Better, but not enough

More action needed to plug defence equipment gaps

INS Kochi, the second of India's three new generation destroyers, will be commissioned into the navy later this week. This is a good time to review how the Modi government has been doing on getting India's defence equipment up to scratch-new orders for equipment, 'making in India', maintenance, and budgeting. On new orders, the government has over the past year cleared three helicopter purchases: for attack, heavy-lift and anti-submarine warfare. However, the combined total of 53 that have been ordered for the air force and navy make up only a small part of the total number required. In fixed-wing aircraft, Airbus in partnership with Tata has won a contract to buy/make 56 transport planes to replace ancient Avros, while rocky negotiations continue for the purchase of 36 Rafales announced nearly six months ago. Among ships, the long-delayed order for a new line of seven frigates has finally come through, while another long-delayed order for towed-array sonar (for submarine detection) has also been placed. There is also much routine spending on equipment that goes on each year, while many other big-ticket orders are in the works. Just the headline-hitting orders that have been placed in the last year total up to a cost of more than Rs 85,000 crore. If the Rafale order gets placed, the run-rate on new orders will get well ahead of the trend expenditure on defence hardware (under Rs 95,000 crore for 2015-16).

Yet, the orders placed are a small fraction of what is required. The navy needs at least 25 towed-array sonars for ships built or bought over the last quarter century (a prolonged attempt at indigenous development got nowhere, necessitating imports, which were further delayed by unfounded allegations of skullduggery). Destroyers, frigates and corvettes continue with the scandalous situation of having to share helicopters while some have none at all-the 16 Sikorsky S-70Bs that have been ordered are simply not enough, some three times that number are required. In other words, while some of the gaps in defence equipment are being filled, much remains to be done-and bigger capital budgets are needed.

Meanwhile, 'making in India' has notched up some successes-many of the new orders involve local partners and local manufacture after an initial set of imports. Orders that are in the works, such as two for a combined total of 300 helicopters and another for field artillery, will certainly mean local manufacture. Unfortunately, manufacturing/development delays continue. Little is heard about Arihant, the nuclear submarine that was launched into the water in 2009; after six years, it is yet to be commissioned into the navy though the navy chief insists that sea trials have gone well. The final operational clearance for the Tejas light combat aircraft has been promised each year for the last few years, and once again has been pushed back by another year. Some crucial missile projects too seem to be progressing slowly.

So it is a matter of relief that maintenance standards seem to have improved. The defence minister has told Parliament that the combat availability of the Su-30MKI fleet of fighter aircraft has improved from the highly problematic 49-50 per cent range to 56-57 per cent; further, he has promised to get it up to 70 per cent by the end of the year. This would be a substantial achievement, implying a 40 per cent increase in aircraft availability for a fleet that is already more than 200 aircraft-in effect adding more than two squadrons to the operational fleet. The country needs more such breakthroughs if its defence preparedness, sadly lacking on many fronts, is to get up to scratch.