Will private firms really boost Make in India in the defence sector? Ajai Shukla seeks answers.
'What the price will reveal, since the India specific capabilities haven't changed since 2013, is how much the Modi government padded up the cost,' points out Mohan Guruswamy.
The armed forces are facing a shortage of over 52,000 soldiers with the Army topping the list with over 21,000 vacant posts, the government said on Wednesday.
The defence ministry has lost sight of what it intended to achieve -- which was to nurture private defence firms that would compete on equal terms with the 9 defence PSUs and the 41 Ordnance Factory Board factories.
The Scorpene submarine does not have enough firepower; it will share 64 obsolescent SUT torpedoes till the Indian Navy is supplied with 100 heavyweight torpedoes -- a process that could take more than two years to complete
The group said Dassault choose Reliance Defence Ltd to meet its 'offset' or export obligation in the contract and the Ministry of Defence has no role in the selection of Indian partners by the foreign vendors.
The disagreement over liability further complicates any early conclusion of the Rafale contract.
Its 'failure not just affects the military's effectiveness but could also be politically vulnerable for the BJP,' observes Ajai Shukla.
The authoritative Congressional Research Service, which provides data and analysis to the US Congress, finds that India no longer features in the world's three biggest arms importers.
The $10.5 billion arms and equipment deal helped to arrest the recent drift in the 'special and privileged' strategic partnership, observes Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce on Thursday its verdicts on a batch of petitions seeking re-examination of its decision to allow entry of women of all age group in Kerala's Sabarimala Temple and a review of its judgment giving a clean chit to the Modi government in the Rafale fighter jet deal with French firm Dassault Aviation.
NSA Doval, defence top brass brief Union ministers on the deal to help them counter Opposition charges.
The PM's vision of a lean, agile, mobile and technology driven force requires more than 1.7 percent of GDP that it now gets.
UAVs are an intrinsic part of today's technology driven battlefield. Indians don't seem to be taking the challenge with the degree of urgency that is required, says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
The end goal of defence procurement should be not import or indeginisation but securing the country through able and ready armed forces, says Air Marshal P V Athawale (retd)
On the pricing issue, Eric Trappier said that the present aircraft are cheaper by 9 per cent.
The defence minister has 20 months to learn the military's ethos, culture and to publicly bat for an organisation that feels increasingly marginalised and underappreciated.
The Modi government has not lived up to the muscularity the prime minister promised while campaigning, says Ajai Shukla
Nitin A Gokhale, Co-founder, BharatShakti.in and long-time Rediff.com contributor, remembers a most unusual politician.
'The cost of the Rafale contract will be substantially lower than being talked about.' 'If you throw away the price they demand, our coffers will soon become empty.' 'When it comes to spending the nation's money I am very careful and stingy.'
New Delhi's growing defence partnership with Tokyo could take wing with the US-2 (Utility Seaplane Mark 2), a one-of-a-kind amphibious aircraft that has Indian naval planners goggle-eyed.
Amongst those who heard the message of the Bihar results would be Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, whose realm is simultaneously the country's most complex and -- when something goes wrong -- the most emotive, says Ajai Shukla.
Jaitley can make his innings -- notwithstanding its likely length -- to be a watershed tenure, or just add to the image of the MoD drifting rudderless, says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
Why did Modi bypass the Cabinet before he committed India to the Rafale deal?
'The defence minister is stuck in the trivial and frivolous with a clerical mindset merely to prove his so-called 'honesty" overlooking the primary aim of adding sufficient military muscle and firepower to the defence services,' says Bharat Verma.
What the new defence minister does with the Rafale fighter jet deal will decide if India wants to build genuine, long-term defence capability through an indigenous product that slashes life-cycle costs, or opt for glitzy signing ceremony with foreign vendors that would please the public, says Ajai Shukla.
'The defence minister needs to focus on human resources-related issues at the same pace in 2017 as he did on acquisitions in 2016,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'She has to get the funds, cut through bureaucratic flab, speed up modernisation, ensure planned acquisitions stick to timelines, make organisational changes and ensure the military is capable of performing the task that it is given,' says Brigadier S K Chatterjee (retd).
Stressing on the 'Make in India' initiative, a Ministry of Defence appointed committee has recommended enhanced private sector involvement by granting manufacturers tax and import concessions.
Defence ministry incompetence hobbles development of battle-taxis for the Indian Army.
Rahul Bedi explains how 'miscellaneous' factors have posed a major hurdle in negotiating the Rafale deal.
Our large military requirements make for an enormous buyer's leverage, which the defence ministry fritters away in piecemeal purchases
The French have been rewarded for their obstinacy with exactly what they wanted -- an order for fully built Rafales without technology transfer.
Nitin Gokhale, national security expert and founder BharatShakti.in, tells us what the controversy is all about.
'The range of purchases throw a light on India's threat perception as also its perceived role of being a stabilising influence in the region,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'It is the government's most important duty to ensure that when war breaks out, the armed forces are absolutely ready to face the adversary -- well equipped, well trained and in high spirits,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
The AgustaWestland issue was fiercely debated in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday with members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress blaming each other.
'The government has belied the hope that many harboured of change, efficiency and dismantling old practices as the defence ministry continues to pursue the same well trodden and wasteful path.'
'The armed forces have been given clear indication that they have to give priority to Make in India and indigenisation and dependence on foreign source should be reduced.' 'Almost Rs 90,000 crores contracts have been signed during my tenure. Another almost Rs 70,000 crores are in the pipeline.'
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