technological expertise and proprietary technology. Unfortunately, the above proposal received a somewhat subjective treatment. All stake holders took positions that suited them. No consideration was given to the larger national interests. Although fully aware of the failures of the current policy, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) took everyone by surprise by insisting that the upper cap of 26 percent be retained. It appears that inefficient Public Sector Undertakings, who have been thriving on assembling imported sub-assemblies, under the garb of indigenous production, felt threatened. They conspired and coerced the Ministry of Defence to stall entry of foreign companies. More shocking perhaps was the reaction of the Indian industry. For a long time major Indian defence industry players were clamouring for an increase in the FDI limit. However, at the first signs of the Government considering a cap of 74 percent, all of them developed cold feet. In order to retain their control over joint ventures they wanted the FDI to be allowed only up to 49 percent. As a matter of fact, they feared an entry of foreign manufacturers and wanted their monopoly

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venture. Two, defence industry covers too vast a spectrum to be branded as a single entity for the formulation of an FDI policy. Therefore, India should adopt a flexible and proposal-specific approach. All joint-venture proposals should be assessed and categorised on the basis of

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nature, level and depth of technology involved for the fixation of FDI cap. A possible formula can be: Tier 1: Low-tech Proposals – up to 26 percent. Tier 2: High-tech Proposals – up to 49 percent. Tier 3: Proposals with latest technologies – up to 74 percent. Tier 4: Proposals with cutting edge frontier technologies – up to 100 percent. Finally, given India’s favourable geo-political position and enormous market, India should covet to be a hub for global outsourcing of defence equipment by partnering foreign defence manufactures. For that, India must carry out an image make-over and project itself as an irresistible FDI destination for defence industry by simplifying procedures and expediting decision making. It must reformulate its policy to address all apprehensions of the prospective investors as regards functional autonomy to cater to market dynamics, albeit within the broad regulatory policy framework.

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A visitor in the cockpit of Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet during a defence exhibition, New Delhi

A paramilitary soldier walks past a mural depicting the Mumbai 2008 terror attacks at the DefExpo 2010, New Delhi

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Indian Navy aircraft carrier INS Viraat refuels a Sea Harrier in the Indian Ocean

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The Navy is modernising its radar capability through indigenous development and a comprehensive acquisition programme

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KEY POINTS

India has progressed in its ability to design and manufacture highpowered radar systems. n Bharat Electronics Ltd has been manufacturing many Indian versions of radars after collaborating with the parent company or on the basis of Transfer of Technology. n Given the mixed bag of successes with indigenous radar construction â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the Navy has gone in for purchases from foreign companies. n

adars are probably one of the most significant inventions of man that have been responsible for changing the face of modern warfare. Coined in 1940, as an acronym for Radio Detection and Ranging by the US Navy, its military application was more than apparent in World War II by which time it was being developed secretly and simultaneously by many countries. In the maritime world, radars form the eyes of any ship and the loss of radar capability can result in serious consequences for the ship and worse, even for the entire flotilla. Ships essentially use radars for measuring the bearing and distance of other ships and vessels to prevent collision and to navigate in a port or at sea when within coastal range. In the Navy, however, the uses are much more accented towards military applications, including navigation, surveillance and providing inputs for fire control problems of weapons systems and target illumination for weapon homing.

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Indian Navy aircraft carrier INS Viraat refuels a Sea Harrier in the Indian Ocean

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The Navy is modernising its radar capability through indigenous development and a comprehensive acquisition programme

P.K. GHOSH

KEY POINTS

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Navy officials carry the Commonwealth Games baton in a boat as helicopters circle over the Taj Mahal Hotel

Hence warships are usually equipped with an entire package of sensors which may contain separate long and short range radars – depending on the primary role of the concerned warship. Since radars play a very significant role in revealing the battlefield scenario to a Tactical Commander at sea or even to a distant shore-based Theatre Commander by data links – considerable efforts are made to avoid detection and minimise the radar reflectivity index by a series of methods, including design characteristics. Consequently, Radar Absorbing Material (RAM) containing resistive and sometimes magnetic substances are used on ships and aircraft to reduce the radar signature and the reflective properties (index) of the unit in an effort to avoid detection.

Procurement Process The Indian Navy’s (IN) efforts in using such stealth technology holistically can be seen in the commissioning of stealth frigates, the INS Shivalik and INS Satpura or Project 17 class frigates which are considered the best examples of Indian efforts in mastering this technology. The IN has followed a singularly unique

The Navy has followed a unique approach in fitting radars and other sensors to the ships that are built indigenously. Commencing as Project 16 or the Godavari class, Indian naval architects have married the ‘rugged’ Soviet-built weapon systems with sensitive sensors of Western, and sometimes of Indian origin.

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approach in fitting radars and other sensors to the ships that were built indigenously. Commencing as Project 16 or the Godavari class, Indian naval architects have proceeded to marry the ‘rugged’ Soviet-built weapon systems with sensitive sensors of Western origin and at rare times of Indian origin. However, all this has called for detailed planning and conforming to procurement procedures – Defence Procurement Procedures (DPP) – which have been continuously modified since then. Radars form a part of the overall sensor package and according to the procedures immediate purchases can be met through a Fast Track system. Under this, the elaborate DPP is bypassed and a direct purchase request is forwarded to the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) for approval or in the case of high value to the Cabinet Committee for Security (CCS) for final approval. However, past trends show that relatively few equipment is bought through this urgent processing method. Most sensor packages, and hence radars, follow the entire DPP and its associated 11-step programme. In this, the required equipment is normally

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Indigenous Programme In its efforts to modernise its force and improving its inventory, the IN has been making considerable efforts at indigenising its sensors. Consequently, unlike the Indian Army (IA) and Indian Air Force (IAF) the IN has had many successes with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on various radar projects. Admittedly, there have been some failures too like the Trishul Missile Systems and significant delays in some fields, such as Electronic Warfare Systems. But overall, the success ratio has been significant in the area of acoustic research and sonars. In the case of radars there has been some progress in India’s ability to design and manufacture high-powered radar systems. Commencing with short range 2D systems, DRDO has moved on to manufacturing 3D Long-Range Tracking Radars and Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) radars, mainly for the Indian Air Force and the Indian Army. In the case of radars for the IN, it is the Revathi which the DRDO considers to be its prime success. However, the feedback from end-users has not been so charitable, since this radar faces considerable stability problems because of its excessive weight accompanied by a design lacuna. Despite the fact that this radar has yet to prove its efficacy and performance at sea, the DRDO insists that this radar is a stateof-the-art Central Acquisition Radar possessing the latest signal processing technology with an ability to

Track While Scan (TWS) nearly 150 targets simultaneously. Operating in the S-band, this radar was initially developed for the Akash missile and the Navy ordered its modified naval variant for its P-28 Corvettes. Currently, one of the radar prototype systems is fitted on board INS Dunagiri and a derivative of the Revathi has also been planned for fitment on the Shivalik class frigate. Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has been instrumental in manufacturing many Indian versions of radars after collaborating with the parent company or on a basis of Transfer of Technology (ToT). In this context, PFN 513 (which is a stabilised

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Children wave flags to welcome the INS Tabar stealth frigate in Mumbai

In the case of radars for the Navy, it is the Revathi which the DRDO considers to be its prime success. However, the feedback from endusers has not been so charitable, since this radar faces considerable stability problems because of its excessive weight accompanied by a design lacuna.

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version of the DA05) built by BEL is an S-band medium range, surface surveillance radar having random agility and chip pulse compression. This radar is scheduled to be fitted on board the INS Viraat and the Brahmaputra class in which the currently fitted RAWS-03 radar has been upgraded to AMDR (Anti-Missile Defence Radar). Similarly, the PIN 521 radar, a version of Signaal/Thales ZW-06, also known as Aparna, is an active and passive, mediumrange surveillance radar that can be used for navigation and attack purposes. Possessing two transmitter receiver channels and an ability to scan at two

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projected for eventual procurement under a 15-year-Long-Term Plan. Later, it gets reflected in the five-year Service Capital Acquisition Plan and finally if it gets projected in a one-year Annual Acquisition Plan it is forwarded to the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff from Service Headquarters where it is rationalised and collated for undergoing the entire procurement procedure. The last type of acquisition is resorted to in case the equipment is state-of-the-art and more importantly its procurement provides the Indian Government with considerable political, economic and strategic leverages. Based on an interGovernmental agreement procurement of such equipment is expected to enhance military cooperation with the country concerned.

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different speeds this radar has been made on the lines of Garpun by BEL after collaborating with Signaal (now Thales) for the Brahmaputra class of ships. Another radar that has emerged from BEL is the PIN 524, or Rashmi, which is a navigational radar that has been fitted on board the Brahmaputra class with an Automatic Radar Plotting Aids (ARPA) display. Unfortunately, due to its poor resolution and picture quality, the radar has found itself redundant and rarely used on board the ships where it is fitted. The PLN 517 (a version of the Signaal/ Thales RAWL-02 is an L (D)-band

surveillance radar that has been built by BEL for long-range air warning and target interception for the INS Shivalik, Brahmaputra class and INS Viraat. While on the Godavari class the earlier RAWL-02 Mark-II has been upgraded to Mark-III. Built by the DRDO, the Super Vision 2000 or its more advanced version, XV 2004, is a 3D naval air surveillance slotted array radar that operates in the X-band. Capable of a high level of discrimination it is being modified to be fitted into Navy’s Dornier (Do-228s) and the Advanced Light Helicopter with variants being fitted on the Ka-25s as well. There is also talk of

mounting a slightly modified version of the Ashlesha built by the DRDO which is a 3D short-range radar for the IAF with a semiactive phased array and a 1 sqm aperture on small ships of the Navy. This naval version, however has yet to be produced.

Foreign Purchases Given the mixed bag of successes with indigenous radar construction – the Navy has gone in for purchases from foreign companies. However, most of the currently purchased radars are in an advanced developmental stage or have been recently developed which means that their true

efficacy in Indian conditions will take time in being evaluated. Consequently, the Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) has begun delivering EL/M-2248 (MF-Star) multi-function surveillance and threat alert radar to the Indian Navy. This S-band active-phased array radar using Pulse Doppler techniques, multi-beam forming and advanced High Pulse Repetition Frequency waveform is being fitted on board the three Project 15A Kolkata class guided missile destroyers (DDGs) being built by the Mazagon Dock Limited as well as four of the scheduled 15Bs class

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Children wave flags to welcome the INS Tabar stealth frigate in Mumbai

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NAVAL RADARS Given the heightened coastal security consciousness in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks and subsequent efforts to strengthen security, the Indian Navy, entrusted with coastal responsibility, has been planning to purchase two Israeli Aerostat Radars EL/M 2083 which are be mounted on hot air balloons tethered to the ground.

INS Satpura, the Indian Navy’s second Shivalik class frigate

AFP

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and the Vikrant class aircraft carrier being built at Kochi. Earlier, IAI’s ELTA had supplied three S-band EL/M 2282 Ad- Star surveillance and threat alert radars for the Project 17 Shivalik class FFGs, six more for Godavari class, three for Brahmaputra class FFGs, two for Kashin class DDGs and one for INS Viraat. These Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR), essentially, for providing inputs to the Barak systems, were the first fully digital operational naval Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars in the world, according to the IAI. Given the heightened coastal security

consciousness in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks and subsequent efforts to strengthen security, the IN, entrusted with coastal responsibility, has been planning to purchase two Israeli Aerostat Radars EL/M 2083 which are be mounted on hot air balloons tethered to the ground. With a range of approximately 500km, it is estimated that only three radars will be required to provide the necessary 3D coverage for the entire Western Coast. Unfortunately, the project has got mired in administrative quagmire and is currently gathering dust. In 2009, the IN signed a deal to procure

eight US built P-8I Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance aircraft. To be installed with state-of-the-art AN/APY10 radars these will provide ultra-high resolution and be of help in providing reconnaissance, intelligence and surveillance. Next year, BEL signed an MoA (Memo of Agreement) with the Danish firm Terma for cooperating on building naval radars for surveillance purposes. Since Terma is a niche expert in surveillance and coastal radar technology – it is presumed that these radars will eventually be deployed on the coast to provide security. In conclusion, we can see that the IN has taken a multi-pronged approach towards modernising its radars and other sensors in an effort to keep up with the demands of changing technology, the geo-strategic scenario and security necessities. On the one hand, it is encouraging indigenous design, despite numerous problems like a short meantime between failures and design lacunae and on the other it is resorting to foreign purchases to ensure that the operational profile of the ships do not suffer. Under the circumstances this combination is probably the best way forward.

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Several South Asian militaries are involved in commercial ventures, corrupting the Services and militarising civil society

Pakistani soldiers provide security as trucks carrying military logistics drive from South Waziristan, Pakistan

RAHUL BEDI

KEY POINTS n The Pakistani Army has built an economic empire that strengthens it institutionally. n Instead of downsizing its 300,000strong defence force, Sri Lanka’s administration has encouraged its involvement in large-scale commercial activities. n There has been an alarming rise in the number of Indian military officers charged with corruption.

OFFICERS AND BUSINESS MEN 32

AFP

f late, several South Asian militaries are increasingly running lucrative commercial ventures rivalling private businesses in a move that threatens not only to militarise civil society but also corrupt the Services. The Pakistani military — with its varied commercial interests worth an estimated USD 20 billion that extend from managing bakeries, sugar factories, power plants and industrial complexes to operating airlines, banks and communication and transport networks — tops this list followed by those of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and to a lesser extent, India. These countries also routinely appoint retired and serving military personnel to senior Government positions like provincial governors and as diplomatic envoys, incrementally but dangerously, eclipsing civilian control which in some South Asian States remains chimerical. Such appointments also threaten the established axiom that civilian leaderships which cannot challenge their militaries by force must also guard against any potential usurpation of powers invidiously, from within.

Since 1947, three bloodless military coups lasting 30 years occurred in Pakistan and twice in Bangladesh which also endured a staggering 19 attempts by renegade soldiers trying to overthrow incumbent civilian administrations in Dhaka (formerly Dacca), since the country’s formation in 1971. “Over the years, the Pakistani military – the country’s most formidable political players – has built an economic empire that strengthens it institutionally,” writes Ayesha Siddiqa in her seminal work on the subject, Military Inc: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy. Its commercial stakes, Siddiqa declares, have proliferated across the agriculture, manufacturing and service sectors including banking and insurance. This financial involvement has significantly enhanced its assets making it one of Pakistan’s dominant economic players. Pakistani military business interests fall broadly into three categories: those controlled directly by the Army Chief, formalised military sectors like ordnance and the State-owned armament factories managed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Services, the Department of Military Land and Cantonments and the paramilitary Frontier Force and Rangers. In addition, there are four subsidiary, ostensibly charitable organisations– the Fauji Foundation, the Army Welfare Trust, Shaheen Foundation and the Bahria Foundation — all of which operate autonomously like private corporations manned by both serving and former Servicemen. This first official group, run by the Services and the MoD, includes the National Highway Authority and the Frontier Works Organisation each headed by a serving twostar officer; the Special Communications Organisation (SCO) amply supported by the

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Several South Asian militaries are involved in commercial ventures, corrupting the Services and militarising civil society

Pakistani soldiers provide security as trucks carrying military logistics drive from South Waziristan, Pakistan

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Radisson Hotel, Dhaka

Army’s Signal Corps and the National Logistics Cell (NLC) that operates a significant, if seldom discussed, countrywide trucking operation. Aided by the Army Engineering Corps, the Army's Frontier Works Organisation, founded in 1966 to build the precipitous Karakoram Highway connecting Pakistan to military and nuclear ally China via the disputed Northern Areas, has emerged as the largest contractor for roads and toll collection across the country. And while the SCO working with the Signals Corps, established in 1976 to provide connectivity across Pakistanadministered Kashmir and adjoining Northern Areas, has, in recent years, teamed up with the federal Information Technology Ministry to wire up the country, the NLC is perhaps the Army's most profitable operation managing possibly Asia’s largest public sector trucking fleet. Employing around 2,500 serving and some 7,000-odd retired Service officers, the SCO is also involved in constructing roads, bridges and crop storage facilities. Established by General Mohammad Ziaul-Haq in the late 1970s, the NLC’s massive trailer trucks will, for years, collect armaments and ordnance, including assault

In nearby Bangladesh, the military’s business empire, estimated at around USD 500 million, covers the hospitality trade with the ownership of at least two five-star properties in Dhaka and another being built in the southern port city of Chittagong.The Dhaka Radisson hotel, which offers guests use of the nearby deluxe Army golf course, is owned by Bangladesh’s Army Welfare Trust.

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rifles and Stinger missiles off-loaded at the southern port city of Karachi from ships chartered by America's Central Intelligence Agency and transport them to north-west Pakistan to Mujahideen cadres fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. And, more recently NLC-operated trucks and their largely plucky Pashtun drivers from Pakistan’s restive North West Frontier region have played a major role in establishing the Taliban’s control over Afghanistan in the mid-1990s, an account that has, sadly been sparsely documented as it constitutes a fascinating part of the violent mosaic of the war-torn region. Thereafter, this large fleet of trucks continued to supply the Taliban regime with weapons, fuel and food till it was toppled by the US in 2001. But Pakistan’s 57-year old Fauji or Solider Foundation, the country’s largest industrial conglomerate, is the 'jewel' in the Army's crown involved initially in trading consumer-related commodities like rice, flour and jute from former East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. Headed by a threestar officer, it provides womb-to-tomb facilities for nearly nine million retired servicemen that include re-settlement and re-employment schemes, educational

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Invisible Economy “A large part of the military’s internal economy remains invisible” writes Siddiqa, its complex financial and operational structure swathed in Byzantine procedures almost impossible to accurately unravel. And since Pakistan’s socio-political system is predominantly authoritarian, the ruling classes are not averse to using military force (and its expanding financial muscle) to further their political and economic interests, she states. It is often jocularly said that all countries have a military, but Pakistan’s military has a country which it runs at tremendous profit. Pakistani’s also joke that if every serving and retired military officer protects his property, then their country will be one of the best defended in the region as the Services continue to appropriate vast tracts of hugely expensive urban land at throwaway prices for personal use and to build grandiose housing colonies.

Last year, the country was appalled by the Adarsh building scandal involving two former Army Chiefs, a retired Indian Navy Chief and several Service officers, all of whom allegedly cornered, at low cost, through a web of intrigue and cunning, expensive flats in Mumbai’s spiffy Colaba area meant originally for families of the Kargil martyrs.

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Satish Kumar who edits India's National Security Annual Review, which focusses on strategic challenges, says that the Pakistan Army is not just a defence force but a ruling oligarchy with substantial economic interests to safeguard. And it is highly unlikely that it will ever relinquish this role in the foreseeable future as it has too much money to lose. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka often described as the “pearl of the Indian Ocean” is also South Asia’s most militarised country with an estimated 8,000 defence personnel for one million citizens has, after defeating the Tamil Tiger guerillas in May 2009 opted to involve its victorious and bloated military in a range of commercial activities. Pakistan with its history of extended military rule has only 4,000 military personnel per one million of population whilst the figures for the other South Asian states are significantly less: Nepal – 2,700, India — 1,300 and Bangladesh — 1,000. Instead of downsizing its 300,000-strong defence force after the bitter civil war ended, President Mahinda Rajpaksa’s administration has encouraged their involvement in large-scale commercial activities like selling vegetables and religious bric-a-brac, running travel agencies, hotels

The Adarsh Housing Society apartments, Mumbai AFP

institutions and operates gas, cement, fertiliser and oil storage plants, power units, steel and cement factories and even consumer goods units producing electronic items, sugar and breakfast cereals. On its part, the Army Welfare Trust set up in 1971 to generate greater employment and profit making opportunities for Pakistan’s largest Service and controlled by General Headquarters in Rawalpindi runs some 40 stud farms spread over some 16,000 acres, rice mills, cement factories and units producing hosiery, shoes, woollen clothing, pharmaceuticals and even breeds fish. The Trust also has interests in insurance, banking, power generation, housing and shopping complexes and in providing security guards for private deployment. The Shaheen Foundation, headed by Pakistan’s Air Chief, operates an airline, air freight services, airport services and not to be outdone by its associated Service organisations, a travel and knitwear business in addition to selling cable television and FM radio services. On its part, the Pakistan Navy is largely in charge of the Bahria Foundation that manages a host of businesses like deep-sea fishing and dredging, ship breaking and harbour and coastal services alongside civilian activities like town house construction, farming, catering and decoration services for weddings and parties.

OCTOBER 2011

and highway restaurants and collecting garbage in the capital, Colombo. The Army is even responsible for constructing houses and has built one cricket stadium and renovated another for last year’s World Cup. On the northern Jaffna peninsula it has converted one of its messes into a 22-room luxury resort whilst the Navy runs ferry services and tours for whale-watchers. Disturbingly, the island’s Ministry of Education plans on sending fresh graduates to military camps for three-week leadership courses where they will be given instruction in English, leadership skills and social etiquette. The authorities justify this by claiming that Army camps are the only place where a large body of students can be accommodated but analysts warn that it was a move fraught with “militarising the seat of Sri Lanka’s higher education”. Numerically, too, the Sri Lankan military has worryingly multiplied under Rajapaksa whose administration sees nothing amiss in expanding its role in civil affairs and developmental work. It looks upon the military merely as a more efficient substitute for the failing and corrupt public sector which ironically it fails to set right. Analysts and NGOs, however, question the Services’ involvement in commercial ventures claiming that it can ultimately lead to Rajpaksa’s democratically elected administration using the military to perpetuate its rule as in time it will be too difficult and ruinous to disentangle it from national economic activity. In nearby Bangladesh, the military’s business empire, estimated at around USD 500 million, is involved in the hospitality trade with the ownership of at least two fivestar properties in Dhaka and another being built in the southern port city of Chittagong. The Dhaka Radisson hotel, which offers guests use of the nearby deluxe Army golf course, is owned by Bangladesh’s Army Welfare Trust (AWT) and was built on dedicated military land giving it a commercial advantage in Dhaka’s sky-rocketing real estate market. The Bangladesh Army also owns the Trust Bank with around 40 branches nationwide and in 2007 the military-backed caretaker Government granted it exclusive rights to receive fees for passports. Emulating Pakistan’s Fauji Foundation, Bangladesh’s AWT, founded in 1998, has also spawned the Sena Kallyan Sangstha

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(SKS) to care for veterans and family members of servicemen. Over years, the SKS has expanded its industrial and financial operations to include burgeoning interests in the food industry — especially ice cream manufacturing, textiles, jute, garments, electronics, real estate and travel. Analysts in Dhaka maintain that many defence-owned businesses were “virtually indistinguishable” from other commercial enterprises in the way they operated but in recent years this aspect has impacted adversely on the Bangladeshi military itself. The inquiry into the country’s worst ever mutiny by the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) border guards in 2009 in which some 68 senior military officials were shot dead, revealed that the insurrection was partially fuelled by resentment over the corruption of Army officers engaged in commercial activities. Growing Misuse The Indian military, South Asia’s largest, has assiduously and determinedly been denied all commercial and business opportunities by successive civilian governments fearful since Independence in 1947 of coups similar to those in Pakistan. But last year the country was appalled by the Adarsh building scandal involving two former Army Chiefs, a retired Indian Navy (IN) Chief and several Service officers, all of whom allegedly cornered, at low cost, through a web of intrigue and cunning, expensive flats in Mumbai’s spiffy Colaba area meant originally for families of the Kargil martyrs. Currently under investigation, the case involved Service officers accused of colluding with politicians, contractors and civil servants in flouting security, environmental and building norms in obtaining allotment of luxury flats in the high-rise Adarsh building. The scandal has particularly heaped opprobrium upon a former Army Chief who, despite being viciously pilloried in military and official circles and the media, continues unashamedly to behave as though blameless even though he lobbied desperately whilst in office to secure a flat in the controversy-ridden apartment block. However, it is the Indian military’s addiction to golf that has repeatedly earned it official censure. Earlier this year, the watchdog, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) declared that the Army’s

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The Adarsh Housing Society apartments, Mumbai AFP

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97 golf courses of a total of some 180 across the country were “unauthorised” and were being “exploited” to earn revenue. In its report on the management of defence estates, tabled in Parliament in March, the CAG has declared that these ‘gold’ golf courses spread across 8,000 acres are not authorised and that the Army is doing wrong in using Government land to generate profits. “Golf courses and attendant activities can’t be considered military activities and A-1 land can’t be used for golf courses,” it notes. Heavy amounts of revenues are being earned, the report adds, without paying any lease rent for use of Government assets, credited presumably to regimental funds, the CAG states. In August 2010, the CAG has also indicted Army Chief General V. K Singh for diverting some ` 7.2 million to illegally construct a grand club house at the Ambala Golf Course during his tenure in the garrison town as 2 Corps Commander. A year earlier, the CAG had somewhat drolly stated that for top Indian Army Generals, mobility on the golf course was far more important than operational preparedness. It revealed that two threestar commanders had procured 27 golf carts by passing them off as mechanised wheel chairs for military hospitals and track alignment reconnaissance vehicles (TARVs) for sapper units deployed along the Pakistani frontier. According to the CAG, two successive Lieutenant Generals, both heading the

AFP

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa inspects the Guard of Honour at an Army camp, Diyatalawa

Analysts and NGOs, however, question the Services’ involvement in commercial ventures claiming that it can ultimately lead to Rajpaksa’s democratically elected administration using the military to perpetuate its rule.

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strategically sensitive Western Command at Chandimandir, had misused their financial authority by expending `11.7 million on golf carts and worse had somewhat, clumsily disguised their acquisition. The audit declared that the first lot of five golf buggies had been procured in 2006 for `156,000 as ‘motorised carts’ to transport medical patients. Initially, they were dispatched to various military hospitals in northern India before being diverted to several Army golf courses in the area under the officer’s command. And once again in 2008, his successor, using his

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special financial powers, sanctioned the purchase of 22 TRAVs for ` 10 million which the CAG discovered were golf carts too. The MoD, however, justified the golf cart purchase by declaring, somewhat incredulously, to the CAG that they “facilitated the noiseless reconnaissance in close proximity to the enemy and helped in the quick laying of track material”. The CAG countered by maintaining that no documents were produced by the Army to show that these vehicles were ever used for track-laying in operational areas. And whilst this can be dismissed as amusing and relatively tame commercial activity compared to the business interests of neighbouring militaries, there is an alarming rise in the number of Indian military officers charged with corruption, many of them court court-martialed for offloading substantially subsidised defence rations and liquor on the open market at great profit. Earlier this year, a serving three-star Army officer was court-martialed for his involvement in a land scam — a first for India’s military. In a related development, all three Services have categorically refused the CAG permission to audit its 4,500 canteens, with an annual turnover of `10,000 crore, that cater to serving and retired military personnel. In a strongly-worded letter to the MoD, the CAG has declared that since the canteens were located in Government premises, run by Service personnel, utilising Government transport and receiving substantial moneys from the Consolidated Fund of India, denial of audit permission ‘violated’ its rights. But official sources say that the respective Vice-Chiefs of the armed forces were vehement in denying the CAG access to financially appraise the functioning of its canteens claiming that each outlet was individually audited and hence above suspicion, completely ignoring the steady hemorrhaging of goods that is common knowledge. "Standards and values have changed for the worse and the Services are not impervious to the overall environment,” a retired Lieutenant General admits. Like the rest of society, India’s military too is in the turbulent and unsettling telling throes of transition which includes large-scale corruption, he said philosophically, concluding that military personnel too were not immune to the lure of lucre.

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Former Vice Chief of Staff of the South China Sea Fleet of the PLA Navy, Rear Admiral Xiao Xinnian (far left)

The coming decade is likely to witness China asserting its maritime territorial sovereignty possibly leading to heightened tension in the region

Almost five million sq km of AsiaPacific’s maritime area is poised to become a vortex of tension. n Half of the three million sq km of waters that should fall under China’s jurisdiction are under demarcation disputes with peripheral countries. n The US has also chosen to demonstrate its presence in the area and support the countries in the region. n

major portion of almost five million sq km of a maritime area in the Asia-Pacific, which includes East China and the South China Sea, is poised to become a cockpit of tension in the current decade.

Only consider, in recent weeks, Beijing has reasserted its claims to the Spratlys and Paracels archipelagos in the South China Sea, as well as the Diaoyu Islands — called the Senkaku in Japan — disputed with Tokyo; and India and Vietnam are insisting on jointly tapping oil resources in the troubled waters. This reiteration of China’s claims comes against a backdrop of high levels of tension in the South China Sea, with serious clashes remaining a distant possibility as co-claimants, Vietnam and the Philippines, also show no signs of backing off or in the mood for compromise. Meanwhile, a strange incident involving an Indian Navy ship occurred this July. The INS Airavat, after sailing 45 nautical miles off Nha Trang Port in Vietnam, heard a broadcast on an open radio channel from someone identified merely as the Chinese

AFP

KEY POINTS

AFP

JAYADEVA RANADE

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ENTER THE DRAGON

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Former Vice Chief of Staff of the South China Sea Fleet of the PLA Navy, Rear Admiral Xiao Xinnian (far left)

The coming decade is likely to witness China asserting its maritime territorial sovereignty possibly leading to heightened tension in the region

major portion of almost five million sq km of a maritime area in the Asia-Pacific, which includes East China and the South China Sea, is poised to become a cockpit of tension in the current decade.

AFP

KEY POINTS

AFP

JAYADEVA RANADE

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Filipinos protest in Manila condemning an alleged incursion by the Chinese Navy in the South China Sea

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facts.” Stating that Beijing is willing to follow the principle of shelving differences and seeking joint development, it, “urged the Philippines to halt its action deemed detrimental to China’s maritime sovereignty and interests in the South China Sea and to cease releasing irresponsible remarks.”

AFP

Using History Consistently

Navy. The broadcast informed the ship that it was entering Chinese waters, and instructed it to leave. There was, however, no Chinese ship in the vicinity. Such events cannot be unconnected with regional politics. To state their claims, China and Vietnam have both separately conducted live fire drills in the area. On its part, the office of the Philippines President announced on June 14, 2011 that it will rename the South China Sea as the West

Philipppine Sea. The US has also chosen to demonstrate its presence in the area and support countries in the region. Along with Australia, it too has, for the first time, conducted an exercise in these waters. The US has called for ensuring the neutrality and unhindered free passage through the sea lanes in this area and urged the various claimants to arrive at a peaceful negotiated settlement. The implicit US support to the

Philippines and Vietnam, made around this time last year in Hanoi by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and again this year during her tour to Indonesia — after a three-day stop over in India — has clearly annoyed Beijing. To be sure, Beijing has been periodically asserting its claims, but these recent instances are significant. For example, just before Philippines President Aquino’s arrival in Beijing, the official Chinese news

agency, Xinhua, warned this August that bilateral relations cannot be boosted only through trade but are dependent on a commitment to a “proper settlement of the maritime disputes in the South China Sea.” It declared, “China has always made itself loud and clear that it has indisputable sovereignty over the Sea’s islands and surrounding waters, which is part of China’s core interests. That is based on unambiguous and undeniable historical

China has consistently used history to bolster its claims, pointing out that other claimant nations, like Vietnam and the Philippines, staked no claims till the late 1970s when huge reserves of oil and natural gas were discovered. In July, the official English newspaper China Daily declared that the Chinese people first sailed in the waters off the islands over 2,000 years ago and discovered and named many of them. It claimed that China’s naval forces began to patrol and exercise jurisdiction over the area thereby establishing China’s maritime boundary in the South China Sea. Maps published in

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April 1935 and February 1948, showed 11 dotted lines encircling the four archipelagos with its southernmost point at Zengmu’ansha. These were the first maps to mark the U-shaped maritime boundary of China in the South China Sea. A mix of ambition and misinterpreted signals over the past few years has seemingly persuaded China’s leadership that the US will acquiesce to China’s dominance over large portions of these waters. Chinese strategists and military officials began referring to the South China Sea as China’s ‘core interest’. The situation changed with the unprecedented largescale US-South Korea naval exercises in March 2010, which were correctly interpreted in Beijing as being aimed at China. On February 8, 2011, the US Chairperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, signed the US National Security Strategy, a document in which China’s influence was implicit throughout. It stated that the US’s “strategic priorities and interests will increasingly emanate from the Asia-Pacific region” and that “for decades to come” the US military will keep a robust presence in Northeast Asia, across Southeast Asia and the Pacific. “Assured access to and freedom of maneuver within the global commons — shared areas of sea, air, and space — and globally connected domains” is declared to be of enduring interest to the US. It was a slap on China’s wrists and accentuated the strains in Sino-US relations. Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to the US took place against this backdrop and, recognising reality, he deliberately avoided categorising the South China Sea as one of China’s ‘core interests,’ along with Taiwan and Tibet. Indeed, China was also compelled to acquiesce to the US being designated as an Asia-Pacific power in the joint communiqué issued in January 2011. China’s Party and military leadership additionally publicly asserted that China had no intention of ‘confronting’ or ‘challenging’ the US. China has simultaneously adopted a new negotiating stance intended to blunt US justification for maintaining a presence in the waters. Beijing has proposed that the neutrality and freedom of international sea lanes in these waters should be guaranteed by China, US and other countries while calling on other claimant nations to

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Filipinos protest in Manila condemning an alleged incursion by the Chinese Navy in the South China Sea

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REGION and respect China’s core interests.” It accused Tokyo of managing, “its relationship with Beijing without due respect for China’s core interests” and emphasised that, “Japan needs to show enough respect for China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, especially when it comes to matters concerning Diaoyu Islands, which are an integral part of China’s territory.” At the same time, it said China, “would like to settle its differences with Japan through candid dialogue and is willing to shelve differences and jointly explore the resources in the surrounding waters of the Diaoyu Islands, on the condition that Tokyo recognised China’s complete sovereignty over the archipelago.”

Engaging PLAN In keeping with the overall scenario, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has been enlarging the scope of its activity and received increased prominence. It is clear that the PLAN will continue to receive the major share of the defence allocations, but its efficacy will be augmented by additional budgetary infusions to the State Oceanic Administration, provincial maritime administrations and shipyards. A Chinese tabloid owned by the Communist Party of China, The Global Times, disclosed in July 2011, that the number of vessels with the State Oceanic Administration will increase to 350 by 2015 and 520 by 2020. Meanwhile, Chinese military analysts have called for a unified maritime force. An article in the Jiefangjun Bao, the official daily of the PLA, of July 27, stated that, “Presently the People’s Republic of China is facing a very grim situation in the protection of its rights and interests of the seas. More than half of the three million sq km of waters that should fall under China’s jurisdictions according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea are under demarcation disputes with peripheral countries. Large numbers of China’s islands have been invaded and occupied and China’s oil, gas and fishery resources have often been plundered…” PLAN’s emphasis continues to be on deterring and delaying ‘hostile’ foreign navies stepping in to assist Taiwan or other nations in the South China Sea. PLAN is engaged in the rapid construction of more advanced and new

The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has been enlarging the scope of its activity and received increased prominence. It is clear that PLAN will continue to receive a major share of defence allocations; its efficacy will be augmented by additional budgetary infusions to the State Oceanic Administration, provincial maritime administrations and shipyards.

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A US Navy FA-18 Super Hornet refuels during a US-Japan military exercise above the South China Sea

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missiles, ships and submarines. The addition of aircraft carriers — the first just completed sea trials in early August 2011, and will join the South Sea Fleet — from 2015 onwards will significantly upgrade its capabilities. A potentially important, though under played, feature has been China’s steady focus on the design, development and manufacture of Unmanned Underwater Vessels (UUV). This will augment its already sizeable submarine fleet and give it added operational flexibility. The UUVs will be part of China’s asymmetric subterranean warfare strategy. The UUV programme was initiated as part of the secret 863 Programme. US analyst Richard Fisher stated in a report that in 1996 China revealed a UUV featuring artificial intelligence and automatic controls which could reach a depth of 6,000 metres. It was developed with Russian assistance. A new unmanned patrol/surveillance vessel was unveiled by China at the Zhuhai show in 2006. This vessel was described as useful for long-range reconnaissance, communication relay, electronic interference, target strike,

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settle disputes bilaterally. Beijing’s anger at the US was separately reflected in an interview by Rear Admiral Yin Zhuo in June when he criticised the US role in the South China Sea. Meanwhile, big power rivalry in these waters was stepped up with Russia announcing its intention of deploying troops on the Kurile Islands disputed with Japan. Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov declared on February 26, 2011, that, to ensure the security of the islands, which are an inalienable part of Russia, Russia will deploy military units on the Iturup and Kunashir Islands which are part of the Kurile Island chain. They will have an integrated machine gun-artillery division and be reinforced with the newest communications systems, electronic warfare and radar stations. S-400 missile defense systems could also possibly be deployed. China has not given up its quest to ‘recover’ its ‘lost’ maritime territories. Beijing remains intent on restricting the scope of activity of the US and other powers in these waters. China’s ambition is to dominate at least the area within the ‘first Island chain’, which is bounded between the Chinese mainland up to southern Japan along the Philippines and down to Brunei and Vietnam. Beijing’s determination to ‘recover’ these territories was evident even when it felt under pressure by the US-South Korean joint naval exercises. China, which had earlier warned that the Yellow Sea was in close proximity to its vital economic and political centre, responded by conducting a series of military exercises. The Second Artillery, China’s strategic missile force, undertook a major exercise in Beijing’s vicinity on the eastern seaboard, obviously to demonstrate that it had acquired a capability to launch missile attacks against hostile aircraft carrier groups. The implied reference was to the DF-21D Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile (ASBM), which has an estimated range of 1,500km and is believed to have been first deployed with the Second Artillery unit created in July, 2010. China’s unflagging interest in this region was evident just days prior to its warning issued to Manila. On August 29, 2011, Xinhua, reminded Japan’s new Prime Minister Yoshihko Noda that he, “Should take concrete and substantial steps to promote its relations with China,

OCTOBER 2011

submarine mines search, anti-submarine combat and so on. In 2007, the official Chinese Television channel telecast visuals of a PLAN minesweeper using a UUV for countermine operations. UUVs have a variety of potential applications and can be used to effectively hamper an adversary’s operations. The possible uses of UUVs envisage using them in the mode that Chinese military literature favours, namely the ‘swarming concept.’ Lyle Goldstein of the China Maritime Studies Institute of the US Naval War College has assessed that the UUVs could be used in ‘swarms’ as part of an undersea

network that could be used for sensing, shooting or as communication relay stations. They would, moreover, be low cost. A number of specialised institutes are at work in China on UUVs, suggesting that a considerable quantum of funds along with the necessary research and development (R&D) effort has been invested in the project. It is probable that Chinese researchers are working on advanced guidance systems for the UUVs to enhance their effective deployment in maritime undersea warfare. Their usage will initially be in the Taiwan Strait and waters surrounding the Spratlys and Paracels. They could later be deployed

in offensive operational roles in more distant waters. China’s recent actions, together with its long term naval production plans, confirm that Beijing intends to ‘recover’ sovereignty over major parts of the South China and East China Seas as also establish its dominance over this maritime territory of its interest. China’s efforts, which had become lowkey after Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to the US, appear to have now strengthened. This decade is likely to witness more instances of China asserting its maritime territorial sovereignty leading to heightened tension in the region.

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A US Navy FA-18 Super Hornet refuels during a US-Japan military exercise above the South China Sea

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PUSHING FOR

REFORM India is reviving its quest for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council

SIDDHARTH VARADARAJAN

KEY POINTS n In 2005, along with Brazil, Japan and Germany, India made a determined, but unsuccessful, push to bring about the expansion of the UNSC. n Today, more than 80 countries have agreed to co-sponsor such a change but that is still 40 short of a two-thirds majority needed to pass a resolution at the UNGA. n Even if a two-thirds majority does not exist today India can afford to wait.

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The United Nations building in New York

ndia is not a country that knows how to take diplomatic setbacks in its stride and move on. When Tokyo handily defeated New Delhi's bid to get elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in 1994, it took 16 years for the Indian Government to gather courage and run for a seat at the top decision-making world body again. In the intervening years, India launched two unsuccessful attempts to raise its profile at the UN. In 2005, along with Brazil, Japan and Germany – known collectively as the G4 – it made a determined push to bring about the reform and an expansion of the UNSC. The following year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took the unprecedented step of fielding an Indian candidate, Shashi Tharoor, for the post of UN Secretary-

General. The initiative ran aground in the face of active and passive opposition from China and the United States, neither of whom was ready to countenance the dilution of their own privileged position at the UN. Though Tharoor ran a creditable race – coming a respectable second to Ban ki-Moon with only one permanent member, the US, refusing to back him – many analysts believe India diluted its great power claims by competing for a post traditionally considered the preserve of smaller nations and mid-powers and one which it had no realistic chance at winning.

Break with the Past Why then, in the face of earlier defeats at the UN and its own tendency to retreat into its shell after a major setback, has India revived its quest for a permanent seat on the UNSC? Does the push being made by India in New York amount to a welcome break with a timorous past? Or is it another act of misplaced bravado – an equivalent of the Tharoor nomination – which will end up hurting the country's interests and reputation? The question is important because considerable diplomatic energy is being expended at Turtle Bay, the area where the UN is headquartered, to propel the ongoing text-based negotiations on Security Council reform towards the formulation of a short framework resolution that can be submitted to the UN General Assembly for a formal vote.

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PUSHING FOR

REFORM India is reviving its quest for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council

SIDDHARTH VARADARAJAN

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The United Nations building in New York

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India and the G4 want the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to endorse the principle of an increase in the size of the Council from the current 15 (consisting of five permanent and ten non-permanent members) to 25 or 26, with six new permanent seats, comprising two additional members from Asia and Africa and one each from Latin America and Europe. At present, Asia and North America have one permanent seat each, while Europe has three, two from the western side – France and Great Britain and one from the eastern – Russia. Indian officials say more than 80 countries have agreed to co-sponsor such a framework text. The idea would be to win more co-sponsors – ideally as close to the two-thirds mark required to pass a resolution at the UNGA – before calling for a formal vote that the sponsors would win handily. After that, it would be up to any and all aspirants for the new permanent seats created to secure a two-thirds majority of their own in individual balloting. India expects to sail through that stage, as would Japan and Brazil. Germany, the one member of the G4 nations whose claim to a permanent seat , the European Union's third and Europe’s fourth, has the lowest international support and is less sure of its prospects at the General Assembly. The final stage of the expansion process would be for the UNSC to approve of the new permanent members, which amounts to none of the five existing permanent members using their veto to block a candidate that has already secured the support of at least two-thirds of the world. Despite Chinese opposition to a permanent seat for Japan and its discomfort at sharing space at the high table with India, the use of the veto against either Asian power is extremely unlikely.

The American and Chinese Position Account of a meeting held at the UN on May 18, 2009 between Susan Rice, Ambassador of the US to the United Nations, Ambassador Alejandor Wolff, Deputy Permanent US Representative to the UN and China’s Vice-Foreign Minister, He Yafei:

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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh speaks at the 66th United Nations General Assembly, New York

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Ambassador Rice told He Yafei that the United States continues to review its policy on Security Council reform. She stressed that the Barack Obama Administration recognises the need for Council expansion to reflect the realities of the 21st century but commented that expansion must be modest in order to maintain the Council's effectiveness and efficiency. She said the US does not agree with adding permanent seats representing regions without knowing which countries would occupy the seats and is not interested in changing the current configuration of the veto. Rice said the US has avoided taking sides between the Group of Four and Uniting for Consensus blocs and is approaching the issue with genuine open-mindedness... Ambassador Wolff added that the US and China have excellent cooperation on this issue and remarked that there is a real risk that President of the General Assembly Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann will want to take action to demonstrate progress before he finishes his tenure in September. In response to He Yafei's question about a solution forced on the Council or rushed through the General Assembly, Rice responded that the possibility exists, but added that intervening prematurely could accelerate the process and precipitate a bad decision by the Assembly. Ambassador Wolff said the dynamics surrounding the intermediate solution needed to be watched carefully. Japan and Germany are playing with the idea and Brazil is approaching it with caution. If India shows interest in it, however, the situation could turn and reform and could move much more quickly... In response to Ambassador Rice's question about China’s bottom line, He Yafei said that China believes the Council needs to be more representative but should not be too large. China does not have a specific size in mind for an expanded Council, he said. Like the US, he commented, China wants to anchor an expanded Council's legitimacy with the widest possible consensus, agreeing that the two-thirds majority would leave one-third unsatisfied. He also said that adding Japan remained an issue for China. Ambassador Rice commented that it would be difficult to envision an expansion of the Council without the UN's second largest contributor, which He Yafei acknowledged. He said that it is too early and the conditions are not right for the P-5 to come to any consensus on reform, stressing the need for the United States, China and Russia to reach a consensus before bringing in the UK and France, which have different objectives in a reform process — that is, holding on to their seats.

The United States – which has endorsed the aspirations of Japan and India and to a limited extent, Germany – and China would ideally like to avoid any dilution of the existing permanent members' monopoly over international decision-making. Russia, too, is ambivalent, though it cannot afford openly to question the candidature of countries like India, Brazil and Africa. The UN Charter gives permanent members the right to block the expansion of membership but none of the existing five permanent members (P-5) would like to bear the

burden of casting a veto. That is why each would like the expansion process to get stuck in procedural wrangles. And the way to do that, apart from the usual filibustering in UN Committees and meetings, is to encourage those countries who have taken a stand against the reform process for one reason or the other. The Uniting for Consensus (UfC) group, also known as the Coffee Club, consists of nearly two dozen nations, mostly midpowers, that oppose any expansion in permanent seats because this would place them at a strategic disadvantage vis-à-vis the six larger powers that would gain. Pakistan opposes a permanent seat for India. Argentina and Mexico oppose

For India, the hardest part of the war is the first battle — to ensure that the UNGA approves of a framework resolution for six new permanent seats. From there onwards the sailing, for India at least, is likely to be easy.

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Brazil's aspirations. Egypt and Algeria fear that they will not make the cut for the two proposed Africa seats (Nigeria and South Africa are seen as the strongest contenders). European powers like Italy and Spain do not want Germany to get a permanent seat. In Asia, South Korea and Indonesia do not want Japan to gain. The US diplomatic cable from May 2009, leaked recently by WikiLeaks, (see box) show how the US and China are trying to coordinate their positions. For India, the hardest part of the war is the first battle – to ensure that the UNGA approves of a framework resolution for six new permanent seats. From there onwards, the sailing, at least for the Indians, is likely to be easy. But getting to the stage where the UNGA debates, and approves, of the text currently being finalised is not going to

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be easy. Eighty-odd co-sponsors look impressive but that is some 40 countries short of the two-thirds mark. Part of the problem is a lack of consensus in Africa. Since the adoption of its 2005 Ezulwini Consensus where it called for two permanent seats with full veto powers for Africa, the African Union (AU) has refrained from adopting a detailed position on the process by which the goal of UNSC reform can be accomplished. If the African debate were to move ahead quickly or even if individual AU members were to conclude that Ezulwini does not prevent them from backing the nations’ reform text — the text's language is broad enough to include the 2005 African position — then the framework resolution would sail through the UNGA.

Differing Assessments Unfortunately, the G4 nations themselves have differing assessments of their prospects before the UNGA. India and Brazil are clear that the tabling of a concrete text calling for six new permanent seats is the way to proceed. But Germany and Japan feel the current level of international support for the text does not warrant that. Berlin and Tokyo are anxious to settle the intermediate option – of a freeze in permanent seats for, say, the next decade or two, and the creation of a new category of semi-permanent members. Such an approach, they feel, would allow the G4 to remain on the Council for a period longer than the two-year term non-permanent members are entitled to. India has not erred in pushing the reform agenda again despite the setback of 2005. Indeed, the Manmohan Singh Government has judged, correctly, that the world is much more willing to countenance an enlarged role for India today than it has at any time in the past two decades. Even if the two-thirds majority does not exist today India can afford to wait. If the leading institutions of global governance deny India its say, this can only affect their credibility and effectiveness. The longer the delay, the greater will be India's claims. In contrast, the claims of Japan and Germany will get weaker with each passing year. One can understand the reasons why they see merit in the intermediate option of a semi-permanent seat. For India, however, settling for an unnecessary compromise will be self-defeating and demeaning.

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Arjun Mk-II Main Battle Tank

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Nearly 40 Years Later Still a Work-In-Progress The upgraded version of India’s locally designed Arjun Mk-II Main Battle Tank (MBT) – of which the Army is expected to eventually order around 250 – will cost an astronomical ` 37 crore (USD 8.22 million) each: once completed, it will possibly be the world’s most expensive tank ever. Defence Minister A.K. Antony told Parliament in August 2011, that production of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)-designed Arjun Mk-II – presently undergoing limited, technical trials in Rajasthan with ‘major and minor improvements’ – will begin at the Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF) at Avadi near Chennai by 2015. Armament industry sources say that the Arjun Mk-IIs’ astronomical cost exposes DRDO claims that around 90 percent of its components are indigenous consequently making the MBT cheaper. In contrast, the Arjun Mk-I, with around 60 percent of imported components, including its engine and transmission system, is priced at `15-17 crore (USD 3.3-USD 3.7 million.) This makes it less than half the estimated cost of the under-development Arjun Mk-II which, in all likelihood, will escalate further once production begins. Alongside, the 647 Russian T-90S MBTs — which the Indian Army (IA) imported in

completed and kit form from 2001 onwards and plans to build another 1,000 locally, under licence, to equip the bulk of the 59 armoured formations — were procured for USD 2.2-2.5 million per unit. The DRDO plans on completing trials of Arjun Mk-II with 93 improvements – including 13 major ones – over the Arjun Mk-I by October 2012 after which it anticipates orders for at least 250 of the upgraded tanks. The retrofit includes providing Arjun Mk-IIs the capability to fire the Israeli Laser Homing Anti-Tank Missiles through its 120 mm rifled gun. Other improvements include fitment with locally developed Kanchan explosive reactive armour and thermal imaging panoramic sights. The DRDO also plans on replacing Arjun Mk-I’s German MTU 838Ka-501 diesel engine and semi-automatic RENK RK-304A transmission a combination with a locally designed amalgamation through collaborative ventures with overseas manufacturers. This will reduce its weight from around 60 tonnes for enhanced mobility and logistic efficiency and modify its hull to provide it a lower silhouette for greater battlefield survival. The upgraded MBT will also be airconditioned and fitted with superior communication systems. Official sources say that Israel Military Industries and Israel’s Elbit Systems will in all likelihood be involved in the Arjun

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DEFENCE BUZZ Mk-II’s retrofit and in enhancing its production-line processes whilst US’ Cummins and France’s SESM are expected to design its engine and transmission system respectively. Whilst analysts concede that tank development remains a complex process, the Arjun is the world’s longest running MBT developmental programme having started in 1972. Producing the MBT has been problematic, beset with technological over-reach and turf battles between the Army and DRDO and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) delaying the Arjun’s developmental process and eventual operational acceptance. In July 2008, for instance, the Army categorically declared that it will not place additional orders for the Arjun beyond the original 124 MBTs ordered in 2000 because of its poor overall performance and technological shortcomings. “Arjun is a contemporary tank and may be used in the next decade or so but not for next generation warfare,” Lt Gen Dalip Bhardwaj, then heading the DirectorateGeneral Mechanised Forces (DGMF) has declared. But after the locally developed tank outperformed the T-90S in comparative user trials in Rajasthan last year, the Army has been embarrassed into placing an order for 124 more Arjuns. Antony recently said that the Defence Acquisition Council he heads cleared the add-on order for 124 Arjun Mk-Is for the Army to be built at the HVF which had handed over to it an equal number of MBTs ordered over a decade ago. Delivery of the additional Arjun Mk-Is is expected to be completed by 2016. And now with Arjun Mk-II under development and testing and an order for another 250 MBTs likely after October 2012, the Army will operate some 500 of the indigenously designed tanks to equip nine armoured regiments. Additionally, the DGMF and the DRDO are struggling to finalise the 50-odd tonne Future Main Battle Tank (F-MBT) powered by a locally designed 1,500 hp engine which by 2020 is expected to replace the fleet of Russian T-72M1 Ajeya MBTs that constitute the bulk of the Army’s armoured units. The DRDO is fielding a team of academics, technicians and armoured corps officers to develop the F-MBT’s transmission and engine called the Bharat

OCTOBER 2011

Power Pack. “We are confident that we will be ready with the F-MBT prototype in five to seven years,” S.Sundaresh, DRDO’s chief controller of armaments and combat engineering division, declared last year. The first prototype of the indigenous engine will be ready in four to five years, he said.

Major Retrofit The Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Su-30MKI’s combat fleet will shortly get a major makeover by equipping it with Fifth Generation Fighter features upgrading it to 'Super Sukhois' standards. The proposed retrofit of the Su30MKIs, of which the IAF will ultimately Alexei Fedorov

operate around 272, will include a new cockpit, radar and varied stealth features, Irkut head Alexei Fedorov stated at the Moscow Air Show in mid-August 2011. “The upgrade will apply not only to the aircraft in service with the IAF but also to those yet to be delivered to India and those being licence-manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL),” Fedorov said. The Su-30MKIs are likely to be fitted with the Zhuk (Beetle) X-Band PulseDoppler radars providing the fighters with air-to-air and air-to-surface capability. The Zhuk air-to-air mode is capable of detecting

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targets and measuring their coordinates, range and speed in addition to providing platforms with look-down/shoot-down capability for air targets against a cluttered or water background. The advanced radar can also track and engage multiple targets whilst searching for new ones in trackwhile-scan mode. Fedorov announced that in addition to upgraded cockpit avionics and radar enhancement, these 'Super Sukhoi' will also receive modifications aimed at improving their stealth capabilities. While the exact nature of these stealth modifications remains unclear, reports suggest the work will specifically focus on reducing the aircraft's radar signature. These retrofitted ‘Super Sukhoi’s’ will also be able to carry a heavier weapons’ load including the Indo-Russian BrahMos cruise missile with a 292-km strike range. Industry sources say that the first few BrahMos missiles configured on Russia’s 3M55 Oniks/Yakhont system (NATO designation:SS-NZX-26) have already been built for factory tests at Russia’s Strela production facility in the Orenburg region. Once these are completed, the plant will launch a series production of the BrahMos but with its weight of 2.55 tonnes reduced by some 500kg alongside a new ignition engine to enable it to fire at high altitudes. Irkut also plans on strengthening the Su-30MKI’s wings to enable them to carry two additional missiles on their flanks. Military planners say that the BrahMos travelling at a top speed of 2.8M, some 3-4m above the sea surface, for now cannot be intercepted by any known weapon system and will provide the IAF ‘game-changing’ capability in the Indian Ocean Region. Antony also disclosed that the recently inked $2.4 billion contract to upgrade the IAF’s 51 Mirage-2000H fighters will take a decade to be completed. The first two Mirage-2000Hs to be upgraded with advanced avionics, fully integrated electronic-warfare suites, advanced beyond visual range (BVR) capability and mission computers, will be retrofitted in France. The remaining 49 fighters will be upgraded by HAL in Bengaluru by 2021, he added. In a related development, the IAF will retire all its 200-odd MiG-21 variants by 2017 – two of which crashed recently – replacing them with Su-30MKIs, the

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Heavy Duty Shopping India has concluded military contracts worth ` 37,181 crore (USD 8.26 billion) with the US since 2004, Defence Minister A.K. Antony declared in Parliament. He said the procurements included six Super Hercules C-130J transport aircraft, three wide-bodied Boeing 737 business jets for the IAFs’ VVIP squadron to transport important officials and dignitaries, ten Boeing C-17 Globemaster-III Very Heavy Lift Transport Aircraft and eight Boeing P-8I Poseidon multi-mission maritime reconnaissance aircraft. Other US-sourced equipment included the INS Jalashwa (ex-USS Trenton), the 16,900-tonne refurbished Austin class landing platform dock and six embarked second-hand UH-3H Sea King helicopters, Harpoon missiles and sensor-fused weapons. And in 2007, the Defence Research and Development Organisation acquired 24 General Electric F404-GE-IN20 after burner engines to power the first squadron of 20 locally designed Light Combat Aircraft for the IAF — a follow-on to 17 similar engines procured three years earlier. Varied other US materiel – additional C-30Js, attack and heavy lift helicopters, aircraft engines and assorted ordnance and missile systems were either under testing, evaluation or price negotiation worth a far larger amount. In a related disclosure, Air Chief Marshal Norman Anil Kumar ‘Charlie’ Browne said the IAF had signed 271

Defence Minister A. K. Antony

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indigenous Light Combat Aircraft Tejas and the under acquisition 126 Medium MultiRole Combat Aircraft. Since 1964, the IAF has inducted 946 MiG-21 variants – 658 of which were built locally under licence by HAL in Bengaluru– that formed the backbone of its fighter squadrons. But over decades, 476 of them were lost in accidents and at present the IAF operates around 200 MiG-21s, of which 121 have been upgraded to MiG-21 ‘Bis’ standards equipped with lightweight Russian Super Kopyo multi-mode radar and French Totem 221 G ring-laser gyro inertial navigations systems. And though their endurance and payload restrictions have remained unchanged, they deployed a wider range of ordnance like the shortrange, air-to-air R-73, beyond-visual-range R-77 EW-AE and Kh-31 Medium Range Airto-Surface Missiles respectively.

OCTOBER 2011

contracts worth `1,12,000 crore (USD 25 billion) over the past five years. Other than US transport aircraft the IAF has acquired 42 additional Su-30MKI multi-role fighters, inked an agreement with Russia to jointly develop a Fifth Generation Fighter and acquired the Israeli Sypder surface-to-air low-level-quick-reaction missile system. Browne has said that the IAF will embark on additional acquisitions during the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) that will include 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft, helicopters, air defence systems and the upgrade of 39 of its airfields. Overall modernisation plans, he added, will include private sector involvement in developing crucial systems and spares and in helping the IAF maintain its older aircraft.

Submarine Trials Sea trials of the Russian Akula-II (Bars)class nuclear-powered submarine (SSN)

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being acquired on a ten-year lease by the Indian Navy (IN) are nearing completion in the Sea of Japan ahead of its transfer to India. Christened the INS Chakra, the 12,000-tonne low acoustic K152 Nerp SSN, being leased for USD 650-700 million under a secret agreement concluded seven years ago is presently being operated by an IN crew under Russian supervision. Thereafter, the SSN is to begin its journey to a special nuclear submarine facility under construction at Rambilli on India’s east coast arriving sometime around November before being commissioned into service by the year-end. This will make the IN the world’s sixth Navy, after those of the five nuclear weapon states of Britain, China, France, Russia and the USA, to operate such an SSN. International treaties forbid the sale of SSN, but leases were permitted provided they were not armed with missiles with ranges of over 300km. The complement of weaponry being provided aboard the INS Chakra however is for now unknown although it is equipped with four 650 mm torpedo tubes with 12 torpedoes and four 533mm tubes with 28 torpedoes. Under a highly classified programme, the Defence Research and Development Organisation is known to be developing 1000-km range cruise missiles for fitment onto submarines. The Akula SSN lease will be the IN’s second from Moscow. The first in 1998 was a Soviet Charlie I 670 Skat series class boat – also named the INS Chakra – leased for three years to gain operational experience

INS Chakra

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DEFENCE BUZZ on SSNs. Plans for subsequent SSN leases were abandoned after the Soviet Union’s break-up. Then in 2004, the IN signed an agreement to lease two Akula class SSNs as part of a secret agreement inked alongside the one to acquire the refurbished INS Vikramaditya (ex-Admiral Gorshkov), the 44,750 tonne Kiev-class aircraft carrier and 16 MiG-29K fighters. But soon after the IN decided to lease just one SSN that will form an ‘instruction and familiarisation’ platform for it to ‘validate’ the third leg of India’s strategic deterrence which encompasses a triad of nuclear weapons deliverable by air, mobile, land-based platforms and seabased assets. The INS Chakra will also serve as a training base to operate the INS Arihant, the Navy’s first locally designed and built nuclear-powered, ballistic submarine (SSBN) that is expected to be on sea patrol by late-2012 with its full complement of long range weapons. The IN plans on locally building 3-5 additional SSBNs with assistance from private contractors. Earlier scheduled to be delivered to the IN in 2009, INS Chakra’s induction was delayed following an onboard Freon gas leak from the submarine’s fire extinguishers in late 2008 during sea trials in which 20 people including sailors and technicians died and 21 others were injured.

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was presented to an Indian representative in the assembly workshop with deliveries beginning by late 2012. Russia remains India’s principal materiel supplier with annual sales of around USD1.5 billion: since the early 1960s, New Delhi has acquired military goods worth over USD40 billion from Moscow. More recently, however, India is turning to Israel and the US as potential weapon suppliers prompting Moscow to consider selling Delhi strategic defence technologies to thwart this emerging competition, further spearheading the debilitating arms race in South Asia.

No Surprises Here India’s defence Public Sector Units never cease to surprise either with regard to delayed delivery schedules or massive cost escalation or both — the Indian Navy’s (IN) three ongoing warship building programmes are no exception. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has informed Parliament recently that the cost escalation for three Project 15A Kolkata class guided missile destroyers and an equal number of Project 17 Shivalik class stealth frigates, both under construction at the State-owned Mazagaon Dockyard Limited (MDL) were 225 percent and 260 percent respectively. The outlay for the four Project 28 Kamorta class Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Corvettes being built at Garden

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Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) in Kolkata, however, has risen a ‘modest’ 157 percent — all of it due to what the MoD euphemistically terms as the, “uncertainties associated with complex warship building process”. The MoD goes on to elaborate that the price escalation – and consequent delays – in all three projects were triggered by Russia enhancing the price of warship building quality steel and the hiring of its naval specialists and consultants. Holdups by the IN and the MoD in identifying propulsion packages to meet stealth requirements and weapons and sensors were additional causes for the delays and spiraling costs. Little wonder that the Indian Navy’s modernisation plans, like the other Services, were not only skewered but expensive, postponed and import dependent even as the Navy aims to induct 16 stealth frigates over the next decade, ten of which are to be built locally. These include seven to be constructed under Project 17A – the follow-on programme to the Shivalik class boats – to be divided between MDL and GRSE. The remaining six include three Russian Krivak-III class frigates (Project 1135.6) presently under construction followed by a repeat order for another three in addition to eight more ASW Corvettes under Project 28. Krivak-III

Russian Connection Russia has supplied the Indian Navy (IN) 11 of 16 MiG-29KuB fighters procured in 2004 for `3,405.61 crore to constitute the air arm of the second-hand INS Vikramaditya scheduled to be delivered to India in late 2012. RAC-MiG corporation head Sergei Korotkov recently declared that the remaining five fighters will be delivered by end 2011. The induction of the 16 Mig-29K fighters — including four, twin-seat trainersequipped with multi-functional Doppler radar and advanced optic electronics – began in February 2010 at the IN’s Dabolim base at Goa where they will be based till the INS Vikramadtiya’s arrival. In March 2010, India inked an additional order for 29 MiG-29 KuBs for the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier-I under construction in Kochi. RAC-MiG has begun work on the follow-on MiG 29KuB order and the first jet

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