Only with a major overhaul of the bureaucratic establishment and the government machinery as a whole, will the highly mechanised lion representing the spirit of the ‘Make in India’ campaign, begin to roar!
India ranks among the top ten countries in the world in terms of military expenditure. Today, India is equipped with the third largest armed forces in the world and despite the sizeable indigenous aerospace and defence industry, both in the public and private sector, around 65 to 70 per cent of the requirement of military hardware, continues to be met with through imports. India is also the second largest importer of weapon systems, having been overtaken by Saudi Arabia only a couple of years ago. High level of dependence on foreign sources for military hardware not only results in the depletion of foreign exchange reserves in financing expensive imports, more importantly, it also imposes crippling dependence on original equipment manufacturers (OEM) abroad for maintenance as well as upgrade or replacement of obsolescent inventories.
A Stagnant Sector
In the post-independence era, on account of policy imperatives, the private sector was kept out of the domain of the Indian aerospace and defence industry which remained under the control of the central government. However, the government controlled aerospace industry did create elaborate infrastructure and successfully undertook production of fighter and transport aircraft as also rotary-wing platforms for the Indian armed forces as also for limited civilian application. But the so-called “production” was largely “assembly” of the platform using kits received from OEMs. There was no real transfer of technology or development of skilled human resources to enable the nation to leapfrog to indigenous production of sophisticated platforms. The aerospace and defence industry therefore de facto remained stagnant over the years.
Launch of ‘Make in India’ Scheme
この記事は SP's MAI の February 1-15, 2017 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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この記事は SP's MAI の February 1-15, 2017 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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Tactical Communication System—An update
Tactical Communication System—An update
India signs M777 howitzers
BAE Systems to deliver 145 M777 ultra-light howitzersDeal Going to be worth ₹5,000 croreBAE Systems makes commitment of $200 million in Indian defence suppliers.
DARPA doubles down on tern by funding second test vehicle
Tern, a joint programme between Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the US Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR), seeks to greatly increase the effectiveness of forward-deployed small-deck ships such as destroyers and frigates by enabling them to serve as mobile launch and recovery sites for specially designed unmanned air systems (UASs).
Aero India Makes a Mark
With over 1,000 civil aircraft on order, about 400 fighter aircraft and 800 helicopters requirement, besides 5,000 helicopter engines in the next five to 10 years, the aerospace and defence sector is going to boom like never before and the two sectors coming together is but natural.
2016: An Eventful Year For Ministry Of Defence
Speedy modernisation of the armed forces to meet present and emerging challenges, development of requisite capacities and infrastructure for making up critical deficiency of weapons and equipment and creating a robust defence set up in the country through the ‘Make in India’ initiative, were the salient achievements of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) during 2016.
Leading From The Front
The positive results of the solo flight on MiG-21 Type 96 by Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa, Chief of the Air Staff, IAF, are immense and cannot be quantified or measured.
Make In India: Quo Vadis?
Only with a major overhaul of the bureaucratic establishment and the government machinery as a whole, will the highly mechanised lion representing the spirit of the ‘Make in India’ campaign, begin to roar!
Need For A Full-Time Minister Of Defence
While the appointment of Manohar Parrikar as the Goa Chief Minister has been dictated by political expediency, this move has implications for the Indian armed forces.
INS Viraat Decommissioned
A glorious era of INS Viraat being the flagship of the Indian Navy came to an end on March 6, 2017.
Arun Jaitley: An Articulate Personality Of Multi-Role Versatility
The portfolio of defence is key and highly critical one. So is the finance portfolio. But for someone like Arun Jaitley who is so knowledgeable, so capable and so much in control, holding important positions in the Cabinet is not unmanageable. Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again has turned to him, till he finds a suitable replacement for Manohar Parrikar who has since moved to Goa as Chief Minister.