The coming of Age for Indian Defense Industry

This article first got published on Center Right India " The coming of Age forIndian Defense Industry"

2013 will mark a watershed year in the history of Indian defense industry. First the indigenously built nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines Arihant was launched in August for sea trial, later its reactor went critical, India own indigenous built aircraft carrier Vikrant named after the now decommissioned 1971 war hero aircraft carrier also got launched this year. Agni V propelled India into the big boys club.

The cherry on cake and probably which has the highest significance for Indian defense industry will now happen on 20th December when defense minister A.K Antony will hand over to the IAF boss, Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne, the home grown fighter aircraft Tejas. Antony will hand over “Release to Service Document (RSD)”, which specifies the capabilities that the aircraft has and which it has already demonstrated during flight testing. It will also mark the award of Initial Operational-2 clearance to Tejas.

Tejas will replace the Mig 21 supersonic aircraft. While Tejas is not a fighter aircraft comparable to the Sukhoi or other top fighter aircraft in the world it has huge significance for India and Indian defense industry. It is India’s first attempt to build a multirole fighter aircraft after the Marut program in early sixties. The decision to build the aircraft was taken in 1987 though the final go ahead was given at a later point of time. It was an ambitious take for a country which did not had the capability at that point to build even a car engine. And therefore on the way to build Tejas India had to set up a range of industries and research institutes which can contribute to the program. The time program started even the private industry in India was not that strong to have helped the program and later when things did start to pick up India did the nuclear explosions which resulted in further delay to the program.

The Light combat aircraft as it was known earlier was rechristened as Tejas by none other than India’s former PM A.B Vajpayee. With all the delays the program faced kudos to successive governments in the center which did not let their support for this program die and now we have therefore an aircraft which boasts of some of the most advanced technologies across any fighter aircraft in the world. Some of the technologies worth mentioning in Tejas are compound delta wing design, fly by wire, open architecture for computer avionics, digital cockpit and use of carbon composite materials in building the structure of the aircraft.

Of the critical technologies the ADA(Aeronautical Development Agency)  at the beginning of the LCA program as needing to be mastered for India to be able to design and build a "completely indigenous" fighter, two have been entirely successful: the development and manufacture of advanced carbon-fiber composite (CFC) structures and skins and a modern "cockpit. The biggest failure of the program was however the failure to build the indigenous engine Kaveri for the aircraft. It is however now one of the lessons of the program that a program of such high technical difficulty should have been taken in a step by step fashion identifying which technologies we were capable to build at the start of the program.

Tejas has however given to India a base from where there will be no going back, work on Tejas Mark-2 has already started and a prototype of the same will be ready next year. Now that we have built the required industrial base for such a program coming up with upgraded versions of the aircraft will not take such a huge time as it did earlier and as the Air Force will start flying these machines the feedback on which areas to improve will start going back to the next phase of the program some of which must already be happening now. The biggest impact will however be on the commercial aspects of the program, with India moving away from Nehruvian era of reluctance to export arms. After the recent display of India’s built arms being shown in Seoul defense exports India can look at a huge market which it can attract. From huge defense equipment’s import bill India in coming decade can look to reduce dependence on foreign arms and can look to emerge as a country which can export world class arms.

However to achieve this govt will have to show a lot of change in its current attitude where the defense industry is a total public sector baby. Time has come when a greater participation of India’s own private industry to participate in the development and manufacturing of these technologies. Not just will it save huge amount of foreign reserves it has huge employment generation capability adding to the GDP numbers. Setting up of defense SEZ’s, bringing more focus on “Make” rather than “Buy” should be the mantra of the govt not just in words but in action. Probably the forces also have to come to terms with this providing the necessary support for such programs. I think Indian Navy is showing a huge shift in priorities to build indigenous and now Air Force and Army may also soon join the club. In this regard there is another program which needs mention and that’s the indigenous built MBT (main battle tank) the Arjun.

Arjun MBT

I think there were many things similar in Arjun and Tejas; both got delayed by huge amount of time. But now both of them have the potential to change India’s defense scene. While Tejas do not still compete with the best aircrafts in the world though systematically it can prove to be upgraded to a world class in the coming decade Arjun did proved its worth against none other than T-90’s of Russia.

In a battle of survival Arjun Mark 1 which had no other way left to gain support for its program were put against the T-90’s, both were given a set of tasks and Arjun did performed very well compared to T-90. (It was likes Tejas performing very well against the F-16’s) .The army has however still not shown its confidence in the tank due to its heavy weight putting forth operational obstacles in carrying out operations with Arjun. It was however strange that the Arjun were considered as too heavy and too wide. A comparison of the best tanks in the world like Abrams of US will show that they fall in the same weight category as Arjun with almost the same width. A little search on Abrams will tell you that they are carried across the world for fighting by Boeing C-17 Globe master the same aircraft which India acquired this year. The Abrams were used in various wars in Afghanistan where the terrain of the land must have been same as at least on some place in India. The army has however thought otherwise and since they are the one who know the best of that subject we do not get into the details of this argument. The DRDO has therefore gone down to design laboratories and soon sometime in next year we may hear the arrival of Arjun MBT Mark 2. The Arjun Mark II will have a total of 93 upgrades, including 13 major improvements. Arjun tank hull and turret has been modified to achieve the target weight of about 55 tons from 59-64 tons. According to recent reports, the newly modified 55-tonne Arjun mk2 tanks have pulled impressive performances in the final trials that commenced from early August 2013. Owing to the experience while designing and building the first version work on Arjun Mk-II was completed in 2 years. We hope that same stays true for Tejas with Mk II and then the AMCA – (advanced medium combat aircraft) can be rolled out in quick time with the lessons from past and a strong industrial base on with us. Another similarity between the Arjun and Tejas is the lack of indigenous engine, focus should now go get indigenous engine for both these fighters. An active participation by the private industry is the need of the hour for bringing out Indian defense industry to contribute to the defense and the economy of the country. Time is ripe for Indian defense industry to take its giant leap.

Bibliography

The Lost River: On the trail of Saraswati. By  Michel Danino

TilakLokamanya-The Arctic Home In TheVedas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkaim



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AAP aur Main ..my response to questions raised by my friend and AAP supporter

First of all I am extremely happy that most of my friends who were earlier disinterested in politics and somehow with the doings in the country itself have now jumped into such good conversations around the issue. It’s a welcome sign that things are changing and though we may be on different sides as of now we all aspire for a change and if u and me both aspire for it then change is eminent. It is also refreshing to debate for subjects which the young and old both has been aspiring rather than the fake debates of communal versus secular …now getting to the actual debate.

Chandan if u see my comment on another of AAP supporter’s page u will see I mentioned how delighted I am that the people of Delhi such a mandate in favor of AAP and how such an idealistic kind of politics will go a long way in cleaning the whole system. In fact the first sign of change has already started showing with none of the parties making a claim to form govt in Delhi, Rahul Gandhi accepting that somewhere something is not working and he needs to bring changes in congress on line of AAP,isn’t that a great thing ?However my acceptance of their doing good has been ignored in your comments and other AAP supporters as well.

While change in one party is good I was happy and I debated that how BJP was well poised to take on the challenge of AAP being more federal in structure instead of being run by a dynastic family. A party where decisions are taken by a group of people rather than a single person. A party where the PRESSURE FROM CADRE yes read it again very well pressure by cadre which holds no post anywhere in this country forced the president of the party to declare Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate. Unfortunately your definition of common man has become too centered on AAP and somehow you are not looking at anyone out of AAP as a common man.

COMPETITVE POLITICS

The other high point of my arguments was that of COMPETITVE POLITICS. While I appreciated the changes that AAP is forcing on the political scene I tried to extend the argument further than the events are harbinger of change in other parties also. And if that happen it will be great for Indian democracy. Will it or Not? I cannot predict whether AAP will come in power at the national scene but I can bet a thousand times that if competitive politics bring a change in the way each party works that will be beneficial to generations to come. Unfortunately you are looking extremely uncomfortable with the idea that there can be any other party which can also change and can pose a challenge. I strongly disagree with you on this front. Whether a party remains or is forgotten what is important that change must happen for the good. Today BJP is well poised for challenging AAP tomorrow congress may also be able to do that. With all my love for my party BJP I have an eye to look at the good of other parties (even in congress  ...yes even they have some strengths J ) and also to look at the folly of my own party and I wish my friends who have acquired a taste in politics to not get impatient with any criticism and agree that there are good reasons that these party have been voted for so long in power. Unfortunately as of now you are not looking.

SAB KE SAB CHOR HAIN

I have one thing where I strongly differ from the founder of AAP and one of the foundation on which AAP is based. That is his idea of sab ke sab chor hain. All of the political parties were formed for a reason based firmly on ideology rather than greed. Let me walk through some examples While we all know that Congress was the only party which existed at the time of independence and everyone rallied behind its leaders to attain the common good of all. While it has lost its sight on change today and have surrendered itself the decisions of a single family some of the heroes we worship today were from congress. Therefore we shout in favor of Patel (he lived for 2-3 years after independence) as much as any of our own leader in BJP. Mahatma remains to me the tallest of all humans I have read or seen, Shastri  (around a year of tenure) remains my favorite PM along with Vajpayee. And yes Nehru had a personality which everyone envied and desired, his understanding of the subjects had the depth and understanding which few had in his time and it is not just me it’s in my party leaders and even other party leaders to acknowledge the good work and the stature of leaders from other party, it was none other than Vajpayee who called Indira as Durga after the win against Bangladesh in 1971.And it was none other than Nehru who introduced Vajpayee as the future PM of India. AAP needs to go a long way to pick this culture, sab ke sab chor hain might be a way of venting out my anger temporarily but definitely it’s not going to take us anywhere.

Even other parties from Mayawati, Lallu , paswan ,Mulayam, NTR, DMK, AIDMK ,Left had reasons to exist. Some gave voice to the marginalized other gave voice to regional aspirations. Some were based on socialist values others were based on economic principles. And yes they all brought a change for this day to come when we can desire for more. And desire is not sin as nation mature the agendas will change yesterday it was about survival for dalits which gave people like lallu and mayawati a chance to run the govt so today it is governance and corruption. Agendas will never remain the same today what is dear to you may not remain an agenda at all in sometime. What became the reason of their rise became the reason of their fall. When survival was important they won and forgot that once people get voice they like to have growth. Tomorrow when they will have growth they may desire something else, elections in west have agendas which may look quite absurd to us today. And tomorrow when the agendas may change only those who are willing to change will survive, when communist failed in Russia so did the ability of left to govern India became dim. ManMohan Singh has presided over some of the greatest changes of our current history he was the finance minister when the economy took a u turn and he is the prime minister when the politics of the country is going through tectonic shift. It is the complete misrule and absence of any sense of governance that has set the mood of such despondency and utter helplessness and it is in that context that AAP is born. Since it is born out of this despair and hopeless scene it is definitely giving a voice to this change better than anyone else. But then others are fast catching up and bet me if in next elections we get a govt which works for governance and growth the foundation on which AAP is standing will lose ground. Good times have the ability to make bad time forgot easily. The cynicism which we are witnessing will fail to find ground and the rules of the game will change again if a party promising of governance come in power and performs well. And if it does not then AAP may further add to its tally. But if change indeed happens for good then AAP will have to change with the changing agendas a failure to do so might be suicidal. As of now AAP has little agenda except anti-corruption and I am not doubting their ability to come up with new agenda with changing times but since they don’t have the agenda I cannot either agree that it exist

Coming to your specific questions

1. Now no Diggi will EVERRR dare to underestimate and challenge a common man.
2. An year back, who would’ve imagined that that an election can be fought with transparent money?
3. An year back, who would’ve imagined that the lordship of two well established parties can be challenged by unknown faces?

All parties were at some point of time started with an emotional issue , shyama prasad mukhjee gave his life to enter Kashmir , when unity was an emotional issue people died for that. When governance have become an issue Kejriwal has taken a stand and I welcome that this is happening. BJP grew from 2 seats to the ruling party and opposition; it challenged the lordship of a single party. Who would have invested in it at that point of time? Collecting funds was as difficult at their time when even the enlightened NRI’s didn’t exist. Mobilization of resources was as difficult when democracy was crushed by indira gandhi and Jayaprakash narayan and other members of all political party came together to give hope. Yes all the ones who you call chor and power hungry. And this is not new news but I needed to tell you since neither do you read newspaper nor were we born to have witnessed the same. And when the rules of the game changed BJP moved to more progressive agendas like governance long before kejriwal came into picture. They have responded for change and that’s where I admire them, they have shown the flexibility and that why they are surviving. And they have not changed in words we have seen the growth in parts of the country where they have governed and people threw them the place where they messed up. They have shown how can a party move from one leader to another after a generational shift and have not depended on one leader for their survival. AAP is as of today totally dependent on kejriwal , democracy is yet to take birth and show its tantrums in AAP , it will raise it head in coming time. But again that does not take away the credit from them what they doing and common man is indeed giving them a long rope but then no rope is ever unending.

4. An year back, who would’ve thought that a party with no high-command can perform? Who would’ve thought that these young minds would come up with such an innovative idea like Call Delhi, campaigning at Railway stations, Human hoardings, Campaigning in Auto, Campaigning on social media etc? Who would have imagined they’ll be able to carve one of the best Volunteer networks in the world in merely 6 months time. If they can bring this much of innovation in their first move in democracy, why can’t they bring innovation to propel India towards growth & get back its lost credibility in recent years? On the other hand, what innovation did you see on BJPs front other than chanting modi modi…??

You are unaware so let me tell you that all other parties also attract the best of talent from different fields.BJP’s presence on social media , their door to door poll strategy, use of technology to identify areas weak and strong, Niti central their own version of online newspaper, YuvaTv their own channel on youtube, live streaming of their rallies on youtube, google + chat with their leaders , facebook presence , twitter responses, mission 272 website and  all this with regular personal to personal programs .Then they have RSS which runs a range of social programs for the marginalized. Again none of this takes away what AAP has achieved which is extraordinary but then just because I don’t know doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist for others. And have you heard the innovations in gujrat with solar panels on canals and separate set of power grids for industry and domestic use which has resulted in 100 percent power in Gujarat. Have you heard of BRTS where by investing the least money they have provided a service to the common man to travel in the city. Is anyone of this can be counted as innovation or not. If not then I can write the next response just in the name of the innovations that have happened. The same has been replicated in other BJP ruled states also. Right from the achievement of Vajpayee govt to Modi to shivraj Singh Chauhan, and the first IITIAN to be chief minister “Manohar Parekh” innovation is happening as I write this response.

 

5. Which party withdraws his candidate after their self-finding about criminal charges against one of its candidates? who would have imagined that one doesn’t need criminals to win people's heart. Even now, can your party dare to expel all their criminal candidates and promise that in future they will not give tickets to criminals?

I do not want to go in this debate but only yesterday an AAP MLA molested a lady and he got a warning from kejriwal. And then they requested all MP’s and MLA’s from other parties to join them. How do you explain it? When chors from other party join AAP do they become saint? Some kind of baptism program is going for these leaders? Also these things can’t be judged for a party so fresh in nature it will take some years for test of these strengths.

6. Had AAP not won it like this, think about how much mockery these political parties would have made of us, the common man!

I am with you buddy and they have put a slap on everyone who mocked the common man. Now they need to perform and that’s where I want them to show that by doing it not just talking about it.

7. 6 months ago everybody said, Kejriwal is going for an electoral suicide by choosing to go against 3 terms chief minister Sheila Dixit. Just think about it, one needs real courage and self belief to dare something like this. I am sure even Harshvardhan in his wildest dream can never dare this.

Buddy you need to start reading newspaper Sushma swaraj fought against Sonia Gandhi and then made karnataka her home state till the time she learnt kannada.Yes Sonia gandhi I am sure u will find it more crazy than the Sheila dixit .Other parties may have done so when they needed to prove the point I have not read enough about them.

8. I hear lot of people say Kejriwal ditched Anna, if Kejriwal ditched Anna, why can’t we also assume that Anna did no less to him…

I don’t know, a movement can be run by a political party and without a political party. Lokpal still remains a dream in India as well as Delhi even after people telling their choices in very clear words.

9. By the way, what is your favorite parties' stand on the issues that you mentioned along with good governance, corruption etc? What substantial steps BJP has taken in AP to differ Congress on Telangana? What did they do when Yedurappa was looting Belllari? Can they now assure there will not be any moist attack in Chattisgarh?

People wanted telengana so BJP supported that , earlier it supported creation of Bihar and Jharkahnd, it supported creation of MP, chattsigarh and they bifurcated in a way that none of the parties had bad feeling for the parting state. Is that a difference or only shouting loud sab ke sab chor hain is change.Yedurappa was removed from CM post and BJP lost, somehow same people who want change gave his party 20 percent of vote in elections. People vote for different reasons at different time.

 

10. Remember, when you chant BJP BJP, its NOT MODI who is going to be the MP of all 276 seats... there are going to be some criminals, some rapists, some murders, and some extortionist in that? why should we not challenge this system? While I do believe in Modi's ability, there are more NON-MODIs than MODIs in BJP.

It will happen with all parties when they will have millions of members, it’s not an excuse however and it needs to be rectified and this is where COMPETITIVE POLITICS come in play.

11. Last but not the least, don’t get misguided by the results that people really loved your party in other states, its just that they didn't have an HONEST alternative there

I think this is overconfidence. Dost every party face its day of loss and win, AAP will also face it. It is part and parcel of the game. I am sure if AAP really had sensed a point in MP, Rajasthan they would have gone for it. Kejriwal is not that innocent crazy guy. He picked his place with good plan and kudos to him for doing that. Now he needs to show me how is he different by giving a good governance.

I think you need to come out of your house to see how your house actually looks like. I am glad you are doing it soon, I am pretty sure you'll have a different point of view then. Good luck with your TimesOfIndia until then.

This is a good change that a lot of people who never took interest in politics have now started caring for it and therefore your point of view that we can do something has come into picture.A lot of us believed that India ka kuch nahi ho sakta hai .. but I have always believed that “Yes we can” when people rejected Anna movement I saw that as a change coming and even now I see the living democracy working in India. You are just looking at AAP winning or losing but I am trying to see beyond that.

And the house from where you are looking at your house .. us ghar ne kaisyon ke ghar jalaye hain..don’t look at your country from others point of view. We have unique challenges and unique solutions. Democracy does not even work in such a lively manner anywhere on earth. It is in our DNA it just got institutionalized in 1947

If AAP can do this miracle in a matter of few months; they can have your mentioned issues (telangana, kashmir, ambanis, employment etc) added in their agenda, what’s the bigg deal..?? Just to remind you, in my opinion they are not against Ambanis, they are against the unethical practices these bigger companies have been following in India…so what? What’s wrong in being against it..?? If you can question Robert Vadra for his unethical practices, why can’t Ambanis be questioned for something similar? Why can't Ambanis be taught to run business like Google and Facebook without indulging & encouraging a culture of bribe and corruption?

Do it that’s what I am asking for, don’t just tell me stories at prime time.

 

I wonder why and how impatient our so called ‘young generation’ has become. Why do we flip our sides ‘so quickly’ and ‘so often’…?? One day we say Sachin must retire, and the moment he scores even a fifty, we then say there is so much of Cricket left in him, and finally we all cry Sachin Sachin! Why can’t we realize we got to have a long term vision if we want to change the system from its root? W...hile we criticize AAP and Kejriwal in the current scenario, why don’t we think that:

I have not changed sides but you have taken a side I am all for them to prove themselves but then at one place we start to get restless that we need the change now and at the same time we want to fight all elections and want everyone to vote for them even before they have proved their worth in governance. Since you took the example of cricket let me explain that don’t become like commentators who will explain you the game from 15 point of view but will fail the minute they are put on ground. What’s the hurry for them to win complete lok sabha even before they show what they are capable of doing in Delhi?

1. What would happen to their credibility if they take support from Congress, and BJP. Wont the voters who voted for ‘unknown faces’ just because they so hated CONG and BJP feel cheated if AAP does so?

I have explained this before you don’t need to take support from anyone. You can run a minority govt which no one will pull down.Do you understand that first we need to agree on that.

2. Why is that a ‘power thirsty’ party like BJP, where Rajnath Singh & their senior party leaders were asserting just a day before that they ARREE going to form govt in all 4 states, took a UU turn all of a sudden, and started offering AAP to form govt? Are Indian Politicians so kind? Is it not a conspiracy to fool public by putting up a wrong image of their opponents, is it not Politics at its dirtiest?

When you fight a election you by default become a player for power , you had raised the Anna point. You can call him as someone who is trying to bring change by not being in power. Kejriwal choose the other route so he is also playing the power game. Power hungry is a bull shit term when you are fighting elections.(jayaprakash narayan and Gandhi could come to this definition or anna in current scenario). In an electoral game you fight to win election and bring the change. Did kejriwal not mention that they will have complete sweep, is he not asking BJP to form govt though they don’t have the majority.

3. Why, out of nowhere, BJP has now started saying that AAP should form a minority govt and pass the Lokpaal bill and other Agendas? BJP being the largest party, it is conceivable they would allow AAP to pass State Lokpal & other bills when it comes to voting for the Bill? In that case won’t AAP lose its credibility and Ground? Fir na to Party bachegi na Bill pass hoga? What would the common men do then?

BJP never said that (I am not sure) I said that. This is childish if u get a good bill and the opposition opposes it they will be taught a lesson by people. It will not be a loss of credibility but in fact a point to prove that yes they can do. In fact if they are planning to run loksabha elections it will allow them to concentrate on that instead of focusing again on Delhi elections. Somehow you are thinking that whatever I am suggesting is against them that are not true. If they prove themselves in 6 months they might pose a graver danger to other parties. Could anyone oppose food security bill even though they knew that its huge expenditure and not a good idea… no one wants to be identified as opposing a popular bill.

4. Have we forgotten how both Congress and BJP made a Mockery of ‘Democracy’ & ‘Public Sentiments’ in the last winter session when they were “ACTING” to be attempting to pass the Lokpal bill? On what ground CONG & BJP should be trusted again?

These are arguments from past, now AAP is in power. Pass it and resign else fall while trying to pass it.You can pass it without trusting them. Put the ball in their court by bringing the bill.

5. If AAP is not accepting BJPs suspiciously illicit offer, why is BJP portraying it as if AAP is committing a CRIME? What’s the big deal in going for a reelection if we want to live in a peace of mind for next 5 years? It is not going to be the first re-election in Indian Democracy, both cong and BJP have done it in the past.

That’s no crime neither did anyone said like that. Let them do that if that’s the fate it is my personal opinion that they should go for governance route and prove rather than without that experience.

6. Why have we forgotten BJP-JDU did the same thing in Bihar when a hung up assembly was caused by Ramvilas Paswan? They then came with a clear majority in the re-poll and thus were able to do some really good progress in Bihar. Imagine if there wouldn’t have been a re-elections, Paswan-Lalu would have been shitting on their heads all the time not allowing them to do anything. O God! that would have been a nightmare! Is BJP not trying something similar with AAP?

Bihar is an incorrect example in this case. When that happened, Bihar was at its lowest point in current history. Men were kidnapped in broad day light. There was no industry, no growth, no law and order … absolutely nothing. Supreme Court had called it the JUNGLE RAJ. By not giving a government in that state it was still better than the govt people were used to. Delhi by that accounts was a well governed state with metro, roads and a thriving industry. However Sheila Dixit was a 3 times chief minister and the spillover of the central govt misdeeds, her own image after common wealth games and nirbhaya  had its ripple effect in Delhi. It will be a challenge for any party to bring a sense of change in a city which is usually quite well governed being the capital of the country. Leaving that city bhagwan bharose will be hugely unpopular where industry, growth and other things will get impacted. You just can’t leave a city which contributes 3 percent to India’s GDP without governance. People there are impatient believe me.And tht’s why I am of that opinion.

7. Why is BJP giving it a shade that taxpayer’s money will go in vain? It takes 40 crores for reelections in Delhi, and this money is nothing as compared to what BJP have looted in Bellary? If they are so much concern about taxpayers money can they promise they will seize Yedurappa’s property and return a part of it back to Indian Govt? Moreover isn’t this money is worth spending for a 5 years stable honest government?

Don’t know if BJP said that, they said they are ready to sit in opposition or face reelection. Kejriwal suggested that BJP and congress join hand Harsh vardhan didn’t suggested that. Congress extended support to AAP. If re-elections are the route let it be nobody cares?