‘Make in India’ woos defence, aerospace giants
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” policy has offered several new opportunities for Indian and foreign industries in the field of defence manufacturing. Make in India offers great potential to the private sector to build base and become a part of the global supply chain of the world’s multi-billion defence market.
This and many other issues were discussed at the “Indian Defence & Aerospace Summit 2017”, organised by NewsX and The Sunday Guardian, which witnessed the presence of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre; senior Defence officials like Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen. Subrata Saha, DRDO Chairman S. Christopher. All the major global players from this field like Abhay Paranjape, Randall L. Howard (both from Lockheed Martin), Michael Koch (Boeing India), Jan Widerstrom ( SAAB), Stephane Lavigne (Thales), were present on the occasion.
Speaking about the role of next generation fighter planes in safeguarding India, Michael Koch, Vice-President, Global Sales and Marketing, Boeing Defense, Space and Security, said: “The future threat is different from the threat of today or tomorrow. Being invisible to your en- emy is more important than being able to spot your enemy first. Keeping these points in mind, it is important for India to remember that buying latest technology is not enough. You can purchase aircraft and ships, but you have to pay attention to continuous up-gradation.”
Randall L. Howard, F16 Business Development, Lockheed Martin, said: “While we have been moving towards fifth generation aircraft, USA has been upgrading and sustaining its fourth generation aircraft. We can focus on maintaining a balance between fourth and fifth generation aircraft. A combination of maximum capabilities of weapons technology from both generations can be taken into consideration.”
Howard added, “I can’t exactly point to specific features since the threat for which we want to develop our technology is progressive in nature. India will have to choose its partners smartly and see who will be able to stick around to help. The F16s have a huge user base and they are also evolving which is important and should be continued. Meanwhile, fuel efficiency is one of the things that need a lot of work.”
Jan Widerstrom, Chairman and Managing Director of SAAB, India, said, “Our mobile devices have more capabilities than the aircraft we are flying in our sky. We have to put this kind of computing capabilities in our fighter planes that have a huge potential of development. We need to increase the ‘life cycle cost’, which means that we have to improve the availability and efficiency of our fuel. Our aircraft should rank high in ‘maintainability’, without compromising with their efficiency.”
Widerstrom added, “If we can answer that what is it that we are going to need in 2050 then we will be able to decide on what we should start making. We need smart fighter planes. By that I mean that our fighter planes need to have improved communication technology, electronic warfare capabilities, advanced sensors and should have the ability to see before being seen.”
Micheal Koch, Boeing Defense, sharing his insights about what the main characteristics should be of a sixth generation fighter plane said, “We will have to monitor the advance threats that are continuously evolving and then enhance the capabilities of our jets while seeing that what can be made in India.” The panellists also discussed about what Indian Air Force needs to equip itself with to counter potential threats from neighbouring countries such as Pakistan and China. Koch said: “There are a diverse range of requirements and a single aircraft cannot fulfil all of these. We need to develop indigenous solutions. The requirements of the West and East sides of the world are different because they have different missions because of which we need to keep in mind the local dynamics.”
According to Howard, the South Asian region is becoming a dangerous neighbourhood. “The military capabilities of India’s neighbours are increasing. India needs to be smart in choosing its allies. The major question for India today is with whom to stand. The Indian government is also examining its options and seeing what future they have in ‘single engine aircraft’. F16s are most proven fighters so far but India should look at continuous upgradation.” In the session on civil aviation, elaborating on the government’s plans about regional connectivity, Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, while speaking on the topic of “aviation insights”, said, “The ministry is deliberating on regional connectivity and it would be a game changer in the aviation industry. The ministry is planning to add 43 new airports in the Tier-II and Tier-III cities.”
Padhee stated that air service should not be considered as a luxury. “Air service will be made in such a way that it is affordable to the common people. We will keep incentivising the industry till we feel that it is benefiting the common people. We will make the system in such a way that it is market-driven through viability gap funding. After rolling out the first round of regional connectivity scheme, we will assess its performance after collecting the relevant data and further think on viability gap funding,” Padhee said.
South Asia CEO of CAPA, Kapil Kaul, commenting on regional connectivity said that the government needs to address and assess the institutional and infrastructure problems. “The airlines would be facing problems while operating in smaller cities and the DGCA and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security need to augment their capability in view of the increasing airports and the resultant increase of security needs,” he said.
Citing infrastructure as a challenge, the speakers appreciated the effort in creating a level playing field for private players with introduction of policies and reforms. According to them, the gestation might be long but it would happen and happen in a powerful and sustainable way. They said that the Ministry of Defence has taken all the right steps to create a conducive environment for the industry’s growth and that the defence industry has the great potential to become a huge foreign exchange earner and also lead India to its goal of selfreliance.
Abhay Paranjape, Direc- tor Business Development, Lockheed Martin, said: “We have moved past the initial focus on the offset requirement to manufacturing major components today. The private sector should build up base and become a part of the global supply chain.”
Rear Admiral D.K. Tripathi, ACNS (Policy & Plans), Indian Navy, said that being a maritime service, the Coast Guard (CG) possessed numerous resources and skills which enable it to contribute to the nation’s defence. “In times of war, it could not only meet the naval requirement of additional ships and aircraft for various military tasks like patrolling and convoy escort, but also provide a vast pool of trained manpower which could be used to man naval ships and aircraft. In times of hostilities it may be feasible to acquire additional weapon platforms from friendly countries, but it is virtually impossible without the support from defence industries,” he said. It was a rare occasion for the industry to directly interact with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at an open forum. Parrikar took their questions and suggestions gladly and tried to explain to them the government’s position. He made it clear that he was open to new ideas. “Earlier, people (in the ministry) had closed mind. Industry should give feedback to me. This is the biggest achievement of our government that we are open to ideas. After all, not all ideas, coming from the industry, are for profit, but also for ease of doing business,” he said.
Replying to a query, the Defence Minister explained in detail the opportunities that the Make in India initiative provided. He said that procedures have been relaxed and added that he expected the quantum of export of defence equipment to reach $2 billion by 2018.
On the problems being faced by defence manufacturers at the ground level in different states, he said: “Try and find the good governments, who can assure (success) on this front. It can also be a good idea to develop industries in a cluster. Gujarat has come out with a new initiative to set up a defence industrial estate.”
When asked about whether India had biological or chemical technology to counter Pakistan, he said: “I have read some reports in the media that Pakistan army has chemical weapons. We are aware of the dangers. But I will not disclose our level of preparedness or our plan for scaling it up.” The minister also said he did not consider any country as “Enemy No. 1”. “On our part, we would like to be stronger, but not for offence. Our strength is not for offence, but only when someone tries to molest,” he clarified.