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Showing posts with the label Indian indigenous weapons development and production

LCA Tejas- The rise of the Phoenix

HAL LCA Tejas ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Defence19) On 1.07.2016, history was made when Tejas, India's 4'th generation combat aircraft joined the Indian Air Force after a protracted delay as part of the Squadron No-45 Flying Daggers . The project which was 32 years in making, but the years of investment has finally borne fruit. Made of composites, Tejas is the lightest combat aircraft in the world. Designed as a replacement for the legendary MIG-21 in the Indian Air Force Fleet, Tejas is in many ways more than a project for the Indian aviation industry. LCA project paves way for the establishment of the entire ecosystem of an aircraft design and manufacture, an art that was long lost when the designers of HAL HF-24 Marut left or retired after the project. Hence the LCA team had to begin from scratch. Coupled with crippling sanctions post India's nuclear tests which delayed the project.  LCA as a project can be considered as a success as there has not bee

India as a major arms producer- The way towards the future

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 wer

BUSINESS UNDERPINS INDIA-US DEFENCE DEAL – ANALYSIS ( Source- The Eurasia Review, Author- Sameer Patil)

Image credits- MEA Official Gallery Source- The Eurasia Review Author- Sameer Patil On January 25, India and the U.S. renewed their bilateral defence pact for 10 more years. The ‘2015 Framework for the U.S.-India Defense Relationship’ strengthens cooperation between the two countries in the areas of defence technology, military exchanges, and counter-terrorism.[1] For the first time, co-production and co-development are at the core of the defence engagement outlined in the framework, indicating the importance for India of technology transfers and indigenous manufacturing. The agreement makes India part of a group of nations that includes Japan, U.K., and Taiwan, with whom the U.S. cooperates on defence technology. Specifically, four pathfinder projects for co-production and co-development were identified through the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative of 2012, which serves as the guiding principles for the framework for cooperation. All the projects are experi