Shift Towards Indigenisation · Gp Capt AG Bewoor and Lt Gen. B.S. Pawar 26 DEFENCE INDIGENISATION: CORRECTING ANOMALIES I Col Vijay Singh 28 DPP 2016: IMPLICATIONS FOR DEFENCE OFFSETSI

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Shift Towards Indigenisation: BUT A LONG WAY TO GO

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04OF CABBAGES AND KINGS I Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch

05‘THE CHETWODE MOTTO’ I Lt Gen Sudhir Sharma

06NINE TRENDS SHAPING INDIA I Jaijit Bhattacharya

10REFORM THE ACQUISITION STRUCTURE I Col Vikram Taneja

13PHOTONIC SYSTEMS FOR DEFENCE AND CIVILIANAPPLICATIONS I Prof. Dr. Rao Tatavarti

15COUNTERING SEA BASED TERRORISM: NEED FORMARITIME DOMAIN AWARENESS I Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch

16UNITING THROUGH OCEANS INTERNATIONAL FLEETREVIEW - 2016 I Sarosh Bana

20ATTACK HELICOPTERS: SHOULD INDIA HAVE THEM? IGp Capt AG Bewoor and Lt Gen. B.S. Pawar

26DEFENCE INDIGENISATION: CORRECTING ANOMALIES ICol Vijay Singh

28DPP 2016: IMPLICATIONS FOR DEFENCE OFFSETS ICol Anuraag Chhibber30REMEMBERING SONAM I Brig Narender Kumar

33NEWS

37RAISINA HILL I Lt Col Anil Bhat

38VETERANS ALERT I Hony Capt Baldev Singh

39BOOK REVIEW I Lt Col Anil Bhat

[email protected] >> January-February 2016 >> SALUTE TO THE INDIAN SOLDIER 03

40TOFU ALL THE WAY: STARTERS, SOUPAND MAIN DISH I Aditi Pathak

41BALI FOR AN UNFORGETTABLE HOLIDAY IMurad Ali Baig

42IGNORE THE FORCES AT OWN PERIL IMaroof Raza

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EDITOR’S NOTE

SALUTE TO THE INDIAN SOLDIER << January-February 2016 << [email protected]

"The time has come," the Walrus said, "To talk of many things: Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax— Of cabbages-and kings—And why the sea is boiling hot— And whether pigs have wings."Lewis Carroll.The last couple of months have been momentous.Pakistani proxies attacked the Pathankot air basein January and a month later followed with anoth-er dastardly attack in Pampore. Bizarrely, at thistime, in the prestigious environs of the JawaharlalNehru University (JNU), a group of studentsbelonging to the AISF (All India StudentsFederation), the students wing of the CommunistParty of India, shouted slogans in support of a ter-rorist, and against the Indian state. And in theIndian corporate, a relentless expose by the medialed to the tumbling out of what could turn out tobe a mother of scams, involving reputed businesshouses, bankers, politicians and civil servants.Amidst all this occurred a gripping tale of heroismand survival, which electrified a whole nation.On 3 February 2016, tragedy befell the Sonam

post on the Saltoro ridge, which overlooks theSiachen Glacier when an 800x600 meter ‘ice ava-lanche’ buried the post under 35 feet of ice boul-ders. Locating the spot where the post lay buriedwas near impossible. To find a survivor wasunimaginable as life expectancy in such condi-tions is no more than 15 minutes. Yet, the com-manding officer of 19 Madras and his men,brought on the first miracle by working day andnight for five days, and locating their lost com-rades, in an unparalleled display of raw courage,endurance and esprit de corps. And among thebodies, they found one that was still alive. Thatwas the second miracle.The news that L/Nk Hanamanthappa Kopad

was alive enthused an entire nation. It broughthome the fact that impossible odds can be over-come, through will and determination. It wasindeed tragic that Hanamanthappa could not be

saved, despite herculean efforts by the team ofdoctors treating him at the Army’s R&R hospital inNew Delhi where he was evacuated. ButHanamanthappa came to symbolise the spirit ofthe Armed Forces - a message of hope to thenation that their Armed Forces will never let themdown.In the attacks by Pakistani proxies, the perpe-

trators of terror were eliminated, but their han-dlers in Pakistani continue to enjoy immunity.More hurtful was the fact that a section of stu-dents in the JNU, owing allegiance to a virulentLeftist ideology, at this time raised slogans in sup-port of a convicted terrorist who was executedsome years back after his death sentence wasupheld by the Supreme Court. Fighting thenation’s enemies on the border is one thing.Dealing with your own who support them isanother. That this should occur in the JNU callsfor serious introspection. Equally damning wasthe fact that a few political parties, hoping to scorebrownie points, jumped into the fray, battling forthe students on the untenable ground of ‘freedomof speech’. Strange logic indeed, to be applied tothose who seek the break up of their own country.An agitation in Haryana in February, virtually

brought Delhi to a halt, forcing the Army to becalled out to restore order, which was promptlyaccomplished. While the Army remains thenation’s final bastion, there are many who seek toweaken the structure that so firmly holds thenation together. The recommendations of the 7thPay Commission have done no good to militarymorale, as like the earlier pay commissions, thisone too seeks to erode the status of the ArmedForces. If this is caused by bureaucratic jealousy, itmust be curbed. If it is something more sinister,we are indeed in danger. Somewhere the rot muststop, else we may not have a military that can dothe task that the nation expects of it. When thievesand half baked ideologues are eulogised, we needto ask ourselves whether pigs indeed grow wings,which enable them to fly.

OF CABBAGESAND KINGS

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EditorMaj Gen Dhruv C Katoch

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GENERAL SPEAK

05

Indian Military Academy (IMA) isperhaps one of the foremost militaryacademies of the world. All those whoare blessed to pass out of this hallowedinstitution have the Chetwode Mottoetched firmly in their heart. This mottois the exalted standard by which eachleader is measured and this is also theguiding beacon for officers while theyserve in our gallant army. It is by far oneof the most inspiring mottos and hasstood the test of time for nearly 80 yearsand is perhaps even more relevanttoday than it was in 1932 when it wasenunciated.

Field Marshal Philip Chetwode wasthe Commander in Chief of the IndianArmy and was instrumental in theIndianisation of the Indian forces andsetting up of the IMA. He was a highlyregarded and decorated British officerwho had seen active service in manyparts of the world. The Chetwodemotto, which stirs so much passion inall gentleman cadets and alumni isderived from an address the FieldMarshal gave to the Academy on 10 December 1932. He was keen to givethe lecture on the inauguration of IMAbut was requested by CommandantIMA not to come as the first batch ofcadets did not have uniforms nor werethey adept at a military parade befittingthe C-In-C India. He therefore delayedhis visit to the IMA and arrived onlyon10 Dec 1932 and gave the nowfamous address to the assembledcadets,staff and guests. An excerpt isplaced below:

“….We have got the men who willserve under you in the ranks. Nobettermaterial exists in the world, andthey have proved it on many strickenfields; but hitherto they have been ledby us, and now they are to be led by you.That great task is before you and before

those who will follow you here to proveyou are fit to teach gallant men in peaceand to gain their confidence and leadthem in war. Some of you alreadypossess experience of the Army and arehere, with the great traditions of theIndian Officer behind you, to enter on a

wider and more responsible field ofservice. To others of you a military life isentirely new. But to all of you I say: Donot be dismayed at the responsibilitythat will rest on your shoulders. Ibelieve you will prove you are worthy.Secondly, I would ask you to rememberthat you have come here to have yourfirst lessons in three principles whichmust guide an officer of a NationalArmy, and they are:-

First, the safety, honour and welfareof your country come first, always andevery time

Second, the honour, welfare andcomfort of the men you commandcome next.

Third, your own ease, comfort andsafety come last, always and every time.

These words from his speech thenbecame immortalised and carved instone on the walls of ChetwodeBuilding and have become the abidingtouchstone of all those who have takenthe ‘final step’ and believe in ethos ofleadership and soldiering in its purestform.

‘THE CHETWODE MOTTO’Lt Gen Sudhir Sharma

[email protected] >> January-February 2016 >> SALUTE TO THE INDIAN SOLDIER

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TRANSFORMATION IMPERATIVES


India is witnessing transformations atan unprecedented speed and scale. The transformations are spread acrossall spheres of activity, impacting thesocio-economic and political fabric ofthis country. There is clearly a movetowards improving liveability, making it easier to do business andimproving the economy. From agovernance perspective, the role of thepeople are evolving from being a mere voter, tax-payer and a generalbystander on majority of the issuesto an active participant andinfluencer on policy issues. Therehas been a renewed focus on globalissues such as environment andsustainability, thereby bringingabout strong measures to complywith global best practices. Therehave been visible audacious plansproposed and implemented by thegovernment which have helpedaddress the pressing issues plaguingthe country’s development. Thenature of the economy has alsoevolved from being ahighlymonsoon dependent economy tobeing virtually drought proof, thathas helped provide the policyheadspace to the government todrive growth & development. Recentinitiatives launched by thegovernment have led to aphenomenon of CompetitiveFederalisation thereby promotingcountry-wide development. India isnow being perceived as a land ofopportunities and the destination of the future. On the flip side, it isalso leading to friction being created among the old and theyoung, the traditional versus theforward looking, the ‘Haves’ and the ‘Have-Nots’. Below are the nine trends that we see are shapingIndia.

Changing Demographics – TheMost Youthful NationIndia accounts for nearly 17 percent ofthe world’s population and isexperiencing rapid demographicchanges, with wide implications not onlyfor the country but also across otherregions of the world. The keydemographic trend is the increasingyouthfulness of the country. Roughly 50percent of the population is less than 24

years old. The implications of thisdemographic structure has startedplaying out on the key trends in thiscountry. Cable TV was introduced in thecountry around 25 years ago. Internetcame about 20 years ago. So we have alarge part of the population that hasgrown up with significantly higherexposure to information and globaltrends. Hence their higher levels ofaspirations are driving the direction in

which this country is going.This youthful population is

technologically more skilled, sociallymore aware, politically more involvedand economically more aspirational.Many of them are what is popularlycalled the “Digital Natives”. Thisenables a greater penetration oftechnology, leading to a DigitalPervasiveness in the country. Theireconomic aspirations are leading torapid urbanisation and also the trendof large number of start-ups andentrepreneurship flowering.

India’s working age population isexpected to balloon up, making Indiathe largest contributor to the globalworking population. This would alsomakes India an even larger market. Itwill also provide a global workforcethat is “Made in India”.

People ParticipationThe advent of social media andinteractive mediums has given rise to increasing velocity of citizens’ interactions with policymakers on various issues, driven primarily by a more aware and politically active youthfulpopulation. Correspondingly, publicadministration is increasingly lookingto place the citizen at the centre ofpolicymakers’ considerations.Citizens are increasingly questioningthe leaders they elect to the national,

NINE TRENDS SHAPING INDIAJaijit Bhattacharya

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state and local levels on a wide range ofissues which range from affordablehousing to international relations.

The RTI Act has been considerablyutilised as a tool by citizens groups toinfluence and shape governmentfunctioning and seek accountability onvarious aspects of governance. Thegovernment has also undertaken verylarge initiatives to introduce e-governance at the national, state andlocal levels for informationdissemination and feedback. With theincrease in internet and mobileconnections, the voice of citizens arebeing increasingly amplified in wideranging ways. Citizens’ expectations anddemand for information and servicesonline from governments is increasinggradually so as to improve their civic,professional and personal lives. Thesocial media has also created avenues forthe people to participate in politicalmovements, forcing the government atCentre, State and local levels to takeaction on matters that earlier, were sweptunder the carpet. While such trends arestill in their infancy, they are helping tobreak the stranglehold of a few powerfulinfluencers on the governmentmachinery, thereby increasingaccountability into all arms of thegovernment – the executive, thelegislative and the judiciary.

UrbanisationEconomic aspirations, coupled withsqueezing out of excess labour fromagriculture, is leading to rapidurbanisation of India. This trend isfuelled by mass migration from ruralareas to urban areas and also by ruralhabitations evolving into semi-urbanand urban habitations. According toWorld Bank estimates, an unprecedented50 percent of the Indian populationwould be residing in urban areas by 2041.Natural growth continues to be thesignificant element (approx. 40 million)of urban population growth during theperiod 2001 to 2011, as compared to netrural – urban migration (approx. 22million).

A report by IIHS in 2011 estimates that

the top 100 largest cities produce 43percent of the country’s GDP, with 16percent of the population and just 0.24percent of the land area. Apart fromserious challenges related to habitat,transport and other facilities, it has alsogenerated high expectations, especiallyamong educated youth. India’surbanisation is thus playing a significantrole in social transformation andeconomic mobility, necessitating aphenomenal demand for land.Managing population densities withinIndian cities is a significant challenge inaccommodating urban expansion, as isfinancing urban expansion and cityrenewal – thereby calling for innovativeurban planning frameworks andregulations. The trend of urbanisation isexpected to kick off larger consumptionof steel, cement and other commoditiesand manufactured goods. It would alsolead to more efficient cities, thus leadingto larger consumption of services. Itwould thus feed into the economicaspirations of a burgeoning youthfulpopulation. The government has alsostepped in to support the urbanisationtrend, after relative apathy for much ofthe last six decades. Programmes ofSmart City, AMRUT, Swachh Bharat andHousing for All are expected tosignificantly contribute to theurbanisation trend.

Pervasive DigitisationOver the past two decades, there hasbeen an exponential proliferation ofdigital technologies in the country. Thereare over 276 million mobile phoneinternet users in India as compared to 48million users in 2012.The number ofInternet users in India grew at an evenmore rapid rate, from 150 million in 2012to almost 350 million in 2015, listingIndia on the 3rd rank globally. Again, itseems to be that a digitally moreadaptable youthful population is drivingthe higher digital penetration in thecountry.

All information, things and spaces aregetting digitised. We notice that not onlyis legacy information being digitised butalso that new information is generated

and consumed in a digital form.Governments are moving towards aregime where no paper certificates arerequired. Certificates will be digitallycreated and hosted.

From meters, to vehicles to pollutionsensors, to shoes, glasses, watches,pacemakers, embedded medical devices– every thing is getting digitised andconnected to the Internet under theframework of Internet of Things (IOT).And hence every thing can be remotelymonitored and managed, increasing thelevels of automation to unprecedentedlevels. Spaces are getting connected.From homes and offices to public spacesgetting free Wi-Fi and 4G connectivity.Even spaces such as cars and publictransportation are getting connected,and things, spaces and information arefreely communicating with each other inan all pervasive digital fabric. Withtechnologies such as 3D printingcreeping in, even products are gettingdigitised, with the designs being sentover to homes to be printed and created,and hence if someone is short of a cup fora dinner party, all that the person has todo is print it out without stepping outfrom home. This is transforming how wework, interact, transact and live.

Job Creators Vs Job SeekersThe economic aspirations of the youthare driving an ever larger number ofstartups being conceived. India’s youthare moving away from the traditionalaspiration of a comfortable job to highrisk, high pay off world of startups,transforming the business ecosystemsand having a deep impact on our lives.Many of the startups are supported bydigital technologies and are hence in thedomain of e-commerce and m-commerce. This startup ecosystem isbeing made possible due to the fact thata more youthful population is digitallyenabled. It is interesting to note thatmore than 70 percent of theentrepreneurs are less than 35 years ofage.

With nearly three to four startupsemerging every day, India ranks third inthe world in terms of the number of





startups. It has been estimated that in2015, startups registered a growth rate of40 percent leading in turn to a sharpincrease in the number of employmentopportunities within India. A largenumber of startups that are notnecessarily in the domain of e-commerce and m-commerce,are alsocontributing to larger job creation in thecountry. These are services andmanufacturing companies that areemboldened by the series of businessprocess reforms being introduced by thecentral and state governments, which ismaking it easier to do business in India.

The trend indicates a shift from being jobseekers towards being job creators.

The Conscious Citizen -Environmentally SensitiveResponsible ConsumptionThe combined pressures of populationgrowth, economic growth and climatechange is placing increased stress onessential natural resources in India andglobally. These issues have made peoplesensitive towards sustainable resourcemanagement. There is a movementtowards adopting policies and practicesthat help reduce unnecessary

consumption, reversing a trend ofunfettered consumption as a mark ofdevelopment. Slowly but surely, peopleare moving towards environmentallysensitive, responsible consumption.The awareness of the majority youthfulpopulation of India to the issues ofclimate destruction, is pushing thepolitical and social thought process andpolicy making. The trend is clearlydemonstrated by the people supportreceived by the odd-even cars schemeby Government of Delhi, for reducingthe air pollution impact by vehicles.Even at greater personal discomfort,



people moved onto publictransportation and car-pooling. This isin lock-step with the global trend thathas being brewing for more than adecade, fuelled by the youth, who havenow come to occupy places of decisionmaking.

Indian government is getting thepolitical space, supported by this more-aware population, to boldly put forth itsIntended Nationally DeterminedContribution (INDC) to the UnitedNations Framework Convention onClimate Change (UNFCCC). India hascommitted to reduce the emissionsintensity of GDP by 33-35 percent by2030 from the 2005 level, achieve about40 percent cumulative electric powerinstalled capacity from non-fossil fuelbased energy resources with a target of175 GW by 2022 and creating anadditional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billiontonnes of CO2 equivalent throughadditional forest and tree cover by 2030.The future beckons towards increasinguse of solar energy and other renewablesources and more environmentallyfriendly transportation systems.

InterconnectednessWith almost 40 percent of the GDPlinked to global trade, India has rapidlybecome interconnected with the globaleconomy. The interconnectedness isnot just economic, but also in terms ofculture, skills, technology, medicine,policy making, language and in almostall domains of life. The process that waskicked off over a hundred years ago,with India’s participation in World War I,where modern ideas and conceptsstarted flowing into India at a muchmore rapid pace, has snowballed, andIndia is set to come back to globalcentre stage, by both influencing andbeing influenced by global trends. Thisis fundamentally altering age-oldtraditions, some even leading toaggravated class and caste frictions.

The impact is visible on India’scultural industry– movies, music, art etcalso. New words, forms of dance andmusic, cinematography etc are evolvingglobally, with significant influence from

India, with Indian art forms too beingimpacted by global trends.Economically, we see a continuedincrease in the levels of internationaltrade and capital flows for India. As thetrend toward increased economicinterconnectedness is expected tocontinue, India would need the rightpolicy frameworks in place to capturethe benefits of trade and manage therisk through ongoing and upcomingfiscal policies like increase FDI limits ininsurance, railways, defence andencouraging privatisation of lossmaking public sector companies.

Transformational NationalInitiativesThe last two years have witnessed aslew of government initiatives that havebeen transformational in nature. On thesocial side, initiatives are aimed atfinancial inclusion, targeted subsidydelivery etc. On the economic side, thestress is on programmes that willimprove the ease of doing business inIndia, enabling the Startup ecosystem,Make in India, large scale infrastructuredevelopment etc.A third set ofprograms focus on providing a betterlife to its people through initiatives suchas housing for all, toilets for all etc.These initiatives are driven by theaspirations of the youthful populationfor better living conditions and pursuitof happiness. Unless India is able torapidly develop and transform, it couldpossibly stare at an implosion driven bythe disgruntled youth. And hence theurgent need for the large nationalinitiatives.

Much has been achieved in thisregard. Under the ‘Pradhan Mantri JanDhan Yojana’ for instance, aphenomenal 200 million bank accountshave been opened within the country.Under improving Ease of DoingBusiness initiative and Smart Cityinitiative, the country witnessed thephenomenon of CompetitiveFederalism. This innovative mechanismto have Centre and States work inalignment, is being extended to manyother programs. Furthermore, more

than 30,000-40,000 citizens are givingup LPG subsidy every day forcontributing to nation building. Thisdemonstrates that the cynicism in thesociety is giving way to youthfulmorality and exuberance. Suchunprecedented response from thecitizens is reshaping governance withinthe country into a more participatorygovernance. It has led to the emergenceof a new trend which wouldsignificantly influence the country’sfuture.

Asymmetric WarfareFor a long time, India has been at thereceiving end of asymmetric warfare, inthe form of terrorism. A much smalleramount of effort (in the form of craftingand running terror infrastructure) fromadversaries has tied down adisproportionate amount of Indiandefence assets and forces. This trendwill continue and will be furtherexacerbated by new dimensions ofasymmetric warfare emerging in thecountry. Thus, we are likely to see aramping up of economic warfare in theform of fake currencies being pumpedin, cyberattacks, large scale migrations(which may be unintended but isexposing the country to demographicchallenges), water diversion from keyriver systems and social warfareenabled through technology (MMSbeing circulated leading to socialdisturbances). The ability to withstandsuch attacks is not limited to theabilities of the military forces butrequire a larger capacity building withinthe financial institutions, diplomaticinstitutions andby building resilienceamongst the population.

Today, India is at an important stagein its history. How we deal with thechallenges at hand will determine thefuture outcome of the country.

Dr Jaijit Bhattacharya is thePresident, Centre for Digital EconomyPolicy Research. He can be contacted

at [email protected]




POLICY ANALYSIS


Defence capital acquisition projectsroutinely fail and this phenomenon isnot peculiar only to India. Instances ofdelayed acquisition projects due to timeand cost over runs are observeduniversally in procurementorganisations world over. The advancedArmies, when compared to India, havehowever evolved their ‘capabilitydefinition and acquisition hierarchy’structures over the years whichunfortunately are conspicuously absentfrom the Indian acquisition executive.Capital project management in Indiahas a suboptimal record of deliveringoutcomes with the parliamentarystanding committee on defenceestimating losses accrued due to timeand cost overruns in naval acquisitionsand developmental projects in 2014-15at a whopping INR 29000 crore. Theselosses include the cost overruns owingto the ‘regular’ delays in the indigenousaircraft carrier programme ‘which willnow cost INR 19,341 crore compared toits original cost of Rs 3241 crore. Inanother instance, the cost of the StealthGuided Missile Destroyer, has beenrevised from INR 3850 crore to INR11662 crore with a five year timeoverrun’.

Risk, Cost and ScheduleManagementIf we were to examine two recent capitalschemes pertaining to Army’s criticalequipment, certain definitive failingswill clearly emerge. First of the two casesis that of the assault rifles where theArmy scrapped a four year old tender forimporting 1.8 lakh of these multi calibreassault rifles in June 2015 retracting theINR 4848 crore Request for Proposal

(RFP) floated in 2011, thereby losingalmost a decade of valuable time inreplacing the underperforming INSASrifle currently in use. The failure of thiscase can be ascribed to an inability inidentifying apparent and estimable risksbefore fielding this case to the DefenceAcquisition Council (DAC). Going by thevast repository of aborted cases inrecent past, failure of General StaffQualitative Requirements (GSQR) in anex-import procurement given thecurrent ‘Make in India’ milieu is anidentifiable risk that should have beenassessed and mitigated while fieldingthe case. The other important caseinvolving a critical life saving albeit low

technological equipment which evenafter half a decade eludes closure is thatof the bullet proof jacket. Acceptance ofNecessity (AoN) for this case wasaccorded by the DAC in October 2009with an envisaged capabilitydeployment timeline of 2012. The RFPwas however retracted due to GSQRrelated issues after a gap of more thantwo years and fresh RFP could only beissued one year after it was retracted.The trials for this item reportedlycommenced somewhere in the end of2014 and this tender has been scrappeddue to the reported failure of all sixvendors to meet the GSQR parameters.Both these cases have failed due to lack

REFORM THE ACQUISITIONSTRUCTURE

Col Vikram Taneja

The Kamov Ka-226 Utility Helicopter

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of risk assessment in drawing GSQRs,categorisation and subsequent trials.Similarly, the grounds for cancellation ofthe contract for 197 utility helicoptersafter almost a decade of altercationsbefore deciding to manufacture it inIndia, fall in the domain of ‘strategic andcommercial risks’ which could havebeen mitigated had adequate riskmanagement exercise been carried outat the planning stage.

The 15 year Long Term IntegratedPerspective Plan (LTIPP) of capitalequipment is the fountainhead basedon which the Services are equipped postDAC approval. Initial fielding of a capitalscheme into the LTIPP and later to theDAC warrants a due diligence in thepresent era of ever shrinking capitalbudgets. Inaccurate risk, cost andschedule estimates would lead to eithera recast of the LTIPP or failures of casesat procurement stage as seen in the caseof assault rifles and bullet proof jackets,both provoking unwarranted criticismof the procurement executive.Therefore, the inclusion of a particularacquisition scheme into the LTIPPshould be subject to an incisive analysisto facilitate a greater clarity in terms ofdeliverables, a clearer evaluation of theintrinsic project risk, and a moreaccurate estimate of its cost andschedule on the basis of detailedresearch. Only by doing so will the DAChave the wherewithal necessary to takean informed decision for approving aparticular scheme. A structure in theform of a capability development group(CDG) tasked to carry out risk, cost andschedule assessment and managementbefore the first approval of thegovernment needs to be put in place inIndia at the earliest.

81 capital schemes worth INR 1.5 laccrore have been approved in principleby the DAC in the past two years sincethe present government has come topower. However, it still takes about adecade for any capability envisagedthrough the DAC approvals to bephysically deployed owing to slippages,time and cost overruns. Recasting LTIPPdue to changed priorities and imprecise

analysis is not uncommon and there arealso instances where a number of oldacquisition schemes are not rolled overfrom one LTPP to the other citing theirnon utility thus indicating a lack ofrigour prior to its inclusion in the plan inthe first place. No amount of proceduralreform can offset the spinoffs that canaccrue from the creation of a CDG. Indiapresently has no structure in placewhich carries out an analysis from therisk cost and schedule point of view atany stage of procurement. Schemes areinserted in the LTPP based on aninternal geo strategic and technologyscan by the Army Headquarters,augmented by inputs gathered fromlower formations consequentlybypassing a stringent capabilityanalysis.

What will the CDG Do?Firstly, CDG will enhance the quality ofthe delivery of critical capability for theArmed Forces prior to its approval bythe DAC through a ‘top-down’ flowbased on the strategic guidanceprovided by the Raksha Mantri’sOperational Directive (RMOD).Capability gaps will be arrived atthrough comparison of the desiredcapabilities and assessment of thecurrent capability. Feasibility studieswould then lead to further fine tuning ofthe desired capability after the financial,technological and industrial vetting byexperts and integration andprioritisation by the capabilitymanagers. Secondly, CDG will providean assurance to the DAC that funds havebeen spent in national interest inconformity to the canons of financialpropriety. Thirdly, CDG shall preparedetails of the capability required alongwith the initial data relating to cost,schedule and risk developed by therelevant experts resourced within theCDG for this purpose. Fourthly, CDGwill communicate to the DAC a rigorouscost benefit analysis to benchmark alladditional risks posed by fielding forprocurement any equipment notavailable commercially off the shelf(COTS). Lastly, the SQR Development

Group with an industry interface as apart of the CDG will generate SQRsbased on approved capability plans.This will address the lacuna in thesystem and aid in improving the processof development of SQR.

Resourcing the CDGPresently, there are many areas ofconcern, ranging from an atrophiedcapability management and inadequateproject management contributing toformulating an LTIPP generatedthrough a bottom up approach in theabsence of an articulated NationalSecurity Strategy (NSS). Insufficiency ofthe process leading to DAC approvalsfor new projects and a fragmented silobased acquisition structure are someother voids plaguing the acquisitionsystem in India. While the DhirendraSingh Committee report on acquisitionreform building upon similar reportsreleased over the last two decades haverecommended measures to deliverenhanced outcomes through a morecorporatised acquisition organisationoutside the structure of the Ministry ofDefence (MoD), the DefenceProcurement Procedure (DPP) versionspromulgated till date do not howeverdwell in detail on the need for astructure akin to a CDG to address theplanning aspect before actualprocurement is affected.

To achieve its aim, the CDG willfirstly need to be resourced with nicheskills such as project planning andmanagement in order to define acapability. The performance of CDGshall impact greatly the later stages ofacquisition and hence projectmanagement skills during the earlystages of an acquisition are vital.Currently, the core HR personnelstaffing the Perspective Planningdepartments comprise Service officerson moderate tenures averaging 18 to 24months serving in a highly complexdomain. Planning and execution ofcomplex military projects by Serviceofficers with little or no proficiency inproject management skills is not apractical option and needs reform.


POLICY ANALYSIS


POLICY ANALYSIS


Secondly, CDG shall also be responsiblefor working out the life cycle costs formaterial as well as non materialcapabilities allied to the procurementcase such as training of personnel,infrastructure development etc. forwhich it will need to possess integralcost estimation expertise. Thirdly, CDGwill have to allocate increased resourcesdevoted to the area of research andanalysis which is a prime source forobtaining cogent information on risk,costs and schedule as well ascommercial inputs on procurementoptions. Fourthly, investment, in termsof risk analysis would greatly benefitmitigation of both technological,commercial and other project relatedrisks. Lastly, to sustain the aboveresources, allocation of minimum tenpercent of the total project expenditureneeds to be made to enable a detailedanalysis prior to DAC approval of aproject which is not being presentlydone.

Process vs StructureDespite capital acquisition being a key

focus area of the government, Army hasbeen able to conclude contractsamounting to a meagre INR 6000 crorein the current fiscal. To expect the newDPP 2016 to suddenly galvaniseprocurement may not be entirelyjustified. The refinementsnotwithstanding, DPP still remains amanual that merely articulates the‘procurement process’ that forms arelatively small component of the entiregamut of capability establishmentcomprising strategy formulation,capability definition, procurement,sustainment and discard. Cursoryexamination of the recentprocurements by the three Services willexhibit that most of these bypass theDPP in favour of the Inter-Governmental Agreements (IGA) andForeign Military Sales (FMS) route. Thelong undecided utility helicopter dealhas recently been finalised through theIGA with Russia and an Indian privatedevelopment partner while the M777Howitzer deal similarly follows the FMSroute. DPP on its part in the last fewyears has not been able to settle Army’s

long standing operational hollowness interms of Air Defence ordnance, criticalammunition, night vision capability andmissiles purported to be fulfilledthrough over a hundred pendingmodernisation schemes, worth over INRtwo lakh crore, currently stuck at variousstages of approvals between the ArmyHQ and MoD. As the acquisitioncommunity and the industry ferventlyawaits unveiling of the DPP 2016, itshould now be recognised clearly andunambiguously that DPP as a capabilitybuilding document has its limitationsand we now need to look beyond theDPP to address the acquisitionstructures. Structural reform to theacquisition architecture is the only wayforward for achieving atransformational change to theacquisition ecosystem considering thatstructures will eventually govern theorganisational behaviour.

The author is a Senior Fellow at theCentre for Land Warfare Studies

(CLAWS)

The M777 Ultralight-weight Field Howitzer (UFH) Keep the size small to fit in with the article


This article elucidates five innovativephotonic systems and technologies,indigenously developed for defenceand civilian applications. These havebeen given the acronym PRANEEDHI(Photonic Reconnoitering of AcousticNoise for Effective Eaves Dropping &Highlighting Intelligence), SAVDHAN(Scan, Analye, Validate, Discriminate,Highlight, Assess and Neutralise),TARANI (Technology for Air dataReckoning for Aerial NavigationalInformation), VEDA (VibrationalEffects-Detection Analysis) and VIDUR(Vibration Intelligence DataUnravelling Remotely).

The above systems (patentspending) were designed and developedindigenously at Visakhapatnam, usingCOTS – Commercially Off The Shelftechnologies, and successfullydeployed and demonstrated in the fieldduring many trials to prove their highersensitivities (compared to conventionalsystems) and efficacies for real timeremote monitoring. The technologicaland manufacturing readiness levels ofthe systems are TRL9 and MRL 9 (as perNASA, USA Standards) respectively. Allthe systems and technologies are nowready for exploitation,have progressedfrom the design and developmentstages to the production ready stage.

PRANEEDHIDesigned for defence as well as civilianapplications, PRANEEDHI is portableand can be employed from a remotelocation for eavesdropping purposes.The system primarily requires a clearline of sight for a laser beam to befocused at the target area, from wherethe laser beam’s reflection is received inreal time and the light signals aretransformed into acoustic signals, in

real time - for the purpose ofeavesdropping in counter terrorismapplications.

This system, one of its kind in theworld, has been demonstrated to behighly sensitive.The distance of thetarget area from the monitoring areadictates the power of the laser to be

used and can be of the order ofkilometres. For surveillance purposes,the laser beam’s wavelength can beselected to be in the infrared region, tomake the laser beam invisible. Thesystem can be easily adapted forvarious requirements of the users, oncethe field conditions are specified.


TECHNOLOGY

PHOTONIC SYSTEMS FOR DEFENCEAND CIVILIAN APPLICATIONS

Prof. Dr. Rao Tatavarti

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TECHNOLOGY


SAVDHANAlthough acoustic techniques arecurrently the ‘in vogue’ technologies fordetection and tracking of submergedbodies like submarine and autonomousunderwater vehicles, the advent ofsilent submarines and the ensuingtechnologies resulting in the reductionof acoustic signatures is making navalsurveillance very difficult, especially inshallow water environments. Althoughthe non-acoustic techniques such asMagnetic Anomaly Detection, LIDAR,bioluminescence detection, etc. wereearlier thought to be promising,subsequent research showed theirinherent limitations which restrict theiruse for detection over a wide area andalso from a large distance. Of late,detection of physical manifestationssuch as turbulent wake and internalwaves generated due to movingplatforms in ocean, have increasinglybecome popular mechanisms forcoastal surveillance of movingplatforms. Against this backdrop, thegeneral features of turbulent wake andinternal waves generated by movingplatforms in ocean were studied and wehave developed a photonic systemshown below, for detecting anddiscriminating manmade platformsand personnel moving on the surfaceand in the sub-surface of the ocean. Thesystem has applications in the field ofcoastal surveillance.

These systems are also capable ofidentifying natural hydrodynamicsignatures generated by biologicalorganisms - phenomena like tsunamis,waves, tides and currents, andanthropogenic hydrodynamicsignatures from ships/ submarines. Thesystems are first of their kind in theglobal scenario, with possibilities ofopening up new vistas in otherdomains. The system can thus havemilitary and non military applications,the latter encompassing real timemonitoring of natural phenomena likeTsunami, Surface Waves, Oceancurrents and Tides. It also has use foracademic and R&D purposes, forremote monitoring stratified fluids (viz.

oceans, atmosphere, etc.), with veryhigh sensitivity.

TARANIThere is a growing demand to replacethe ‘pitot tube’ technology currentlybeing used by the aerospace industryon board all aircrafts with laser basedremote technologies for monitoring thewind, pressure, temperature, andturbulence etc., ahead of a fast movingaircraft which are fundamentalnecessities for safety, navigation andstability of aircrafts.Multinationalcorporations, and major defence firmsaround the world have been working onlaser based technologies for decadeswith multibillion dollar budgets. Theirefforts have apparently resulted intechnologies which are at ‘TechnologyDemonstration’ stage. However, thetechnologies may not be immediatelyavailable for use (even after successfultrials) by other countries for strategicand commercial reasons.

The remotely operable, portablelight weight system can be easilyintegrated on board any platform and isevaluated to be highly sensitive,accurate and again free of theconstraints associated with the manyavailable / under development systemsand technologies around the world.

The system has applications indefence and civilian domainsspecifically for use in the automobileand aerospace industry. A typicaldisplay (shown below) obtained duringthe testing and evaluation of thissystem indicates the variousparameters which are monitored onreal time.

VEDANovel photonic system was developedto monitor real time vibrations onbridges, platforms and highways inaddition to border areas. The system isportable, can be easily deployed at anylocation for real time vibration andcondition monitoring in a non-intrusive fashion, even at inaccessiblelocations.

VIDURThe system enables vibration andcondition monitoring remotely, withvery high sensitivity (nanometerresolution)and has no frequencyconstraints usually associated withconventional displacement, velocityand accelerometer sensors generallyused for vibration and conditionmonitoring. The innovativetechnologies and the algorithmsemployed in the development of thesystem ensure the real time extractionof the following information:

• Vibration and Condition ofStructures/Bridges/Highways.

• Vehicular and pedestrian trafficstatistics.

• Vehicular identification (type, sizeand tonnage)

• Structural Health diagnostics.• Intrusion detection.There is a growing demand to

quickly and remotely monitor thehealth and condition of fixed andmoving structures (civil, steel, FRP,glass, etc.) on land and sea for differentapplications. This requires rapidmonitoring of vibrationaldisplacements, velocities andaccelerations remotely. These systemsare capable of remotely monitoringvibrations and condition of structuressimultaneously in the time andfrequency domains and displays thedisplacement, velocity and accelerationof vibrations at even in accessiblelocations on a structure. The systemsare sensitive, accurate and portable foruse in any environment.The systemsalso have applications for counter-terrorism and can be of use in theMechanical/ Civil/ ElectronicEngineering Industry.

Prof Dr. Rao. Tatavarti is Directorand Senior Professor, GVP-SIRC andGVP College of Engineering. He is theFounder & Managing Partner, CATS(CASTLE Advanced Technologies andSystems) and CASTLE (Centre for

Advancement of Science TechnologyLaw and Engineering), Visakhapatnam.

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TERRORISM

India’s vulnerability from external threatshave historically been land based. Withthe growth of sea power, this underwent achange in the fifteenth and sixteenthcentury, when Portugal and Spainpioneered European exploration of theglobe. British naval supremacy followinga series of wars in the 17th and 18thcenturies left Great Britain as thedominant colonial power, and thesubsequent subjugation of India.Through the seas, Britain dominatedmuch of the world trade, which in turnmeant that it effectively controlled theeconomies of many regions. Sea power,hence became an essential attribute forgaining dominance in world affairs andthis remains true till date. While sea basedinvasions of the Indian land mass areunlikely, threats emanating from terroristgroups could well emanate from the sea.Maritime security in the Indian contextmust cater to these aspects.In March 1993, India faced its first

maritime terror attack in Mumbai whichkilled 257 people. The attack wasmasterminded by underworld criminalDawood Ibrahim. Unfortunately, nolessons were learnt from this attack, ashighlighted by the report of the Group ofMinisters (GoM) on Reforming theNational Security System, which was setup to give policy recommendations onthe subject. The then NationalDemocratic Alliance (NDA) governmentnoted (in February 2001) that “India’s longcoastline and coastal areas haveremained largely unprotected andunguarded”. The report went on torecommend the strengthening of theCoast Guard and the establishment of aspecialised Marine Police in all coastalstates and island territories. When terrorists struck again on 26

November 2008, using the sea route for

the second time to inflict carnage anddestruction, it became apparent thatnothing much had been done toimplement the recommendations of theGoM Report. The then defence Minister,Shri A.K. Antony initiated certain steps toenhance maritime security, whichincluded making the Indian Navy as thenodal authority for all maritime security,both coastal and offshore, strengtheningof the coast guard and marine police andestablishing a national command,control, communication and intelligencenetwork for real-time maritime domainawareness (MDA). But much still remainsto be done.India remains vulnerable to sea based

attacks, due to the growing complexity ofthe maritime security environment aswell as continuing concerns over state-sponsored cross-border maritimeterrorism maritime. What is required isMDA for development of acomprehensive operational picture innear-real time to allow the control ofsurveillance and response assets andrapid response to events. As of now, the

Indian Navy has set up the InformationManagement and Analysis Centre (IMAC)with the Coast Guard, to function underthe National Security Advisor (NSA). Thisjoint operations facility is the nodalcentre of the National Command ControlCommunications and IntelligenceNetwork (NC3I Network), which links 20Indian Navy and 31 coast guard stations,located along the coast and on islandterritories, providing coastal surveillanceinformation. Considering the traffic thatdaily navigates the oceans, as also thelarge numbers of small boats that dot theIndian shores, this is indeed a stupendoustask. This would involve exploitingcommunication technology, satellites,registration of all fishing boats, issue of IDcards to fisherfolk, security awarenessprogrammes among the lay public, civilmilitary cooperation and internationalcooperation of a high order. But India’seconomic development hinges on thefact that its territory remains free fromterrorism. Therein lies the challenge ofsecuring our coastline from externalthreats.

Countering Sea Based Terrorism:Need for Maritime Domain Awareness

Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch, SM, VSM

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INTERNATIONAL FLEET REVIEW

16 SALUTE TO THE INDIAN SOLDIER << January-February 2016 << [email protected]

The International Fleet Review 2016,hosted by the Indian Navy atVisakhapatnam, was stunning in scaleand turnout. Bolstered by its mightysurface, undersea and aerialcapabilities, India’s blue water navystaged a spectacular maritime pageantoff the eastern seaboard as it hosted itsInternational Fleet Review (IFR) 2016.Fifty countries ranging from the US,

the UK, Germany, France, China,Russia, Australia and Japan to Iran,Israel, Mauritius, Myanmar, Somaliaand even landlocked Turkmenistanparticipated in this landmark event thatwas held recently by the Indian Navy atthe port city and Eastern NavalCommand (ENC) base ofVisakhapatnam.Twenty-four foreignwarships and 75 of the Indian Navy,including three submarines, as also twoships from the Indian Coast Guard (CG)and three from mercantile marine, wereat anchorage in six columns for reviewby President Pranab Mukherjee, who isalso Supreme Commander of India’sarmed forces. In attendance were PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, DefenceMinister Manohar Parrikar, stateGovernor E.S.L. Narasimhan and ChiefMinister Chandrababu Naidu. So were22 navy chiefs, including the host Chiefof the Naval Staff (CNS), AdmiralRabindra Kumar “Robin” Dhowan, asalso 27 heads of delegations, apart fromover 4,000 international naval officersand men. The review concluded with afly-past by the Naval Air Arm and adaring display by Marine Commandos(Marcos). The fly-past by 15 formationsof 45 aircraft, including two CGformations, showcased the latestacquisitions of the Indian Navy such asthe Russian-built MiG 29K and AEW

helicopter Ka31, and the U.S.-madeLong Range Maritime Reconnaissanceaircraft, P8I.“The sheer number of navies

represented from across the globe is anendorsement and recognition of India’semerging status as a major navalpower,” said Dhowan. “The event allowsthe host nation an occasion to displayits maritime capabilities and the‘bridges of friendship’ and trust it hasbuilt with other maritime nations.”As fulfilment of its assigned military,

diplomatic, constabulary and benignroles, the Indian Navy regularlyconducts joint exercises with othernavies at their shores or in Indianwaters, embarks ships on goodwillmissions that call on naviesinternationally, and lends ships forpeacekeeping and anti-piracyoperations from the Horn of Africa tothe Malacca Straits. Indian warshipshave besides assisted in evacuating theembattled from the war zones of Yemen(Operation Rahat in 2015), Libya(Operation Safe Homecoming in 2011),Lebanon (Operation Sukoon in 2006),and the Maldives (Operation Cactus in1988), apart from moving out victims ofnational disasters as the Gujaratearthquake in 2001 and the tsunami atthe eastern coast in 2004. Thecountryhasalso giftedor soldseveralwarships, new and used,andoccasionally also maritime patrolaircraft, to smallernations such as theMaldives, Seychelles, Mauritius,Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.India’s vast coastline of 7,615 km

abuts onto the Arabian Sea, Bay ofBengal and the Indian Ocean, and oneof its island enclaves, Andaman &Nicobar, is closer to Myanmar and

Thailand than to the Indian mainland.With 66 per cent of global oil, 50 percent of global container traffic and 33per cent of global cargo trade passingthrough the Indian Ocean Region (IOR),that stretches from the Persian Gulf tothe west to the Malacca Straits in theeast, the India Navy has a vitalresponsibility in ensuring the safety andsecurity in keeping sea lines open toglobal maritime movement.Noting that navies the world over

conduct fleet reviews to symbolise theirloyalty and allegiance to the nation, andto strengthen bonds between sailorsand the state, President Mukherjee saidIFR 2016 did all this and more.Addressing the Fleet during the Review,he observed that IFR 2016, whileshowcasing the prowess of the IndianNavy, had brought together navies fromacross the globe to Indian shores,underlining a common desire to use theseas to promote peace, cooperation andfriendship, as also to developpartnerships for a secure maritimefuture.IFR 2016 was only the second

international review ever conducted inIndia, the first having been organised bythe WNC in Mumbai in February 2001in the presence of then President, K.R.Narayanan. It had elicited a turnout of29 foreign and 60 Indian warships.There have besides been ninePresidential Fleet Reviews since India’sIndependence in 1947, the first suchhaving been held in 1953 and the last, in2011. By their nomenclature, these havebeen national rather than internationalexercises.‘United through Oceans’ was the

motto and underlying theme of the IFR,signifying that while the world was

UNITING THROUGH OCEANSINTERNATIONAL FLEET REVIEW - 2016

Sarosh Bana

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divided by geography, it was unified bythe seas. There was repeated emphasisthat oceans were the great blue‘commons’ that not only linked theglobal community, but granted itunfettered access. “IFR 2016 hasenabled us to join hands and worktogether to secure our seas for thegreater good of humanity and theworld,” the President maintained.This need was reiterated by speakers

at the concurrent two-day InternationalMaritime Conference, on the theme‘Partnering together for a securemaritime future’. There were concernsover sea-borne terrorism, piracy,smuggling of arms and drugs, andimmigrants, across the seas, and thesecurity challenges in the East andSouth China Seas where China hasmaritime disputes with many of itsneighbours in the littoral. In hispresentation, Prof. Ye Hailin of Beijing’sChinese Academy of Social Sciences,saw this “dispute” escalating ascompetitive issues got emphasisedinstead of cooperative solutions. “It isargued that given the overlap amongthe actions and policies of parties, thesituation in the South China Seamaydeteriorate with the possible risk ofserious conflict due to collision ofdiffering interests,” he warned.The return of Asia-Pacific to the

centre of world affairs is the great powershift of the 21st century. With thiseconomically integrated regiontraversed by half the world’scommercial shipping worth $5 trillionof trade a year, the participating naviesdeemed it imperative to secure theregional Sea Lines of Communication(SLOC) that are critical to the survival ofthe entire Asia-Pacific community.The Indian Navy is mindful of

Washington’s keenness to checkBeijing’s growing maritime assertionand its looking to India as the powerthat can tilt the strategic balance.Ultimately, all three countries willdefine the strategic nature of maritimeinfluence. India has emerged as theregional superpower and views the IOR,which it dominates, as its theatre of

influence, just as China is seeking asimilar role in the Western Pacific.Though India has no disputes in theIOR, its navy already maintains astronger force, on conventional warfare,than Russia, France or the UK, and ispoised to emerge as the third strongest,after the US and China, in the comingyears.It is in this context that IFR 2016

gained importance, with 50 nationsjoining it in an acknowledgment ofIndia’s emergence as a maritime power,and by extension, its role andimportance in international geo-politics. Apart from a vast fleet thatincludes two aircraft carriers, 10destroyers, 15 frigates, one nuclear-propelled submarine and eight diesel-electric submarines, the Indian Navyhas 41 ships on order from Indian yardsat a combined cost of Rs1,08,761 crore(about $16 billion).It is again in this context that India

and the U.S. are exploring the jointdevelopment of India’s next-generationaircraft carrier that will have combatcapabilities superior to its Chinesecounterparts. The visiting Chief of U.S.Naval Operations, Adm. JohnRichardson, said talks on this,potentially the biggest militarycollaboration between the twocountries, were progressing well andranged from its design to construction.The joint working group on the projectis meeting in New Delhi later inFebruary to take this forward. “Today,U.S.-India defence ties are strong andcontinue to grow stronger with eachpassing engagement,” said Richardson.“We are two countries with similarvalues - democratic governments,civilian control of the military and allvolunteer forces, and there is much thatbinds our nations and navies together.”Representing the U.S. Navy at the

IFR were the Ticonderoga Class guidedmissile cruiser, USS Antietam, and theArleigh Burke Class guided missiledestroyer, USS McCampbell. “A centralline of effort is to expand andstrengthen our network of partners andthe visit to India and interactions with

Indian and other navy leaders helpdeepen relationships and expandshared maritime interests,” Richardsonremarked. “We value like-mindedpartner countries like India, as a close,continuing and expanding partnershipis important for security and stability inAsia and for effectively managingIndian Ocean security in the 21stcentury.”Lt Cdr. T. Öwezgulyýew, Vice Chief of

the Turkmenistan Naval Staff, said hislandlocked navy, essentially a compactflotilla of patrol boats, safeguards itswaters in the Caspian Sea, which isvariously classed as the world’s largestlake or a full-fledged sea. A landlockednavy is that operated by a countrybereft of a coastline. The Caspian statesare Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Russia,Kazakhstan and Iran and in 1993, theformer Soviet Union’s Caspian SeaFlotilla was divided among the first fourstates. The Caspian states have to dealwith the challenges of drug smuggling,the ‘sea’ having become a transit routefor narcotics coming from Afghanistan,human trafficking, cross border crime,extremism and terrorism. All this iscompounded by the fact that maritimeborders are not yet settled betweenthem and they have differing views onhow ownership should be divided.Struck by the maritime power of the

Indian Navy, Öwezgulyýew saidbilateral partnership will need to beheightened with construction launchedlast December on the TAPI pipelinerunning 1,814 km from Turkmenistanthrough Afghanistan and Pakistan allthe way to Fazilka in Punjab, India,these four countries making theacronym, TAPI. This route, especiallythrough Afghanistan and Balochistan inPakistan, is fraught with peril. Militantgroups like the Taliban and IslamicMovement of Uzbekistan had brieflycaptured villages on Turkmenistan’sborders in 2015. The pipeline,estimated to cost $10 billion and to befunctional by 2019, will carry 33 billioncu m of gas from southernTurkmenistan.In Indian fleet reviews, the




President’s yacht steams past animpressive array of ships of both theIndian and merchant navies and theCoast Guard, while reviews held bysome other navies have ships sailingpast the reviewing yacht or ship. TheRoyal Navy, from whom the IndianNavy has inherited much of its customs,dates its first Review to 1415 whenHenry V – King of England from 1413 to1422 - inspected his fleet beforeembarking for war with France. It wasalso an occasion, perhaps the only one,when the ruler or sovereign appearedbefore the sailors as symbol of hiscountry to strengthen the bondbetween Lord and subject. A fleet review is a long-standing

tradition followed by various navies andis a grand occasion when every

operational ship is spruced up, proudlydisplaying its crest and company. It wasperhaps conceived as a show of navalmight or an inspection of readiness forbattle at sea, while later reviews werecelebratory demonstrations forvictories in battle, for a coronation or aroyal visit. Reviews today entailparading of warships without anybelligerent intentions. Indian Navyships have often sailed across the seasto participate in fleet reviews of friendlynations. While India’s maritimetraditions hark back to the Vedic times(1500 – 500 BC), its earliest recordedfleet review was in the 18th century bythe powerful Maratha fleet off theRatnagiri fort on the west coast.A highlight of IFR 2016 was the

Operational Demonstration and

International City Parade at theVisakhapatnam waterfront in thepresence of the Prime Minister. Severalwarships, submarines, aircraft andsquads of Marcos displayed themultidimensional operational tasks ofthe various arms of the Indian Navy.The city parade had marching andmilitary band contingents from thevisiting navies and the three Indianservices, replete with floats and dances.The parade was followed byillumination of ships and pyrotechnics,culminating in a light and sound show.

Mr Sarosh Bana is the ExecutiveEditor of Business India. A version of

this article was published earlier on 18Feb 2016 by VIF. It is republished here

with the permission of the author.



India’s Chief of the Naval Staff, Adm. R.K. ‘Robin’ Dhowan,was fortunate to have been able to steward the recentInternational Fleet Review (IFR) 2016 that took place onlythe second time in India, and that too just three monthsbefore his retirement. He talks to Sarosh Bana on this andother aspects:

What do you take away from the IFR event?The overall aim of hosting the IFR was to shape a favourable andpositive maritime environment by bringing all like-mindednations together for cooperation to ensure secure and tranquilseas. A fleet review is of significance, not only to display theIndian Navy’s maritime prowess, but also its operational,logistical and administrative capabilities. Like the first IFR atMumbai in 2001, IFR 2016 held at Visakhapatnam has beensignificant in more ways than a few. Apart from showcasing theNavy’s maritime capabilities, it included exhibitionshighlighting India’s thrust on indigenisation and innovationthrough ‘Make in India’, ‘Digital India’ and ‘Green India’initiatives. India’s rich, vast and diverse cultural heritage wasalso on display in the co-located IFR village. The InternationalMaritime Conference provided a forum for all participants toexchange views, refine Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs),and enhance interoperability and coordination for ensuringsafe seas for all. As a concluding event, 51 ships, including 17 offoreign navies, participated in exercises aimed to enhancecoordination, interoperability and cooperation with theunderlying theme of keeping the ‘Global Commons’ safe andsecure. If I were to sum up the biggest takeaways of IFR-16, itwould be enhanced cooperation, mutual trust, confidence,better understanding and interoperability with maritime forcesof friendly nations, thereby underpinning the theme of IFR 2016- ‘United Through Oceans’.

On scale and participation, would India’s IFR be theforemost of its kind among all navies?The IFR was envisaged to be hosted on a grand scale with 50countries participating in numerous events. The President ofIndia reviewed the fleet comprising nearly 100 ships andsubmarines from India and foreign countries. The Indian Navyalso hosted various events showcasing India’s unique diversityand cultures, our drive for innovation and development ofindigenous capabilities, as also the potential of India’s youth.For a more secure maritime future, participants from theworld’s leading navies and academia also engaged inintellectual discourse. Most importantly, IFR 2016 presented anideal platform that brought personnel from navies across theglobe together and facilitated better understanding andenhanced mutual trust. Given the sheer scale, not only ofnumbers of participating ships and personnel, but also themyriad cultural and operational activities, we can be proudthat IFR 2016 was truly a global maritime event hosted by India.

What consensus emerged from the International Maritime

Conference where speakers focused on China’s maritime(and military) ambitions?China’s economic growth has driven her expanding nationalinterests across the globe and these economic compulsionshave also spurred a modernisation drive within the PLA Navy.As is well known, the 21st century is characterised by the seaswhere nations are encountering a number of commonmaritime challenges. Since the high seas are not constrained bynational boundaries, and these maritime challenges are toovast for any navy to address single-handedly, they need to beovercome through cooperation and coordination. In thiscontext, the growth of the PLA Navy and its contribution incombating non-traditional maritime challenges, such as piracyin the Gulf of Aden, are a natural outcome of China’s overalldevelopment. While China has legitimate interests in themaritime commons, we hope the rise of its maritime forces willcontribute to maintaining peace and stability in the maritimedomain.



POINT - COUNTERPOINT


Gp Capt AG BewoorWhere has the attack helicopter (AH)been decisive? The appropriate answerwould be – nowhere. AHs in support ofhuge mechanised attacking or defendingarmies have never been tested againstany enemy. Exercises in Europe with Red& Blue forces could not give a correctpicture of how the helicopters wouldperform. What attrition would theysuffer? How would the mechanisedformations changing directions, out-manoeuvring each other keep theirhelicopters with them? How will theground forces, who need to be withinabout 500 metres to recognise enemytanks, identify own AHs from those of theenemy? More pertinently, how will theAH pilots differentiate friend from foe?What happens with sudden reversals andretreats to re-group for counter-offensive? What is the impact on ownforces when own AHs are destroyedamong manoeuvring tanks and infantrycombat vehicles? The infamous fog ofwar becomes foggier with helicoptersraising dust and howling jet engines.None of this can be ignored and wishedaway.

In the Middle East and Afghanistan,the Americans and Soviets utilised theirAHs – with no advantage, and that too,against a poorly endowed enemy withweak doctrine and training. Ouradversary on the other hand, is welltrained and has soldiers who have beenknown to fight courageously. With thelatest technology at their command,American AHs caused many Blue-on-Blue engagements during both the First

and Second Gulf Wars, but withnegligible destruction of enemy forces.The Israelis found nothing great aboutAHs during the Lebanese and Gazaskirmishes. Even today, Israel uses onlyfixed-wing aircraft, not AHs inside Gazaand Lebanon.

Soviet AHs lost heavily in Afghanistan.There are documented stories of Afghansknocking out AHs using wire-guidedanti-tank missiles. Recall the Americanhelicopter destroyed in Mogadishu withhumiliation to aircrew. Can we ignore thefact that over 5,000 helicopters were lostin Vietnam and against what type ofweapons and enemy? That is howvulnerable an AH is. It is a slow movingtarget and extremely easy to destroyduring hover. The greatest aerodynamiccapability of the helicopter is hovering;this however is a critical disadvantage inclose-quarter battles. Does the Armywant such a weapon? Even the IAF needsto rethink on AHs and their utility tosupport forces on the ground.

It is in the mountains that the AH willface its severest test and will, in allprobability, fail. The extremelyinhospitable terrain with its lengthyborder in the mountains precludes theuse of AH or any other helicopters in theoffensive role. Suffice it to say, AHs arebound to be under-utilised in themountains, and since India hasthousands of miles of mountainousborders to defend, the AH with the Armyor the IAF is a zero force multiplier.

All aero-engines degrade in poweroutput with increasing altitude andtherefore, the thrust of turbojet engines

decays at just 10,000 feet, the colour of thepilot’s uniform cannot recompense. At17,000 feet, the thrust falls even further. At20,000 feet, the height at which attackhelicopters are expected to fly, there is lessthan 50 per cent oxygen to generatethrust. Since no AH can perform at peaklevels in the mountains where the Armymost needs them, why acquire them atall? There must be a reason that is non-military; or is it plain ego?

Why then, does the Indian Army wantto procure the Attack Helicopter insupport of our armoured andmechanised formations? The AH willhave to move with tanks/APCs,manoeuvre in the tactical battle area; itwill fly low and slow in restricted visibilitywhere the enemy cannot be easilydiscerned and extensive small arms, towhich it is extremely vulnerable, will bedirected against the helicopter. No otherarmy on earth adopts this doctrine andphilosophy in actual practice. It hasfailed in Iraq, not once but twice.Helicopter casualties in Vietnam werehorrendous as was Soviet helicopterattrition in Afghanistan.

If the AH has no value except duringceremonial occasions and firepowerdisplays, does it need to be acquired?Here is a true story that emerged from theKargil conflict. An AH was demanded bythe Army to attack some intruders whohad captured certain peaks in the Kargilsector (as conveyed to the AOC J&K atUdhampur). Heavy with armour plating,the AH cannot climb and cross Zoji Lainto Ladakh. Hence, the AH could not betasked for attacking intruders on Kargil

ATTACK HELICOPTERS: SHOULD INDIA HAVE THEM?

Attack Helicopters form an important component of combat power. However, there are periodicissues which arise with respect to their utility and to their ownership. In this issue, of Point

Counterpoint, two contrary viewpoints are highlighted. It is left to the discretion of the reader toformulate his own opinion. Editor.

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slopes. It cannot fly across those heightsinto Ladakh due to an intrinsic designlimitation. This was explained by theAOC. However, till date, the mediarepeatedly states that the IAF’s reluctanceand unwillingness to help the Army wasthe reason for the IAF’s hesitation inusing AHs in the Kargil Conflict. Thiscanard is a sad commentary of howtruths and facts are distorted for pettyinter-service rivalry, immediatelyexploited by the politico-bureaucraticcombine and the sensation-hungrymedia. Damage control is impossible;the truth is neither gripping enough forprime time TV nor front page news. Thecanard lives on; fiction becomes fact.

Do we need more attack helicopters?Can anything be done with the AHsalready in use with the IAF? Knowingtheir severe limitations, why were theyprocured? There is no justification forthese machines being on our inventory.Now that we have them, the AHs can, atbest, be used for Special Operationswhere stealth, surprise, limitedopposition and cover of darknessreduces their vulnerability. India hasbeen threatening to attack and destroyterrorist training camps in POK. The AH

may be utilised to target the ingressroutes of terrorists and to interceptNaxals as they freely wander unseen byCRPF/BSF eyes. It may be used tosanitise an area from aerial or surfaceintervention on occasions such asRepublic Day, the CommonwealthGames and places such as stadiums,bridges, dams, buildings, ports, vitalpoints and oil Rigs. There can beumpteen occasions and options wherethe AH would make a positive impact.For the tasks mentioned and many morethat will emerge from SPG, NSG, PMO,MOD, MHA, Defence HQs et al, Indianeeds not more than just one or twosquadrons of AHs.

From the foregoing, it is evident thatthe AH is incapable of supporting a landor sea battle where small arms, SAMs andother hand-held weapons used by theenemy pose a real threat to it. It is afallacy to believe that heliborne SpecialNaval Commandos can capture a ship onhigh seas. The AH squadron is bestretained with the Air Force, readilyavailable for all contingencies.Specialised training for aircrew will becentralised, combined with rehearsals,simulated operations, on-the-job

continuation training with para-militaryand Special Forces.

Monitoring of the state of readinesscan be strictly assessed with vital inputsfrom the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, BSF,CRPF, NSG and SPG. There will be noduplication of resources and no multiplelocations with each State of the Unionseeking their quota. The AH squadronhas to be positioned where infrastructureto operate and maintain specialisedairborne weapon systems exist. To createeven more fixed assets solely for AH unitsis not a viable option. IAF Stations acrossIndia are intrinsically configured andcustomised to maintain, support andlaunch special AH operations at shortnotice.

Gp Capt A G Bewoor wascommissioned in the Indian Air Force inOctober 65 into the Transport Stream.

This article is an abridged version of thearticle which first appeared in the Indian

Defence Review (IDR) dated 30September 2015.The full article can be

accessed athttp:/ / www.indiandefencereview.com/ n

ews/ attack-helicopters-should-india-have-them/ . It is reproduced here

courtesy IDR.






Lt Gen. B.S. Pawar, PVSM, AVSM

National security of a modern state notonly endeavours to safeguard itsterritorial integrity and nationalsovereignty but is also indispensable forthe pursuit of economic and socialdevelopment of its citizens by ensuringand sustaining a supportive internaland external environment. In theoverall plan of modernisation of thearmed forces, the nation is acquiring200 plus fighter and transport aircraft,4000 plus artillery and air defence guns,3 aircraft carriers, a large number ofsubmarines and frigates, UAVsincluding armed, a plethora of differenttypes of missiles and hundreds of tanksand FICVs over the next decade. In thisprocess, about 100 odd attack/armedhelicopters, are also being acquired. It isdifficult to comprehend how theacquisition of such a small quantity ofattack helicopters can lead the countryto weapons procurement minefield andendanger its security. On the contrary,these attack helicopters will greatlyaugment national security and are apart of the overall 1200-1500helicopters planned for acquisition.

It is not correct to state that theIndian Military apes the militarydoctrines of the US and NATOcountries. This may have been true inthe Indian military’s formative years,but in the past decade all three serviceshave issued new war fighting doctrines,which are very clear in their intent andrelate to the Indian environment interms of terrain, geo-politicalenvironment, threat perception, etc.The urgent need as of now is to have a‘joint war fighting doctrine’ and a‘national security doctrine’. In fact, theIndian Army Doctrine includes themost talked about ‘proactive strategy’,

commonly referred to as the ‘cold startdoctrine’, which is Pak centric and seeksto address any future misadventure bythat country on the lines of theParliament/Mumbai type attacks.Accordingly, restructuring has beendone of the pivot corps to enable quickand immediate action within 48-72hours by using the integral assets at thecorps level. For this, the resourcesrequired (including attack helicopters)must be at the beck and call of the fieldforce commander—the presentarrangement of these assets ownershipwith the air force and operationalcontrol with army is not satisfactory.Nowhere in the world does such anabsurd arrangement exist.

India faces diverse external threatsand challenges. It has to manage itsover 15,000 km long borders with sevencountries, sections of which arecontested or not formally demarcatedon the ground or constitute only anagreed line of control. Additionalproblems emanate from open orporous borders. It has a long coast lineof over 7,500 km along with an extendedmaritime zone, island territories, sealanes of communication for its tradeand energy flows and offshore oilinstallations. The threat of a two frontwar looms large today, more than everbefore. In addition, sub conventionalconflict continues to engage the IndianArmy in J&K and parts of the Northeast,supported by Pakistan and Chinarespectively. In these circumstances,helicopters, especially attackhelicopters, though a very minusculepart of inventory, are an essentialingredient of the Indian Military andtheir acquisition enhances nationalsecurity.

The Vietnam war, also referred to asthe helicopters war, formed the test bedfor validating the concepts of air

mobility and assault. The helicopterwas universally employed for variousmissions, including attack, air assault,aerial resupply, reconnaissance andcommand and control, the mostcommon being transportation oftroops/ stores as utility or cargohelicopters. Actual integration ofassault and armed helicopters evolvedduring the Vietnam war, leading to theconcept of organic tactical mobility anddedicated attack helicopters. Currently,attack helicopters are an integral part ofthe land, sea and air operations ofmodern armies, including their everincreasing employment in subconventional conflicts (counterinsurgency and counter terroristoperations) the world over. A typicalmilitary helicopter force should have allclass of helicopters ranging from lightobservation to utility/lift (light,medium & heavy) including specialisedroles (attack/armed) as per theoperational requirement of a country’sarmed forces. It is a fact that all majorarmies of the world including ouradversaries China and Pakistan have afull-fledged Army Aviation Corps,consisting of all types of helicoptersincluding attack helicopters and fixedwing aircraft for communications andlogistics support. It is thereforesurprising that the world’s third largeststanding army, which has unresolvedand active borders with both China andPakistan and has fought wars with boththese countries, continues to be denieda viable and operational Aviation Corpswhich can turn the tide in any futureconflict.

The operational diversities of theIndian Military coupled with variety ofterrain (from sea level to the SiachenGlacier) underline the need for state ofart, modern technology helicopterscapable of operating both by day and

ATTACK HELICOPTERS: WHY THEARMY NEEDS THEM




night in a complex battlefieldenvironment of future. It is importantto note that Attack Helicopters operatein a battlefield environment as part ofan all arms team for optimum effectand not in isolation as happened in thefirst Iraq war with disastrousconsequences for the fleet of Apaches.The lessons were well learnt with theireffective employment in the secondIraq war with positive results. InAfghanistan, it is the Huey Cobras –AH1Z, which were more effective and hadgreater employability than the Apaches,due to their lighter weight and better

capability to operate in the mountains.The ownership issue of attack

helicopters is no more a matter ofdiscussion. In October 2013, theDefence Ministry after vacillating fordecades, finally took the call on thecrucial issue of the ownership andoperations of Attack Helicopters. Theletter issued by the MOD clearlystipulated that the entire attackhelicopter fleet will be owned, operatedand maintained by the Army. Thoughlate in coming, the decision is awelcome step and will have a majorimpact on war fighting in the tactical

battle area(TBA) in the Indian context.The Government had to finally followthe path taken by the US and UKgovernments, on similar issuesinvolving their respective air forces andarmies. It would be pertinent tomention here that the case for inclusionof attack helicopters to be part andparcel of army dates back to 1963 whenGen. J.N. Chaudhary, the then COASstressed the requirement for a separateair wing for the army. He emphasisedthat efforts at increasing the fire powerand mobility of the army would not becomplete without an integral aviation



24

element comprising light, medium,heavy as well as armed/attackhelicopters. However, it took 23 yearsfor the army with Governmentintervention, to finally break away fromthe air force and form an independentArmy Aviation Corps in November 1986.The organisation sanctioned wasnowhere near what had been envisagedin 1963, totally lacking the wherewithalto be a full fledged aviation arm of thearmy, primarily due to non-availabilityof armed/attack and utility helicoptersin its inventory. It is ironic that it tookanother 26 years since the birth of theAviation Corps to get the attackhelicopter arsenal in its inventory. Thismove will greatly enhance its capability,making it a battle winning factor in anyfuture conflict.

As a consequence of this decision itwas expected that the 22 Apache AH-64D Longbow AH being procured fromthe US by the airforce, would ultimatelybe army assets. This assumption wasbased on the basic premise that the twounits of MI-25/MI-35 presently held

with the airforce, are army assets andare also operationally controlled by thearmy and the new attack helicopters(Apaches) being acquired are for thereplacement of the same. TheGovernment however has gone againstits own decision of ownership of attackhelicopters by letting the air force retainthe Apaches – they should have rightlybeen part of Army.

Attack Helicopter is a forcemultiplier which can transcend thelimits of surface friction and due to itsspeed, agility and firepower can operatewith stealth and impunity to destroy theenemy forces. It’s forte is to fly atextremely low levels, below the enemyradar aided by its gamut of electro-optical devices duly protected by EWsuites and armour plating. Thevulnerability of the attack helicopter istherefore comparatively lesser thanother platforms in the tacticalbattlefield area.The employment ofattack helicopter is most suited foroperations with mechanised forces. Butat the same time an attack helicopter is

not to be mistaken for a ‘flying tank’.Operations with mechanised forcesimply operations in close co-ordinationand conjunction with mechanisedforces. The attack helicopters have awell-defined concept of operations andtactics to enable their employmentalong with mechanised forces. Underall circumstances, their command andcontrol is best suited to be with the fieldforce commander.

Helicopters have great utility in themountains too, as can be testified bythose who have flown there, includingSiachen Glacier. It is true that all aero-engines degrade in power output athigh altitude, but Siachen is a realityand helicopters are the life line of theIndian Army deployed on those icyheights – the highest battle field in theworld. Obviously it is commonknowledge in the aviation fraternitythat attack helicopters in the class of theMI-25/35 and Apache cannot operate inthe high mountains- the same does nothold good for lighter categories ofcombat helicopters.




In this context, the development ofthe light combat helicopter (LCH) bythe HAL is a mile stone achievement.The LCH aims to gate crash theexclusive club of the state of art lightattack helicopters, which includesEurocopters Tiger, Bells AH 1Z SuperCobra and China’s ultra secret Zhisheng10 (Z-10). The LCH is a derivative of theALH and the RUDRA (armed ALH) andis being designed to fit into an anti-infantry and anti-armour role withcapability to operate at high altitudes(16000 feet), a distinct advantage overother attack helicopters. Unlike theRUDRA, the LCH will have tandemseating cockpit and stealth features, butwill carry the same weapons packagenow being qualified on board theRUDRA. The helicopter is expected toenter service by 2017. The LCH/ attackhelicopter units will be the main punchof the manoeuvre force commanderand will be inducted into the ArmyAviation Corps and operate in supportof ground forces both in the plains andmountains. The army aviation corps isall set to have a lethal arsenal of state ofart AH/Armed helicopters thus makingit a force to reckon with and distinctlythe arm of decision in the future. Atpresent, ALH units located at Leh andMisamari are already carrying outoperations in the high altitude areas ofLadakh, Arunachal and Siachen. Eventhe Cheetah helicopter which is due forreplacement, of which Indian Armyholds approximately 200, is alsooperating extensively in these areasdespite their vintage. The ALH with theShakti engine has already landed on ahelipad in Siachen at 19800 feet withfour passengers.

The employment of attackhelicopters fully integrated with ArmyAviation units and fighting alongsideand above the infantry will also give anew meaning to close air support in theTBA. There is indeed a need to relookthe concept of close air support in theTBA and the role of attack/ armedhelicopters in the same. The presentconcept of close air support is a relic ofWorld War II, driven by range

limitations of surveillance, targetacquisition and engagement capabilityof land based platforms.The availabilityof unmanned aerial vehicles, missilesand long range artillery platforms (40-120 km) has changed all that, as todaysurface based platforms can cover theentire TBA. This also brings into focusthe role of attack and armed helicoptersin providing intimate close air supportin the TBA. In Afghanistan, the troopson the ground have been morecomfortable with the intimate supportprovided by attack/ armed helicoptersin their operations, due to the visibility,proximity and response time factors.

The primary mission of armyaviation is to fight the land battle andsupport ground operations, operatingin the TBA as a combined arms teamexpanding the ground commander’sbattlefield in space and time. Itsbattlefield leverage is achieved througha combination of reconnaissance,mobility and fire power that isunprecedented in land warfare. Itsgreatest contribution to battlefieldsuccess is the ability it gives thecommander to apply decisive combatpower at critical times virtuallyanywhere on the battlefield, in the formof direct fire from aviation manoeuvreunits (attack/armed helicopters) orinsertion of overwhelming groundforces at the point of decision(utility/lift helicopters). The assetsrequired for the above manoeuvre, theattack and assault helicopters must beat the beck and call of the field forcecommander and also piloted by men inolive green who fully understand theground situation. This will ensure theoptimum utilisation of the battlewinning resource. This has been thebasic rationale on which the army’scase for ownership of these assets rests.

Unlike the airforce, the armyaviation units and helicopters arelocated closer to their operational areasand along with the formations affiliatedto, especially at the Corps level. Duringwar these units will require to operatefrom forward composite aviation bases,catering for security, maintenance,

fuelling and arming facilities. Theemployment philosophy dictates theneed to develop organisations thatenhance aviation capabilities tosupport the concept of operations offield commanders and be tailored tomeet the evolving operationalrequirements-hence the concept ofAviation Brigade with each Corps andnot bases as in the case of air force.

For dominating the tactical battlespace of the 21st century, the roles thatarmy aviation needs to perform insupport of land battle requiresequipment, personnel, aircrew andorganisations that enhance the overallgoal and capability of the land forcescommander. The need is for dedicatedaircrew who are not only proficient inflying but are associated full time witharmy manoeuvres, operational thinkingand ground tactics, as well as spendtime in the field. The present structureis not suited for the short, swift andlimited wars envisaged in the future.While the transformation process hasbeen set into motion by MODs decisionto transfer attack helicopters to thearmy, a lot still needs to be done on theissue of the ownership of the lift/utilitycomponent of helicopters. Experienceof other nations clearly illustrates thateach service needs a viable integralaviation component for it to retain thecapacity to include air encounters aspart of its personal armoury. Thecontrol and ownership of tactical/heavylift helicopters by the Army is anoperational imperative due to the needfor integration of all elements of armyaviation (combat and combat support)into a cohesive combat organisation.

Lt Gen BS Pawar is former Head ofthe Army Aviation Corps and former

Commandant, School of Artillery.Currently, he is the President of theNorthern Region of The Helicopter

Society of India. A defence analyst, hewrites for defence journals andpublications and is also on the

editorial board of a few of them.



POLICY ANALYSIS


“You know, at some point there has to beparity. There has to be parity betweenwhat is happening in the real world andwhat is happening in the Public SectorWorld”

—Chris Christie

We probably had a false sense of illusionthat the Public Sector Enterprises will bethe sole repository of India’s growthstory post independence till we got arude jolt in 1990’s and opened up toprivatisation in a big way. While theprivate players since then have becomeglobal leaders, the public sectorcontinues to remain a poor cousin by aconsiderable margin. If we analysecertain specific sectors such as IT,manufacturing, aviation, telecomm-unication and banking – just imaginewhere the country would stand in theabsence of private players and how theirpresence in the market has benefitted theend consumers and the Indian economyas a whole.

By the same yardstick, to have left outthe defence sector from the ambit ofprivatisation in ‘real terms’ is not onlyperplexing but defies logic. ‘Real terms’does not apply to cosmetic changesmade to the defence sector post January2002, wherein 100 percent private sectorparticipation was allowed, but with aretrograde ruling that the first preferenceto pick and choose went to the publicsector. Every single policy that wasframed, be it FDI, Offsets, “Buy”, “Buy &Make”, Taxes, incentives for R&D, andother policy frame works that flowed outfrom the successive versions of the‘Defence Procurement Procedure’, wereheavily biased towards the public sector.The private sector always saw the carrotdangling, but as its hands were tied, it

made negligible investments.Taking a cue from Leroy Hood, “If you

just focus on the smallest details, younever get the big picture right”, let’sanalyse some of the top arms exportersin the world to see what drives theirdefence markets. Barring Russia andChina, where all markets are statecontrolled, the Indian corollary followsthe well defined defence markets inAmerica, Germany, France, Italy, UK andtherein the top defence manufacturerssuch as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, BAE,General Dynamics, Raytheon,Finmeccanica, Thales, Airbus, RollsRoyce etc. If you study the history ofthese private firms, it is glaringly clearthat they have been built through thesheer dint of political, diplomatic andfinancial backing provided by theirrespective countries. In 2014, the globalsale of arms by Boeing and LockheedMartin exceeded USD 65 billion whichsurpasses India’s defence budgetallocation in any financial year till date.So, will we continue to remain the world’slargest importer of arms in the comingdecades? No! The situation is fortunatelychanging.

2015 has indeed been India’swatershed year in defence indigenisation– and the private sector juggernaut isfinally set to roll. The presentgovernment deserves credit for not justunderstanding the dynamics of thisgame, but resolutely implementingchanges that were so desperately needed.Rather than merely focusing on the nitty-gritty of improving the plethora ofordnance factories, the DPSUs and ourR&D establishments, it has unleashedthe humongous potential of the privatesector, which will undoubtedly transformthe landscape of defence indigenisation

and ensure that the public sector eitherperforms or becomes a laggard at it’s ownperil. Those who understand thenuances of defence production anddefence procurement will appreciate thisas a masterstroke in transforming thedefence sector, as finally, the intent of thegovernment has transformed intoconcrete policies towards the privatesector. The concerns of the private sectorhave been addressed with overwhelmingurgency and a clear level playing fieldwith the public sector has now beenestablished. DPP 2016 is likely to bring insome major changes which will benefitthe private players as under:

A new category called the ‘IDDM’ or‘Indigenously Designed, Developed andManufactured’ platforms is likely beingintroduced which will get top priorityand will be first to be chosen for tenders.With a level playing field for both DPSUsand the private industry, it is now nolonger feasible to simply importcomponents from abroad, assemble inIndia and term it as ‘Made in India’.Neither is it possible for the public sectorto take captive orders with impunity andas an organisational right. Also, under thenew DPP, systemic changes have beenproposed to the ‘Make’ category so as tokick start this stalled process. “Only firmswith majority stake and controlled byresident Indians will come under ‘Make’categories.

The ‘Make’ procedure is proposed tobe divided in three sub- categories —Make I — which will involve 90 per centfunding of development cost by thegovernment, Make II — in which case,the government will refund 100 per centof development cost in case Request forProposal (RFP) is not issued within twoyears from the time of development of

DEFENCE INDIGENISATION:CORRECTING ANOMALIES

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prototype and Make III — which will bereserved for small and medium scaleenterprises for projects worth less thanRs 3 crore. These are crucial changes asfinancial support provided by thegovernment, coupled withaccountability of the suppliers to deliver,will undoubtedly lead to concreteprogress on the ground by the privatesector.

The L1 policy of selecting lowestbidder is being modified. 10 percentextra weightage will be given if a systemdisplays better qualities than required.This, along with another new proposedchange that ‘bids can be accepted even ifthere is only one supplier’ will help thedefence establishment to focus onquality vendors, collaborate with seriouspartners and deter suppliers indulging inretrograde practices to remain afloat.

Strategic Projects have majorramifications on defence preparednessand have a direct correlation with bothtime and money. With private playersjoining the defence bandwagon in a bigway, it will be more feasible to selectvendors on their intrinsic worth ratherthan their face value. The new DPP islikely to carry a clause wherein “Projectswith development costs equal to orexceeding Rs 5,000 crore, to have aminimum 'net worth' of 5 per cent of thedevelopment cost, subject to maximumof Rs 1,000 crore” and “Companiesrequire to be registered for five years,three years in case of MSMEs and have aminimum credit rating of B++, from arecognised rating agency”.

In a major boost to R&D by privateplayers, DPP 2016 is likely to allowgovernment to fund up to 90 per cent ofdevelopment costs to private companiesof which 20 per cent will be given inadvance and in 24 months the entity willbe given a tender. If the tender is notgiven, the private company will get arefund of its expenses. Another additionis the funding of Rs 10 crore for R&D tomedium-scale industry which will boostcomponent level and small scaleinnovations.

In continuation to the government’seffort to reduce timelines, enhance

accountability and address concerns ofthe private players, certain duplicateclauses which resulted in time overrunsin defence procurements have beeneliminated. Also, the DPP sets up anempowered committee to solve disputesor unforeseen issues. Till now, disputeswent to DAC. The validity of Acceptanceof Necessity (AoN) has also been broughtdown to six months from earlier one year.

The Race BeginsTo quantify this statement, hugeinvestments from local giants such asReliance, Tata, L&T, Bharat Forge andMahindra have already been committedas there is a business opportunity worthINR 250 billion in the coming 5-7 years.Joint ventures with Boeing for aerostructures of Apache attack helicoptersand components of Chinook heavy lifthelicopters, BAE systems offer to makeultra light guns in India in collaborationwith an Indian private firm, L&Toutgunning global rivals to bag 5000crore contract for mobile howitzers,Bharat Forge has already invested morethan Rs 100 crore to develop indigenousself propelled howitzers, Tata,GeneralElectric and Bharat Forge have enteredinto an alliance to bag an USD 11 billiondeal pertaining to the Indian Army’sFuture Infantry Combat Vehicle and

many other such proposals are already inthe pipeline by the Indian private sector.

Let the Best Horse WinKeeping our National Interest in mind, alevel playing field has been createdbetween the public and private sector indefence production. Our arm imports area staggering 40 times the size of itsexports. As per a written reply in LokSabha in November 2014, our import billfor capital acquisitions in last 5 years wasUSD 16.72 billion, which in Rupee termsis more than 1 lakh crore. In the previousthree years, our exports were a mere Rs1,644 crores. We can not afford to importupto 70 percent of our defencerequirements, be the largest importer ofarms in the last few decades and yet be aformidable military power. Revival of theprivate sector in defence production is aquantum step in the right direction. Thegovernment has made its intentionsaptly clear- ‘Tax payers money is notmeant for laggards surviving underprotectionist policies. EqualOpportunities – Equal Competition- Maythe Best Horse Win’.

The author is a Senior Fellow atCLAWS. Views expressed are personal.


POLICY ANALYSIS

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POLICY ANALYSIS


On assuming office in 2014, theGovernment, with a view to provide thenecessary thrust to the defencemanufacturing sector, as also to lendimpetus to defence acquisitions in India,set up a Committee of Experts forAmendments to DPP 2013 IncludingFormulation of Policy Framework("Committee"). The said Committee,submitted its findings andrecommendations to the Government on23 July 2015. For the first time, this reportwas placed in the public domain, toobtain views from the stakeholders in allspheres including the industry. Thisendeavour resulted in the much requirediterations based on the views receivedfrom the environment. Thereafter, on 11January 2016, the Acquisition Wing of theMoD fielded the revised DefenceProcurement Procedure (DPP) 2016 forthe approval of the Defence AcquisitionCouncil (DAC), the apex decision-making body of the MoD.

DPP 2016 less one chapter is likely tobe commissioned in April 2016 afterincorporating certain amendments. Thechapter on the selection of “strategicpartners would be notified separately,based on the report from a task forceheaded by former DRDO chief V K Aatre.MoD also plans to promulgate a separatepolicy document on the blacklisting offoreign firms and the role of amiddleman in defence deals.

Key ParametersThe new DPP stipulates that only thosefirms with majority domestic stake andcontrolled by resident Indians will comeunder Make categories. ’Buy Indian’,Indigenously Designed, Developed andManufactured (IDDM) platforms, hasbeen included in the categories and will be

accorded top priority for all defence capitalprocurements. This category has beenfurther subdivided into two sub-categories:• Sub category I stipulates 40% domesticcontent for a domestic design.

• Sub category II stipulates 60% localcontent if the design is not Indian. It isobligatory for the domestic companieseligible under this category to haveIndian control and be operated by anIndian national only.In order to provide the thrust towards

building a technology base in thecountry, the government has proposed tofund Research & Development (R&D)efforts by the industry. In case of ‘Make’category, the new DPP has a provision inwhich the government throughDepartment of Defence Production(DDP) will be funding up to 90 percent ofdevelopmental costs to privatecompanies. For the purpose of funding,the ‘Make' category has been furthersubdivided into three sub categories:• Make-I. This has a provision of 90percent government funding fordevelopment cost, as also a provision to

reimburse balance 10 percent.• Make-II. It has a provision for industryfunding, however with a clause of 100percent refund for a successfulprototypes in case the procurement isnot effected within a time period of twoyears.

• Make-III. This has been formulatedspecifically for the MSMEs. It shall bevalid for projects with value less than Rs3 crore, with no change in theremaining provisions as applicable forthe Make-II category.To address concerns arising out of

delays in acquisition, the new DPP hasproposed cutting down of the existingtimelines. The Acceptance of Necessity(AoN) has been proposed to be valid foronly six months from earlier validity ofone year, implying that the Services willhave to expedite the issue of the Requestfor Proposal (RFP). It has been proposedto include enhanced performanceparameters for additional capabilitiesbesides the essential parameters as partof RFPs. While evaluating their productcost, additional credit score will beprovided to the vendors who meet these

DPP 2016: Implications for Defence Offsets

Col Anuraag Chhibber

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parameters.Today, with expertise and related

monopoly blurring the borders betweennations and the fact that single vendorsituations are going to be the norm infuture, the new DPP proposes acceptingof the bids even when there is only onesupplier. A proper justification to theapproving authority will however bemandated for the same.

Last but not the least, the applicabilitythreshold for defence offsets has beenproposed to be raised from the existingRs 300 crore to Rs 2000 crore. This impliesthat only those foreign OriginalEquipment Manufacturers (OEMs) whobag defence contracts with cost of overRs 2,000 crore will be subject to offsetsclause and thus will have to plough back30 percent of the contract value intoIndian enterprises. The contracts withvalue less than Rs 2,000 crore will thus beexempt from the offsets clause. This hasboth a positive and a negative spill over.

The PositivesIt will lend impetus to capital defenceprocurements by making it suitable foroverseas defence manufacturingcompanies as also the Indian defencemanufacturing sector in takingpromising though initial steps intodefence manufacturing in India. It hasalso provided the much desired flexibilityto foreign OEMs. On this issue, theRaksha Mantri stated,"We currently havesigned offsets worth USD 5 billion andanother USD 8 to 10 billion is in thepipeline. We may not be able to absorb allof this. Moreover, offsets also increase thecost of the product by 14-18 per cent”

Offsets remain one of the primereasons for delay in fructification ofdefence procurement contracts. Also, attimes, some foreign manufacturers donot respond when offsets form part of theRFP, as they find them unmanageableand at times, due to a plethora of reasons,beyond their capability to fulfil. We canlook forward to greater participation byforeign OEMs, completion of contracts ina shorter time frame as well as reductionin costs. The last factor is due to the factthat the cost of offsets are loaded on to

the contract of the main project. Theraising of the threshold for offsets to Rs2000 crore will invite the minimum offsetobligation of Rs 600 crore. This impliesthat Indian policy makers, with thisincreased capital value of the offsets, candemand a higher technology transfer ofniche technologies as part of the offsetobligation, which may not have beenavailable in the earlier minimum capitalvalue of the offset threshold, whichmandated only Rs 90 crore for projects ofvalue of Rs 300 crore.

The ConcernsAn analysis by Weapons and EquipmentDirectorate, the capital procurementdirectorate for Indian Army, shows that52 per cent of Indian Army procurementprojects are below Rs Projects costs of Rs2000 crore and more cover only 10 to 20percent of Army procurements. Thismeans that Indian Army procurementswould invite near to negligible offsetcontracts. It is true that the Indiandefence offsets policy, which has been invogue since 2005, suffers from certainglitches. However, since its inception, thepolicy has seen a number of iterationsand has matured into a stabilised policywith a mandate to leverage capitalacquisitions to develop India’s defenceindustrial base (DIB) and in turnpromote research and development indefence sector. The answer should hencelie in finding answers to existing glitches,rather than denying the offset provisionsby conveniently raising the threshold ofoffsets to a level where most of theprocurement cases fall beyond thepurview of the offset obligation.

Across the world, offsets haveinfluenced the course of weapons andequipment procurements and haveaccordingly impacted the growth of theglobal defence industry. Countries likeSaudi Arabia, Brazil and Israel haveachieved substantial success throughoffsets, despite having lower thresholdvalues. With a high threshold value, Indiamay well end up losing this advantage,which in turn could adversely impact the‘Make in India’ initiative. Also, with theraising of the threshold value to Rs 2000

crore, the MSME sector is virtually ruledout of defence offsets, as the obligation ofRs 600 crore as beyond such enterprises,and will be restricted to the larger playersonly such as Bharat Forge Ltd, RelianceIndustries Ltd, the Tata group, Larsenand Toubro Ltd, the Godrej Group, theMahindra Group, Reliance GroupandAdani Defence Systems andTechnologies Ltd, which are wellentrenched in the business.

A caveat also need to be put on theGovernment’s ambitious ‘Make in India’campaign. This holds great salience inthe non-defence sector, where theobjective is purely economic. In thedefence sector, the objective is selfreliance, with economic advantage andjob creation coming as a subsidiarybenefit. Also, what needs to beunderstood is that niche technologies, toinclude designs and the source codes ofdefence equipment are the most closelyguarded secrets and no OEM will like topart with these secrets. While the ‘Makein India’ initiative is at nascent stages andthe rules of its implementation are still tobe laid out, the Indian offset programmehas been through a number of iterationssince 2005 and has matured to quite anextent. The most important issue inoffsets is the provisions of safeguardsagainst the OEM offering low endtechnology in the form of eithermultipliers in offering transfer oftechnology or the buyback clause.

Points to PonderStrengthening of Defence Industrial Baseis a structured approach which involves aclear understanding of capabilities andtechnologies, the requirement of inhouse R&D, seeking transfer oftechnology from foreign OEMs as part ofacquisition contracts or offsets andsimultaneous setting up of theinfrastructure for training the workforce.In this context, the pros and cons ofraising the threshold levels needreexamination, to provide the bestoutput to the Indian defence Sector.

The author is a Senior Fellow atCLAWS. Views expressed are personal.


POLICY ANALYSIS

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MOTIVATION


In June 1989, I was posted to the HighAltitude Warfare School (HAWS) inGulmarg as an instructor and servedthere for two years in a very challengingenvironment. Just a few years earlier, in1984, the Indian Army had occupied theSaltoro Ridge in an amazing preemptivemove, which gave India control over theSiachen Glacier. This flowed fromattempts by Pakistan to alter thestatus quo in the area throughcartographic aggression. As is wellknown, the Cease Fire Line (CFL)drawn up between India andPakistan following the KarachiAgreement of 1948 wasdemarcated upto map gridreference NJ 9842. From here, asper the wording of the Agreement,the CFL was to proceed‘Northwards on to the Glaciers’.Though not explicitly stated, thiswas presumed to be the SaltoroRidge, which ran Northwards upto Indira Col and thence on to theShakshgam Valley. Sometime inthe late seventies/ early eighties,Pakistani maps began to show theCFL as extending from NJ9842,North-Eastwards towards theKarakoram Pass. Pakistan alsostarted giving permission toforeign mountaineeringexpeditions to go to these areas.Indian intelligence agencies alsocame to know that Pakistan wasattempting to occupy the SaltoroRidge in an operation codenamed “Ababeel”. As a counter,India launched “OperationMeghdoot” and occupied the heights onSaltoro Ridge before the Pakistanis coulddo so. This gave India control over theSiachen Glacier.

I vividly remember an interactionwith the then Deputy Commandant,HAWS, Col (later Brig.) Pushkar Chand,

where he told us how he and his team setout to accomplish the assigned task tooccupy the Saltoro Ridge. It was a raceagainst time and weather, and he wasgiven no time to prepare. The task forceconsisted of troops from Ladakh Scouts,Kumaon Regiment and Special FrontierForce. A seasoned mountaineer and

experienced soldier, Col Pushkar Chand,knew that every patrol had to be led byan officer. Therefore, as the existingstrength of officers with the companieswas inadequate, volunteer youngofficers from Northern Command andfrom other commands were selected

under High Risk Mission, because theenemy here was not only the PakistanArmy but also extremely tough terrainand freezing weather conditions.

Troops then had very limited glacierclothing so old pattern extreme coldclimate clothing (ECC) was issued tothese men. The task was to occupy

Saltoro Ridge before the PakistaniArmy could do so. From thePakistani side, this task had beengiven to its special forces. From theIndian side, teams were distributedand Partapur became the centre ofactivity. Troops started movingforward and small teams wereconstituted to reach the SaltoroRidge fastest and earliest. In spiteof the long arduous route, the grittyyoung officers led the troops to thehighest battle ground on earth -and occupied the passes andcritical heights on Saltoro,preempting the Pakistan Army by amere three days. This singular actredefined the limits of humanendeavour, gave a new definition ofbravery under extreme terrain andclimatic conditions and redrew theLine of Control, which in this areahenceforth came to be known asthe Actual Ground Position Line(AGPL). Never before was such anoperation conducted - andperhaps never in future too, willsuch a war ever be fought in thehistory of mankind. To reach thoseforbidding heights was by itself agreat feat of mountaineering, to beundertaken only by the best

mountaineers of the world. To live therewas unimaginable. Yet, the Indian armydid that and more - truly anunforgettable experience of life. HavildarSonam had much to do with thesuccessful accomplishment of thismission, but I did not know that when I

REMEMBERING SONAMBrig Narender Kumar, SM, VSM

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was posted to HAWS.One of my duties at HAWS was to

oversee the running of the studentofficer’s mess as the mess secretary. Thatwas when I came in contact with Sonam,who at that time had been posted toHAWs as the administrative noncommissioned officer (Adm NCO) and itwas Sonam’s job to run the studentofficer’s mess. His inability to properlysupervise the mess and manage thebudget led to financial losses which bothhe and I had to make good from ourpockets. This annoyed me no end and Idecided to take up the matter with the

Deputy Commandant, Col PushkarChand. I wanted Sonam sacked for hislack of ability in accounting of rationsand managing the budget. Col Chandwas none too pleased with this state ofaffairs and directed me to get this NCO tohis office. Finally, I thought, this matterwill be resolved. It was settled, but hardlyin the manner that I thought it would be.

When Sonam entered the DeputyCommandants office, The Colonel’sanger changed to an expression ofamazement. He got up from his chairand clasped Sonam in a warm embrace.Then looking Sonam in the eye, he

scolded him. “Did you not know that Iwas the Deputy Commandant? Whyhave you not come to meet me”? Sonamsimply smiled and did not utter a word.That was the end of my complaint andthen the Deputy Commandantintroduced Sonam to me.

“Sonam is a legend”, he said and thenfilled me up with a bit of history of whichI was not aware. When “OperationMeghdoot” was launched in 1984,Havildar Sonam was part of a patrol thathad an officer as a patrol leader. Duringthe approach march to the givenlocation, the patrol leader fell in a


MOTIVATION


MOTIVATION


crevasse and was badly injured. In thoseicy conditions, such injuries prove fatal ifthe person is not quickly evacuated. Ashelicopters were not available forevacuation, Col Pushkar Chand orderedthe patrol be split in two. One group wasto evacuate the injured officer. Thesecond group, under Hav. Sonam was tocontinue with the mission.

Sonam, a gritty Nunu (Ladakhisoldier), led from the front and reachedthe designated location. He had but afew men with him and the temperatureswere sub zero. Sonam realised that thesmall snow tents they had wereinadequate to protect them from thecold. So he had his men dig tunnels inthe ice, to protect them from the wind-chill factor. But that was not the onlychallenge Sonam had to face. Soon, hissmall detachment came under enemymortar fire! Movement was difficult, andSonam could not determine where thefire was coming from, but the ice tunnelsgave a level of protection, both fromenemy fire as well as from the weather.However, something had to be doneabout the enemy firing.

Sonam, along with two of hiscolleagues, with the help of ropes, thenworked their way to a vantage point,from where they determined where thefire was emanating from. That evening,he told Col Chand that he had spottedthe mortar position of the enemy whichwas engaging them and requested thatthe enemy be engaged with own artilleryfire. That posed a different predicament,because Sonam had absolutely no clueas to how to direct artillery fire on to thetarget. Necessity is however, the motherof invention. Col. Chand gave Sonam afew tips on what had to be done to directartillery fire, and using that, along withhis common military knowledge andjudgment, Sonam was able to effectivelyengage the enemy position.

A larger challenge was movement.The area could be observed by theenemy, and whenever they attempted tomove, they would come under enemyfire. Movement was thus restricted tohours of darkness only, to preventobserved enemy fire as also to avoid

casualties due to avalanches. In thosecramped and unbearably cold and harshconditions, where each day was achallenge to survive, Sonam stayed forsix months without relief. Indeed, thatwas a feat of superhuman endurance.That was also how the post came to beknown as Sonam Post.

It so happened that when Col PushkarChand asked Sonam to indicate the gridreference of his post, the young grittysoldier, a master in the art of mountainwarfare at those heights, had absolutelyno idea how to read a map! The Colonelthen joked with him over the radio.“Sonam” he said, “I am not worried ifyou are taken as a prisoner by the enemy,because you will reveal no information,since you know nothing. But the Colonelknew that Sonam was worth his weightin gold. He then told Sonam, “henceforth, when you give the report of yourpost to me you will say ‘Sonam Post OK’”.And that is how the post was named afterSonam - in honour of a great soldier.

My anger against Sonam had by nowturned to deep respect. I truly was in thepresence of a legend. That very evening Iwent to the mess and called all studentofficers to be present in the mess lobby.Then with great pride, I introducedSonam to the young officers and askedthem to interact with him during thecourse of their stay to understand thepractical part of soldiering in extremeweather and terrain conditions. It isindeed an honour for a NCO to behonoured in the officer’s mess. Everystudent rose after I finished introducingSonam to them and each of them cameforward, to shake hands with the legend.Later, I would often see young officerssurrounding Sonam and hearing hisexperience of Siachen. He would oftensay, “Sahib, Lama Guru ke Land MainGama Nahin Banna”.

As instructors in HAWS, we were aclass apart and presumably the best inthis business in the world. I too was anarrogant professional and often use tochallenge the limit of human endeavour.One day, while training on the glacier,Sonam saw me rushing up the ice wallduring a demonstration. After the

demonstration, when I was sipping tea,Sonam walked up to me. “Sahib “ hesaid, “don’t show your speed on the icewall, it does not give you second chanceand it also does not give you time torecover. Therefore, be like an Ibex - surefooted”. It was a lifelong lesson that I stillremember. Even today I utter thesewords “Thank you Sonam for saving mylife,” because I would have committedhara-kiri someday.

Later, Brig. Farookh Balsara, who wasthen the Commandant HAWS, decidedto put Sonam’s portrait, in fullmountaineer gear, in the officer’s mess.When this ceremony was organised theentire staff and officers includingfamilies were present. Sonam wasfeeling shy like a bride. Sonam, a shortstocky man stood between two otherlegends of the Indian Army, when hisportrait was unveiled. On one side wasCol Pushkar Chand and on other sidewas Brig. Balsara. Pushkar was the firsttask force commander who led histroops to Siachen and Brig. Balsara wasthe man who led his troops to (one offinest overseas operation by IndianArmed Forces) Maldives. Sonam hunghis uniform in September 1991 fromHAWS. His picture in Student OfficersMess has inspired many young officersincluding late Major Shyamal Sinha, VrCand will continue to do so in future too.

All these memories came rushingback to me when news came in ofSonam Post coming under a wall of ice,claiming ten brave men of 19 Madras,who sacrificed their lives in the line ofduty. Sonam post is one of the mostcritical posts on the Saltoro Ridge, lyingbetween between Amar and Bana Post.But Sonam cannot be abandoned. Notnow. Not ever. There is no option but toreoccupy the post in the near future.That is the price the nation has to pay topreserve its integrity and its way of life.

The author is a Delhi based DefenceAnalyst and is a Senior Fellow at the

Centre for Land Warfare Studies(CLAWS), New Delhi.


NEWS


Major General TSAhluwalia,Commandant,CommandHospital, EasternCommand,Kolkata, receivingthe trophy fromthe Raksha Mantri.Below: The awardbeing received bySurgeon RearAdmiral AA Pawar,Commandant,INHS Asvini.

At a colourful ceremonial parade, held at Air Force StationJamnagar on 04 March 16, The President of India awarded thePresidential Standard to 119 Helicopter Unit and the PresidentialColours to 28 Equipment Depot. Indian Air Force's operationalsquadrons become eligible for award of Presidential Standardafter completion of 18 years of service to the Nation. Theselection is based on the unit's performance and achievementsduring peace as well as hostilities.

Interacting with media after the function, Air Chief MarshalArup Raha, Chief of the Air Staff said that Indian Air Force is on atrajectory of modernisation and is transforming into a strategicaerospace power with full spectrum capability. Accretion throughnew acquisitions, replacement of obsolete equipment with state-of-the art inductors and up gradation of vintage weapon platformswould definitely go a long way in enhancing IAF capabilities. Healso emphasised that the long term planning of the IAF wouldensure that the men and women in blue continue to achievegreater level of professional skills and capabilities. He stated thatthe challenge for IAF is to manage the fast-paced changeseffectively, without compromising on the high operationalStandards.

PRESIDENT AWARDS STANDARD TO 119 HU

BEST SERVICE HOSPITALThe award for the best andsecond best ServiceHospital in the Armed ForcesMedical Services (AFMS) forthe year 2015 was won byCommand Hospital (EasternCommand), Kolkata, with therunner up position going toINHS Asvini. Whilepresenting the awards andcitations on 18 February2016, the Raksha MantriShri Manohar Parrikarpraised the yeoman servicebeing rendered by the AFMSover the years both in warand peace. He complime-nted all the members ofCommand Hospital (EasternCommand), Kolkata, INHSAsvini, Mumbai and theentire AFMS for theirexcellent work inprovisioning of contemp-orary and comprehensivehealthcare.

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The Indian Scorpene project envisions the production of sixsubmarines, to be delivered to the Indian Navy by 2020. Seatrials, which began in December 2015 are currently underwayand will continue till September this year when the firstsubmarine of the Kalvari class is likely to be commissioned. Thisis a class of diesel-electric attack submarine, which is designed

by the French Naval Defenceand Energy Company (DCNS)and is being manufactured atMazagon Docks Limited (MDL) inMumbai.The stealth submarineswould be equipped with anti-shipmissiles and long range guidedtorpedoes along with modernsensor suite.

As per the MoD, the deliveryschedule will be adhered too,with all six submarines beingdelivered to the Navy by 2020.This is a challenging ask as theproject has already seen unduedelays since construction of thefirst submarine started on 23May 2009. The Navy is in direneed of submarines in light ofrecent accidents which havereduced the fleet to a handful of

conventional submarines. That was the reason that In 2005, Indiachose the Scorpène design, purchasing six submarines for USD3 billion under Project 75 (P75). Defence Minister ManoharParrikar had in April 2015, witnessed the undocking of the vesselin a ceremony at Mumbai.

NEWS

34

PROJECT SCORPENE

PAKISTAN TO GET F-16 FIGHTER JETSIn February 2016, the Obama administration approved the saleof eight F-16 Fighter Jet aircraft to Pakistan, as well as radarsand other equipment. An attempt by Republican Senator RandPaul to prevent the sale under the Arms Control Act was blockedin March by the US Senate. Republican Senator Bob Corker saidhe would use his power as the chairman of the Senate ForeignRelations Committee to bar the use of any US funds for thedeal.In a statement, Corker said, “Prohibiting a taxpayer subsidysends a much-needed message to Pakistan that it needs tochange its behaviour, but preventing the purchase of US aircraftwould do more harm than good by paving the way for countrieslike Russia andChinato sell to Pakistan while also inhibitinggreater cooperation on counter terrorism.”

India has opposed the USD 700 million sale, as the F-16 isnuclear capable and its sale will ratchet up tensions in theregion. In a written reply in Parliament, India’s Defence Minister,Shri Manohar Parrikar stated: “India has expresseddisappointment at the decision of the US Government to notifythe sale of F-16 aircrafts to Pakistan. India does not agree with

the US rationale that such arms transfers help to combatterrorism. The US ambassador was summoned by the Ministry ofExternal Affairs to convey India’s displeasure”.



NEWS


The use of drones in the private sector is a thriving business inthe US. In early January 2016, the US Federal AviationAdministration (FAA) started the process of maintaining adatabase for recreational users of drones and within a fortnighthad registered about 181,000 drone users. It is expected that 1million drones will be sold in the US in 2016. Now companies inthe US are clamouring for commercial use of drones. Thesedrones, weighing between 500 grams to 25 kg could be usedfor activities like land inspections, wedding photography,package deliveries etc. As of now, commercial drones aregenerally banned but their usage could be allowed withappropriate rules and regulations. The rules may require that themachines be flown during the day, below 500 feet, and within theline of sight of the person flying it.Drones could be used in multiple ways for public good such astraffic control, survey of transmission lines, railway lines, rivers,forests etc. In due course of time, such usage will be common inIndia also. Great thought must hence be given now on makingappropriate rules for manufacture, sale and usage of drones forrecreational as well as commercial use. While the utility of suchtechnology is undeniable, it also throws up fresh security andprivacy concerns. Such drones, used for border transgressions

would be difficult to neutralise, considering the small timewindow available for reaction. Of greater concern is the possibleuse of such drones by non state actors, as remotely controlledor fully autonomous tactical weapons. These issues would needto be addressed.

The S-400 TRIUMF(NATO codename SA-21Growler) is an anti-aircraft and anti-missilesystem, which iscapable of interceptingall types of modern airweaponry, including fifth-generation warplanes,as well as ballistic andcruise missiles at amaximum range ofnearly 250 miles. India is procuring the S 400 TRIUMF fromRussia as part of its overall air defence effort. The system isdesigned to counter a variety of threats from hypersonic cruisemissiles, to UAVs, airborne early warning aircraft, stealth fightersand even precision guided munitions.The first five units are to be bought at an expected cost of USD6.1 billion, making this the most expensive air defence system

ever bought by India. Deliveries are however not expected withinthe next four years due to Russian commitments for their ownforces and also due to an earlier Chinese order for six systems.The S 400 is a unique system that tracks targets using a mobilephased array radar. It incorporates four types of missiles thatare carried on mobile launchers, which can engage targets at120 km, 200 km, 250 km and 380 km.

THE S 400TRIUMF

DRONES: CHALLENGESAND OPPORTUNITIES


Ex Yudh Abayas"The U.S. Soldiers learned counterinsurgency and junglewarfare operations in northeast India. A primary purpose of 05-01's bilateral training was to have the Indian Army present theGuam and Hawaii Soldiers with skills needed to defeatinsurgents. The Indian Army, given their experience of over tenyears in fighting an insurgency, was able to offer the U.S. Armymany invaluable lessons learned on counterinsurgency andjungle warfare."

—Dave Hilkert, Army correspondent covering Yudh Abhyas

"We have different tactics: theirs are shaped by theirexperiences in Jammu and Kashmir and ours by our experiencein Iraq and Afghanistan. In the field training we are seeing a lotof detailed work from them, which is something we arerebuilding at our team level. The Gurkhas are a phenomenalunit. The Indian Army officers are incredible officers that anyarmy in the world would be proud to have."

—U.S. Army Lt. Col. Phillip Sounia

"They were less intrusive in searching people's homes andcars, a tactic that could help when troops are trying to earnthe trust of the local population. They've just gained hugeintelligence value from that — instead of killing them, they'vecaptured them. All our guys said whoa — we'd never do that.We could do it. The way Indians ambushed and disarmed twoinsurgents impressed me. American troops, in the same drill,simply shot and killed the men"—Lt. Col. Matt Kelley, Maj. Bob Risdon: US Army 1st Battalion,

21st Infantry Regiment on the search and room clearanceprocedures of the Indian Army.

“It’s good to see how they operate because we’ve learned a lotfrom them ─ tactics that we’ve never thought of.”

—Spc. Ross Berger, cavalry scout with Bravo Troop, 1-40th CAV

“I was surprised how exceptionally well we all worked togetherand meshed. We understand each other really well. Botharmies have similar doctrine, which made the combiningoperations a lot smoother. Tactically, they are really sound. Wejust gave them a little bit of instruction on the equipment, whichis, of course, necessary when using something unfamiliar. Iwent into this not hoping to gain anything. I wasn’t aware ofhow they operated, but when we started having classes andworking together it really changed my perspective."

—Sgt. Steve Faulkner, Bravo Troop, 1st Squadron (Airborne),40th Cavalry Regiment

Ex Cope India: A series of USAF and IAF Joint Exercises"The outcome of the exercise boils down to (the fact that) they(IAF) ran tactics that were more advanced than we expected...They could come up with a game plan, but if it wasn't workingthey would call an audible and change (tactics in flight)."

—Col. Mike Snodgrass, CO, USAF 3rd Wing, Elmendorf AirForce Base on IAF defeating the USAF with a 9:1 kill ratio

“What we’ve seen in the last two weeks is the IAF can standtoe-to-toe with the best air force in the world. I pity the pilotwho has to face the IAF and chances the day to underestimatehim; because he won’t be going home."

—Colonel Greg Newbech, USAF

"Indian Air Force flying the MiG-21 'Bison' gave USAF F-15drivers a very bad day. "Low-tech" aircraft fitted with the rightequipment, and properly trained crews - should never beunderestimated. It appears the IAF knows exactly what they aredoing."

—USAF debrief on Ex Cope India

Ex MalabarAn annual multilateral naval exercise between US, Japan,Indian, Australian navies. "These exercises are so important because we all shareresponsibility for freedom of navigation and freedom of theseas. It highlights the need for more interoperability to enhancethe security in the Indo-Asia-Pacific Region."

—Rear Adm. Terry Kraft, on the USS George Washington

The statements below are from US personnel who took part in joint training with Indian Forces. Indian Armed Forcesremain well trained and motivated, despite the many challenges they face in terms of equipment profile,modernisation, shortages and voids in weapon holdings. —Editor.

NEWS


INDO-US JOINT EXERCISES: AN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE


RAISINA HILL

[email protected] >> January-February 2016 >> SALUTE TO THE INDIAN SOLDIER

“While the military’s case in 1st and 2ndCentral Pay Commissions (CPC) wasfielded by the Ministry of Defence (MoD);when the 3rd CPC wanted the military topresent its case, the MoD ruled againstthis on the grounds of discipline and thispatently absurd stance was accepted bythe top military brass. The 3rd CPCslashed the pensions of defence servicesfrom 70 percent of last pay drawn (LPD)to 50 percent and elevated pensions ofcivil servants from 30 percent to 50percent. But nearly 80 percent of militarymen did not get even 50 percent andinstead got only 37 percent because oftheir shorter span of service - 50 percentpension being available only after 20years service. Thereafter, subsequentCPCs persistently disadvantaged themilitary vis-à-vis civil services. However3rdCPC dangled One Rank One Pension(OROP) as an alternative to decrease inpensions from 70 percent to 50 percent”,said Lt Gen. Harwant Singh (retd),interacting with this writer. He addedthat when subsequent pay commissionstried to improve matters, MoD andController of Defence Accounts (CDA)stepped in to negate them. As a kind ofconsolation for OROP not sanctioned,when the 4th CPC, gave rank pay up tothe rank of brigadiers, CDA veryconveniently deducted this amount fromthe basic pay, which in turn impacted thewhole range of allowances as well. Nearlythree decades later this case is yet to befully resolved. Supreme Court’s orders onpayment of rank pay are yet to be fully

implemented. Those who played thismischief on the defence services werenever exposed and never heldaccountable.

Economic Times (ET) reported inearly December 2015 that the 7th CPC’sreport, which (again) does not do thearmed forces any justice, has for a changeunited the three services, which oftenearlier used to be divided in theirdemands. At a meeting held then, ashortlist of key issues agreed uponincluded pending concerns from theprevious pay commission which haveagain been overlooked. At the Navy Daypress meet, Naval Chief Admiral RobinDhowan mentioned that there could besome thorny issues in the 7th CPC. Herefrained from getting into any details,but said "Whatever we feel is ashortcoming for our men and our officersis indeed being taken up with the

ministry (of defence)." The ET articlestated that while the armed forces haveseveral problems with the paycommission recommendations,including some quite technical, there is aconsensus on some issues.

Risk Allowance: Currently, the armedforces are granted allowances based onrisk and hardship with the highestallowance of Rs 31,500/- per month tothose posted in Siachen. But theircounterparts in civil services and centralarmed police forces are paid SpecialDisturbance Allowance (SDA) for beingposted in Leh, which is upwards of Rs54,000/- per month. This is a major andrather ironic anomaly as there isabsolutely no comparison to the risk andhardship that soldiers in Siachen face tothat anywhere else. And only army servesin Siachen.

Disability Pension: The armed forceshave various slabs for the grant ofdisability pensionwhile for theparamilitary forces it's calculated as apercentage of the basic salary. This leadsto a discrepancy and the armed forcesend up getting far less. The defenceforces wanted the same system ofcalculation, but have not got a favourablerecommendation. They now want itrevised.

Parity with IPS: The armed forces feel7th CPC has lowered their statuscompared with the Indian Police Servicein terms of promotions and increments."We have always been on a par with IPS.But now, if you look at their timelyincrements after the completion of four,nine and 13 years of service, we have lostout," an officer involved in thedeliberations was quoted to have said.

While earlier CPCs’ anomalies havebeen overlooked, despite assurances,new ones have been added. No countrycan afford to have armed forces with lowmorale, low self esteem and worst of all, alower status in the society.

7th Pay Commission Disappoints Defence Forces Yet Again

Lt Col Anil Bhat

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VETERANS ALERT


Ministry of Social Justice &Empowerment is the nodal ministryresponsible for the welfare of seniorcitizens. The national policy on olderpersons recognises a person aged 60years and above as a senior citizen. Theconcessions and facilities which asenior citizen can avail off are given inthe succeeding paragraphs.

Integrated programme for OlderPersons (Plan Scheme). Under thisscheme, financial assistance upto 90percent of the project cost is providedto NGOs for establishing andmaintaining Old Age Homes, Day CareCentres, Mobile Medicare Units and toprovide non-institutional services toolder persons.

Ministry of Finance. Income tax rebateupto an income of Rs 2.25 lakh p.a andhigher rates of interest on savingschemes of senior citizens. No TDSdeduction at source (TDS) on interestfrom banks & P.O. up-to Rs 10000/-.Joint bank account with spouse forpension payment

Ministry of Road Transport andHighways. Reservation of two seats forsenior citizens in front row of the busesof the state road transportundertakings. Some state governmentsare giving fare concession to seniorcitizens.

Ministry of Health & FamilyWelfare/Department of Telecomm-unications. Separate queues for olderpersons in hospitals for registration andclinical examination. Fault/complaintsof senior citizens are given priority byregistering them under senior citizenscategory with VIP flag which is a prioritycategory.Senior citizens are allowed to

register telephone connection under N-OYT Special Category, which is apriority category.

Ministry of Railways. With effect from01-04-08,Indian Railways. provides 30percent fare concession in allMail/Express trains includingRajdhani/Shatabadi/Jan Shatabaditrains for male senior citizens aged 60years and above and 50 percentfareconcession for femaleseniorcitizensaged 60 years and above. Railways alsohave the facility of separate counters forsenior citizens for purchase/booking/cancellation of tickets, wheel chairs toneedy and allotment of lower berths.

Ministry of Civil Aviation. IndianAirlines is providing 50 percentseniorcitizen discount on normaleconomyclass fare for all domestic flights to

Indian senior citizens who havecompleted the age of 65 years in case ofmale and 63 years in case of females,subject to certain conditions. Air Indiais offering discount to senior citizens of60 plus on flights to USA, UK andEurope. Sahara Airlines is offering 50percent discount on basic fare for travelon its domestic flights only to citizensabove 62 years of age.

Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Foodand Public Distribution. Instructionshave been given to state governmentsfor giving priority to the ration cardholders who are over 60 years of age infair price shops for issue of rations.Under the Annapoorna Scheme beingimplemented by the states/UTAdministration, 10 kgs of food grainsper beneficiary per month are providedfree of cost to those senior citizens whoremain uncovered under the old agepension scheme.

MCD (Municipal Corporation ofDelhi). MCD has opened a separatecounter to facilitate the senior citizensfor submission of property tax bills. Arebate of 30 percent of the property taxdue on the covered space of a buildingup to one hundred sq mtrs of thecovered space has been allowed by thecorporation in the case of any self-occupied residential building singlyowned by a man who is 65 years ormore in age.

Miscellaneous. Courts in the countryaccord priority to cases involving olderpersons and ensures their expeditiousdisposal. Under the Old Age Scheme,monthly pension is given at variablerates to the destitute old by variousState Governments/UT Adminis-trations.

CONCESSIONS AND FACILITIES GIVEN TO SENIOR CITIZENS

Hony Capt Baldev Singh

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BOOK REVIEW


Human trafficking encompasses a wide rangeof activities and persons, many of whom donot even initially realise that they are going tobe trafficked.This book elaborates the term“trafficking” with a view to understanding itstrends, dimensions, and gaps in policy and lawthat need to be plugged as well as aims toinitiate fresh discussion on human traffickingalong with recommendations to curborganised international crime. Exploringvaried dimensions of the crime, it offersfurther classification to help effectivelyaddress the problem. It presents a newperspective of identifying assimilativeinteraction between social and criminal justicesystems, the progressive growth in socio-criminal legislations, and the universaldemand of multi-agency approach to combattrafficking. Prior to this bookVeerendra Mishraedited a volume titled Human Trafficking (alsoSage) comprising 29 articles under six sections,by various authors.The Palermo Protocol was instituted to

prevent, suppress and punish trafficking inpersons, especially women and children. Alsoreferred to as the Trafficking Protocol (UNTIP),it is a protocol to the Convention againstTransnational Organised Crime and is one ofthe three Palermo protocols. In addition to thecriminalisation of trafficking, the Trafficking inPersons Protocol requires criminalisation alsoof attempts to commit a trafficking offence,participation as an accomplicein such anoffence and organising or directing others tocommit trafficking. National legislation shouldadopt the broad definition of traffickingprescribed in the Protocol. The legislativedefinition should be dynamic and flexible so asto empower the legislative framework torespond effectively to trafficking which (a)occurs both across borders and within acountry (not just cross-border), (b) is for notjust sexual exploitation, but a range ofexploitative purposes, (c) victimises children,women and men – not just women or adults,but also men and children and (d) happenswith or without the involvement of organised

crime groups.The definition contained in article 3 of the

Trafficking in Persons Protocol is meant toprovide consistency and consensus around theworld on the phenomenon of trafficking inpersons. Article 5 therefore requires that theconduct set out in article 3 be criminalised indomestic legislation. Domestic legislationdoes not need to follow the language of theTrafficking in Persons Protocol precisely, butshould be adapted in accordance withdomestic legal systems to give effect to theconcepts contained in the Protocol.There are some horrendous forms of

human trafficking which need to becountered. For instance, camel racing is asport for which in Arab States of the PersianGulf, children are often favoured as jockeysbecause of their light weight. Thousands ofchildren, some reported as young as 2 yearsold, are trafficked from countries such asAfghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Pakistan, andSudan for use as jockeys for the Persian Gulfregion camel racing industry, for whichreported estimates of child camel jockeysrange from 5,000 to 40,000.LTTE, ISIS, Boko Haram and many Pakistani

terrorist groups, have reportedly been involvedin human trafficking of not only women forsexual exploitation, but also of young boys tojoin their ranks. ISIS has crossed all limits bytrafficking small children to teach/motivatethem to behead and burn humans with the useof dolls. While human trafficking can betackled, neutralising ISIS will require a sincereand sustained global effort.Pakistan’s army and its intelligence agencies

are much experienced in human trafficking.One early classic example was when AngamiZappu Phizo was sent to UK from erstwhileEast Pakistan. In more recent times, whatabout criminal dons like Dawood Ibrahim?With this second book on a complex subject

like human trafficking, the author has indeedcontributed an exhaustive work, which will bevaluable to scholars, researchers andgovernment officials involved in the process.

A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITYLt Col Anil Bhat

COMBATING HUMANTRAFFICKING

By Veerendra Mishra

SAGE PublicationsIndia Pvt LtdPages 285

in hard coverPrice: Rs. 995/-

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LEISURE & LIFESTYLE


Tofu StartersTofu is one of the most delicious foodswhich also contains healthy amounts ofprotein, iron and calcium. Fried tofu iseasy to make and is an excellent starter.All that is required is firm Tofu, oil toshallow fry and some soya sauce to servewith.

Cut the tofu into squares orrectangles, spread them on a plate andgently dab with paper napkins to removeexcess water. Turn around and repeat.Heat some oil in a pan for shallow fryingand then add the tofu pieces. Fry one sidetill it’s done and then turn the tofuaround. Once the tofu looks nice andgolden brown remove from cooking andplace on tissue paper to remove excessoil. Viola! Your starters are ready. Sprinklesalt to taste and serve with soya sauce,into which you may add chilli flakes.

Tofu SoupHave you tried Tom Yum soup?It’s hot,flavourful, spicy, tangy and a real comfortwhen you're suffering from a cold! Dogive it a shot!Ingredients:� Lemongrass - 2 stalks� Galangal (sliced) - about two inch pieceor use ginger if you can't find galangal� Lime leaves (handful) - tear each leaf abit as this releases the flavour better� Lemon -1 � Green chilli sliced - 2� Tofu cubes� Shallots 2 - 3� Mushroom slices (I used about 10button mushrooms)� Chilli oil (1 tablespoon)� Soya sauce (roughly two tablespoons)� Salt to taste

Recipe: Take about a litre of water in adeep pot and bring to a boil. Addchopped lemongrass, lime leaves,mushroom, and galangal (or ginger). Boilfor a few minutes. Add the green chilli,lemon juice, tofu, soya sauce and chillioil. Let the soup simmer for two to threeminutes. Leave out the green chillies ifyou prefer your soup less spicy. Add saltto taste. That’s it! Your soup is ready. Feelfree to add more veggies if you like.

Main DishI wanted to try out a real spicy dish andknew it had to be Thai. As a vegetarian,I'm always looking for ways to alterrecipes to healthy vegetarian options. Icame upon a spicy Thai chicken recipeand with few alterations came up withthis spicy Thai Basil Tofu recipe. Hopeyou enjoy this too.Ingredients:� Firm tofu - 1 packet cut into cubes� Basil leaves- I large bunch, washed

� Garlic - 6 / 7 pieces� Red chillies - 2 / 3� Soya sauce to taste� Salt to taste� Oil - 3 / 4 tablespoonsRecipe:Grind the garlic and red chillies roughlyin a mortar and pestle. Heat oil in a panand when hot add this garlic and chillipaste. Sauté for about 30 seconds. Addthe tofu and stir well, cooking on highheat. Now add about three tablespoonsof Soya sauce. Cook for another fewminutes and then turn the flame off. Nowadd the basil and stir well into the tofu.Add some more soya sauce if the dishseems too dry. Your dish is ready! Servehot with rice. Enjoy!

Ms Aditi Pathak is based inSingapore. Widely travelled and from aServices background, cooking is one of

her many passions.

TOFU ALL THE WAYStarters, Soup and Main Dish

Aditi Pathak

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LEISURE & LIFESTYLE


My wife Tannie and I have never had abetter holiday than the ten days wespent in Bali. Although exoticallyforeign, Bali offers a feeling of humanwarmth. And, for Indians, a deep riverof an ancient common culture is alsoseductively alluring.

Do not however expect a tropicalparadise. Other countries have betterbeaches, more fun and greater varietyof food. The Indonesian Rupiah is alsoinitially very scary. There are so manyzeroes in the 50,000 Rupiahs one needsto spend on a taxi ride until one realisesit is just 4 US dollars! With thatunderstanding, the cost of hotels, food,shopping and excursions suddenlybecome very affordable. Being near theequator also makes the climatepleasant throughout the year. There is agreat deal to see and do in the islandthat is about 150 kms from east to westand 100 kms from north to south. Thebeaches are beautiful and the lushgreen fields and thick forests coveringthe hilly terrain are a delight.

Bali is predominantly Hindu, withnumerous beautiful red and gold Hindutemples every few kilometres.Hinduism came to Indonesia about1500 years ago when the great Hindukingdoms of the Srivijayan andShailendra kings were established inSumatra, mainly influenced by thecultures of ancient Orissa and TamilNadu. Brahmin priests withmagnificent rites of kingship wereeagerly sought by every localchieftain.Though Buddhism followed,many great Hindu temples still survive.Islam was then brought to Indonesia byArab traders about 600 years ago butthe island of Bali remained staunchlyHindu, evolving a form of Hinduismthat is a bit different from that followedin different parts of India.

The world’s only temple of Varuna,the `purvi devta’ or pre Vedic divinity of

water, is just off the coast at Tanah Lotin the south west. This beautiful temple,built on a rocky spur lapped by thesurging waves of the ocean is trulyspectacular. At Ubud, in the centre ofthe island is a 9th century Goa Gajahtemple devoted to Ganesh, carvedinside a cave. Outside this temple thereare sacred tanks fed by a spring. In theancient Puranic Indian tradition, all thewater of the world came from Ganga,the sacred cosmic river that came toearth through the matted locks of thegod Shiva and then splashed out tocreate all the springs of the world thatwere channeled through the mouths ofcows (gaomukh) or water vessels held

by celestial nymphs. At Goa Gajah, thewaters of the spring pour out of littlevessels carried lovingly by six celestialmaids.

We went to Bali on a well organisedand affordable six day package tour. Wefirst stayed at an excellent 4-star hotel atLegian on the west coast that is full ofbars, spas and discos. The packageprovided us a good small car to take usaround and included a Barong Krisdance based on the Ramayana with along haired two-man tiger and amischievous Hanuman. Huge and verycolourful silk kites filled the skieseverywhere in the constant breeze.Wedrove through terraced paddy fields to

Kintamani where there was a great viewof a dormant volcano and lake Batur.We also visited several very interestingtemples and workshops making themost delicate gold and silver jewellery.Needless to say, we swam in the sea andspent a day doing water sports. Thepackage included a short cruise aroundthe harbour. At the end of the plannedtrip we spent three extra days at a lovely5-star hotel at Sanaur on the east coast.This was a quieter beach on anextended lagoon behind a long coralreef that broke the great waves of thePacific Ocean. Balinese food was verygood but lacked the huge variety thatThailand offers.

We were also very fortunate to meeta lovely Balinese couple who showed usmany aspects of Bali culture that anormal tourist would never seeincluding an amazing cultural festivalin which over a thousand amateurmusicians and dancers enthusiasticallyparticipated. Bali is also the one foreignplace that treats Indians as highlyhonoured guests.

Mr Murad Ali Baig is an internationallyrenowned automobile journalist and isthe former editor of The Auto Magazine.His columns on automobiles, travel,history etc. are published by a host ofnewspapers and magazines.

BALI FOR AN UNFORGETTABLE HOLIDAYMurad Ali Baig

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MAROOF’S MUSINGS

Even though the threats to Indian security have far from subsided and thewish list of the armed forces, for modern weapon systems being long – withmany items on their inventory now three or four decades old – the Finance

Minister, Arun Jaitley, chose to make no mention of what would be the allocationfor India’s defence in 2016-17 in his Union Budget speech. This is not only anunusual departure from past practices but it raises questions about the messagethis government wishes to send out, as China has launched a modernisation drivefor its forces that could parallel in scale the opening of its economy and Pakistan,India’s other nuclear armed neighbour, is desperately seeking military parity withIndia while sponsoring cross border attacks with impunity.Explanations for Mr Jaitley’s glaring omission about the defence outlay -since

he had, last year announced an outlay of Rs 2,46,727 crore, – range from keepingthe figures discreet so that it doesn’t alarm India’s rivals to there being no need todo so, as other allocations like the budget for external affairs aren’t announcedeither. Reading between the lines, it appeared that only a nominal increment ofaround 4.5 percent - in keeping with inflation figures – would in reality be initiatedfor the services. The pension bill was added to the defence budget for the first timein recent memory, as though to remind the services that the OROP burden wouldcost them their modernisation.Even as every political party pays lip service to national security needs, in

reality India's defence spending has steadily declined as a percentage of its GDP.Last year, India’s defence budget had slipped to 1.74 percent of its GDP, eventhough it is fair to say that India’s military spending could go upto 3 percent of itsGDP. In comparison, the US spends 4 percent, China 2.5 percent (though itsfigures are questionable) and Pakistan 3.5 percent on defence. Worse still, India’sper capita expenditure on defence is less than $10, while the average expenditureof the top ten spenders in Asia is USD 800 approximately. India’s soldier-to-citizenratio, at 1.22 per 1,000 citizens, is among the lowest in Asia.While the IAF’s long standing demand for fighter jets – and the decision to buy

36 ready to fly French Rafale fighter aircrafts – has received much media coverage,the most pressing needs are of the army that battles terrorists, insurgencies andnatural calamities, often with its silent and uncomplaining infantry soldiers, whoneed better clothing, bullet proof vests, night vision devices and helicopters toferry troops and equipment to far flung glacial heights. But its long standingdemands – for over Rs 40,000 crore worth of immediate equipment – is stillawaiting funds. No wonder, the defence minister, Mr Parrikar has asked hisministry and the three services to try and complete this process in the next fewmonths. But that is just fire fighting and still doesn’t address the bigger question of:"whether India can defend itself in the event of a two front attack – from China andPakistan – and battle terrorists as well?" The answer sadly at this stage is ‘no’.Apart from fighters, tanks, ships and missiles, what India desperately also needs

is to invest more in improving its infrastructure along its Chinese border, and earlywarning systems – like hi-tech Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR)systems - to counter China’s tactical and numerical superiority. And with everyterror attack sponsored by Pakistan, like that in Pathankot, security costs only goup, as the IAF now has to enhance security of all airfields. But worse still, we maysoon be back to where we were 50 years ago, when our troops fought the Chinesein 1962 with obsolete weapons or none at all, and then Pakistan attacked India in1965, confident that its much better equipped forces would be victorious.

A similar essay by Maroof Raza was first published in BW BusinessWorld onMarch 7, 2016.

For more details on Maroof Raza, visit: https:/ / www.maroofraza.com.

IGNORE THEFORCES ATOWN PERIL

Maroof Raza


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RNI Registration: DELENG/2008/26923

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