The Army has launched a hunt for image intensifier (II) and thermal imaging (TI)-based night sights for a total of 56,000 7.62X51 mm assault rifles, according to the RFIs. II-based night sights amplify ambient light for detecting targets, while TI sights spot targets by their body heat. The Army wants 40,000 II-based night sights and 16,000 TI-based night sights.

This is part of the Army’s effort to make up huge deficiencies in night fighting capabilities

Requirements of NVDs and EO Devices

An essential requirement is for the soldier to use his weapon sight for surveillance. The power source for the II sights should preferably provide for continuous surveillance, whereas, for the TI-based sights power would be required for confirmatory and not continuous role. Detachment of soldiers should also be able to estimate range, wind speed and altitude.

Recent Developments

•             SIG 716 assault rifles are under delivery. They require reflex, telescopic, II and TI sights.

•             Reflex, telescopic, II and TI scopes are required for 5.56x45mm carbines and 7.62x51mm light machine guns (LMG), whose procurement process through fast track procedure (FTP) is under progress.

•             Telescopic sights and night scopes are required for balance quantity of LMGs for which Request for Proposals (RfP) has been issued.

•             Night scopes are required for .338 sniper rifles, whose procurement process is under progress.

•             Acceptance of necessity (AoN) for telescopic sights for assault rifles and thermal sights for medium machine guns has been granted by the Defence Acquisition Council.

•             A case for night sights (TI) for ASG 30 automatic grenade launcher is at the pore-AoN stage.

•             A case for TI sights for 84mm rocket launcher (RL) is at the pre-AoN stage.

Requirements for Small Arms

In the case of close quarter battle (CQB) weapons, ie, for ranges under 300 metres, the Infantry is looking for reflex sights with magnifier (3x) for employment during day and II-based ‘clip on’ sights for night fighting (with Figure of Merit (FOM) > 1700).

For longer range weapons, ie 300-800 metres, the Infantry is looking for telescopic sights (4x or 5x) for daylight employment and TI sights 9’clip on’ or standalone) for night fighting. Specifications should be FPA format minimum 640×480 pixels and pitch 17/12 microns.

For support weapons like LMGs, MMGs, etc, the Infantry is looking for Integrated Day complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) & Night (TI) sights, ballistic computers, GPS, Laser range finder and digital magnetic compass (DMC), requiring minimum or no modification to the weapon to bring it into use.

Night Fighting Enablement Road Map

Passive night sights (PNS) for small arms (SA) which are in service have a FOM of 950. Their maximum range is 200 metres with moonlight conditions. For supporting weapons weapon sights available are bulky. For surveillance, the PNVGs and PNVBs which are in service have poor ergonomics and performance. The hand-held thermal imagers (HHTI) in use are bulky and noisy.

In the short term, the Infantry wants to increase the scales of TI and II devices by 10 times; go for increase in the FOM of short-range II devices to 1700 and of long range TI devices to 12 microns. For support weapons  too, it would like to go scale the TI devices and opt for ‘clip on’ and indigenous fire control system (FCS). In the case of surveillance devices, it wants substantial increase in their scaling, besides silent and light HHTI (uncooled), integrated LRF, GPS and DMC.

In the long term, the as far as night sights go, Infantry plans to review the QRs (min FOM 2200), explore SMART sights and increase the level of indigenisation through R&D. For support weapons, Infantry wants customised solutions through R&D, aiming for development of network integration and use of artificial intelligence (AI). For surveillance devices, Infantry wants industry to provide data transmission and networking options as well as AI enhanced devices.

Future Upgrades

For the infantry, exotic devices like Panoramic Goggles, Head-up Display and data connectivity of individual devices is part of their future plans. So also in the case of surveillance devices, devices with fusion technology, HHTI with LRF and GPS, devices based on short wave infra red (SWIR), data storage and connectivity are part of projected planning and not immediate needs.

R&D for NVDs

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is currently developing night vision equipment for the Indian Army tank crew. It has supplied 300 TI-NVDs for T-72 tanks and around 2000+ are on the way to production. The range of these devices is around 3 km and DRDO is currently working on NVDs for commanders of T-90 tanks.16 The NVDs for T-90 tanks could have a vision of 4 km and will help in better battle surveillance, acquisition and firing on targets. These NVDs are being jointly produced by Bharat Electronics Limited, Machilipatnam and OFB Dehradun.

Whether an equipment will work during hot weather conditions in India or not should be the first parameter to be tested when acquiring foreign systems. DRDO has tried to keep its pace with new emerging technologies. DRDO understood the potential of IR (infrared) based instruments and was able to successfully develop active and passive IR systems, thermal imaging and low light television systems.

Many types of devices have been successfully developed for use by the artillery, infantry and armoured corps. Passive NVDs like Passive Night Sight for Anti-tank weapon, Passive Night Observation Device for Arty OP, Passive Night Vision Binocular and Driver’s Passive Night Periscope have been successfully developed by IRDE, Dehradun and are under production at different production centres in the public/private sector.

Indian military has decided to increase engagement of NVDs with AI (Artificial Intelligence). An AI-based NVD mounted on a helmet could capture target movements in an area, alert a user through vibrations, and provide information through an attached wrist band. AI-enabled products and AI-based tools for sensor data analysis, predictive maintenance, and situational awareness have been developed by (Defence Public Sector Undertakings) DPSUs like Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL). An Rs 73.9 crore project has been sanctioned under Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR) to build AI-based solutions to improve intelligence collation and analysis capabilities of Indian defence.

There are a few laboratories and research organizations in India that are involved in the development work of NVDs. Some of these are as follows.

1) Opto Electro Factory, Raipur (OFB) is one of the production units of Ordnance Board under the Ministry of Defence, India located in Dehradun Valley. It offers a wide range of electrooptics instruments and laser based sighting systems for meeting the requirements of military, para-military and special armed forces. Its key products include Passive Night Vision Goggles 102A, Driver’s Passive Night Periscope for T-55 Tank, Bino Night Vision Passive Cased 101A, Passive Night Sight for AK-47.

2) Instruments Research & Development Establishment (IRDE), a research laboratory of DRDO, designs, develops and conducts research in optical and electro-optical instruments for the defence services. Its key products are Gap Measuring Device Mk III, Electro-optical Fire Control System for Naval Ships, Helmet Mounted Thermal Imaging Camera (HMTIC), and Light Weight Portable Laser Target Designator for Air Force.

Comments

Every soldier wants to “own the night.” To provide this capability, the Ministry of Defence has listed its requirements in the TPCR, which amounts to $2.3 bn. A number of Requests for Information have been floated. But our processes are abysmally slow and warped. There are shortcomings in our R&D, manufacturing processes are shoddy, newer technologies are either beyond reach – all this results in time and cost overruns and when the troops get the equipment, there are complaints about quality.

That said, there is plenty of talent and capability available in the country to deliver state-of-the-art night vision devices. Many companies in India, even start-ups, have supplied such equipment to the United States Army and others around the world. There must be something fundamentally wrong with our procurement process, if the same companies are not found fit to supply to the Indian armed forces. Blame it on L1 mentality!

It is also inexplicable that only one item of night vision devices is listed by the Defence of Defence Production for feasibility study – on Night Fighting Control System for AGS-30 – as a Make II project.

Ground warfare waging capabilities depend upon whether you have low-, modest- or high-quality night vision devices. Pairing night vision sights with platforms like missiles and fighting vehicles drives up the threat level, which is true for both sides.

The air force, with advanced attack aircraft, sophisticated navigation and targeting sensors and highly capable ground surveillance radars, gets all its night fighting capability as part or original equipment. In combined and all-arms synchronised and joint warfare it is important for the night fighting capabilities of all components to be compatible and equal. Mismatched forces cannot launch deep attacks based on near-realtime intelligence data, nor operate at night and in adverse weather, and strike throughout the entire depth of the battlespace simultaneously. Unfortunately, the Army, even for low end purchases like night sights for assault rifles, light machine guns, and rocket launchers, orders add-ons separately – either indigenously developed or retrofitted – which leads to problems later. An example was the go-ahead given by the Defence Acquisition Council for thermal night sights for assault rifles on 28 November 2019.

Night vision skill and training go hand-in-hand. It is not enough to just provide IR and thermal night vision devices to the soldiers. Using them to fight at night and defeat the enemy requires changes in field craft, tactics and, more importantly, light discipline, greater awareness, similar to daylight manoeuvring. The enemy too, even with older generation night vision equipment see you in the dark, denying the advantage you have. Just a few devices in the enemy’s hands can change the calculus.

Equipping soldiers selectively, on as required basis, will not instil the discipline and the expertise to use the devices. Transforming a force into a night-capable effective and lethal unit requires changes in training – where soldiers walk and how they walk, choosing to take cover and concealment, operating with more general tactical discipline and so on. The change must be wholesale and comprehensive. Hence, the importance of getting and equipping the force in adequate numbers so as to make it a second habit.

The bottom line is that all soldiers who have to fight at night and their personal weapons must have night fighting capability, all platforms used for night manoeuvres must have the capability and all equipment used in joint warfare or combined arms concept must be night capable. The sooner, the better.

Generation of NVDs

With several technology advancements, NVDs have evolved from Generation 1 to Generation 3+. They are discussed as under:

 Generation 1: Generation 1 is the most common technology sold. It is the most popular owing its low cost in comparison to Gen 2 and Gen 3 . Generation 1 NVDs generally allow a person to see out 75 to 100 yards depending on conditions. It relies on an ambient light sources rather than an infrared light sources. Some common Gen 1 NVDs are AN/PVS-1 Starlight scope, AN/PVS-2 Starlight scope, PNV-57E tanker goggles, PAS 6 Varo Metascope.

 Generation 2: Contrary to logic, Generation 2 NVD are not half way between Gen 1 and Gen 3 in terms of ability. Gen 2 equipment are much closer to Gen 3 than Gen 1 technology. In fact, Gen 2 is often considered optimum, owing their exceptionally good performance and reasonable price compared to Gen 3 and Gen 3+ devices. Generation 2 uses an improved image-intensifier tube resulting in a much brighter image quality.15 Examples include, AN/ PVS-3 Miniaturized, AN/PVS-4, AN/PVS-5, SUPERGEN, PNV-10T.

 Generation 3: Gen 3 NVDs are currently the gold standard in night optics technology. With this technology one can expect exceptional performance and 10,000 hours plus image tube life. This technology allows a unit to operate effectively in areas that have too much light for a standard or non-autogated device to function like urban areas with street lights and house lights. Third-generation night-vision systems have the same micro plate as Gen 2. In addition, they also use cathode to improve image quality. Examples include, AN/PVS-7, AN/NVS-7, AN/PVS-10, AN/PVS-14, AN/PNVS-14, CNVS-4949, PN-21K.

 Generation 3+: Gen 3+ or 4 is the latest generation available and they use film-less image tubes to improve performance. This autogated technology allows a user to achieve high performance in light polluted areas and do not shut down in bright surroundings. it is an improvement over the Generation 3 in terms of less image noise and the ability to operate with a luminous sensitivity of around 700. Examples include, AN/PVS-22, NVS-22.

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Sights and EO Devices Required

The infantry’s requirements, based on scaling of devices is huge. The following table shows the enormity of the requirements and the numbers for which procurement action has been initiated:

Type      Required             Procurement

                                                Initiated

Carbine (II)         130,000 40,000

Rifle (TI)               90,000   19,000

Rifle (II)                180,000 40,000

LMG (TI)              27,000   5,000

LMG (II)               12,000   2,300

RL (TI)   15,000   3,500

MMG (TI)            5,000     1,500

EO Devices

PNVG (II)             100,000 17,000

PNVB (II)             30,000   20,000

HHTI (Cooled)    8,000     7,500

HHTI (Uncooled)              12,000   0

The post Night Vision Devices : Empowering the Soldier for Night Fighting appeared first on IMR.

OFB ranked 37th among the world’s top 100 arms producers in 2017, according to SIPRI, a Stockholm-based think tank. Its products include a wide range except for the aviation sector.

The Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF) was established in 1965 for the production of Vijayanta tank. It has been manufacturing main battle tanks (MBT) for over 55 years and has an assembly line for the licensed manufacture of T-72 and T-90 tanks under transfer of technology (ToT) from Russia. It also manufactures the Arjun Mk-1 designed by the Combat Vehicles Research & Development Establishment (CVRDE) of the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO). HVF’s annual value of products issued is over Rs 2600 crore. Since 1966, HVF has manufactured over 4600 tanks.

Tank Manufacturing is a Complex Art

Manufacturing of tanks is not only a science but also an art. The tank has to perform under rugged terrain condition and, hence, the design has to be failsafe. The tank requires multi technologies for design and manufacture – hence, synergy amongst stakeholders is important.

The demand fluctuates and is driven by the availability of government funds. Sometimes the order quantities are small and economy of scale cannot be maintained. The development cycle is long. Attaining expertise is possible only through repeated orders.

Maturity and integrity of industry is essential for manufacturing of quality tanks. The tank has to be sustained and maintained with supply of spares for the next 30 years.

Duplication of unique infrastructure at original equipment manufacturers/ vendors may lead to underutilization of national resources and uneconomical production. The machines are unique and expensive – hence, investment by many vendors needs critical examination.

Tank Building Challenges

Tank building involves 75 major assemblies (codes) consisting of over 20,000 components. It involves an association of 17 Ordnance Factories, five Proof Ranges, 4 public sector undertakings, over 250 private Indian industries, five laboratories of DRDO, five Authorities Holding Sealed Particulars (AHSP) of Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA) and ToT provider. 

The lead time is 30 months for an established production line. All along there is performance evaluation of major systems in the respective factories and proof ranges. There is also performance evaluation at select intermediate stages and at the final stage by respective AHSP (DGQA).

At the time of delivery to the user, a joint receipt inspection by a nominated Army unit is carried out to check for rugged quality and reliability in war

The HVF has to vary out in-service upgrades and improvisations for Indian terrain conditions, ensure supply of spares for life time and after sales service in the field. This is possible only with continuous institutionalized interaction with users in the field and depots.

Manufacture of Hull and Turret

Manufacture of hull and turret requires highly skilled armour welders, heavy fabrications, material handling, large sized heavy duty critical machines, huge fixtures and manipulators.

Some critical components are required like turret castings, NBC pads, Textolites, etc. Some of these components require high precision of 25 micron and positional tolerance of 25 to 50 micron.

Machining conditions are touch due to rapid heat ablation (RHA), heat affected zones and handling of hazardous materials like sealant for fitment of NBC pads. Interestingly Kanchan armour is required to be filled with foam to keep it intact for MBT Arjun turrets.

Manufacture of Gear Box

The tank gear box is an integrated system of gear shifting, clutching, steering and braking mechanism. Five planetary gear trains are arranged in a line and integrated one to another. Special gears of higher bearing load capacity are required with high accuracy.

The system is integrated with hydraulics and Planetary system after multiple heat treatment operations. Non-standard bearings, ceramic clutch plates and special rubber items are used with longer storage and shelf life.

Springs material as per Russian (GOST) specification is not available in the Indian market.

Hard chromium plating with porous chromium surface is used as bearing surface. This porous chromium operation is a patented operation developed by Russians, specially for this high thrust load application.

In sum, high precision machines and highly skilled manpower is required for manufacturing the components and assembly of gear box.

Manufacture of Suspension System

Major components of the suspension system are manufactured in-house. With major assemblies being manufactured by other ordnance factories. Some of the major assemblies are procured from trade. Some of the major assemblies are yet to be indigenized and are being imported.

Integration of Multiple Technologies

Integration of the main and secondary armaments poses certain challenges. All of these armaments have their own characteristics. A tank is equipped with Main Gun (125mm) firing different types of ammunition (HE, HEAT, APFSDS), 7.62 mm machine gun and 12.7mm machine gun.

Amongst the numerous systems and assemblies that need to be integrated are mechanical and hydraulics components, the power pack, transmission system, suspension, drive mechanisms, electronics and electrical systems, fire control system, automatic gun laying system, stabilizer, all control units, engine start mechanisms, opto-electronics and sighting devices, pneumatic systems, NBC system and fire fighting systems.

Challenges of Supply Chain

There are more than 20,000 components being supplied by 400+ vendors. That itself poses logistics challenges of supply time lines and quality control to synchronize with assembly targets. Some items have low and unattractive quantities plus cyclic business constraints. Quality control has to be exercised with multiple vendors. Each new vendor affects reliability of tank performance. Sometimes the exact Indian equivalent of material required is not available. There are financial constraints due to high quality and long gestation period for MSME vendors. Gaps in orders creates difficulties of keeping vendor interest alive. Development of new vendor involves very long duration and very expensive performance and field trials

Most of electronic and electrical systems are built using Russian power relays and logic relays – these are difficult to procure of current vintage. Change over to digital solid state electronics using black box concept will need initiatives by industry. There are also challenge to commit for R&D and investment for limited numbers.

The Future Tank

The proposed futuristic tank can reach the goal post of success only if the development project is led by the user and supported by the DRDO and OFB with partnership of private industry. The work centres with defined responsibility of each stakeholder can be identified. A policy of long term orders and continual upgrades in phased manner will encourage gradual technological advancements in country.

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Five Axis Plano Miller at Heavy Vehicle Factory Avadi.

Side Gear Box With Final Drive and Pump

Engine (left) of the T90 Bhisma tank is manufactured by Engine Factory Avadi and the Intermediate Gearbox (right) is manufactured by another ordnance factory

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Some of the Major Assemblies Manufactured In-house

Turret Traverse Mechanism

Turret  Race Ring Assembly

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Some of the Components Not Yet Indigenised and Imported

Automatic Unit P13

Gyro Compass GPK-59

PKUZ-1A

Pre Heater

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T90 Bhisma Tank Sights

Commander Sight

1A43 FCS  For Gunner

TI-ESSA Thermal Sight

PZU-7 Anti-Aircraft Sight

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Infrastructure at Heavy Vehicle Factory, Avadi

•             4 guide way lathe for barrel turning

•             Barrel straightening

•             Recoil manufacturing SPMs (taper grooves)

•             CNC plasma cutting and Laser cutting

•             Armour steel casting and welding

•             Torsion bar making

•             Heavy duty gear shaping

•             5 axis plano miller (10m X 5m) for machining 15 MT hull

•             Robotic welding

•             Vacuum coating for anti-reflection and band specific

•             Mil grade electronic assembly and manufacturing

•             Anti-static and clean room of class 100 (max 100 particles of 0.5 micron in 1 cub mtr)

•             Tank testing track (2 km length)

•             Proof ranges

•             Special Manufacturing Technologies

•             Cold swaging of barrel

•             Helical bevel gear manufacturing

•             Optical polishing up to accuracy of wave length/20

•             Metallic and dielectric multi-layer coating (up to 99 layers)

•             Laser rod manufacturing (for LRF)

•             Protective glass manufacturing up to parallelism of 20 s

•             Manufacture of ESR steel

•             Heat treatment of barrels (10 metres long)

•             Fracture toughness test equipment

•             Radial forging of barrels

•             Autofrettaging of barrels

•             Rifling of barrels

•             Deep hole drilling up to 10 metres

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Some of the Items Sourced From Trade

Driver Instrument Panel

Distribution Box

Aviation Compressor

Tadiran radio set

Roadwheel assembly

Rack radiator assembly

Track Assembly

Periscopes

GPS

1KW Genset

Haydraulic booster

The post Combat Vehicles : Challenges in the Production of Battle Tanks appeared first on IMR.

Apart from QA activities, the organisation is responsible for import substitution and associates itself with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for its development projects. In order to carry out its functions efficiently and effectively, the organisation is divided into twelve Directorates including ten technical directorates and two non-technical directorates. Each technical directorate is responsible for a group of technologically distinct equipment, namely: Stores, Armaments, Vehicle, Electronics, WP (Engineering and Hull Machinery, etc), Naval, Engineering equipment, Radar and System, Combat Vehicles, Metallurgical and explosive stores.

Today, there is huge emphasis on empowering startups, encouraging MSME participation and promoting private sector participation for defence manufacturing in India. DGQA is incentivizing domestic defence manufacturing through a number of schemes and policies including:

•             IP Facilitation Scheme

•             Self-Certification Scheme

•             Defence Export Promotion Scheme

•             Green Channel Policy.

Two schemes of DGQA coming up in the near future are Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS) and Third-Party Inspection Scheme (TPIS).

IP Facilitation Scheme

To enhance Industrial competitiveness Intellectual property rights (IPR) are evolving as strategic tools. In all spheres of business. Intellectual property (IP) refers to notions or ideas pertaining to intellect. IPRs include patents, copyright, Industrial design rights, trademarks, trade dress, and others. IPR plays a very important role in nearly every segment and has become a central feature for decisions pertaining to investment for many establishments. In defence manufacturing, IPR comprises innovations (patent protected), manufacturing designs and origins of technology. It affords protection for investments in developing new technology and ways to finance research and development events. The purpose of IPR is to protect investments in the expansion of new technology, thus giving boost and resources to activities related to finance research and development.

A number of ordnance factories, defence PSUs and even individual officials of these organizations have carried out innovative research leading to the development of certain materials, component/sub-assemblies/ assemblies for performance upgrade of the existing systems/ platforms. Simultaneously, they have reduced India’s dependence on imports. Such innovations may be treated as intellectual properties and need to be protected by way of filing of patents. Some organizations and individuals have made their own isolated efforts. There is a need for a structured mechanism to facilitate and encourage such activities with a primary objective to “Boost IP culture.” This would emphasize the importance of intellectual capital and encourage in-houseR&D in such organizations.

Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti was started in 2018 and it is aimed at inculcating IP culture in Indian defence manufacturing ecosystem. In this mission, an Intellectual Property Facilitation Cell (IPFC) has been constituted under the sponsorship of DGQA.

The Cell trains people from public/ private sector on IPR and enables filing of new IPR applications. The Action Plan 2019-20 aims to establish a structure which allows full deployment of novel ideas and innovation for achieving self-dependence in the defence sector.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the IPFC and National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), Ministry of Science and Technology to promote a culture of novelty and IPR in the defence industry.

Self-Certification Scheme

The MoD has formulated the “Self-Certification Scheme” for DPSUs and private industry to allow ease of business with the aim of “Make in India”. DPSUs and industry are encouraged to take responsibility of quality standards and improve and maintain quality of [heir products via this scheme.

Until now, DGQA issued quality assurance (QA) to vendors. With the introduction of this scheme, a mechanism has been created for awarding “self-certification status” to vendors who have state-of-the-art manufacturing infrastructure and demonstrated capability to consistently fulfil the stipulated requirements. The scheme provides eligibility criteria for grant of self-certification status, assessment, validity, revocation/ renewal of the status and acceptance of self-certified stores. It provides requirements, criteria and assessment procedure for self-certification, its validity and withdrawal, and executive instructions for acceptance of stores under the scheme.

This status is honoured by all procurement agencies under MoD. The objective is to integrate quality throughout the manufacturing process and, hence, ensure better reliability of the end product.

The vendor’s processes should be stable with process capability index (Cpk) greater than 1.33. DPSUs and private industry should have an established quality management system (QMS) in place as per the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 and its revisions. The test labs of the of the vendors should have quality systems in conformity with ISO/ IEC 17025 and preferably be NABL accredited. The self-certification status is valid for three years.

Defence Export Promotion Scheme

The draft Defence Production Policy 2018 has set an objective lo enhance annual defence exports to Rs 35,000 crores by 2025 from the current level ofRs 6,000 crores annually. After the opening of liberalization of the defence sector in 2001, there has been a significant rise in the defence production by private sector enterprises. However, the increase in number of has not grown on the same scale.

The Defence Export Promotion Scheme has been launched with an objective to provide two options to prospective defence exports for improving marketability of their products globally.

Option 1. The first option is to get a certificate “Fit For Indian Military Use” if the vendor is found to be technically qualified bidder in a procurement situation. Where more than one vendor is technically qualified, the scheme proposes to create mechanism to grant relevant certification to the technically qualified bidder for their respective products and the associated specifications. A certificate would be issued by the Department of Defence saying “Fit for Indian Military Use”. This certificate can be produced by the prospective exporter for marketing their products in the global market. The request can be made to the DGQA, DGAQA or DGNAI.

Option 2. A second option is applicable in case a product is not required by the Indian armed forces while an Indian manufacturer has the capability to develop an item with export potential. The scheme would provide access to testing infrastructure of the MoD for initial product validation and subsequent field trials, under certain conditions.

The notified field firing ranges open to private industry for sharing are given in the table. The cost of testing and evaluation would be arrived at on a ‘case to case’ basis and would be borne by the exporter/ manufacturer.

Green Channel Policy

An important area of defence procurement is that of procurement of spares and stores. While this area is usually not covered as extensively as compared to big-ticket capital acquisitions, it is a key requirement for armed forces and defence procurement. The ‘Green Channel Policy’ is an MoD initiative that is being executed DGQA, with the purpose of improving ease of doing business. It is aimed to help achieve the vision of ‘Make in India’ within the sector of defence manufacturing.

The scheme is designed to cater to companies that manufacture defence items that have continuous requirement or mass consumption. These are primarily termed as defence stores and spares. Firms that meet the eligibility criteria may apply for this for permission to obtain ‘Green Channel Status’. Upon obtaining the ‘Green Channel Status’ through the granting of a ‘Green Channel Certificate’ the supplier gains deemed registration status, waiver of pre-dispatch inspection and acceptance of stores under the supplier’s guarantee/ warranty against the contracts concluded by different agencies under the MoD.

Firms that fulfil the eligibility criteria will be allowed to self-certify products meant for mass consumption of the Indian armed forces. Having said that, there is an exception with regards to ‘critical stores’ such as those that are meant to serve airborne applications, which are governed by airworthiness certification and quality assurance regulatory requirements. These stores being critical in nature along with more rigorous quality assurance procedures and practices are excluded from the provisions of self-certification.

The applicant firms need to pay a registration fee and deposit an irrevocable bank guarantee with the nodal agency – DGQA.

Upcoming Schemes of DGQA

Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme

The development of a manufacturing base in the country is a top priority for the government, especially in the aerospace and defence sector. A critical focus area to further develop the defence industrial base is defence testing infrastructure. Domestic defence production would be well supported by an easily accessible state of the art testing infrastructure. However, this is another capital-intensive segment and would require continuous upgradations and modifications to be in sync with changing technologies and requirements. Hence, it is not an economically viable investment for individuals, particularly smaller defence industrial units to set up facilities in-house. This is where the Government can step in to provide the thrust that is required to set up the requisite testing infrastructure.

The Government has released a draft scheme aimed at setting up greenfield defence testing infrastructure for aerospace and defence related production. The facility would be a common facility under the private sector with government assistance. A major objective of the scheme is to encourage MSMEs and start-ups participation as the infrastructure, once set up, would provide easy and feasible access to the domestic defence industry. Given the fact that the very nature of setting up Defence Industrial Corridors (DICs) is to support large number of industries in the sector, the scheme provisions for giving a preference to DICs for setting upDTIs.

The private sector is expected to set up testing and infrastructure facilities with financial assistance from the central government in the form of grant-in-aid for setting up these DTIs. The segments for which DTIs can be set up include

•             Testing facilities for drones/ UAVs/ RPAs

•             EMI / EMC testing for radars and electronic/ telecom equipment

•             Specialised test-driving tracks

•             Ship motion testing

•             Radiated noise and shock testing

•             Ballistic and blast testing facilities

•             Electronic warfare

•             Environment test facilities

•             Rubber testing for defence and aerospace sectors

•             Test facilities for aerospace industry

•             Software testing

•             Any other area lacking testing infrastructure

Each DTI will be set up via a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), a Section 8 company under the Companies Act 2013, which would he the Implementation Agency (IA) comprising private entities including private companies, industry associations, and R&D institutions. The grant in aid from the central government would be limited to a sum total of Rs 400cr while the assistance for individual DTIs would not exceed 75 per cent of the project cost. The grant broadly covers 3 small, 3 medium and 2 large facilities with estimated costs at less than Rs 20crore, between Rs 20 and 50crore and greater than Rs 50crore respectively. The number at facilities under each category could however be altered if need arises.

At least seven private entities could constitute the IA but eachsuch constituent should not have more than 25 per centof totalshare capital of the IA. There are other conditions to be fulfilled as well. The roles and responsibilities of IAs have also been spelt out.

This scheme is expected to support start-ups and MSMEs, which will then bridge gaps in defence testing infrastructure In the country. The government expects these new facilities, once established, to resolve three critical bottleneck in defence production. A few large private companies in India have reportedly spent huge amounts to create their own laboratoriesto validate their manufactured products. However, not all firms/ companies can afford this given the fact that there are only few assured orders. These facilities would, therefore, remove this bottleneck, thereby increasing work on the research and development front.

Third Party Inspection Scheme

Third Party Inspection (TPI) scheme for outsourcing quality assurance functions for defence stores has been formulated covering modalities for outsourcing TPI agencies to perform quality assurance functions for defence stores manufactured by the private industry within India.

For an entity to be eligible to become a TPI agency, it should satisfy below criteria:

•             Accreditation by the quality council of India (QCi) for certification / conformity assessment pertaining to quality management system (QMS) of manufacturers (1509001:2015).

•                             Accreditation for certification of “Conformity Assessment – Requirements for the Various Types of Bodies Performing Inspection as per IS/ISO/IEC 17020: 2012.

•                             Accreditation by OCI for ZED Maturity Assessment Model, initially provisionally approved and later formally accredited by NABCB and approved by DCMSME (for MSMEs)(in cases involving capacity assessment and certification task outsourced to TPI).

Indian agencies which meet the above eligibility criteria and are interested in registration as TPI for the purpose of this scheme may apply to DGQA for which the format and the procedure has been laid down.

Comments

The different schemes of DGQA target key aspects to build a robust defence industrial base along with creating a more conducive and efficient defence manufacturing ecosystem. Certain schemes are also designed to better integrate MSMEs into the defence manufacturing ecosystem and help reduce barriers to entry into the defence sector. All in all, the ecosystem is being so developed that there comes a higher degree of participation and responsibility on the part of the supply chain to execute orders in an effective and transparent manner.

Quality assurance is vital to guarantee that qualitative requirements, technical specifications, and any other applicable guidelines and / or characteristics of an equipment are met. Given the focus on indigenous defence manufacturing, it is important to have a strong quality assurance framework to ensure that the domestic defence industrial base can produce the highest quality of defence equipment.

These schemes encourage holistic defence production and a testing ecosystem such as in the upcoming defence industrial corridors in Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and in hubs like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune.

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Quality Assurance and MSMEs

With reportedly more than 10,000 MSMEs contributing to the defence sector In India, it is Imperative that policies for testing and quality assurance are prepared with this segment in rnind. Not only are MSMEs a big community In the defencesector, they cannot afford to have individual affiliations and individual testing centres, thereby making their involvement more important. Hence, policies should be devised to enable MSMEs to get their products tested and certified without having lo make significant capital investments. While the Government is presently drafting an MSME-focused schemeIpolicy for the defence sector, there are others in draft for the manufacturing sector. They include:

Draft Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS). The policy aims to set up 6-8common greenfield defence testing infrastructure facilities under the private sector with Government assistance (up to 75% of project cost as grant-in-aid). The objective of the proposed scheme is to promote indigenous defence production, with special focus on participation of MSMEs and Startups by bridging gaps in defence testing infrastructure in the country.

Financial Support to MSMEs in ZED CertificationScheme. The objectives of the scheme include inculcating zero defect and zero effect practices in the manufacturing process while ensuring continuous improvement. The scheme promotes adaption of quality tools/ systems and energy efficient manufacturingand encourages MSMEs to constantly upgrade their quality standards to adopt zero defect manufacturing processes. The subsidy provided by the government would be within 80%, 60% and 50% for micro, small and medium enterprises respectively.

Lean Manufacturing Competitiveness Scheme: This is a business initiative to enhance competitiveness in the manufacturing sector, thereby imbibing a culture of continuous improvement and increase in overall productivity. The provision of financial assistance to MSMEs is up to Rs 36 lakhs per mini cluster of 10 units for a period of 18 months or till completion, in an 80:20 ratio, where the MSME’s contribution is 20%.

Tool Rooms and MSME Technology Centres. Technology centres facilitate an integrated development of MSMEs by providing quality tools and industry ready manpower along with consultancy in tooling and related areas and processes. Assistance to MSMEs is provided through tooling facilities for enhancement of their efficiency and through consultancy on process and product development and skill development.

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Notified Field Firing Ranges of Indian Army For Private Industry

S. No.    FFR         State     Maximum           Weapons to be tested

                                                Range (KM)

1              Bamori (Saugor)               Madhya Pradesh              3              Small Arms (SA) weapons 81 mm mortar,

                                                                Rocket Launcher (RL), Automatic Grenade          

                                                                Launcher (AGL) and 14.5 mm Artillery Trainer

2              Sikkim (HAA Area)           Sikkim   6              All infantry weapons and field guns at limited range

3              Teesta  West Bengal       10           All infantry weapons and field guns at limited range

4              Balwanta (Nasirabad)     Rajasthan            3              SA weapons 81 mm mortar RL, AGL and 14.5 mm             

                                                                Artillery Trainer

5              Gamrala (HAA Area)       Arunachal Pradesh          6              All infantry weapons and field guns at limited range

6              Mahajan              Rajasthan            20           Tank and Infantry Combat Vehicle (ICV) Gun, Tank

                                                                and ICV Missiles. All Infantry, Army Air Defence               

                                                                (AAD) and Artillery weapons

8              Pokhran               Rajasthan            32           Tank and ICV Gun, Tank and ICV Missiles, All                                      

                                                                Infantry, AAD and Artillery weapons

9              Babina  Madhya Pradesh              10           Tank and ICV Gun, Tank and ICV Missiles, All

                                                                infantry, AAD and Artillery weapons

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