|
According to a study by the India Strategic
defence magazine, nearly half of this funding,
or $ 100 billion, will go to the Indian Air Force
(IAF) which would need to replace more than half
of its combat jet fleet as well as the entire
transport aircraft and helicopter fleet. The Army
needs new guns, tanks, rocket launchers, multi-terrain
vehicles while the Navy needs ships, aircraft
carriers, an entire new range of submarines including
nuclear-propelled and nuclear-armed, and so on.
The Army has the largest requirement of helicopters
while the Navy needs both combat jets, helicopters,
and a fleet of nearly 100 carrier-borne combat
jets.
The details of the study will be published in
March but according to a brief report in India
Strategic’s DefExpo show daily being
published Feb 15, it is not that India has military
ambitions but just that more than 70 per cent
of the inventory of the Indian Armed Forces is
20-plus years old, and needs to be replaced as
well as augmented with the sophistication of modern
technology.
There have been few defence deals after the allegations
over the acquisition of Bofors in the 1980s, and
Russia, which inherited the Soviet military infrastructure,
is unable to meet all the requirements. Also,
according to official Russian reports, only 10
per cent of the Russian weapons could be described
as modern and Russia itself needs to spend heavily
on modernization.
All the three Indian Services as well as the
Coast Guard and paramilitary organizations also
need satellites and net centricity. Plans to acquire
surveillance aircraft, lesser in capability though
than the IAF’s Phalcon AWACs and the Navy’s
P8-I Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) are
also being worked out by all the three Services.
Pilotless intelligence aircraft (drones) generally
called UAVs, including those armed, are also on
the top of the list of the three Services.
It may be noted for instance that the only major
aircraft to be acquired by the IAF in the last
20 years is the Su 30 MKI, some 280 of which have
been ordered in successive follow-on deals, which
do not involve fresh tendering and are easy to
go through procedurally.
IAF has a plan to build 45 combat squadrons (about
900 aircraft), up from its maximum effective strength
of 39.5 squadrons a few years ago. Many of its
older aircraft, mostly those of Mig series, have
already been phased out due to simple ageing,
while some have been upgraded awaiting new acquisitions.
The Armed Forces have repeatedly been telling
the government for the last several years, particularly
after Pakistan’s intrusion into the Indian
side of Kashmir resulting into the 1999 Kargil
War that the need to replace the old weapons and
systems was paramount. Not much moved.
But the 26/11 attack on Mumbai by Pakistani terrorists,
in which scores were brutally killed and wounded,
has given a wake up call to India and the authorities
are realizing that 24-hour, 360-degree eyes and
years and preparedness to meet any attack are
a necessity.
That also means increased diplomatic and security
cooperation with other countries, and parallel
efforts need to be made in that direction also.
Capability and modern weapons are a requirement
both for deterrence and to punish an aggressor.
|
