The CAG report tabled in the monsoon session of the Parliament raising questions on the offsets as a part of the Rafale acquisition is timely and one hopes it will accelerate the pace of setting up technical capabilities agreed by both sides. It is probably the first time when the supplier has agreed to transfer the complete technology for the manufacturing of high-end engines. A trailblazing initiative, if executed with commitment and ownership it can go a long way in filling up a vital capability gap in the arena of propulsion systems.
In the past, the extreme focus on quickly completing the procurement process ended up in receipt of a partial transfer of technology (TOT) with critical gaps, where reliance on the OEM remains to date. Combat vehicles, missiles, guns, aircraft are some areas where such technical capability gaps still exist despite multiple TOTs. The country cannot graduate to becoming self-reliant until such technology gaps are filled. This calls for a capability centric defence acquisition policy. Every acquisition should result in not only acquiring an operational capability for the armed forces but also an industrial capability for the nation. This calls for a technology gap analysis alongside every major acquisition.
We should aspire to be self reliant in areas of military technology deemed essential for mission success. This means possessing minimum capabilities i.e. baseline defence engineering know how needed to design, develop, manufacture and maintain critical defence equipment and sensors. It needs to be under stood that today’s weapon platforms are capital intensive, complex systems hardwired with multi disciplinary technologies and are likely to be retained in service for 30-40 years at the least. Replacements are simply unaffordable. Hence, it is extremely important to maintain a long term knowledge cache that allows insertion of new technologies to address operational capability gaps.
Consolidation of defence industrial capabilities has taken place in the US, Europe and Russia as a response to falling defence budgets and we too need to reach this end state without any further squandering of public money and trust. Making several Indian companies develop prototypes and offer for competitive evaluation on no cost no commitment as mandated in the DPP is retrograde and reflective of procurement mindset. It is a waste of national resources. Instead, rolling out of three to four collaborative programs for the development of complex systems in an atmosphere of trust, transparency and information sharing between the Services, public and private sector, keeping nation first, makes sense.
Public sector entities could become the lead integrator having the foundational knowledge and financial muscle, with subsystem level work share given to private sector units. Most countries whose complex systems are on offer for manufacture today adopted this route, putting the entire weight of Government, scientific community and industry behind such projects. A knowledge-centric defence industrial base will get established in the stride. Israel is an example.
Projects like the FICV wheeled armoured personnel carrier, self-propelled gun missile system, utility helicopters, low earth orbit satellites can be initiated using this collaborative approach. A collaborative strategy would any day be more beneficial in setting up an indigenous defence industrial base than making Indian companies compete and pull down each other. The fate of the FICV programme which has remained on paper for the past 15 years is an example of how industries will kill a project in case of competing interests.
In the Indian context, it is important that critical capability development programmes are spearheaded by the public sector with vendor participation at subsystem level if operational capability gaps are to be plugged timely. The standoff at LAC has reinforced the fact that past practices of procrastination and deferment will no longer secure national borders. The scale of the new threat is monumental by all accounts and will need a long term capability centric modernization, maximizing the use of new, multi-domain technologies with the aim of transforming the military into a truly agile and aware force, centred around force self-sufficiency.
Force self-sufficiency is important as it provides the sustained capacity to respond to emerging threats, especially if the conflict spreads to other theatres and fronts. A thinking adversary may prolong operations or expand objectives to outstretch our capabilities, denuding mass the controlling principle of war. Self-reliance and self-sufficiency will help prevent such a vulnerability. The case for technical assistance for the development of indigenous aero engines is a step in the right direction and would fill up a critical technology gap if implemented with due diligence.
