The wait for the much-anticipated Rafale fighter jets — the most high profile defence acquisition India has seen in at least two decades — is finally coming to an end. Five of the 36 jets that were ordered have landed in India and more will be inducted in the IAF in the months to come.
Their landing at the Ambala Air Base Wednesday became a cause of celebration for the entire country, and rightly so. After all, it was the first induction of a full-fledged fighter aircraft in over 20 years.
However, beneath this celebration lies the harsh reality of India’s painfully slow defence purchases. The Rafale deal and a plethora of procurement, now being done under the emergency clause in the wake of tensions at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), exposes the malaise that continues to shadow India’s defence procurement and planning.
There is nothing to be proud of in the purchase of Rafales. The project to acquire the new generation fighter jets has taken 19 years to see the light of the day.
Rafales alone would not fulfill the Indian Air Force’s demand for new generation fighters. According to a previous proposal, the IAF was to get 126 jets under Make in India and not 36.
It has taken 5 years for the first 5 jets to land in India after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced it in April 2015 during his trip to France.
The eventual contract was done late 2016, which shows the time taken despite it being Modi’s top priority. This proves how complex the defence procurement process in India is.
As part of the emergency purchases, the armed forces are working on over 100 procurement contracts for sourcing rifles, drones and specialised ammunition.
Wonder what the defence planners were doing till now.
The emergency procurement is being done not just for additional ammunition, but for a spate of new systems, including assault rifles and others.
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PM Modi needs to crack the whip
PM Modi should crack the whip on this red-tapism and ensure that India’s soldiers are well-trained, well-equipped and capable enough to face the challenges of the new generation warfare and that of the future.
Merely having a large standing Army or an Air Force with aircraft flying on extended lease of life and without much use against modern weaponry of the enemy, cannot be India’s answer.
It is time the defence planners sat together and worked out a fresh plan for modernising our armed forces rather than continuing with piecemeal purchases.
The services are still involved in turf wars and a system of jointness is yet to grow among them.
The classic case of procuring in silos is the Apache helicopter deal with the US where both the IAF and the Indian Army have done their separate deals, that has costed India at least Rs 2,500 crore more.
What the former defence secretary G. Mohan Kumar wrote in The Economic Times sums up the sorry state of affairs: “The armed forces’ 15-year Long Term Integrated Perspective Plans (LTIPP) — the mainstay of their modernisation programme — remains an ambitious paper exercise without any realistic link to the annual capital allocations.”
“With better jointness the LTIPPs could be reworked and prioritised, but slow acquisitions taking several years and uncertainties in funding can plague rapid modernisation,” he wrote.
It is not just the forces who should be blamed for the mess. The Department of Defence Production, Defence Research and Development Organisation and defence PSUs have no less contributed towards a rotten system that exists today.
All these organisations need a reboot because the ‘business as usual’ approach would not take India far in the event of a war.
It is shameful that when war clouds are hovering, the armed forces have to depend on foreign manufacturers to equip themselves.
Also read: India has two options with stubborn China. The better one involves taking the battle to them
Cut down the red tape
It is important for the Defence Ministry to cut red-tapism when it comes to military procurements.
Despite the urgency shown in the purchase of Rafale fighters, a formal tender for buying another 114 fighters is yet to be issued and one is not sure if the project would even materialise.
A similar delay is being witnessed for the contract of 83 LCA-MK 1A aircraft despite the IAF dealing with the Indian manufacturer, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). A Request For Proposal for the aircraft was issued to HAL in December 2017 but a contract is yet to be signed.
Even in the case of submarines, the procurement process is so intertwined that a formal tender of the much talked about Project 75I-class submarine is yet to be issued. The project was first cleared in 2007.
Delays have also marred the Kamov helicopters and AK-203 Rifle deal with Russia that was announced by PM Modi and Russian President Putin years ago.
The list of such critical defence deals that are now delayed is long. If this is what happens to projects of priority and emergency, then imagine the fate of regular purchases.
No wonder many of our infantry soldiers continue to wait for modern bullet-proof jackets, helmets, boots and modern assault rifles.
Views are personal.
Rather unfortunate, sometimes events need to happen to give us a wake up call… the way our so called democracy works, everything is sadly slow & static and stuck in quagmire. Things do need to be priortized and having a long term vision is a must. We can learn from our current adversary, China, how they have modernized their defence forces and the strides they have made in the last 20 years or so. I am not sure, why India had been sleeping all this time? I hope the government & defence forces work on this long pending agenda now or the writing is on the wall and knocking, one who sleeps, looses all!!
It is the commited and sincere pm that is there as lung leader is strong willed we can bang an enemy with a stick and axe we don’t require raffels. At all ,, if pm presses a switch in N button it will two fronts to an end though we suffer collateral damage
The triad is ready we can fight. War on land ,,air ,, water
It is not weapon but the will to destroy enemy
When we were very very young
Isn’t it rather funny ?
How all the foolish spending stopped
When we ran out of money.
It is strange that when two-front wars are preparing, the armed forces have to depend on foreign manufacturers to equip themselves. With the nuclear weapons as backdrop, no country can afford to have a large-scale war with India with the risk of escalating into deployment of nuclear weapons in future, building-up Made-in India from modern bullet-proof jackets, helmets, boots and modern assault rifles is an important step before building-up Made-in india for the advanced weapons to equip the army forces.
Author missed the real Problem………………..Modi himself………………India never wanted two front war scenario but because of Modi madness of Aug 5, Kashmir decision now Indian military is forced to fight a two front war which strategically it cannot win in the long run !!!!
Nice writeup. Excellent defence journalist like you should be made part of a comprehensive defence acquisition white paper. To be reviewed periodically. I think it’s high time that INDEPENDENT PROFESSIONAL ADVICE be sought by babus at defence ministry.
Forget this. My friend’s dad, who’s serving in Sikh light Infantry, said a couple of years back to me that more than 60% of the jawans ask the manufacturer to get specialized boots made with their own packet. The bureaucracy & IA even failed to meet this basic requirement of a jawan. Such a pathetic state of affair!
The most glaring example of delay is the procurement of light tanks. Over 73 years ago we saw how effective they were in the Kargil sector when Rajinder SIngh Sparrow’s regiment routed the Pakistanis from Ladakh. Since then not a single step to make modern light tanks was taken and shamefully, we are now roaming the bazaars of the world asking for such systems and making an undignified spectacle of ourselves/
It tells the lack of Congress’s seriousness to serve the country. How could they find time to think for the country when Congress is always busy in scams and backchannel money. Had it not been BJP, these jets would have still been dream. Worry not my fellow sisters and brothers, we have a strong govt. now, who puts nations interest foremost.
Congress government had ordered these Rafale warplanes. BJP was o;opposing it then!
Completely agreed Mr. Snehesh.
Considering the sheer size of our country and extremely aggressive neighbors our forces are 25 years behind. The future too looks bleek. Drdo, Hal and other defense PSU needs to be rebooted.
We are sitting ducks for our enemies. The media circus that is going on with the arrival of Rafel is absolute nonsense. The Chinese and Paks generals will be laughing at our media. IAF has only 29 squadron out of which 2 are Jaguars. In case of real war the piolets flying Jaguars will be on a kamikaze mission.
One was hoping with the arrival of BJP sarkar things will change, but nothing much has happened.