The Hindu Business Line : Defence R&D deliveries too little, too slow: Antony

The Defence Minister, Mr A.K. Antony, flanked by the Scientific Advisor, Mr M. Natarajan (left), and the Air Chief Marshal, F.H. Major, at a meeting in Bangalore on Monday. —

Our Bureau

Bangalore, Feb. 9 About 70 per cent of the military needs are imported in spite of having the world’s fourth best scientific pool.

The state of the nation’s defence research and production was in the open as the Defence Minister admitted this on Monday and said indigenous efforts were too slow for comfort.

The public and private industries produce just 30 per cent of the required equipment; this is neither suitable nor acceptable, Mr A.K. Antony said at the inauguration of an international seminar on aerospace technologies here.

In an indirect comment at public-funded defence companies, labs and private industry, Mr Antony said: “We are far behind (Jawaharlal Nehru’s) goal of self-reliance in the defence sector. This is not suitable for us. I feel sorry and guilty (that) the growth in defence self-reliance is very slow, in spite of our capabilities to develop, test and make aircraft.”

Need for speed

The Defence Minister urged the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s labs to quickly deliver technologies and products. “We are taking too much time. We will give you all support. The delivery should be fast in design, development and delivery to meet the growing needs of our Armed Forces.”

While zero import is not the aim, “depending on other countries for 70 per cent of our defence needs is not acceptable,” Mr Antony told a gathering of 600 scientists and technocrats.

Mr M. Natarajan, his Scientific Adviser and DRDO Secretary; and the Chairman of HAL, Mr A.K. Baweja, were with him on the dais. The seminar is part of the biennial Aero India military air show and exhibition.

For 2008-09 the defence outlay crossed Rs 1 lakh crore (Rs 1 trillion) with an annual hike of 10 per cent. Defence R&D spend was also raised 6 per cent to over Rs 3,390 crore. Mr Antony said the 30 per cent offset policy on purchases was an incentive for the industry.

Focus Lacking

Almost in the same breath, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Fali Homi Major, said the absence of a strong domestic aerospace industry forced the Armed Forces to turn to costly products from global vendors.

He called for time-bound projects, collaborations and joint ventures in design and development to speed up product cycles of crucial military products. A new super-body was needed to co-ordinate the many disjointed and repetitive R&D activities, he said.

“In our unique geopolitical situation, we seek cost-effective solutions to enhance our combat edge. Otherwise we will be [forced to import] and saddled with technologies that are old or do not address our requirements,” he added.

According to DRDO’s Mr Natarajan, the defence sector spends half of its budgetary support on public and private industry and outsources 30 per cent of the sub-assemblies to them

He said in the current economic crisis, Indian aerospace looked set to take off on the strength of outsourcing from cost-conscious MNCs.

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