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The Platform for Indian Defence Industry
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF'S NOTE
Dear Reader,
The biggest news that transformed the dynamics of the perpetual problem that we have faced for decades in Kashmir, was an abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 and bifurcation of the state of J&K into two union territories.
What lies in store post this rather diabolic change in the status of J&K is yet to play out. But as news trickles in of the conditions in the Valley, apparently, things seem to be moving more peacefully than expected. Though there
is heavy deployment of police and the Army, however, Eid has passed off without a tight noose choking the celebrations. Hopefully, Kashmir will experience better days, now that the dye has been cast.
The other big news that captivated the country was the launch of Chandrayaan II. The launch was called off minutes before take-off on 15 July 2019. However, just as cancellation of the launch was a reflection of the professionalism
of the ISRO leadership, so was the organisation’s commitment and confidence visible when it launched the vehicle within a week on 22 July. Currently, Chandrayan 2 is on its way, and the nation awaits its rendezvous with the Moon.
Bhartashakti.in conducted a round-table to provide a platform to our defence industry to showcase its product range for exports. It was a focused congregation with the Defence Attaches of only African countries being invited.
More than 20 Defence Attaches/embassy officials attended the meet. It was an excellent platform for projecting the capabilities of our defence industry and eight companies utilised the opportunity.
There is big news for the stakeholders of the Indian helicopter industry. It appears that the government is likely to move forward to produce an Indian Multi-Role Helicopter that would replace most of our transport helicopters
like the Russian MI 8/ 17. It’s likely to be in the 12-ton class with a seating capacity for 24.
The Ministry of defence is also considering converting to corporates, its 41 Ordnance factories and 16 other associated establishments. The issue has already spurred protests. However, a government with a comfortable majority
should be able to undertake this long-overdue transformation.
There is good news for the export of Indian defence industry. UAE has ordered for 50,000 Bofors shells worth 315 crores. Malaysia seems to be the first destination abroad for the Brahmos missiles. Kalyani Rafael Missile Systems
has received a $100 million order for Barak 8 missile kits from Rafael.
India is also refitting INS Sindhuvir, one of its submarines, for handing over to Myanmar. It’s also given two fast interceptor boats to Mozambique.
This newsletter also provides you with the link to certain very pertinent issues on which our contributors have written. Some of these are a must for professionals in the defence field. A few of these are appended beneath.
Don’t forget to check out our Videos section… Our founder
Nitin Gokhale’s video blog on military history and issues of relevance…
I would also request you to visit our Issue Briefs pages. We have started gathering material that would give you a balanced view on contemporary issues of concern.
That’s all from my table today. Do make BharatShakti.in a habit. |
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SOME OF OUR ANALYTICAL PIECES
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ANALYSIS
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Kashmir Redux: No Chest-Thumping, Long Haul Ahead
August 09, 2019, By: Maj Gen Nitin Gadkari (Retd)
The removal of Article 370 to take away Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcation of the state into two Union territories-Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh- a far-reaching decision that seeks to redraw the map and future of a region at the Centre of protracted militancy. It is a long haul, and the journey has just begun. The rest of the country will do well to understand that their support in winning the hearts and minds of the people in the valley would be crucial. Any extraneous display of exuberance, arrogance and anxiety to celebrate are likely to alienate the population faster than any Pakistani propaganda.
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Rise of Eurasia And The New Great Game
August 07, 2019; By: Col RN Ghosh Dastidar (Retd)
Eurasia’s importance to global geopolitics is rapidly swinging on an ascendant graph. As we go to the press, Iran has seized a third oil tanker, INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the US and USSR) is behind us, Japan has initiated sanctions on South Korea, North Korea has fired short-range missiles, Turkey has bought the S-400 Air Defence system, while China has already received the first consignment, the US is still on an escalatory ladder in terms of sanctions on China, and Hong Kong faces a seize within. The world is in quite a turmoil, both on the military muscle-flexing and economic fruits. The author provides an in-depth Eurasia centric status report and graduates thereafter to some crystal gazing.
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Vietnam, China Showdown in South China Sea: Implications for India/span>
August 05, 2019; By: Ravi Shankar
The South China Sea has been boiling for some time now. As tensions flare-up in the South China Sea (SCS) the prime contestants seem to be Vietnam and China. Both countries have been locked again in a stand-off lately, contesting each other’s claims of maritime rights and seabed exploration endeavours. This article, while presenting the SCS narrative fairly comprehensively, also assesses the possible implications for India by tracing New Delhi’s interests in the SCS and identifying measures that India could take to secure its interests there.
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Countering Rogue Drones in Absence of Real System
August 02, 2019; By: Ravi Shankar
We seldom stop to consider the potential disruptive impact of the innovations we develop, seeing them as largely positive; such in case of with drones. While drones are proving to be useful for military, commercial, civilian, and even humanitarian activities, their unregulated use carries serious consequences that need to be addressed urgently. This piece examines drone operations in India and analyses the major policy gaps in the country’s evolving policy framework.
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Science of Altered Realities Revolutionising Modern Military Warfare Training
July 31, 2019; By: Brig Yogesh Kapoor (Retd)
Progress in Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Immersive Mixed Reality and related fields are challenging the old dictum of the man behind the machine being the most important constituent of military capability. We are transgressing into an era where the man retains his primacy only if he is fully equipped with technical aids that provide him situational awareness response capabilities that only technology can provide. These sciences are also revolutionizing training. Training can not only be made more comprehensive and realistic but also more cost- effective. The author leads the readers into a world of make-believe.
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Prioritising Threat-Based Defence Expenditure
July 29, 2019, By: Air Marshal SBP Sinha (Retd)
Each year, after the Finance Minister presents the budget there is a lot of hue and cry during debates on tel-evision and in print media on the shortfall in the allocation of the defence budget. Different people different-ly visualise as to what the ideal defence allocations should be. Some feel that the Indian defence budget should be at least 3 per cent of GDP while some other feel that India needs to competitively match the de-fence budgets of China and Pakistan, and few more seek enhanced budgetary allocation to quickly bridge the existing capability gaps of armed forces. The budget preparation process does not factor any of these perceived issues. This article highlights the budget-making process for armed forces and the need to priori-tise defence expenditure specifically concerning the Indian Air Force (IAF). |
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Shipbuilding Contributes to Economic Growth and Nation Building
July 27, 2019; By: Ravi Shankar
Naval shipbuilding can contribute immensely to the vision of making India a $5 trillion economy by 2024 said Admiral Karambir Singh, Chief of the Naval Staff, Indian Navy in New Delhi. Speaking at the ‘International Seminar on Nation Building through Shipbuilding’, organised by FICCI the Naval Chief said that there is enough headroom in the mercantile marine sector for India to attain the critical mass and become a hub for defence shipbuilding. |
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Economics of Defence: Manpower Cost Costs Modernisation
July 22, 2019; By: Maj Gen AK Das (Retd)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off the diplomatic chapter of his second term with ‘Neighbourhood First 2.0’ policy in focus. Though it has been India’s foreign policy priority for some time, the emphasis has shifted from SAARC to BIMSTEC and Indian Ocean Region (IOR), in particular. Does it a signal a major shift in India’s neighbourhood policy? |
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Where’s the Money for Defence: Need to Think Out of the Box
July 14, 2019; By: Amit Cowshish
The lack of mention of the defence allocation in the Finance Minister’s presentation of the Union Budget was certainly most unexpected either by the forces or the strategic community. Was it an indicator of the government’s prioritisation of National Security? The answer apparently is No! However, competing priorities cannot be ignored, feels Amit Cowshish. The article provides a view at the macro level of why, ultimately, defence modernisation keeps languishing. |
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G- 20: Summit: Implications for India
July 11, 2019; By: Maj Gen P K Chakravorty (Retd)
The G-20 Summit on the World Economy brings together the members of the G 7 comprising France, United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada and the European Union. It further includes countries such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey. This post-World War 2 initiative is aimed at international coordination of economic policy. These include the key financial institutions, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank as also the World Trade Organisation, Collectively, the G20 economies account for 80 per cent of the global GDP and two third of the World’s population. |
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Union Budget 2019-20: Policy Roadmap for Defence would Matter More than the Numbers
July 04, 2019; By: Amit Cowshish
The Union Budget is not just about numbers; it is also an important statement of how the government intends to fulfil its election-time promises and deal with other sector-specific issues. Considering that it has been just five months since the interim budget was presented, there is not much scope for any substantial rejig in the regular budget. It is more likely that, being the first budget of the present government, the Finance Minister may end up setting the tone for the next five years and make some adjustments in the budget outlay to support the policy pronouncements when she presents the regular budget for the current financial year on 5th July. |
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SOME OF OUR EXCLUSIVE PIECES
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EXCLUSIVES
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Security Implications of Taking the Bite Out of Article 370
July 11, 2019; By: Maj Gen P K Chakravorty (Retd)
The deed is done. For many citizens of a nation the lament all along had been, we have no policy on Jammu and Kashmir. At best, even if there was a policy beyond appeasing, suiting select stakeholders, it had remained wrapped in a dense fog. The fallouts of the ambiguity had been periodic troughs and crests of disorder and violence. With Prime Minister Modi’s government has revoked Article 370, the policy is out in the open. |
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Defence Ministry Invites Private Sector to Set Up Testing Facility for Drones
August 08, 2019; By: Ravi Shankar
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has launched a Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS) under which testing infrastructure for the private sector will be set up to promote private sector involvement in the establishment and operations of testing facilities for military equipment. In a notice issued on July 31, the Ministry announced that its new scheme aims to support start-ups and MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises), which the Ministry said will “bridge gaps in defence testing infrastructure in the country”. |
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Blood, Sweat and Glory: The Story of Kargil 1999
July 26, 2019; By: Team BSI
Twenty years ago this month, India was taken by surprise at Pakistan’s intrusion into the Kargil-Dras sector of Jammu and Kashmir. This is the story of how India took back it’s peaks through the sheer resolve and courage of its young soldiers. |
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Indigenous Shipbuilding Industry: Key to Maritime and Economic Security
July 11, 2019, By: Ravi Shankar
In the last few years the Government of India has unleashed a slew of initiatives to promote shipbuilding and shipping in India. The shipping industry was conferred ‘infrastructure’ status in 2016, a ship finance scheme was put in place and the sector was opened to 100 per cent FDI, but, the industry is yet to garner momentum. India pays out about US$ 50-60 billion for imports on foreign hulls, only 7 per cent of Indian EXIM cargo is carried on Indian ships and the sector has not attracted any significant FDI yet and the India’s mercantile fleet amounts to only 0.1 per cent of the global fleet. It is apparent that shipbuilding requires strong government support for its initial growth and sustainability on the same lines as was done in the USA, Japan, South Korea and China. More recently, Vietnam and Philippines have put shipbuilding on the national agenda and rank far ahead of India in terms of shipbuilding, though India has better capacity, capability and skill sets in shipbuilding than both these countries. |
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At BharatShakti.in, our RFI/RFP pages attempt to inform you of business opportunities. While the Industry Capabilities listing page gives you details of various IDIs, their product range, niche capabilities and contact information, thus easing your search for the right partner for your business activities. Our Policy page is a repository of knowledge, hosting relevant government and departmental documents required for transacting in the area defence production. It also devotes space to FAQs on defence procurement that would be updated.
We at BharatShakti.in invite you all to be a part of our team. Do visit our pages regularly. Write to us, list your defence capabilities with us and engage with us. It's BharatShakti's faith and belief that the Indian Defence Industry is capable of addressing most of the requirements of Indian Armed Forces. |
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