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| Brahmos Cruise Missile ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons /Hemant Photo79) |
India has one of the most powerful armies in the world. With an Army totaling more than 1.1 Million wit an equal number of reserves, a big air force and a navy, India has all the makings of a world class power. But India also holds the designation as the world's largest importer of weapon systems. In this article, I would like to analyse what went wrong for country like India that made it fail to develop indigenous capability in weapon systems and it remains the world's largest importer of weapon systems.
The Past
To get a correct picture, it is always better to revisit the past. Just after independence, a young nation faced it's first challenge in the form a of a Pakistani war on Kashmir. But this was much of a border war and the leaders of the time more concentrating on nation building paid little attention to the army. They had little or no strategic thinking and mostly decisions were taken with politics in mind. Nehru, who was the Prime Minister of the Country did not prioritize the security of the country. He was also wrapped up in the utopia of post independence India being the beacon of hope and peace in the comity of nations. But such perception made India pay a heavy price in 1962 when Communist China attacked India. India was ill prepared at the time for such a challenge at that time which made India pay dearly. After the defeat, Indian strategic Community re- calibrated our defenses which gave India a decisive victory in the 1971 war. Soviet Union became India's de-facto ally and a major source of arms procurement. Fighters like MIG-21 was produced enmasse in public sector undertakings like Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. India's first project to develop a third generation combat aircraft in the form of HF-24 Marut was a failure due to under powered engine. Somehow or other, India did not continue, but instead abandoned the indigenous development of weapon systems and all the experience and knowledge accumulated in the development of Marut was lost. India became a major buyer of weapon systems, choosing to import the same from Russia and Europe.
In the early 1970's, there again started an interest in developing indigenous missile systems. Two projects, Project Devil and Project Valiant were initiated under the aegis of DRDL but both projects were subsequently terminated. But these projects became the foundation for Prithvi family of missiles and later DRDO's Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP) which led to the development of major missiles like Agni and Prithvi family of short to intercontinental range Ballistic Missiles, Akash SAM and Nag ATGM. Realization also dawned on the Indian establishment that India cannot forever rely on the import of weapon systems. Hence several projects were initiated for the development of indigenous weapon systems including Arjun Main Battle Tank, Light Combat Aircraft which later became Tejas, Pinaka multiple rocket launcher, Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv among other projects. But the real problem faced by India is that India lacked critical technology in the defence sector and all components for all platforms had to be developed ingenuously. International sanctions also crippled several projects following India's nuclear tests in 1998. Thus India was forced to develop these banned items indigenous which resulted in serious time delay. To fill up the gap, India was forced to import almost all the weapon platforms.
But away from public glare, a silent revolution was being made, thanks largely to the foresightedness by the Indian navy which nurtured warship development and building starting with the Godavari class of Frigate. Backed by the The Indian Naval design Bureau, India started designing almost all it's ships indigenously, starting from less complicated and moving up the ladder with bigger and better platforms. Classes like Brahmaputra class of Frigates and Delhi class of Destroyers followed which had high indigenous technologies. But India still lagged behind in several critical technologies like radars for which India still relied on imports particularly from countries like Russia and Israel. India has also developed Arihant class of SSBMs and K-family of Missiles. Over relying on bureaucratic and political ridden Public Sector Undertakings also did not help matters. All projects were mismanaged by these PSU's.
The Present
Several of the projects stated above has attained frutification. Projects like Agni Missiles, Brahmos Cruise Missiles, ALH Dhruv, Pinaka MRLS, has been inducted and are proving themselves to trustworthy. But several projects like LCA Tejas are facing critical delay because of long development cycles due to several issues including nob=n availability of critical technologies. To cover the same, India had to resort to importing weapon systems. India thus became the world's largest importer of weapon systems. But from the early part of this century, it has dawned of the establishment that we cannot forever rely on imports and indigenous development is the key towards the future.
The way forward
After the cold war, the world has rapidly changed. A new world order is in the making. New powers like China is rising. India needs to reorient it's policies to align with this new world order. Critical to this is the self reliance in the defence sector.
India has now embarked on the road to indigenisation. Several key initiatives including "Make in India" has been initiated. Coupled with years of investment and careful nurturing in development of critical technologies, India is now at a position to develop almost all of it's requirements. Key projects like the futuristic Indegenous Anti Missile Shield, Advanced Light Combat Aircraft (AMCA), Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), next generation Arjun Main Battle Tank Mark-II, Next generation Pinaka systems, SSN, SSBN, warships including Aircraft Carriers, Destroyers, Frigates, Corvettes and Submarines and other auxiliary ships will all be developed and made in India. India is truly emerging as the global hub of Defence development and manufacturing. Key to this success will be the inclusion of private sector companies and critical private-public partnerships to make India a true hub of global manufacturing in years to come. We are on the right path, thanks to the visionary leadership of our Prime Minster Narendra Modi and his government.
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| Indian Akash SAM ( Source- Wikimedia Commons/ Defence19) |
In the early 1970's, there again started an interest in developing indigenous missile systems. Two projects, Project Devil and Project Valiant were initiated under the aegis of DRDL but both projects were subsequently terminated. But these projects became the foundation for Prithvi family of missiles and later DRDO's Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP) which led to the development of major missiles like Agni and Prithvi family of short to intercontinental range Ballistic Missiles, Akash SAM and Nag ATGM. Realization also dawned on the Indian establishment that India cannot forever rely on the import of weapon systems. Hence several projects were initiated for the development of indigenous weapon systems including Arjun Main Battle Tank, Light Combat Aircraft which later became Tejas, Pinaka multiple rocket launcher, Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv among other projects. But the real problem faced by India is that India lacked critical technology in the defence sector and all components for all platforms had to be developed ingenuously. International sanctions also crippled several projects following India's nuclear tests in 1998. Thus India was forced to develop these banned items indigenous which resulted in serious time delay. To fill up the gap, India was forced to import almost all the weapon platforms.
But away from public glare, a silent revolution was being made, thanks largely to the foresightedness by the Indian navy which nurtured warship development and building starting with the Godavari class of Frigate. Backed by the The Indian Naval design Bureau, India started designing almost all it's ships indigenously, starting from less complicated and moving up the ladder with bigger and better platforms. Classes like Brahmaputra class of Frigates and Delhi class of Destroyers followed which had high indigenous technologies. But India still lagged behind in several critical technologies like radars for which India still relied on imports particularly from countries like Russia and Israel. India has also developed Arihant class of SSBMs and K-family of Missiles. Over relying on bureaucratic and political ridden Public Sector Undertakings also did not help matters. All projects were mismanaged by these PSU's.
The Present
Several of the projects stated above has attained frutification. Projects like Agni Missiles, Brahmos Cruise Missiles, ALH Dhruv, Pinaka MRLS, has been inducted and are proving themselves to trustworthy. But several projects like LCA Tejas are facing critical delay because of long development cycles due to several issues including nob=n availability of critical technologies. To cover the same, India had to resort to importing weapon systems. India thus became the world's largest importer of weapon systems. But from the early part of this century, it has dawned of the establishment that we cannot forever rely on imports and indigenous development is the key towards the future.
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| LCA Tejas ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Ajai Shukla) |
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| Agni-5 ICBM ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ DRDO) |
The way forward
After the cold war, the world has rapidly changed. A new world order is in the making. New powers like China is rising. India needs to reorient it's policies to align with this new world order. Critical to this is the self reliance in the defence sector.
India has now embarked on the road to indigenisation. Several key initiatives including "Make in India" has been initiated. Coupled with years of investment and careful nurturing in development of critical technologies, India is now at a position to develop almost all of it's requirements. Key projects like the futuristic Indegenous Anti Missile Shield, Advanced Light Combat Aircraft (AMCA), Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), next generation Arjun Main Battle Tank Mark-II, Next generation Pinaka systems, SSN, SSBN, warships including Aircraft Carriers, Destroyers, Frigates, Corvettes and Submarines and other auxiliary ships will all be developed and made in India. India is truly emerging as the global hub of Defence development and manufacturing. Key to this success will be the inclusion of private sector companies and critical private-public partnerships to make India a true hub of global manufacturing in years to come. We are on the right path, thanks to the visionary leadership of our Prime Minster Narendra Modi and his government.
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