The ongoing US-Israel-Iran conflict offers food for thought for all defence planners. Iran’s strong resistance against the most powerful military in the world speaks volumes for the efficacy of its asymmetric strategy of using cost- effective weapons like drones and missiles, targetting the energy and industrial assets of the US allies in the Middle East, and inflicting economic damage to the rest of the world by blocking the Strait of Hormuz.
Its innovative use of small but heavily armed boats has been highly effective in controlling the Strait of Hormuz at a time when its own naval and air forces have been decimated. Even after the huge damages to its infrastructure, Iran is in no mood to give up its steely resistance. It appears that Iran is well on its way to emerging as the dominant power of the whole of the Middle East.
Many recent conflicts have demonstrated how the old paradigms of conventional war are making way for new ones, driven by technology, innovation, and asymmetric strategies. This indicates unequivocally that India’s defence planning must undergo a total make over. We need to think of right sizing our armed forces with a view to drastically increasing the teeth-to-tail ratio. We must be pragmatic about recruitment for conserving resources for capability building.
The Agniveer Scheme is a path breaking reform which has to be carried forward resolutely. Huge investments on conventional hardware have to make way for sleek and sophisticated AI driven equipment like drones, drone interceptors, underwater equipment, state-of-the-art missiles, precision bombs, robotics, ISR equipment, net-centric air defence, quantum communications, etc.
The Iran-US conflict highlights the need for factoring energy security as an integral part of our national security strategy. Strategic capabilities like chip making, rare earths procurement and processing, development of super alloys and composites, self-sufficiency in electronic components, active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) etc., have a key role to play in national security.
The changeover to renewable energy and electric mobility are critical in an extremely uncertain energy situation. Tapping the demographic dividend for accelerated growth by providing quality jobs to the unemployed needs to be urgently addressed. This requires a well-executed national programme for imparting high quality skills. Visionary policies for combating climate change both in terms of food and water security are of great importance.
Countering radicalism at its roots is a must. Every factor which can jeopardise national security needs to be countered by short, medium, and long-term action plans. Equally critical is the need to arrest brain drain. The critical technologies originating from the US invariably have the indelible imprint of migrant Indian talent on them; India’s technological backwardness can ultimately be traced to the dearth of strategic vision to retain and absorb the talent produced by our premier technology institutions in the last several decades.
The ongoing US-Israel-Iran conflict offers food for thought for all defence planners. Iran’s strong resistance against the most powerful military in the world speaks volumes for the efficacy of its asymmetric strategy of using cost- effective weapons
There have been many good initiatives in the recent past. The promotion of chip manufacturing and the support to the private sector for rare earth magnets are excellent initiatives. But one wonders why these initiatives came late in the day. India’s rare-earth resources are substantial but there was hardly any effort to develop technologies for their processing on an industrial scale. When China was scouting every continent for rare-earths, we were neither alert nor diligent. We were tardy in attracting investment in electronic component manufacturing. These are instances of the lack of strategic vision in the area of national security and economic development.
It is often seen that when there is a crisis the armed forces resort to emergency procurement of cutting-edge equipment using fast track procedures, necessitating large-scale imports. While this may be necessary in the short run, this practice needs to be avoided. Strategic independence and defence self-reliance depend on technological self-reliance. This in turn depends upon our investments in R&D and our capacity to mobilise the country’s premier scientific talent not only from within but also from our diaspora.
China’s visionary scheme of ‘Thousand Talents’ to bring-in Chinese diaspora was launched with a clear vision of attaining technological edge over the US and they are almost winning the game. Our efforts have been feeble and half-hearted. The basic reason, as mentioned before, is that we failed to develop a larger strategic vision for the country at the turn of the century. Such a strategic vision would have led to a mission mode approach to R&D and technological self-reliance.
We have not had even a good mission mode project in defence till now. On the other hand, our defence research projects have been tardy with cost overruns as documented by the CAG. Today we are compelled to approach foreign countries for critical technologies like AI, quantum computing, and aero engines. In the present scenario, such dependence is dangerous considering the non-reliability of the US and other countries as strategic partners.
There has to be a strong touch of realism when we celebrate the unprecedented rise in defence manufacturing and exports. The acid test is whether the technologies touted by the industry are homegrown or not. Manufacturing high-tech products by assembling imported components could be a strategic mistake given the frequent imposition of controls by the exporting countries on sensitive exports. Therefore, India’s foremost mission should be the creation of a vibrant R&D eco-system based on exclusive private sector participation and public-private partnerships.
Leading universities and technological institutions must be made partners. Consortiums of private and public organisations could be assigned key technology development projects. The expenditure on general R&D as well as defence R&D needs to be ramped up substantially. A part of this work has been accomplished through the establishment of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation and the Research Development and Innovation Fund for the industry by the government. There must be a substantial enhancement of defence R&D funds including funds channelled through the iDEX (innovation for Defence Excellence) for innovation in defence.
To achieve its objective, the government needs to be liberal in funding the private sector in developing targeted technologies that will give Indian armed forces a definitive edge. Procedures for streamlining the flow of funds to the industry must be evolved. A technology mission needs leadership and outstanding human resources. Such resources are easily accessible to the private sector which doesn’t have to worry about protracted procedures and objections.
Defence procurement by the government is the life blood of the defence industry. Protracted procurement processes create an uncertain environment for the industry. A professional and autonomous system working as the arm of the Defence Acquisition Council must be setup. Defence bureaucracy is loath to giving up the inviolable turf of procurement. This must change if ‘Make in India’ has to achieve significant breakthroughs.
–The writer is a former Defence Secretary. The views expressed are personal and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
