Military & Aerospace

Indian Aeronautics: Self reliance needs innovative action not platitudes
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Issue Vol. 28.1 Jan-Mar 2013 | Date : 19 Feb , 2015

C-130J

The Indian aeronautical industry was earlier driven primarily by military requirements and was served by HAL. Today HAL boasts of production and research centres spread across India with a workforce of around 35,000. It is one of the largest aerospace companies in Asia and is involved in every facet of aeronautics design, development, production, repair, overhaul of aircraft and aero engines, materials and systems. Whilst this makes it a behemoth on the Indian aeronautical scene, the beguiling irony of Indian aeronautics is that when in the early eighties India took on the bold challenge to design, develop and set up production tooling for a modern light combat aircraft, the responsibility for design and project management was denied to HAL and instead entrusted to the Aeronautical Development Agency, a newly created organisation that was under the DRDO. The consequences of this ad hocism are being felt by the nation today. The programme continues to suffer cost and time overruns and we now have the Director, ADA admitting to ignorance of modern aircraft manufacture that the American diplomat had reflected upon!

The Indian aeronautical industry was earlier driven primarily by military requirements…

With recent changes in policy some of the larger industrial houses have also moved into the defence production arena including into civil aeronautics, but none to one’s knowledge into significant military aeronautics business. To one’s mind, the reason is not the lack of desire on their part, but lack of a clear strategy and plan on the part of the MOD as also the severely limiting 26 per cent FDI in a field where technology is the driver. Prospective partners would need greater incentive and say when sharing technology developed after significant investments in R&D. This is a pity, considering that there is now grudging recognition that private sector participation is a pre-requisite for bringing the Indian aerospace industry to global standards.

During the last decade and a half, the IAF and to a degree, the other services, have procured airborne platforms and associated systems from across the world. Major procurements have been made from the US, Russia, UK, France, Italy, Israel, Brazil and Switzerland. The relationship with Russia, a long time traditional supplier has graduated from a buyer-seller one to joint development with the fifth-generation fighter and the multi-role transport aircraft programmes on the anvil.

Rafale

This approach may be good for diplomacy and international trade but throws up huge logistical, training and engineering challenges for the IAF, and is a poor substitute for sound operational logistics and resource management. In this context one wonders if the objective of the IAF enunciated earlier of reducing multiplicity of types has undergone a conscious change.

Since this approach is driven by user requirement and the lowest cost, it does not provide the impetus for making the Indian aeronautical industry strong and internationally competitive. As it is the industry is saddled with problems of multiple source acquisition with little consideration for how such diversity will contribute to standardisation, economies of scale and leveraging our own aeronautical strengths to advantage.

The question that must exercise the Indian defence planner’s mind is whether merely picking the best to meet individual service requirements, irrespective of variables such as technology, design philosophy, costs, multiplicity of sources and the associated engineering and logistical diversity, is the optimum solution for an air force that needs to be prepared for operations across the vast sub-continent supported hopefully by an indigenous aeronautical industry that is internationally competitive. Ashley Tellis, a Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who specializes in international security, defence and Asian strategic issues and had earlier written a comprehensive research paper ‘Dogfight: India’s MMRCA Decision’, makes the point in an article, “There is no such thing as best technology in the abstract, especially where defence procurement is concerned. The pre-eminence of any war-fighting technology in the real world can be judged only against the constraints of price and particularly in regards to India, against additional variables of consequence….what economists call, ‘constrained maximisation’.”9

The industry is saddled with problems of multiple source acquisition with little consideration for how such diversity will contribute to standardization…

Perhaps a hint of this is evident in DPP 2011 where it states, “Service HQs while laying down the QRs for defence equipment/weapon systems/platforms to be developed/integrated/made will exercise due diligence at all times to keep in view feasibility and practicability of the QRs.”10

The question that the DPP fails to address is how best this feasibility and practicability will be arrived at, unless there is an appropriate management structure in place! From all accounts, the realisation now setting in is that whilst India has invested heavily in the aeronautics industry, what is lacking is the management ethos of the private sector and a national aeronautics policy and organisational framework that is so vital for a modern aerospace power. The IAF, which for long has suffered at the hands of the industry being run as a government department, must now feel somewhat vindicated at this belated realisation.

Recently, HAL’s bid to produce a basic turbo trainer for the IAF was rejected by the MOD because costs quoted were double those of similar aircraft available for import. The Government has also decided to offload ten per cent of HAL’s equity in the market to garner resources for expansion and better management, although analysts and users say the plan doesn’t go far enough and a complete restructuring is needed and merely selling a small stake in equity will not help it revamp itself.11 DRDO and its performance are also being viewed through a critical lens. These incremental steps augur well for the future of Indian aeronautics.

Aeronautics is a high technology, high-risk and high-cost enterprise where the Indian private sector has not traditionally been allowed…

While India possesses all the pre-requisites for a sound industry, its contribution to the building of the nation’s air power has not been in keeping with this potential. Lack of an integrated and mission oriented approach, a national aeronautics vision, the requisite organisational framework and supporting institutions are the primary causes. To overcome these, a suggested blueprint follows:

The government should adopt a National Aeronautics Policy and put in place a dedicated Department of Aeronautics guided by an Aeronautics Commission, along with supporting institutional bodies, tasked with strategising and achieving the optimum blend of operational, scientific, technological and industrial goals in furtherance of this policy. A proposal to this effect was first mooted by the Aeronautical Society of India under the Presidentship of Dr Abdul Kalam in 1994 and later modified and submitted to the government in 2004. It draws on the successful model of the other two high technology areas of Atomic Energy and Space and is not new to Indian governance.

Aeronautics is a high technology, high risk and high cost regime where the Indian private sector has not traditionally been allowed. The time has now come for the Defence Ministry and the armed forces to take the private sector into their fold as partners along with generous financial and technical support to enable them to reach take-off stage. Leaving them entirely to seek unequal partnerships and joint ventures may, in the long, run, be detrimental to all parties. This can only be achieved under the broader umbrella of the Aeronautics Commission and Department of Aeronautics.

MQ-8B Fire Scout Vertical Unmanned Air System

It is time for research to be delinked from weapon system design and development, which must remain the preserve of the industry. The ADA should either revert to HAL or be privatised.

As technology advances, costs rise and even the Air Forces of developed countries are being confronted with budget constraints. In this evolving scenario, international partnerships are becoming the norm. The limit of FDI in defence production must be raised to 74 per cent from the existing 26 per cent, if any meaningful participation by high technology partners is envisaged.

Funding of aeronautics R&D in both defence and private sector labs by the IAF and other aeronautical users including civil aviation must be generous. This should be under the aegis of the Aeronautics Commission.

The nation continues to pay for delay in setting up of the National Defence University…

The Industry should consider setting up a trade association of aeronautical industries to enable constructive and meaningful participation in promoting the growth of the national aeronautical industry in harmony with all stakeholders.

Ad hoc approach to resource and technology strategy as well as management is evident from the current state of affairs. One of the mission objectives of the proposed National Defence University is ‘to educate national security leaders on all aspects of national security strategy, national military strategy, national resource strategy, national information strategy and national technology strategy through teaching and research.’ The nation continues to pay for delay in setting up of the National Defence University.

In an article titled ‘Challenges facing the Indian Aerospace Industry’12 on the eve of Aero India 1998, whilst making the argument for restructuring of this strategic industry and evolving a unique structure of doing business suited to the Indian environment, the writer had concluded with the following, ‘Aero India 1998 is an appropriate milestone for the beginning of this exciting journey such that when Aero India 2000 heralds the new millennium, Indian aerospace industry will be well on the path of reorganisation, reconstruction and a focused future. Only then can events such as Aero India become meaningful trade promotional activities towards benefiting Indian aerospace. For the present, they mean little.’

Fourteen wasted years on, one can only hope that the stirrings of change now visible herald a new beginning. The aeronautics community within the country has the potential; it cries out for bold leadership and change.

Notes

  1. Defence Procurement Procedure 2011. MOD
  2. http//www.ciidefence.com/indiandefpolicy.asp CII Defence Division. Indian Defence Offset Policy
  3. Defence Production Procedure. 2011. Para 6. MOD
  4. Indian Express. 8th December, 2012
  5. The DEW Line. http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2011/09/wikileaks-indias-hal-hacks-own.html
  6. Business Standard 9 December 2012 Ajay Shukla
  7. Times of India 22.12.12
  8. The Telegraph. Calcutta. 22.12.12
  9. Decoding India’s MMRCA Decision-Ashley Tellis. FORCE June 2011
  10. DPP 2011. Para 8 MOD
  11. DefenceNews.http://www.defensenews.com/article/20121125/DEFFEAT02/311250008/HAL-Sell-10-Market-Share
  12. Indian Defence Review, Issue 14.1 Jan-Mar 1999.
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  2. Contributors from the IAF or Ex IAF are perpetual outsiders. Anything to be done is always with MoD, DPSU etc. They are always on the high horse.

    Sometimes at least they have to look at themselves critically otherwise the sky may fall on them and they may have to pay a heavy price.

  3. Air Marshall Jayal makes an excellent case for some basic homework for India in order to partner successfully with the big boys namely, Boeng, Rafale and the likes. Joint venture is the most effective way to short cut the learning curve, however, it cannot be one sided. India must stand upto its responsibilities. It needs to bring to bear the highest level of government commitment . There is no shortage of skilled manpower. Some of the best and the brightest happen to be Indians working for US and European defence companies. They can be coralled into working for the Indian organization. What is more important is the infrastructure with world class capabilities. Here again with the right commitment and help of the right partners, it can be done. The automotive sector has already demonstrated such prowess. The innovation process starts with having sound knowledge of the subject. India needs several IITs specialization in the defence sciences. Think of the Indian scientists and engineers of such universities graduating with knowledge and skills near top 2% of the world standard on defence technologies. From the economics standpoint, the Indian defence industry comprising of the public and private sectors can yield a revenue curve as attractive as the automobile segment. Just look at the US and European examples. It is time to take the next step.

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