NEW DELHI- India celebrated its Republic Day by parading troops and locallymade weapons in front of New Delhi’s colonial-era sandstone buildings andpast 10 Southeast Asian heads of state — all potential buyers.
Delhi hopes to export made-in-India military technology, including itsBrahMos missiles, to smaller countries in Asia that fear China’s rise.India will have another chance to show off at the Singapore air showstarting February 6, where BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between Indiaand Russia, will exhibit for the first time.
But away from the pageantry of parades and sales pitches, experts suggestIndia’s $250-billion military modernization program is sputtering. That’sbecoming more important as the U.S. pressures Delhi to tackle a larger rolepolicing the Indo-Pacific, from the Indian Ocean to the waters offSoutheast and East Asia.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi has held steady against geopoliticalrivals, including with China in the face-off at Doklam last year, hisadministration hasn’t fixed a broken defense procurement system in theworld’s largest arms importer. That prevents it from equipping its ownarmed forces, let alone those in friendly nations.
“The structures that are dysfunctional, that have stopped the military frommaking smart choices, are still there,” said Ashley Tellis, a senior fellowat the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who has advised U.S.ambassadors to India. “It’s not the way to run a military of a major power.It has to be among the worst procurement processes of any major power.”
By contrast, China’s military modernization has advanced considerably. Overthe past two years, President Xi Jinping has overseen the most sweepingchanges to China’s military since the 1950s in an effort to create afighting force that can win modern wars. It’s also now the world’sthird-largest arms exporter, according to the Stockholm International PeaceResearch Institute.
A spokesman for PM Modi didn’t respond to calls or texts for comment onIndia’s defense procurement.
India wants to transition from an importer of weapons systems to anexporter, Ajay Kumar, the government’s secretary of defense production,said at a recent panel discussion. India still needs to import most of itscomponents, Mr Kumar said. The BrahMos missile, for instance, is made up of65 percent imported components.
“There is significant demand from friendly countries who look toward Indiafor meeting their own requirements,” he said, without elaborating.
PM Modi’s government wants to build up its defense industry through its”Make in India” program, hoping to create jobs and cut huge import bills.But India often prioritizes price, awarding contracts to state-owneddefense firms that invest little in research and development, over-promiseto score contracts and abandon many projects halfway, according to a reportfrom Delhi’s Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.
Defense suppliers often compensate for the cost of delays and mandatoryinvestments by inflating the final price, according to one US official whopreviously worked on Indian procurement issues, who asked not to be named,citing rules for speaking with the media.
Last year, the Indian Army rejected an Indian-made rifle for the secondyear in a rowlink>afterit reportedly failed quality tests. Locally made products like Arjun tanks,light combat aircraft and even bullet-proof jackets often can’t be used onthe sensitive China or Pakistan borders because of performance issues.
Part of the problem is procurement is overseen by “non-expert” generalistsof the Indian Administrative Service, said Manoj Joshi, a fellow at theObserver Research Foundation think-tank who was on a government task forcerecommending national security reforms.
“They can’t tell you about strategy,” he said. “The army, navy and airforce are well trained, but their organization is obsolete and theirequipment is obsolete.”
After three decades spent developing its own fighter, India put out atender for 126 warplanes, which morphed into an order for 36 Rafaleaircraft from Dassault Aviation SA that will start arriving in 2019.
Until then, India’s air force is heavily reliant on Soviet-era MiG-21s thatfall from the sky so often some call them “Flying Coffins.” They also havea fleet of newer Russian Sukhoi SU-30MKIs assembled by state-ownedHindustan Aeronautics Ltd. that was temporarily grounded after one jetejected its pilots without warning.
Experts suggest India could resolve some issues by appointing a singleperson in charge of the armed forces, or outline priorities in a nationalsecurity doctrine.
“One of the bigger problems is the lack of overarching political directionin terms of how to prepare and what to prepare for,” said Anit Mukherjee, aformer Indian army major now at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School ofInternational Studies. “The army is saying, ‘Hey we need to prepare for aground war,’ and the Navy is saying, ‘No, no, no. It’s the Indian Ocean.’ “- Bloomberg