Still thinking small

The LCAs protracted journey is a testament to the wrongheadedness of Indias approach to arming the military. Nobody can question domestic production in principle,but its an understatement to say that the DRDOs and ordnance PSUs track records are poor. The lack of political will and ideas has confined defence production to the PSUs. And Indias armed forces have paid the price. Meanwhile,the UPAs tendency has been to freeze serious projects and programmes at the whiff of a scandal and blacklist all key foreign suppliers. While that hasnt precluded fresh procurement scandals,it has significantly compromised Indias planned military modernisation and replenishment.

The DRDOs poor planning,over-optimistic timelines and lack of coordination with the armed forces are responsible for the cost and time overruns of major projects. Antonys faith in HAL and the LCA it has yet to fully develop is,therefore,questionable. As long as defence PSUs are not made to compete and collaborate with private manufacturers,India will persist in thinking small and missing the strategic perspective on armaments. Nor will it build the military-industrial complex befitting the worlds fourth largest armed forces.