Military & Aerospace

Need to Modernize our Defensive and Offensive Capabilities
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Issue Net Edition | Date : 16 Oct , 2015

Stealth Frigate INS Shivalik (left) and Brahmaputra class Frigate INS Betwa

After gaining independence from the British in August 1947, India inherited all the ships, divisions and aircrafts from the British Indian army. Most of the battle hardened troops, their equipment’s, long range and short range defense and offense mechanisms had been tested by the Great Britain in WWII.

India Army is the third largest standing army in the world, however it is deteriorating in terms of technology and modernization. Most of the weapons used by the Indian Army are from the soviet era.

However after the partition of two dominions, India was forced to share its ships, aircrafts and divisions with Pakistan. Thus, it will not be wrong to say that Armed forces in India started with a small amount of force although considerable modern equipment. Few months later, in October 1947, Pakistan in association with the tribal fighters attacked the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir with the relative new established Pakistan Army. Surprised by this sudden movement, the then ruler of Jammu & Kashmir Hari Singh signed the instrument of Accession and thus, officially Jammu and Kashmir became a part of India.

After the signing, the India army launched a serious of counteroffensive to retake Kashmir, which almost fell into the hands of Pakistan. By the end of the war, India was successful in recapturing 3/5thof the territory of Jammu& Kashmir while, 2/5th remained in hands of Pakistani forces. Today, the issue of Kashmir’s ownerships remains a major stumbling block in India – Pakistan relations.

During the period of 1950s, Pakistan started cementing very good relations with America. These warm relations lasted only until recently. In May 1954, Pakistan signed a defense pact with the United States which resulted many operations and military officers of the Pakistan army being trained by the then advanced forces of the US. Also millions of dollars poured in to build a better and advanced Pakistan army. India, on the contrary was much inclined to the Non Alignment Treaty and thus did not join any particular bloc.

Although, Pakistan’s much closer ties with the US, UK and China resulted in a strong relationship between India and USSR. Throughout the cold war, Soviet Union remained a trusted ally of India and as it continues to enjoy friendship even today, amid some ideological difference. Throughout the Cold War, the arsenal of the Indian Army was stocked with Soviet made weaponry.

Indian soldiers are dyeing more of diseases and suicides than in actual combat.

India along with few other nations founded the Non Alignment Movement with an option to provide peaceful solutions as the world broke in two blocs. The most important objective of the movement was to promote self-determination, national independence and territorial integrity of States as member nations opposed colonialism, racism, foreign occupation/domination and use of force in international relations. The movement also “strongly encouraged” non cooperation to military pacts and the independence of states from any foreign suppression and rivalries.

Nehru’s subjected “peace” did not last long, as India was attacked by the Chinese forces in 1962 which resulted in substantial loss of land and a humiliating defeat of the Indian Army. India also lost “Aksai Chin”, a part of Kashmir to Chinese succession. This loss was a huge blow to the “hopes and dreams” of the then Jawaharlal Nehru who mistrusted the Chinese as he failed to see the Chinese military offense. Indian troops and their weapons were greatly outnumbered (there was a gap of years between the weaponry and tactics of the two nations).

Seeing this as a golden opportunity (India was then suffering from a major military defeat and was growing through a low morale), Pakistan launched “Operation Gibraltar” in 1965, once again with an objective to occupy Kashmir by force, but this time using homegrown militants, tribal leaders and Pakistani forces. Significant damages were death on both the sides, but India rose victorious for the second time against the Pakistani offensive. In the past two decades (after independence) India had fought three major wars. Surrounded by two hostile nations, India was forced to spend more than just a fortune on weaponry and defense infrastructure instead of eradicating poverty, as the nation imported weapons from different suppliers (although mostly from Soviet Union).

Chinese supported Maoists are openly operating in the southeastern and central part of India while carrying frequent and deadly attacks on security and government personnel.

In 1971, India was once again attacked by the Pakistani forces right after India supported the Bangladeshi people in their uprising against Pakistan. Although this time, India retaliated boldly and helped the Bangladeshi people separate from Pakistan and form Bangladesh. President Nixon and his administration openly supported Pakistan in its offence by dispatching the USS Enterprise in Bay of Bengal, but it hardly drew an inch. By the time Soviets came along, they kept their promise and dispatched a nuclear submarine, the game of cards was now on. Even though Indian forces were way superior in numbers than the Pakistani forces, Islamabad was still far out of reach. In 1974, India became the first nation, beside the P5 nations to successful test a nuclear device.

In the 1970s, the iron triangle Islamabad, Washington and Beijing was closing on the Indian borders and on the international arena. During the then President Henry Kissinger’s visit to Beijing, Chinese premier Zhou En Lai clearly stated that Chine will not back out from and initiate an offence on Northeastern India if India took any offensive steps against Pakistan. Kissinger then went to India and asserted that US would be unable to offer any assistance if India was attacked by China. Upon joining CENTO and SEATO, Pakistan began to receive sophisticated weapon from the US. Fearing the enemy on the doors, India signed a peace treaty with the Soviets. During these years, Soviet Union was the biggest suppliers of arms and ammunitions to India and about 80% of India’s arsenal had Soviet weapons.

In 1987, Pakistan backed a major militant uprising in Kashmir, thus forcing India to heavily fortify the region to ensure stability. In 1998, India successfully performed a nuclear explosion, which also saw two successful nuclear explosion from Pakistan. This was the beginnings of the arms race between the two “once dominions”. In 1999, with the help of militant groups, Pakistani attacked India in an effort to acquire high peaks and glaciers. In a counteroffensive, India moved the troops, artillery and long range missile system out on the front lines. India successfully recaptured the peaks, but at a greater cost.

This incident saw India and Pakistan saw eye to eye, now armed with nuclear weapons. In 2001, Pakistani intelligence supported militant groups stormed the Parliament, killing 14 security personnel. This incident in one of the largest troop’s mobilization in the history, India and Pakistan brought their artillery and troops closer to the border. Increased pressure from the international arena, narrowly avoided the conflict. Meanwhile, in the same year, People Liberation Army soldiers carried their intrusion into the border throughout the border. Having a porous border with countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan also results in illegal movement of people and materials into India.

Bureaucratic channel takes a lot longer time in granting permissions which increases the total cost of buying weaponry…

In the first decade of the 21st century, Pakistan’s ISI backed militants to carry out numerous attacks on Indian cities often aiming the innocent civilians as Pakistani forces were proved thoroughly incompetent on the borders. In 2008, ten militants from Pakistan attacked hotels, railway station and a Jewish center in Mumbai killing 167. Pakistan funded and provided guidance to these militants.

The Situation Today

Currently, India Army is the third largest standing army in the world, however it is deteriorating in terms of technology and modernization. Most of the weapons used by the Indian Army are from the soviet era. Recently, the government took steps to modernize the valiant solders with effective weapons, but the decisions remains to be on paper. India stands largest importer of weapons in the world today.

This second largest populous state is in the state of dilemma as whether to develop short range and long range weapons at home or invest billions of dollars on imports. India has also started to spend money on weapons manufacturing, next to the Russians and Americans. The Indian Air Force has only 32 squadrons instead of the required 44 squadrons to strengthen itself from the borders. Of those 32 squadrons, 22 squadrons have obsolete Mig warplanes that are about to get discharged from their service. Indian Air Force is also facing mass shortages of combat pilots along with high rate of crashes. Indian Navy has become weaker in the past due to the growing losses in its fleet losing to accidental fire and high casualties.

Moreover, Indian soldiers are dyeing more of diseases and suicides than in actual combat. Not long ago, a report issued from the Comptroller and Auditor General revealed that Indian Armed Forces do not have enough ammunition to sustain even a month of heavy fighting. These facts are very alarming, the government has to ensure especial attentions to all the serving members of the three forces along with enough ammunition to sustain heavy fighting for more than two years, followed by uncompromised and superior training and combat skills.

India’s defense spending is much less than half of the expenditure of Japan which is much smaller than India…

Besides supported by Pakistan, India also faces threat from beyond the borders and within. Chinese supported Maoists are openly operating in the southeastern and central part of India while carrying frequent and deadly attacks on security and government personnel.

Militants hiding in the northeast region are involved in continues gun battle with the security forces, creating a tense situation in the region throughout the year. The presence of two hostile neighbors and numerous terror groups operating in the country requires a strong, modern and large armed force to maintain peace and stability within the country and protect its borders.

One of the major factor that is preventing the expansion of weaponry and other defensive mechanisms is the standing bureaucratic inefficiency, inadequate funds to buy or develop new weapons, lack of funds for R&D along with acquisition of weapons. Bureaucratic channel takes a lot longer time in granting permissions which increases the total cost of buying weaponry especially when the markets are fluctuating, increasing the cost as per the USD.

India’s defense spending is much less than half of the expenditure of Japan which is much smaller than India (in terms of area) and has roughly the same economic mark. It is a very true fact that India’s current budget is inadequate. Also R&D is not given attention to which prevents India from becoming self-sustainable in terms of buying weapons. India lags behind other nations in modern defense technology. India still does not have a combat drone which it could use and still relies on multimillion dollar outdated aircraft to do that job.

On the brighter side, India is currently developing many weapons and buying many to modernize and expand its Armed forces. Among this, few projects include its own indigenous Light Combat Aircraft: Tejas and India’s first ICBM: Agni V. India is also conducting trials of its first indigenously built nuclear submarine and recently launched its first indigenous aircraft carrier:

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Vikrant. Indian Navy currently has 41 vessels of various types under construction including: an aircraft carrier, destroyers, frigates, and corvettes, conventional and nuclear-powered submarines. However many of these projects have suffered from delays and cost overruns. India is also developing a fifth generation aircraft in partnership with Russia and recently purchased 36 French Rafale fighters. India is developing its own MBT tank: Arjun. India has unveiled plans to build a pan India optic fiber cable for defense forces. A contract to purchase 18 Apache and 15 Chinook helicopters from U.S is also underway. However, it will take years if not decades before these weapons are commissioned in the armed forces.

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The views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of the Indian Defence Review.

About the Author

Anant Mishra

is a security analyst with expertise in counter-insurgency and counter-terror operations. His policy analysis has featured in national and international journals and conferences on security affairs.

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2 thoughts on “Need to Modernize our Defensive and Offensive Capabilities

  1. There is a general impression among the general public and defence officers that modernization means purchasing costly equipments from foreign country keeping the same number . But it is the other way round. For a manager, modernization means to reduce the inventory of equipments and increase production at lower cost. Different types of lathes were used to manufacture one machine part. Where as one CNC machine will do the entire operation with less time and maintain far better quality. The machinist used to check the measurement using hand held gauges. One CNC machines will save operational time, and space. This is applicable to fighter planes and other equipments used by Army, Navy and Air force. After the 1971 war PAF said that IAF achieved air superiority because India had 44 squadrons of fighter planes and the bombs used by PAF were not effective and IAF was able to repair the air field run ways within a short time. IAF said that India only 34 effective squadrons, each of which consisted of 12 planes . So in 1971 IAF had 408 effective planes. Now we have 582 effective fighter planes. SU-30Mki is one of the best in the world. I was all along writing fighter planes, Bombers, War ships, Air craft carriers and submarines are only weapon carrying vehicles. The requirement of fighter planes and other equipments should be based on effectiveness of the weapon or ammunition used to neutralize enemy fire power or enemy formation. Now IAF is calculating their requirements on the basis of enemies inventory of fighter planes. This is a wrong concept. Requirement of weapon carrying vehicles should be calculated on the basis of destructive power of the weapon. USA had used only two planes to drop atom bombs in world war II. A thermonuclear weapon weighing little more than 2,400 pounds (1,100 kg) can produce an explosive force comparable to the detonation of more than 1.2 million tons (1.1 million tonnes) of TNT.[2].. It is very easy to calculate the requirement using software’s. We are a super power in the missile technology and we have some best missiles in the world. We know the destructive power of our missiles. We know the enemy installations and enemy formations in every sector along the LOC in the case of Pakistan and China. We have no plan to attack any other country like USA and western countries. We believe in “Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu”. Exact area can be found out using GPS. “GPS can calculate the area, and display the results in acres, square feet, square miles, hectares, or square kilometers.” Similarly we can find out how much area one particular missile can destroy. Develop a suitable soft ware which can give the requirement if we feed these data in the Computer . Computer will give the number of missiles required and how many sorties to be conducted if we use different types of fighter plane and missiles to destroy each enemy concentrations and Installations. Defense officers have only one answer. They want to match Chinese Navy and Air force. They are good fighters but bad managers. We need not require any more fighter planes, warships, Air craft carriers and submarines. We have to improve the missiles range , accuracy and its Avionics ( capacity to jam enemy radars). This exactly Russia has done. They have only one Air craft carrier and no plan to construct new.A manager should have control over expenditure. Instead of Assault rifles India should develop laser guns. This has many advantages over assault rifles. Very light, no sound and need not carry bullets. They may carry a few spare batteries. These batteries can be charged using solar panels or a dynamo rotated by hand. In the Second world war wireless batteries were charged using dynamo rotated by hand.

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