 |
| INS Arihant ( Pic Courtesy-Wikimedia Commons and DRDO) |
India as far as the development of weapons are concerned is still at a nascent stage. Now when you compare the development of high end weapon system, naturally the comparison falls between India and China. But in all the articles that is circulated in the net that one reads, when ever these comparisons take place, India is castigated for the shoddy development cycle of weapon platforms while it is always stated that China is miles ahead of us. To a certain extent, it may be true. But are we so bad is the real question?
On a closer look, India has been in recent years making strides in the development of world class
 |
| LCA Tejas ( Pic courtesy- Wikimedia Commons and Author) |
weapons platforms. India has a robust missile development program that has seen the development of a whole family of new generation missiles. The same is the case with other platforms including the LCA "Tejas", ships like the Shivalik class frigates and Kolkata class destroyers. But what is lagging is the significant time that takes from the gestation of a project to the induction of the weapons platforms into active services. The main complaint that is always put forward against the way India handles the development of a project is the delay in the development of a weapons system. The case in point is the "Arjun Main Battle tank" project. Conceived in the late 1970's as a replacement to a whole generation of MBT's of Russian origin, Arjun achieved fruitfulness only by early 2000's after nearly three decades of development. But by this time, a whole new generation of tanks are in the making in other parts of the world. But to be fair on DRDO, it has to be stated that the weapon systems that it develops are world class. The point has been proved from time and again by Arjun tank that beat the rival MBT- T90 of Russian origin with almost comparable specifications fair and square. Arjun is now stated to be one of the best of it's class of Main Battle tanks in the world. But this result came after 30 long years of development and by this time, we are already talking about the development of next generation tanks.
The same is the case with LCA "Tejas" combat plane project. Tejas is not the first project of development of a combat aircraft undertaken by India. In fact that honour goes to HF-24 "Marut". But that project never realized it's fullest potential. The Tejas was conceived. It was designed to be a forth generation aircraft. But it got it's initial operation clearance only in 2014 and will enter active squadron service with the Indian Airforce only by 2015. It 's real potential will come when Mark-II enter trials and production by 2017. But by this time, the Chinese would have started inducing their 5'th gen aircrafts, the J-20 and J-31 that is currently in test. India's indigenous 5'th generation project, The Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) is still in design stages and no known road map for induction to services is in place. It is estimated that AMCA will enter services sometime in the next decade. But by this time, countries around the world would be busy developing 6'th generation aircrafts.
MAIN PROBLEM WITH INDIA
The main problem that India faces is not the strictest adherence to the time table for development of a defence project. Targets are missed on a regular basis on almost all the projects. Now I do concede that defence projects are very complicated in nature, the case of the development of American development of the F-35 project that is running behind schedule with several teething problems still unresolved. But what India requires is a professional approach to product management. Targets has to be met at all costs. This is because the defence technology is prone to sudden changes and rapid development of technology which can make a platform redundant as compared to other platforms around the world if there is a significant delay. But everything is not bleak as far as India is concerned. Tejas that will soon enter squadron services will remain relevant for many decades , thanks to the high usage of composite materials that reduces Radar Cross Section (RCS) that makes the aircraft less visible to radars. It incorporates several 5'th gen traits. Tejas is a product and a solution to a problem that is faced by us. We hold the patent and the design and we can innovate and develop on the product as and when we require without the getting into the cobweb of licences, We do not need anybody's permission to develop our own products. Unlike several other countries that can copy any products as and how they feel, India having a robust legal system with international agreements will always be handicapped and will need to rely on international vendors until we develop our own technology. Projects like the Arjun MBT, LCA Tejas, Shivalik frigates has enabled India to create a whole ecosystem on which we can develop further and make newer products. When each of our products reach completion, we can find that these platforms are proving to be world class, capable of standing with the best. But several unresolved issued need to be nailed out before India becomes a hub of development of world class weapon systems. It is futile to compare India with China as the doctrine followed by both are entirely different. While India concentrates on high end technologies but fewer platforms, China on the other hand always aim for numerical superiority and will beat India fair and square at a ratio to 5:1. But India compensates these with high end technologies. But no China is also developing world class technologies, it is only a matter of time before both come face to face and become competitors in the world of weapons development.
THE BUSINESS OF WEAPONS
In the end of the day, it makes good business sense to sell the product to other countries as any country will need a return for it's high end investments. India is uniquely placed because a platform like Tejas will be in great demand with all those countries in Africa and Latin America who will be phasing out the Russian vintage products like the MIG-21. Tejas fits the bill perfectly. Their only competition of comparable configuration will be the Chinese CAC- FC1 Xiaolong ( also known as JF-17 with the Pakistani Airforce). But both countries are world's apart in comparison of technology with Tejas employing high end composites and avionics that is comparable to the best in the world.
It is high time India put it's act together and start developing weapon systems indigenously rather than rely on a foreign country. India has all the ecosystems ready and it is only a matter of time before they are developed to world class standards comparable to the best in the world. That is the need of the hour and we as Indians has to rise to the occasion. Time is not far when we will see India becoming a leading country in the development of weapon systems and a power to reckoned with in the world of arms. as an Indian,that day will be the proudest movement in my life.
(Disclaimer- The above article was written with resources available in public domain. But as is with sensitive military technology, due care is taken about the accuracy. But readers discretion is advised- JAI HIND)
Comments