Wedged between two hostile neighbours — Pakistan and China — India cannot afford to slacken the pace of modernisation of its military forces. Whether it was a direct face-off at Galwan Valley or a proxy attack at Pahalgam, the threat to India is real and can come from any corner. This requires our armed forces to remain ever vigilant and thwart any acts of misadventure.
Given such a hostile environment, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan’s recent call for faster development of indigenous capabilities is quite understandable. In fact, he hit the nail when he said, “We can’t win today’s warfare with yesterday’s weapon systems.”
While the imperatives of defence indigenisation cannot be overemphasised, the question is whether India is adequately equipped in terms of developing indigenous weapon systems. While there should be no two opinions about aiming for self-reliance in defence technologies, it cannot be achieved overnight. It needs an R&D ecosystem nurtured and adequately funded over decades. Unfortunately, India’s track record in delivering indigenous defence projects leaves much to be desired.
Striking a balance
The Indian Army faces a unique operational challenge in view of the rapidly changing geopolitical landscape, particularly at a time when it is locked in a difficult border standoff with China at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). It is incumbent upon the military leadership to provide state-of-the-art weapons and technology to the soldiers and to continue evolving war-fighting strategies to tackle any kind of conflict.
Traditionally, the development of defence projects in India has been the exclusive domain of the public sector. This is a major limiting factor. No democratic country in the world has attained military superiority without involving the private sector. It must be pointed out that large-scale indigenisation cannot happen overnight. It requires sustained efforts to overhaul and reorient the defence Public Sector Units (PSUs) along with the active involvement of the private sector, leading technocrats, and top institutes of science and technology.
While indigenisation of defence equipment production must be promoted, India cannot afford to compromise on defence. A fine balancing is needed involving a push to the indigenisation initiatives and simultaneously seeking advanced weaponry from abroad to avoid glaring asymmetry on the twin battle fronts.
Given the geopolitical realities in the immediate neighbourhood, the armed forces cannot be expected to keep waiting for domestic equivalents during an exigency and dependence on foreign vendors can’t be reduced overnight.
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The focus should be on facilitating collaboration between international manufacturers and Indian firms while ensuring a level playing field. Another challenge is to ensure that global Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) honour their commitment on the transfer of technology to facilitate domestic manufacturing. Strategic partnerships between Indian entities and OEMs have for long remained skewed in favour of the latter.
Fast-track procurement reforms
Traditionally, India’s approach to defence procurement reforms has been lethargic and largely indecisive. There can be no compromise on the key aspects of quality, safety and efficiency. Making our soldiers use below-par weaponry or defective aircraft is not only a recipe for disaster but also a poor advertisement for our manufacturing ability.
The Operation Sindoor highlighted the urgency of maintaining battle-readiness in an ever changing geopolitical environment. However, delays in defence production and delivery remain a major concern for the armed forces whose valour and professionalism was on display during the recent operation against Pakistan.
Air Chief Marshal AP Singh was spot on when he flagged constant delays in defence projects and failure to stick to delivery schedules, especially of fighter jets. While speaking at the CII’s Annual Business Summit recently—his first public interaction post-Operation Sindoor — the Air Chief questioned why those involved in developing military hardware, particularly fighter jets, “promise something which can’t be achieved”.
This is particularly relevant because the Indian Air Force (IAF) is now committed to the policy of “Atmanirbharta”. There is no denial of the fact that air power is most crucial in contemporary warfare and expeditionary missions. It is time for the Defence Ministry to take urgent measures to reduce procurement delays and implement structural reforms aimed at boosting private sector participation in the defence economy.
Key components of these reforms are the removal of outdated practices such as product reservation for defence PSUs and streamlining of procedural bottlenecks that have historically slowed defence acquisitions. The Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP), 2020, also needs to be reviewed to better align with operational realities and expedite decision-making.
Delays, delays and more delays
Inordinate delays in acquisition of modern weapons can be very frustrating. The excruciating delays in the delivery of the Tejas fighter aircraft into service is one such concern.
The first batch of 40 ‘Tejas’ Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) ordered in 2009-2010 is yet to be fully delivered by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The LCA saga holds hard lessons for the defence PSUs which need to pull up their socks and step up their efficiency levels to meet the growing requirements of the armed forces.
There is also an urgent need for an increased role for private partnership in developing defence products and providing more funds for Research and Development (R&D). Presently, the IAF operates 31 combat squadrons against an authorised strength of 42 squadrons, with Rafale being the most advanced combat jets in its inventory. The air power deficit stands aggravated by an ageing fleet and delays in key indigenous projects, particularly the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), and the LCA, at a time when China already has two variants of fifth-generation fighters in service and is trialling two new sixth-generation fighters, and Pakistan is fast-tracking acquisition of 40 Chinese J-35 stealth fighters.
Unfortunately, in India, not a single indigenous defence project has been completed on time. At $71 billion, the defence R&D spending in India is very low, compared to the US $784 billion, and China $723 billion.
In the last few years, the country has taken a slew of measures to boost self-reliance in the defence manufacturing sector. Apart from a series of phased import bans, these steps include creating a separate budget for buying locally made military hardware, increasing foreign direct investment (FDI) from 49 per cent to 74 per cent and improving ease of doing business. However, it is still a work in progress.
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