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Indicia Knowledge Brief
A Daily Assessment on Indian Defence and Internal/Homeland Security
May 02, 2015.
Primary aims of Indicia Daily Brief are two-fold. First, it distills infinite information into a
capsule form, thus saving precious time of its clients. Second, it tries to link micro-events
to larger strategic canvas through its analyses, thus providing support knowledge for
better understanding and decision-making.
Indicia Analysis of the Day
After recently opening up aircraft overhaul works for private sector,
maintenance command of Indian Air Force (IAF) is expected to invite bids
for modification of certain accessories in transport and fighter aircraft.
India is running out of patience with Russia and its shoddy military
equipment. The most irritating issue, one that lasted more than five years,
has been the low reliability of the Su-30MKI jet fighters.
A series of incidents involving Maoists in Telangana appears to indicate
that the group, once practically driven out of united Andhra Pradesh, is
making a slow and steady comeback.
I. National Defence and Security:
Ideas like jointly building a next-generation aircraft carrier could help
bridge trust gap:
India and the US still suffer from a trust deficit despite the recent warming of
ties, and innovative ideas such as jointly building a next-generation aircraft
carrier could help bridge the trust gap, a foreign policy expert said. Ashley Tellis,
senior associate at the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace, said closing the trust gap would be a “a work in progress”. Speaking at an
event hosted by the Ananta Aspen Centre in New Delhi, Tellis, who has written a
paper titled Making waves: Aiding India’s next-generation aircraft carrier, in
which he makes a case for the US helping India make an aircraft carrier, said the
confidence deficiency was caused in part due to unfamiliarity of the US with
India....
Source:
http://www.livemint.com/Politics/plvDrzIS7XLglOJy3FOC8K/Ideas-like-jointly-building-anextgeneration-aircraft-carri.html
*
IAF may involve pvt cos in modifying aircraft accessories:
After recently opening up aircraft overhaul works for private sector,
maintenance command of Indian Air Force (IAF) is expected to invite bids for
modification of certain accessories in transport and fighter aircraft. It may start
with AN-32, the transport aircraft procured from the erstwhile USSR. This may
be followed by that for the Sukhoi-30 fighters. The matter is still under
consideration for the second aircraft. Though not a critical component, the
equipment was still an important add-on to the aircraft, said Air Marshal Jagjit
Singh, Air-Officer-Commanding-in-Chief of the maintenance command, during an
informal interaction with TOI. The job was currently being carried out by
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), but the PSU already had its hands full. So the
IAF planned to share the burden. First the know-how will be taken from HAL,
then the job will be carried out in-house initially before being passed on to
private sector. Tenders were expected to be issued in a few months, said the
officer. Singh stated IAF had already outsourced a part of life cycle extension
work for AN-32 and MIG-29 to a private company. The tenders for it were floated
last year. Certain jobs that are manpower intensive could be easily outsourced to
the private sector that has also developed the know-how. This helped in
speeding up the process, he said. The maintenance command will also be taking
up the job of overhauling of Sukhoi-30 by July this year. Again, this will ease the
load on HAL, which has been doing the job. The Sukhoi fleet will eventually touch
300 from around 180 at present. HAL overhauls around 25 aircraft in a year. If
the maintenance command took up the work too, the time lag could be reduced
by 3-4 years, he informed. The maintenance command had also been steadily
working on indigenization of spares. Recently it achieved success in making
certain major spares at home through reverse engineering, said Singh. Sources
stated air headquarters had also invited bids for mordernization of base repair
depots (BRDs). BRDs were functional units under the command and were spread
located all across the country. Recently a request for proposal was floated for the
contract to modernize the 16 BRDs. The bids would be received in the next
month, said a source. The entire contract may be worth close to Rs 400 crore,
said a source.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/IAF-may-involve-pvt-cos-in-modifying-aircraftaccessories/articleshow/47126318.cms
*
Tata Group steps up defence play via Tata Power SED:
Tata Group is one of the oldest private sector companies in the defence space.
Tata Power Strategic Engineering started as the R&D arm of the power utility
company but transitioned into defence research when the country came under
international sanctions post Pokharan 1 and 2. Today Tata Power Strategic
Engineering is involved in cutting edge technology for the armed forces and has
been working on building launchers for almost all missiles in the armory of our
defence forces. Tata Power's Strategic Engineering Division (SED) in Bengaluru
was set up in 1973 and is one of the oldest private sector company in defence,
housed on a 10 acre plot. Rahul Chowdhry, CEO & MD of Strategic Engineering
Division of Tata Power shares the story about the genesis of Tata Power SED to
CNBC-TV18's Sajeet Manghat. This division of Tata Power operates as totally
independent arm of the utility major and played an important role in taking
forward India's defence research and development programme during the
sanctions imposed post the Pokhran tests in the seventies and nineties.
Source:
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/tata-group-stepsdefence-play-via-tata-powersed_1371642.html
*
After smart cities, 'Smart Armed Forces Station' on cards:
Taking a cue from Smart City project, the Indian military could announce to
develop its own smart stations. According to some media reports, the Chiefs of
Staff Committee is discussing a proposal to develop 'smart armed forces station'
(SAFS). A formal proposal will be submitted to the government soon on SAFS,
reports said. In the first phase, six military stations will be converted into SAFS
on the sideline of smart cities. Of them, three will be army stations, two of air
force and one from navy. The Union Cabinet had approved the Smart Cities
project under which 100 new smart cities, which would promote efficient use of
available assets and enhance the quality of urban life, would be made. The smart
cities project would have an outlay of Rs 48,000 crore.
Source: http://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/smart-armed-forces-station-50344.html
*
Attrition: India Runs Out Of Patience With Russia:
India is running out of patience with Russia and its shoddy military equipment.
The most irritating issue, one that lasted more than five years, has been the low
reliability of the Su-30MKI jet fighters. Fifty of these Russian designed aircraft
were built in Russia and the rest of the 272 aircraft order are being assembled
locally. Deliveries should be complete by 2019 and at the moment India is not
keen on ordering any more. Most of the problems are related to engines and
Russia says it has narrowed most of the problems down to difficulties related to
ball bearings. The engines are also assembled in India, using Russian and Indian
made parts. Russia has devised several fixes for the engine problem but the
readiness (for combat) rate of the Su-30MKI is still about 55 percent (compared
to 70 percent or higher for most other modern aircraft). The Indian Air Force has
lost five of its Russian designed Su-30MKI jet fighters since 2009. In 2011 the
commander of the Indian Air Force took an hour-long flight in one of India's Su30MKI to reassure Indian pilots that the Su-30MKI was safe. Two had crashed in
2009, due to mechanical failures and there were widely publicized reliability
problems with the engines and many of the other Russian designed and built
components of the aircraft. There have been two losses since 2013. Indian pilots
are understandably nervous about the safety of the many Russian warplanes
they fly. The MiG fighters are the most dangerous but the more recent Su-30
models were believed to be a lot safer. Recent problems indicate this may not be
the case. Russian efforts since then to fix the problems have not reassured Indian
pilots or politicians. The MiGs crashed so often that India decided to retire all of
them. Over the last half century India bought 976 MiG-21s and over half were
lost due to accidents. While India was something of an extreme case in this area
(other users don't fly their MiG-21s as much), it's been typical of MiG aircraft. All
this is part of the decline of the once feared, and admired, MiG reputation.
Starting in World War II (the MiG-1 entered service in 1940), through the Korean
War (the MiG-15 jet fighter), and the Cold War (the MiG-17/19/21/23/27/29),
MiGs comprised the bulk of the jet fighters in communist, and Indian, air forces.
But after the Cold War ended in 1991, the flaws of the MiG aircraft (poor quality
control and reliability, difficult to fly) caught up with users, in a big way. In the
last few years most of the bad news about military aircraft reliability, accidents,
and crashes has involved MiG products. For example, all Indian MiG-27s were
grounded several times over a few years because of reliability. The MiG-27 and
Cold War era Russian warplanes in general do not age well. All Indian MiGs
(except for 66 MiG-29s) are to be retired by 2025, if not sooner. It’s not just
mechanical problems. In 2012 India went public with yet complaints about an
unspecified "design flaw" in the electronic flight control system for the Su-30.
There were also problems with ejection seats and the new Russian “stealth”
fighter (the T-50) which India is helping to develop. All this has led India to
negotiate a deal to buy 129 French Rafale fighters and hope that this would
persuade the Russians to improve the reliability of Russian aircraft.
Source: http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htatrit/articles/20150503.aspx
*
India lags behind China in border infrastructure, panel says:
India continues to lag far behind China in its plans to construct border military
infrastructure for swifter mobility of troops and weapons, which Manohar
Parrikar will realize during his first visit to the northeast as defence minister.
Accompanied by Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag and others, Parrikar is
also slated to visit Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, which much like eastern
Ladakh continues to be a major flashpoint between India and China. Also on the
cards is a visit to the Bum La pass located on the border. Parrikar's experience
there may be akin to what his predecessor AK Antony described as "an eye
opener" in 2007. When Antony for the first time looked across the Nathu La
border post in east Sikkim, the realisation finally hit home that China had
constructed high-quality roads right till their military outposts along most
stretches of the unresolved 4,057km line of actual control (LAC)....
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-lags-behind-China-in-border-infrastructure-panelsays/articleshow/47127876.cms
II
Homeland Security
*
Maoists slowly regaining lost ground in Telangana:
A series of incidents involving Maoists in Telangana appears to indicate that the
group, once practically driven out of united Andhra Pradesh, is making a slow
and steady comeback. Though the activities of members of the Communist Party
of India (Marxist) so far have been more or less probing in nature, possibly to
gauge the reaction of the state government, indications available from the
government are that the Maoists are no longer a group to be ignored. The latest
incident of handbills surfacing in Siddipet of Medak district, warning the
government of repercussions, are being viewed seriously by the police
department. On April 29, the police arrested two Maoists - Paddam Kamaiah,
secretary, Revolutionary People's Committee, and Ravva Bheemaiah, a militia
commander - in Chennapuram forest area of Charla mandal in Khammam
district. The local police officials said the two were caught during an anti-Maoist
operation. Publicly, however, the government has not said anything yet on the
possibility of Maoists regrouping in Telangana. This is especially because chief
minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, during the campaign before the assembly
elections last year that catapulted the TRS to power, had declared that the
Maoists were friends of the people. He had also given them a near clean chit
saying the objectives of the Maoists and his party were the same- upliftment of
the downtrodden and the dispossessed in Telangana. However, the actions
initiated by the government to protect its VIPs in the past few months belie the
'no worries on Maoists front' approach. In November, following increasing
visibility of Maoist groups in Khammam, Adilabad and Karimnagar districts, the
state government had decided to provide bullet-proof vehicles to all its
ministers. And just this April, the government acquired an armoured troop
carrier for inclusion in the chief minister's convoy, to be used on his road trips
outside of Hyderabad...
Source:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Maoists-slowly-regaining-lost-ground-inTelangana/articleshow/47126452.cms
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