Indian MoD comments various defence and security issues

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defence.professionals | defpro.com

18:58 GMT, May 5, 2010 According to the Indian Press Information Bureau, the following information was recently given by Indian Defence Minister, Shri AK Antony in written replies to members of the Parliament of India:


Revival of Hindustan Shipyard Limited
The Government has transferred Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), which was earlier under the Ministry of Shipping to the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence by way of amendment of the Allocation of Business Rules on February 23, 2010.

An amount of Rs. 47.70 crores is due as arrear towards 1997 pay revision and 2007 pay revision.

HSL is not in a healthy financial situation. As on March 31, 2009 this shipyard has accumulated losses of Rs. 987.43 crores and the negative networth of Rs. 685.44 crores. In the wage revision settlement entered into the Union by the Management of HSL, it was agreed that payment of arrears on account of revision will be made based on the improvement in the financial position of the company. However, revised salaries are being paid. Ministry of Defence is processing a proposal for financial restructuring of HSL in consultation with the shipyard.


Acquiring of Swanky AW-101 Helicopters
A contract for the procurement of 12 AW-101 helicopters for VVIP transportation was signed between Ministry of Defence and M/s Agusta Westland Limited, United Kingdom on February 08, 2010.

There were no objections raised by the Ministry of Finance relating to any security concern nor were there any security concerns raised by the SPG or the IAF.


Purchase of ULH for Army Operations
A procurement case for acquisition of Ultra Light Howitzers (ULH) for the Indian Army is underway as per the provisions of Defence Procurement Procedure 2008. Under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS), the Ministry of Defence had also issued a Letter of Request for procurement of ULH to the Government of the USA in May 2009.


Delay in Delivery of AWACS by Israel
The contract for supply of three Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft was signed with M/s Elta, Israel on March 05, 2004. The first and second AWACS aircraft were delivered to the Indian Air Force on May 25, 2009 and March 25, 2010 respectively as per the revised delivery schedule. The delivery of the third aircraft is planned for December 2010. Additional AWACS aircraft are planned to be procured in the 12th, 13th and 14th Plans.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation is developing an indigenous Airborne And Early Warning system for use of the Indian Air Force.


Shortage of Officers in Army
The sanctioned strength of officers is 46614 in Army, 9,293 in Navy and 12,212 in Air Force. The present strength of officers in Army is 35,158 and around 11,500 posts are vacant.

One Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai is already functional. The Government has approved setting up of a second OTA at Gaya, Bihar. Necessary steps have been initiated to make the Academy functional.

. A number of steps have been taken to attract the talented youth to join the Armed Forces. All officers including those in Short Service Commission (SSC) are now eligible to hold substantive rank of Captain, Major and Lieutenant Colonel after 2, 6 and 13 years of reckonable service respectively. The tenure of SSC officers has been increased from 10 years to 14 years. A total number of 750 posts of Lt. Colonel have been upgraded to Colonel towards implementation of AV Singh Committee Report (Phase-I). Further, 1896 additional posts in the ranks of Colonel, Brigadier, Major General and Lieutenant General and their equivalents in the other two Services have been upgraded towards implementation of AV Singh Committee Report (Phase-II). The implementation of recommendations of the VI Central Pay Commission with substantial improvement in the pay structure of officers of Armed Forces, is expected to make the Services more attractive.

The Armed Forces have also undertaken sustained image projection and publicity campaign to create awareness among the youth on the advantages of taking up a challenging and satisfying career. Awareness campaigns, participation in career fairs and exhibitions, advertisements in print and electronic media, motivational lectures in schools, colleges are also some of the other measures in this direction.


State of Art OFC Network for Defence Forces
The Government has approved Rs. 9175.16 crores for setting up a nationwide dedicated and security exclusive optical fibre cable network for Army, Navy and Air Force. This will provide dedicated and secure network for a pan India system to meet security concerns.


IAF Squadrons for Strategic Balance With China and Pakistan
The number of Indian Air Force (IAF) squadrons required is decided based on various factors like threat perceptions, security concerns and operational requirements of the IAF and is reviewed from time to time.

In the last five years (Financial Years 2005-06 to 2009-10), 48.3% of the accidents in the IAF were due to Technical Defects, 37.9% were due to Human Error and 8.6% were due to Bird Hit.

The IAF has a well structured strategy in place for life extension of existing aircraft fleet by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and also by Indian agencies like Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), National Aeronautics Ltd. (NAL), etc.

 

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Delayed Projects of DRDO
Some of the major delayed projects of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) with original and revised cost, and Probable Date of Completion (PDC) are given below:-

(i) Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Full Scale Engineering Development (FSED) Programme – Phase II:

Date of sanction - 20 November 2001
Original PDC - 31 December 2008
Revised PDC - 31 December 2012
Original Cost - Rs. 3301.78 cr
Revised Cost - Rs. 5777.56 cr

(ii) Full Scale Engineering Development (FSED) Programme of Naval Light Combat Aircraft (LCA-Navy):

Date of sanction - 28 March 2003
Original PDC - 27 March 2010
Revised PDC - 27 December 2014
Original Cost - Rs. 948.90 cr
Revised Cost - Rs. 1714.98 cr

(iii) Interception, Monitoring, Direction Finding and Analysis system (IMDFAS) – Divyadrishti:

Date of sanction - 27 August 2002
Original PDC - 26 February 2008
Revised PDC - 26 August 2010
Original Cost - Rs. 560.00 cr
Revised Cost - Rs. 670.60 cr

(iv) Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP):

Date of sanction - 26 July 1983
Original PDC - 30 July 1995
Revised PDC - 31 December 2010

(Projects for development of Prithvi, Agni, Dhanush, Akash and Trishul missiles have been completed, whereas PDC for only Nag missile has been extended upto to December 2010)

Original Cost - Rs. 388.83 cr
Revised Cost - Rs. 1771.43 cr

(v) Kaveri Engine for LCA:

Date of sanction - 30 March 1989
Original PDC - 31 December 1996
Revised PDC - 31 December 2010
Original Cost - Rs. 383.81 cr
Revised Cost - Rs. 2839.00 cr

The reasons for delay in completion of the above projects and their cost escalation are due to technical / technological complexities; Sanctions imposed by technologically advanced countries and various control regimes; increase in scope of work in terms of creation of more infrastructure, test facilities and their maintenance; change/enhancement in user requirements during development; deviations/failures during testing; extended and long-drawn user trials; etc.

Following efforts have been made to complete these projects without any further delay:

(i) Consortium approach has been used for design, development and fabrication of critical components.

(ii) Three-tier project monitoring approach is being followed in the major projects / programmes.

(iii) Project Monitoring Review committee (PMRC); and Project Appraisal and Review Committee (PARC) meeting are held regularly to monitor the progress of the ongoing projects.

(iv) Concurrent engineering approach has been adopted in technology intensive projects to minimize time-lag between development and productionisation of the systems, and Information Technology and modern management techniques have been applied.

(v) Encouraging joint funding by Services to ensure their commitment towards early completion.

(vi) Promoting synergy and better coordination among user Services, DRDO and production agencies through cluster meetings.