A hefty hike in defence budget this year, will send the forces shopping for latest weaponry and give it the financial room for modernization but the forces want more. Iftikhar Gilani reports.
Not content with 11.6 per cent hike in defence budget for 2011-12, from Rs. 151,582 crore (revised estimates of last year) to Rs. 164,415 crore ($36.03 billion) – Indian Army, though not known for openly venting its spleen, has asked for an astronomical sum of US $130 to 150 billion to keep up the pace of modernization, in view of global and regional challenges over the next 10-15 years.
Senior serving and retired army officers here identified budgetary constraints, together with lack of technical manpower as the biggest impediments towards Indian military modernization. They insisted that the up-gradation of the Indian artillery system was lagging behind by a decade and fire power resources were far from satisfactory. A former army chief said Bofors ghost was lurking on purchase of any new gun since 1986.
According to the Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lt. General J P Singh, current level of budgetary support of 1.83 per cent of the GDP was insufficient for military modernization. Advocating enhanced role and share of private sector in the defence acquisitions to meet the requirements of military modernization, the General said it was necessary to bring on board all the stakeholders, as ordinance factories alone were not able to meet the increasing requirements.
“Production, procurement and offset policies are still being evolved. We need appropriate technology infusion and absorption,” he said. Keeping in view the strategic priorities and environment, appropriate budgetary allocations should be made. Planning should be done at level of the chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force, he added.
Director of Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), Brig Gurmeet Kanwal (Retd), brought forth various domestic and international nuances of military modernization. He said China’s growing defence expenditure as compared to India’s lower budgetary allocation raises concern.
According to Brig Kanwal, military modernization means more than replacement of obsolete weapons and equipment. Describing South Asia as the world’s second unstable region, only next to West Asia, he said India faced both internal and external threats.
“India is surrounded by isles of instability. The internal situations in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar prove this,” he said.
Major General Sheru Thapliyal (Retd) cautioned that war with China or Pakistan may be fought in the mountainous terrain, and sought increased capabilities in mountain warfare. Blaming the Bofors controversy, former Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor said no new gun was procured since 1986.
Indian Army is also reported to have established five robust and high speed networks to ensure a resilient communication across the length and breadth of the country even under adverse conditions. Readying for future cyber-warfare threats, it is also developing offensive cyber capabilities.
Revealing that these networks were being upgraded continuously, Director General of Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), Lt General DS Chauhan identified these networks as high-speed common user network (CUN), Army Switched Communication Network (ASCON), Command Inter communication Network (CICN), Army Wide Area Network (AWAN) and Army Radio Engineered Network (AREN).
Dispelling the impression that latest spectrum row may have affected the strategic communication network, Army’s top sleuth said a large number of projects like network for spectrum (NFS), ASCON Phase IV, Tactical Communication System (TCS) are in various stages of implementation to provide a state-of-the-art and robust communication system in the tactical battle area (TBA). “This will be the backbone network and will provide user interface for various applications for Tactical Command, Control, Communication and Information (TacC3I) which are in various stages of development. These applications will ride intra communication systems for seamless flow of data across different domains,” he said while addressing a seminar or defence modernization here on Thursday.
He also disclosed that three services were in the process of developing various information systems, based on service-specific operational requirements. In a complex joint operation scenario, the defence headquarters has developed strategic Tri-Service Information Communication Technology (ICT) networks. “There are two major projects namely Data Communication Network (DCN) and Network for Spectrum (NFS) at the tri-services level, besides other similar projects. DCN and NFS would provide a network for seamless flow of information between tactically and strategically important locations of all the three Services,” he added.
The General expected the induction of new missile systems and upgradation of existing equipment to be completed by the end of 2011. He, however, said the intellectual property rights (IPR) issues associated with modern defence technologies were contributing to delays in the procurement for the mechanized forces.
In order to combat cyber warfare, the Army has also initiated measures like conducting cyber audits, cyber security review, evolving a comprehensive crisis management plan besides testing penetration and cyber forensic analysis systems.
General Chauhan said integration of critical components in the mechanized forces also pose a challenge. “Emphasis is being given to make up deficiencies, upgrade in inventory platforms, streamline existing logistics support, improve infrastructure in border areas, especially in North-East India and also focus on human development to harness technology at the cutting edge level,” he added. Further the development work on the Artillery Combat Command and Control System (ACCCS) are at a very advanced stage of procurement.
Further, the futuristic advanced air defence (AAD) envisages employing integrated family of weapon systems which include state-of-the-art gun systems, very short-range, short-range and medium-range surface-to-air missiles. “There will be a very perceptible shift from gun-centric approach to gun-missile and missile-centric approach to air defence to cater for envisaged future threats. Efforts to modernise AAD are progressing well and the visible changes in its equipment profile can be expected in the near future,” he added.
(The author is a senior staffer at Tehelka.com)
