Defence acquisition proposals worth Rs 4,444 cr cleared

New Delhi: The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) on Wednesday approved proposals worth Rs 4,444 crore, including the purchase of four helicopters for survey vessels at Rs 2,324 crore, but deferrred a decision on a joint bid of Tata Sons Ltd and Airbus for replacing IAF’s Avro transport fleet.

Besides giving its go-ahead to acquire four choppers, the DAC, under Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, also cleared the upgradation of the mobile integrated electronic warfare system, Samyukta, at a cost of Rs 1,682 crore, a Defence Ministry spokesperson said. The DAC also cleared a proposal relating to purchase of P-7 Heavy Drop Platform, which is used for military logistics, for Rs 402 crore, the official said. Another proposal of Rs 36 crore for acquiring propeller engine for offshore patrol vessel of the Coast Guard was also given a go-ahead, the spokesman said. The DAC, however, could not arrive at a decision on a joint bid by Tata Sons Ltd and Airbus to replace the Indian Air Force’s Avro transport fleet, according to sources. European consortium Airbus Defence and Space has made a joint bid with Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) for 56 medium-transport aircraft of IAF valued at Rs 20,000 crore (USD 3 billion). The euro 14 billion (USD 17.8 billion) Airbus Defence has tied up with Tata Sons’ subsidiary (TASL) as its Indian production partner for the order. The bid is for 56 twin-turboprop tactical military aircraft, including 16 in fly-away condition from the Airbus Defence final assembly line and the remaining 40 to be built and assembled by TASL in Hyderabad. The aircraft is in the six-eight tonne class, with a cruise speed of 800 kms per hour and a range of 2,500-2,800 kms. The IAF had floated the tender after the DAC had on July 19 cleared the proposal for manufacturing the 56 transport aircraft in the private sector, excluding state-run defence firm Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), which built the Avro planes. Source : Defence News

Obama’s defence secy nominee Ashton Carter instrumental in reviving ties with India

Washington: Ashton Carter, nominee for the US Defence Secretary, was instrumental in reviving India-US defence ties, a top American lawmaker today said, while others welcomed his nomination for the top Pentagon post.

“He (Carter) was instrumental in reviving the US-India defence relationship, a major development that continues to bear fruit, and he has helped forge new security ties with former Communist bloc nations,” House Democratic Whip Steny H Hoyer said after President Barack Obama nominated Carter.
Hoping that the Senate will confirm Carter quickly so he can get to work without delay, Hoyer said Carter is an excellent choice to serve the next Secretary of Defence.
“He has the experience and the judgment required to lead the Department of Defence as it confronts ISIL in Iraq and Syria, brings our troops safely home from Afghanistan, and counters threats against the United States and our allies around the world,” he said.
Congressman Mac Thornberry, Chairman-elect of the House Armed Services Committee, said Carter knows the Pentagon, and he knows that some reforms are essential if they are to meet the national security needs of the country.
Welcoming the nomination, Senator Jim Inhofe, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he has worked with Carter over the years and consider him qualified for the position and look forward to his confirmation hearing.
Senator John McCain said Carter is a highly competent, experienced, hard-working, and committed public servant.
“Throughout Carter’s previous tenure at the Pentagon, I have worked closely with him on a number of issues, including defence acquisition reform,” he said, adding that he was looking forward to his confirmation hearing.
Senator Lindsey Graham said Carter has the knowledge and capability to serve as Secretary of Defence during these difficult times.
“I expect he will face tough questions at his confirmation hearing about President Obama’s failing national security policy, but I expect he will be confirmed,” the Republican Senator said.
Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Carter is highly qualified and experienced, and well-versed in the challenges that the next secretary of defence will face.
“Carter understands the threats that confront our country and I believe his experience at the Pentagon will make him an effective leader for our military. Given the many critical national security issues confronting the United States, it is my hope that the Senate will work swiftly to consider and confirm President Obama’s nominee to this critical post,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said.

Source : Defence News

India test-fires nuclear-capable Nirbhay cruise missile

BALASORE (Odisha): India’s indigenously developed nuclear capable sub-sonic cruise missile ‘Nirbhay’, which can strike targets more than 700 kms away, was today test-fired from a test range at Chandipur near here.

“The missile was test-fired from a mobile launcher positioned at launch pad 3 of the Integrated Test Range at about 10.03 hours,” said an official soon after the flight took off from the launch ground. “Flight details will be available after data retrieved from radars and telemetry points, monitoring the trajectories, are analysed,” the official said. It is the second test of the sub-sonic long range cruise missile ‘Nirbhay’ from the ITR. The maiden flight, conducted on March 12, 2013 could not achieve all the desired parameters as “the flight had to be terminated mid-way when deviations were observed from its intended course,” sources said. India has in its arsenal the 290 km range supersonic “BrahMos” cruise missile which is jointly developed by India and Russia. Source: Defence News

Army chief to visit all neighbours except Pakistan

India will be focusing efforts on strengthening military ties with countries in the immediate neighbourhood. Army chief General Dalbir Singh’s first set of foreign tours in the coming months will be to Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

This is in line with the new government’s plans to revitalise ties with neighbouring countries. The army chief is likely to travel to Bhutan and Nepal later this year followed by visits to the other neighbouring countries next year. Bhutan’s significance as one of India’s closest allies was evident when Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose to visit Thimphu in June barely three weeks after being sworn in as PM. China, which shares a 470-km long boundary with Bhutan, has unresolved border issues with the Himalayan kingdom. New Delhi had established the Indian Military Training Team (IMTRAT) in Bhutan in 1962 to train Bhutanese officers. During the years of the royal autocracy and the initial years of peace process when there were restrictions on the military’s operations, India had stopped supplying arms to the Nepal Army. But supplies have now been restored. There remains a special relationship between the two armies, with their chiefs treated as honorary generals of the other army. The visits to Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are also significant in view of growing Chinese presence in these countries. Source : Defence News

Geolocators to find stolen phones

Police To Buy Three Gadgets For Rs. 1.5Cr Each To Identify Precise Locations
The next time you lose a cellphone, chances of reclaiming it are higher.
Delhi Police has finally given the nod to its much-awaited project for buying devices equipped to trace mobile phones. Around 40 mobile phones go missing here every day on average, police data suggests.
The devices, termed Geolocators, will cost Rs 1.5 crore each—the department will reportedly procure three.
One each will go to the special cell and the crime branch, while the third may be allotted to the local police for specific cases.

TOI had first reported in September last year that cops were planning to procure devices which could help them find mobile phones. Sources confirmed that a global tender was floated last week to procure these machines. The gizmo will not only help cops trace loststolen or snatched phones but will also help in narrowing down on the suspects making ransom calls from a remote area. It will also help in tracking terrorists and criminals on the run, police said.
Geolocators, which use advanced GPS and “frequency locator” technology from Europe, come with an assembly unit and a handheld device. The latter is equipped with a smartphone and can be used to reach to the place where the target phone is located. The units can be mounted on a vehicle or packed in a haversack.
A source said the device would generate a “mobileterminating call or an SMS” to the phone from any given number—cops would even be able to speak to the target and engage or distract him—and then it will establish contact with the phone’s IMEI or IMSI’s frequency. A trained cop will go through the area with the handheld device to track down the target. The GPS-enabled unit will take him even to the room where the crimi nals or terrorists could be operating from or hiding and a cover team will follow to thwart them.
Till now, cops have been using the information furnished by the service provider, which directs them to a vague tower location (such as ITO or Pragati Maidan) which have hundreds of active numbers. Cops get to the tower ID and track the target or the phone using manual intelligence. This device—the handheld part of the unit acts as a guide—can take you up to 10 metres close to the target. It will, however, only be able to track GSM phones with 2G or 3G technology and can be upgraded to 4G as well.
Geolocators are an essential part of any police investigation unit in the West and are crucial in cases of homicides, kidnapping for ransom and robbery. The instrument is perceived to be a great help to the force.


Source: Defence News

US rules out trilateral military partnership with India, Japan

Washington: The US has ruled out a trilateral military partnership with India and Japan, days after it decided to upgrade its annual trilateral meetings at the ministerial level.

“No,” Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal told reporters when asked if the India-Japan-US trilateral diplomatic ties expand to become a military partnership. “The trilateral relationship between India and Japan is not to be at the exclusion of any other relationships and partnerships in the region. It has its roots on the desire to support economic connectivity across the South Asia and Southeast Asia landscape,” she said. “As you see the transition, the political transition in Myanmar, it has created a new opening and an opportunity to strengthen that connectivity that allows trade to go north, south, east, and west. So the trilateral conversations, have focused on how to do that, how to support trade and economic connectivity across the region,” she added. There are also discussions about how to strengthen humanitarian assistance and disaster response across the region. There’s a great deal of capacity in India. There’s a great deal of capacity in Japan, she noted. Asia is one of the most disaster-prone regions of the world. Over 60 per cent of hydro meteorological disasters that require international assistance occur in the Asia-Pacific region. So another area of discussion has been on creating capabilities and synergies on disaster response, she said. She said there is a very deep interest in strengthening maritime cooperation and maritime security, and India is playing an increasing role in providing that as we look at anti-piracy initiatives and ways to create safe transportation routes and lanes for commerce to be able to take place. “So those have been the nature of the conversations. This is an important trilateral, but I don’t think it comes at the exclusion of other strong, important relationships in the region,” she explained. The US is currently doing joint military exercises with India and with Japan, she said, adding a lot of the countries of the region, including China, have participated in the RIMPAC exercises. “We see these areas not as being exclusive or exclusionary, but we think that the more that we’re able to partner with and work with the militaries of the region, create understanding and capabilities of how we can work together, both in terms of responding to crises when they happen, but also in terms of creating shared understandings,” she said. “I know that we have mil-to-mil conversations in our relationship with China, and we certainly do with many of the other countries of the region. These are conversations that we want to have across the broad expanse of all of our relationships,” she added. Source: Defence News

Make in India : Honeywell, Tata Partner To Produce TALIN Systems

NEW DELHI — Coinciding with the visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US Sept. 25-30, Honeywell International has inked a partnership agreement with India’s Tata Power to license-produce the tactical advanced land inertial navigator (TALIN) system.

“TALIN represents the latest in global positioning system (GPS)-free navigation and positioning technology, designed to improve asset safety and ultimately mission success,” said Arijit Ghosh, Honeywell president for aerospace in India, according to a statement released Sunday. An executive of Tata Power said TALIN would be sold to the Indian Army for use in artillery systems and also sourced to the Honeywell supply chain worldwide. TALIN systems are ideal for environments where GPS signals are not available, the Tata executive said, so they would find a ready market with the Indian Army. Tata Power will license the design and hardware to assemble, test and build the production kits for the navigation system in India. The Indian government wants to boost the domestic defense industry and the Tata-Honeywell partnership will help Indian industry get advanced technology, the Tata Power executive said. Ghosh said, “By partnering with Tata Power SED on the production of TALIN we are aligning with the government’s aim of increasing locally manufactured technologies for India’s defense industry and giving the Indian armed forces an easy-to-justify option for navigation on the 21st century battlefield.” Source : Defence News

Indian PM Modi rocks Madison Square Garden – New York

NEW YORK: Indian-Americans from across the nation gave a “rock star” treatment to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the prestigious Madison Square Garden in the Big Apple, where nearly 20,000 strong gathering of Indian Diaspora welcomed the Indian leader.

Shouting slogans like ‘Narendra Modi Zindabaad’, ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Welcome Modi’, Indian-Americans started arriving at the venue since early in the morning. People were seen waiting in long queues. By 9 p.m. a large number of people were dressed in Modi T-shirt with portrait of Modi on it. Many were holding banners and slogans like ‘America Loves Modi’. Some 20,000 people packed the Madison Square Garden for the largest event of its kind for the Indian-American community organised by the recently formed Indian-American Community Foundation (IACF), and supported by more than 400 Indian-American organizers from across the country. “He is a rock star,” said young college going Deepa Kaur. “We have a lot of expectations from him,” she said. Never seen before, the organisers had lined up a number of cultural events including popular songs, folk dances. People were seen dancing to the tune of these cultural events. More than 200 media, a significantly large number of them from India, had registered for the event; which organisers said is unprecedented for an Indian American event. “He is the first Prime Minister who is connected to the NRI (non-resident Indian community). That’s why you see such a large number of people. We filled up the seats in just two weeks. It has never happened in the history of the Madison Square Garden that seats gets filled up some three weeks before the event,” said Anil Sharma, one of the volunteers of the event. In fact, more than 2,000 volunteers worked day and night for the past three weeks to make he program a success. “It’s Modi Mania,” said Ankit Patel. “It’s a life time event,” he said. In fact the event attracted some three dozen Congressmen including several power lawmakers like Senator Robert Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Congressman Ed Royce, Chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, and Congressman Ami Bera. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal were also present. A huge contingent of Indian-American corporate leaders and IT professionals came in from the Silicon Valley for the mega event. The New York Times in a headline ‘Indian Leader Narendra Modi, Once Unwelcome in US gets a Rock Star Reception’ story today wrote Modi will receive a rally fit for a rock star. Modi’s fans were seen carrying the Indian tricolour and wore traditional Indian garb with several groups of performers carrying drums and ‘dhols’ to give him a rousing welcome. There was also a group of Tibetan women carrying banners in support of Modi. Strict security arrangements are in place with police barricades at several locations. Besides the main venue, there would be at least 50 other locations across the country where special arrangements have been made for the live telecast of the prime minister’s speech and other events that include a nearly two-hour-long entertainment programme. At 16.4 per cent, Indian-Americans are the third largest Asian-American group in the US, numbering 2.8 million strong, which is almost 1 per cent of the US population. Source: Defence News

Air Force Takes off With Plans to Make Aero India Bigger

BANGALORE: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has begun the preliminary rounds of preparations for the 10th edition of the biennial air show to be held at the Air Force Station (AFS) Yelahanka, in Bangalore, from February 18 to 22, 2015.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ pitch the Aero India-2015 will be seen through ‘a new window of opportunity’ by the aerospace and defence industry now. The IAF officials said they are preparing the ground to accommodate more participants during the air show. Speaking to Express on the sidelines of a media visit to AFS Yelahanka on Wednesday, ahead of the 82nd IAF Day celebrations on October 8, Air Commodore S C Gulati, Air Officer Commanding of the station said initial talks with various state government agencies have already begun. “These are early days of preparations and we have the SOPs (standard operating procedures) in place. We hope that the coming show will be bigger in all aspects and AFS Yelahanka is warming up for the task,” said Gulati, a seasoned IAF pilot with close to 8,000 hours of flying. Survey of hospitals and helipads in Bangalore are underway as part of the disaster management plan. To a query whether the training activities at AFS Yelahanka would be hit if HAL Airport is reopened for commercial operations, Gulati said the IAF’s modern traffic management systems were capable of handling the situation. To another query whether the current activities at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) have eaten into the traffic space of the base (as reported by the media earlier), he said the training schedules have not been affected. “Our training patterns have not changed and are proceeding as planned. We operate on the assigned air space and both the HAL and KIA too do the same. Paris has got three airports and London has four,” said Gulati, who was part of the Air HQ Communication Squadron, flying the Boeing Business Jets, carrying VIPs. The AFS Yelahanka has the record of being the single largest base in India with maximum number of flying hours. It has to its credit over 20,000 hours of flying, annually. As part of the IAF’s ongoing modernisation mission, AFS Yelahanka will soon get a new station HQ with the construction work almost entering the last lap. An official said the induction of AFS Yelahanka is poised to increase in the near future. SOurce : Defence News

India-U.S. Relations: The View from New Delhi

In this India-U.S. Policy Memo, W.P.S. Sidhu writes that the India-U.S. relationship has progressed significantly over the last 25 years. He outlines areas ripe for deeper cooperation, as well as issues that have the potential to derail ties.

There was a time when India-U.S. relations were summed up in platitudes like “world’s largest democracies,” while seasoned pundits lamented that they were in fact “estranged democracies” that had very little in common. Today, with nearly 30 separate dialogues, the India-U.S. agenda involves issues ranging from the TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan) to the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) and a spate of acronyms in between.
For New Delhi, the principal driver behind the transformation of its relations with Washington lies in the Indian ambition to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2025 and, consequently, also emerge as one of the key global political and security actors. This fundamental objective requires two external conditions: first, at the very least, ensuring a no-war environment, particularly in India’s immediate neighborhood; and second, the ability to shape global rules in terms of existing and emerging norms and institutions that have a direct impact on India’s ambitious development goal and economic well-being—particularly multilateral norms and institutions related to climate, cyber, energy, food, outer space, trade, and water (rivers and oceans) policy.
New Delhi grudgingly recognized that a partnership with the United States was indispensable to attain these twin external conditions. Consequently, it was essential to cooperate not only at the bilateral level but also critical to reach common understanding (if not agreement) in various multilateral and plurilateral fora.
Such bilateral and multilateral interactions have the potential to take India-U.S. relations forward but also to stymie them. Thus, it is crucial to manage the ever widening and deepening India-U.S. relationship carefully if it is to make progress and contribute to India’s primary objectives.
At present three areas are particularly ripe for cooperation and should be prioritized by New Delhi and Washington: clean energy, defense, and infrastructure and investment.

Clean energy: In the lead-up to his election, Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pledged to “give a thrust to renewable sources of energy,” and the Modi government’s first budget included significant investments for research and development of solar, wind, clean coal, and other renewable energy sources. The joint statement of the fifth strategic dialogue strengthens institutional structures to enhance cooperation in this area. Now India and the United States need to operationalize these mechanisms for additional cooperation.

Defense: In an effort to bolster domestic arms production and create jobs, the Modi government has raised the limit on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the defense sector from 26 percent to 49 percent. U.S. officials applauded the adjustment and the Indian government and American corporations have said they would like to move forward on a host of sales, and co-development and co-production projects. The parties should capitalize on this moment of mutual agreement.
Infrastructure and investment: Prime Minister Modi’s budget allocated massive sums for urban renewal, transportation, and sanitation projects, and eased restrictions on FDI for construction. The establishment of two collaborative infrastructure efforts launched during a recent visit by top U.S. officials suggests this is another area ripe for movement.

While traction in each of the areas above can help to re-energize India-U.S. ties in the near term, a handful of other issues have the potential to derail them:

Free trade: India’s blocking of the World Trade Organization (WTO) trade facilitation agreement (TFA)—while the fifth strategic dialogue was ongoing—disappointed U.S. officials. India’s justification of its actions, on the grounds that it did not get assurances on food subsidies and stockpiling programs, was grudgingly acknowledged by the U.S. However, diplomats on both sides should find a compromise solution to ensure that the WTO fracas does not derail the revived dialogue.
Intellectual property rights: Western pharmaceutical companies have been at loggerheads with India for years over patent laws and regulations on generic drug production, and India is one of just 10 countries currently on the U.S. Trade Representative’s intellectual property rights watch list. With the Indian government and electorate focused on growth and development, discussion of any measures that could significantly hinder Indian industry and deprive access to cheap medication could backfire.
Regional geopolitics: India is anxious about the upcoming U.S. withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, suspicious of the American approach vis-à-vis a rising China, and disdainful of U.S. coziness with Pakistan. With hard national interests and a slew of historical grievances at stake, differences of opinion here will be immensely challenging to reconcile.
Diplomatic decorum: The bungled arrest of an Indian consular officer in New York in December 2013 and the lasting—if presently downplayed—effects of the denial of a U.S. visa to then-Chief Minister Modi over his alleged involvement in the 2002 Gujarat riots highlighted a considerable lack of understanding and coordination between the two sides. Rebuilding trust and comfort will take time and dexterity.

Finally, the two parties would do well to seek an early resolution of a couple of other vexing issues, which have the potential either to provide a fillip to or to wreck bilateral relations. If, however, an early resolution is not possible, then both sides should shelve the issues until the new Indian government has had the opportunity to flesh out its policies more clearly.

Civil nuclear deal: The landmark India-U.S. civil nuclear deal lies dormant, due to a dispute over India’s Nuclear Liability Act and the United States backsliding on key elements of the nuclear agreement. Prime Minister Modi has expressed a desire to implement outstanding bilateral nuclear agreements, and American officials have registered hopes that progress will be possible. Still, if large gaps remain, then it might be more sensible to put off trying to find solutions to a later date.
FDI in retail: While India has taken steps to open up various sectors of its economy to FDI—defense, insurance, e-commerce—the multi-brand retail sector remains largely insulated due to sourcing requirements. Reports suggest the BJP-led government is considering a number of adjustments to its retail FDI policies; until their approach is ironed out, it is best to hold off on any related discussions.

Prime Minister Modi’s election provides a unique opportunity to re-energize relations between India and the United States. The parties should recommit themselves to a dialogue of candor and mutual respect, and focus on those areas ripe for progress in order to build much-needed confidence. Only then can India-U.S. ties become what President Obama has called “one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century.”

Source : Brookings

France asks India to finalise joint missile project soon

NEW DELHI: France has asked India for early finalisation of the long-pending Rs 30,000-crore project for joint production of short-range surface-to-air missile (SR-SAM) systems.

In a letter, the French Defence Ministry has told its Indian counterpart that “it will carry out substantial transfer of technology and know-how, especially in the field of missile guidance”. The French side has proposed that the project “would enable India to get in a few years in areas of strategic missile, the maximum autonomy you have called for”. SR-SAM is proposed to be a joint venture between India and France and they have nominated the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) and a French multinational firm for the programme. The deal has been under negotiations for over five years and has been awaiting final clearance after French President Francois Hollande and then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2013 announced that talks have been concluded between both the sides on the missile development project. The IAF had raised certain objections over the programme but the Defence Ministry has to take a final call on the programme after holding discussions with all stakeholders. The French Defence Ministry said it wants to actively participate in new Indian government’s plans to achieve autonomy in field of military hardware production. It has said that the missile programme would help in meeting India’s domestic market and can also be supplied to future export markets. Source  : Defence News

First set of defence sector FDI proposals gets FIPB nod

NEW DELHI, SEPT 16:  

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has given its nod to the first set of defence proposals. The Government had notified new norms allowing higher FDI in the defence sector on August 26.

A senior Finance Ministry official said that the board, at its meeting on Tuesday, cleared 21 of the 35 proposals brought for its consideration. The approved proposals are worth ₹988 crore.

The 21 approved projects include those of Bharti Shipyard, Solar Industries and Kineco Kaman Composites India relating to the defence sector. Though another proposal, of Hatsoff Helicopter Training, came through the Civil Aviation Ministry, it involves the Defence Ministry.

The board also gave its nod to two proposals, of IndusInd Bank and ANZ Capital, related to the financial sector.

However, Sistema Shyam Teleservices’ proposal was rejected. “There were problems in the way the proposal was structured, and also security concerns,” the official said.

(This article was published on September 16, 2014)

Source : Hindu Business Line

STATOISTICS

China started its economic reforms in the late 1970s. In 1980, China’s GDP–both in absolute and per capita terms in PPP dollars–was smaller than India. In 1984, the Chinese economy overtook us in terms of absolute value of output.
Interestingly, until 1991, the year when India started its economic reforms, India’s GDP per capita was higher than China’s. Since then, the gap between the two economies has only widened. Some experts believe that the economic reforms did not work that well in India because before opening its economy China managed to bring some level of social equality by doing land reforms and ensuring access to education to all section of society. Also its economy is growing at a faster rate while the population growth has stabilized




Source : TOI

11 Unbelievable Weapons That Only America And Its Closest Allies Have

U.S. policymakers are girding the American public for a long fight against ISIS, with Secretary of State John Kerry saying that the jihadists could take several years to defeat.
ISIS has one of the most extensive arsenals of any non-state armed group in modern history. But even if not all of their weaponry is applicable to the fight against extremists in the Middle East, it’s worth remembering that the U.S. and its partners still have the overwhelming advantage in hardware.
And it’s not just an advantage over nonstate groups like ISIS.
The U.S. is in possession of a range of weapons that the rest of the world simply doesn’t have.

Weapons like the MQ9 Reaper Drone, the Laser Avenger and the ADAPTIV cloaking give U.S. troops the a leg-up on any battlefield around the world – including in the ongoing battle against jihadist groups across the Middle East.

INDIA as a Great Power

UNLIKE many other Asian countries—and in stark contrast to neighbouring Pakistan—India has never been run by its generals. The upper ranks of the powerful civil service of the colonial Raj were largely Hindu, while Muslims were disproportionately represented in the army.

On gaining independence the Indian political elite, which had a strong pacifist bent, was determined to keep the generals in their place. In this it has happily succeeded. But there have been costs. One is that India exhibits a striking lack of what might be called a strategic culture. It has fought a number of limited wars—one with China, which it lost, and several with Pakistan, which it mostly won, if not always convincingly—and it faces a range of threats, including jihadist terrorism and a persistent Maoist insurgency. Yet its political class shows little sign of knowing or caring how the country’s military clout should be deployed. That clout is growing fast. For the past five years India has been the world’s largest importer of weapons (see chart). A deal for $12 billion or more to buy 126 Rafale fighters from France is slowly drawing towards completion. India has more active military personnel than any Asian country other than China, and its defence budget has risen to $46.8 billion. Today it is the world’s seventh-largest military spender; IHS Jane’s, a consultancy, reckons that by 2020 it will have overtaken Japan, France and Britain to come in fourth. It has a nuclear stockpile of 80 or more warheads to which it could easily add more, and ballistic missiles that can deliver some of them to any point in Pakistan. It has recently tested a missile with a range of 5,000km (3,100 miles), which would reach most of China. Which way to face? Apart from the always-vocal press and New Delhi’s lively think-tanks, India and its leaders show little interest in military or strategic issues. Strategic defence reviews like those that take place in America, Britain and France, informed by serving officers and civil servants but led by politicians, are unknown in India. The armed forces regard the Ministry of Defence as woefully ignorant on military matters, with few of the skills needed to provide support in areas such as logistics and procurement (they also resent its control over senior promotions). Civil servants pass through the ministry rather than making careers there. The Ministry of External Affairs, which should be crucial to informing the country’s strategic vision, is puny. Singapore, with a population of 5m, has a foreign service about the same size as India’s. China’s is eight times larger. The main threats facing India are clear: an unstable, fading but dangerous Pakistan; a swaggering and intimidating China. One invokes feelings of superiority close to contempt, the other inferiority and envy. In terms of India’s regional status and future prospects as a “great power”, China matters most; but the vexatious relationship with Pakistan still dominates military thinking. A recent attempt to thaw relations between the two countries is having some success. But tension along the “line of control” that separates the two sides in the absence of an agreed border in Kashmir can flare up at any time. To complicate things, China and Pakistan are close, and China is not above encouraging its grateful ally to be a thorn in India’s side. Pakistan also uses jihadist terrorists to conduct a proxy war against India “under its nuclear umbrella”, as exasperated Indians put it. The attack on India’s parliament in 2001 by Jaish-e-Mohammed, a terrorist group with close links to Pakistan’s intelligence service, brought the two countries to the brink of war. The memory of the 2008 commando raid on Mumbai by Lashkar-e-Taiba, another terrorist organisation, is still raw. Pakistan’s nuclear capabilities are a constant concern. Its arsenal of warheads, developed with Chinese assistance, is at least as large as India’s and probably larger. It has missiles of mainly Chinese design that can reach most Indian cities and, unlike India, it does not have a “no first use” policy. Indeed, to offset the growing superiority of India’s conventional forces, it is developing nuclear weapons for the battlefield that may be placed under the control of commanders in the field. Much bigger and richer, India has tended to win its wars with Pakistan. Its plans for doing so again, if it feels provoked, are worrying. For much of the past decade the army has been working on a doctrine known as “Cold Start” that would see rapid armoured thrusts into Pakistan with close air support. The idea is to inflict damage on Pakistan’s forces at a mere 72 hours’ notice, seizing territory quickly enough not to incur a nuclear response. At a tactical level, this assumes a capacity for high-tech combined-arms warfare that India may not possess. At the strategic level it supposes that Pakistan will hesitate before unleashing nukes, and it sits ill with the Indian tradition of strategic restraint. Civilian officials and politicians unconvincingly deny that Cold Start even exists. Bharat Karnad of the Centre for Policy Research, a think-tank, believes Pakistan’s main danger to India is as a failed state, not a military adversary. He sees Cold Start as a “blind alley” which wastes military and financial resources that should be used to deter the “proto-hegemon”, China. Others agree. In 2009 A.K. Antony, the defence minister, told the armed forces that they should consider China rather than Pakistan the main threat to India’s security and deploy themselves accordingly. But not much happened. Mr Karnad sees feeble civilian strategic direction combining with the army’s innate conservatism to stop India doing what it needs to. The “line of actual control” between China and India in Arunachal Pradesh, which the Chinese refer to as South Tibet, is not as tense as the one in Kashmir. Talks between the two countries aimed at resolving the border issue have been going on for ten years and 15 rounds. In official statements both sides stress that the dispute does not preclude partnership in pursuit of other goals. But it is hard to ignore the pace of military investment on the Chinese side of the line. Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal of the Centre for Land Warfare Studies points to the construction of new railways, 58,000km of all-weather roads, five air bases, supply hubs and communication posts. China would be able to strike with power and speed if it decided to seize the Indian-controlled territory which it claims as its own, says Mr Karnad. He thinks the Indian army, habituated to “passive-reactive” planning when it comes to the Chinese, has deprived itself of the means to mount a counter-offensive. Unable to match Chinese might on land, an alternative could be to respond at sea. Such a riposte was floated in a semi-official strategy document called “Nonalignment 2.0”, promoted last year by some former national security advisers and blessed by the current one, Shivshankar Menon. India’s naval advantage might allow it, for example, to impede oil traffic heading for China through the Malacca Strait. China and India are both rapidly developing their navies from coastal defence forces into instruments that can project power further afield; within this decade, they expect to have three operational carrier groups each. Some Indian strategists believe that, as China extends its reach into the Indian Ocean to safeguard its access to natural resources, the countries’ navies are as likely to clash as their armies. An OCEAN needs a navy :: China’s navy is expanding at a clip that India cannot match—by 2020 it is expected to have 73 major warships and 78 submarines, 12 of them nuclear—but India’s sailors are highly competent. They have been operating an aircraft-carrier since the 1960s, whereas China is only now getting into the game. India fears China’s development of facilities at ports in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar—a so-called “string of pearls” around the ocean that bears India’s name; Mr Antony called the announcement in February that a Chinese company would run the Pakistani port of Gwadar a “matter of concern”. China sees a threat in India’s developing naval relationships with Vietnam, South Korea, Japan and, most of all, America. India now conducts more naval exercises with America than with any other country. India’s navy has experience, geography and some powerful friends on its side. However, it is still the poor relation to India’s other armed services, with only 19% of the defence budget compared with 25% for the air force and 50% for the army. The air force also receives the lion’s share of the capital-equipment budget—double the amount given to the navy. It is buying the Rafales from France and upgrading its older, mainly Russian, fighters with new weapons and radars. A joint venture between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Russia’s Sukhoi is developing a “fifth generation” strike fighter to rival America’s F-35. As well as indulging its pilots’ need for speed, though, the air force is placing a new emphasis on “enablers”. It is negotiating the purchase of six Airbus A330 military tankers and five new airborne early-warning and control aircraft. It has also addressed weaknesses in heavy lift by buying ten giant Boeing C-17 transports, with the prospect of more to come. Less clear is the priority the air force gives to the army’s requirements for close air support over its more traditional role of air defence, particularly after losing a squabble over who operates combat helicopters. With the army training for a blitzkrieg against Pakistan and the navy preparing to confront Chinese blue-water adventurism, it is easy to get the impression that each service is planning for its own war without much thought to the requirements of the other two. Lip-service is paid to co-operation in planning, doctrine and operations, but this “jointness” is mostly aspirational. India lacks a chief of the defence staff of the kind most countries have. The government, ever-suspicious of the armed forces, appears not to want a single point of military advice. Nor do the service chiefs, jealous of their own autonomy. The absence of a strategic culture and the distrust between civilian-run ministries and the armed forces has undermined military effectiveness in another way—by contributing to a procurement system even more dysfunctional than those of other countries. The defence industrial sector, dominated by the sprawling Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), remains stuck in state control and the country’s protectionist past. According to a recent defence-ministry audit, only 29% of the products developed by the DRDO in the past 17 years have entered service with the armed forces. The organisation is a byword for late-arriving and expensive flops. The cost of developing a heavy tank, the Arjun, exceeded the original estimates by 20 times. But according to Ajai Shukla, a former officer who now writes on defence for the Business Standard, the army wants to stick with its elderly Russian T-72s and newer T-90s, fearing that the Arjun, as well as being overweight, may be unreliable. A programme to build a light combat aircraft to replace the Mirages and MiG-21s of an earlier generation started more than quarter of a century ago. But the Tejas aircraft that resulted has still not entered service. There are signs of slow change. These include interest in allowing partnerships between India’s small but growing private-sector defence firms and foreign companies, which should stimulate technology transfer. But the deal to buy the Rafale has hit difficulties because, though Dassault would prefer to team up with private-sector firms such as Tata and Reliance, the government wants it to work with stodgy HAL. Even if Dassault had a free choice of partners, though, it is not clear that Indian industry could handle the amount of work the contract seeks to set aside for it. Richard Bitzinger, a former RAND Corporation analyst now at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, sums up the problem in a recent study for the Zurich-based International Relations and Security Network. If India does not stop coddling its existing state-run military-industrial complex, he says, it will never be capable of supplying its armed forces with the modern equipment they require. Without a concerted reform effort, a good part of the $200 billion India is due to spend on weaponry over the next 15 years looks likely to be wasted. The Tiger and the Eagle :: The money it will spend abroad also carries risks. Big foreign deals lend themselves to corruption. Investigations into accusations of bribery can delay delivery of urgently needed kit for years. The latest “scandal” of this sort surrounds a $750m order for helicopters from Italy’s Finmeccanica. The firm denies any wrongdoing, but the deal has been put on hold. Britain, France, Israel and, above all, Russia (which still accounts for more than half of India’s military imports), look poised to be beneficiaries of the coming binge. America will get big contracts, too. But despite a ground-breaking civil nuclear deal in 2005 and the subsequent warming of relations, America is still regarded as a less politically reliable partner in Delhi. The distrust stems partly from previous arms embargoes, partly from America’s former closeness to Pakistan, partly from India’s concerns about being the junior partner in a relationship with the world’s pre-eminent superpower. The dilemma over how close to get to America is particularly acute when it comes to China. America and India appear to share similar objectives. Neither wants the Indian Ocean to become a Chinese “lake”. But India does not want to provoke China into thinking that it is ganging up with America. And it worries that the complex relationship between America and China, while often scratchy, is of such vital importance that, in a crisis, America would dump India rather than face down China. An Indian navy ordered to close down China’s oil supplies would not be able to do so if its American friends were set against it. India’s search for the status appropriate to its ever-increasing economic muscle remains faltering and uncertain. Its problems with Pakistan are not of the sort that can be solved militarily. Mr Karnad argues that India, from a position of strength, should build better relations with Pakistan through some unilateral gestures, for example cutting back the size of the armoured forces massed in the deserts of Rajasthan and withdrawing its short-range missiles. General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, head of Pakistan’s army, has declared internal terrorism to be a greater danger to his country than India. That may also offer an opportunity. China’s confidence in its new military power is unnerving to India. But if a condescending China in its pomp is galling, one in economic trouble or political turmoil and pandering to xenophobic popular opinion would be worse. Japan and South Korea have the reassurance of formal alliances with America. India does not. It is building new relationships with its neighbours to the east through military co-operation and trade deals. But it is reluctant to form or join more robust institutional security frameworks. Instead of clear strategic thinking, India shuffles along, impeded by its caution and bureaucratic inertia. The symbol of these failings is India’s reluctance to reform a defence-industrial base that wastes huge amounts of money, supplies the armed forces with substandard kit and leaves the country dependent on foreigners for military modernisation. Since independence India has got away with having a weak strategic culture. Its undersized military ambitions have kept it out of most scrapes and allowed it to concentrate on other things instead. But as China bulks up, India’s strategic shortcomings are becoming a liability. And they are an obstacle to India’s dreams of becoming a true 21st-century power.

Source : Defence News

US endorses India-Japan strategic partnership

WASHINGTON: The US has welcomed the just announced India-Japan Strategic Partnership and said it is looking forward to strengthen its trilateral co-operation with them.

“The US strongly supports India’s collaboration and cooperation with its neighbours in the Asia Pacific. We actively support such collaboration through our trilateral dialogue and other activities with India and Japan, and look forward to strengthening further our trilateral cooperation,” State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said.  The US strongly supports a prosperous India playing an important role on the global stage, she said. It is during the Obama Administration that India, Japan and the US have started trilateral meetings.  “As we have long said, a strong, prosperous India contributes to regional and global peace and prosperity,” Psaki said responding to questions about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Japan this week. During a meeting between Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, the two sides announced India-Japan strategic partnership and deepening of defence relationship.  The Pentagon welcomed the decision of India and Japan and said that the latter’s participation in the Malabar exercise would be routine. “We are very excited that Japan’s participation in Exercise Malabar is becoming routine and believe that credible, ready, and inter-operable maritime forces help to preserve peace, prevent conflict, and foster a spirit of cooperation to meet regional and global challenges for mutual benefit,” Jeffrey S Pool, a Defence Department spokesperson said.  American think-tank community has described Modi’s Japan visit a great success. “Modi’s visit to Japan has been lauded by all corners as a great success,” said Alyssa Ayres, Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, a top American think-tank.  “The United States has strongly supported strengthened ties between India and Japan (the US-India-Japan trilateral just one example), and the deliverables announced in the Tokyo Declaration complement components of US-India relations,” Ayres said. The joint emphasis on democracy, upgraded defence relations, science and technology, and a robust catalogue of economic undertakings all illustrate similarity with priorities in the US-India relationship, she said.  One major difference lies in the Japanese government’s ability to mobilise large amounts of Overseas Development Assistance, particularly through soft loans, she added. “The Tokyo Declaration puts Prime Minister Abe’s commitment at 3.5 trillion yen over five years (around USD USD 33 billion). That’s a much larger sum than the United States government typically mobilises, and at a time when the US Congress has not renewed the US ExIm Bank’s charter, shows where Washington has a diminished ability to support similar projects,” Ayres said. “Countries like Japan are working with economic policy tools to meet the strategic interests of partners like India, especially on infrastructure. Some good lessons for us here,” she said. Writing for “Asia Unbound” a CFR foreign policy blog, Sheila A Smith wrote that in his five-day visit this week, Narendra Modi has made Japan’s pivot to India even more enticing – and far more likely to succeed.  Modi’s election in May has brought more energy to the relationship, she noted. “As the television footage suggested, the two leaders seem to have a good chemistry, and enjoyed their time together. Modi even sent out messages of thanks to Abe via social media as he visited Kyoto and other spots in Japan,” Smith said.  Abe, according to her, must be satisfied to see one of his main diplomatic efforts take root. He has put considerable energy into developing new partners and opportunities for balancing China’s rise, and India has long been an option that Tokyo’s strategic thinkers have looked to develop, she observed. Source: Defense News

Government plans to export BrahMos missiles, Tejas, air defence system to Vietnam, Indonesia and Venezuela

NEW DELHI: The Modi government is quietly working on a plan to export defence equipment and armaments produced in India to friendly countries. A beginning could be made by exporting BrahMos missiles to Southeast Asia and South American countries. Vietnam, Indonesia and Venezuela have expressed willingness to procure the supersonic missile jointly produced by India and Russia, sources indicated to ET.
Indo-Vietnam defence ties are on an upward trajectory and Hanoi has been keen for the last few years to purchase this missile. However, there was no progress under the UPA government on the issue, sources indicated. BrahMos missiles have been inducted in all three defence services. The inter-governmental agreement between India and Russia for development of BrahMos missile (290-kmrange) also stipulates use of this advanced system to be inducted into the Indian and Russian armed forces as well  as export to friendly countries.



Vietnam and Russia are partners since the days of the Cold War and it can use Russian made defence equipment. India will sign an agreement for supplying defence equipment to Vietnam, during President Pranab Mukherjee’s trip from September 14-17. India and Indonesia also share good defence ties that encompasses training and defence exercises.
Recently, Prime Minister narendra Modi had stated that India should move towards self-reliance in producing military weapons and systems and also  look for exporting them to friendly nations.
The idea for defence co-development and joint production is not only to obtain cutting-edge technology and self-sufficiency in the long run but also export jointly developed products. So far, India depends on imports for meeting over 65% of its weapons requirement and has been branded as largest importer of arms by international think tanks. India could also export indigenously developed ‘Tejas’ – Light Combat Aircraft, ‘Akash’ – air defence system and ‘Prahar’ class of missiles to friendly countries. Tejas is a lightweight, multi-role, single-engine tactical fighter aircraft.
Akash, a surface-to-air missile, has a range of 25 km. Prahar is a 150 km-range tactical missile system. Several countries have shown interest in the Akash missile system, which was ready to be inducted into the Army. LCA is likely to be ready for induction into IAF by the end of this year after attaining the final operational clearance. Sources also claim that Indian weapon systems are cheaper than Chinese systems.

formal defence exports policy, it had earlier exported rifles to Nepal and Oman, besides supplying defence equipment to Myanmar including tanks, radars to Sri Lanka, defence equipment to Maldives, maritime patrol boats to Mauritius and defence spare parts to Vietnam. India’s current norm for defence exports involve supplies not only to friendly countries but also to countries which do not have civil war. “We do not want a situation where arms supplied by us is used by one group against another within the boundary of one country. 

Source : ET

India, Japan agree to strengthen defense ties

In his first state visit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met with a kindred spirit, Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe. The two leaders, wary of China's glowing clout in Asia, have agreed to strengthen defense ties.

semco tech services

During his visit to Japan on Monday, Indian Prime Minister Modi warned Asian powers against territorial expansionism, in a veiled reference to China's ambitions in the region.

"The 18th century situation of expansionism is now visible," Modi said, after holding talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the historic city of Kyoto. "Such expansionism would never benefit humanity in the 21st century."

Modi didn't specifically mention Beijing, but China and India contest several regions along their common border. Abe shares Modi's suspicion of China's intentions in the region. Beijing and Tokyo dispute the Senkaku Islands, called the Diaoyu in Chinese.

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Modi's Japan visit signals strengthening of bilateral ties

Indian PM Narendra Modi will be heading to Japan on his first bilateral visit outside South Asia. Topping his agenda is the modernization of India's infrastructure and military, analyst Rajiv Biswas tells DW. (27.08.2014)

Over the summer, Prime Minister Abe's Cabinet approved a reinterpretation of Japan's pacifist constitution, permitting Tokyo to defend allies and deploy troops abroad for combat missions.

'Strategic, global partnership'

Although Abe and Modi failed to set up a permanent forum for their foreign and defense ministers to hold regular consultations, they did agree to "upgrade and strengthen" their defense ties. Tokyo is keen to sell New Delhi US-2 amphibian aircraft. The two countries also agreed to participate in joint maritime drills, and for Japan to continue participating in US-India drills.

"Together, working hand-in-hand with Prime Minister Modi, I intend to fundamentally strengthen our relationship in every field to elevate our relationship to a special strategic and global partnership," Prime Minister Abe said.

The two leaders also agreed to double Japan's investment in India over the course of five years to a total of 3.5 trillion yen ($33.6 billion, 25.5 billion euros).

slk/kms (AFP, dpa, Reuters)

Source : http://www.dw.de/ 

Mahindra & Mahindra prefers consortium for defence; in talks with BAE, others

NEW DELHI: Learning from past experience in bidding for defence orders in India, Mahindra & Mahindra has decided to go the consortium way and is talking to global players, including erstwhile joint venture partner BAE.

"What we have discovered was that it's better to work as consortium because we have so many areas of interests right now," Mahindra Group Chairman and Managing Director Anand Mahindra told PTI in an interview.

Last year in February, the group had ended its joint venture with BAE Systems by buying out the partner's 26 per cent stake. The JV was formed in 2009 with plans of supplying artillery howitzers and anti-mine vehicles to the Indian armed forces.

"We dismantled the JV because we ran out of patience. Nothing was happening," he said.

Mahindra said that with the new government led by Narendra Modi in place, things have started to move now.

"They are moving. In certain areas like defence, RFPs (request for proposals) are being floated now," he said.

Elaborating on the group's decision to form consortium rather than enter into JVs, he said: "It's just a practical decision, which we have taken that given the number of areas we are in, we are probably better off bidding for large projects... JV is not the right way to do it. The right way to do is through consortium."

When asked about global players that the group was talking for such projects, Mahindra said: "We are in fact talking to the BAE again and to all the others... We are talking to BAE for the same bid, but we are saying that we do not know, so let's not go through the JV thing once again. Let's form a consortium."

He said while the easing of FDI norms to allow up to 49 per cent in defence was welcome, what was more important was to take "quick and transparent" steps.

"Suddenly we find out RFPs are being made. Will it be followed up? Will spending be carried out? Will the process be quick and transparent?" he wondered.

Mahindra further said: "Even at 26 per cent we had the partner BAE and they were ready to do business. That's not the problem. The problem was is the process of procurement happening. Is it happening transparently and predictively? And that's what will change defence and get production in."

Source :Economics TImes

Indian Defense Ministry to decide fate of Rs 6,000 cr light helicopter deal

New Delhi: The Defence Ministry will decide the fate of the controversial Rs 6,000 crore deal to procure 197 light choppers which has been on hold due to an ongoing CBI probe into charges that a Brigadier had sought bribe from AgustaWestland to help it bag the contract.

During a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) scheduled this week, the Defence Ministry will also discuss deals worth around Rs 15,000 crore for procuring Apache attack helicopters and Chinook heavylift choppers for the IAF from the US, Defence Ministry officials said. The DAC, headed by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, is scheduled to take up the deal for discussion in its meeting where it is expected to decide its fate, they said. The 197 light utility choppers are to be procured for the Army and the IAF who use them for ferrying troops and supplies in high altitude areas such as Siachen Glacier and would be used to replace the vintage Cheetah/Chetak choppers which were inducted 40 years ago. CBI has been probing allegations against the Brigadier which surfaced during investigations into the VVIP chopper deal about the alleged involvement of AgustaWestland in paying kickbacks to secure the Indian contract for 12 VVIP choppers. CBI probe was ordered by the Defence Ministry after the Army requested it to investigate the charges against the Brigadier before taking any decision on the future developments in the deal. Allegations have been levelled against the Brigadier in a letter allegedly sent by an AgustaWestland official in India to his superiors in Italy saying the officer was seeking USD 5 million for facilitating the deal in their favour. Only two firms European Eurocopter and Russian Kamov are left in the race for the deal to supply 197 light choppers to the Army and the IAF as AgustaWestland was knocked out of the deal in the preliminary stages itself. The deal for procuring 197 light choppers has already been cancelled once in 2007 in the last stages. The Brigadier has denied the charges made against him.

Source : Zee News