100 days of new MoD and interim Defence Minister

[nair]

Which actually shows that not much was achieved so far and no he didn't made many decisions, we only see procurements getting cleared, that already were put forward in the last FY till after the elections. In fact, hard decisions on priority procurements and policy are missing and that's one reason India needs a dedicated Defence Minister, who can fully commit itself in showing the way for Indias defence and security in the next 5 years.

Some how we make this mistake of judging DM based on the procurement's or the decision on procurement. I feel it is a wrong way to judge, i know our military depends on imports but there are several other decision which a DM takes ( I have seen few guys from military who rate AKA high because of the decision he taken with in the forces, true he was over cautious on procurement.......

But i agree with you on the point that we require a full time Defense Minister.....

 

[sancho]

Some how we make this mistake of judging DM based on the procurement's or the decision on procurement. I feel it is a wrong way to judge, i know our military depends on imports but there are several other decision which a DM takes

True, but what else did we saw so far from the new MoD / DM? The lack of new policies and clear policy changes other than FDI increase and the changes of the banning procedure, is what is left when we take the passing of procurements. And the question is, are FDI and some procedure modifications enough "change", to really set the new MoD / DM apart from the former and to fulfill expectations? Is that really all that could had been changed in 100 days, or could they had been more with a propper DM?

 

[Archie]

NDA lacks credible leaders for such an important post as defence Ministry

Defence, Finance, Home and Foreign Ministry are critical part of the functioning of any government
U need people who command respect both within the government and outside the government for such job
Many of the old and respectable NDA Stalwarts have retired

Infact Arun Jaitley Happens to be the most suitable candidate for the post of Defense Minister as well as Finance Minister
The other option would be for Sushma Swaraj to become the Defense Minister and MODI taking up the foreign ministry under his wing

 

[rockstarIN]

I'm largely positive on 100 days regarding defense. Except a few points of 'cons' raised by @sancho like a full time DM, other 'delays' is okay provided it is only 100 days + some time you really need to delay it to get into your terms.

 

[sancho]

some time you really need to delay it to get into your terms.

Which things do you expect to come within this FY, especially real decisions and policy changes, not just moving on with procurements?

 

[nair]

True, but what else did we saw so far from the new MoD / DM? The lack of new policies and clear policy changes other than FDI increase and the changes of the banning procedure, is what is left when we take the passing of procurements. And the question is, are FDI and some procedure modifications enough "change", to really set the new MoD / DM apart from the former and to fulfill expectations? Is that really all that could had been changed in 100 days, or could they had been more with a propper DM?

One more point i wanted to add here is, few procurement decision has been made, If we have a part time DM, He will have to depend more on his secretaries and other department staff, that increases the chances of corruption..... my worry is another corruption scam will again delay the procurement by 5 years....

 

[rockstarIN]

Which things do you expect to come within this FY, especially real decisions and policy changes, not just moving on with procurements?

I think MMRCA will be signed this FY itself. LUH re tendering is okay since our current fleet is in good shape even if it is aging. I would like to see an Indian company get the contract. I would like to see Tata Arti instead of over priced American one, the technological difference is minimal between the two. Indian AWACS will enter into service within one year, so it is in right track. Additional tankers can wait. More subs to be procured preferably from another vendor (Japan?)

I do not see much changes in policies except pressurizing the forces to use more Indian items in terms of procurement. Even if we get a full time DM, the strings will be with Modi only. And he is very futuristic in his vision what I believe, asking DRDO to do much before....Robo soldiers etc.

 

[anant_s]

My two bit on FDI in defence sector.
A lot of us (certainly some of media) would like to believe that FDI in defence sector is panacea to all that ails Indian defence sector. We must however look into the problem taking a holistic view of India's industrial sector. A large portion of industry still relies on foreign injection of technology be it heavy engineering, automobile, metal and mining... & this begs a question that are we really in a position to make use of private or foreign money effectively.
Most companies in west allocate significant portion of their profits to R&D which eventually pays them back in form of better products and services that replace the old order. Defence sector is no different.
A couple of multi role fighters can do a much effective job than previous generation's squadron put together even though unit cost could be much higher.
IMHO, government needs to put a whole system into place creating specialized colleges, R&D groups, manufacturing firms that are run on Private money and then allow them to compete with state run companies. Nothing improves efficiency like competition.
Its probably not correct to look to far into future, but surely in a decade or so, this system can create itself a market globally for several basic armament and technologies which is cost effective, similar to how software industry has done.

I recently had a chance to visit GIDC Vatva (Near Ahemdabad). I found that there is an institute inside the zone, that offers courses like meteorology, machine maintenance etc. These are highly specialized skills required specifically for the manufacturing hub that surrounds the institute and the courses are tailored to needs of local industry.
If PM applies same wisdom to other sectors as well, in due course we will see results following. Under such an environment, FDI in defence will not just be a patriotic idea, but a lucrative business one too.

 

[axisofevil]

My two bit on FDI in defence sector.
A lot of us (certainly some of media) would like to believe that FDI in defence sector is panacea to all that ails Indian defence sector. We must however look into the problem taking a holistic view of India's industrial sector. A large portion of industry still relies on foreign injection of technology be it heavy engineering, automobile, metal and mining... & this begs a question that are we really in a position to make use of private or foreign money effectively.
Most companies in west allocate significant portion of their profits to R&D which eventually pays them back in form of better products and services that replace the old order. Defence sector is no different.
A couple of multi role fighters can do a much effective job than previous generation's squadron put together even though unit cost could be much higher.
IMHO, government needs to put a whole system into place creating specialized colleges, R&D groups, manufacturing firms that are run on Private money and then allow them to compete with state run companies. Nothing improves efficiency like competition.
Its probably not correct to look to far into future, but surely in a decade or so, this system can create itself a market globally for several basic armament and technologies which is cost effective, similar to how software industry has done.

I recently had a chance to visit GIDC Vatva (Near Ahemdabad). I found that there is an institute inside the zone, that offers courses like meteorology, machine maintenance etc. These are highly specialized skills required specifically for the manufacturing hub that surrounds the institute and the courses are tailored to needs of local industry.
If PM applies same wisdom to other sectors as well, in due course we will see results following. Under such an environment, FDI in defence will not just be a patriotic idea, but a lucrative business one too.

Japan invests 166 billion dollars a year into research. It is the second highest in the world after the US. CHina is currently No.3

 

[sancho]

I think MMRCA will be signed this FY itself.

I hope so, which however doesn't mean in 2014.

LUH re tendering is okay since our current fleet is in good shape even if it is aging.

Actually it isn't:

Delays to India's LUH procurement 'leading to capability gap, crashes' - IHS Jane's 360

And since the re-tendering has nothing to do with the competitors, but only is done to include other local industry partners, this is a totally avoidable delay that will cause problems for IA and IAF.

Indian AWACS will enter into service within one year, so it is in right track. Additional tankers can wait.

Not at all, since that is only the claim of DRDO. IAF still needs to evaluate and certify the radar system, since we don't know how good it actually is so far. Moreover, the lack of further orders of the EMB / DRDO AWACS, will keep is behind in propper AWACS coverage compared to our opponents and not being able to propperly support such a large fleet of figthers and aircrafts, in such a vast area, with just a dozen of tankers is a huge problem in war times.

I do not see much changes in policies except pressurizing the forces to use more Indian items in terms of procurement.

Where do you see any pressure to use more Indian items? If that were true, we actually would had scrapped the LUH competition in favour of HAL's LUH, or would have bought more Rudras and LCH instead of a small number of Apaches.

 

[The Headache]

DM should tell HAL to speed up it's production of LCH,RUDRA and TEJAS. That's very very imp. Plus, Modi should immediately have a call on UNIFORM CIVIL CODE and article 370.

 

[sancho]

DM should tell HAL to speed up it's production of LCH,RUDRA and TEJAS. That's very very imp. Plus, Modi should immediately have a call on UNIFORM CIVIL CODE and article 370.

But production is only possible when development is done, LCH is still under development and Tejas production have just started with a usual production pace, so we can't really complain about the production side already. However, they must be criticized for the IJT for sure. But here again, a propper DM could have more influence on how to deal with PSUs and how to direct them.