Indian Military

Ajai ShuklaBusiness Standard, 10th Jan 11Hyderabad
The ministry of defence has ignored private Indian defence companies by announcing that global arms vendors can channel offsets into the fields of civil aerospace and internal security, instead of exclusively into the defence industry. Meanwhile, several other potentially far-reaching changes to the offset policy have been referred to an internal ministry committee.
The ministry’s apex defence acquisition council decided at a meeting on December 15 that the committee, headed by the director-general of acquisitions, would submit recommendations on: Whether transfer of technology should be eligible for offsets; whether offset multipliers could be introduced allowing vendors to claim enhanced credits for investment in earmarked areas; arrangements the ministry needs to institutionalise to evaluate, monitor and audit anticipated offsets; and whether the current time validity of banked offsets needs to be changed.

A test pilot of the National Flight Test Centre (NFTC) readies for a test flight. The NFTC is one of the important aerospace organisations established during the Tejas programme.
by Ajai ShuklaBusiness Standard, 22nd Feb 11
The recently concluded Aero India 2011 air show in Bangalore highlighted the growing success of the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, or LCA. Stuck for years in a quagmire of funding shortages, international sanctions and the painful accumulation of technologies and infrastructure needed for building a modern fighter, the success of the Tejas provides a positive occasion to reflect on what needs to be done to take India forward towards self-sufficiency in building its combat aircraft.
This is especially so, given the mind-boggling cost of next-generation fighters and India’s growing requirement for more. Adding together the impending purchases of 200-odd medium fighters (the initial tender is for 126 aircraft) for some US $18 billion; another 250 fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) that will be co-developed with Russia and built in India for US $30-35 billion; the fabrication by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) of 200 or so Tejas for US $ 8-10 billion; and the indigenous design and fabrication of another 200 Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) for a roughly estimated US $12-15 billion, India will buy an unaffordable US $75-80 billion (Rs 360,000 crores) worth of fighters over the next couple of decades.

Ajai ShuklaBusiness Standard, 18th Jul 2011
In a closed-door discussion here on Thursday, a leading authority on China's military modernisation explained how that country's People's Liberation Army (PLA, the term embraces navy and air force, too) has transformed into a top-rung, largely indigenously equipped force in barely a decade, even as India's military languishes as the world's biggest importer of defence equipment.
Tai Ming Cheung, who spoke to the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis, is a professor working with the US Pentagon's Minerva Project, in which academics like him pore over Beijing's Chinese-language releases to track military and technological developments within the PLA.
Tai noted both China and India were "catch-up countries", attempting a technological leapfrog by taking just decades to reach a technology level that Western countries had taken more than a century to achieve.

Brig Khutab Hai, MD &CEO Defence Land Systems India, hands over the key to the first MPV-I to Jharkhand Additional DG Police, BB Pradhan
by Ajai ShuklaPalwal, HaryanaBusiness Standard, 26th Aug 11
For a decade, hapless jawans travelling across the Naxal belt in shoddy mine-protected vehicles (MPVs) built by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) rested their hopes for survival on a single bizarre test. In this, a live pig was strapped into an MPV, which was then subjected to a mine blast at a MoD facility near Chandigarh. The pig survived and so too, it was assumed, would the jawans.
Beginning today, these policemen have more to pin their hopes on. At its production facility near Palwal, Haryana, Defence Land Systems India (DLSI) handed over to the Jharkhand Police the first of 6 modern mine protected vehicles for that landmine prone state.

Target India!
By Ajai ShuklaBusiness Standard, 6th Sept 11
As this newspaper reported last week, the ministry of defence (MoD) is backtracking from its defence offsets programme. Its resolve to jumpstart indigenous defence production through offsets has been broken by a cartel of foreign arms merchants. The vendors’ specious argument, which the MoD has inexplicably swallowed, is that Indian defence companies cannot absorb the billions in offsets that will arise from our weapons purchases over the coming decade, the biggest overseas arms buying spree in history. Indian defence companies have protested otherwise, but the MoD is not convinced. The inevitable speculation that the MoD has been bought over is too charitable. The reality is even more damning: rather than seizing the opportunity that offsets provide --- which would require clear thinking and the setting up of functional structures --- the ministry would rather neuter offsets to the point of irrelevance.

The modified Arjun on which many proposed modifications are already done. Other improvements feature on another test tank. The graphic shows the proposed changes.
by Ajai ShuklaAvadi, ChennaiBusiness Standard carried a shorter version of this article on , 24th Nov 11
A heavier, more protected Arjun tank, called the Arjun Mark II, is poised for army trials. Scheduled for January and June 2012, successful trials would be the green signal for building 124 Arjun Mark IIs at the Heavy Vehicles Factory in Avadi, outside Chennai. These will supplement the 124 Arjuns Mark I already in frontline service.
Preparing the new Arjun for trials is the Central Vehicle R&D Establishment (CVRDE), Avadi, which steered the Arjun through a difficult and delayed development process; to its emergence as India’s premier main battle tank (MBT).

Folks,
I know, like every married person, that “major” and “minor” are relative terms. But here is the list of 19 major modifications that the Arjun Mark II will feature. The list was finalized after extensive user opinion canvassing and feedback from the DGQA, DGEME, OFB, other DRDO labs.
1. Missile firing capability2. Commander’s TI panoramic sight Mk II3. Driver’s uncooled thermal imaging night sight4. Additional ammunition (don’t ask… won’t tell!)5. Enhanced ammunition penetrator6. Effective alternative to muzzle reference sight (MRS)7. Resin-based CCC8. Ten-round containerised bin9. Explosive reactive armour panels10. Infra-red/Thermal imaging resistant paint11. Air defence weapon remote firing12. ALWCS (advanced laser warning and countermeasure system)13. Roof mounted driver’s seat14. ATT in GMS (gunner’s main sight)15. Advanced land navigation system16. New final drive with increased reduction ratio17. Advanced running gear system18.

The Arjun line at HVF, Avadi, almost empty now that the army has taken delivery of 110 of 124 Arjuns indented for in 2000
by Ajai ShuklaAvadi, ChennaiBusiness Standard, 26th Nov 11
The army could clear the indigenous Arjun Mark II main battle tank (MBT) for frontline service after trials next year, but a question mark hangs over the Arjun’s prohibitive cost. Heavy Vehicle Factory, Avadi (HVF) has already built 124 Arjun Mark I tanks for the army at Rs 18 crore per tank. But on 29th August, Defence Minister AK Antony sprung a bombshell when he announced in parliament that, “The likely estimated (sic) cost of each MBT Arjun Mark-II… will be approximately Rs 37 crore.”
This is twice the price of the Russian T-90 and not much cheaper than USA’s M1 Abrams, the world’s most advanced MBT.

With Dr P Sivakumar, CVRDE's director, who has a formidable track record as a suspension systems specialist. Here's a brief on the Arjun Mark II's improved running gear...
One of the distinctive features of the Arjun tank is its hydro-pneumatic suspension, distinct from and far more advanced than the conventional "torsion bar" arrangement that conventional MBTs feature. The Arjun's suspension provides a smoother ride, making the tank a more stable gunnery platform that permits more accurate engagement of targets whilst on the move.
The Arjun Mark II features an enhanced version of the Arjun's well-proven hydro-pneumatic suspension, which has been designed for a 70-tonne load.

A decade after Russia contracted to provide technology for building 1,000 T-90S tanks in India, just 150 tanks have actually been built. Pictured here, completed T-90S tanks at Heavy Vehicle Factory (HVF), Avadi

By Ajai ShuklaAvadi, ChennaiBusiness Standard, 28th Nov 11
India’s purchase in 2001 of Russia’s T-90S main battle tank (MBT) was touted as a world-class upgrade of our battlefield capabilities at a rock-bottom price. For Rs 3,625 crore, India would get 310 new tanks; a full transfer of technology (ToT) from Russia; and a licence to build 1000 tanks at the Heavy Vehicle Factory (HVF) in Avadi, Chennai.
A decade later, HVF has built just 150 T-90S tanks, hamstrung by Moscow’s obstruction in transferring technology and the Russia-built assemblies needed even for the India-built tanks.