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SINO-INDIAN MARITIME RIVALRY

DEFENCE n DIPLOMACY n SECURITYgeopolitics

Arms procuring system needs fine-tuning for timely and reliable delivery

MARKETBLUES

VOL II, ISSUE XII, MAY 2012 n `100

TEAMING UP WITH INDIA ON DEFENCE AND SECURITY

For decades now, Saab has been supporting India’s

security goals as an active partner. Saab is a global,

independent defence and security company and

our longterm commitment to India includes R&D

investments, customised solutions for the armed

forces and extensive offset programmes. Today,

we are reinforcing our operations, teaming up with

Indian companies in order to support India as an

emerging leader with global responsibilities.

This year, Saab celebrates 75 years of pushing the

boundaries of technology. We have made a long-term

commitment to India’s national security goals as a

partner in developing an indigenous, self-sustaining

defence industry of global dimensions. Saab’s product

offering to India includes cutting-edge technology for

fi ghter aircraft, aeronautics, civil security, electronic

warfare self-protection, as well as land and naval

defence systems.

www.saabgroup.com/india

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(4)May 2012www.geopolitics.in

COVERSTORY

(P48)

It is high time that themodernisation plans of theIndian Armed forces breakfree from the shackles ofcorruption and bureaucraticprocrastination.

MODERNISATIONWOES

STUPENDOUS FEAT

PANORAMA (P8)

The successful test flight of the Agni V missile has propelled India

into an exclusive league

RESTIVE ODISHA

SPOTLIGHT (P66 )

The recent spate of kidnappings in the state is evidence

of the real capabilities of the Naxals

(P15)

DRDO

CRPF

HEMA

NTRA

WAT

With opportunities, solutions,and announcements galore, wetake a close look at Defexpo2012 and what it holds for theIndian defence requirements.Also, country reports on majorpartners: Russia, France, Israeland the US.

HEMA

NTRA

WAT

DEFEXPO ASSESSMENT

HEMA

NTRA

WAT

(5)www.geopolitics.in May 2012

CHINK INTHE ARMOUR

SPECIAL REPORT (P10)

As it develops a ballistic missile shield,India needs to work out a credibledefence against cruise missiles as well.

G E O P O L I T I C S

g INDIA AND JAPAN NEED TO TAKE THEIR

RELATIONSHIP TO THE NEXT LEVEL TO

ENSURE THAT THIS IS A TRULY ‘ASIAN

CENTURY’

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPDIPLOMACY (80)

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Special on

defexpo

SINO-INDIAN MARITIME RIVALRY

DEFENCE � DIPLOMACY � SECURITYgeopolitics

Arms procuring system needs fine-tuning for timely and reliable delivery

MARKETBLUES

VOL II, ISSUE XII, MAY 2012 � `100

Cover Design:Ruchi Sinha

Photo:H C Tiwari, Hemant Rawat

The total number of pagesin this issue is 92 with cover

(P16)

MV KOTWAL WAYNE BECK

DEFEXPO INTERVIEWS

On L&T’splans todiversifyinto areasof defencesolutions

AMIT KALYANI

AboutBharatForge’sexpansionin defencesector

OnNorthropGrumanofferingIndia theE2D

On SigSauer'splans toexpandoperations

TOM C TRUDELL LEE GRIFFITH RICHARD BROWN

On GeneralDynamics’JVs withIndiancompanies

OnCobham’sforayinto India

gGEOPO L I T I C S

gLETTERS


As a regularreader ofyour mag-

azine and hav-ing seen itmature foralmost a year, Imust conveymy thoughts.

The magazine isslowly gaining its own niche. Theequal space for the defence, internalsecurity, diplomacy and business isthe right approach, which only yourmagazine does. The equal weightagegiven to all sections shows that inyour view all have equal significance.I agree with you on this.

Your article and stories are exhaus-tive but not intense. I feel that yourarticles should have depth on a par-ticular topic, more information on asmall area rather than an umbrellaapproach. Strategic approach andanalysis is available even in newspa-per but being a niche magazine, yourapproach, in my humble view, shouldbe to give deep knowledge with a lotof new information.

I would like to see more of opera-tional and technical stories. I wouldlike to see some articles on what ishappening in the Ministry of ExternalAffairs (MEA) on some of the strategicchallenges being faced by India. Nodefence magazine in the countrydoes stories on what might happen.The market is inundated with analyti-cal pieces on the well-covered news.Why not do a long war Journal inIndia? I guess the time for such publi-cation has come. Why not let Geopol-itics break new grounds?

Regards

Keshav GianiDehradun

Your coverstory ofMarch issue

on the CoastGuard (A CoastalWelcome to Terrorists) wasintense andexhaustive. Itwas the most

extensive story that one has read onthe Indian Coast Guard (ICG). It cov-ers everything that one would like toknow. But the details of the ongoingmodernisation programme of ICGshould have been given more space.The efficiency of any force is directlyrelated to training and details of newtraining methods would give us aninsight.

The detail of the National MaritimeDomain Awareness programme (Safe-guarding the Seas) was very educat-ing. I am sure many would not haveread about it earlier. The diagram andpictures simplified this very esotericsubject for a lay person like me.

Of late, I findthat your maga-zine has been cov-ering the Maoistthreat regularly.In March therewas more thanone Maoist-relat-ed article (TheSurrender Saga,

Odisha: A Potent Threat, Nepal’sMaoists-Rumblings from Within)which I feel should be followed byother publications also. But the lackof operational articles on Maoists issomething that you should look at.

Thanking you

Eklavya BhanotDelhi

Iwould like tofirst congratu-late you for

the good workthat you aredoing. Your Defexpo Special(Geoploitics,April 2012) was a deviation

from the other magazines. In fact, itwas an innovative edition. The issue,which could be called a ready refer-ence on the Indian military procure-ment programme, will be a good helpfor anybody who wishes to check out ongoing programmes. The series of interviews in the magazinegave us an insight into the minds ofthe business leaders and how theyperceive the Defexpo and Indian

industry.The cover of

the edition wasone of the best Ihave seen forlong time. Thepicture says itall. What anirony? Indiansoldiers are

made to practice with theworld’s most advanced armies with-out similar equipment. It must bebreeding an inferiority complex. Thepicture proves that. Does anyone inthe Ministry take a note of it?

Regards

Sudarshan SinghGhaziabad

All correspondence may be addressedto: Editor, Geopolitics, D-11 Basement, Nizamuddin (East), New Delhi-110013. OR mail to [email protected].

LETTERS TO EDITOR

D E F E N C E � D I P L O M A C Y � S E C U R I T Y

VOL II, ISSUE X, MARCH 2012 VOL II, ISSUE X, MARCH 2012 � `100100

geopoliticsWHY AGNI MISSILES MATTER

� ARMY- AIR FORCE

TUSSLE OVER HELICOPTERS� CONFESSIONS

OF A PAK COMMANDO

PLUGGINGLOOPHOLES?PLUGGINGLOOPHOLES?

Coastal defence is still in deep water because of

procurement delays and turf wars.

geo cover final_GEOPOLITIC COVER2.qxd 2/28/2012 10:53 AM Page 1

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ggPANORAMAG E O P O L I T I C S TOP SHOW

The successful Agni 5 test launch representsanother milestone in our quest to add to

the credibility of our securitypreparedness and to continuously

explore the frontiers of science.”— Manmohan Singh

May 2012

AGNI

WEIGHT

TONNES—————

PAYLOAD

KG

“

PHOT

OS:D

PR/M

OD

SELECT

ICBMMEMBERS range of its RS-24 missile,

launchable from Silo

10,500 km

RUSSIA

range of its Trident-D5 missile,submarine launchable

12,000 km

US

range of its DF-5A missile, mobile platform launch

13,000 km

CHINA

range of its RS-24 missile, submarine launchable

8,000 km

3

2

1

1,500

50

n Length 17 metres

n Diameter 2 metres

n Weight 50 tonnes

n Range 5,000 km

n Payload 1.1 tonne

n Warhead Nuclear

n Propulsion Three-stage solid

n Launch Road and rail

n Platform mobile

KEY SPECIFICATIONS

¢ Agni-V is deterrent againstChina for the simplereason that it can hit anytarget of China from anypart of India.

¢ The missile covered thepredetermined distance in20 minutes during thecourse of the test, beforereaching the target withinfew metres of accuracy inthe southern IndianOcean.

¢ Agni-V will be inductedinto the armed forces aftertwo or three more flighttrials over the next twoyears.

(8)

FRANCE

May 2012www.geopolitics.in

GRAPHIC: RUCHI SINHA

AGNI-V, THE LATEST AND THE BEST, IS A PATON THE BACK FOR DRDO. IT PUTS INDIA IN ASELECT CLUB OF MISSILE MEMBERS.

Agni-V5,000 km

APPROXIMATERANGE

Agni-II2,000 km

±INDIA

MAGICAgni-III

3,500 km

“

MOBILITY

PAYLOAD

The canister-launch system will providehuge road mobility and give the armedforces a far greater operational flexibilitythan the earlier generation of Agnimissiles.

At some point in time, the Agni V will havethe capacity of carrying MIRV (multipleindependently targetable re-entry vehicles)warheads. What this means is that an MIRVpayload on a missile is a single payload withseveral nuclear warheads — each of whichcan be programmed to hit different targets.

Great moment for India and its scientific community”

— A K Antony, Defence Minister

gPANORAMA

gChina and Pakistan, India’s two main

adversaries, own an arsenal of powerful ballisticmissiles, Here’s a comparison

Missile Range (km) Payload* (kg)n Agni-I 700 1,000 n Agni-II 2,500 1,000n Agni-III 3,000 1,500n Agni-IV 3,500 700n Agni-V 5,000 1,500

¢ PAKISTAN’S BALLISTIC MISSILES

¢ INDIA’S AGNI MISSILES

Missile Range (km) Payload* (kg)

n Ghaznavi 320 1,000

n Shaheen-1 735 1,000

n Ghauri 950 1,000

n Shaheen-2 over 2,000 1,000

Missile Range (km) Payload* (kg)n DF-3A 2,800 2,000 n DF-21 3,000 700 n DF-4A 5,000 2,000 n DF-31A 7,000 1,800 n DF-31 over 10,000 1,000 n DF-5A over 13,000 3,200

¢ CHINA’S BALLISTIC MISSILES

AGNI-IV

DF-5A

GHAURI

PIB

* A 1,000kg payload means missile can carry a nuclear warhead

AUSAIRPOWER.NET

DEFENCETALK.COM

HOW THEY STACK UP

(9)

¢The 5,000 km-rangenuclear-capable

missile — developed by theDefence Research &Development Organisationover three years — took offfrom Wheeler Island off theOdisha coast at 8.07am onApril 19, 2012

gGEOPO L I T I C S

gSPECIALFEATURE

www.geopolitics.in

STARTING FROM OperationCrossbow (1944) till OperationIraqi Freedom (2003), the use ofcruise missiles has exceededthat of ballistic missiles by over

three to one. (The number of cruisemissiles used is around 19,465 while thenumber of ballistic missiles used duringthe same period is around 5,875.)Today, around 130 types of cruise mis-siles are available in 75 countries. Thisgives the impression that cruise mis-siles are likely to revolutionise modernwarfare, especially at the pace at whichthey are spreading and the speed with

which this technology is evolving. Sur-prisingly, threats from ballistic missileproliferation, and the imperatives ofBallistic Missile Defence (BMD) havebeen emphasised often, while what isunavailable is a well-defined concep-tion of the threat posed by the prolifer-ation of cruise missiles and a credibledefence strategy against them.

During the 2003 Iraq war, though thePatriot missile defences successfullyintercepted all nine ballistic missilesfired by Iraqi forces, they failed todetect any of the five primitive cruisemissiles employed by Iraq. Instead, the

Patriot system was involved in threefriendly fire incidents resulting in thedowning of two allied warplanes andthe deaths of one American and twoBritish pilots. It was realised that inter-cepting lower altitude, slower-flyingcruise missiles remained a pressingchallenge even for the United States.

The dynamics of the technologicalevolution of cruise missiles imply thatthis weapon system is becoming moreintelligent. Most of the advancementsthat have taken place in the enablingtechnologies for operational effective-ness of the cruise missile are related to

Along with the indigenous Ballistic Missile Defence shield, India also needs a cruise missiledefence strategy, argues SITAKANTA MISHRA

RAYTHEON

May 2012

IMPERATIVES OF CRUISEMISSILE DEFENCE

(10)

SMART WEAPONS: After its launchmodern cruise missiles can loiter over thetarget area and then explode on the mostimportant opportune target

www.geopolitics.in May 2012

its navigation and guidance, propulsionor engine technology, warhead and thedesign or the airframe.

Over the years, innovations in allthese fields have phenomenallyimproved the efficiency of cruise mis-siles. Since 1980s, the Global Position-ing System (GPS) has been an integralpart of missiles that addresses the oper-ational side effects of all other technol-ogy. Incorporation of low-observable(stealth) technologies and use of ‘com-posite’ materials provided reducedweight while increasing the thrust. Theconstituent materials, composite struc-ture, insulation materials, the shape ofthe device and its stealth capabilityhave been constantly improving toachieve the real purpose of the cruisemissiles. These innovations have gradu-ally infused some sort of decision-mak-ing power in the machine.

However, all these innovations arenot taking place in vacuum. In fact, theshape of the battlefield has undergonesurprising alternations. Today’s warfighting necessitates targeting of anindividual, a bunker or a building andthereby the selection of weapons for asingle-shot kill is more pronounced.

While cruise missiles have been usedby developed nations more conve-niently as big sticks, developing coun-tries find this weapon as the poor man’sair force.

According to a study, “With $50 mil-lion one could buy one or twoadvanced tactical fighters or 15 ballis-tic missiles with three launchers, or 100off-the-shelf, ready to fire cruise mis-siles.” According to the American mili-tary’s FY 99 Air and Missile DefenceMaster Plan, given equal funding, anynation could buy 40 off-the-shelf cruisemissiles within the cost price of 1-2fixed-wing fighters. In fact, the accura-cy, long-range and lethality ofadvanced cruise missiles have attract-ed the developed nations to pile uptheir inventory; at the same time owingto its cost-effectiveness, developingnations have been increasingly inter-ested in the technology. In every part ofthe world, cruise missile technology isspreading like a contagion.

The current trend in the demand forcruise missile seems to be moving fromASCMs (Anti-ship Cruise Missile)towards LACMs (Land-attack CruiseMissiles). During the Cold War and until1998, only France, Russia and the US

possessed operational LACMs but nonehad exported them. By the end of 2010,at least nine countries were able to pro-duce LACMs. At present, there are sixLACM-producing countries offeringthem for export: China, Russia, France,UK, South Africa and Pakistan. The sup-ply-side of the missile spread is drivenby both strategic and financial motives,while the demand side of the spreadfollows four paths: acquisition from a

producer legally or illegally; indigenousdevelopment; modification of existingstocks of ASCMs or UAVs; and develop-ment through joint ventures.

With concerns about the lack of inte-grated defence against cruise missiles,the US Congress has reportedly man-dated in the fiscal 2008 defence spend-ing bill for the development of domes-tic cruise missile defence capabilities,their deployment and integration intothe ballistic missile defence system.This indicates that the attention is turn-ing towards cruise missile defence.

However, the greatest challenge isthe detection and tracking of the lowflying stealthy cruise missiles earlyenough to engage them before theyreach their targets. Their manoeuvra-bility, the flight paths and small radarcross section (RCS) make their detec-tion a challenging task. The ground-based radars have gaps in their field ofcoverage that allow cruise missiles toexploit the curvature of the Earth.

Given the strategic value of cruisemissiles and difficulty in interceptingthem, there are four combinedapproaches for defence against cruisemissile threats, experts say. These are:(1) non-proliferation regime, (2) pre-emption, (3) passive defence, and (4)active defence.

Though preventing the spread ofcruise missile through various non-pro-liferation regimes has obvious benefits,in reality, the multilateral arms controlprocess has not been able to precludetheir spread.

The option of pre-emptive attackinvolves launching air and groundstrikes against launchers, storage facil-ities, military bases, roads and rail-ways. However, there is no guaranteethat air, ground, surface and subsur-face attacks will locate and destroy allthe launchers.

The third option of passive defenceinvolves attack-avoidance strategieslike bunkering, deep burial, dispersal,concealment or keeping valuable assetsfar behind front lines. This would cer-tainly minimise the damage to criticalassets and may increase the probabilityof their survival but cannot prevent theattacks themselves.

Therefore, the only strategy that caneffectively neutralise cruise missilethreat would be an active defence sys-tem that can detect and destroy cruisemissiles before they reach their intend-

A CREDIBLEDEFENCESTRATEGY

AGAINST CRUISEMISSILES IS THENEED OF THE

HOUR

(11)www.geopolitics.in

gSPECIALFEATURE

g

Cruise missile systems arebecoming more intelligent.Incorporation of low-observable(stealth) technologies and use of‘composite’ materials providedreduced weight while increasingthrust.The composing materials, thecomposite structure, the insula-tion materials, the shape of thedevice and its stealth capabilityhave constantly been evolving.The discernible trend in the evo-lution of cruise missile technolo-gy seems to be moving from aidto autonomy.Since 1980s, the Global Position-ing System (GPS) has been anintegral part of missiles thataddresses the operational sideeffects of all other technology.The current trend in the demandfor cruise missile seems to bemoving from Anti-ship CruiseMissile towards Land-attackCruise Missiles.

Evolution of cruise missiles

ed targets. A cruise missile defence inan active form requires a system whichwill intercept and track incomingthreats and also be able to physicallydestroy them. But now, there is a prefer-ence for a defence system that has fourbasic elements: (a) the capability todetect and then track a cruise missilesoon after it is launched; (b) intercep-tors to destroy the attacking cruise mis-sile; (c) a battle management and com-munications network that coordinatesthe first two elements and allows forseamless real-time engagements; (thesethree together called the “kill chain”)and (d) the ability to effectively predictand manage the consequences of cruisemissile attack.

Traditionally, the detection functionwas bestowed on ground-based radars.As cruise missiles present small RCSsduring head-on interception and theycan manipulate the gaps existingbetween radars field of coverage, anover-the-horizon (OTH) detection andtracking capability is warranted. Satel-lites may have difficulties in detectingtiny cruise missiles through densecloud cover.

Though capable of performing thisfunction effectively, the Airborne Warn-ing and Control System (AWACS) wouldbe too costly to be kept airborne 24/7 ina surveillance mode.

Therefore, the optimal sensor plat-form will be air-based, elevated sensorswith look-down, ground-clutter-filter-ing radar augmented by imaging infra-red sensors, mounted on an aerial plat-form. The Joint Land Attack Cruise Mis-sile Defence Elevated Netted Sensor( JLENS) of US military, though havinglimitations, has been proved to be alonger-term option for stationary air-borne sensor mission. Also, the USNavy’s Aegis radar-equipped warships,the US Air Force E-10 Multi-sensorCommand and Control Aircraft (MC2A)and the High Altitude Airship (HAA)have a major role to play in cruise mis-sile defence.

The second important component ofan Active Cruise Missile Defence(ACMD) is interception, leading toshooting it down physically. Combataircraft and ship-borne defence sys-

tems are two principal options. Whilefront-line combat aircraft are pro-foundly capable for this function, theyare not optimal resources on which acontinuous and cost-effective defencesystem can be built. Combat Air Patrols(CAPs) can provide defence only duringtimes of high threat but not on a per-manent and sustained basis as they areexpensive to operate and maintain andalso have very limited on-stationendurance. On the other hand, thenaval surface warships can providemore persistent area defence than thecombat aircrafts. The third option is aground-based air-defence based onalways-on-station sensors and inter-ceptors missiles. For this purpose, USAplans to use the PAC-3 missiles, whichare generally used for terminal areadefence against ballistic missiles.

The third and the most importantcomponent of ACMD is the battle man-agement and command and controlsystem which involve an informationgrid connecting all the sensors andinterceptors with the command struc-tures to transmit required real-timedata. This helps expedite the decision-making process. In fact, in the era ofnet-centric warfare, this system is thebrains-and-nervous-system to inte-grate myriad of weapons and sensors tocreate an efficient fighting system withsituational awareness to maximise theuse of limited combat resources. Firstdeveloped by the US military duringthe Cold War, the Link-16 with real-time target-data-sharing capability forAWACS, E-2 and fighter aircraft do notseem to have much use today. Current-ly, the USA is using the Missile DefenseAgency (MDA)’s Command, ControlBattle Management and Communica-tion (C2BMC) network. Also the USNavy’s Cooperative Engagement Capa-bility (CEC) has potential for such anassignment.

ACMD for IndiaReportedly, under the Phase-1 deploy-ment, the National Capital Region ofIndia will come under the BMD cover.The entire gamut of operations will belinked to the Integrated Defence Staff(IDS) in Delhi. Though specifics havenot been finalised, it is assumed that inthe second phase, cities like Mumbai,Bangalore and Kolkata could find aplace in India’s indigenous BMD shield.

INTERCEPTINGLOWER ALTITUDE,SLOWER-FLYINGCRUISE MISSILES

REMAINS APRESSING

CHALLENGE


gSPECIALFEATURE

g

DRDO

INADEQUATE DEFENCE: TraditionalAnti-Ballistic Missile systems cannotsuccessfully handle the threat posed bycruise missiles

SCAN AND SLAM: The Taurus KEPD 350 smart penetrator system can recognise destroyed structures and count floor levels of thebuildings it attacks.

gSPECIALFEATURE

g

May 2012


This is a milestone in India’s securityand technological prowess, but certain-ly not the ultimate defence shield thatcontemporary India warrants.

A cursory look at the missile capabil-ity build-up by countries in India’svicinity would suggest that though thethreat of ballistic missiles remains animportant factor, the rapidly increasingcruise missile inventory, mainly by Chi-na and Pakistan, demands India paymore attention to its missile defencestrategy.

During 2004-2009, Beijing tested vari-ous cruise missiles around 32 times,including the DH-10 series. In terms ofdeployment, it has 1,000 ballistic andcruise missiles positioned to strike Tai-wan, of which over 100 cruise missilesare presently deployed, according to theTaiwanese Defence Ministry. China hasalso exported cruise missiles to variouscountries in East Asia, South Asia andMiddle East. Pakistan, on the otherhand, has allegedly purchased a numberof fully assembled and functional NoDong missiles from North Korea in 2002.Also, it is speculated that the Baburcruise missile is based on the BGM-109Tomahawk. Pakistan’s new LACM Raad,tested in August 2007, has surprised all.Also the Sino-Pakistan missile andnuclear nexus is well-known. To thatextent, around eleven countries in Asia

have active cruise missile programmes.Moreover, the increasing incidents of

ocean piracy around India raise the fearof cruise missile attack from the sea.Enemies can hide cruise missiles in a

commercial cargo vessel and fire itwhile sailing near Indian coasts.

Therefore, along with the indigenousBMD shield, a cruise missile defencestrategy would be prudent for India tointrospect on. Many experts expressthat India’s ACMD would consists of anearly warning system composed of anarray of ground-based, 2 dimensionaltracking, Missile Technology Demon-stration(MTD) and Constant FalseAlarm Rate( CFAR) processing, integralIFF (Identifying Friend or Foe) mobilesurveillance radars of the INDRA-I and

II series. India has reportedly procuredthe Israeli EL/M-2083 Aerostat radars ofwhich two are deployed in the Rann ofKutch and Punjab. According to someexperts, India will need more than twodozen aerostat radars to provide three-dimensional low-altitude coverage forthe land border alone.

Various media reports on Indiandefence forces pronouncements alsobring home the impression that Indianauthorities are aware of the cruise mis-sile threat and are in the process ofarticulating a viable ACMD for India inthe years to come.

For example, Indian Air Forceannounced in December 2008 that itwould be deploying 3 Israeli-madeaerostats around Delhi in response toan intelligence alert of a threat fromlow-flying aircraft. The ‘Eye in the Sky’project between the Centre for AirborneSystems and Brazil’s Embraer, the pro-curement of 18 systems of the SPYDER(surface-to-air Python 5 and Derby) AirDefence missile systems, the deal forC2-networked Phalcon AWACs, etc.indicates that India is concerned aboutthreats from low-flying missiles and thedefence against them.

(The author is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Air Power Studies,

New Delhi)

SKOPP/WIKIPEDIA

TODAY’S WARFIGHTING

NECESSITATESTARGETING OF

AN INDIVIDUAL, ABUNKER OR A

BUILDING


defexpo

IndiaTop Show Heavy TrafficPipavav CEO Nikhil Gandhi indeep discussion. He was gung-ho about the prospects ofthe private sector in defence

Vernon Noronha, Head, DefenceBusiness, on Tata Motors’ ability

to deliver Project FICV

26>> <<31FOLLOW US ON www.geopolitics.in

Interviews 16 Joint Ventures 26 Reports 34

LAND, NAVAL & INTERNAL SECURITY SYSTEMS EXHIBITION

DEFENCE EXPO 2012 isover. In its seventh edi-tion, the four-day expo-sition was much morethan an exhibition.Though events preced-

ing the show raised concerns overits success, business has its ownway of emerging from the politicalconundrum. This time, the DefEx-po was under the scanner evenbefore it started. There was confu-sion over the organisers (Would itbe CII who have organised pastexpos or would it be FICCI? In the

Glimpses fromDefexpo 2012

Defexpo 2012 signalled that India’s private sectorwas here to stay. It also signalled that MoUs and JVswould be the order of the day. ROHIT SRIVASTAVA andJUSTIN C MURIK report on the show and interview theparticipants

RUSSIAN MUSCLE: The Russian presence at Defexpo-2012 was characterised by an impressive T-90S

HEMANTRAW

AT

gGEOPO L I T I C S

g

SpecialSection


defexpoL A N D , N A V A L & I N T E R N A L S E C U R I T Y S Y S T E M S E X H I B I T I O N I N D I A

Rockwell Collins’ CLAYTON E BROWNon how the firm is going to enhance itsIndia presence

event it turned out to be FICCIfinally), and dates (the DefenceMinistry did the unthinkable ofchanging the dates. It’s a meas-ure of our purchase list thatglobal participants fumed butkept quiet. Minister A K Antho-ny made amends by announc-ing the dates for the next eventin his opening remarks at theExpo!) and delays. Many of thedefence majors did not partici-pate as elaborately as they didin the last edition and this hadits impact. This was not some-thing that the defence industryexpected. It was unlike the lastedition where the companieswere overzealous in theirpreparation and the pre-eventbashes were organised much

in advance. There was an atmosphere of

hope and opportunity. But inthis edition no one was clearabout what they would bedoing at the Expo. The industrycannot be blamed for this drift,shell-shocked as they werethanks to the ‘dogfight’between the Ministry and theArmy. In the last edition of theDefExpo in 2010 — Indian andglobal firms saw a potentialgoldmine in the opportunitiesthrown up in the Indian armymodernisation programme.And just a year earlier theywere delighted in the successof AeroIndia 2009. After twodecades of neglect, the armychock-a-block with legacy sys-

We have very high-quality reliable products”

At the DefExpoWe want to educate (andmake) the Indian public awareof some of the key things thatwe do at Rockwell Collins - inparticular net-centric opera-tions, network and support fornet-centric operations. So thecore competency for us iscommunications from dayone. The company started inthe 1920s. We have always hadboth a government and acommercial focus. Of courseyou don’t see our commercialside, but that is a good 50 percent of all what we do andpractice. And what is uniquefor us in terms of our value-added position versus many ofour competitors is thatbecause we have commercialflavour as well, we cross-lever-age. Personally, in our indus-try, we are easily in the tophandful of companies interms of Research and Devel-opment expenditure.

Rockwell Collins is very wellknown in aircraft. We have,

over time, moved up into thebusiness jets, the regional jet.We have a reputation of beinga very high-quality reliableproduct. It’s also not thecheapest. It is a difficult bal-ancing act. But it’s also per-haps our strength. Financiallyit helps us have a split 50-50roughly, but it also gives us theability to stay right on top ofthe latest technology. We leadin our market space, in termsof some of the thrusts. Anexample would be syntheticvision for aircraft. We havebeen a leader in that field andhave been doing things relatedto very advanced technologiesfor the commercial air trans-port market in syntheticvision. And another exampleof course, if you have synthet-ic vision, you have to have theability to display that. So wehave very advanced displays.We also have very advancedHeads-up Displays and thetechnology we have over hereis related - is an example of

“

AMIT KALYANI, Executive Director ofBharat Forge spoke about his firm’s forayinto defence. Some excerpts

We are an engineeringconglomerate withfive verticals, anddefence is one of

them. Our company hasbeen involved in the defencebusiness for around 30 yearsbut the revenue generationfrom Army supplies isaround 200 crore which ispeanuts for the $2 billiongroup. The company hasinvested Rs 100 crores for thedevelopment of the 155/52gun. The group’s focus on thedefence sector is on theartillery, ammunition, specialvehicle and futuristic prod-ucts. We have a very highdegree of pedigree in ourproducts and partners. Ourarea of focus is landsystem and artillery.

We are aiming tomake 155mm 52 calibertowed gun in Pune. The tech-nology has been developedwithin the company with thehelp of experts from eastEuropean countries. Tech-nology is with people notwith the company. If youbring right people, you candevelop any technology. Thegun is expected to be readyfor trials in two years time.We need facilities totest our gun. Wehave supplied tothe governmentin the past havingbeen involved inthe production ofthe gun barrel for155mm 39calibergun andT-72 gunbarrel.

As a company, we dothings in our own way. Wewill respond to the RFP fortowed gun. We have decidedour partner for the APU(Auxiliary Power Unit) of thegun and we will invest Rs 100crore for development of thegun. We will also requireanother facility to manufac-ture NATO-grade 155/52-cal-ibre ammunition. So far, theresponse from the Forces hasbeen very supportive. Wehope the gun, which we aredeveloping, will fulfill all therequirements of the Army.We want the artillery gunprogramme to be declared‘Make India’. We would liketo market the gun across the

world but our heart isin India. There was atime when the western

companies were not evenwilling to give us an appoint-ment to meet but now thetimes have changed. Todayrepresentatives of many suchcountries are making a bee-line to partner with us.

We made the engine discfor Kaveri engine seven yearsback. Unfortunately, an envi-ronment supportive of theprivate industry still does notexist. We have around 60

people with 25-30 years ofwork experience in hightechnology and we hopeour talent and trackrecord will be worth-

while in serving thearmed forces in

the com-ingyears.

We are committed to thedefence needs of India...”“

INTERVIEW

HC T

IWAR

I

www.geopolitics.in

tems was desperate forupgrades and replacements.Numerous programmes likethe T-72 tank upgrade,armoured vehicles, etc. drewscores of firms towards the lastDefexpo.

Projecting an optimisticview of India’s economicgrowth, the Defence Ministerstated, “With the projectedgrowth of the Indian economyexpected at a trajectory ofeight-10 per cent for the nexttwo decades, expenditure ondefence in absolute terms isbound to increase.”

Speaking later at a DefExposeminar, the MoD’s pointsmanfor procurement, Director Gen-eral (Acquisitions) Vivek Rae

put a figure to the spendinggrowth. Rae said, “You will seea growth in defence moderni-sation budgets of about 13-14per cent per year, which meansthat the budget would doubleevery five-six years.” The fig-ures will leave any manufactur-er salivating! The capital alloca-tion in the defence budget`2012-13 is `79,578 crore (US$15 billion).

The opportunities have notchanged much as none of theprogrammes have been award-ed till now, but the emergenceof Indian firms, from the back-ground in last expo to the fore-front, with the confidence togive global leaders a run fortheir money, was what could

be taken away by everyonefrom this expo.

In a statement that was liter-ally music to the ears of theprivate sector, Minister of Statefor Defence M M Pallam Rajuindicated that the Ministry wasworking to assuage a long-standing woe of the privvatesector-a lack of transparency inoutlining the three services’long-term equipment plans tothem. They are right; it helpsthem in their own perspectiveplanning, collaborations, JVsand MoUs and helps themarrive at informed choices. Atthe moment it is just the thepublic sector industries thatare privy to long-term plans.Bythe time the private sector gets

to know of these requirements,it too late to do anythingworthwhile. Much worse itsleads to plenty of subterfugeand below-the-radar scoutingfor details.

In his speech Pallam Rajusaid: “The lack of adequateinformation regarding the (mil-itary’s long-term) defencerequirements has been one ofthe major impediments in thegrowth of the defence industryin India. The government is inthe process of finalising theLong Term Integrated Perspec-tive Plan (LTIPP) of the ArmedForces.” How critical is theLTIPP can be gauged from thefact that the document outlinesthe equipment and technolo-

how we have leveraged someof the commercial technolo-gies, the military technologyand what ends up happeningof course is that we can pro-vide a product that is extremelycapable.

On products at the Defexpo The things we had here for theshow, really were three. One,we wanted to talk about net-centric operations and thecapabilities we bring with. Theonly area that we really don’tspecialise in and have no prod-ucts in, are the very smallhand-held communicationdevices. That hasn’t been oneof our niches. We have workedwith many different companiesintegrating their small soldierdevices; you know soliterally theirwalkie-talkies.So we can inte-grate a Harrishand-held oran Elbit hand-held into ournetwork sys-tem.But inall of

the other cases, in all of theother things we think about incommunication, whether it bea vehicle or a ‘manpack’, wehave a joint venture with, ajoint agreement with GeneralDynamics and their ‘man pack’software-defined radio, it’s ajoint activity for us. But thenwe have full software-definedradios which are mounted onvehicles and armoured vehicleswith single channel, multichannel versions of that withvery sophisticated encryptionon the set. Then we have FixedSite radios that areused for air transportcontrol, like a 721S.We have a newer modularversion of that. It is a modularradio, also a software-definedradio called SMART Blade. Our

airborne communicationssystems are also modular-almost everything that wehave done has been mod-

ular, both from a hard-ware perspective, as well

as a software perspective.We are one of the pioneers

of the concept ofmodular opensystems archi-tecture. Open

systemsarchitec-

ture,

which gives you the responsi-bility of modifying softwarewithout completely rewritingand retesting - ‘spaghetti code’is what we call it. Which every-one is now following. We havetaken modularity from a hard-ware perspective as well as asoftware perspective. The soft-ware itself, you have the baselayer of software that is thefoundation code where youhave some sort of interface lay-er and then you have softwarepackages in essence. We alsohave a two-toned software

defined radio, an airborneradio. And then we havehigh frequency radios and

very high frequency radios-andso we have a complete gamut.

On products for India Our Net-centric operationsare the major thrust for theIndian armed forces. So weare trying to get some visibili-ty with the Indian MoD (Min-istry of Defence) in thatregard. There are several on-going programmes here inIndia that we have expressedinterest in. And we know thereare follow-on programs. TheDMS would be an example ofa follow-on program. And ofcourse we are interestedbecause we do the same thingin the US DoD (Departmentof Defence).So we have hadseveral different presentationsto potential customers over

the past couple of years. Wehave expanded our presencehere in India. We have adesign centre in Bangalorewhich was initially set up todo software work that wouldmigrate to a two-way street.We do software work here forIndia as well as other prod-ucts elsewhere, both on thecommercial and the govern-ment side. We are expandingthe organisation and that isthe basis for our expansion inIndia, where we will eventual-ly have a full spectrum. Sohopefully, we will be success-ful in winning programmeshere in India that we can exe-cute in India. So we will haveIndian programme managers,Indian engineers, and Indiansales and marketing people.

We have an interest in inter-nal security. For us the CoastGuard is part of HomelandSecurity in the US, and wehave worked very extensivelywith the US Coast Guard andwe have had a smatteringgoing into Customs and theBorder Patrol in the US. Wehave not really yet touchedthat elsewhere but, of coursewe have some products whichwill be of interest for organisa-tions…it again goes back tonetworking. You need to beable to communicate with a lotof different people who have alot of different legacy-type ofequipment.

(17)May 2012

HC TIWARI

INTERVIEW


(18)May 2012

gies that the military willrequire over a 15-year time-frame. Originally envisaged asthe last word for the period2007-2022, it now cover theperiod 2012-2027 being issuedas it is after a five-year delay.

Raju further elaborated byoutlining the ‘technology per-spective and capabilityroadmap’. “A public version ofthe document of the armedforces covering a period of 15years will be published andplaced on the MoD website.This would enable the domes-tic industry to plan investmentin the defence sector and takeup Research and Development,technology upgradation andforge tie-ups and arrangementsof collaboration with their

associated foreign industrypartners in order to meet thefuture requirements of theArmed Forces.”

Rae who made a most com-prehensive and widelyapplauded presentation wasalso sanguine in admitting thatthe Ministry was now moreinclined at a greater privatesector participation in the‘Make’ process. The DPP(Defence Procurement Proce-dure), allows private industry tobid for building complex mili-tary platforms, with the MoDfunding 80 per cent of the costof development. At the presentthere are just two “Make” proj-ects under development: theFuture Infantry Combat Vehicleand the Tactical Communica-

tions System. Rae visualisedover a 150 `Make` projects inthe next few years and felt itwould litertally energise theindustrial bastion of the coun-try.

One young owner of an Indi-an industry power house,showcasing an indigenousproduct said with confidenceand rare passion that we nowhave the capability to do every-thing if given the same oppor-tunity like the Defence PublicSector Undertakings (DPSUs).What Rae said in his speech isalmost exactly what the indus-try was asking for.

In the last edition Indianindustry was piggybacking onthe global majors to get a pie ofthe defence deal. In two years’

time the reality has changeddramatically and with the newprocurement procedures, theglobal firms are now riding pig-gyback on the Indian firms. Theability and experience of Indianfirms to circumvent the govern-ment’s procedures is the single-most important factor whichhas forced the foreign firms tooffer their products and tech-nology to Indian companies toget contracts. But the grey areais getting completely obliterat-ed as the MoD opens up proce-dures and policies that arevibrant and in keeping withglobal benchmarks.

This time, though, there wasclarity in the vision and direc-tion of the Indian industry.

www.geopolitics.in

Rosoboron deals with over100 companies internally”“On the genesis of RosoboronServicesWe have a large inventory ofRussian equipment in India.Around 1990-91, the flow ofthe spares for Russian equip-ment started drying up. A lotof this had to do with the factthat the source of the equip-ment was not known. Thesystem was such that every-thing was channelisedthrough Rosoboron Exportsthat was the single-windowclearing house for the wholeof the Russian sector. AndRosoboron Export dealtwith all the internal OEMs(Original Equipment Man-ufacturers). Rosoborondeals with over 100 compa-nies internally. Theirorganisation hasgrown too large tocater to after-sales require-ments. Theywere finding itvery diffi-cult tomanage inIndia.

After alot ofthought,

one of the solutions thatRosoboron envisaged wassetting up a joint venture inIndia. The Indo-Russianinter-governmentalconsultative commit-tee approved this in2005. That’s when theRosoboron Services cameinto being. The share-holdingpattern of Rosoboron servic-es is 26 per cent RosoboronExport, 49 per cent is dividedequally in seven major OEMs

in Russia. The rest ofthe 25 per cent

comes from CrassniMarine Services, acompany foundedby ex-naval officer

Commander V JayPrakasshan who

retired in1995 andwent intothe shiprepairbusi-ness.Thevisionwas toprovideafter-sales

support to defence equip-ment in India. We started

with the Indian Navyand it took some timeto understand their

systems… we have to under-stand Russian law as well asIndian law. It has taken sometime to understand all that. Ithink we are well on our wayto step beyond the navy and,perhaps, go into the air forceand then eventually thearmy.

On major projectsWe are working to providesupport to the Talwar-class ofships and a number of mis-sile systems fitted on war-ships on the Navy, sensors,Ka-28 and Ka 38 helicopters,Il-38 and Tupelov aircraft.

On the templateInitially, we will channelizethe equipment from Russia.We are their extended arminto India. So, in the initialstages it was basically send-ing it to Russia for repair, try-ing to smoothen all the pit-falls and speed up the

process - which I think wehave made a fair amount ofheadway on. Now, we aregraduating to the secondstage where some dedicatedfacility has come up in Mum-bai. It will be for the first timein India that some privateplayers will be involved inmaintenance of weapons andsensors that will go outsidethe dockyard for repairs. Wewill be handling their elec-tronics parts, sensors likeradar, sonar and communi-cation equipment.

On ship repair We don’t have a shipyard ofour own. You can hire adockyard facility…the drydock as such. We take theship, we do the repair, weplan the repair. A fair amountof it is done in-house andwhat we can’t do in-house isoutsourced. Right now we areworking on Coast Guardships…the Coast Guarddoesn’t have any dedicatedrepair organisation. There area few jobs that naval dock-yards outsource to us.

INTERVIEW

ROHI

TSR

IVAS

TAVA

Rosoboron Services is solving the Indianforces’ maintenance worries with directsupport from the Russian manufacturers.An exclusive chat with Cmde LALITKAPUR, Senior Advisor, Rosoboron

Continued on Page 21


On partnership with IndianfirmsWe want a long-term relation-ship with India and in the lastfew weeks we haveannounced partnership withTandon Group. Last year, wescouted companies for part-nership. We not only looked athigh-level companies, andpublic sector units, but also atsmall and medium enterprise(SMEs). I personally feel thatSMEs have tremendousamount of capability. One ofthe companies that camethrough that process is theTandon Group. There were anumber of reasons why wechose Tandon. They have anaerospace qualified manufac-turing plant, which at thatpoint, was of our interestbecause of the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMR-CA) programme. GD UK pro-duces a number of productsfor avionics, I don’t think thatprogramme has got anythingleft. That was one reason andthe other is that they havetelecommunication capabilityand that capability rangesfrom design and developmentof products in the telecommu-nication sector and radioequipment. These have usesin both the military and civilfields.

When we did our align-ment of what it is that we haveto offer to India, one of thefirst things that we asked was:Do we need to apply forlicenses? We got ourselves intoa position where we absolute-ly come to a customer and thecustomer says that we liked itand we don’t have to go backto approval and licenses. Wedid that exercise and then welooked at who would be themost appropriate partner tomatch that capability in termsof route to market, experience

in that particular sector, exist-ing customers, etc.

We are not using thesecompanies as capability-providers for manufacturing.We are looking at them asdesign and development enti-ties and the Tandon Group isan example of that. We arealready working on the designand development of productsand technologies in emer-gency services and communi-cation. We have already gotsome active programmes withthem. We announced ourpartnership some back so it’srelatively fresh although wehave been working togetherfor the past one year. We havejust formalised our partner-ship into a more strategic one.We have got a number ofstrands of business in criticalnational infrastructure. It’s notthe end of the partnership forus. This is absolutely the firststep for us. We are looking tomake further partnerships.

On other companies We can’t give a number to thatbut we don’t want multiple,strategic partnerships. If itmakes sense for us to make apartnership with a particularcompany in order to pursue aparticular prospect, then wewill do that. The strategic part-nerships will probably have asmall number of companiesand we are very close toannouncing another partner-ship for another key area ofinterest to us. It will probablytake a few more months tocome. We are already workingvery closely with that compa-ny on a particular secure pro-gramme.

On productsWe are very much a systemintegration company. We dohave some products but we

are not about promoting ourproducts into the market butmore about large-scale sys-tems, if you take a police andemergency systems as anexample. A lot of communica-tion systems are built aroundradio products, we don’t sup-ply those products.

We go out in the marketand find out which one is thebest product for that particu-lar solution - given geography,customer budget, constraintson where they want to go. Wewill select products from sup-pliers that are most suitableand integrated into the sys-tem. It may not be just tele-com but also telecom securitywith some commandand control laid overthat. So that’s wherewe are heading.

We have integrated UK’sbattlefield management sys-tem Bowman into some15,000 vehicles. Once againthis is a capability that we arepromoting in India. Clearly,we want to work with the win-ner. We will wait for that pro-gramme to pan out. We are inadvance discussions with allthe major Indian players. Theway we look at the BMSis a system, like sys-tem integration.

Rolling out aprogramme of thatsize and complex-ity into an army ofthe size of theIndian armyshould not beunderestimated. Itis far more aboutunderstanding thecorners, how you aregoing to run that out,training andfacilitationthat go withit, etc. Ouroffering is

not just about the architectureand system integration. Wehave the experience from inte-grating such systems for theUK Army.

On future contractsOf course, we are in anadvanced stage of bidding fora number of programmes. Asyet nothing has come forfruition. We would hope to bein position sometime this yearto be able to announce thefirst programme. We havedone some work with Hindus-tan Aeronautics Limited. Wehave the port programme aswell. We are already workingwith HAL on our radar screen.

We had a number of com-panies for the MMRCA.We have the Future

Infantry Combat Vehicle(FICV) programme and elec-tronic architecture that can gowith that. With MMRCA justaround the corner for pro-curement, irrespective of whogets the contract, there will beneed for enhanced security ofairfields. We have 50 years ofexperience providing holisticsecurity to airfields, bases andharbours. We are the US

Department of Defenceapproved provider of

security to air bases.We have installed onItalian airbases.

We haveresponded torecent Request forInformation (RFI)

from IAF and wewould be keen to pro-

mote those serv-ices with our

partners.

SMEs have tremendous potential” “General Dynamics, one of the world’s largest defence contractors, has entered into anumber of joint ventures with Indian companies. A chat with WAYNE BECK, Head ofInternational Partnerships, General Dynamics-UK

INTERVIEW

GENERALDYNAMICS


On Northrop Grumman’s(NG’s) new E2D AEW pro-grammeWe are still in dialogue withIndian Navy about the E2D.They put out the Request forInformation (RFI) two yearsback for a carrier-based air-borne early warning (AEW)aircraft to which we respond-ed. So we are in discussionswith Indian Navyabout their require-ments. As far as theE2 programme is concerned,the US Navy has started opera-tional evaluation of the aircraftwhich is almost like the lasthurdle before operationaldeployment of the aircraft.

The first operational deploy-ment is due for 2015. The USNavy has a plan to buy 75 air-craft and they are looking atdoing a multi-year procure-ment that will define the con-figuration and save cost.

On recent interaction withIndian NavyWe have had several queries

for clarification that wehave responded to and weare still in dialogue with

Indian Navy on exactly whattheir AEW requirements aregoing to be.

On the capability of the E2DSystem

Bringing in any AEW capabilityfor the Indian Navy is going todramatically increase the Indi-an Navy’s capability to projectpower and protect the fleet.That’s what the aircraft isdesigned for. We have hadsome preliminary discussionswith companies about theE2D. We have also had lot ofdialogue with respect to theMedium Multi-Role CombatAircraft (MMRCA) programmeas well. We have had company-level discussions about otherJVs.

On integration of the E2D intoIAFWhen you induct an aircraftlike E2D, our goal is to makethat induction as seamless aspossible. So, we would preferto make adaptation possible inthe E2D system to make theintegration seamless with theindigenous system. As anexample: the communicationand data link on the E2 shouldbe modified to be able to beconnected to the existing com-munication and data linksarchitecture. Obviously, whenyou induct an aircraft like E2D,you have to address mainte-nance and support. So, thereare requirements for otherequipment. We want this air-craft to work with what isalready there.

On the component providersof the E2DWe are the manufacturer andsystem integrators. The radar isfrom Lockheed Martin, Rolls

Our aircraft is one ofits kind”“


(20)

Update on C-130We have all the six aircraftdelivered now. All the aircraftare at Hindon and they areoperating successfully. We alsohave our team here helpingthe IAF to maintain and sus-tain the aircraft. So, we areworking withthe IAFhand inhand.Wehave afieldservicerepre-sentative,an

US Air Force logistics officer,and experts working with theIAF. So between the IAF andLockheed, we have got goodset of teams providing thecapability that IAF needs.

On follow-on ordersWe have orders for six moreaircraft of similar configura-tion. So, we are working onthat. That’s also through FMS(Foreign Military Sales route),so we are working with US AirForce. This is an USAF and IAFagreement that we will sup-port. And we have also beenin discussion with variousother government agencieshere for the opportunities to

see if there are maritimemissions, naval mis-sions, Coast Guard mis-sions that can be sup-

ported by C-130. Right now, it is between

the USAF and IAF. Letter ofrequest has come and oncethey agree on the agreement,the Letter of Agreement (LoA)is worked between the gov-ernments and thenwe will start workingon it. Basic configu-ration remains the same and anumber of years have passedsince the aircraft were built.They may need some systems,then again, it depends onwhat IAF and USAF decides todo with the LoA.

On the requirements of themeteorological department It is interested in knowingabout the use of the weatherbird as we call it, which is aHurricane Hunter. It is usedfor accurately predictingcyclone. We have had somepreliminary discussion withthem (meteorological depart-ment) on that and also withthe USAF and US governmentto procure capability like theUS has in weather prediction.We have had a dialogue with

them in the last couple ofmonths. We have providedthem with all the informationthat they need. Now, it is up tothe National Disaster Agencyand met department to makedecision on how many air-

craft, how to procurethem and what configu-ration. So we are waiting

on them to tell us how to pro-ceed on this further. Wehaven’t discussed numberswith either the met depart-ment or NDMA, but if pastdiscussions are anything to goby, it could be one or two air-craft.

Commonality between C-130J and Weather BirdThe basic aircraft is the same.The mission systems are obvi-ously significantly different.Hurricane Hunter has got sys-tem, sensors and work stationthat allow hurricane predic-tion. The back of the aircrafthas a console that is a roll-oncapability that has beenadded that’s completely differ-ent from what the IAF wouldhave.

INTERVIEW

Lockheed Martin’s Abhay Paranjape onthe close cooperation with IAF

We have a good teamlooking after the IAF’s needs”“

INTERVIEWNORTHROP

GRUMMAN

LOCK

HEED

MAR

TIN’

S

NG’s TOM C TRUDELL speaks to Geopolitics

Everyone was sure what theywanted to focus on and whatthey wanted to avoid. Unlikelast time when MoUs weresigned with every possiblefirm, this time it was eithertechnology-driven or product-specific contracts. As oneglobal major’s executive said:“We want to have strategicrelations with Indian firmswith knowledge and capabilityin a particular area. We don’twant to do this with a numberof companies.”

The Indian defence indus-try has matured and peoplenow know what is attainable.The aura of technology beingonly available with overseasfirms was broken this time asmany Indian firms came upwith surprises. The wholeargument that Indian firmswere not capable of anythingconcrete was turned on itshead by Tata Power SEDwhich submerged its comput-er in water to outline itruggedness. This kind of con-fidence was not seen last time.In another first, the KalyaniGroup displayed its own

artillery gun. Defence Minister AK

Antony said he would cancelany deal if he found out anywrongdoing in it. He said thecountry had enough safe-guards like the “integrity pact”to protect its “interests andmoney” in “We will takestrong action if any malprac-tice, corruption or lobbying isestablished...there will be nomercy, there is zero-tolerancefor corruption,” he added.

Privately, officials toutedthe MMRCA finalisation as atestament to the determina-tion of the Ministry to gothrough with acquisitionswithout fear of enquiries andpolitical interference. Nonethe less, the blacklisting ofseveral firms without any rea-son by the Ministry of Defence(MoD) was described by manyforeign OEMs (Original Equip-ment Manufacturers as a shotto the head.

The fear of getting blacklist-ed on the basis of any com-plaint sent the chill down thespines of many global firms.One of the blacklisted firm’ssenior executives left the show

after the very first day. SomeEuropean firms from nationswhere political support is notgiven to any company in caseof allegation of corruptionwere skeptical about theirfuture.

The usually aggressive mar-keting of American firms wasmuch more subdued this timearound. The French andIsraeli firms were on the ballall the time. The Israeli firmswere most aggressive in form-ing relationship with firmsrather than pushing for theirproducts. Clearly, they havenow grasped the limitations ofdoing business with the gov-ernment and are pushingtheir technology into the Indi-an market to grab as manycontracts as possible throughjoint ventures.

The two most importantfuture acquisition pro-grammes which have thepotential to change the con-tours of the Indian defenceindustry, namely the secondsubmarine line for the Navyand the Future Infantry Com-bat Vehicle (FICV) programmefor the Indian army were the

Royce does the engine, propul-sion is from Hamilton Sund-strand, BAE system does theIdentifying Friend and Foe(IFF), although IFF would beone component that wouldneed to be made compatible tothe Indian IFF system. Themission system is fromRaytheon. Honeywell is provid-ing the core component of thesystem.

On manufacturing capacityThe aircraft is manufactured inFlorida where our final assem-bly is done. The flight test facil-ity is in St Augustine, Florida.Right now we are wrapping upsix aircraft per year. This yearwe will deliver two aircraft.There are no specified num-bers from Indian Navy though.The standard squadron is offour aircraft.

On the optimum number ofE2Ds for Indian NavyIt depends on what Indian

Navy wants to use this aircraftfor. If they want to use this forsupport fleet operation andalso for other missions thenthey may need more aircraft.As I said the typical size of asquadron is 4-5 aircraft. Wehave international users thathave 4 to 13 aircraft in total.When it becomes operationalin 2015, the American E2Dsquadron will be composed offive aircraft.

On major missionsMaritime domain awareness isa very broad mission set thatincludes airborne early warn-ing as well as maritime surfacesurveillance. Since the radarhas such a good detection ofnot only air contacts but alsosurface contacts, we can do alot of missions that are oftenassociated with maritimepatrol aircraft. But we don’t doall of them; for example, wedon’t do anti-submarine. Butwe do have very good surface

surveillance capability so thathumanitarian relief operations,disaster relief, emergency airtraffic control, as well as typicalmilitary missions such as air-borne early warning, powerprojection, fleet defence…those type of missions can beundertaken.

Next meeting with Indian NavyWe are typically here a numberof times a year. We also have alocal office which has dialogueon weekly basis. So we havepretty close contacts.

On competitorsThe RFI that was issued was forcarrier-based AEW and there isonly one aircraft that doeswhich is the E2D.

On possibility of Foreign Mili-tary Sales (FMS)Parts of the aircraft have to beFMS. The mission system, partof the avionics, has to bebought from US government

and so has to be FMS. The air-frame can be sold directly asdirect commercial sales (DCS).So, in essence it could be FMSor FMS-hybrid DCS pro-gramme — where some part ofthe programme will be FMS.The fact that it’s the only air-craft that meets the require-ment does not mean it has tobe FMS. The FMS route has tobe for certain parts of the air-craft. The Indian Navy maychoose to buy the whole air-craft as FMS - typically that iswhat is done.

On training the Indian crew Typically what we do is basictraining with the purchaser. Wetrain the trainer. We train theaircrew; maintenance and sup-port people, train them on theaircraft and then aid them intraining the remaining opera-tors. So, instead of bringing thewhole squadron for training,you bring a select group ofpeople for training to the US.


On India-specific capabilityDepending on the require-ment we will define the sen-sor load, payload, what typeof sensor, what kind of mis-sions, whether it should beconfigured with stretchers orthings like that or convertingit into a disaster relief type of aircraft. It may not be aHurricane Hunter but couldbe a cyclone-predicting dis-aster relief equipment alongwith paratroopers. So, itdepends on how the require-ments are defined. It hasbeen used in humanitarianrelief extensively within USand outside.

On production lineRight now this year, we arerunning on full capacity of36. They are going to multi-ple customers around theworld. We have got signifi-cant back orders for coupleof years or more. Orderskeep changing or coming.We don’t count orders thatare in process like India. Wehave enough back orders forC-130 for several years.


Continued from Page 18



At 75, Saab is a sprightlyand excited Europeanconglomerate that’sdetermined to woo the

Indian establishment. Saab’sproduct portfolio for Defexpo2012 included products fromthe air, land, naval and civilsecurity domains. A huge del-egation from Saab operationswere there for the show andwere delighted to shareknowledge and experience

from their respective domains.Saab displayed a majority ofits product portfolio withemphasis on Land and NavalSystems, with a focus on theRBS 70 NGmissile sys-tem.

As a curtainraiser Saab’sIndia centricwebsite forDefexpo was

launched http://www.saab-group.com/AboutSaab/Meet_Saab/ 2012/Defex-po-India-2012. It carried liveupdates and a series of videos.

“India is a huge market, adevelopment market with lotsof competence. With ourproduct range and also ourstrong technology base we seea perfect fit between Indiaand Saab,” said Saab Presi-

dent and CEO HåkanBuskhe at the kick-offof Defexpo India 2012in Delhi.

“The Defexpo 2012is a very importantevent for Saab asIndia is one of the

most important markets forthe company,” said InderjitSial, Managing Director SaabIndia Technologies. He spokeabout the Indian Defencemarket, its versatility and howSaab India has assessed it tocreate opportunities.

The Indian armed forceshave a number of individualrequirements. Saab is interest-ed in and is actively pursuingmany of these opportunities.At the moment all of Saab’sBusiness Areas are active inIndia offering high-tech solu-tions and products such as theC4I, EW (Self Protection Sys-tems), Signature Manage-ment, Missile & Weapon

Saab displayed its innovative product mixat Defexpo 2012

NORDIC HEAVY HITTER

SPELLBINDING WEAPON: Jessica Rylander, Director Product Management, Air Defence Missile Systems of Saab explaining thefiner points of the RBS 70 NG very short range air defence missile

Håkan Buskhe

On top

Air Marshal A J S Walia andthe team at Sikorsky have

had a very, very busy 12months. The Defexpo was justanother milestone in theforward thrust of thehelicopter giant. The Americangiant whose Black Hawk was

critical in Operation Osama, has been talking of buildingmilitary helicopters and is believed to have formallyspoken to the Tatas about manufacturing for theMilitary. The model under discussion is the MH-70B.This chopper has been shortlisted by the Navy that islooking at buying over 100 of these machines.


Systems, Fighters, Sensors(Radars), Maritime Securityand Civil Security and theGIRAFFE Family.

Partnership is an impor-tant part of Saab’s businessinterest in India. The compa-ny believes that partneringwith the private and publicdefence industry in India isthe way forward for Saab’sbusiness in India. This is whya number of Saab productsare on display in the partners’stands.”

On Saab’s plan to collabo-rate with the Indian privatesector and defence industry,Bushke said: “Co-operationwith the private sector and

the defence industry is key.We would like to partner up,and that’s also the way for-ward when it comes to tech-nology transfer to the Indianmarket. To find partners thatcould obtain and also developactivities going forward.That’s one of the basic plat-forms for our efforts in India.”

And the message from theexpo?

“We would like to leave themessage that Saab is commit-ted to India, and we also are acompany that has a widerange of products and solu-tions. And we would like toshow that we are the rightsolution for India.”

SAAB

Textron consolidates

Textron Systems’ contingentexhibited a wide variety of

products from across thecompany’s business units withthe needs of Indian customersin mind. Among theshowcased technologies werethe Spider NetworkedMunition System and Tactical Remote Aerial Munition.Textron Defense Systems is currently engaged indelivery of Sensor Fuzed Weapon systems to the IndianAir Force. Picture shows Kevin J. Cosgriff, Senior VicePresident, International Business & Government.

Scanning the skies

That Raytheon is innovativeand comes up with unique

solutions to problems in thesky is a given. But theDefexpo saw a different levelof participation fromRaytheon. Tata PowerStrategic Electronics Division

and Raytheon showcased the Air Traffic Managementsystem for the Modernisation of Airfield Infrastructure(MAFI) programme. Photo shows Carolyn Harris withGroup Captain S K Sabesan.

HAL foray

For R K Tyagi who hasmoved to Hindustan

Aeronautics Ltd from PawanHans just weeks back, theDefexpo was his first bigpublic meet-and-greetoccasion as the CEO of thePSU behemoth. As usualTyagi was on the ball in stating that these were excitingtimes for HAL, but he made sure that he had nothingto give away in terms of policy pronouncements etc.“Give me a while and I assure you we won’t disappointyou,” he said. So, we wait and watch for his movesfrom Bengaluru.

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About CobhamCobham is the aerospacedefence and security sys-tems and sub-systemsmanufacturer. We providea wide range of equipmentacross the three sectors -aerospace defenceand security - global-ly, with customers inover 100 countries. We area UK-based company butwe have manufacturingfootprints in the UK, in theUS, France, Germany, Swe-den, Finland and SouthAfrica. We also have opera-tions in Australia and I runthe office here in India.

We are not a platformmanufacturer. We don’tmanufacture the tanks, theaircraft or the ships. Weprovide a lot of the veryspecialist mechanical,electro-mechanical andelectronic systems that goin most combat aircraft. Sowe have a wide range ofmechanical, electro-mechanical and electronicsystems that go in almostevery fast jet that’s operat-ing in the world, almostevery helicopter, a widerange of armoured vehi-cles; we deal in complexradar which is land-basedand aircraft-based radar.

We have quite an aero-space pedigree that wasstarted over 75 years agoas an aerospace companyproviding systems such as

air-to-air refuelling,enabling the transfer offuel between aircraft whichrevolutionised air power inthe 1930s and which is stillan important strategicasset.

Over the last 20-30 years, we havedeveloped into a

defence electronic compa-ny and a security compa-ny. Other areas we focuson include mine-detec-tion. We not only have arange of mine-protectionproducts but also bomb-handling which you haveseen with the robot sys-tem.

On Cobham and India The Cobham office that Irun in Delhi is essentially amarketing office that sup-ports all the Cobham busi-nesses that come to India.Cobham has been doingbusiness in India for many,many years and is animportant market for us.We would like to increaseour footprint as India isvery exciting and a verylong-term market. I havefour sales people basedhere in Delhi and I have acouple of people in Banga-lore. I think at the momentwe are very happy withhow our profile amongstthe Indian customer basehas been raised in the lasttwo to three years.

Cobham PLC is an internationalcompany engaged in the development,delivery and support of leading edgeaerospace and defence technology andsystems. Geopolitics spoke to LEEGRIFFITHS, MD, Cobham India aboutthe company’s presence in India

India is a very excitingmarket”“

most talked about. The Indianand foreign shipyards wereseen talking to each otherincessantly. Everyone was talk-ing to everyone. The secondsubmarine line is a contractworth $5 billion and India isthe only country buying sub-marines in such large num-bers. This obviously has sentnaval shipyards around theworld into a frenzy. A couple ofIndian shipyards are in discus-sions with two or more foreignshipyards.

The submarine builders arewaiting eagerly for the Requestfor Proposal which is expectedby coming June. Another pro-gramme which was in thelimelight was FICV - the firstIndian Army ‘Make Indian’programme with the potentialto transport Indian manufac-turers into the big leagues ofthe defence armoured busi-ness. This programme couldtouch the `60,000-crore mark.

Each contender was tryingto impress with details of thecapability that they have creat-ed for this programme. Unlikethe last time, this time numer-ous Indian firms displayedtheir own solution and prod-ucts. The high amount ofindigenous content in this pro-gramme exhibited that sub-stantial design has been donein-house. This is a good signfor the future of the Indiandefence industry. All-in-all,one can feel the differencebetween the hype and glitz ofthe last edition compared to

DefExpo 2012’s more subtle,sophisticated and seriousapproach.

“Our quest for self-reliancein defence underlines thegrowing importance of privatesector participation on the onehand and revitalising the pub-lic sector on the other,” Antonysaid in his inaugural speech.“Our emphasis is on public-private sector partnership inthe defence industry. Enablingpolicy framework has been putin place to develop indigenouscapabilities through harness-ing the potential and utilisingresources available, both in thepublic and the private sector.”

It’s something that wasechoed even more forcefullyby Anand Mahindra who wasat the expo to ink two pacts: “IfIndia wants to bring high tech-nology...and armed forces tothe symmetrical levels of ouraspirations, this is the time toanswer controversies by bring-ing in transparency and tech-nology,” Mahindra told themedia. He went on state thatthe country needed a “drasti-cally new template” to dealwith the private sector,defence sourcing and trans-parency. “We have fallenbehind on many schedules inthe armed forces. As an Indian,I am certainly worried,”Mahindra said adding that thiswas the time to answer contro-versies by bringing in trans-parency and technology.

“The government needs tochange the way of procure-ment, which should be trans-

BALLPARK BONHOMIE: Defence Minister AK Antony withBrahMos Chief Sivathanu Pillai

INTERVIEW



On the customers in IndiaHaving our office here inthe last couple ofyears…Cobham has actual-ly been providing a rangeof equipment into India forover two decades. So we’vebeen providing the AirForce with a range of air-to-air refuelling andweapons carriage andrelease and antennas andavionics products.

We have also been work-ing with Hindustan Aero-nautics Limited and BharatElectronics for many yearson antennas and avionicsand that relationship is stillcontinuing and we are verykeen to develop that. We’vealso provided some of oursecurity and surveillanceproducts to the nationaland state paramilitary andpolice forces. Then we havequite a lot of our equip-ment in service with theAir Force, the Army, theNavy, Coast Guard plus theparamilitary forces and thepolice.

We are not new to Indiabut we are very keen to domore with our Indian cus-tomers and our Indianpartners, both the DefencePublic Sector Units(DPSU) partnersthat we have butalso the privateIndian compa-nies that canprovide us withsystems inte-gration capabil-

ities and manufacturingcapabilities as well. Thereis quite a lot already thatCobham has in servicehere in India. We are verykeen to do more in theyears ahead.

On partnering the privatesectorWe’ve had discussions nowwith a range of privateIndian companies over thelast couple of years andthose discussions cover avery wide range of projects,engineering services,design and developmentassistance, manufacturinga range of products andalso after-sales support. Wehave quite a large installedbase here and we are verykeen to provide as muchafter-sales support here inthe country.

The discussions we havehad with the Indian com-panies -- small, mediumand quite large - have beenacross the whole design,manufacture and after-sales support (areas). Whilewe don’t have any formalJV signed yet, I have met anumber of companies. Ihave a guy on my team

who is dedicated toworking with Indi-

an partners frombusinesses andopportunities. Ithink actuallythat’s very mucha key to our

parent like the very transpar-ent processes that exist in thebest private sector companiesfor any kind of procurementprocess. What people want toknow is why are we buyingsomething, what is its cost,what exactly was its competi-tion, what are its technologicalfeatures, why was it chosen? Ibelieve there is no harm inenunciating and being trans-parent about that, which iswhat we will do in our ven-tures for defence production,”he said. He expects theirdefence business to turn into aone billion behemoth in 10years. But Pallam Raju wasclear that it will be no stroll inthe park for Indian industry.“The industry also needs tocommit itself to the field interms of establishing therequired infrastructure anddevelop the capacities. Com-mitment to R&D effort is alsorequired by the defence indus-try both in the public and pri-vate sector if the long-termgoals are to be met,” said Raju.For example, Tata Motors isinvesting around `600 croreon the Futuristic InfantryCombat Vehicle (FICV). It isone of the four companiesissued with an Expression ofInterest (EoI) by the IndianArmy. Also in the race for anexpected order of 2,000 unitsare Ashok Leyland, Mahindraand the Ordnance FactoryBoard.

However a 49 per cent hikein foreign direct investmentfor overseas companies seems

far, far away. Anthony indicat-ed as much, disappointing theindustry. Nikhil Gandhi, chair-man of Pipavav Defence andOffshore Engineering Compa-ny said: “India definitely needsFDI in defence becausedefence manufacturing lead-ers spend spend millions inR&D and want to be part ofsuccess stories on an equalbasis,” he said and continued,“and are reluctant to partici-pate without a slice of the suc-cess of such ventures.”

In a simple twist, he sug-gested that the Defence Min-istry could actually look atselective approvals of higherFDI limits on an individualbasis. “On a case by case basis,the government should permitFDI up to 49 per cent. It willhelp India attract global tech-nology and actually under-write costs taking to consider-ation the long lead time inmany programmes.”

“Private industry is reallymotoring here, it really is,” saidGerald Howarth, Britain’s Min-ister for International SecurityStrategy was quoted in themedia. But the same countrycompletely shunned India Avi-ation 2012 despite its status asa partner country to express itsdispleasure at losing the MMR-CA to the French and Dassault.But for DefExpo, they bit thebullet and Howarth came visit-ing in spite of the latent angerof the Cameron government atthe loss of the multibillion dol-lar deal.

Need we say more?


INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS: DRDO displayed a number ofinnovative products at the Defexpo such as this armedUnmanned Ground Vehicle

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future here in India. Find-ing Indian partners that wecan work with, small,medium and large, andthen jointly delivering tothe Indian customer. It’ssomething that we haven’tdone over the last 25 yearsbut it’s something thatwe’re very focused on now.

It’s nothing formallysigned or inked as yet withIndian private companies.

On the offsets programmeof CobhamWe recognise that to devel-op our footprint here wehave to design, developand manufacture here. Butin addition to that, werealise for our global mar-ket, for our global cus-tomers that we can make asignificant saving to helpour pricing and, therefore,the customer’s pricing.

I think that’s somethingthat we should really focus

on and India is part ofthat. We are looking atIndian sourcing partnersnot just to help our saleshere in India and developour footprint here in India,but also items manufac-tured here can and will gointo the Cobham globalsupply chain for customersin the US, the UK or any-

where else. So, that’s some-thing we are looking at.

I would say that it is still quite early days for us;we have been focusing onit for about a year-and-a-half. But I think it’s some-thing that we are going tohave to put more resourcesinto because I think it’sactually a very importantarea of our business. I’mnot just here to sell moreand develop a footprint. Ithink actually we shouldbe taking advantage of the capabilities that Indiahas to help us competeglobally.

Continued from Page 25Forging parternships

A number of joint ventures wereannounced between globalmajors and Indian companies

gGEOPO L I T I C S

gBEL- DEAL MoU

BharatElec-tronicsLimited

(BEL), has signed a Memo-randum of Understanding(MoU) with Defence Elec-tronics Applications Labora-tory (DEAL), Dehradun, aDefence Research & Devel-opment Organisation(DRDO) lab. The MoU wasinked during Defexpo.

The MoU was signed by IV Sarma, Director (R&D),BEL, and R C Agarwal, Direc-tor, DEAL, in the presence ofDr V K Saraswat, ScientificAdvisor to Raksha Mantriand Anil Kumar, Chairman &Managing Director, BEL.

The agreement will helpthe two institutions focus onthe development of IndianAutomatic Identification Sys-tem (IAIS) for coastal securi-ty. The IAIS system will beone of the Satellite Data Ter-minals which will be jointlydeveloped by DEAL and BEL.It will enable satellite-baseddata communication insecure mode between assetsand establishment involvedin the coastal security.

Speaking on the occasion,N Suresh, General Manager,BEL-Panchkula, said that thePanchkula Unit of BELwould manufacture theSatellite Data Terminals forINSAT3C and future satel-lites like GSAT6, GSAT7 andHUB baseband services. R CAgarwal, Director, DEAL,said that the work for thishas already been started byBEL-Panchkula and DEAL.Dr Saraswat, appreciated the

proactive work being doneby BEL and the DRDO.

Saab-Pipavav JVSwedishdefencemajor Saaband Pipavav,the leadingshipyard of

India, have agreed to form agroup called the CombatSystem Engineering Groupor “CSEG” in India. Thisgroup will analyse the Com-bat System design and archi-tecture and work closelywith the design group ofPipavav to undertake model-ling and simulation and pre-pare system integrationrequirements for naval shipsconstructed by Pipavav,starting with the Naval Off-shore Platform Vehicle(NOPV) programme. Theidea behind the group is toensure world-class designwith risk reduction andships’ deliveries in time andbudget.

The Indian Navy has amajor shipbuilding andmodernisation programmeover the next decade andthere is a major effort in sys-tem engineering of frontlinewarships and submarines.With Saab’s worldwide expe-rience, CSEG will fulfil thiscritical technology gap.

Gunilla Fransson, theHead of Business Area Secu-rity and Defence Solutions,Saab said, “This is an excel-lent start to our naval com-mitment in India and showsSaab is a responsible, hightechnology partner for theIndian Navy and Indian

ROBOTIC ASSISTANT: The TeleMax Explosive OrdinanceDisposal (EOD) robot can be an aid to the paramilitaryforces

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On the mine detectionrobots displayed at Defex-po 2012TeleMax is one of our twoExplosive Ordinance Dis-posal (EOD) devices andwhat we call in the US,CBRNe (Chemical, Biologi-cal Radiological Nuclearand Explosives) detectionrobot. It carries a tray ofsensors and samplers sothat it can take a swab orpick it up and put it in acontainer and bring it backto the decision maker. It isalso sized, and cut andthen tailored for non-bat-tlefield environment. So, ifyou think about EOD, youthink about people inAfghanistan who are tryingto detect and defuse road-side bombs…it is veryimportant.

We have a robot thatdoes that, ‘thEODor’, whichis larger. The TeleMax issmaller and it is ideal forpublic transportation forexample. Its narrow chassisallows it to go down a sin-gle-aisle airline and yet itcan also stand up on itstread. If you see it in actionwhere it will stand up on itstread and it can actuallyreach out with its arm andopen and look into an over-head compartment. It canalso climb aboard a bus andthen make that very tight90-degree turn and then godown the aisle of the bus.So, we see that as importantfor Homeland Security andParamilitary forces.

Have the Indian paramili-taries approached youabout these products Yes, I think it’s still quiteearly days. This is thatcompany based in Ger-many that Cobhamacquired about a year ago.So it’s relatively new to theCobham family. They havehad great success in otherparts of the world particu-larly in the Middle East andin Europe with NATO forcesdeployed in operations inAfghanistan. But it’s rela-

tively new in India. Thistime we’ve actually broughtit to India and demonstrat-ed it here.

We have customer inter-est, say in the military, inparamilitary forces but it’sstill quite early days. Overthe next few months wewill be conducting furthertrials, evaluations with cus-tomers and I think we haveto try and understand cus-tomer requirements. It’s avery advanced piece ofequipment and we realisethat it might not be suit-able for every Indian cus-tomer. So we think thereare certain organisationsthat are very cutting edgeof counter-terrorism andcounter-EOD, that we willbe delighted to see thatproduct. And we just haveto see whether there isenough interest after trialto then move forward.

Separately, we are alsotalking to relevant DRDOfacility that have their ownsimilar programmes. We arealso talking to them aboutpossibly cooperating. So, it’snot a question about replac-ing the indigenous roboticvehicles of the relevantDRDO facilities who havesimilar programmes but alsotalking to them about coop-erating. It is a question ofhow we can work together incertain areas of technology -whether it is to do with therobotic arm or whether it’sto do with the wirelessantenna which essentiallyallows the robot to beremotely controlled andhelp in sending data to thecontroller? So, there areareas there that we can pos-sibly look at, cooperate withthe relevant DRDO laborato-ries. We have a good interestfrom the customers butthere is a lot more work thatwe need to do. But I shouldthink it is a very good oppor-tunity to be very successfuleither with standalone prod-ucts or in some sort of coop-eration or transfer of tech-nology.

defence industry. Over time,I see large business opportu-nities.” Thomas Kloos, theHead of Command and Con-trol Systems at Security andDefence Solutions, Saab,said, “The Combat SystemEngineering Group model isa great possibility for Saab towork with Indian partnerson world class Naval CombatSystems Engineering. TheCSEG will support our part-ners and the Indian Navy. Weare very proud to be pushingthe boundaries.”

Wipro-Saab pact Indian ITmajor WiproLtd hassigned awide-rang-ing pact with

defence major Saab in 2011.The agreement is to develop,manufacture and marketSaab’s Land ElectronicDefense Systems (LEDS).This system provides fullspectrum protection count-er-measure to cover passiveand active responses, inIndia. Under this pact, Wiproand Saab will jointly pursueopportunities for these sys-tems in India.

Jan Widerstrom, Chair-man, Saab India, has said,“The agreement with Wiprois part of our endeavour tocreate a strong and enduringindustrial production basefor Saab. We believe thatthere are strong synergiesbetween Wipro and Saab. Wewill benefit from the designskills of Wipro as well asfrom the quality and costadvantage that India offers.”

Wipro will support Saabby offering developmentservices in India and SouthAfrica. It will bring itsunique ability and compe-tencies to adapt the productfor the Indian market andprovide its time-tested cus-tomer service capabilities.Saab will transfer technologyand large-scale local manu-facturing of these systemswill be by Wipro. The part-nership aims at paring man-ufacturing costs for state-of-the-art defence and civil

security systems in India.Wipro will develop, adapt

and integrate LEDS equip-ment and software for Indi-an customers. As part of theagreement, Saab will beallowed to market these sys-tems manufactured by Wiproto the overseas market. “Bymanufacturing significantparts of the LEDS systems,Wipro has put India on themap as one of the world’sreliable, cost-effective andhigh-quality defence manu-facturing hubs,” noted Prit-pal Singh Chhinna, GroupHead, Defense and Security,Wipro Technologies.

LEDS consists of a sensorsuite, a central active defencecontroller, high- speeddirected dispensing systems(HSDL) and counter-measureoptions, ranging from fastmulti-spectral smoke,through active signaturemanagement devices anddecoys, to hard-kill optionsthat destroy the approachingammunition before it hits thevehicle. LEDS has inbuiltflexibility and can be inte-grated with variety of plat-forms from armoured andunprotected vehicles tomarine and static installa-tions/assets. This is a scalabledesign, which is suitable forintegration into Battle FieldManagement System (BMS),by tailoring to the needs ofcustomer and its platform.

DCNS-IIT PactFrench ship-ping giantDCNS signed aMoU with theIndian Insti-

tute of Technology Bombay(IITB), which was signed byDr Alain Bovis, ExecutiveDirector of DCNS Researchand Professor Shiva Prasad,Dean of Academic Pro-grammes at IIT Bombay. TheMoU was signed by DCNSthrough DCNS Research.

DCNS Research is the cor-porate Research Centre ofDCNS, dedicated to majorscientific and technologyareas relevant in naval sys-tems and systems for energyproduction design.



About DHS Systemsinternational andDRASHDRASH stands forDeployable RapidAssembly Shelter.DHS Technologies isbased in America wherewe manufacture the shel-ters in New York State. Wemanufacture trailers intowhich we integrate envi-ronmental controlledunits, generators and theshelter, to create a deploy-able system in Huntsville,Alabama. We have twofactories in America.

About the company’sinternational presence The parent company grewup in the American Army

market. And now in orderto differentiate, toincrease our output andour business, we are look-ing to the internationalmarket. In the interna-

tional market wehave a significantamount of sales

into the British Army,that’s 50 per cent and mycompany based in Here-ford in the UK also main-tains and repairs thestocks for the Ministry ofDefence. But we’ve alsosold into Spain, Italy, Aus-tria, Turkey and nowPoland in Europe and

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This MoU will open newavenues to DCNS in India foreducation and research pro-grams in naval defence andenergy. Sponsored researchand development pro-grammes will be carried outcooperatively by IIT Bombayand DCNS research teams.Indian student projects willbe sponsored and fellow-ships will be granted at IITBombay.

The training of DCNS per-sonnel through “ContinuingEducation Programmes” willbe conducted by IIT Bombay.The research projects will berun at IIT Bombay premiseswith support of DCNSResearch teams or in dedi-cated common facilities.

The MoU accepts thermohydraulics, electrical engi-neering, material sciences asthe most promising areas ofscientific interactionbetween the two organisa-tions.

Speaking on the occasion,Professor Shiva Prasad, Deanof Academic Programmes inIIT Bombay, said: “There is ahuge potential for coopera-tion in educational programsand R&D programs in themaritime and energydomains between IIT Bom-bay and DCNS”.

“This new developmentemphasises our investmentsin long term in India. It alsoaims to accelerate technolo-gy progress in mutually ben-eficial areas by tying up withone of the top Indian

research centres”, said DrAlain Bovis, Executive Direc-tor of DCNS Research.

DCNS is a world leader innaval defence. India is buy-ing its diesel submarine fromDCNS, which is being con-structed at the MazagonDock Limited at Mumbai.DCNS India Private Limitedwas inaugurated in March2009 in Mumbai. It specialis-es in naval services. DCNSIndia’s main missions are tosupport the naval shipyardsand industries to developlocal services with Indian tal-ent. This agreement isstrongly supported by theScience and Technology

Department of the FrenchEmbassy in India.

L&T and Samsung-Techwinteam up

Larsen &ToubroLimited(L&T) andSamsung

Techwin Co., Ltd (STW)announced that they wouldbe cooperating in the IndianArmy’s Tracked Self Pro-pelled Artillery Programme.Last year, Samsung submit-ted a proposal to the Min-istry of Defence to developthe 155mm/52 calibretracked, self propelledartillery with L&T as the leadpartner. Speaking on thedevelopment, M V Kotwal,Member of the Board, L&T,and President, Heavy Engi-neering, said, “L&T and Sam-sung Techwin have joinedtogether to offer a state-of-the-art Self PropelledTracked Howitzer systemmeeting the aspirations ofthe Indian Army for thisstrategically important pro-gram. This cooperationwould lead to new avenuesin Indian and global defensemarkets for both the part-ners working together.”

L&T has been an integra-tor for key systems and tech-nologies and has indigenous-ly developed and suppliedcomplete systems for theIndian defence and aero-space sectors. SamsungTechwin is the OriginalEquipment Manufacturer forthe Korean “K9 Thunder” the155mm / 52 Caliber Self Pro-pelled Howitzer. Large num-bers of K9 systems are inservice in South Korea andother countries. Togetherwith the K10 AmmunitionRe-supply Vehicle, the sys-tem is recognised for itsfunctionality and unrivaledperformance.

The gun system wouldhave over 50 per cent indige-nous content including com-ponents like fire-control sys-tem, communication system,Nuclear Biological Chemicalsuite & AC, Auxillary powerunit, life support system, etc

We have a very specialrelationship in India…”“DHS SystemsInternational is aglobal provider ofquick erect/strikemobileinfrastructuresystems andaccompanyingsupport equipmentfor military, medical,government andcivilian organizationsaround the world. Achat with ANDYCOWLING CBE,Managing Director,DHS SystemsInternational, aboutthe company’spresence in India

INTERVIEW



which have already beenused in India. There will besignificant localisation ofhull /turret structure andmajor subsystems. L&T alsoplans to set up the integra-tion and testing facility forroll out of these guns fromdefense equipment facility inTalegaon, near Pune.

L&T- Nexter together forArtillery Gun

Larsen &Toubro(L&T) andNexter Sys-tems of

France (NS) signed consor-tium agreements on keyartillery gun programmes ofthe Indian Army, whichincludes the 155mm/ 52 CalTowed Gun System (TGS)and Mounted Gun System(MGS) programme, whereNexter will lead and a130mm/39 Cal M-46 up-gun-ning programme, with L&Tas the lead partner.

The partnership entailsdelivering the best solutionto the Indian Army. As perthe agreements, Nexter willtransfer the production ofsub-assemblies of TRAJAN(TGS) and CAESAR (MGS)and the final integration ofboth systems to L&T in India.The engineering customisa-tion of the gun system to ful-fill specific Indian require-ments will be done togetherby L&T and Nexter. L&T andNS are looking forward toextending the cooperationfor these artillery pro-grammes for Indian MoD toother opportunities, globally.Philippe Burtin Chairmanand CEO of Nexter Systemshas said, “Our partnershipwith L&T is hugely importantto Nexter, I am convincedthat the depth of our mutualcommitment will result in astrong overall value proposi-tion to the Indian MoD. Ourteams have been workingclosely for more than twoyears and I am delightedwith the results they haveachieved together on theTRAJAN system for the TGSprogramme.”

Speaking on the occasion,

M V Kotwal, Member of theBoard, L&T and President,L&T Heavy Engineering said“L&T and Nexter Consortiumwill endeavour to provide awinning solution to the Indi-an Army. Besides providingthe most successful artillerygun systems to the IndianArmy, this partnership willopen up new avenues inIndian and global defencemarkets for both partners.The collaboration offers notonly commonality of ord-nance but also reduces thelogistics foot print signifi-cantly, and minimises therequirements of spares andthrough life support acrossmultiple artillery systems.”

Beat the mosquitoes withDRDO!

DRDO Chief B KSaraswatlaunched DRDOdeveloped tech-

nologies to detect explosivematerials and Swine Flu(H1N1) virus at the Defexpo.

Under the DRDO-FICCIAccelerated TechnologyAssessment & Commerciali-sation (ATAC) programme,licensing agreement wassigned between the DRDOand private companies tomanufacture DRDO devel-oped product. ExplosiveDetection Kit (EDK) andSwine Flu (H1N1) DetectionKit are being manufacturedby two Indian companies -Vantage Integrated SecuritiesPvt. Ltd., NOIDA, UttarPradesh and RAS Life-sciences Pvt. Ltd., Hyder-abad, respectively. Both thecompanies are ready withtheir respective products forthe commercial market.

The DRDO - FICCI ATACprogramme is a unique ini-tiative of DRDO and FICCIthat aims for commercialisa-tion of cutting-edge tech-nologies developed by vari-ous labs of DRDO for civilianapplications. In the last 18months, more than 25 DRDOtechnologies have been com-mercialised. Speaking at thelaunch, Saraswat said, “Thetechnology of EDK can behelpful to control illegal traf-

there’s more potentialthere. We are also estab-lished in the Middle East.

About the company’spresence in IndiaWe just passed the three-year point in our partner-ship with Bharat Electron-ics Ltd (BEL), and havealready supplied 24 shel-ters to BEL for use by Indi-an Army. The companyaims to put up a manufac-turing facility by 2015. Weare now selling into Direc-torate General Informa-tion Services. That allowsus to raise our profile andto grow closer to the Min-istry of Defence andunderstand their require-ments. We are workingwith BEL and competingfor three tenders, all ofwhich are based aroundmedical infrastructure forthe Navy, the Army andthe Air Force. And actual-ly that brings me to thepoint of about the value ofour relationship itself. Aswe become more success-ful in India and increaseour market share, the cus-tomer rightly wants toknow how it can be sup-ported, sustained,repaired, maintained, howthe soldiers can be trainedand that is what BEL is for.BEL has its distributionsystem and locations allaround India. So, that’s

quite important too.

About DRASH sheltersIf you take a conventionaltent, you will find it hasaluminum posts. It hasvarious parts and thenyou have to put a skin onit and that takes time, itsclanky, noisy, and difficultto do in the dark. You haveto look after all the parts.Leave a part and you can’tput the tents up, whereasours are different. Ours isa single piece. All you canlose is the shelter itself. Imean it’s pretty big butthey do pack down to lessthan 5 per cent of theirsize, some down to 2 percent. Our smallest range isfit for going on the back ofa vehicle…the CompanyCommander comes along,goes to work before hesettles down, puts hisCommand post up, battlemoves on, three hours lat-er you are on the go, downcomes the shelter, in theback of the vehicle, or onthe trailer and off you go.

The shelter has twoskins which gives you acavity wall and henceinsulation. It gives you upto ten degrees differencefrom the outside and theinside. Looking into theinside every hold, everyflap has a function. Onefor electric, one for envi-ronmental control units —ducts in, ducts out on the

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VERSATILE SHELTERS: UAV Systems help facilitate theoperation and maintenance of UNMANNED AERIALVEHICLEs in a variety of hostile environments

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outside, a couple of win-dows.

The material is poly-ester base with a lot ofwork going into the pro-duction line to create thiskind of fabric. The shelteris fire-retardant, UV resist-ant, waterproof, mildewresistant - always a con-cern if you’re packing upand storing damp canvas.As of now the interior iswhite and it is anti-micro-bial. So if bacteria gets onit, bacteria stops - great formedical infrastructure andgood for anywhere wherepeople are. We are the onlypeople in the world to dothat.

We have strong pointsinside the shelter whichare conventionally usedfor hanging lighting sys-tems on. In the militaryworld, people hang theirequipment from the side,so on and so forth. Theseshelters are tested for aconstant wind speed of 55mph, gusting to 65. Nowevery statistics that I giveyou is certified by the USMilitary Aberdeen TestCenter. I can give a certifi-cate for every single sta-tistic, proven militaryspec. Some of our com-petitors cannot do that.

You could concealtanks or you can justhouse them. It dependson whatever function you

want to use them for.Inevitably, you can putthem under cover. Ofcourse, you are left withthe silhouette of the shel-ter but if you have a highvalue outfit like a tanker,like a UAV, such equip-ment deserves to belooked after and if theybreak, then you want agood, safe and clean envi-ronment to work on and ifyou are working on a tankin the middle of the desertit is highly uncomfortable.You are opening up theinnards of the tank to theelements and, therefore,the ingress of sand. Well,what better way but toput a shelter up, drag itinto the shelter, closeboth doors, create theright working atmospherefor the mechanics. Theright environment to dothat work in a sterile,sanitised environmentand get on and finish withyour job properly. It isguaranteed it will bemended quicker and to abetter standard.

The big shelters areused for activities such asCommand Control Cen-tres or for warehousing.With a small forklift truckyou can get into ourlargest shelter and youcan have two rows ofpalettes, two high normal-ly all the way down so youcan store ammunitions,

PROVIDING REFUGE: DRASH is one of the standardsystems in use with US Military Aid Stations throughoutthe United States and around the world

ficking of explosive materi-als, apart from detection andidentification of such materi-als in the pre and post-blastscenarios.”

Dr Muzzafar Ahmed,Member, National DisasterManagement Authority(NDMA), pointed out thatEDK could become animportant tool in NDMA’squest for mitigating andaverting disasters occurringfrom bomb blasts. The prod-uct he said, would find userssuch as railways, hotels andresident welfare associations.

MKU announces JV with EISElectronics

MKU,India’s lead-ing manu-facturer and

supplier of ballistic protec-tion and surveillance equip-ment for armed forces, para-military forces and policeworldwide announced a50:50 joint venture with EISElectronics from Germany toform EIS Electronics IndiaPvt. Ltd. The joint invest-ment by both the companieswill be $ 5 million to manu-facture their cable harnessproducts.

The first step towards thejoint venture MoU wassigned between the partners.EIS Electronic India’s willmanufacture the products ina 5,500 square feet upcomingfacility in Kanpur. Speakingon the occasion, Neeraj Gup-ta, MD, MKU said, “As astrategic decision towardsconsolidation of our busi-ness we have entered intotwo new business ventures,NVDs and cable harness asthis synergises with ourexisting product line andthey will be new growth driv-ers for the company giventhe global demand and offsetopportunities in India.” Headded, “This joint venturewill give us an opportunity tofurther strengthen our busi-ness alliances with ourclients.”

Thomas Hauschild, MD,EIS Electronics said, “Indiahas been a pioneer in manu-

facturing of defence prod-ucts and systems. We areproud to be associated withan Indian company likeMKU as it is one of the lead-ing manufacturer and sup-plier of defence equipmentsglobally. I am confident thatthis joint venture will resultin producing quality cableharness products andincrease our market shareglobally”.

MKU is a registered NATOsupplier. It is a manufactur-er and supplier of personaland platform ballistic protec-tion solutions with a directpresence in over 70 countriesaround the world. The com-pany is setting up facilitiesfor the manufacture of NightVision Devices and DaySights. EIS Electronics hasbeen servicing the Defenceand Aerospace Industrysince 1980 and is manufac-turing harnesses for theaerospace industry.

POLARIS marches into theIndian Defence sector

Polaris, theworldleader in

the off-road vehicle segment,displayed and offered experi-ential rides of their RangerRZR SW and Sportsman MV850, at the Defence Expo2012. The vehicles are wellsuited to the needs of themilitary and security forcesfor their off-road mobilityrequirements in the mostchallenging terrains.

The company believesthat the capability of thevehicle is unmatched to anyother vehicle in the samesegment. The capabilities oftheir vehicle is “well-suitedfor missions in India andAsia in general” the companyfurther elaborated. As perPolaris they have “capabilityis and have proven resultswith vehicles deployedacross the region”.

Speaking on the occasion,Pankaj Dubey, ManagingDirector, Polaris India said,“After successfully enteringthe Indian market last yearwith our off-road vehicles,

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supplies, food, whatever.On the side you’ve gotyour logistics cell, yourmedical cells. Those areair-conditioning units. Wedo them either on traileror we do them on palettes,on skids.

The applications that theIndian Armed forces areinterested inMarket entry for us isabout Command andControl shelters which arecurrently being tested andI am expecting moreorders. Command andControl extends fromsomething small to some-thing that looks muchmore like a DivisionalHeadquarters.

Second is the medicalapplication. Our shelterscan be used to create fieldhospitals - one could bethe Operating Theatre,another part the dispensa-ry or the pharmacy, thetriage or the reception.Warehousing - our biggestshelter is just right forhousing the tanks whilethey are being worked onor concealed or protectedfor storage or for housinga UAV (Unmanned AerialVehicle). It’s surprisinghow much investment hasgone into UAVs, butnobody’s really thoughtthrough the fact that youare then going to base

them in an austere areaand actually you haveinvested so much moneyin acquiring capability youmight like to invest insome means of lookingafter them. That is a grow-ing market for us.

On the different variantsof shelters We have 64 variants. Dif-ferent sized shelters canjoin together and are com-pletely modular. Someshelters used by the USmilitary for their head-quarters are huge andalmost city-like. We do iso-lation shelters which cer-tain nations like in case ofcontingent capability forsituations like pandemicsor something. We havesystems for isolation andcontamination. We do de-contamination shelters,washing down washing offchemical agents.

Battlefields where theDRASH shelters havebeen deployed opera-tionally Well, they’ve been in exis-tence now for around 25years. Throughout theBalkans, certainly in Iraq,in Afghanistan now andexercised and trained real-ly all over the world. Wehave sold over 18,000 shel-ters. So, it’s global, it’s wellsupported and it’s certain-ly well-tried.

MODULAR DESIGN: A number of different DRASHsystems can be joined together to form huge city-likestructures in different types of environments

we are now concentrating onproviding solutions to theIndian defence, security andgovernment sector.”

Working directly with anOEM provides benefits to ourcustomers beyond the worldclass quality of Polaris prod-ucts. Our customers getaccess to the equipmentmanufacturer to expeditemissionisation requirementsand can leverage the Polarisglobal dealer network forservice.”

Polaris Defence has beenworking with military, allover the world for last onedecades and Polaris Indiawill do the same for the Indi-an market. Polaris India Pri-vate Ltd is a wholly ownedsubsidiary of Polaris Indus-tries INC - with annual 2011sales of $2.7 billion. Polarisdesigns, engineers, manufac-tures and markets innova-tive, high quality off-roadvehicles (ORVs), includingall-terrain vehicles (ATVs).

Polaris Defense providesthe military and securityforces the light mobility toconduct operations such as:Patrolling, Recce and Surveil-lance, Law and Order,Perimeter Security, CasualtyEvacuation, Search and Res-cue, Training and manymore.

Tata Motors showcases Prahaar launcher

Tata Motorsshowcased somenew specialisedvehicles for the

defence forces at the Defex-po: the automobile giantlaunched four vehicles —Tata 12x12 Prahaar MissileCarrier, the Tata LightArmoured Vehicle, the TataMobile Bunker and the Tata6x6 7kl Refueler. To assist thecountry’s elite forces inindoor combat, a new MicroBullet-Proof Vehicle (MBPV)for indoor combat inside air-ports, railway stations andother such infrastructure wasdisplayed.

P M Telang, ManagingDirector-India Operations,said, “The launch of our new

combat & tactical vehiclesand equipment, leveragedfrom our strength in designand development of a widerange of commercial vehi-cles, now enables us to coverthe entire defence mobilityspectrum. Tata Motorsdefence solutions alreadycovers the complete range oflogistics and armoured vehi-cles that have also been pop-ular in supporting the policeand paramilitary forces incounter insurgency opera-tions.”

The most-awaited pro-gramme for Indian army isthe Futuristic Infantry Com-bat Vehicle (FICV) under‘Make India’ programme.Tata Motors is one of the par-ticipants and it displayedscaled models of its conceptvehicle, both tracked andwheeled versions, the turretof the vehicle was displayedseparately with the gunwhich would be part of thevehicle. The company briefedabout the proposed produc-tion facility and a model ofthe plant was displayed. TataMotors responded to theExpression of Interest ofIndian army in 2010 and isawaiting the result of theshortlist of candidates fordeveloping the vehicle.

Tata Motors has been inthe defence vehicle businesssince 1958. Till date over1,00,000 vehicles have beensold to both military andparamilitary forces. TataMotors also exports itsdefence vehicles to theSAARC, ASEAN and Africanregions. With its vast range inmulti-axle vehicle like 12x12,8x8 & 6x6, the company issupplying to leading missileOEMs across the world. TataMotors is also supplying tothe UN peacekeeping mis-sions.

The highlight of the eventfor Tata was its indigenouslydeveloped high mobility; all-terrain and all-wheel drive12x12 Prahaar Missile Carri-er, Tata LPTA 5252-12 X12vehicle. It’s is designed formissile launcher-cum- carri-er applications like integra-

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About Sig SauerSIG Sauer has been makingsmall arms for 150 yearsand is probably the pre-mier small arms supplier tothe military, law enforce-ment and protection users.We have a phrase that wesay “that we are known bythe company that we keep”and some of ourend-users are eliteend-users. We havethe British Special Air Ser-vice, US Navy Seals, USFederal Air Marshalls, theUS Secret Service; we haveelite users around theworld. We have probablysupplied to every countryin the world, unless offcourse there are export

controls against a country.We are truly international.

We have three factories-one in America, one inSwitzerland and one inGermany. The Americanfactory is by far the biggest.The Swiss factory is theone that is the most closelylinked to India because the

Swiss weapons arereally integrated intothe Indian market.

In India we have suc-cessfully sold products tothe National SecurityGuards (NSG) where ourrifle is their standardweapon. We have sold intothe National InvestigationAgency, the Punjab Policeand the Orissa police and

at the moment we arenegotiating with a numberof other governmentdepartments. We believethis is probably one of thekey markets of the future.

On the partnerships inIndia We recognise fully, that giv-en the size of the purchas-es that India makes,because you have anexceptionally large armedforce - technology transferis fundamental. As we arevery serious about thismarket, we have estab-lished a SIG India office.We recognise the fact thatIndia is probably one ofthe key developing military

markets in the world, noquestion. And there is ahunger to have the mostmodern and latest inweaponry here. With theIndia office and the highlytrained individuals in it, Inow have eyes and ears onthe ground that I don’thave in many other coun-tries. So that answers yourquestion as to how com-mitted we are in the Indianmarket.

On SIG SAUER weapons A. SIG is at the cutting edgeof technology in smallarms at the moment. After150 years of supplyingsmall arms, you can imag-ine we are in the leading

INTERVIEW

India is a key market for SIGSauer”“

tion of Prahar, BrahMos andNirbhay Missiles with DRDO.

Rossell receives FIPB goahead for JV with CAE

RossellIndia Lim-itedannou-

nced approval from the Indi-an Foreign Investment Pro-motion Board (FIPB) to forma joint venture (JV) companywith CAE. The JV will providesynthetic training solutionsto the Indian forces. RossellIndia Limited will be the sen-ior partner with 74 percentshare of JV firm and CAEholding rest 26 percent asper the ministry of defencenorms.

The joint venture willfocus primarily on providingtraining solutions for foreignplatforms. Ministry ofDefence wishes to develop

the indigenous capabilitiesof Indian industry in thissector and this JV is workingtowards the same objective.The company would workunder the Indian offset crite-ria for defence programs.

Harsh Mohan Gupta,Executive Chairman, RossellIndia Limited said, “Rossellhas been looking for growthopportunities and we arepleased to form a joint ven-ture with a global leadersuch as CAE. The IndianMinistry of Defence hasspecifically recognised simu-lation and training servicesas being eligible for offsets sowe expect this company,which will have access toCAE’s world-class technologyand experience, to be anattractive partner to foreignOEMs looking to meet offsetrequirements.”

On the occasion Martin

Gagne, CAE’s Group Presi-dent, Military Products,Training and Services, said,“The Indian defence forcesrecognize the benefit thatsimulation can provide toenhance their operationaltraining while reducingcosts, and are now requiringhigh fidelity simulation forall their major platformacquisitions. CAE believessimulation and training willcontinue to take on moreimportance in India, which iswhy we have and will contin-ue to make significantinvestments in-country. Weare firmly committed tobeing a long-term partner bybringing our world-classtechnology and capabilitiesto India’s defence forces.”

Rossell India Limited pro-vides custom engineeringsolutions and is a systemintegrator in the field of

avionics, communicationand other associated aero-space and defence equip-ment. It also provided sup-port services to the IndianArmed forces on variousplatforms. CAE has beenactive in India for the past 40years selling simulators, andis now offering training solu-tions for India’s civil aviationand defence markets.

Mahindra signs MoU withRafael

Mahindra& Mahin-dra (M&M)and Israel’s

Rafael Advanced DefenseSystems signed a Memoran-dum of Understanding at thedefexpo to form a Joint Ven-ture (JV) Company in India.The JV will develop andmanufacture products forvarious land and naval

Sig Sauer supplies a range of sophisticated small arms to IndianSpecial Forces and tactical response teams. RICHARD BROWN,Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa and India, speakson the company’s plans in India


edge of technology. Wehave cutting-edge assaultrifles, sniper rifles, pistolsand 40 mm grenadelaunchers. There are somany tenders in India atthe moment that we arebidding into a number ofdifferent platforms. Whatwe are trying to do is weare trying to bring in thelatest technology plat-forms. We recognise whatthe user wants. At themoment we have donevery well as a fact withthe assault rifles inthe country. Theseare called the 55Xseries. We arealso getting inthe new 516assaultrifles.

Our pistols are veryadvanced and thatis the reason anumber ofelite organ-isations,includingthe NIA,areusingour pis-tols.

We

try to take all weapon tech-nology to another plane,

another level. If youtake the conventional

handgun- every-body’s makinghandguns at themoment that arecovered with ahostile environ-

ment finish. All theweapons that you

see around you, arecovered in a

hostileenvi-

ron-

ment finish. It’s a specialcoating that stops theweapon from rusting.Think of all environmentsthat the weapons areexposed to - cold, heat alti-tude, sand mud, humidity.Making a product thatfunctions in all of thoseenvironments is not easy.The metal can be eatenaway by humidity. On theother hand we give thesame kind of protection toall the internal compo-nents of our weapons. Weprotect all of our weaponswith a proprietary finishcalled Nitron. We are put-ting Nitron finishing on allof the internal componentsof our Special Forces MK25pistol as well. Nearly all of

our rifles run on veryadvanced piston systems

rather than the tradi-tional direct gas

impingement sys-tem.

A unique weaponmade by SIGWe as a company

could only survive,


requirements, such as Anti-Torpedo Defence Systems,Electronic Warfare Systems,Advanced Armouring Solu-tions and remotely operatedweapon stations for Futuris-tic Infantry Combat Vehicles(FICV). The company hassubmitted the proposal forJV to Foreign InvestmentPromotion Board (FIPB).

Mahindra’s existing NavalSystems division in Pune willreceive investments fromRafael which will is going tobe the production facility.Speaking on the occasion,Anand Mahindra, Vice Chair-man & Managing Director,Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.Said, “Our Joint venture withRafael signals our strategicentry into a wide range ofhigh tech-defence solutionswhich will enable the Mahin-dra Group to become a lead-ing defence systems integra-

tor in India.”Speaking on the occasion,

Brig (Retd) KA Hai, ChiefExecutive, Mahindra DefenceSystems, said “This JV willenable Mahindra DefenceSystems to further leverageits innovative solutions inthe maritime domain,enhance its product offer-ings, and present it with newavenues for growth. Weintend to further expand intoair, land, and aerospacedefence solutions.”

Giving the Rafael perspec-tive Chairman,Maj Gen(Retd) Ilan Biran, said: “Aspart of our global strategy,we form alliances to developmilitary applications basedon our proprietary technolo-gies and in Mahindra we seea lot of synergy and opportu-nities for growth in new mar-kets and especially in Indiawhich is a strategic market

for us.”CEO, Rafael Vice Admiral

(Retd), Yadida Yaari, alsospoke and said “We seeMahindra as an ideal partnerfor expanding our businessopportunities in India in sea,land and air domains. Wehave supported and will con-tinue to support the IndianMinistry of Defence in gain-ing technological superiorityand excellence.”

JV with Telephonics Corpora-tion

M&M andTelephon-ics Corpo-ration, a

leading designer, developerand manufacturer of infor-mation, communication andsensor system solutions,announced the formation ofa Joint Venture (JV) Compa-ny. The JV will provide

defence communication andsurveillance systems.

The JV will put up a plantin India to manufacture andservice airborne radar sys-tems for the Hindustan Aero-nautics Ltd (HAL) and sup-port airborne maritime sur-veillance systems for the Indi-an Navy and Coast Guard.The JV will license technologyfrom Telephonics for use on awide range of products thathave both defence and civilapplications.Two companiesare expecting approval fortheir JV from the governmentof India soon.

The JV will be the first inIndia to manufacture airborne and maritime radarsutilising licensed technology.Nearly 100 per cent indige-nous capability is expectedto be achieved in the nearfuture. The MoU for the JVwas signed last year.

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the professionals we are,by listening to users all thetime. We have a complete-ly unique weapon systemin the P250 pistol. TheP250 pistol has a com-pletely removable internalmechanism. If you strip aconventional pistol andyou take the slide off, youwill have 20, 30, 40 movingparts inside. That’s whyyou have a soldier calledan armourer who takes theweapon to pieces, main-

tains the parts and thenassembles it back together.The user never gets thatkind of access to the inter-nal components of theweapon. It is not their job.

With our pistols, forexample the P250, theentire internal mechanismlifts out as a single unit.And there are only twenty-plus moving parts in theentire weapon. That is theonly pistol in the worldthat offers you a complete-ly removable mechanism

and of course we have hadto redesign the mecha-nism so that when thechassis of the mechanismlifts out everything islocked on, nothing cancome away. Weapons arenotorious to springs andother parts falling offwhile field stripping. We’vesolved that problem. Theweapon is unique, it isworld-class pistol andnobody offers this tech-nology other than us. Wehave some of the best

weapons technologyexperts in the world work-ing for SIG Sauer.

On the shift from the 5.56calibre systems back tothe 7.62 calibreThe 5.56 mm round hasbeen around for a longtime since the ‘60s. The5.56 mm round is a very,very capable round. It isfast, it is very accurate.The rationale behind it isthat the soldier can carrymany more rounds. It is

SIG 556DMR - PRECISION SNIPER RIFLE

SIG P250PISTOL


Strengthening the strategic relation

On a high after the Rafale was selected as the prime contender in the MMRCA pro-gramme, Indo-French defence cooperation is all set to take the next stage as evi-denced by the presence of a large number of French companies at Defexpo2012

gGEOPO L I T I C S

gI

n last one year India hassigned contracts wortharound three billion dollarswith French defence firms.

The emergence of Dassault’sRafale as the lead contender inthe Medium Multirole CombatAircraft (MMRCA) will bringtogether Indian and Frenchfirms to co-execute the pro-gramme for next two decadesover the $11 billion contract.The Indo-French defence rela-tionship is decades old andhas been one of the most trou-ble-free associations.

In a statement - GICAN - an

umbrella group of Frenchmarine firms, has said, “Indo-French defence cooperation isentering a new phase withthe growth of India’sdefence industrialbase. From abuyer-sellerrelationship,India andFrance havenow enteredinto co-devel-opment and co-productionof major defence equipment inIndia.”

At Defexpo 2012 French

firms demonstrated their vastcapability in the defence tech-nologies across the spectrum,from training to technology.

The French pavilion hadcompanies who are

global leaders ofnaval systemslike DCNS, to the

land systemmajors like Nex-

ter. The Frenchseem to be very

particular about maintainingthe momentum in the Indo -French defence co-operation.

Gican in its statement

said,”Our aim is to offer a widerange of products or serviceslikely to meet all the require-ments of the Indian armedforces and, at the same time,contribute to building andconsolidating India’s industrialand technological base,through transfers of expertise,technology and know-how.”

IIT Bombay and Frenchshipbuilder DCNS have signeda Memorandum of Under-standing (MoU) for educationand research programmes innaval defence and energy. Theprogramme will sponsor


also NATO standard.Therefore it is very unlike-ly that the 5.56 will disap-pear any time soon. Youare correct in your obser-vation that the 7.62 has oflate had resurgence. Wehave multiple weapons inthe 7.62 mm calibre aswell. I think what we haverecognised in SIG Sauer, isthat the threatres of opera-tion have changed overthe last few years. Yourenemy is no longer wear-ing a different colour shirtand marching across thebattlefield. Yes I knowthere are some environ-ments where that doeshappens, especially whereyou’re in border disputes.But to most users at themoment the enemy isunseen; the enemy maybein an urban environment.We have reacted with ourweapon systems accord-ingly by designingweapons that are multiple

uses.Again we look at our 516

weapons. We have a fami-ly of weapons-7”,10”,14”,16”,18” designatedmarksman rifles. So that’swhere we changed. Wehave exactly the samefamily in 7.62 mm.Whether we will move tosome of the more obscurecalibers, I don’t know. Mypersonal feeling is thatsome of the calibers willnever achieve the level ofpopularity that some peo-ple think that they will -primarily because of jointoperations. Say I am theBritish Army and you arethe Indian Army and weon joint operation togeth-er with 5.56 rifles. Ifanother operator comesalong with 6.8 mmweapon, we cannot shareammunition with him. SoI think the 7.62 and the5.56 will be there for along time. I think they will

run in parallel rather thanthe 5.56 being the clearleader.

On bullpup versus stan-dard configuration assaultrifle debateThere are two differentphilosophies to weapondesign. Each one has itsadvantages; each one hasits disadvantages. A stan-dard magazine in front ofa trigger is the world stan-dard in small arms. Any-body can pick that up andwork it.

The flipside is that thebarrel has to be slightlylonger, hence the reasonwe are experimenting withshorter barrel versions.The bullpup is shorter bynature because the barrelstarts off of behind theshoulder. However there isno question that thebullpup is more awkwardto operate. The trigger ona standard configuration

assault rifle is probablycrisper because the triggerrelease is located rightabove the hammer. On abullpup design you have along mechanism linkingback to the hammer. It’snever as precise.

I wouldn’t question any-body’s choice of smallarms. Whoever goesthrough a choice of smallarms and are highly pro-fessional end-users likethe Indian Army have toconsult very long and hardabout what is right forthem, for their tacticalrequirement. There willalways be the twoweapons systems, butthere will probably bemore standard configura-tions as far as assault riflesare concerned on the mar-ket because most peopleare use it. If somebodyfeels the bull pup design isright for them — fairenough.

research and developmentprogramme at the IIT andalso sponsor Indian studentprojects and fellowship. Theimpact of this programme islikely to be felt for years tocome.

Indian engineering majorLarsen and Toubro (L&T) andFrench land system firm Nex-ter signed an agreement forartillery gun systems for theartillery modernization pro-gramme of Indian army. Ifthis joint venture bags thedeal, then all the three servic-es will have their main offen-sive equipment sourced fromFrance.

The upgrade programmeof the Mirage 2000, the frontline fighter of the IAF, to the2000-5 standard signed lastyear for around $2 billion,will ensure that the aircraftwill retain its viability foryears to come. The contractfor six Scorpene submarinesfrom DCNS, which wassigned in 2005, is proceedingaccording to the revised

schedule and the technologyprovided by the DCNS hasbeen absorbed by MazagonDocks Limited (MDL). Thistransfer of technology hasbecome a bench mark forfuture submarine deals. Theconducive political atmos-phere between India andFrance has also ensured thatthe business relationship alsoflourishes well. The Frenchdefence industry was repre-sented by 25 companies atdefexpo2012. The partici-

pants ranged from Small andMedium Enterprises (SMEs)to Original Equipment Manu-facturers (OEMs). The coordination of the companieswas done by two industrybodies GICAN, the FrenchMarine Industry Association,and GICAT, the French LandDefence Industry Association.

The future submarine linefor the Indian Navy which isgoing to be an open competi-tive tender has energised theglobal submarine manufac-

turers. The French have anadvantage in this regard asIndia is already buying theirsubmarines. The French havealready offered the Air Inde-pendent Propulsion (AIP) sys-tem for the Scorpene which isgoing to be one of the mainconsiderations for next sub-marine line.

French subsystem manu-facturers were in present withtheir products. Some of them,like Snecma and Thales, havebeen present here fordecades. As Gérard Longuet,French Ministry of Defencesaid,”The Indo-French coop-eration is built on a largerange of initiatives such asthe transfer of technologies,joint-ventures and marketexchanges designed toaddress current and futurechallenges. That is why I amconvinced that the largeFrench participation to Def-expo will have a positiveimpact on the strengtheningof the relationship betweenour two countries.”

HUNTER KILLER: The Scorpene submarine will add aformidable punch to India’s underwater fleet

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On the companyWe are essentially a plat-form agnostic company andwe're fortunate when budg-ets get cut worldwide, ourportfolio's pretty diverse….we definitely don't sink orswim on major platforms.

And we have four busi-nesses primarily: electronicsystems, geo spatial systems— that's where night visionfalls in. We have this Infor-mation Systems business outof which we do a lot of cyberwork. We also do Air TrafficManagement work which isa pretty big part of our busi-ness. And we have an Emis-sions Systems businesswhere we do operations onvarious bases. Typically, youknow most militaries wantsomething like that and havemore of a higher combat tologistics ratio. And so we area part of that logistics centreand part of the support sothat the military then canfocus their efforts on themore core areas.

On IndiaOur pursuit of business inIndia will see a long-termobjectives for us. We signeda recent MOU agreementwhich is just one example.We have also done somework on major platforms foraircraft, we are looking intoradio business where we areinvolved with TCS and wehave what we think is a verygood solution out of thatprogramme as well as BMS(Battlefield ManagementSystem). We’re interested in the field wireless systemsas part of the TCS system.Essentially, it is a bigWiMAX platform networkand we are providing a military radio option withTATA Power. Tata Power ispursuing the TCS pro-gramme. Well, we have awonderful product that wethink will fit in well. Wealso have several solutionsthat we think will work wellwith BMS. It's just a matterof working with the right

ITT is fortunate that it is diverse and worksacross platforms. Excerpts from aconversation with ITT

ITT, a platform agnostic company”“

Russia tries to regainits dominance

The traditional supplier of the Indian armed forces has strivenhard to shore up its place in the face of vigorous competitionfrom other countries

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ndo-Russian defence rela-tion is a time-tested rela-tionship that has with-stood occasional blips.

The recently-held Defexposaw Russian participation inlarge numbers: 37 companies— by far the largest — repre-sented the Russian defenceindustry. The Russian pavil-ion was an excellent repre-sentative oasis of the indus-trial capability of that coun-try in the area of defence.

Russia, which continues to provide most of the majorweapons systems of Indiawhether tanks, aircraft, mis-

siles, rockets and ships, islooking forward to enhanc-ing the level of cooperationfrom provider to jointdeveloper and co-pro-ducer. The Indo-Russian Brah-mos is a shin-ing example ofthis co-devel-opment. Indiais looking for-ward towards anair launched version of thismissile. The Russian areworking on this and this wasthe much discussed topic atthe Defexpo.

Russia displayed the latestversion of the T-90 Main Bat-tle Tank: T-90S. The T-90 isnow being manufactured in

India from a completelyknocked down condi-

tion. India hassome issueswith the T-90

and the latestversion seems tobe with bettertechnical specifi-

cations providing it morelethal power and survivabili-ty. India is pondering toupgrade its T-72 MBTs to theT-90 level.

The T-90S caused quite aninterest among people. Thelatest version of the T-90Shas enormous potential asthe Indian army will beinducting 1000 tanks built inIndia. Another first-timeproduct which was unveiledat Defexpo was the S-400surface-to-air missile. Thismissile is an improved ver-sion of the S-300 that is oper-ational with India in a verysmall number.

For the first time, Russianweapons export firmRosoboron Export’s localpartners Rosoboron Services

THE ROADMAP AHEAD: The ITT Exelis Team at a specialbriefing with Geopolitics (left to right): Tim White (Manager,Public Relations Communication & Force Protection Systems),Eric Whitehill (Staff Scientist Communications & ForceProtection Systems)and Frank Loftus (Manager, InternationalBusiness Development Night Vision & & Imaging)

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and Rososboron Terra partic-ipated at the Defexpo. Thesetwo are the latest venture ofRosoboron in Indian defencemarket. These two compa-nies have been created withIndian local partners to pro-vide maintenance services tothe Indian forces. The timetaken in processing of themaintenance requirementsof Indian forces has beenreduced with these two firmsand a large amount of main-tenance of systems and shipswill be done in India.

Russia is also one of thecontenders in the recently-released RFP for the VeryShort Range Air Defencemissile (VSHORAD) for tri-service requirements. TheRussian Igla is one of thecontenders. India is short ofman portable VSHORADs.The government is underimmense pressure to equipforces with the latest man-portable anti-aircraft mis-siles to improve air defencecapability.

In addition to these, Rus-

sians were seen discussingwith Indian shipyards on theprospects of constructing thenext submarine line. Russian

naval companies were in fullattendance with naval sys-tems to offer India, whichincludes helicopters, subma-rine, torpedoes, etc.

India in recent times has

ordered 15000 Konkurs anti-tank missiles from Russia.India is going to place orderfor tank munitions in large

numbers soon to Russia.India is also planning toinduct Smerch 300 mm, 90-km range unguided rocketsystem. India is operatingthis system from last one

decade.The Russian Mi-26 and

Mi-28 are lead contendersfor the heavy lift and attackhelicopter tenders. Theresult of these contracts isgoing to improve the Russ-ian contribution in the Indi-an defence services. TheRussian delegates were seenshowing a lot of interest inthe Indian firms for co-development and co-pro-duction. This is a markedchange from the old Russianstand of being a reliablelow-cost provider ofweapons systems. The Rus-sians are aware that theEuropeans and Americansare doing joint ventures andthe era of technology denialis over for India. If they wantto remain in the Indiandefence market they willhave to open themselves tothe changing dynamics ofthe Indian market. Russiancooperation is still predomi-nantly with the DPSUs but itseems that will change inthe near future.

SCOURGE OF THE SKIES: The Igla-S missile in contention forthe Indian Army tender for a Very Short Range Air DefenseSystem (VSHORAD)

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Indian company in ourefforts as well.

For the last severalmonths we have beenworking with TATA ASLspecifically. We came overin January and started toforge that relationship andwe expect that over thenext several months we willbegin working on licensingso that we may take ourGeneration 3 product andlaunch it into the Indianmarket. We are workingthrough TATA ASL muchthe same way we havedone in other Asian mar-kets such as South Koreaand Japan. Yes, we lookedat various companies andwe liked what we saw ofthe TATA ASL from themanagement, from thecapability, from the facilityperspective and we believethis is going to be a win-ning alliance for us. TheTATA name is well knownof course and we think thisis mutually beneficial for

both companies.

The roadmap aheadThe roadmap ahead will befor us to get the…everythingwe do is under ITAR (Inter-national Traffic in Arms Reg-ulations.) control. So we willwork very closely with theUS government to get theproper licences in place sothat we can come over anddo some additional trainingand get the TATA facility up-and-running to where it iscapable of producing thesame level of quality that wecan, back in the Virginiafacility. This is not anythingwe have not done before inother countries. So, it is notnew to us. We are not learn-ing at the expense of Indiahere. It should go rathersmoothly.

Our completed Genera-tion 3 image intensificationtubes will come in as wellas other parts, so that theycompleted a finished gog-gle. Basically we’re selling

the tubes and now have afinished product madehere.

The objectivesObviously the TCS pro-gramme. Also within theBMS programme, we thinkthat there may be opportu-nities for some of our solu-tions like our Nomad satel-lite communications termi-nal is very, very useful forheadquarters application…satcom on the move typeoperations as well as ourHigh Capacity Data Radioand..the other thing we aregoing to bring over thetechnologies associatedwith Software DefinedRadio and jointly develop awave form which meets theBMS requirements and getthat radio produced inIndia. Our company is verywell known, very well posi-tioned in waveform prod-ucts. In the United States,we are the developers ofthe Soldier Radio wave-

form, Syngar’s waveform. Inthe UK, we are the develop-ers of Cone waveform andthat is truly our expertisewe bring to the table andpartner with companies inIndia. We are still creatingpartnerships. We will makesure people know. It's notgoing to be something wewant to keep secret.

Projects under pursuitYes. At least one we arepursuing pretty heavily andthat’s the National SecurityGuard. They’ve evaluatedour product and seemedquite pleased with it. So wethink that maybe (that willbe) a dual area for us. Obvi-ously, the big prize in Indiais the BMS programme andwe think that these are sortof complimentary efforts.BMS is the core objective.TCS is a mid-term objec-tive, BMS is core objectiveand we are also interestedin the future infantry sol-dier.



About CAE in India In India we have two parts toCAE. One is the civil part, theother is the military part.The first entity is what I callCAE India, which is primarilya product and services com-pany where we sell our prod-ucts which are intrinsicallybuilt in India to Air Force,Army and Navy. We alsoundertake AMCs and servicecontracts both for our prod-ucts but also for productsmade by the other OEMs. Thesecond is the HATSOFFwhich is the first of itskind in India

for helicopter pilottraining. Thethird onewhich we havejustannouncedis a newjoint

venture with a private com-pany in India called Rossell

and the joint venture withthis company will be calledCAE Rossell-this will be

the company to provide off-set. So these are the three

verticals on the mili-tary side.

On the civil sidewe have the IndiaFlight TrainingCentres where wehave two A320sand one Boeing737, which is thefirst of its classand we also traincommercial pilots.As you know everycommercial pilot

has to do ten hours a year asrecurrent training. So we pro-vide that facility in Bangalore.

In addition to that we havetwo global academies in Indiawhich we run the manage-ment contract for IGRUA (Indira Gandhi Rashtriya UdanAcademy) and we also have aJoint Venture with AirportsAuthority of India where wetrain budding pilots inGondia, near Nagpur. So thisis 51 per cent CAE, 39 percent AAI and 10 per cent isPawan Hans. So that is theother entity that we have.

Finally we have one entitycalled CAE Simulation Tech-nology, which is a captivebusiness. We have about 200people working there andthey develop visual databasesfor our simulators. Almost allcivil airports, either new builtor upgrades--the Visual Data-base Team sitting in Banga-lore, about 70 people, doesthe database.

We have another groupcalled Training Solutionswhere we’ve got expensivecourseware for pilots to dotraining on selective systems.

CAE is a global leader in modeling, simulation and training forcivil aviation and defence. ANANTH RAMASWAMI, VicePresident and Regional Director, CAE Simulations India, speaksabout the company’s activities in India

We are confident that the offset segment will take off…”“

Tiny nation packsmassive punch

It was no surprise that the Israelis had the “most visited” pavilion at the Def Expo2012. Even at the last DefExpo in 2010 the Israeli pavilion occupied the largestexhibit. This is a testament to the close defence ties between the two countries

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ndia is now the largestexport market for Israeliarms. But that was notalways the case. Till the

end of the 1990s, China wasthe destination for most Israeliweapons exports. But the USveto on the transfer of sensi-tive technologies to Chinachanged all that. As Israel wasforced to look elsewhere in thesearch for other markets, rap-id economic growth allowedIndia to finance its require-ments for defence equipment.

With their production lines indisarray at the end of the ColdWar, Russian manufacturerswere unable to fulfill theneeds of the Indianmilitary com-pletely. After theUS forbid the saleof the Phalconradars to China,Israel AerospaceIndustries madethem for the Indian Air Force.

In the ten years since then,Tel Aviv has become a leading

supplier of arms to India withthe estimated value of the

contracts signed touchingnearly $10 billion.

Israeli compa-nies haverisen to thechallenge of

adapting to theneeds of theIndian Armed

Forces. Israel haswon contracts for variousmodernisation programmesand Israeli electronics have

now been fitted on Russianequipment in the Indian mili-tary: tanks, helicopters andfighter aircraft.

Israeli firms such as Rafael,Elbit Systems, Israel Aero-space Industries (IAI), IsraelWeapon Industries (IWI)showcased their hardware atthe DefExpo 2012.

IAI showcased its Barak-8missile defense system. Cre-ated to respond to multiplethreats the Barak can beinstalled on fighters,

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You could take any specificaircraft, any specific systemsof that aircraft and you eithertake instructor-based trainingor a computer-based training.We do that.

The third group in whichwe have about 35-40 peoplein, is engaged in developingcritical sub-systems of oursimulators. They do the soft-ware engineering here andsend it back to our headquar-ters in Montreal where it isintegrated into the maindevice. So in a nutshell that isthe footprint of what we havespecifically based in Banga-lore. Now we have set up afull blown office in Delhi forour military business. We arealso going to have our eighthentity which is going to be aJoint Venture with InterGlobein Greater Noida where wehave a six-day training facility.It’s very big. Initially we aregoing to have two Airbus sim-ulators based here in Delhifor pilots in this part of thecountry to go and train there.

On simulators for the IndianArmed Forces

See, Indian Armed Forces likeI said, we are covering all theForces. We have built flight-training devices for aircraftslike Dornier. We have forMIG 21, MIG 27, we have theAN32 ,these are installed inthe Air Force Bases either inthe forward bases or in thetransport bases like Yela-hanka near Bangalore. So thepilots train on the device.Most of these are not what wecall full mode - they don’thave the motion flight train-ing device but with very goodvisuals; and we also under-take AMCs of these machines— either own or by otherOEMs. A case in point ofanother OEM is Jaguar. Wehave done the upgrade ofJaguar simulators at Gorakh-pur and at Ambala and hand-ed it over after bringing it upto speed.

On the Naval side we havedeveloped gaming softwarecalled ASPT (Action SpeedPractical Trainer). We have thecrew of two ships, the redship and the blue ship. Theycan play a war game onscreen. We have also got

another slightly higher levelof war gaming for Navy called‘Poseidon’ which is playedbetween the commanders ofthe ships. So ASPT is for thecrew and ‘Poseidon’ is withthe commanders. That is onthe Navy side. We have devel-oped simulators for sub-marines. We have it installedin WiFi.

On the Army side, we’vegot simulators for crew gun-ners. So if you are a gunnerin a tank, if you have a simu-lator where you can ‘fire’ on astationary target or a movingtarget, when you are station-ary or when you are moving -various combinations. Thenwe have what is called a Dri-ver Simulator for the driverto sit and operate a tank. Youcan go over sand dunes, youcan go over all kinds of ter-rain.

We also have these simula-tor networked in what iscalled a combat troop trainer,which we have developedwith CVRDE in Bangalore. Wehave a combination of threesets of drivers and gunner,driver-gunner, driver-gunner.

We have six (three) sets ofcrews training together andthe beauty is that thoughthese are physically set apart,when the driver goes over asand dune the gunner seesthat movement and when thegunner fires, the driver feelsthe recoil. These are fullmotion with six degrees offreedom - very real and verytrue to life. We have alsodeveloped simulators for theBMPII armored vehicle,which is under trials andsomething, should come outof that.

On the simulators for the P8IPoseidonP8I is a platform supplied byBoeing for the Indian Navyand we have already done theP8A which is the Americanversion. So we are well quali-fied to replicate the require-ment here. The P8A is nothingbut a Boeing 737 platform. Sowe are in talks with the OEMand we are also in talks withthe Navy but it’s still very ear-ly days. It is we who are say-ing that look we can do this.

unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs), helicopters and mis-siles. IAI also exhibited theEL/I-3360 Maritime PatrolAircraft. This system is a mul-ti-role airborne system usefulfor providing situational andmaritime domain supremacy.IAI also exhibited the Haropsystem a hunter-killer dronedesigned to loiter the battle-field and attack targets byself-destructing into them.Another interesting IAI prod-uct was their Ground TargetAcquisition & DesignationSystem (GTADS), which is aself-contained, tripod-mounted, gyrostabilizedobservation and targetingsystem GTADS ensures thetargeting mission success byproviding quick deployment,remote control, day and nighttarget acquisition, auto-track-ing, laser designation of mov-ing targets and increasedoperator survivability - all inone single unit.

Elbit Systems unveiled theHermes 900, a next-genera-tion medium altitude longendurance (MALE)Unmanned Aerial System(UAS). Capable of operatingbeneath cloud cover, this is anelectrically propelled system.

IWI showcased the latestiteration of its iconic Uzi sub-machine gun, the 9mm UziPro. Specially designed forSpecial Forces and paramili-tary forces it is very suitablefor VIP protection and lawenforcement activities. IWIalso revealed its new model inthe Negev family of lightmachine guns (LMGs) -NEGEV NG7; Ace family of5.56mm- and 7.62mm-caliberassault rifles; and Tavor familyof 5.56mm-caliber assaultrifles.

Rafael showed off a range oftheir products at the Expo.Iron Dome is a mobile airdefense system designed tointercept and destroy short-

range rockets and artilleryshells.

Trophy, an active protec-tion system (APS), designed tosupplement the armor of bothlight and heavy armored fight-ing vehicles, was also show-cased. On March 1, 2011, Tro-phy successfully destroyed ananti-tank missile launchedfrom the Gaza Strip toward aMerkava Mark IV tank.

Rafael also exhibited theSPYDER, an advancedground-based air-defence sys-tem based on the Derby andthe Python missiles. Othersystems that Rafael showed offwere the Spike family of anti-tank missile systems and theSamson and Typhoon remoteweapon stations.

Setbacks like the allegationsof fraud notwithstanding,what is certain is that Israelwill continue to be the sourceof high technology weaponryand knowhow for years tocome for India.

SEEK AND DESTROY: TheIsraeli pavilion hosted a rangeof innovative products, likethese Python, and Derby andIron Dome missiles from Rafael

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The German major with vastexperience insubmarine andnaval technologyproposes to startan Indiansubsidiary to focuson the emergingopportunities

Aslew of Americandefence and aerospacemajors turned up atDefexpo 2012. Recent

big-ticket procurements suchBoeing C-17 heavy lift trans-port aircraft, the LockheedMartin C-130J tactical aircraft,and Textron’s Sensor FusedWeapons are a sign that theIndo-US defence coopera-tion are on a sure foot-ing.

NorthropGrummanshowcased itsrange of industry-leading capabili-ties in airborneearly warning andcontrol systems for maritimereconnaissance, andunmanned aircraft. The E-2DAdvanced Hawkeye aircraftfeatured newly designed elec-tronically scanned radar witha matching suite of sensors,avionics, processors, software

and displays to provide themost technologicallyadvanced command and con-trol capability available world-wide.

The backbone of this air-craft is the AN/APY-9 radarwith a two-generation leap incapability and providesgreater flexibility and signifi-

cantly improved detectionand tracking over all

terrains.A E-2D

tactical workstation was

available todemonstrate

the capabilitiesand functionali-

ty of the E-2D AdvancedHawkeye for military and civilapplications. The companyalso showcased the MQ-4CBroad Area Maritime Surveil-lance Unmanned Aircraft Sys-tem (BAMS UAS) based on amaritime derivative of the

ATLAS starting Indiansubsidiary

ATLAS ELEKTRONIK,the European maritimeand naval solutionsmajor, showcased its

wide spectrum of productsand technologies at Defexpo.Two of the products dis-played were: SeaSpider andSeaHake torpedo, along withthe mine disposal systemcalled the SeaFox. ATLASshowcased a presentation oftheir “Integrated SensorUnderwater System” (ISUS)including a surface perform-

L&T, India’s heavy engineering giant with a

significant contribution in the Indian missile

and nuclear submarine programmes, is

diversifying into other areas of defence.

MV KOTWAL speaks about the plans

On the Future InfantryCombat Vehicle (FICV) pro-grammeThis is a futuristic pro-gramme and it must have anIndian focus. We are havinga combination of partners.Essentially, the vehicle does-n’t exist. The design of ourvehicle will be totally in-house. The integration, con-cept and system design willbe ours a significant part ofthe manufacturing will bedone in our facility. Weexpect the announcement ofthe shortlisted firm in thenext quarter. If short-listed, we will buildthe production facilityin no time. The productionof the FICV is expected in2016-17. We already havemassive a manufacturingfacility in Hazira forheavy equipment.

On the contributionto indigenousnuclear submarineINS Arihant We developed a numberof skills for the INSArihant pro-grammein-house.We didall themajorparts

for INS Arihant like theentire hull. We created aseparate design team for thenuclear submarine pro-gramme. Today, we have fullvirtual reality systems forsubmarine design. Our sys-tem design and analysiscapability is cutting edge.We are capable of buildingto specification. Hazira iscapable of manufacturingsubmarines.

On the Katupalli ship man-ufacturing facilityWe have already invested in

the Katupalli shipmanufacturing facili-ty, and if needed that

facility can be used for thesecond line of submarinemanufacturing for the Indi-

an Navy. We have hugeship lift facility at

Katupalli that hasbeen completely

designed by us.We have in-depth

capability indesigning. Katupalliis fully functional

and we are capa-ble of manu-

factur-inghugeshipsthere.

FICV must have anIndian focus”“

INTERVIEW

Late entrants into the Indian market, they have notched upquite an impressive list of contractsin a relatively short span of time

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America opens upits arsenal

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combat-proven RQ-4 GlobalHawk unmanned aircraft. Thisdrone has significant persist-ent maritime intelligence, sur-veillance and reconnaissance(ISR) capability.

Textron Systems show-cased their ground basedsmart weapons and NavalCommon Unmanned SurfaceVessel. BAE Systems show-cased their M777 155mmlightweight howitzer as well asthe BvS 10 All TerrainArmoured Vehicle, anamphibious armoured vehiclebased on a twin-cab, articulat-ed steering system.

Sikorsky, among the twocompanies that have beenshortlisted by the Union Min-istry of Defence to supply 16multi-role helicopters to Indi-an Navy in a deal pegged at $1billion, was also present at theDefexpo.

Boeing makes the giantC17 transports that havealready been supplied to Indi-an Air Force and also makesthe AH-64 Apache that arewidely believed to be the takenup by the Indian military.

Lockheed Martin that hasbagged the order for the C-130Super Hercules tactical trans-port aircraft also showcasedtheir offerings for the Navy’sMaritime ReconnaissanceHelicopter.

Another American compa-ny, Honeywell, is in contentionfor the Jaguar engine. Honey-

well and Hindustan Aeronau-tics Limited have 25 of years ofsuccessful partnerships. KeyHoneywell systems and sub-systems are key componentsof India’s indigenous LightCombat Aircraft (LCA),(Advance Light Helicopter).

Harris RF Communica-tions displayed its line ofsecure radio communicationsand embedded high-gradeencryption solutions for mili-tary, government and com-

mercial organisations. Thecompany’s Falcon family ofsoftware-defined tactical radiosystems encompasses manpack, handheld and vehicularapplications. Harris RF Com-munications is also a leadingsupplier of assured communi-cations systems and equip-ment for public safety, utilityand transportation markets.

Another American firm at

the Defexpo was Ceradyne - avertically integrated manufac-turer of lightweight ceramiccomposite and metal compos-ite armour systems for person-nel, vehicles, naval vessels hel-icopters and aircraft applica-tions. Ceradyne compositearmor solutions deliver signifi-cant weight reduction withmulti-hit armor performance.

Telephonics Corporation, aleading designer, developerand manufacturer of high-

technology integrated infor-mation, communication andsensor system solutions to mil-itary and commercial markets,announced the formation of aJoint Venture (JV) with Mahin-dra & Mahindra Ltd, which willprovide the Indian Ministry ofDefence (MOD) and the Indi-an Civil sector with radar andsurveillance systems, Identifi-cation Friend or Foe (IFF)

devices and communicationsystems. In addition, the JVintends to provide systems forAir Traffic Management servic-es, Homeland Security andother emerging surveillancerequirements.

Also at the Defexpo was UStechnology major Raytheonwhich produces missile sys-tems, communication sys-tems, radars and radomes,security solutions/systems andinfrared systems for use in thedefense and homeland securi-ty sectors.

General Dynamics Corpo-ration, one of the largestdefence contractors in theworld, was also present. Gen-eral Dynamics is a marketleader in land and expedi-tionary combat vehicles andsystems, armaments, andmunitions; shipbuilding andmarine systems; and, mission-critical information systemsand technology.

Textron Systems, from whothe Indian Air Force is acquir-ing 512 sensor fused weapons(SFW), was also present at theDefexpo. Textron Systems is anaerospace and manufacturingfirm providing a host of inno-vative technologies. The com-pany is a business unit of Tex-tron Inc, an industrial con-glomerate that includes BellHelicopter, E-Z-GO, Cessnaaircraft and Greenlee, amongothers.

ance. Atlas Elektronik alsoexhibited the ACTAS, its‘Low Frequency ActiveTowed Array Sonar’ for sur-face ships.

The company is a part ofThyssenKrupp, the ownersof HDW (Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH) andEADS.

Speaking to Geopolitics,Khalil Rahman, India headof Atlas Elektronik said: “Weproduce the sonar rays, thecombat system and thecommand system and wealso produce the effector inthe submarine, which is thetorpedo. So we have a com-plete range of torpedo tech-

nologies. In fact, we are theonly company that has thefull range of technologiesfrom the homing head tothe casket and the fibreoptical wire guiding sys-tem.”

Atlas has been present inIndia since the 1980s. Theysupplied components forthe Shishumar- class sub-marines, acquired from theHDW. They provide thecombat systems, the torpe-does and the sonar systemsof these subs. They are nowalso involved in the upgradeof these boats.

Speaking further on thepartnership with HDW, Rah-

man said, “We will be bid-ding with our shareholderHDW for the Projects 75India and, of course, whenthe tender will come outand what will happen, yourguess is as good as mine,but it’s a very importantprogramme for Atlas.”

Atlas, like other foreignfirms, is planning to start anIndian subsidiary. Rahmaninformed Geopolitics, “Ourplan is to create a 100 percent Atlas subsidiary inIndia and this will establisha footprint, both commer-cial and technical. This isongoing. It should be withinthe next few months.”

ROHITSRIVASTAVA

EYE IN THE SKY: The E2D would arm the Indian fleet withconsiderable tactical airborne early warning prowess

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Airbus tests out its multi-role tankertransport — in competition for the IndianAir Force’s tanker bid — at high altitude

A 330 ATLEH!

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AIRBUS RECENTLY released ariveting series of picture of theA 330 multi-role tanker trans-port (MRTT) at Leh airport. The

air craft was in Ladakh during the flighttrials of the Indian Air Force’s refuellingtanker bid. The aircraft landed in Leh atan elevation of 10,682ft (3256m), one ofthe highest air bases in the world, forhigh altitude operations capability test.The A 330 MRTT and Ilyushin IL-78MKare the two contenders in the bid whichis currently going through trial reportevaluations.

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While the trials have been completed,the competition moves to the criticalinside lane that includes a trials reportand the submission of commercial offers.The Air Force conducted both ground tri-als and flight trials. During the flight trials,the IAF tested air-to-air refuelling withvarious aircraft. Aircraft handling was alsoassessed. Airbus Military said the testsincluded take-offs and landings at Leh. Asper the requirement, the A330 MRTT usedfor the trials was equipped with a three-point refuelling configuration, with a fuse-lage refuelling unit rather than a boom.

www.geopolitics.in

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Lockheed Martin commemo-rated the 4,500th F-16

Fighting Falcon’s delivery onApril 3 with a ceremony withemployees, customers and for-mer executives.

The F-16, one of the most suc-cessful fighter aircraft, is pro-duced in partnership with fivecountries. The first productionorders were placed in 1975 andat present it is the front-linefighter for 26 nations. The4,500th F-16 is an advancedblock 52 aircraft destined forMorocco.

Larry Lawson, Executive VicePresident, Aeronautics Business,said on the occasion, “The F-16is the world standard for evolu-tionary fighters today, and it willcontinue to secure the freedomof the United States and its alliesin peace and combat fordecades to come. This milestonedemonstrates that LockheedMartin has the finest aerospaceworkforce, and it is our privilegeto serve air forces worldwide.”Currently the production is forTurkey, Morocco, Egypt, Omanand Iraq.

F-16 models are denoted byincreasing block numbers toindicate upgrades. The blockscover both single- and two-seatversions. A variety of software,hardware, systems, weaponscompatibility, and structuralenhancements have been insti-tuted over the years to graduallyupgrade production models andretrofit delivered aircraft.

LOCKHEED COMMEMORATES4,500 F-16DELIVERIES

FLYING HIGH: The MRTTtransporter promises to fillthe gap in India’s air-operations in mountains.

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The first night refuelling in the history of the Lock-heed Martin F-35 programme was completed in

late March. The aircraft rendezvoused with an AirForce KC-135 tanker and successfully received fuelthrough the F-35’s boom receptacle. The aircraftcompleted its first in-flight refuelling mission in lateApril at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The air-craft — known as AF-4— configured with externalweapons, had two inert AIM-9X weapons externally,four external stores and internally it was carryingtwo Joint Direct Attack Munitions and two AdvancedMedium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles. In the two-hourflight the flying qualities of the aircraft while maneu-vering with external weapons was tested. The F-35 isready for weapons separation testing later this year.

Meanwhile, the Airbus Military A400Mnew generation airlifter, visited Asia

between April 14 and 20. Malaysia, anA400M customer, was the first stop of itsthree-nation Asia tour that continued withtrips to Jakarta, Indonesia, and Chiang Maiand Bangkok before returning to Europe.

The Malaysian Government hasordered four of the new aircraft whichhad nations like Belgium, France, Ger-many, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey andthe UK as its launch customers. TheA400M is an all new military airlifterdesigned to fly higher, faster and further,while retaining high manoeuvrability,low speed, and short, soft and rough air-field capabilities. It combines both tacti-cal and strategic/logistic missions, whilebeing also able to be used as a tankerplane. The multipurpose A400M can dothe job of three of today’s different air-craft models in a single one.

Kishore Jayaraman, is the newPresident of Rolls-Royce in India

and South Asia. He joins Rolls-Royceafter a distinguished 23 year career atGeneral Electric. He was also CEO,GE Energy- India Region. Thisappointment reinforces the Group’scommitment to India. Rolls-Roycehas been active in India for 80 years.

Speaking on the occasionMichael Shipster, Rolls-Royce,Director-International, said:“Kishore is an experienced industryprofessional with valuable knowl-edge and expertise. India is animportant market for Rolls-Royce,with great potential built on a longand distinguished history across allof our business sectors. In appoint-ing a leader with Kishore’s experi-ence in India we are reinforcing ourcommitment to this importantregion.”

Kishore Jayaraman, commentedon his appointment, “I look forwardto building on the strong and longestablished foundation in India. Wewant to be a partner in progresswith India and I am excited by theopportunity this role presents.”

Cobham has announced the appoint-ment of Robert (Bob) Murphy as

Chief Executive Officer of Cobham witheffect from June 25, 2012. He willreplace Andy Stevens who resigned dueto the recurrence of a long term seriousback injury. Andy Stevens will continueto assist the Board until further noticeand will support Bob during this transi-tion.

Bob has experience of more than 25years in the civil, commercial anddefence sectors. He is a member of theExecutive Committee of BAE Systemsplc and is currently Executive Vice President with responsibility for theglobal operations of the Product Sectorsbusiness for BAE Systems.

Before taking his current responsibil-ity, Bob was President of the Land &Armaments business and previouslyheld positions in BAE Systems, as ChiefFinancial Officer and President of thelegacy Technology Solutions Sector.

Bob holds a Bachelor of Sciencedegree in Business Administration andMarketing from the State University ofNew York at Plattsburgh. He serves on the Board of Trustees for the Nation-al Defence Industrial Association(NDIA) and on the Board of Directors inTurkey.

JAYARAMAN TO HEAD RR

COBHAM HAS A NEW CEO

F-35A COMPLETES FIRST IN-FLIGHTREFUELLING MISSION

A 400M VISITS ASIA

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CAE has around $ 969 million worthof military orders from the last fiscal

year. This also includes orders won in itsrecent fourth quarter of more than $400million.

Martin Gagne, CAE’s Group Presi-dent, Military Products, Training andServices, said, “We are pleased to have

completed the year with a strong orderintake, which demonstrates the unique-ness of CAE’s defence business and sol-id pipeline of opportunities in bothestablished and emerging markets. Weremain encouraged by the continuedinvestment in simulation-based train-ing by our defence customers as theyseek ways to maintain readiness at alower cost.”

The company has received contractsfrom more than 15 countries during thelast fiscal year. Some of the key ordersduring the year gone by included six P-8A operational flight trainers for Boeingand the United States Navy, four C-130Jweapon systems trainers for LockheedMartin and the United States Air Force,upgrade and services contracts for theGerman Air Force, etc.

CAE ORDERS

Cassidian CyberSecurity, a new busi-ness entity from EADS Cassidian will

be entirely devoted to addressing the fast-growing cyber security market acrossEurope and Middle East. The initial focusof the company will be on the market ofGermany, United Kingdom and France.The new firm has been formed with all thecyber security expertise available with theEADS Group and the intention is to estab-lish itself as a key player in this domain.

In order to provide appropriate solu-tions to the specific demands of theFrench, British and German sovereignty,the business of Cassidian CyberSecuritywill initially be entrusted to three dedicat-ed national companies under the umbrel-la of a global cyber security organisation.

Stefan Zoller, CEO of Cassidian, com-mented: “The creation of CassidianCyberSecurity reinforces Cassidian’sstrategy in security, in which it alreadyhas strong dedicated capabilities. Thismarket segment is very dynamic and weexpect significant growth.”

Hervé Guillou, CEO of CassidianCyberSecurity explained: “The creation ofCassidian CyberSecurity offers dedicatednational entities, able to build trust-based relationships with national agen-cies, industries and critical infrastructureoperators initially within our threelaunch countries of France, Germany andthe United Kingdom. Being a pure playerwill enable us to adopt a strategic posi-tion in Europe — first of all with our exist-ing customers, who are looking to workwith trusted experts fully aware of the lat-est threats.”

“CASSIDIANCYBERSECURITY”ANNOUNCED INS Teg, the advanced version of the

Talwar class guided missile frigate,was commissioned at the Yantar ship-yard in Kaliningrad, Russian Federa-tion, on April 27 by Vice Admiral K NSushil, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command.

The 125-metre, 4000 tonne frigate,INS Teg, is a contemporary warshipwith advanced technologies thatmakes her stable, stealthy, fast andformidable. These frigates are beingbuilt to meet the specific commandand control needs of the Indian Navyfor co-ordinated surface, air andunderwater missions.

The vessel is equipped with BRAH-MOS surface-to-surface missile sys-tem, a surface-to-air missile system,100 mm medium range gun, Close-inWeapons System, Torpedo tubes andAnti-Submarine rockets.

The ship’s advanced weaponssuite and sensors are fully integratedwith its Combat Management Sys-tem. The vessel is net centric capableand can undertake a broad spectrumof maritime missions. The vessel alsohas an anti-submarine or an air-borne early warning helicopter — adominant force multiplier.

INS Teg class ships will continuewith the Talwar class stealth technologies to reduce its radarcross-section, infrared and magneticsignatures, as well as lessen radiate underwater noise. Teg is manned bya crew of about 250 including 25 offi-cers. It is expected to arrive in Indiaby end-June 2012. The next two shipsof this class, namely Tarkash andTrikand, are expected to be deliveredby September 2012 and mid-2013,respectively.

INS TEG COMMISSIONED IN RUSSIA

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ON APRIL 5, INS Chakra was for-mally inducted into the IndianNavy. The erstwhile Nerpa ofAkula class of Russian Nuclear

attack submarine was rechristened as INSChakra in honour of the first nuclear sub-marine of Russian origin that was withIndia under lease. INS Chakra is on leasefor ten years.

Speaking at the INS Chakra inductioninto the Navy Defence Minister AKAntony said, “Over the years, the IndianOcean region has assumed great strategicsignificance. Geo-strategically, India isthe hub of this region. The disruption ofsea-borne trade due to piracy, terrorism,or conflict can have serious repercussionson the economies and overall well-beingof nations in the Indian Ocean region. Iwish to strongly emphasise that our navalpresence is not at all directed against anynation, but only to act as a stabilising

May 2012

Indian Navy gets more muscle to counter Chinese threats inthe east with the induction of the first nuclear submarine

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force and protect our strategic interests.Towards this end, the induction of INSChakra is a step in the right direction.INS Chakra would no doubt play a majorrole in reshaping maritime operations ofthe Indian Navy in the years to come andensure security, sovereignty and eco-nomic prosperity of the country.”

Akula meaning Shark in Russian wasthe NATO reporting name of the subcapable of launching nuclear missiles,torpedos, cruise missiles from subsur-face. The 10000 tonnes stealth SSN withalmost zero noise signature can move ata top speed of 30 knots — twice thespeed of any conventional submarine,has four 533 mm torpedo tubes and four650 mm torpedo tubes. In its currentavatar for India, it doesn’t carry anynuclear weapon or missile. The subma-rine is manned by a 80-member crewtrained in Russia. The vessel will be used

in the training of Indian Navy personnelfor the indigenous submarine fleet. Cur-rently, India has one SSN Arihant under-going trials, and two more of the sameclass in different stages of manufactur-ing.

The erstwhile Chakra which was onlease for three years from 1988-1991from Russia was inducted for the pur-pose of familiarising India with nuclearsubmarine technology. India had beenworking on the ATV — Advanced Tech-nology Vessel name for the Indiannuclear submarine programme since the80s. The Chakra was inducted to give aplatform for the training and under-standing the needs of nuclear subma-rine. The vessel was released due tofinancial constraints.

India has come back full circle aftertwo decades and hopes of success thistime is high. The deal with Russia was

signed in 2004 for $900 million and thesubmarine was supposed to don Indiancolours in 2008 but due to malfunction-ing of the environmental control system,poisonous gases were released and somesailors died. The delay jeopardised theIndian training schedule and even theArihant induction got delayed. But allseems to be falling in line for IndianNavy. The vessel stationed at Vishakhap-atnam gives a broad indication of itsfocus area: the importance of the Strait ofMalacca and an assertive China hasforced the Indian Navy to put all its bestassets in the eastern fleet.

Minister Antony said, “The nation isreally proud of this latest addition to theIndian Navy. All of us look forward tooperate this powerful platform. I amconfident that whenever called upon,INS Chakra, would bring credit and gloryto our country and the Indian Navy.”


THE CONQUERER OF SEAS:The nuclear submarine canneutralise any threats in India’smaritime domain

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PROMETHEUS UNBOUND

May 2012

Indian Army modernisation as a sub-text of overall defence modernisation is seriously adrift.It needs Prometheus to become unbound — at the apex political, bureaucratic, scientific and

Army levels to deliver. An examination by RAJ MEHTA

May 2012

To suffer woes which Hope thinks infinite;To love, and bear;to hope till Hope createsFrom its own wreck the thing it contem-plates.

— Extracted from Prometheus Unboundby Percy Bysshe Shelley.

“My modernisation vision is to ‘adapt tohigh-end technology, improve night-fighting capability…information technol-ogy, information warfare and networkcentric warfare. The freezing of theArmy’s proposal to raise a mountainstrike corps is a setback…We need moneyto modernise... In 1962, we were illequipped and ill prepared. We underwentnational humiliation; a state of affairs notworth repeating.” Recent media coveragehas repeatedly recorded his sound bytesthat things are indeed grim. The countryrecalls with disquiet what General VedMalik had famously said during the KargilWar, 1999: “We will fight with what wehave”, thereby bluntly indicating that theheroism and sacrificial spirit of the Armywould make up for the serious moderni-sation deficits the Army was compelled tofight with.

This article examines the structure andperceived deficiencies in Army moderni-sation as a sub-text of overall defencemodernisation, with passing reference tokey Army deficiencies in demand andsupply of modern war fighting material.

Modernisation HighlightsGoing purely by the recently announced

FY 2012-13 Defence Budget, one mightfeel that a turnaround may be around -albeit, a qualified one may be. The UnionBudget indicates a 17.6 per cent hike indefence; allotting `28,992 crores over theongoing year’s `1,4,415 crores allotment.India will thus spend `1,93,407 crores($38.6 billion) on defence. That said, thebudget remains below 2 per cent of theGDP, at 1.90 per cent. 41 per cent of thebudget, `79,579 crore, is for modernisa-tion. Left unspent from last year is `3055crore. The IAF will get `29, 853 crore andthe Navy `23865 crore for modernisation,with the Army getting the least, at `18,828crore.

Research and Development (R&D) hasgot a cosmetic hike of `18 crores over lastyear (`4640 crores). What is sobering isthe fact that India’s defence budget is just40 percent of China’s $106 billion militarybudget announced days ago, being 2.01percent of its 2010 GDP. With DefenceMinister AK Antony candidly acceptingmajor slippages in defence modernisa-tion (“We are at least 15 years behind”),his plea for raising the budget to 3 to 3.5per cent of the GDP has gone unheard.

Modernisation TravailsWhat then is the message worth sharingwith readers? Ashley Tellis is right whenhe says, “Given its size, history and ambi-tions, India will always march to the beatof its own drummer”. How does thishomily impact defence modernisation?Are there such Prometheus’ who can beunbound at varying levels of apex leader-ship, defence, defence-finance, R&D, the

Services and bureaucracy; people whounderstand both national interest andthe modernisation conundrum and cansynergise these with other force-multipli-ers that make up national power? Maybethey can. Let us see what their challengesare.

Today, defence modernisation is a canof worms that no one seems capable ofde-worming. With key positions handledlargely by unseeing, untrained, egoistic,“don’t tell me, I know” mandarins orpoliticians led by linear thinking and notvision, true modernisation is deficient inbudgetary allocation, choked in red tape,convoluted policies, carpet-baggers andwhat this writer calls, “Bofors-it is”; fear ofexposure of corrupt practices that hascastrated defence equipment acquisition.The number of cases painstakinglyprocessed for sanction using antiquated,time-consuming tools only to be junkedat the last moment, is legend. The recentcases of replacement of artillery guns andhelicopters getting jettisoned by a min-istry that is affected by Bofors-itis hasadversely impacted modernisation.

Strategic Culture DeficitWe also lack strategic culture. Two recent,connected developments bring out thisgenetic deficiency in our system. The firstis the ongoing, indecorous fighting overownership of the Indian NationalDefence University (INDU). Twelve yearsafter the need was accepted, all that hashappened is that land acquisition isunderway, with no official indication ofits vision, content, staffing, national and

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RMY/

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URGENT REQUIREMENT: As the debaterages around the M-777, it must be notedthat the last major acquisition of towedgun-howitzers was that of the Bofors gunsin the mid-1980s

international connectivi-ty, entry standards, and functioning. Thesecond development is the commission-ing on February 28, 2012, of a controver-sial quasi-Government document calledNon Alignment 2.0: a Foreign and Strate-gic Policy for India in the 21st Century bya group of Indian foreign policy experts.The document has been criticised bymainstream serving and ex-Governmentofficials and think-tanks for its shallowcontent and inadequately researchedwar-fighting doctrines for proposed useagainst China.

Indigenisation NightmareA key aspect of modernisation is the needto indigenise and produce qualitywarfighting material, thereby breakingfree from time-delays and possible black-mail. Our record here makes for embar-rassing recall. But for strategic missilesand to an extent communications, wehave little to be proud of. Our OrdnanceFactory Board (OFB) produces mediocrewarfighting material. The militarywastes quality time for indigenisedproducts before following theimport route and, quite often,the transfer-of-technologyroutes even for small arms,leave alone hardware such

as tanks, guns, helicop-ters, aircraft and

s h i p s / s u b m a r i n e s .The”Made in India” brand for cynical

defence observers often means “Assem-bled in India” with majority contentimported. The performance deficiency ofthe OFB has no accountability towardsthe armed forces.

The Defence Research and Develop-ment Organisation (DRDO) is getting outof its time-warp under a dynamic DG-cum-Scientific Adviser to Raksha Mantri,Dr V K Saraswat. Change, however, takestime in India. We maintain high stan-dards in strategic missiles and high endcommunication digital/non-digital, butlag behind on more mundane equip-ment. The claimed Arjun tank success,over 40 years after the Main battle Tank(MBT) project was first conceived, hasreluctant Army end-users though muchmedia hype has been generated on itsbeing world class. A tank that weighs inexcess of 60 tons; has a huge thermal sig-

nature and only restricted employabilityin a country that has poor road infra-structure and few high-speed rail corri-dors with Over Dimension Clearance(ODC) that the Arjun demands (it is muchbroader, heavier and taller than all otherMBTs including the T-90 tank). The Arjun,unlike the T-90, is not air-transportable.

Anyone looking for a solution out ofthe current impasse has to realise fourthings: Foremost is the fact that under thecurrent Defence Procurement Procedure(DPP), the OFB/DRDO have to certifythat the proposed equipment cannot bemanufactured by them; a certificationgiven reluctantly for pretty obvious rea-sons. The second, connected issue is thatwe invest little in pure research. An allo-cation of `18 crores (around $ 4 million)over last year’s DRDO budget of under $ 1

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UNACCEPTABLE DELAYS: Inordinatedelays held back the creation of the Arjuntank (left) and the acquisition of the Hawktrainer (top)

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billion for one of the world largestdefence forces indicates our intellectualpoverty in this regard. Thirdly, althoughwe have leaders of Indian industry whoare competing with the best in the world,the defence/civil industry interface is waybehind the need. The USA, Brazil, UK,Singapore, Israel are all good examples ofhow indigenisation can drive modernisa-tion if private players are given a boost.Lack of comprehension, socialist baggageand plain ineptitude are the contributoryfactors for this shoddy state of affairs. Notthe least, the whole process of defencemodernisation needs serious restructur-ing of all defence establishments andtheir mindsets. Urgent rewiring that hasto be done to get politicians, bureaucrats,defence-finance, soldier and scientist tothink and work in unison. Without thisunified approach, we will muddle alongas we have all these years, but withoutmuch confidence in our ability to defendour sovereignty and national interests. Toget a sense of how serious the problem is,let us see a few examples of our inepti-tude as well as bureaucratic lassitude inpromoting modernisation.

Modernisation WoesEven hard-bitten defence watchers andmedia were shell-shocked to hear theOFB hierarchy blandly confess, recently,that they had sat on the designs of thecritically-needed 155mm 39 and 45 cali-bre successor guns to the nearly-obsoleteBofors artillery guns for 25 years. Theyhave now agreed to produce the requiredprototypes. The last major acquisition oftowed gun-howitzers was that of about400 pieces of 39-calibre 155mm FH-77Bhowitzers from Bofors of Sweden in themid-1980s. The black listing of the SouthAfrican arms supplier, Denel, just beforea 400 gun and howitzer deal could be

concluded has placed theartillery replacement-

for-Bofors issue inthe cold. Contractswith Russia in2006 for the 12-tube, 300mm

SMERCH multi-barrel rocket

launcher (MBRL)system as well as for

serial production of thePinaka MBRL weapon

system have been placed,the latter with DRDO. Sup-

plies are still awaited. Upgrad-

ing of Weapon Locating Radars boughtfrom USA by Bharat Electronics is pro-ceeding at a snail’s pace.

The indigenously designed Arjun MBTdoes not invite user confidence due to itslong list of modifications; thus slowingmodernisation. Though we have 310imported T-90S tanks and their assemblyin India commenced in 2004, uncertaintywith Arjun has led to ordering another347 T-90 tanks for assembly in India.Meanwhile, a large number of T-72M1(Ajeya) tanks are still awaiting moderni-sation along with the BMP-2 “Sarath”Infantry Fighting Vehicles.

The Futuristic Infantry Soldier As aSystem (F-INSAS) concept is the IndianArmy’s principal infantry modernisationprogramme. The aim is to equip the sol-dier with modular, multi functionweapon systems fit for the future digi-tised battlefield. What is needed are mod-ern anti-tank guided missiles, surveil-lance and acquisition radars, rocketlaunchers, anti-material rifles, assaultrifles, portable, secure, GPS-aided radiosets, bullet and mine-proof vehicles andsuitable body protection that allowshands-free operations. Progress is lax.

Insofar as Air Defence is concerned; thehigh costs of acquiring new weapon sys-tems legislate going in for upgrades for theL-70, ZU-23-2 Twin gun, and ZSU-23-4Schilka. The successor to Schilka alreadyexists in the Tangushka, but more areneeded. In missile systems, Kvadrat (medi-um-range) and OSA-AK (short-range)need replacement by DRDO developedAkash and Trishul surface-to-air (SAM)missiles, but there are slippages. Similarly,Quadrat is to be replaced by a medium-range SAM developed jointly by India andIsrael. A battlefield management systemlinked with the national air defence net-work is being developed by Bharat Elec-tronics, but its status is uncertain.

In the critical communications front,nuclear war-fighting demands dedicatedsatellite communications as well as sur-veillance. Progress is slow. The DefenceCommunication Network (DCN) is also inplanning mode. It is the heart of war-fighting communications and needs rap-id upgrades to advanced levels along withcutting-edge defensive and offensivecyber capability. Army tactical communi-cations need serious updating/replace-ment. The Army’s internal security,counter-insurgency and counter-terror-ism capabilities need modernisation asmost emerging challenges lie in thedomain of sub-conventional conflict andoperations other than war.

In sum, tanks, guns, helicopters,ammunition, surveillance systems, vehi-cles, small arms, bullet proof gear, mis-siles, both tactical and strategic, andstate-of-the-art communications fromthe soldier to the national levels are allseriously affected by modernisation.

The Final WordIn Greek mythology, Prometheus was atransformational champion known forhis wily intelligence and dynamism. Thedefence hierarchy needs such people atall steps of the defence ladder. This articleestablishes that there are some key slotsoccupied not by Prometheus’ clones butby intellectual pygmies. This has adverse-ly affected force modernisation. Conse-quently we have a first- rate defence forcesaddled with second-rate weapons andequipment.

The acme of warfighting is to win with-out fighting. This underscores the need tobe prepared for all contingencies. To doso, modernisation is needed as a syner-gised, ongoing, instead of an off-onprocess. We need political vision,courage, time-sensitive, financial sup-port, national self-belief, military astute-ness and team work - across civil, scien-tific and military streams, and, within theArmy, great clear headedness on theends, ways and means of military suc-cess. To ensure this, Government mustappoint a bipartisan National MilitaryCommission. It must also create a sub-stantial rolling fund with no time-bars -to facilitate speedy procurement. Neededtoo is an Ombudsman answerable to thePrime Minister’s Office PMO to ensure allround functional and financial probity.

(A scholarly soldier, the author is a retiredMajor General, Indian Army)


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DEFENCE FORCESADDLED WITHSECOND-RATEWEAPONS AND

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CUTTING OFF THE NOSE TOSPITE THE FACE

India’s penchant for banning or blacklisting vendors is a great disservice to national security,argues MRINAL SUMAN

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As per a press release issued onMarch 5, 2012, six companieshave been debarred from fur-ther business dealings withthe Ministry of Defence (MoD)

for a period of ten years. They wereaccused in the case of illegal gratificationagainst a former Director General of Ord-nance Factories. In addition to two Indi-an firms, the blacklisted companiesinclude Israel Military Industries (IMI),Singapore Technologies Kinetics (STK),Rheinmetall Air Defence and Corpora-tion Defence of Russia.

The phrase ‘cutting off the nose to spitethe face’ is commonly used to describeneedlessly self-destructive over-reactionto an issue that results in disadvantagingoneself more than the object of one’santagonism or revenge. No other expres-sion describes India’s penchant for black-listing foreign vendors more aptly.

India’s blundering approach is bestillustrated by the case of Nalanda Ord-nance Factory (NOF). Work on the settingup of the factory to manufacture Bi-Mod-ular Charge System (BMCS) for heavy cal-ibre ammunition of Bofors 155 mm how-itzers was started in November 2001.Denel of South Africa was contracted tosupply technology. After having receivedcomplete documents pertaining to trans-fer of technology and paying for them,MoD decided to cancel all contracts withDenel in June 2005. It had emerged thatDenel had employed unacceptablemeans to grab a contract for the supply ofthe NTW-20 Anti-Material Rifle.

Consequently, the NOF project waskept in abeyance from June 2005 to June2006 as the warranty cover of the pur-chased technology had expired. Sanctionto revive the project at a revised cost of

`2161 crore was accorded in February2009 with completion deadline of August2011. After a global search, IMI was select-ed as the new partner and a contract wassigned accordingly. However, as the nameof IMI figured in the case registeredagainst a Director General of OrdnanceFactories (DGOF), MoD decided to put onhold all dealings with IMI in May 2009.

Plants to manufacture chemicals thatgo into the production of BMCS, like Nitro-Cellulose, Nitro-Glycerine and Sulphuric-Acid-Concentration/ Nitric-Acid-Concen-tration are coming up as per the schedule.Hundreds of crores of rupees have beenexpended on erecting these factories with-out any purpose whatsoever as work onthe setting up of the main plant to produceBMCS has not commenced to date. Thus,by imposing bans on Denel and IMI, Indiahas harmed its own interests.

STK was participating in tenders tosupply of 155mm/52 Calibre Towed Guns,155mm/39 Calibre Ultra Light HowitzerGuns and Close Quarter Carbines. Inter-estingly, it was the sole bidder for UltraLight Howitzers. Suspension of dealingswith STK has adversely affected the mod-ernisation plans. In a desperate move,India had to approach the United Statesfor emergent supply of M777 155MMUltra Light Howitzers under the ForeignMilitary Sales procedure, a government-to-government deal.

Shooting the FootThe case of blacklisting of Bofors is symp-tomatic of the haste with which decisionswith far-reaching consequences are takenwithout due thought. After extensive tri-als, a deal was negotiated with theSwedish company in 1986 for the pur-chase of 410 guns duly assembled and

subsequent production of 1,840 pieces inIndia through transfer of technology.Once the news of payment of kickbacksbecame public, India blacklisted the com-pany for corrupt practices.

It was India that suffered more. Boforshad received the full payment of approxi-mately `1,500 crores. On the other hand,having failed to make use of the purchasedtechnology for indigenous productionIndia had to approach middlemen to pur-chase spares at exorbitant rates andresorted to cannibalisation of parts tokeep some guns functional and facedmajor difficulties in overhauling them.Additionally, the Bofors guns of the Navyand 84 mm Carl Gustav Rocket Launchersof the infantry also faced a shortage ofspares. Had India utilised the purchasedtechnology, it would have acquired indige-nous competence to manufacture/main-

May 2012

tain guns and even develop superior ver-sions. The continued shortage of artilleryguns can be attributed to the shortsighteddecision of banning Bofors.

The same story was repeated in thecase of Denel. Plans to mount Denel’s T-6155mm turret on the Arjun hull had beenfinalised and an initial order had alsobeen placed on a public sector undertak-ing, when MoD blacklisted Denel in 2005and ordered suspension of all dealingswith it. In addition to the above men-tioned stoppage of work at NOF, India’sField Artillery Rationalisation Plan also-suffered a severe setback.

The case of banning of the HDW makesfor still sadder reading. As per the con-

tract signed in 1981, HDW supplied twosubmarines to India in 1987.

Thereafter, instead ofassembling the

planned six sub-

marines inIndia, onlytwo had beencompleted when aban was imposed in1990 on HDW forallegedly paying 7 per centcommission to middlemen.Resultantly, India’s submarinemodernisation plan came to a halt and

it was forced to purchase spares for main-tenance, overhaul and repairs fromunscrupulous traders at exorbitant rates.Worse, India failed to exploit importedtechnology that it had paid for to buildindigenous competence.

Display of Zero Tolerance for CorruptionSince the purchase of Bofors howitzers in1986, every major deal has attracted criti-cism for alleged lack of transparency andfinancial impropriety. Despite DefenceMinister AK Antony’s unblemished cre-dentials for probity and his repeated dec-larations of zero tolerance for corruption,allegations of irregularities are beingmade against the Indian defence procure-ment regime with uncanny regularity.

The MoD is rightly concerned about itspoor image and has taken four majorsteps to impart credibility to the system.One, ‘demonstration of the highest degreeof probity and public accountability;transparency in operations; free competi-tion; and impartiality’ has been spelt outas an essential objective of the DefenceProcurement Procedure (DPP). Two, gen-

eration of maximum competition isbeing encouraged. Maximum pub-

licity is being given to all intend-ed procurements and the

qualitative requirementsare required to be of

c o n t e m p o r a r yt e c h n o l o g y

w i d e l ya v a i l -

a b l e

in the world/indigenous market.Three, an independent Technical

Oversight Committee is constituted inrespect of all acquisition proposals inexcess of ` 300 crores to ascertain thatproper procedures have been followedfor technical evaluation of equipment.Finally, signing of Integrity Pact betweenthe Government and vendors has beenmade mandatory for all procurementproposals of indicative value of morethan Rs 100 crores. It is a binding agree-ment in which the government officialspromise not to demand bribes during theprocurement process and bidders prom-ise not to offer bribes. Any violation ofprobity provisions by a company caninvite punitive action.

Despite all the above measures, theenvironment remains convinced that thewhole system is afflicted by corrupt prac-tices and that no vendor can hope to dobusiness with MoD without paying speedmoney. It is to dispel such negativeimpressions that MoD feels compelled totake drastic steps like blacklisting errantcompanies. Surprisingly, MoD is notknown to have imposed any other penaltyon delinquent companies.

Way ForwardAs per the contractual provisions men-tioned in DPP, MoD can take a number ofpunitive actions in case any vendor isproved guilty of violating probity norms.These vary from financial penalties tooutright blacklisting.

Punitive actions must be commensu-rate with the degree of misdemeanor andtaken in a phased and graduated manner.

Such a process will convey the serious-ness of the Government and send a

strong message in unambiguous

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NOVEL COLLABORATION: Tata Power’sStrategic Electronic Division and Larsen &Toubro contribute to the production of theDRDO-developed Pinaka system

terms to the environment, thereby dis-suading a wayward company from com-mitting a more serious infringement.Therefore, the MoD should categorise lev-els of punishment as follows:Level 1 — Varying financial penalties.Level 2 — Forfeiture of bid-security and/or performance bond. There is an elementof ignominy inherent in such a punish-ment.Level 3 — Deduction from payments dueagainst the current contracts. This willinflict heavy financial penalty on the com-pany. Such a step will cost the companydear as it will have to borrow additionalfunds to complete contracts in hand.Level 4 — Disallowing the errant companyfrom participation in future tenders butpermitting it to complete its engagementsin hand without any prejudice.Level 5 — Blacklisting or total debarmentfor an appropriate period of time.

It must be remembered that mostdefence producers are giant conglomerateswith multiple subsidiaries. They are systemintegrators with interests in multifariousdefence technologies and equipment.Debarment of such a company de factoimplies imposing a ban on dealings with allits subsidiaries as well. Thus it is not a singleentity that gets affected but its numerousoffshoots as well, thereby impacting a num-ber of procurement cases.

Take the case of Israel Aircraft Indus-tries Ltd (IAI). Fears were being expressedthat it may face a ban due to alleged irreg-ularities in the Barak anti-missile deal.Fortunately, MoD did not take any hastydecision. In addition to being involved inthe upgradation of various aircraft, IAI isco-partnering many high-tech develop-mental projects as well. Most critically, it isthe prime contractor for Airborne EarlyWarning and Control System for India.The blacklisting of IAI would have severelyaffected the modernisation plans of thearmed forces.

India should resist the temptation offlaunting its anti-corruption tenacitythrough abrupt suspension of all dealingswith an allegedly errant company. Beforetaking the extreme step, the followingaspects must be kept in mind:-

Does the allegation stand proved primafacie?Has adequate opportunity been provid-ed to the company to state its case?What is the degree of seriousness of thealleged misdemeanor?What should be the commensuratepunishment?

How will the proposed punishmentaffect India’s interests?In case suspension of dealings is con-sidered to be the unavoidable option, isit the opportune time to order it? Will itbe prudent to wait till own interestsunder ongoing contracts are madesecure? Had India waited for a fewmonths before banning HDW, it wouldhave received all catalogues and draw-ings.It is apparent that the recent blacklist-

ing of IMI is a ‘self-goal’. By awarding Level5 punishment, India crossed the Cusp ofCounter-Productivity. The fate of Nalandafactory has been sealed for good and enor-mous funds wasted. Worse, India’s questfor self-reliance in ammunition for Boforsguns remains unachieved. On the otherhand, the award of Level 4 punishment of

debarring the company from future con-tracts without affecting contracts in handwould have been a far more prudent andjudicious action.

Blacklisting of a company should be thelast resort and taken only in extreme casesas it adversely impacts modernisation ofthe Indian armed forces. Cancellation ofprocurement cases midway results inwastage of considerable effort andresources. Additionally, the whole processhas to be restarted ab initio, resulting intime delays and cost overruns. Thus, black-listing hurts Indian interests more thanpunishing the allegedly errant company.Cu` tting off one’s nose to spite the face cannever be considered an intelligent policy.

(The author is a retired Major General andan authority on arms industry)


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For financial penalties under Levels 1,2 and 3, it is the company that suffers themost whereas the Government’s interest are marginally affected due to strainedrelations and vitiated working environment.At Level 4, errant company is removed from the list of approved vendors for futuretenders. It inflicts a major blow to commercial interests of the company and dentsits standing. Government’s interests are also adversely impacted - competitionand options for future requirements get reduced as there are limited producers ofhigh-tech defence systems in the world. However, no ongoing contract is adverse-ly affected under this punishment level.As Level 5 implies immediate and total ban on all dealings, it is the Governmentthat suffers more than the company. All on-going contracts get stalled with con-siderable payments already made to the company going waste. Thus, the Cusp ofCounter-Productivity is crossed. It amounts to inflicting self-injury. The suspen-sion of deals with Bofors, Denel, HDW and IMI amply proves it. Therefore, thethreshold of Cusp of Counter-Productivity should be crossed only after due dili-gence and once the charges against the accused company stand proved to be ofserious transgression.

Effects on both the company and the Government for various levels of punish-ments have been shown in the above illustration. The following points needto be highlighted:-

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THE DEBATES surrounding theArmy chief's leaked letter havemostly centred on the apparentdecline in relations betweenthe civil bureaucracy and the

military. But the issues raised by the con-tent of the letter itself were somehow lostin the din. In fact, the letter controversyand the unfolding Tatra scam serve tohighlight the extremely erratic and ad hocway in which India's conventional mili-

tary modernisation is being pursueddespite ever-increasing amounts ofresources being made available for thatpurpose. Poor planning would be astrange term to use in the case of India'sdefence procurement practices. As theexperience of grand capital acquisitionprogrammes such as Indian Army's FieldArtillery Rationalisation Programme(FARP) have revealed, it is rather humanerror, oversight and plain old impropriety

that is stunting acquisition programmesrather than any lack of planning. It is hightime that it was understood that merelytweaking acquisition policy or laying outLong Term Integrated Perspective Plans(LTIPP) will not fix the Indian defenceprocurement. Instead, a serious politicalintent to indigenise just might.

The Indian procurement system is cur-rently a specialist in first designingextremely optimistic qualitative require-

INDIGENISATION IS THE KEY

May 2012

The only service that has done somewhat better in its procurement imperatives over theyears is the Indian Navy. And that is because the Indian Navy has evolved a strong ethos of

self-reliance, argues SAURAV JHA

PILATUS


ments as far as weapons systems are con-cerned which, of course, cannot often bemet by indigenous means. Subsequently,the military gleefully turns to setting upan international competitive biddingprocess followed by endless rounds ofcomparative trials since it soon finds outthat even the much-vaunted foreign man-ufacturers are often unable to

meet these unrealistic criteria. Worse fol-lows once vendors start dropping out oras recent experience has shown get black-listed often leading to single vendor situa-tions which make it mandatory for theprocess to be started all over again. It isprecisely this field of Ring a Ring o' Rosesthat has ensured that the Indian Army hasnot inducted any new cannon artillerysince the Bofors scam.

At the other end of the procurementproblem spectrum, we see a situationwhere one of India's hallowed defencepublic sector undertakings (PSUs) cut asweetheart deal with an internationaloriginal equipment manufacturer (OEM)to basically reassemble a product and sellit at a premium to the armed forces as inthe case of the BEML-Tatra scam. Alsogiven that the CBI is now going tochargesheet the incumbent BEML CEO,what we are seeing is essentially a redux

of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB)scandal that broke three years ago withthe arrest of then OFB CEO SudiptaGhosh. Once again, we have a situationwherein bribes have led to a cosyarrangement between a defence PSU anda foreign OEM to supply over-pricedequipment to the Indian military without

entailing any real technology trans-fer.

One would note that theshortcomings in prepared-

ness delineated in theArmy Chief's letter afterall follows directly fromthe OFB scandal of 2009and the blacklisting ofsix firms - SingaporeTechnologies KineticsLtd. (STK), Israel Mili-tary Industries Ltd.(IMI), Rheinmetall Air

Defence (RAD), Corpo-ration Defence, Russia

(CDR), TS Kisan & Co. Pvt.Ltd and RK Machine Tools

Ltd - in that connection. Takethe case of the tank ammuni-tion shortage highlighted inthe Army Chief's letter. Thetype of ammunition is ques-tion here is the Armour Pierc-ing Fin-Stabilized Discarding

Sabot (APFSDS) round which is the key towinning tank engagements in today'sbattlefield. A few years ago it is with IMIthat the OFB had made long-termarrangement to ensure that there wereadequate supplies of APFSDS rounds tothe Army. However, as IMI got singed inthe Sudipta Ghosh scandal so did in asense the Army's stocks of this criticaltype of ammunition. The really sad partof course is that an indigenous APFSDSround for 125 mm guns had been devel-oped by DRDO and could have been pro-

ductionised instead of having to rely onthe Israelis. But of course, the Army foundthe DRDO developed round inadequateand chose to look at the foreign tie upoption instead. Incidentally, DRDO's 120mm APFSDS round designed for theArjun MBT was accepted by the Army andis being currently produced by the OFBunder a technology transfer agreement.

At the moment the Indian Army is lit-erally rushing to import 66,000 APFSDSrounds from a Russian entity that ischarging roughly five times IMI's price asit sees a distress situation. Of course thisclearly begs the question, wouldn't ithave been better had the Army chosen tostick with the indigenously developedround and worked with DRDO to itera-tively improve it? After all rejecting theindigenous solution did not, in the finalanalysis, allow the Army to garner capa-bility either quicker or cost effectively.

Other major projects have also beenaffected due to the IMI link. In 2007, IMIreplaced the by then blacklisted Denelsubsidiary Somtech as the supplier oftechnology to produce bi-modular chargesystems for 155 mm artillery shells at theupcoming OFB factory at Nalanda. Ofcourse the project went into a limbo onceeven IMI got blacklisted and is beingrevived now with DRDO support. As itturns out DRDO had made an indigenousbi-modular charge system way back in2006 which had once again not foundfavour with the Army at the time. Howev-er DRDO claims that the home grown bi-modular system was even then superiorto imported types. In any case the delaysin producing the bi-modular charges hasmeant that the nine regiments of M-46130 mm field guns that were upgraded to155 mm howitzers have been restricted toa range capability of only 17 km instead ofthe designed 40 km that they can achievewith bi-modular charges. So once againcapability was delayed due to impru-dence and impropriety.

The problem with the acquisitionprocess cannot of course simply bereduced to issues in the Army-DRDOrelationship. The rot probably stemsdirectly from the fact that roughly 90 percent of the Ministry of Defence's bureau-cratic staff look at acquisitions. This sim-ply multiplies the probability of turf warsand beltway politics, which in turn, leadsto genuine Army purchases getting stifledas in the case of special forces' equip-ment, which needs to be brought inurgently. Currently, these special forces'

PROBLEMS WITHACQUISITIONCANNOT BE

REDUCED TOISSUES IN THEARMY-DRDO

RELATIONSHIP

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TRAINER TROUBLE: Due to a paucity oftrainer aircraft, like the Pilatus picturedhere, IAF pilots are currently receiving only25 hours of flight training, instead of the150 hours they typically receive

requirements are being addressed by anewly set-up empowered committee,post the letter scandal.

The OFB scandal also made sure thatthe defence establishment became over-cautious whenever a tendering process isinvolved. This is exactly what is happeningin the case of the Indian Air force's basictrainer procurement process. Thanks toKorean Aerospace Industries' allegationsof corruption in the basic trainer competi-tion, the IAF is unable to move ahead insigning an agreement with Pilatus (thewinner of this tender), as the MoD hasordered an investigation into the matter.Even as the investigation progresses,reports suggest that IAF pilots are current-ly receiving only 25 hours of flight traininginstead of the 150 hours they typicallyreceive, on account of a paucity of basictrainers. Clearly in the current environ-

ment of cynicism,nobody is willing totake a bold step toexpedite mattersonce allegations aremade.

The only servicethat has donesomewhat better inits procurementimperatives overthe years is theIndian Navy. Usedto a much smallershare of the budg-etary pie, the Indi-an Navy hasevolved a strongethos of indigeni-sation and despitethe HDW scam ofthe 1990s (whichessentially createdan unnecessarycrisis in its under-water arm) hasstayed the courseon augmentingcapabilities in-house. Moreover,unlike the Armyand the Air Force,which have beenunable to gain con-trol of the OFB andHAL respectively,retired naval offi-cers head Indiandefence shipyards.Moreover, the

Navy's own design bureau helps framerequirements that are far more doableand cognisant of existing capabilities.Even then the Navy has had to deal withtypical issues such as union trouble atIndian public shipyards. It is no wonder,therefore, that the Navy is also turning to

newly-created private shipyards for someof its big future projects and is looking tofacilitate tie-ups between public and pri-vate shipyards besides bringing in foreigncollaborators.

Ultimately indigenisation will also geta push if greater foreign direct investment(FDI) is allowed into the Indian defencesector. The old argument about strategicindependence is increasingly soundinghollow given the sheer quantum ofweaponry being sought to be importedfrom abroad. It is difficult to see how theimport of entire weapon systems fromabroad impairs India's strategic autono-my any less than allowing foreign compa-nies to set up shop on Indian soil.

Imported weapons essentially meanthat the source country has a powerfullever on India by way of controlling sparesand maintenance support. On the otherhand, if the FDI cap is raised to say 49 percent, many big private players in India willbe able to set up joint ventures where seri-ous transfer of technology can take place,not to mention far more responsive main-tenance repair and overhaul. Even withthe current 26 per cent FDI limit indefence, some good solutions are beingoffered by major players such as Tata andMahindra in the land vehicles space.

After all, FDI means more jobs andinvestment in India rather than a situationwhere India squanders tax payer money tokeep workers employed abroad. In fact,India's massive import programmes arebecoming a bigger burden on the Indianpeople than they at first seem, given adepreciating rupee and delays that lead toinflated costs. Moreover India's offset poli-cy, while clever on paper, is not workingout too well either. For instance, the Russ-ian entity that is supplying the emergencyAFPSDS rounds has been exempted fromthe 30 per cent offset clause altogether asit refused to accept offset obligations. Evenin cases where offset obligations havebeen executed, India has reportedlygained very little by way of technology. IfIndia has to break this unending cycle ofdelayed procurements and move towardstrue indigenisation it has to understandthat the current culture at its defencePSUs, MoD bureaucracy and even thearmed forces is more attuned towardslicense producing foreign equipment andneeds to change. Because only when anethos of buying Indian is inculcated intothis milieu by the political leadership thatIndia will be able to project a truly potentmilitary industrial complex.


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THE ARMY ISRUSHING TO

IMPORT 66,000APFSDS ROUNDSFROM RUSSIA ATAN EXORBITANT

PRICE

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UNDERWATER GUARDIANS: Indian Navy has evolved a strongethos of indigenisation despite the HDW scam of the 1990s

INDI

AN N

AVY

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FOLLOWING THE recommenda-tions made by the Kelkar Com-mittee Report (2005) onstrengthening self-reliance indefence preparedness, the Indi-

an Ministry of Defence (MoD) introducedan offset clause for the first time in theDefence Procurement Procedure (DPP)2005. Since then, offsets provisions havebeen elaborated further in subsequentDPPs of 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2011. OnApril 1, 2012, the MoD announced anotherround of changes in the offsets guidelines.These changes bring in transfer of tech-nology, including multipliers, under theambit of offsets, investment in ‘kind’ in thetransfer of technology domain, extensionof offsets discharge by two more yearsbeyond the execution of main contract,penalty capping at 25 per cent, inclusionof non-cash equity in terms of training,tooling, etc, and extension of validity ofoffsets banking credits to seven years.

Since the announcement of DPP-2011last year, the Indian MoD has deliberatedon major aspects of defence procure-ment and specifically on the issue of off-sets. It had constituted a committeeunder the Director General Acquisition(Vivek Rae) to review defence offsetsguidelines and institutional arrangementand recommend further changes for

effective implementation of the offsetspolicy. The Vivek Rae Committee hadheld more than a dozen review meetings,including presentations from the stake-holders, and finally submitted its reportsome time in July 2011. Although theVivek Rae Committee had recommendedmore than ten major changes in the areasof scope and discharge of offsets, includ-ing measures to improve institutionalmechanisms, the Defence AcquisitionCouncil, headed by the Defence Minister,has announced changes only in two keyareas: Transfer of Technology (ToT) andbanking of offsets credits.

While the MoD has been deliberatingon defence offsets, the Indian govern-ment is planning to bring out a national

offsets policy, to be imple-mented under a nodal

agency — National Offsets Authority —under the Cabinet Secretary, whichwould bring in all ministries and depart-ments under the umbrella organisationfor discharge of offsets. The Ministry ofCommerce is coordinating with alldepartments and preparing a policy doc-ument on offsets. Such an effort has beenunderway since 2002 and it was onlysince 2006 that the subject has beenunder intense debate within the govern-ment and a rudimentary form of nationaloffsets policy may come in near future.

Does the MoD need an offsets policy?If so, how should it be constructed andimplemented? What are the key issuesthat impinge the relative success ofdefence offsets? Is the MoD making aconscious effort to address these issues?Has the MoD made efforts to put inplace a robust mechanism for imple-mentation of offsets as well as ensuringtransparency and accountability whiledischarging offsets provisions? These aresome of the key questions that need tobe addressed in order to make an assess-ment of the future directions of Indiandefence offsets policy.

THE CURIOUSTRAJECTORY OFDEFENCE OFFSETS

May 2012

TANGLED WEB: File photograph of SouthBlock, headquarters of the MoD — everystep in DPP consists of multi-disciplinarybodies, largely drawn from various branchesof Ministry of Defence, quartered within thelabyrinth of this Lutyens masterpiece

The Indian MoD has recently revised some aspects ofdefence offsets conditions. Such revisions are likely to createfurther complications unless the MoD clarifies theconditions further, says DEBA R MOHANTY


I advance a set of six arguments on thecurrent status of Indian defence offsetspolicy and suggest a few measures (forfuture directions of the policy) for consid-eration by all stakeholders, primarily bythe MoD. First, the central objective ofthe Indian defence offsets policy hasbeen to strengthen the Indian militaryindustrial complex in order to achieve areasonable degree of self-reliance in mili-tary products and services. A carefulanalysis of the way the defence offsetspolicy has evolved in the last half adecade suggests that it has slowly movedfrom a ‘direct’ offsets (applicable only toexclusive military products) to ‘indirect’offsets (to include dual-use and a fewcivilian products). One may argue thatthis dilution was inevitable as not muchinterest was shown by the foreign OEMs(original equipment manufacturers).However, if one looks at the larger pic-ture, one would not be surprised aboutsuch dilution as there is a parallel effort at

the national level to leverage offsets inmany key areas like energy, infrastruc-ture, etc. It may not be a bad idea if exclu-sivity attached to defence is diluted. Itcan even produce better results if theMoD carefully pursues its objectives inkey defence technology areas. This, inturn, calls for preparation of a prudentproduct list. The current offsets productlist (27 in total) includes is extremelyexhaustive and needs to be pruned tofocus only on key technologies.

Second, dilution of offsets productsinto civilian areas like civil aerospace andinternal security may create intra-depart-mental/ministerial problems whileimplementing offsets obligations on theone hand, and may encourage vendors totake advantage of ‘kind’ as well as ‘multi-plier’ provisions in conforming to offsetsconditions. It is learnt that Vivek RaeCommittee had suggested the quantumof offsets obligations to be increased to 40per cent from the existing 30 per cent.Even, a 40 per cent offsets seems insuffi-cient as the vendors would now have the‘indirect’ offsets to take advantage of,scope of which are likely to furtherexpanded to areas like shipbuilding and

coastal security. A uniform 50 or even 60per cent offsets obligations may notsound a bad idea with a provision toincrease the cap further or waive the con-ditions altogether can also be consideredon a case-to-case basis. While these sug-gestions can be contemplated, the prob-lem area of inter-ministerial coordinationwould be a big headache for the MoDmandarins, which may slow down theprocess of offsets implementation. Onehas to be patient till a formal national off-sets authority is established and its coor-dinating mechanisms defined. Till thattime, the MoD has to devise ways to miti-gate departmental conflicts of interest.

Third, one of the major problems withthe offsets obligations by the vendors wasrelated to a defined route through foreigndirect investment (FDI). Earlier DPPs hadtried to define the FDI route but such defi-nition was not very clear from the begin-ning. For example, the DPP 2005 intro-duced FDI in defence public sector unitsand in DPP 2006 the nomenclature waschanged to Direct Foreign Investmentapplicable to services, co-development,joint ventures and co-production in bothpublic and private sector. Now that theinvestment route through non-equity in‘kind’ has been accepted, this is especiallydesigned to bring in more foreign invest-ment into the defence sec-tor. The scope of FDI hasthus been expanded toinclude both equity andnon-equity routes tomake the defence

MOD SEEMS TOGO IN FOR AN

EASIER OPTIONBY BLENDING FDIWITH TOT UNDER

THE OFFSETSCONDITIONS

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sector more attractive for foreign investors.This is again linked to the larger dimen-sions of national offsets policy wheredefence and commercial arrangementscould be complementary to each otherand not necessarily distinct from each oth-er. However, it is too early to see the resultsbefore one makes any assessment.

Fourth, whether or not capital invest-ment in defence sector is required is amatter of debate. The private sectorargues that investment can be sourcedfrom the Indian private sector if the gov-ernment gives enough guarantees tosource products from the private sectorand lays out a roadmap for future acquisi-tions. It further argues that it is capable ofbringing in desired technologies fromabroad by applying a variety of methods.However, the MoD seems to go in for asupposedly easier option by blending FDIwith ToT under the offsets conditions.New changes allow ToT as part of offsetswhereby non-equity route can includeinvestment in ‘kind’ in terms of ToT whichwill invariably include license fee, docu-mentation, training, tooling, spares, test-ing equipment, etc. and will exclude civilinfrastructure. It is evidently clear nowthat the ToT will come in an expandedpackage, which may or may not necessar-ily include actual desirables like design orcritical component as the vendor canskillfully manipulate ToT conditionsthrough ‘kind’ component which mayform bulk of the ToT conditions. A cap isthus required to be put in place for the

vendors to share a certain portion of tech-nical knowledge with their offset partners.

Fifth, the new provisions in offsets pol-icy have expanded the time limit ofbanked offsets credits to seven years now.This is designed to help the foreign ven-dors to park and use their offsets creditsfor contracted programme as well asenable them to create further offset pro-

grammes in anticipation of future obliga-tions. However, there are a few areas ofconcern. The MoD’s contractual obliga-tions are confined to the foreign vendoralone, hence there is a need for bringingin the Indian offsets partner into theambit of offsets as well. This will ensurethat both OEM and its sub-contractor orIndian offsets partner can be legallybound to oblige offsets conditions. Thereis also a need to ensure that a healthyrelationship between the prime contrac-tor and sub-contractor remains duringthe whole period of contract and if it is

soured to the extent that it impinges neg-atively on the contract or fails to oblige,punitive action must be taken againstsuch companies.

Last but not the least, while all suchchanges can be introduced to make theoffsets policy more transparent and clear-ly defined, the implementation of suchobligations is of paramount importance. Itis well known by now that the Defence Off-sets Facilitation Agency (DOFA), responsi-ble for guiding the vendors to dischargetheir offsets obligations, is short of ade-quate manpower and technical expertise.Such an agency must be a multi-discipli-nary entity. The other problem, which isconsidered core to the whole offsets land-scape, is the question of accountability. Infact, non-accountability is so pervasivethat no provision in the DPP-2011 stipu-lates any responsibility to any singleagency for non-execution of procurementprocedures. Every step in DPP consists ofmulti-disciplinary bodies, largely drawnfrom various branches of MoD, to overseeand execute procedures but at no stage isany agency responsible or accountable toanybody. Two key offices - Department ofDefence Production and Director GeneralAcquisition - have the overall responsibili-ty of defence offsets. But none of themseems to own responsibility if any thinggoes wrong. The MoD needs to seriouslydebate this issue and find out a clear solu-tion for this problem.

The evolution and development ofIndian defence offsets policy has entereda new phase, whose trajectory would belargely guided under the proposednational offsets policy. At the moment, allindicators suggest that the national off-sets policy is likely to evolve in a rudimen-tary and ill-defined form as there are toomany intertwined problematic issuesrelated to its nature and scope. As thenational policy evolves slowly, the defenceoffsets policy would be further diluted infuture. This will be a problem for puristsand exclusivists who still argue that dilu-tion of any aspect of defence procurementwill compromise national security, butthey need to understand that too manysubjects have already been treated as‘strategic’ and thus confined to four wallsof the South Block. This mindset will haveto change under new realities in order tomake the system more efficient and provi-sions more transparent and accountable.

(The author is a New Delhi based defenceanalyst)


DECISIVE MOMENT: File photograph of Defence Minister AK Antony unveiling theDefence Procurement Procedure — 2011 with Vivek Rai DG (Acqusitions) and Minister ofState for Defence MM Pallam Raju, in New Delhi on January 13, 2011

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THE PRIVATESECTOR ARGUES

THAT IT IS CAPABLEOF BRINGING IN

DESIREDTECHNOLOGYFROM ABROAD

PIB

geopolitics

INTERNAL SECURITYgeopolitics

TAKING CONTROLTAKING CONTROLForsaking their customary role, some women are now turning

out to be rebels with guns

SINL

UNG.

COM

JAYA AGAINST BSF ACTTAMIL NADU CHIEF MINISTER JJAYALALITHAA HAS OPPOSED A

PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THEBORDER SECURITY FORCE (BSF)ACT, 1968, SAYING IT WAS AVIOLATION ON THE POWERS OF THESTATES.

SHE HAS SHOT OFF A LETTER TO PRIMEMINISTER MANMOHAN SINGH SAYING: “THEPROVISIONS OF THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTSTO THE BSF ACT SMACK OF A DESIRE TOSMUGGLE IN A MECHANISM INSPIRED BY THESAME GOALS AS THOSE BEHIND THE SETTINGUP OF AN OPERATIONS DIVISION IN THE NCTC(NATIONAL COUNTER TERRORISM CENTRE),THROUGH THE BACKDOOR.”

THE LETTER HAS ALSO REQUESTED THEPRIME MINISTER TO PUT UP THE PROPOSEDAMENDMENT FOR DISCUSSION AT THECONFERENCE OF CHIEF MINISTERS SINCE ITCOULD NOT BE DELIBERATED IN THE LASTMEETING.

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B R I E F S

May 2012

ISINTERNAL SECURITY

gg

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LIBERAL VISAREGIME

A new liberal visa regimebetween India and Pakistan for

which there are a large numberof backers on both sides may soonbe a reality. Buoyed by theseveral positive trade measurestaken by Pakistan, Home MinisterP Chidambaram has indicatedthat a fresh visa regime would beimplemented as soon as thegovernment in Pakistan approvescertain measures which India hasalready approved. Chidambaramindicated that the new visaregime would be very liberal tolegislators of both the countries,children, elderly persons,businessmen and spouses. Inorder to promote trade andcommerce between the two, Indiaand Pakistan, at the moment, areexperimenting with the provisionof the one-year visa of multipleentry to 10 cities.

PIB

BSF

ULTRAS USING TUSKER TRAILThe Border Security Force (BSF) has found out that militants inMeghalaya were using the routes of wild elephants to cross the

international border between the state and Bangladesh. The BSF hasnoticed this particularly in the 190-km stretch of unfenced border inthe Garo Hills.

According to Sudesh Kumar, Inspector General of the BSF(Meghalya-Assam Frontier), a number of militant outfits, like theanti-talk faction of the ULFA and NDFB, have been using locals asguides even as they have been following elephants across theinternational border. “The locals as well as the militants know thatthe security forces will not come in the way of the pachyderms andso they take advantage to move in and out of the country using theroutes taken by them,” Kumar said.

THERE WILL SOONBE MORE WOMEN

CONSTABLES IN ALLCRPF BATTALIONS.“THOUGH THERE ARETHREE WOMENBATTALIONSPRESENTLY, SOMEMORE WOMENCONSTABLES AREREQUIRED TOSTRENGTHEN THESEUNITS,” CRPFDIRECTOR GENERAL KVIJAY KUMAR SAIDRECENTLY IN ANINTERACTION WITHTHE MEDIA ATINDORE.

MORE WOMENFOR CRPF

The Union Home Min-istry (MHA) has put its

foot down on the HIV andAIDS (Prevention andControl) Bill 2012 statingthat HIV testing cannot bea precondition foremployment. In fact, theMHA has demanded thatthe clause banningmandatory testing foremployment should notbe applicable to the forcesand police.

According to the MHA,recruiting HIV-positive per-sons in paramilitary forcesis not desirable for basical-ly two reasons: physicalrequirement standards andcommunity living amongthe forces could spread theinfection through “cuts andbruises”.

The MHA has heldthat the confidentialityclause on HIV-status can-not be honoured for menin the forces - who live acommunity life with com-mon barbers and para-medics — because otherssharing the place with aHIV-affected personwould become suscepti-ble. The Ministry has alsopointed out that the risk ofinfection would always bepresent with a HIV-posi-tive person around - espe-cially with injuries that area common occurrencewith the job. The Min-istry’s objections come onthe move by the AIDS con-trol department’s efforts todispel doubts about thespread of the diseasethrough cuts and bruises.

MHA QUESTIONSHIV BILL

SCANNING THENGOS

The Ministry of HomeAffairs has decided to get

to the root of foreign fund-ing of NGOs, thanks to theallegations that some for-eign elements wereinvolved in underwritingIndian NGOs for encourag-ing agitations at Kudanku-lam nuclear project in TamilNadu and Jaitapur nuclearsite in Maharashtra.Accordingly the MHA (Min-istry of Home Affairs) hasissued a fresh two-pageform which all foreign insti-tutions are required to fill.The info sought includes:details of the employeesworking with the Indianoffice, besides asking themto provide details of foreignnationals who had visitedIndia from that firm.

Under the directive, allforeign companies andorganisations, includingNGOs, having offices inIndia will have to mandato-rily provide details ofemployees, including thoseengaged with liaison work,to the Union home min-istry at regular intervals.Such details are usuallyprovided at the time of visaapplication but foreigncompanies will now haveto give particulars of spe-cific nature of work and‘contacts’ in various min-istries or Public SectorUndertakings (PSUs) to thegovernment once a year asa matter of routine. Thenew circular also seeksdetails from the foreignentities whether they hadany contact with civil soci-ety, trusts or NGOs.

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PLAN TO REVAMP IPS RUNS INTOROUGH WEATHER

A Ministry of HomeAffairs plan to

revamp the IndianPolice Service hasbeen opposed byelements within theorganisation. The planwas to have moreofficers recruited intoIndian Police Servicethrough specialexaminations for “

Deputy superintendent of police-rank officers from the statepolice, central forces and the armed forces, provided they wereless than 35 years old”

According to RTI information, officers from the Indo-TibetanBorder Police , Bureau of Police Research & Development andthe Central Industrial Security Force have articulated that thelimited examination would reduce the superiority of future policeleaders and discourage state police service officers

Even many state governments are not enthused with theidea, which essentially has come from Home MinisterChidambaram with a view to improve the system of internalsecurity with more senior Police officers. States such as AndhraPradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, West Bengal and Kerala, are notin favour of the examination, saying that state police serviceofficers ought be promoted quicker to fill the gaps in the IPS.

FULL SUPPORT FOR SPGUPGRADE

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has guaranteedthe Special Protection Group (SPG) of total sup-

port in upgrading itself so that it could effectivelymeet the challenges posed by terrorists.

Speaking on the 27th Raising Day of the SPG hesaid: “While security forces are seenand known and their actions are most-ly predictable, the new-age terroristsare invisible and possess far greatercapability to create networks for shar-ing knowledge, skills and resources. Itis of critical importance that the SPG

should continue upgrading itself, both in terms oftechnology and training.”

The role of the SPG is to provide security to thePrime Minister, his immediate family, former PrimeMinisters and their immediate families. The choice ofproviding the former Prime Minister with SPG coverdepends on the level as decided by the Central Gov-ernment.

RUSS

IAN

EMBA

SSAY

TheKarnataka

High Court hassought anexplanation

from the CentralGovernment about thejustification of IntelligenceBureau (IB) as anorganisation. This was in reply to a PILfiled by retired IB officer RN Kulkarni contendingthat there was noconstitutional or statutorysanction for theorganisation .Kulkarni, who retired as aJoint Assistant Director ofthe organisation in 1998,told the court that in spiteof being an important partof the national securityestablishment, the onlydocument that it had toprove its legality was anorder passed by Britishgovernment in 1887forming it as a sub-sect ofthe Central SpecialBranch.Existing in a legalvacuum, the IB was notaccorded any legal statusafter Independence oreven after the adoption ofthe Constitution. Althoughan effort was made todefine its role, a group ofministers had agreed onMay 21, 2001 that theorganisation did not havean official charter.According to the PIL, in1985 the Parliamentpassed the IntelligenceOrganisations (Restrictionof Rights) rule but did notdefine the IB’s specificestablishment, regulation,discipline, control oroperations. The court hasnow asked the Centre topass an executive orderdefining the role andpowers of IB officers.

IB’S LEGALITYQUESTIONED

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www.geopolitics.in

THE MONTH-long abductioncrisis in Odisha lightened,somewhat, with the release ofthe second Italian, BosuscoPaolo, a small-time ‘adventure

tour’ operator, after 29 days in Maoistdetention. Jhina Hikaka, the Biju JanataDal (BJD) Member of Legislative Assem-bly (MLA) and tribal leader, remainedalso in the custody of the Maoists for overa month, and sources indicate that, fromOdisha’s perspective, this matter may wellhave become more complicated, with thehostage having possibly been shiftedacross state borders, into AndhraPradesh, by the Maoist Andhra-OdishaBorder Special Zonal Committee (AOB-SZC) leaders who were holding him.

There has been a great deal of com-mentary on the Odisha Government’s‘capitulation’ in securing the release ofthe Italian, and its imminent capitulationon Hikaka. The state government, on theother hand, has argued that the ‘price’paid was minimal, with a group of essen-tially insignificant prisoners beingreleased, while the Government’s nego-tiators firmly rejected demands for therelease of hard core Maoists in exchangefor Hikaka. At the same time, there havebeen efforts to project ‘improvements’ inthe ‘security situation’, to claim that theabductions were aberrations in an envi-ronment of increasing security force (SF)dominance in the state. BJD Member ofParliament (MP) Jay Panda, for instance,argued that Maoist-related fatalities haddramatically reduced in both Odisha and,overall, across the country, and “this did

not happen on auto-pilot”.Such claims are crucial and demand

close scrutiny. The remaining hostage cri-sis itself will eventually be resolved, oneway or the other, and at whatever cost,and will eventually become no more thananother incident in an endless chain ofMaoist operations across the country.The intrinsic strengths or weaknesses ofthe insurgency, and of the SFs deployedto contain it, however, are far moreenduring and of greater significance.

It is, no doubt, the case that despite ameasure of operational stasis in Odisha,there have been important SF successesin the recent past. Specifically, Chitrakam

Reddy aka Sitru, an ‘area commander’ forBhadhugoan in the Koraput District, waskilled by the police on January 26, 2012, atthe Badamathur village. Recent arrestsinclude Chenda Bhusanam aka Ghasi, animportant leader of the AOBSZC, respon-sible for at least two major operationsagainst the SFs resulting in 55 SF fatalities,among others; Prashant alias Shiva Mun-da alias Lambu, the second in commandin the Maoist hierarchy controlling theSaranda Forest in Jharkhand; GirishMahato, who had been assigned to revivethe organisation in the western Odishadistricts of Sambalpur and Deogarh;Rama Mahanta alias Dadhi Mahanta,

MAOISTS: DOWN, NOT OUT

The recent abductions of an Italian tourist and an MLA in Odisha by the Maoists underscorethe point that the rebels’ disruptive capabilities in their core areas along the purported ‘Red

Corridor’, remain substantially intact, argues AJAI SAHNI

CRPF

UNSEEN ENEMY: A spate of kidnappings like that of MLA Jhina Hikaka, and Italiantourist Bosusco Paolo are testament to Naxal capabilities

May 2012

‘area commander’ for the Digha andBhalulata areas in Sundargarh District;Kunduru Luhar alias Golapa, an ‘areacommander’ in Digha; Pitabas SinghThakur, who worked with the DarabaDalam (squad) of Chhattisgarh and was aclose associate of Surendra, the DarabaDalam commander who had allegedlymasterminded the killing of 76 SF person-nel in Dantewada District on April 6, 2010;and Satrughan Biswal alias Mangu aliasMohan, an active member of the OdishaState Organising Committee (OSOC) ofthe CPI-Maoist. In addition, Dunna Kesa-va Rao aka Azad, believed to be a ‘deputy’to Sabyasachi Panda - the OSOC Secretaryand principal architect of the hostage cri-sis - surrendered in Hyderabad (AndhraPradesh) on May 2011.

These successes and the decliningtrends in Maoist-related fatalities, howev-er, do not demonstrate any sustainableimprovements in the ground situation, orin the measure of the state’s dominancein its territories. Indeed, it is useful toexamine fatalities in somewhat greaterdetail. Of the 22 fatalities recorded inOdisha in 2012 (till April 8, all data fromthe South Asia Terrorism Portal), as manyas 10 are SF personnel, another seven arecivilians, and just five are Maoists. Thesefigures are comparable to data for allMaoist-linked fatalities in the country in2012, totaling 103, of which 51 are SF per-sonnel, 31 civilians and 21 Maoists. Onthis data, the ratio of SF to Maoist fatali-ties works out to 2:1 in Odisha and to2.43:1 at the all-India level - by all meas-ures a disastrous ratio, indicating that theinitiative is squarely in the hands of the

rebels. 2011 data yields much better, butfar from satisfactory, ratios of 1:1.44 inOdisha, and 1:1.55 for the whole country,with a total of 602 fatalities, including 275civilians, 128 SF personnel and 199Maoists. 2010, the worst year yet onrecord, with 1,180 fatalities, (626 civilian,277 SF personnel and 277 Maoists), hadan SF to Maoist fatality ratio of 1:1.

Of course, absolute declines in fatali-ties have been dramatic since the peaksof 2009 and 2010, but this essentiallyreflects the operational paralysis that hasafflicted all forces, both state and central,across the country, after the disaster atChintalnar on April 6, 2010, when 76 SFpersonnel were massacred by the Maoistsin a single attack. The incident occurredat the peak of the much-vaunted and ill-conceived ‘massive and coordinatedoperations’ launched by the Centre, andthe overlapping Operation Green Huntinitiated by the Chhattisgarh Police. Thesubsequent decline in fatalities is, over-whelmingly, the consequence of the factthat offensive operations against theMaoists have virtually ceased, and theMaoists have no significant motive toengage in excessive violence, since theycurrently enjoy substantial freedom tocontinue with their consolidation activi-ties, including political mobilisation,recruitment, training and acquisition ofweapons and technologies, that will helpcreate an even greater bloodbath whenthe next round of escalation occurs.

Indeed, the quick response to emerg-ing opportunities, reflected in the abduc-tions in Odisha, as well as in the March 12,2012, killing of 12 Central Reserve Police

Force (CRPF) personnel in Gadchiroli,Maharashtra, provides a fair, if anecdotal,index of the density of presence and pre-paredness of the Maoist infrastructure onthe ground. Crucially, all three actionswere incidents of opportunity, reflectingenduring Maoist capacities, rather thanstrategic intent or planning, and demon-strating quite clearly that a decline infatalities is not synonymous with adecline in rebel capacities or with animprovement in the ‘security situation’.Indeed, despite the significant reversesinflicted on the Maoists, especially at theleadership level, as well as some contrac-tion in their areas of operation, the Union

gINTERNALSECURITY

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2002 : People’s War Group (PWG) in-tensifies attacks against after a banimposed on the group by the AndhraPradesh government 2003: PWG attempts assassination ofChief Minister Chandrababu Naidu2004: Home Ministry estimate num-bers were placed at 9,300 hardcoreunderground cadre with around6,500 regular weapons 2005: Violent clashes betweenMaoist rebels and state securityforces after breakdown of peace talks 2006: 20,000 Naxals involved in theinsurgency according to Researchand Analysis Wing 2007: Over 400 Naxals attack aChhattisgarh police station, seizingarms and killing dozens2008: Chhattisgarh and Jharkhandworst hit of the 16 states touched bythe conflict2009: Prime Minister ManmohanSingh admits to Maoists growing ap-peal among tribal communities, therural poor the intelligentsia and theyouth.April 6, 2010: Naxals launch theirdeadliest attack killing 76 CRPFtroops in Chattisgarh’s Dantewadadistrict2011: Kishenji, the military leader ofCommunist Party of India (Maoist)killed in an encounter with securityforcesMarch 2012: Maoist rebels kidnaptwo Italians in Orissa, the first timeWesterners were abducted thereMarch 27: 12 CRPF personnel killedin landmine blast triggered by sus-pected Naxals in Gadchiroli districtof Maharashtra

The Naxalite Movement since 2000


Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has indi-cated that the Maoist presence has comedown from 223 districts across the coun-try in 2008 to 194 districts in 2011, therebels’ disruptive capabilities in their coreareas along the purported ‘Red Corridor’,remain substantially intact.

On the other hand, despite manyclaims of the cumulative ‘improvement’in the capacities of central and statesecurity forces, the state’s vulnerabilitiesremain largely unaddressed. At leastsome claims of such ‘improvement’ are,in any event, largely falsified or fabricat-ed - including the MHA’s November 30,2011, claim that the all-India police-pop-ulation ratio had been raised to 176 per100,000, from an National Crime RecordsBureau figure of 133 per 100,000 as onDecember 31, 2010. Others, such asMHA’s claims of “significant measurestaken to strengthen the Indian PoliceService” (IPS) remain something of asmokescreen, since existing deficits inthe Service (leave alone continuouslyaugmenting needs) will take decades tofill, even with dramatically acceleratedintakes. UMHA also claims that “Numberof CAPF (Central Armed Police Force)battalions deployed in LWE (Left WingExtremist)-affected states increased from37 in 2008 to 73 in November 2011, gloss-ing over the fact that the latter figure hasroughly been the level of deploymentsince the disastrous ‘massive and coordi-nated operations’ were launched by theCentre in end-2009. Moreover, as alreadynoted, the fact that these forces have,along with State Police Special Forces,largely been frozen in a passive-defen-sive posture since Chintalnar, and thatoffensive operations against the Maoistshave now become more and more theexception among demoralised SF contin-gents, remains unsaid.

On the other hand, the anecdotal evi-dence of any state’s vulnerabilities and

disarray is mounting. In one devastatingdisclosure, the MHA conceded that asmany as 46,000 officers and personneltook voluntary retirement from the CAPFbetween 2007 and September 2011, whileanother 5,220 officers and personnelresigned from service over the same peri-od. 461 suicides and 64 instances of fratri-cides were also recorded. Worse, the MHAnoted that the rate of increase of cases ofresignation in the CRPF and Border Secu-rity Force (BSF) was “alarming”, at morethan 70 per cent in 2011, over 2010. Com-parable data on state police organisationsis unavailable, but it is unlikely to provideany basis for optimism.

And if such dry data is not sufficientlydisconcerting, Rahul Sharma, an IPS offi-cer, serving as a Superintendent of Policein the Maoist-afflicted Bilaspur District,in the country’s worst-affected state,Chhattisgarh, committed suicide onMarch 12, 2012, blaming his seniors andthe political leadership for his decision.Sharma had reportedly confided in afriend that he was frustrated becausepolice officers were required to do whathe called ‘forced labour’ (begaar), and‘extortion’ (ugahi) and that ‘targets forelection expenses’ for the scheduled 2013Assembly Elections had ‘already been set’.This incident provides extraordinaryinsight into the use and morale of thepolice leadership in the state worst-affected by the Maoist insurgency.

Nor is Chhattisgarh an exception. In thewake of the March 27 incident in Gadchi-roli, Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patilcomplained that police officers were‘unwilling’ to work in the Maoist-afflictedGadchiroli and Chandrapur Districts, cit-ing the recent example of four police sub-inspectors, who resigned from the Forceafter completing training, when they wereposted to Gadchiroli. Patil had nothing buta litany of complaints to offer after theGadchiroli incident, blaming the Centre

for a failure to provide advance informa-tion of Maoist attacks. Unsurprisingly,Maharashtra saw an increase in Maoist-related fatalities to 69 in 2011, over the2010 figure of 40, even as the all-Indiafatalities almost halved (from 1180 to 602).

Other principal Maoist-affected states,Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal andBihar, suffer from equal and endemicdeficiencies in their security structures,as well as from both ambivalence andinfirmity in their political leaderships.

In another shock to the system, andtestimony to the incompetence and inca-pacity of the state establishment, KobadGandhi, a CPI-Maoist Politburo memberand top party ideologue, was dischargedby a Delhi Sessions Court for offencesunder the Unlawful Activities (Preven-tion) Act (UAPA), due to proceduraldefects in the prosecution. Ghandy was aprize catch, trapped in Delhi on Septem-ber 20, 2009, after a protracted operationled by the Andhra Pradesh Special Intelli-gence Branch, and involving the Intelli-gence Bureau and Delhi Police.

Some augmentation of capacities -recruitment, arming, fortification andmodernisation - has, no doubt, occurredacross the board, both in CAPF and stateforces, but this has had, at best, limitedimpact on SF capacities and operations onthe ground as a result of an incoherence ofapproach and strategy, as well as grossdeficits and deficiencies in leadership.

Declining trends in fatalities and occa-sional reverses not-withstanding, itappears that the initiative remains firmlyin the hands of the Maoists, and that stateleaderships are still to find the will andthe clarity of perspective that will allowthem to secure any enduring dominanceover areas of rebel disruption.

(The author is Executive Director,Institute for Conflict Management &

South Asia Terrorism Portal)


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SILENT AND DEADLY: In spite of the relative decline in violence it is clear that the initiative remains firmly in the hands of the Maoists

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IN THE third week of December2011, Kanchan and Bipasha werearrested from Patahi village in EastChamparan in Bihar. It was not anordinary arrest. Police discovered

that the two women had joined theultra-left Maoist camp in order to avengethe killing of their fathers by the locallandlords. Both of them were newrecruits and had joined the Maoistsbarely six months back.

Again, in November 2011, anotherfemale Maoist, Rumpa Mahato aliasSujata surrendered to the police. Shetold the Superintendent of Police,Pranab Kumar, that she joined theMaoist ranks about two years ago. Heronly hope was to get work as she was thedaughter of a daily wage labourer. How-ever, she alleged sexual exploitation byher male counterparts and leaders.

Guerrilla warfare provides a richsource of data on mixed-gender combatunits. Women fighters are not at alluncommon in guerrilla armies. The cru-cial role played by women’s in a varietyof irregular wars, in Vietnam, SouthAfrica, Argentina, Cyprus, Iran, NorthernIreland, Lebanon, Israel, Nicaragua,Nepal, Sri Lanka, India, among others;have been well documented.

As a matter of fact, in World War II, aconsiderable number of women partici-pated in the forces of Nazi-occupiedcountries. These forces basically carried

out insurgent activities against Nazioccupiers - a case which could be seentoday in Iraq and Afghanistan; but with-out notable women participation.

The insurgencies were carried out incountries which did not allow womeninto regular military forces — like Italy,Greece, France, Poland, and Denmark.The women irregulars took part in streetfighting, carried out assassinations, andperformed intelligence missions.

Communist guerrilla forces in the

cold-war and post-cold war eras havespearheaded the process of inclusion ofwomen. The Sandinistas of Nicaraguaresemble one such. Women reportedlymade up nearly one-third of the Sandin-ista military. However, in some ways, theSandinistas kept traditional gender rolesfirmly in place. Women were mobilised

around the image of mothers protectingtheir children as part of a divine order.One Sandinista official said in 1980,“Give every woman a gun with which todefend her children.”

The guerrillas in next-door El Sal-vador in the 1980s also let women fight,but within a conceptual framework thatupheld traditional gender roles. In herdissertation for the award of Doctor ofPhilosophy, Lindsay Blake Churchillquotes a popular Tupamaros slogan ofUruguay: “Never has a woman beenmore equal to a man than when she isstanding with a pistol in her hand”.

Churchill investigated whether or notgender reorganisation represented a truepolitical goal of the Tupamaros or if theirinclusion of women just meant revolu-tionary rhetoric. In the process, shefound that while most of the Uruguayanleft-wing focused on the parameter ofmotherhood as inspiring women’s poli-tics, the Tupamaros disdained tradition-al definitions of femininity for femalecombatants. Therefore, as perChurchill’s analysis, the Tupamarosoffered women a new avenue for politi-cal participation.

In Africa, examples of women guerril-las resonate in the forests and deserts ofthe continent. Ironically, they fought butthen were pushed aside. For example,Joice Nhongo was the “most famous”guerrilla in the rebel forces that over-

Incorporating women in armed contingents is still fraughtwith ramifications which are not conducive to the women

folk — a fact which bespeaks a patriarchal world, writesUDDIPAN MUKHERJEE

May 2012

THE WOMENGUERRILLAS

GUERRILLAWARFARE

PROVIDES A RICHSOURCE OF DATA

ON MIXED-GENDER COMBAT

UNITS


threw White rule in erstwhile Rhodesia(Zimbabwe). She was known as “Mrs.Spill-blood Nhongo,” reports JoshuaGoldstein in her book War and Gender:How Gender Shapes the WarSystem andVice Versa. In fact, Nhongo gave birth toa daughter at the camp she commanded,two days after an air raid against it. Afterthe rebels took power, she became Min-ister of Community Development andWomen’s Affairs — safely removed frommilitary affairs. According to Goldstein,4,000 women combatants made up 6 percent of rebel forces in the then Rhodesia.

In Sri Lanka, though the data is dis-puted; women apparently constitutedabout one-third of the rebel Tamil Tigers’force and participated fully in both sui-cide bombings and massacres of civil-ians. Interestingly, the Sri Lankan mili-tary reportedly believed that half of thecore fighting force was women. Such anexample is also manifested in the Maoistrevolutionary force of Nepal. Accordingto an estimate, about 30 per cent ofMaoist guerrillas in Nepal comprisewomen, writes Dr Chitra K Tiwari for theSouth Asia Analysis Group (New Delhi).“This is totally a new phenomenon inNepal, which must not be taken lightly”,admonishes Tiwari.

Similarly, the Indian Maoists are in noway behind as far as employing womenand children in their Red Army are con-cerned.

Going back to the Dark Continent,Eritrea and South Africa had women inthe infantry, due to the integration offormer guerrilla forces into state armiesthere. Eritrean women combatants haveseen extensive combat — uniquelyamong present-day state armies —owing to the highly lethal ground warwith Ethiopia in the late 1990s. Hence,the world keeps a close watch on theintegration of the Maoist guerrilla com-batants in Nepal and the consequentfate of women guerrillas there.

In Khalistan and Kashmir“Indeed, far from being systematically atthe receiving end of state and guerrillaviolence, South Asian women have alsobecome active participants to thesearmed conflicts, thus contesting the tra-

ditional sexual division of work withinthe region’s militant organisations”,writes Laurent Gayer in her paper titled,“Princesses” among the “Lions”: theActivist Careers of Khalistani FemaleCombatants.

In the case of Sri Lanka, Peter Schalksuggests that this participation ofwomen to the armed struggle wasinfused with a “martial feminism” thatcontested the male monopoly over theuse of violence. The participation alsoaimed to emancipate women throughthe gun, argues Schalk.

And elements of such “martial femi-nism” can also be found among some ofthe female recruits of the Khalistaniinsurgency, posits Gayer. However, thedemilitarisation of these women wasoften highly regressive. Many of thesefemale ex-combatants were reassignedtraditional gender roles after their returnto civilian life - something similar towhat happened to African women guer-rillas.

Seema Shekhawat writes for CRISE(Centre for Research on Inequality,Human Security and Ethnicity) at OxfordUniversity: “Women in Kashmir haveplayed a significant role in the militantactivities. They have contributed to theconflict in both material and ideologicalways. It is widely perceived that themovement could not have sustainedwithout the participation of women.

SINLUNG.COM


FLOWERS OF REVOLUTION: Women guerillas have played a prominent role inrevolutionary movements across the globe

gDIPLOMACY

gThe eighteenth-and nineteenth-century Dahomey Kingdom of WestAfrica maintained a large femalecombat unit as part of the army.In the Second World War, the SovietUnion mobilised substantial num-bers of women combatants, andincreased their military effective-ness.Communist guerrilla forces in thecold-war and post-cold war erashave spearheaded the process ofinclusion of women.Women apparently constitutedabout one-third of the rebel TamilTigers' force in Sri Lanka. 30 per cent of Maoist guerrillas inNepal comprise women.Eritrea and South Africa hadwomen in the infantry, due to theintegration of former guerrillaforces into state armies.

The Amazons down the Ages

WOMENFIGHTERS ARE NOT

AT ALLUNCOMMON IN

GUERRILLAARMIES

Women have been at the forefront in theinitial period of militancy. In numerousdemonstrations in Kashmir, they wereoften seen at the forefront. They activelyjoined hands with male counterparts inenforcing the civil curfew, helpingarmed separatists to escape duringcrackdowns by blocking the ways ofsecurity forces, etc.”

Besides carrying out tasks such asfeeding combatants and providing shel-ters, women in Kashmir acted as couri-ers carrying not only the messages butalso arms and ammunition under theirveils, reports Shekhawat.

However, what were the reasons forwomen’s participation in Kashmir?Shekhawat finds out that Kashmiriwomen were mobilised to take part inthe popular upsurge as part of a specificreligious community. Further, tomobilise women, the terrorists and fun-damentalists projected that ‘everyonefighting for Kashmir’s azadi was son ofwhole community.’

In Kashmir, mothers of martyrs werepublicly honoured. Those women wereprojected as ‘ideals’ who sent their sons,brothers and husbands for the ‘holy war’smiling and did not mourn if they died.

The Indian Maoists — with an obviousimplication of glorifying their struggle —have chronicled brief biographies oftheir women martyrs; commencing fromNaxalbari and Srikakulam upto 2010. Inone such biography it has been said:

“The history of oppressed women is thereal history of the dearest daughters ofour beloved country which is an insepa-rable, vital component of the history ofoppressed people. And no success in therevolutionary war or the final victory ofthe revolution is imaginable or possiblewithout women. Hence, the need to

study their history. These life historiesare an inseparable part of peoples’ histo-ry.” Undoubtedly, stories of gang-rapes,torture and fake encounters of womenguerrillas are in the two-part documen-tation.

However, the crux of the matter is theclaim that the women guerrillas wereinspired by Maoism. But in no way, theanonymous authors of the documentsay that belief in Maoism was the veryreason for participation. It elaborates:“The reasons for their joining the move-ment may vary but one common feature

we find in them is their aspiration to beliberated from patriarchy and to liberateall women from patriarchy. Most of themwere themselves victims of patriarchyand some of them though not asoppressed had consciously joined asthey felt Maoism provided the answer tothe eradication of patriarchy.”

Well, such claims could surely bedebated; but one interpretation hardlycuts much ice. The Maoists [male coun-terparts?] construe the allegations of thesurrendered female members regardingsexual exploitation by their male peersas mere slander and a foul propagandaunleashed by the Government of Indiaas a psychological warfare — an effectivecomponent of the fourth generationwarfare strategy to crush internal rebel-lions.

Though the Maoists do not acceptsuch sexual exploitation in their ranks,they at least admit that there are fewwomen comrades who had committedsuicide. So the question is why? If thestructure and hierarchy had been egali-tarian and driven by ideology only —then why such suicides and allegationsof sexual exploitation? Even in the ranksof the rebels in Columbia — anothercommunist-based group, such sexualabuse is also rampant.

(The author is an Assistant Professor atBPPIMT [Kolkata, India] and a Strategic

Analyst at ITS [Landshut, Germany])


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PROUD WARRIORS: Women have proved adept at wielding the gun against a variety of threats SINLUNG.COM

IN WW-II, ANUMBER OF

WOMENPARTICIPATED INTHE FORCES OFNAZI-OCCUPIED

COUNTRIES

CELEBRATING60 YEARS OFINDIA-JAPAN DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

IS INDIAN NAVYCATCHING UPWITH ITS CHINESE COUNTERPART?VI

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Can Sikkim guide Delhi to make the Nathula Post a great gateway ofcommerce with China?

PASSAGE FOR TRADE

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There are certain aspects of neighbourhood relationships that should be seen through theprism of Home Affairs, not External Affairs, argue TRIDIVDESH SINGH MAINI and

SRIPATHI NARAYANAN

BORDER PROVINCESAS BRIDGES WITH

NEIGHBOURSNEIGHBOURS

www.geopolitics.in

INDIA AND her neighbours share aunique relationship with oneanother, a relationship that tran-scends history and is reinforced bygeography because of overlapping

and shared experiences through timeand space.

Over the years this relationship hasbeen more like a seesaw that swingsback and forth. But then, the fulcrum of

this seesaw to a large extent has beendecided in the Indian political capital,New Delhi, which is deep inland and faroff from neighbouring countries, bothgeographically and by attitude.

The irony in the Indian subcontinentis that, the bordering regions of India byand large, share a greater affinity totheir foreign neighbour than to theirown countrymen. With shared historic,linguistic and cultural similaritybetween nations, the relationshipbetween India and her neighboursbecomes a complicated affair. This isfurther fuelled by the fact that mostIndian border states are closer to thecapital of the neighbouring countrythan they are to New Delhi. The geo-graphic proximity is reflected in the atti-tudinal differences between the “statesof India” and by the “Indian State”towards the neighbours and that hasresulted in the two being at loggerheadswith one another.

One of the primary reasons for thisdifference is the ‘emotional factor’between the states and the neighbour-ing country. The Indian border states,unlike the rest of the country, do nothave a similar or a template type of rela-tionship with the neighbouring country.The history, geography and demographyare different in each case and surfacesin different forms. That is to say in somecases, the past is in more or less in termsof living memory, whereas in others itcould be in the long lost pages of histo-ry. At the same time, the nature of tieshas also been varied with its multifari-ous evolution.

The other reason could be the differ-ences in perception. This is because thestates have a narrow perception ofissues, unlike New Delhi, where theissue presents itself within the frame-

BSF


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INDIA HAS BEGUNTO REALISE

THAT BORDERPROVINCES ARE

PIVOTALGATEWAYS TONEIGHBOURS

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DESERT TRAIN: The Thar Express isone of the train services between Indiaand Pakistan that is useful for people nearthe border areas


www.geopolitics.inwww.geopolitics.in

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THE STRATEGIC importance ofIndia’s North-East region isexpected to undergo a majorchange in the near future giventhe rapid political develop-

ments in Myanmar. The long-awaiteddecision of the Myanmar military junta toreturn to the barracks in favour of Parlia-mentary democracy has become a cata-lyst for change. It has thus re-opened thegates for the return of the internationalcommunity to Myanmar and usher infactors for historical changes of great val-ue.

The recent and rapid developments inMyanmar are a welcome development forIndia. It justifies India’s steadfast policytowards the Military junta as much asalso its commitment to pro-democracyforces in that country. The process ofinternal readjustments in Myanmar will

no doubt be time consuming and testpatience of the various interested parties.The controversial 2008 Constitution hasto undergo several radical changes toaddress the aspirations of its multi-cul-tural and multi-ethnic society as also tobring the country into the democraticmainstream. Several sections of thestatute book will need to be amendedwhich will test the resolve of the presentParliamentary set-up and also the moodin the military. The election of the pro-democracy icon, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi(ASSK) as Member of Parliament and theoverwhelming victory of the National

League for Democracy, the main opposi-tion party in Burma, at the April 1, 2012by-polls, have long-term implications.

As India readies itself to meet the newopportunities in Myanmar, it has toaddress newer equations developing inthe region. In the post-1990 period, Chinafilled in the vacuum caused by the ill-advised withdrawal of western powersprotesting the military take-over inMyanmar and reaped advantages to suither strategic plans. The absence of west-ern developmental assistance turnedMyanmar, already dependent on China,towards North Korea to further its nuclear

ambitions and formed a nexus with Pak-istan as an insurance against India.Myanmar continued to turn a blind eyeto the activities of Indian insurgentgroups operating from its soil.

With the US signalling willingness toreturn to the region in general and Myan-mar in particular, the countries of ASEANhave every reason to feel relieved afterwitnessing China’s recent growingassertiveness. On the other hand, thepresence of USA and its allies in Myan-mar will balance the power equations to alarge extent keeping China in mind. Theimplications of this development will

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NEW EQUATIONS IN INDIA’S NORTH-EASTERN NEIGHBOURHOOD

BRIDGING BORDERS: A view of the trade area on the Burmese side of the border, withZokhawthar village in Mizoram in the background

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gneed to be assessed by India’s strategiccommunity from the political, diplomat-ic, military and economic standpoint.According to reports, the US has beenable to persuade Myanmar to revisit itsnuclear links and military relations withNorth Korea as also to observe UN resolu-tions on the subject. This too is a devel-opment which India needs to evaluatequickly. There is no Chinese official reac-tion to new equations in this region but acomment in the “unofficial” mediaexpressed hope that there will be com-mon agreement on assisting Myanmar inits hour of need. China has immensestakes in Myanmar, it has always takencare to ensure that its interests are safe-guarded even with the return of multi-party democracy. Beijing’s reactions needto be watched with interest in future.

Ever since President Thein Sein tookoffice, there has been an upswing in bilat-eral relations between India and Myan-mar. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’svisit to Myanmar in May assumes evengreater politico-strategic significance inthis direction. Both countries have

exchanged visits at Ministerial levels and,importantly, a Myanmar Parliamentary

delegation visited India a few weeks ago.The Indian Prime Minister will no doubtdiscuss several issues with his Myanmarinterlocutors especially the new strategicenvironment in the region. India’s “LookEast Policy” too, will be discussed to makea vehicle for India’s rapid economic andpolitical integration with the region. It hasimmense value even for development ofour transport and other infrastructure inthe north east region. India needs to argue

for peace on its border with Myanmar andthe earlier the Myanmar governmentsteps up to the plate the better for India.

The Indian private sector has a uniqueopportunity to participate in the devel-opment of Myanmar’s infrastructure,either directly or in joint ventures withthird countries. The establishment of anIndian commercial bank or an invest-ment bank in Myanmar will provide a fil-lip to trade and facilitate commerce in amore effective manner.

Bangladesh has remained a strategicpartner of India in the North-Easternregion and will remain so in the years tocome. It has delivered on two countsnamely dismantling sanctuaries of Indianinsurgent groups and bringing funda-mentalist elements under control. Dhakais still not outside the shadow of the Jiha-di movement. The return of US and Euro-pean Union (EU) to Myanmar will have adeterrent effect on the non-state actors inthat country, especially those with links toanti-India elements in Pakistan. It isimperative that India accelerates theprocess of economic integration withBangladesh with the window of opportu-nity provided by Prime Minister SheikhHasina. We need to strengthen the handsof democratic forces in that country,keeping in mind that Bangladesh goes tothe polls in the next 16-18 months. A sta-ble and peaceful Bangladesh along withMyanmar will become the drivers forspeedy development of this region. Indiacan help spur this activity and make it awin-win situation.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’sforthcoming visit to Myanmar is expectedto provide a significant boost to bilateralrelations. India has much to offer in eco-nomic and political terms. Both sides havereached a level of comfort in their rela-tions and will naturally build further on it.Two of the three Myanmar stakeholdersnamely Aung San Suu Kyi and the ethnicgroups are vital cogs in the political mech-anism and, hopefully, India will not onlyreach out to them but also make them apart of the consultative process. Indiashould not squander this opportunity.

— P M Heblikar

(The author is Managing Trustee of theInstitute of Contemporary Studies,Bangalore (ICSB). He was formerly

Special Secretary, Government of India,and had served in Myanmar)

INDIA NEEDS TOCHANGE ITS

MENTALITY OFTREATING

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gwork of a larger picture called foreignpolicy that gets influenced by a numberof factors. For the states, India’s relation-ship with its neighbours is in thedomain of regional issues that lie acrossthe border; which are influenced bylocalised factors and domestic politicalcalculations.

However, New Delhi has begun to realise that border provinces are pivotal gateways to the neighbours inboth economic and political terms. Theincreasing importance of regional par-ties as a consequence of coalition poli-tics has further bolstered the argumentfor greater involvement of provinces in India’s foreign policy, especially

with respect to neighbours. The likes ofPeople’s Democratic Party (PDP) andNational Conference in the state of Jam-mu and Kashmir; Trinamool Congress ofWest Bengal (Paschim Banga) and polit-ical parties of the Dravidian stable inTamil Nadu are crucial illustrations ofthis point. Though it might be men-tioned here that these political partiesover time have tried to influence thebilateral relationship, but to no avail. Atbest they have been the amplifier of theefforts of New Delhi. There are instancesof the centre and state meeting eye-to-eye, the state government/ regionalpolitical parties taking the credit for theinitiatives of New Delhi; although theblame for any shortcoming is squarely


DIPLOMATIC GATEWAY: Border regions need to be developed and connected with neighbouring countries as they are crucialstakeholders in India's foreign policy. A file photograph of the Indo-Pak border at Wagah in Punjab

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gplaced at the doorstep of the UnionGovernment.

For instance, the PDP and the Nation-al Conference are predisposed towards asympathetic approach with respect toties with Pakistan. In contrast, the poli-tics of Tamil Nadu ends up taking amore jingoistic stand vis-à-vis Sri Lanka,thereby obscuring the labours by Delhi.A recent illustration of complexitieswould be the belligerent position of theTrinamool Congress (TMC) towardsBangladesh, especially on the waterfront. The Teesta Agreement, which wasto have been inked September 2011 dur-ing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’svisit to Bangladesh, did not go ahead asa consequence of TMC supremo Mama-ta Banerjee’s refusal. Of late, the TMC, atbest, has acted as a spoiler to theattempts at improved India-Bangladeshrelations. The concerns over Teesta havemade Dhaka vary its engagement withIndia as a whole and also with individ-ual Indian states.

However, the TMC example is anexception, not the trend. Border-statesdo wish for increasing economic coop-eration with the neighbouring country,the shared history going on to cementthe equation. Some of the states thathave taken the lead in improving rela-tions with neighbouring countries areJammu and Kashmir, Punjab andRajasthan (all with Pakistan). Tripura isa torch-bearer of the North-East as far asBangladesh is concerned. The tradebetween the two Kashmirs and theWagah border crossing in Punjab hasbeen followed by bus services and rail-way connectivity. In the East, Tripurahas been making earnest attempts todevelop economic linkages with Dhakaand is also working towards gainingtransit facilities via Bangladesh.

Though the stated aspirations of thestates with respect to the neighbourshave immense potential of transformingboth the economic and political land-scape, a number of hindrances are act-ing as spoilers. In the realm of trade,lofty promises remain unfulfilled. In thisarea, one of the major impediments tosmooth cross border trade is the poorinfrastructure. There is no better illus-tration of this fact than the strike by thetraders in Akhaura, Tripura, protestingagainst the poor infrastructure of theintegrated check-post at Akhaura, whichhas made it virtually impossible totrade. The check-post was inaugurated

by the Union Home Minister P Chi-dambaram in June 2011 with much fan-fare; he had promised the constructionof the trade hub within 18 months. Theirony is that this is happening when thestate government is going all out todevelop a cordial relationship withBangladesh.

Similarly, while there is much hypeabout India’s improved relationshipwith Myanmar and connecting theNorth-East to the latter, the infrastruc-ture at Moreh (Manipur), the main trad-ing point, is sub-standard. Even therules of trade between the two countriesare needlessly restrictive, encouragingillegal trade. Similarly, the IntegratedCheck Post at Wagah too, has been fac-ing difficulties in implementing border-crossing facilities. It must be noted that

the deficiency in infrastructure hasnothing to do with the neighbours.

It is worth mentioning here that aftera visit to Nathu-la Pass in 2007, DefenceMinister AK Antony, while comparingthe infrastructure on the Indian sideand the Chinese side, was quick to statethat “it is an eye-opener for me. There isno comparison between the two sides.Infrastructure on the Chinese side is far-far superior. They have gone far indeveloping their infrastructure”.

While strategic analysts like C RajaMohan and eminent diplomats like for-mer Foreign Secretary Shyam Saranhave repeatedly stated that India needsto change its mentality of treating bor-ders as ‘zones of conflict’ and ‘outposts’,the results on the ground are not sopromising. The bureaucracy, it seems,still cherishes the policies of the days ofthe Raj; haunted as it is by the past mili-tary misadventure. It seems that thebureaucratic system still views borderinfrastructure as a security risk and not

as a road to both commercial and diplo-matic opportunities.

A good way to realise the potential ofboth economic and political ties withneighbours would be a periodic apprais-al of the infrastructure at India’s bordersand also holding periodical meetings ofborder states. With their inputs on bothinfrastructure and the nation’s neigh-bourhood policy, Delhi would be in abetter position to address the limita-tions that it faces in cross-border tradeas well as people-to-people contacts.Until border regions are developed andconnected with neighbouring countriesand border states are not made crucialstakeholders in India’s foreign policy,India’s neighbourhood policy would beridden with uncertainties.

This scenario will only change whenthe border states and the Union govern-ment share a broader understanding ofthe issues at hand and formulate policesaccordingly. This would mean that thenation would have to be innovative indealing with neighbours. This wouldmean that certain aspects of neighbour-hood relationship should be seen fromthe prism of external affairs while otherswould have to incorporate features ofhome affairs. The rationale for such anapproach is that the existing nature ofties and the current metamorphosis inbilateral relationships is overlapping.The border states as a whole would per-ceive neighbours as those who are onthe other side of the line but for theUnion Government the neighbours arethe “others”. The need of the hour is toreorient the Centre-State-Neighbour tri-angle (trilateral). This to an extent couldbe achieved by separating politicalissues (such as territorial disputes andmatters pertaining to sovereignty)belonging to the exclusive domain ofthe Union from the economic issues andpeople-to-people contacts that can bedealt with through a greater participa-tion of the border states. This, in otherwords, would mean treating the neigh-bours in India’s federal power structureas a subject of the Concurrent List(where both the central and state gov-ernments can act) and not that of theUnion List (which is the exclusive pre-serve of the central government).

(Tridivdesh Singh Maini is an AssociateFellow while Sripathi Narayanan is a

Research Assistant with ObserverResearch Foundation, New Delhi)


INDIA NEEDS TO BE

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IT IS being increasingly realised thatIndia and Japan have to worktogether towards making the 21stcentury an ‘Asian Century’. Says GVijaya Chandra Naidu, Professor at

Jawaharlal Nehru University, “Eventhough historically India and Japan neverhad any issues, and hence did not carryany baggage unlike most other East Asiancountries, and always shared enormousempathy for each other, the lack ofprogress in bilateral relations was, amongothers, due to the Cold War that forcedthese two to be on the opposite sides ofthe strategic divide. All that changed oncethe Cold War came to an end.”

Ambassador Aftab Seth, former IndianAmbassador to Japan, asserts: “The turn-ing point in the relationship came afterthe Indian Coast Guard rescued thehijacked Japanese freight ship AlondraRainbow in the Indian Ocean in 1999. Theanger after May 1998, which led to eco-nomic assistance being cut-off by Japan,was dampened by this event. The January2000 visit of George Fernandes, the first-ever visit by a defence minister, led to theinitiation of a defence dialogue withJapan after Pokhran II.”

There are, however, other factors thataided in the strengthening of bilateralrelations, insists Dr Michael J Green,Senior Adviser and Japan Chair at theCentre for Strategic and Internationalstudies (CSIS) Washington. “The Clintonadministration began shoring upalliances in Asia in the mid-1990s, includ-ing revitalisation of the US-Japan allianceafter several years of post-Cold War driftand uncertainty, to ensure the US couldengage China and maintain stability in

the region from a position of strength.The Bush Administration then worked totransform strategic ties with India. PrimeMinister Junichiro Koizumi certainly didfollow the Bush lead on the nuclear issue,but it was in Japan’s interest to get intonuclear infrastructure efforts and toshore up their own relations with India todeal with a rising China,” he stresses.

“In addition to the phenomenal

improvement of Indo-US relations, con-cerns about the rise of China and India’sgrowing economic and strategic stature, arange of maritime security issues, in par-ticular, protection of sea lines of commu-nication in the Indian Ocean, and a fluidsecurity environment in the Asia Pacificwhere Japan has vital stakes, added syn-ergy to the partnership,” states ProfessorNaidu.

It was a combination of these factorsthat resulted in the visit of JapanesePrime Minister Yoshiro Mori in the year2000, considered by many as a watershedin India-Japan relations. The convergenceof political, strategic and economic inter-ests and a shared commitment towards

upholding “peace, democracy, rule of law,human rights and free market” resultedin the signing of the historic Strategic andGlobal Partnership by the visiting PrimeMinister and his Indian counterpart, AtalBehari Vajpayee. In addition to forginggreater understanding on a wide-range ofglobal, multilateral, regional and bilateralissues, the agreement was instrumentalin promoting defence cooperation andenhancing economic engagement.

Following the visit, relations betweenIndia and Japan acquired a propulsivemomentum. Remarks Ambassador Seth,“The comprehensive security dialogue,exchanges at the level of Army Chief Gen-eral Padmanabhan and the visit of Japan-ese Air Force chief were followed by theMay 2003 visit of Japanese defence minis-ter, Shigeru Ishiba. After concluding astrategic agreement in 2007, we weredoing joint naval exercises with theJapanese and the Americans off Okinawacoast, and by the end of that year, wewere part of the Malabar series exercise inthe Bay of Bengal with participation ofthe navies of the US, Singapore, Australiaand Japan. Further, six prime ministerialvisits between 2000 and 2008 are clearindicators of the dramatically differentrelationship that India shares with Japan,something that could not have been fore-seen before 2000,” he believes.

Commenting on the remarkableprogress witnessed by the evolving Indo-Japan relationship, Professor Naidu artic-ulates, “Today, the India-Japan relation-ship encompasses three dimensions:global, where they join hands to addresscertain global issues, including nucleardisarmament, counter-terrorism, UN

SHAPING STRATEGIES FORTHE 21ST CENTURY

India and Japan are partnering in peace, prosperity, security and stability of Asia, writesYAMINI CHOWDHURY

May 2012

FOR 60 YEARS,INDIA AND JAPAN

HAVE BEENPARTNERS IN

PEACE,PROSPERITY,

SECURITY

reforms, etc.; regional - given their deepinvolvement in East Asia, they share acommon interest in fashioning a regionaleconomic and security architecture thatadvances their interests; and bilateralthat includes political, economic andstrategic aspects.”

Further, both countries have institu-tional mechanisms in place that aim toadd strength to this multi-dimensionalrelationship, asserts Professor Naidu.“Politically, there a number of institution-al mechanisms in place - the most impor-tant being annual prime ministerialmeetings. Economically, the Comprehen-sive Economic Partnership Agreement(which became operational last August),and a robust strategic cooperation, whichincludes annual meetings involving for-eign and defence ministers, the Two-Plus-Two Meeting between defence andforeign secretaries, regular high-levelservice chiefs exchanges, exchange ofdefence officers for training, bilateral(and multilateral with US) military exer-cises so far between coastguards, andfrom this year, prominently between thetwo navies and air forces. Some of thesearrangements are significant becauseIndia is the only country outside the US(with which it has an alliance partner-ship) that Japan has forged them.”

The strategic cooperation of 2007 isregarded as an “essential pillar for thefuture architecture” of Asia. Most recentlyin December 2011, the ‘Vision for the

Enhancement of Japan-India Strategicand Global Partnership upon enteringthe year of 60th Anniversary of the Estab-lishment of Diplomatic Relations’ wassigned between Japanese Prime MinisterYoshihiko Noda and Indian PM Manmo-han Singh.

The China factor As Tokyo seeks to diversify its global tradeand investments, and India’s increasinglyvibrant economy makes it an attractivepartner, the strategic partnership is a nat-ural outgrowth of global economic devel-opments, believes Dr Sheila A Smith,Senior Fellow for Japan Studies at theCouncil on Foreign Relations (CFR). “Butthe new strategic partnership that hasbeen developing with greater focus is inlarge part due to the rise of the Chineseinfluence,” she asserts. “China’s rise offersa new layer of complexity to the Sino-Japanese relationship, and events such asthe September 2010 Chinese fishing boatconfrontation with Japan’s Coast Guardmake many in Japan worried about thefuture of that relationship. Strategic con-cerns about what the rise of China mightmean for their security also inform theIndia-Japan policy agenda,” she main-tains.

But it is unlikely that the strategicrelationship between India and Japanwould be strengthened with the objectiveof serving as a hedge against China’s rise,avers Dr Daniel Twining, Senior Fellow

for Asia at the German Marshall Fund ofthe United States in Washington. Whilemaintaining that both countries are rep-resentative of the new Asia, which is pre-dominantly democratic and concernedabout China’s rise, he insists, “India-Japan relations will shape the new centu-ry as much as China’s own ascendance.Japan and India share many natural con-vergences - both countries share a criticalinterest in the security of the maritimecommons; both are dependent onimports for energy resources, and have afundamental interest in a peaceful andstable Middle East; and both are friendsof the United States as well as key swingstates in Southeast Asia. Both will play akey role in shaping a pluralistic balanceof power in wider Asia that remainsfriendly to the values of free societies andopen markets.”

Maritime and Defence CooperationDefence cooperation is the cornerstone ofthe strategic partnership between the twonations as it serves as an instrument todeal with the security challenges in theregion. “The strategic cooperationbetween the Japanese and Indian mili-taries is reflective of the shared interests ofDelhi and Tokyo -interests in maintainingopen sea lines of communication fromEast Asia through to the Gulf of Aden.Maritime cooperation in anti-piracy oper-ations has already increased naval interac-tions. The mutual interest in developing

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP: File photograph of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda signingan agreement on Vision for the enhancement of India-Japan Strategic and Global Partnership in New Delhi on December 28, 2011

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deeper regional capacity in humanitarianand disaster relief operations also offersanother opportunity to strengthen thepartnership,” stresses Dr Smith.

Highlighting the factors that haveimpelled both nations to intensify theirnaval dialogue, exchanges and coopera-tion, Former Ambassador Rajiv Bhatiaand member of the Indian delegation tothe Indo-Japan Dialogue on MaritimeSecurity Cooperation states, “Geopolitics,economy, energy security and the Chinafactor have been instrumental in forgingcooperation not just in the Malacca Strait,but also in the north-western region of theIndian Ocean. The idea of the ‘Indo-Pacif-ic’ region is getting traction in Japan, andis beginning to receive attention in Indiatoo. But cooperation can move beyondtalk to tangible action only if Japan learnsto grow out of the US umbrella and viewsIndia’s commitment to strategic autono-my properly. Both Navies should be doingmuch more together in order to createsynergies, build mutual confidence andcraft a shared strategic perspective in thelong term.”

Yet another important dimension ofIndo-Japan maritime cooperation is thefight against piracy and maritime terror-ism. “In addition to the direct impact onships, crews and cargoes, the maritimeindustry and governments, the scourge ofpiracy and maritime terrorism threatensthe global seaborne trade, and in theprocess, directly impacts the sea lines ofcommunication (SLOCs) carrying tradeand energy to India and Japan” emphasis-es Dr PK Ghosh Co-Chairman, CSCAP

International Study Group on MaritimeSecurity and Senior Fellow, ObserverResearch Foundation.

Cooperation in nuclear and space Despite having three rounds of negotia-tions that were conducted until Novem-ber 2010 for the “Agreement for Coopera-tion in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Ener-gy”, the disaster at Fukushima last yearhas forced India to put this critical issueon hold. Emphasising the inherentimportance of the long overdue civilnuclear agreement with Japan, ProfessorK V Kesavan, Distinguished Fellow andHead of the Japanese Studies Programmeat Observer Research Foundation con-tends, “Nuclear cooperation with Japan iscritical for India, especially since ourexisting reactors are old and are grapplingwith technical problems. Further, theagreement would open doors for high-tech companies from the US and France,which have Japanese owners or partners,to supply equipment and materials for

India’s nuclear programme.” But Profes-sor Kesavan is quick to point out that“The Fukushima crisis has only intensi-fied the tremendous domestic resent-ment to the heavy dependence onnuclear energy in Japan. It becomesimperative that India studies the reportsrelating to the crisis and makes thempublic. The government will require timebefore resuming negotiations,” avers Pro-fessor Kesavan.

In terms of space cooperation, an areawhere Japan and India can collaboratemore closely would be disaster monitor-ing and humanitarian relief, underlinesDr Bharath Gopalaswamy, AssociateDirector, Program in Arms Control, Disar-mament and International Security at theUniversity of Illinois. “Japan and India arecountries that have been affected by nat-ural disasters and it would make sense forthem to synergize their resources inaddressing these challenges. A significantchallenge for Japan’s space program ishuman capital, which is India’s strength.The Joint Commission on AdvancedTrade Technologies will facilitate this typeof cooperation and will improve themomentum in the strategic relationship,”he suggests.

Viewed thus, for 60 years, India andJapan have been partners in peace, pros-perity, security and stability. A closerpartnership that builds on the strategicconvergences would be productive notjust for India and Japan, but also for theregion and the world at large.

(The author is a Delhi-based journalist)


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NATURAL CONVERGENCE: File photograph of the Japanese Ambassador Akitaka Saiki and the Joint Secretary, Department of EconomicAffairs, Prabodh Saxena signing the documents for a loan package between India and Japan, in New Delhi on March 29, 2012

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INDIA AND CHINA are graduallyreorienting their military doctrinesand capabilities from the continen-tal to maritime domain. China’srecent launch of its first aircraft car-

rier - making it the third Asian country toacquire such a platform and only thetenth in the world to do so - demon-strates the growing ambitions of its navyto project power into the Indian andPacific Oceans. Similarly, revelations thatVietnam has granted Indian Navy vesselspermanent berthing rights at Na Thrangport has confirmed New Delhi’s ability toextend its “sustainable maritime pres-ence” into the South China Sea. In theprocess, the Sino-Indian relationshipand their latent rivalry is graduallyexpanding beyond their long-standingland border dispute to the maritimedomain with strategic implications forfreedom of navigation and the regionalsecurity architecture.

China and India have traditionallybeen viewed as continental powers. Bothcountries’ economies have historicallybeen largely inward-looking and self-suf-ficient with little trade beyond theirimmediate sub-region (Northeast Asia forChina and South Asia for India). As such,maritime trade has played a marginal role

in economic activities aside from a fewbrief historical periods. As modernnation-states the navy has traditionallyplayed second-fiddle to the army in forg-ing both countries’ military doctrines andstrategies. Both countries have usuallypursued relatively modest maritimesecurity interests confined to playing asupporting role to land-based operationsand protecting their respective coast-lines. China’s focus has been on sea-denial capabilities aimed at deterring USintervention in a conflict in the TaiwanStrait, while India has focused on coastaldefence and surveillance given the coun-try’s porous, poorly demarcated and dis-puted maritime border. With respect totheir bilateral relationship, the disputedland border has traditionally been theprimary source of contention as noted bytheir brief border conflict in 1962.

However, both nations have demon-strated a growing interest in the realm ofmaritime security in recent years giventhe strategic importance of waterways astransit points for growing trade andresource imports and concerns over pos-sible disruptions along maritime choke-points from a plethora of state and non-state threats. This, in turn, has trans-formed the nature of their bilateral rela-tionship from a land-based rivalry towarda competition increasingly taking placein the maritime domain with greaterimplications for transnational securityissues such as energy security. This ishighlighted by the fact that some 80 percent of China’s oil imports transit theSouth China Sea and Indian Ocean while

CHIN

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The nature of the bilateral relationship between India and China is gradually transforming from a land-based rivalry towards a competition in the maritime domain,

writes CHIETIGJ BAJPAEE

SINO-INDIAN RIVALRY MOVING OFFSHORE?

EASTERN CHALLENGE: Sino-Indianrelationship and their latent rivalry isgradually expanding beyond their long-standing land border dispute to themaritime domain

www.geopolitics.in

almost 90 per cent of India’s oil importscome via maritime trade routes.

Both countries’ expanding maritimesecurity interests have manifested inshifts to their maritime security doctrinesand the growth of historical narrativesthat reaffirm the importance of theirmaritime traditions. China has movedbeyond “near-coast defense” toward“near-seas active defence” and increas-ingly into the realm of “far-sea opera-tions”. Meanwhile, the Indian Navy’sdomain of interest stretches from theStraits of Malacca to the Strait of Hormuzand beyond. Both countries’ historicalnarratives have also been adapted toaccommodate their renewed focus onmaritime traditions. Renewed attentionin China on the naval voyages of ZhengHe during the Ming Dynasty in the 15thcentury and in India on the naval expedi-tions of the Chola Dynasty during the11th century has demonstrated a con-certed effort by both states to elevate thestrategic importance of their naval tradi-tions. The views of proponents ofexpanding naval power, such as the lateAdmiral Liu Huaqing and late KMPanikkar have also found renewed sup-port during the current maritime renais-sance in both states.

Both countries’ ambitious plans for thedevelopment and acquisition of plat-forms aimed at strengthening blue waternaval capabilities illustrate both coun-tries’ growing maritime security interests.The 225,000-member PLA Navy nowmaintains a fleet of some 200 vessels,including over 75 “principal combatants”,

55 large and medium amphibious ships,85 missile-equipped warships and over60 submarines, even though the launchof China’s first aircraft carrier - the refit-ted 67,000-tonne former Soviet aircraftcarrier, the Varyag, which held its first seatrials in August 2011- has been exaggerat-ed in the absence of a full carrier battlegroup to support its operations.

There has been a gradual modernisa-tion of China’s submarine fleet from olderRomeo and Han-class submarines to thenewer Kilo, Song and Yuan class vessels.China’s development of the Jiaolong sub-mersible craft, which will enhance thecountry’s ability to conduct deep-sea,ocean-floor mining operations, alsodemonstrates the growing sophisticationof the country’s indigenous ship-buildingcapacity. While some 36 countries main-tain submarines in their navies, Chinaand India are two of only six countrieswith a nuclear submarine capability. Chi-na and India’s interest in moving beyondtheir predominantly conventional dieselsubmarine fleet towards building up theirnuclear submarine capability pointstoward a growing interest in power pro-jection beyond their littoral regions. Chi-na’s indigenously developed Type 071amphibious assault vessel also has signif-icant implications for China’s naval pow-er interests given its multidimensionalcapability to support expeditionary oper-ations.

To accommodate its expanding navalambitions, China is in the process ofestablishing a fourth fleet that may con-sist of 2-3 aircraft carrier battle groups inSanya on the southern island of Hainan.This fleet, which supports China’s grow-ing maritime interests in the South Chi-na Sea and beyond, will complement theNorth Sea Fleet based in Qingdao, EastSea Fleet in Ningbo and South Sea Fleetbased in Zhanjiang. These expandedcapabilities have manifested in demon-strations of China’s projection of powerbeyond its traditional sphere of interestaround the first and second “islandchains”. These include China’s firstnaval exercises in the Pacific Ocean in2011, which follows in the footsteps ofthe PLA Navy’s (PLAN) revolving three-ship deployment in the Indian Oceansince 2009.

Meanwhile, the 60,000-strong IndianNavy has ambitious plans for the devel-opment of a fleet of 160-plus vessels,comprising three aircraft carrier battlegroups by 2022. The country currentlymaintains a fleet of 132 warships, includ-ing 50 “major combatants” and 14 sub-marines with 49 warships and sub-marines on order aimed at transformingthe navy into “a brand new multidimen-sional Navy” with “reach and sustainabil-ity”. Despite delays in procuring somenaval platforms, such as the Russian air-craft carrier Admiral Gorshkov (INSVikramaditya), India has stepped up theindigenous development of naval plat-forms. These include Project-71 airdefence ships/ indigenous aircraft carri-ers, Project 15A Kolkata-class stealthdestroyers, Project 28 antisubmarineKamorta-class corvettes and Project 17-ATalwar-class stealth frigates.

The country’s submarine fleet isundergoing an upgrade with the acquisi-tion of Scorpenes from France and Akula-class submarines from Russia and thedevelopment of Advanced TechnologyVessel Arihant-class nuclear-poweredsubmarines. Supporting the growing fleet


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of vessels, the navy is also inducting MiG-29K multirole aircraft and Kamov-28 and31 helicopters to deploy from its aircraftcarriers, acquired P8-I Poseidon mar-itime reconnaissance aircraft to strength-en the navy’s “maritime domain aware-ness” and developed K-15 Sagarikanuclear-capable submarine-launchedballistic missiles (SLBM), Klub-S land-attack cruise missiles and a submarine-launched supersonic missile that modi-fies its BrahMos cruise missile.

The tri-services Andaman and Nicobar(Southern) command and Eastern Com-mand headquartered in Visakhapatnamin Andhra Pradesh have received a grow-ing proportion of the Navy’s resources,correcting for a traditional bias in favourof the Western Command in Mumbai.The USS Trenton, renamed INS Jalashwahas been assigned to the Eastern com-mand, while the Indian Navy’s only air-craft carrier, the INS Viraat will bedeployed to the Eastern command alongwith the country’s first nuclear subma-rine, the INS Arihant, which is undergo-ing sea trials. Meanwhile, the secondphase of ‘Project Seabird’ is underway,which entails the construction of a navalbase, INS Kadamba in Karwar, Karnatakaon the country’s western coast. This base,which will be home to the aircraft carrierVikramaditya, will protect maritime traderoutes in the Arabian Sea while alleviatingpressure on the congested Mumbai port.

While not superior to China in thequantity or quality of its naval platforms,the Indian Navy - the world’s fifth-largest- has outpaced the PLAN in the sphere ofprotecting the ‘global commons’, includ-ing maintaining the free flow of maritime

trade and transport, addressing humani-tarian disasters, and combatting thescourge of maritime piracy, illicit traffick-ing, and the latent threat of maritime ter-rorism. India has also been more success-ful at regional confidence building in themaritime domain, fuelled by the growingfrequency of joint naval exercises with

regional navies. Several Southeast Asiancountries have taken part in the biennialMilan naval exercises with India sincethey commenced in 1995, includingIndonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singa-pore while India has also conducted jointnaval exercises with Singapore (SIMBEX)since 1993 and with Malaysia, Singaporeand Indonesia as part of the Search andRescue Operations (SAREX) since 1997.India has conducted several bilateralnaval exercises with South Korea whilethe bilateral Malabar naval exercises withthe United States have acquired anincreasingly trilateral format with theparticipation of Japan. In contrast, Chi-na’s naval exercises tend to be a source ofsabre-rattling as they often coincide witha surge in tensions over disputed mar-itime territories.

While India has so far taken the leadon regional confidence-building andcombating nontraditional threats in themaritime domain, China’s rhetoric ofmaintaining “Harmonious Seas” andengaging in military operations otherthan war (MOOTW) suggest that China’s

proclivity for cooperation in the mar-itime domain could grow as its maritimesecurity interests move further from itscoastline and become less geographical-ly-bounded. This is illustrated in the caseof the country’s anti-piracy operations inthe Indian Ocean where in 2010 Chinaco-chaired the Shared Awareness and

Deconfliction (SHADE) meetings thatprovides overall coordination for themulti-nation naval operations in theregion. Furthermore, while the Chinesenavy’s initial justification for deploymentto the Indian Ocean was to protect Chi-nese flagged merchant shipping, it hasincreasingly escorted non-Chinese ves-sels, including UN World Food Programconvoys. The deployment of a Chinesemissile frigate to the Mediterranean inearly 2011 to support the evacuation ofChinese nationals from Libya is furtherevidence of the Chinese navy’s growingMOOTW capabilities. Such operationsare likely to become increasingly com-monplace given the growing outboundinvestment by Chinese companies, muchof which is in states with unstableregimes. China has also been enhancingthe humanitarian response capabilitiesof its navy, as noted by the deployment ofone of the world’s largest hospital ships,the Peace Ark in 2008.

Nonetheless, despite the fact that Chi-na and India face several shared dilem-mas in their maritime security agendas,there has been limited success in forginga cooperative approach toward regionalissues in the maritime domain. Bothcountries have generally played a mar-ginal role in the evolution of regionalapproaches toward addressing maritimesecurity issues with most initiatives eitherdriven by Association of Southeast AsianNations (ASEAN) (e.g. Malacca StraitsPatrols), the United States (ProliferationSecurity Initiative (PSI), Container Secu-rity Initiative (CSI), International Shipand Port Security Facility Security (ISPS)Code) or other regional powers such asJapan (Regional Cooperation Agreementon Combating Piracy and Armed Rob-bery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP)).India and China have also failed toforge ad-hoc regional strategic dia-logues that have developed a mar-itime security component, as seenwith the trilateral strategic dialoguebetween Australia, Japan and theUnited States and between India,Japan and the United States.

Rather than being a source ofregional confidence-building and coop-eration, the Sino-Indian maritime rivalryis increasingly moving onshore, as mani-fested by China’s ‘string of pearls’ strategyof developing ports and transshipmenthubs along maritime trade routes, includ-ing Gwadar in Pakistan, Hambantota inSri Lanka, and Chittagong in Bangladesh.


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In the case of Myanmar, China has gone astep further with the construction of oiland gas pipeline from the port ofKyaukryu to Kunming in China’s YunnanProvince aimed at bypassing maritimechokepoints and thus alleviating the so-called ‘Malacca Dilemma’. To be sure,several initiatives remain mere rhetoricas demonstrated in the case of Gwadarwhere the port has failed to meet expec-tations regarding its commercial viabilityamid bureaucratic delays and securityconcerns. Nonetheless, the establish-ment of the country’s first “turn-around”naval facility in the Seychelles demon-strates that China’s “string of pearls”strategy remains alive and well.

India has countered China’s ‘string ofpearls’ strategy with its own counter-encirclement strategy under the aegis ofits ‘Look East’ policy, as noted by revela-tions that Indian Navy vessels have beengranted permanent berthing rights inVietnam. While claims that these portfacilities have a military role are exagger-ated at present, it is not inconceivablethat both countries could eventuallyutilise these commercial ports for mili-tary-strategic purposes, including resup-ply, refuelling and even surveillance andsignals intelligence. This has been illus-trated by India’s establishment of a mon-itoring station in Madagascar, whichcomplements plans for a similar facilityin Mauritius and established berthingrights in Oman, which is expanding theIndian Navy’s permanent presence inthe southern Indian Ocean.

As China and India’s overseas inter-ests continue to grow, this will set thestage for a deepened rivalry in the

maritime domain in the absence of con-fidence-building and strategic coopera-tion. In emerging as an important eco-nomic lifeline the maritime domain hasalso emerged as a focal point for poten-tial conflict, as illustrated by the presence

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MIGHTY FLEET: The Indian Navy isexpanding its fleet at a rapid rate

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of a plethora of inter-state disputes overthe demarcation of maritime territorialboundaries, the most significant of whichare linked to China, including the Diaoyu/ Senkaku Islands in the East China Seaand the Paracel and Spratly Islands in theSouth China Sea. The growing frequencyand intensity of rhetoric and incidentsover these disputes coincides with anattempt by some claimants to step upengagement with extra-territorial powers,including India. This has come to thechagrin of China that maintains a prefer-ence for a bilateral, non-internation-alised approach in resolving these dis-putes. Reports in July 2011 that an IndianNavy vessel, the INS Airavat receivedalleged radio contact from the ChineseNavy demanding that the vessel departdisputed waters in the South China Seaafter completing a port call in Vietnam,illustrates that the growing presence ofextraterritorial navies in the region isunlikely to go unchallenged by China.Beijing has also voiced opposition toIndian company ONGC Videsh exploringfor offshore energy resources in disputedwaters under a contract with Vietnam.

The Sino-Indian maritime relationshipis also developing against the widerstrategic development of the US “strate-gic pivot” toward the “Indo-Pacificregion” as part of its policy of “forward-

deployed diplomacy”. The United Statesis actively seeking to draw India deeperinto the East Asian security architecture,to the concern of China. The US 2010Quadrennial Defence Review proclaimedIndia “as a net provider of security in theIndian Ocean and beyond.” More recent-ly, Ben Rhodes, US deputy national secu-rity advisor for strategic communicationnoted that “just as the United States, as aPacific Ocean power, is going to be deeplyengaged in the future of East Asia, soshould India as an Indian Ocean powerand as an Asian nation.” This has movedbeyond the realm of rhetoric as the Oba-ma administration appears to be revivingthe George W Bush administration’s ‘arcof democracies’ initiative, as demonstrat-ed by Japan’s planned participation in the

US-India Malabar joint naval exercisesthis year following its earlier participationin 2007 and 2009, which follows theestablishment of a US-Japan-India trilat-eral dialogue. These developmentsdemonstrate the on-going evolution ofthe regional security architecture, as theUS-led bilateral ‘hub and spoke’ bilateralalliance model is replaced by a multilat-eral security system.

Ultimately, regional powers, includingIndia, China, Japan and the United Stateshave a shared interest in maintainingopen sea lanes given the strategic impor-tance of maintaining major waterways astransit points for growing trade andresource imports and the need for a coor-dinated approach by littoral and extra-regional navies in combating the scourgeof nontraditional security threats, includ-ing maritime piracy, terrorism and arms,narcotics and people trafficking. IndianNational Security Advisor Shiv ShankarMenon put forward a proposal for a ‘Mar-itime Concert’ in which the region’s majormaritime powers would have collectiveresponsibility to protect the Indian Oceanfrom non-traditional security threats.

At present the region is populated withmultiple overlapping forums to tackleissues of maritime security, including theSouth Asia Regional Port Security Coop-erative (SARPSCO), the Indian OceanNaval Symposium (IONS), and ReCAAP.The competing nature of these forums isin part a reflection of the climate of mis-trust that pervades the region amid thepersistence of underlying inter-staterivalries. Sustainable cooperation in themaritime domain will require confi-dence-building that transcends the mar-itime domain and addresses the rootcauses behind mutual mistrust. Forinstance, the Malacca Straits Patrols inSoutheast Asia played a prominent role inquelling the piracy threat in the SouthChina Sea. However, this functionalcooperation was built upon pre-existingconfidence-building mechanisms forgedbetween regional powers by the Associa-tion of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).A similar multilateral, inclusive and mul-tilevel model of confidence buildingneeds to be employed by China and Indiato deter the escalation of an emergingbilateral rivalry in the maritime domain.

(The author is an analyst of Asia Pacificpolitical-security affairs. He is at theDepartment of War Studies at King’s

College, London)

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ALL HANDS ON DECK: India is increasingly stationing a number of her naval assets onthe eastern coast

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INDIA AND the United States held their fifth regionaldialogue on the Asia-Pacific region in New Delhi lastmonth. It has been followed by the sixth strategic dia-logue between Japan and India, which the JapaneseForeign Minister Koichiro Gemba, who will be in the

Indian capital when this edition of Geopolitics hits thestands, thinks to be “the biggest bilateral talks”. In fact,India, US and Japan have started “unique trilateral consul-tations” on how to strengthen maritime security coopera-tion in the Asia-Pacific region, the first one of which washeld in Washington last December and the second one is tobe held sometime in 2012 in Tokyo. US Secretary of StateHillary Clinton has already urged India to play a bolderleadership role in “shaping the future of theAsia-Pacific”.

We may hear the term “Indo-Pacific”increasingly in the coming days. Coined byIndian-American scholar Ashley Telis, the termsymbolises the ongoing strategic integration ofthe Indian Ocean with the Western Pacific. Ofcourse, this integration has been in tune withthe “Look-East” policy that India has been pur-suing since 1990s. But then, the fact remainsthat India’s engagement with Asia-Pacific as a region hadbegun thousands of years ago. India’s pre-eminence as amajor power in ancient times stemmed from its undoubt-ed civilisational and commercial influences in East Asiaand Southeast Asia. And that was possible because a “con-tinental” India was also a “maritime” India. India was mostprosperous and secure when she was most connected tothe world, and that this connection was mainly by sea.

India’s decline as a major global player started aroundthe 14th century, when the then rulers of India — most ofwhom came from Central Asia and eventually settled down— turned their attention away from the “seas” to focus onland power. Mercifully, the virtues of developing maritimecapabilities have been rediscovered now.

Major sea lanes of the world are crucially important forIndia, particularly those that ensure the free flow of oil andcommerce from the Gulf of Aden to the Asia-Pacific region.After all, India’s global mercantile trade has grown phe-nomenally and now constitutes 41 per cent of its GDP. Asmuch as 77 per cent of India’s trade by value, and over 90per cent by volume is carried by sea.

Today, India imports over 70 per cent of its oil require-ments and it is estimated that by 2050, India will be thelargest importer of oil in the world. India’s economicgrowth would continue to be critically dependent on theunhindered flow of oil. A new development of late hasbeen India’s acquisition of oil and gas fields across theglobe. Today, Indian companies operate tank farms in Trin-comalee (Sri Lanka) and oil and gas fields in the SakhalinIslands (Russia), Vietnam, Myanmar, Egypt and Sudan. Infact, in December 2006, the Chief of Naval Staff AdmiralSureesh Mehta had expanded the conceptual construct ofIndia’s “greater strategic neighbourhood” to include poten-tial sources of oil and gas imports located across the globe

— from Venezuela to the Sakhalin Islands.Besides, India has a mineral rich Exclusive Economic

Zone currently extending over two million sq km, and thesuccessful exploitation of these could lift the country fromeconomic backwardness. The country has exclusive con-trol over the oil, gas and other living and non-livingsources in this area. In fact, a substantial part of India’seconomic and industrial activities is located in this area.The offshore oil and natural gas extraction activities aregrowing in India’s eastern as well as western coasts.

India’s Maritime Doctrine, first enunciated in 2004 andthen updated in 2009, takes into account the above-men-tioned maritime interests, its foremost concerns being that

of ensuring free flow of trade, includingimport of energy resources (sea lanes of com-munication protection), and providing secu-rity of coastal infrastructure from seaborneattacks. It talks of “the use of appropriatemaritime forces” so that the Indian Navy, inconjunction with other Armed Forces of thecountry (particularly the Air Force), acts “todeter or defeat any threats or aggressionagainst the territory, peoples or maritime

interests of India, both in war and peace”. This includesthreats from terrorism, smuggling and piracy, etc. thathave all come true in India’s case over the last few years.

Secondly, the doctrine says that the Navy would “proj-ect influence” in India’s maritime area of interest (oftenwith the navies of the friendly countries through mutualvisits and joint exercises) to further the nation’s political,economic and security objectives. It also mentions that theIndian Navy would provide maritime assistance (includingdisaster relief) in India’s maritime neighbourhood. In sum,then, the Indian Maritime Doctrine elaborates four pri-mary missions for Indian naval forces: (1) sea-based deter-rence, (2) economic and energy security, (3) forward pres-ence, and (4) naval diplomacy.

What then is the strategic environment in which India’smaritime interests will be pursued? National Security Advi-sor Shiv Shankar Menon suggested recently that that thereshould be “a real concert of Asian powers, including theUSA which has a major maritime presence and interests inAsia, to deal with issues of maritime security in all of Asia’soceans. As Asia becomes more integrated from Suez to thePacific, none of Asia’s seas or oceans can be considered inisolation. This would be a major cooperative endeavour,and a test of Asian statesmanship”.

One hopes that Menon’s suggestion does not prove tobe too utopian, given the cold war between India and Chi-na, Sino-American trust-deficit, and rising tensionsbetween China on the one hand and Japan and ASEANnations on the other, over territorial disputes in the Eastand South China Seas.

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