Bofors to Barak

Inquiries into defence deals in India operate on this principle 8212; catch an intruder by allowing your house to be burgled. Thus it was that the meandering Bofors investigation led to the Armed Forces never getting enough guns or spares. Thus it was that the HDW controversy resulted in the end of a project that would have transferred submarine building know-how to India, which is now behind countries like Brazil and Turkey in indigenous submarine technology expertise. Thus it was that Denel, a gun the army reckoned could make up for the insufficient firepower that resulted from the incomplete Bofors acquisition, was deemed untouchable. And thus it is now that Barak missiles for warships and Karsnopol8217;s precision shells for the army are everyone8217;s game. The politics is already nasty 8212; the Congress remembers George Fernandes baited them on Bofors, Fernandes remembers something about A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and letters purportedly contradicting that recollection are doing the media rounds. Worse, this story about defence kickbacks has a dangerous twist, the supposed infallibility of DRDO8217;s judgment.

DRDO8217;s record as an incubator of consistently first-rate defence technology is at best suspect. To take only one of several examples, the air chief, S.P. Tyagi, observed recently that DRDO8217;s inability to deliver Aakash surface-to-air missiles in time forced IAF to look at foreign acquisitions. So the case against Barak missiles, to the extent that it depends on the argument that DRDO was overruled when it recommended the indigenous Trishuls, must be queried. Trishul had been promised for two decades 8212; just like Aakash. Plus also consider that the champion of Trishul, DRDO, now is in collaboration with Israel Aircraft Industries IAI 8212; Barak8217;s manufacturers 8212; to produce second-generation Baraks for both the Indian and Israeli navies. The navy chief, Arun Prakash, said in May that Barak-II would arm all Indian Navy warships.

But that was then. Now with Barak getting politically hot, it is anyone8217;s guess when or if at all our navy will deploy Barak-II. It is also necessary to remember that Israeli manufacturers have been identified for a range of vital weapons, from AWACS for the air force to assault rifles for Special Forces. How can the Armed Forces do what they are supposed to if the political system can8217;t guarantee timely modernisation? That is one question you can bet politicians won8217;t be asking as they rush to join the circus around the latest defence scandal.