How atmanirbhar is India when it comes to defence?

India is showcasing its metal at the ongoing Defence Expo in Gandhinagar. It is the first such event where only made-in-India equipment are on display. In line with the Aatmanirbhar theme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the event by highlighting that India had achieved Rs 13,000 crore in defence exports in FY22. 

The 155 millimetre, 52 calibre Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System, or ATAGS, which the DRDO is developing in partnership with the Tata and Kalyani groups, has become an indigenisation milestone.

Now, the DRDO has produced an offshoot of the ATAGS, called the Mounted Gun System, or MGS. The new weapons system is a prominent part of the India Pavilion and the DRDO display, which is the DefExpo 22’s centrepiece, owing to the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ emphasis.

The Mounted Gun System is made up of the ATAGS gun mounted onto a wheeled tractor, from where it can be fired without lengthy preparations. Bringing the MGS into action takes just 80 seconds, leaving the enemy with little time to react. Bringing it out of action also takes 85 seconds - a god-sent when the enemy brings down counter fire. The Indian Army’s artillery plan calls for the purchase of 814 MGSs. And, the DRDO is confident about the superiority of its system, because of its high accuracy and performance in deserts and high-altitude areas. 

The next example of successful indigenisation is the DRDO-developed Wheeled Armoured Platform, or WhaP. It will be the basis for a family of mobile, protected multi-purpose vehicles. They will also be able to serve as command posts or conduct reconnaissance, even in chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear battlefields. 

The amphibious and highly mobile 8x8 wheeled vehicle will be armed with a 30 mm cannon and an upgraded, Made in India sighting system. Private player Larsen & Toubro is working with DRDO as a ‘design cum production partner’ for this project.

[Byte: Ajai Shukla, Business Standard]

Another Made in India weapon system that may be headed for success is DRDO’s 25-tonne light tank, meant for mountain border areas, jungles, narrow roads and bridges. The 2020 Chinese encroachment across the Line of Actual Control galvanised the DRDO into resuming work on the tank under Project Zorawar, named after the legendary Sikh general who took his armies deep into Tibet. By November 2024, the DRDO is scheduled to finish trials and begin delivery to the army.

The Expo has more than 1,300 exhibitors from the Indian defence industry, along with some joint ventures with foreign original equipment manufacturers. 

More than a 100 startups are also making their presence felt. PM Modi said that the expo would also see the signing of more than 400 Memoranda of Understanding, a record.

The data, too, supports that progress had been made in indigenisation.

A Business Standard analysis of defence capital allocations in the Union Budgets shows that spending, after adjusting for inflation, has grown at a compounded rate of around 7% between FY12 and FY23. 

But what shows a discernible shift towards indigenisation is that while domestic rupee-denominated spending has grown at 8.2% a year on average over the 11-year period, imports have grown at just 1.2%.

In the base year of FY12, India imported $5.7 billion worth of defence equipment. In 2022-23, it intends to import $6.5 billion. It does appear that the efforts to indigenise are slowly making an impact.

But, while a certain measure of success has been achieved in developing key weapons platforms, crucial gaps still remain.

Experts believe that developing indigenous aero-engines is a strategic necessity, given the proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles and low-cost cruise missiles, and the restrictions placed by foreign governments on the export of their engines and components.

Indigenising gas turbine engines can save the Ministry of Defence Rs 3 trillion in the next 20 years.

But due to a trust deficit and the absence of inclusive policies for involving qualified and globally certified private players, aero engine research and development remains a monopoly of the public sector. 

Further, the lack of testing infrastructure in India, for instance, caused a delay of six years in the development of the Kaveri engine that was originally meant for the Tejas light combat aircraft.

The engine was however deemed unfit for Tejas as it could not attain the peak thrust required for the fighter jet during flight testing in Russia. At present, India continues to search for foreign partners to co-develop heavier combat jet engines. 

Also, be it artillery guns or India’s ambitious stealth combat aircraft, there’s one last crucial factor that could make or break these projects.

[Byte: Ajai Shukla, Business Standard]

At DefExpo 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi set a target of 40,000 crore rupees in annual defence exports, representing a near three-fold jump from 13,000 crore rupees in FY22. While deals like this year's sale of BrahMos missiles to the Philippines stand out as examples of India's success in this regard, meeting the PM's ambitious goals will require a quantum leap in India's weapons making capabilities.