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Chaturanga

~ statecraft, strategy, society, and Σοφíα

Chaturanga

Tag Archives: AgustaWestland

Indian Defence in the Doldrums

28 Fri Mar 2014

Posted by Jaideep A. Prabhu in India, Security, South Asia

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

AgustaWestland, AK Antony, artillery, Cyber Command, defence, DK Joshi, India, indigenisation, INS Sindhurakshak, INS Vikramaditya, insurgency, Israel Aircraft Industries, israel Military Industries, Ordnance Factory Board, Rheinmetall, Scorpene, SP Tyagi, Space Command, Tatra, Tejas, terrorism, United Progressive Alliance, UPA, VK Singh

If anyone ever wanted a patron saint for incompetence, they need look no further than India’s defence minister, AK Antony. Ostensibly given the portfolio by the United Progressive Alliance in October 2006 because of his clean image, the country’s defence preparedness has plummeted to rock bottom during Antony’s tenure. By presiding over an era marked by policy inertia, procurement paralysis, and administrative fumbling, the UPA has brought India’s defence preparedness to its lowest point since October 1962.

Policy

In the past five years, the Indian military has emerged as the largest importer of weapons. The failure to develop indigenous manufacturing and research is partly due to little support by the Ministry of Defence to private firms wishing to enter the defence sector, low research & development budgets, and the inability to recruit the best talent.

The heavy reliance on imports has left defence procurements at the mercy of the exchange rate. Several of India’s acquisitions have had to be put on hold due to the sudden spike in the rupee-dollar rate last year, and the uncertainty has wreaked havoc on budgets as well as preparedness. As a result, modernisation of India’s armed forces is also lagging behind; the Air Force is still flying MiG-21s, the Tejas is yet to be produced in significant numbers, the contract for France’s Rafale has not yet been signed after two years of negotiations, and half of India’s Sukhois are undergoing repairs at any given time.

The Navy has had its own share of modernisation problems, including delays in the deployment of the indigenously built nuclear submarine INS Arihant, troubles with the boilers of the newly inducted aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, and the loss of the recently refurbished diesel submarine INS Sindhurakshak.

The crash of the Indian Air Force’s latest acquisition, the Rs.1,000-crore C-130J Super Hercules raises questions about training and maintenance in Antony’s army. The IAF’s pilot-to-cockpit ratio is already the lowest among India’s foes and India has had trouble with training aircraft as well as flight time given to each pilot.

In addition to indigenisation, modernisation, and training, Antony’s MoD has done little to develop a military of the future. Fewer states engage in large-scale warfare with tanks and infantry across open plains as they used to even 50 years ago. The Indian Army has done little to develop new doctrines for fighting low-intensity conflict, insurgencies, or terrorism. Coordination between what exists in the name of cyber operations, intelligence gathering, and special operations remains weak.

Procurement

The most visible failure of the UPA government has been in procurement. The AgustaWestland helicopter scandal may have garnered the most media attention because of the most high profile of its suspect list, but several other scandals have also rocked the UPA government: the Tatra trucks scam, the Ordnance Factory Board scandal, and the Rolls Royce flam to name the most recent. Antony’s policy to immediately freeze any transaction at the slightest hint of corruption has denied the military much-needed equipment and ammunition. The blacklisting of any firm involved has turned away some of India’s major partners such as Israel Military Industries and Rheinmetall.

The PA’s policy of blacklisting firms also has ripple effects in India’s suppliers network: for example, putting all contracts with Rolls Royce on hold will have implications on India’s purchase of the US-2i ShinMaywa from Japan as the aircraft relies on four Rolls Royce engines. A more obvious problem with the UPA’s strategy is that it leaves the military desperately short of munitions as was the case with the Barak missile. Worse, some of the accusations have been found to be false or the Central Bureau of Investigation could not find any evidence of wrongdoing after a thorough investigation such as in the Scorpene deal allegations. These procedures add years to the procurement timeline during which time the Armed Forces are vulnerable and costs go up.

Administration

One might argue that structural changes in defence take time. Yet that does not answer for the UPA’s lehargy in implementing administrative reforms in the armed services designed to improve chain of command, efficiency, and flow of information. Despite ten years at the helm, the UPA has made little movement on the recommendations of the Kargil Review Committee and Antony has effectively ignored the Naresh Chandra Review Committee’s report. Furthermore, proposals to streamline the bureaucracy and involve the military in decision-making, such as the creation of a Joint Chief of Staff or the integration of the service headquarters with the MoD, have been resisted. As a result, the military is not just under the civilian control of the minister but also the poorly informed civil service bureaucracy.

A critical improvement Antony could have pursued is the simplification, transparency, and swiftness of the defence procurement process. Even without scandals, the laborious and labyrinthine procurement process can take years, be it assault rifles or aircraft carriers. Over $100 billion of hardware purchases has been stalled for a decade and resulted in the degradation of the military’s fighting capability. As one naval officer described the situation aboard some of India’s seafaring vessels, “it is like treading in a minefield.”

Although India’s defence budget has technically risen under the UPA, factoring in inflation and exchange rates – since over 70% of the equipment is imported – the rise is barely enough for salaries, pensions, and other fixed costs, leaving little for modernisation or R&D. The Army’s desperate appeals for artillery have gone unanswered as has the Navy’s urging to acquire six more submarines.

Civil-Military Relations

The relations between the military and their civilian masters have reached a nadir under the UPA. Delhi’s fear in January 2012 that a coup was taking place just before the Republic Day parade indicates the gravity of this problem.  While the loss of three senior men in uniform – General VK Singh, Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi, and Admiral DP Joshi – was not entirely of the UPA’s doing, one wonders if the defence minister could not have done more to handle matters in-house, at least in the case of the general and admiral. Antony’s excessive reliance on the civil service and his personal indecisiveness has endeared him to the military either.

* * * * *

Admittedly, India’s defence woes stem from decades of negligence and a lack of strategic thinking. To expect that to be overturned overnight is too big an ask. However, the UPA has been in power for a decade, long enough to start implementing a chain of reforms that could move the country in the right direction. Despite the umpteen signs of trouble brewing in the armed forces, the UPA retained its defence minister, who by the way, has held the post for longest. The price of this step-motherly treatment was seen upon the Chinese incursion into India in April 2013 and in the many wasted opportunities when India could not field a military option even if desired. Given the force levels and combat readiness the UPA has brought the Indian military to, its only hope of victory is that India’s neighbours are in a greater state of disrepair. The supreme irony is that it is in a corruption-saturated UPA decade that AK Antony showed us honesty alone is not enough.


This post appeared on Daily News & Analysis on March 31, 2014.

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The Italian Marines Case – Two Years And Counting

25 Tue Feb 2014

Posted by Jaideep A. Prabhu in India, South Asia

≈ Comments Off on The Italian Marines Case – Two Years And Counting

Tags

AgustaWestland, Daniele Mancini, European Union, Il Fatto Quotidiano, India, Italian marines, Italy, Massimiliano Latorre, Matteo Renzi, MEA, MHA, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, NATO, piracy, Salvatore Girone, Sonia Gandhi, SUA Act, Suppression of Unlawful Activities Act, Supreme Court of India, terrorism

It is no surprise that even two years after India arrested Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, two Italian marines on the MV Enrica Lexie, its courts are yet to resolve the case. After initial disputes over jurisdiction of the marines and a brief fear over their flight, Italy agreed to India’s adjudication over the case after the Ministry of External Affairs promised not to seek the death penalty. Since then, the case has hardly moved forward except to wade into the minefield of political posturing.

In March 2013, the Government of India announced the establishment of a special court to hear the case; this was largely to expedite a case that would have a direct impact on the country’s foreign relations. However, contrary to the MEA’s assurance not to seek the death penalty, the Ministry of Home Affairs decided to prosecute the Italians under the stringent Suppression of Unlawful Activities Act.

In response to Delhi’s sudden hard stance – the marines had been allowed to go home over Christmas and to vote last year – Rome recalled its ambassador, Daniele Mancini, to discuss the issue. The Italian foreign ministry condemned the “evident Indian inability to handle the issue” and has complained about yet another “unacceptable, deliberate delay” in the courts. While the Italian government summoned the Indian ambassador to register a protest, some Italians have taken to writing hate mail to the Indian Embassy and a live bullet was found in the mailbox a few days ago.

The invocation of SUA, unwittingly or otherwise, has consequences far beyond the immediate trial of the marines. The Italian government has told the Supreme Court of India that charging their marines under SUA is tantamount to declaring Italy a terrorist state. Rome has also approached its European Union counterparts as well as the United States to urge them to condemn India’s charge of piracy against the Italian marines. NATO has expressed concern over Delhi’s reckless expansion of the scope of piracy and terrorism as has the European Union.

The uncertainty over which law the Italians would be tried under even after two years – the GoI has changed its mind six times – led the SCI last week to ask the government to file an affidavit clearly specifying the law under which it intends to try Latorre and Girone. Buckling under international pressure, Delhi dropped the charges under Section 3(g) of the SUA which carried the death penalty if found guilty. The GoI insists that the trial will be held in India and hopes to retain charges under Section 3(a) of SUA which carry ten years imprisonment for the guilty. Italy has objected to the very notion of an anti-terrorism law being applied to its marines and asked that Latorre and Girone be allowed to go home until the trial starts.

The marines case did not make much of a splash in Italy two years ago when the marines were initially arrested; most Italians were content for the law to take its course. However, the inept handling of the case by the Indian government has put the issue in the spotlight in Italy and support for the marines has increased dramatically. Italy’s new prime minister, Matteo Renzi, has assured his countrymen that the “absurd and infuriating affair” will remain a priority for him. The Italian press has now even suggested that India’s ruling Congress party is trying to secure a quid pro quo between the case of the Italian marines and the AgustaWestland corruption scandal.

Unfortunately for Latorre and Girone who have already spent two years in limbo in India, the upcoming general elections make progress on their case extremely difficult. If the GoI releases them until charges are filed, or if it decides, by an uncharacteristic stroke of common sense, to diplomatic arbitration as Italy had initially suggested, there is little doubt that Sonia Gandhi’s Italian origins will be bandied about in the press and on social media. However, pushing on may reveal the weakness of India’s position, that the marines are culpable, at most, of homicide not amounting to murder. Indians might ask, then, why the case was not settled two years ago and the generous compensation package offered by Italy accepted. To a long list of election woes, the Congress may not wish to add yet another one.

There is no level at which this case has not  been mishandled by the government. From the initial claim over jurisdiction to the questionable permission for the marines to go home and now the indecision over what law to try the accused under, politics and public perception have been allowed to undermine the judicial process at every step. While two years to file charges may be considered quick by Indian standards, it is positively shameful in any modern democracy. The GoI’s behaviour has turned a non-newsworthy arrest into popular public support for the marines back home, a disinterested Italian press into one that hints at conspiracies and further scandals in India, and bystanding European nations into concerned Italian allies.

The Home Ministry has openly worked against the External Affairs Ministry (to what end can only be speculated) and harmed India’s ties with a friendly foreign power for the sake of Delhi’s incessant domestic squabbles. That no one in the government sees this for the diplomatic train wreck that it is or does anything about it makes one wonder if India’s leaders are indeed ready to play a larger role on the world stage that they often lay claim to. The tragedy of the two slain fishermen has now been compounded by the unreasonably long captivity of Girone and Latorre. Whether justice is forthcoming soon or not, India and its legal system have been made to look the part of a clown on the international stage.


This post appeared on Daily News & Analysis on February 27, 2014.

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