This is an excerpt of an interview given to NDTV-Hindu in the first week of January 2009. The questions raised by NDTV-Hindu reporter are shown in bold letters.
The Indian Navy has signed a $ 2.1 billion deal with Boeing for supply of eight highly sophisticated P8-I Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA). This is said to be the biggest Indian arms deal so far with the United States. Will this tighten our coastal protection to prevent infiltration of terrorists, particularly from Sri Lanka as the war is over there?
Actually, the Boeing deal is part of Indian Navy’s modernization programme. So its purpose is to extend the strategic long range maritime reconnaissance capability of the navy to become truly blue water navy. Their capability is well beyond the limited tactical role of detecting infiltration of terrorists through the sea. In any case the LTTE is no more a powerful entity it was. It is unlikely to be a threat in the near future to Sri Lanka, let alone India.
The new Boeing acquisitions will replace the ageing Tu-142 and IL-38 aircraft now used for long range maritime reconnaissance.
The first Boeing P-8I aircraft is to be delivered by 2012; and the last aircraft by 2015. The P-8I aircraft, based on the Boeing 737 commercial airliner, has been customised to meet Indian Navy’s needs. It is a modified version of the P-8A Poseidon Multi-Mission Maritime Aircraft currently being developed for US Navy.
The P-8I aircraft, with a range of over 600 nautical miles, are expected to plug the large gaps in Navy's maritime reconnaissance capabilities. The P-8I’s weapon systems including torpedoes, depth bombs and anti-ship missiles make it a formidable platform for anti submarine warfare (ASW).
But do we need such huge investments in the navy?
Actually it is not only the navy, but army and air force are also modernising to catch up with the demands of an increasingly technology oriented battlefields of 21st century. The modernisation we had planned for even 20th century warfare has not been completed due to our poor weapon acquisition, research and development systems.
Unless we make investments now, we will never be able to get our armed forces ready to face the challenges that come with our growth as a regional power. New acquisitions are time consuming and expensive. In particular naval ships take time to build and many of the weapons, radars, and electronic warfare systems are procured from different suppliers and fitted.
It is not like buying small arms off the shelf. Countries design weapon systems based upon the requirements for the type of operations they visualise. So when we buy or develop a weapon system it has to be specially modified or designed to suit our specific requirements and theatres of war.
As early as August 2008, the then Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta had described Indian Navy’s vision to become a 160-ship force (at present we probably have 135 ships). He said "By 2022, we plan to have 160-plus ship navy, including three aircraft carriers, 60 major combatants, including submarines and close to 400 aircraft of different types. This will be a formidable three dimensional force with satellite surveillance and networking to provide force multiplication."
The Air Force is also modernising. It is in the process of phasing out MiG 21 fleet and acquiring modern fighters. It has been trying to persuade the Ministry of Defence to procure a new fleet of A330 multi-role tanker transport (MRTT) for mid-air refuelling of fighter aircraft, instead of the Russian Illushin-78 tankers, which are already in use. Mid air refuelling system increases the sphere of operation of the air force.
Similarly Army is also trying to modernise. It has started the process of acquiring network-centric warfare capabilities. As a part of this effort it is “all set to induct a computerised command and control system to integrate its artillery weapon operations. Project Sakthi, the Artillery Combat Command and Control System (ACCCS) will be a major division of the Tactical Command Control Communication and Intelligence (Tac C3I) system. Rocket and missile systems are being modernised increasing their range and fire power.
So the armed forces should be ready for 21st century warfare by end of the next decade?
Far from it; there are formidable obstacles to it. We are trying to use 19th century methodology to modern day defence procurement. Then there are holy cows: defence research and development, and public sector fixation for defence supplies. They are beyond the pale of accountability. The quality of our nuclear weapon systems has become suspect in the eyes of many defence scientists.
The fashion in our defence procurement appears to be to sign a contract and then cancel it,wasting years of work. For instance MoD has cancelled three contracts – two with the EADS for supply of refueling aircraft and Eurocopter deal and one with BAE fo supply of 155 mm artillery guns to the army.
Thus our problem is not for want of ideas but evolving a corruption free system of procurement. Despite paying lip service to private sector, we have mental blocks in bringing in private capital for defence manufacture. Despite a patchwork quilt of measures in all this, I do not expect any great change in mindset of our administrators. So I presume we will plod through the coming decade adopting a Pakistan-centric reactive policy.
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