This is the largest exercise since national airline Air India flew back 1,70,000 during the first Gulf War from Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War. It was followed by the evacuation of 1764 Indians from Lebanon in 2006 and more than 5600 Indians from Yemen during the civil war that raged there in 2015.

An operation of this magnitude was also the most comprehensive evacuation ever attempted and at a difficult operating time when an unpredictable, dangerous and invisible enemy like the coronavirus was lurking everywhere.

India banned all flights in late March as it imposed one of the world’s strictest lockdowns to check Covid-19 cases, leaving thousands of workers and students stranded. Till now, the government had resisted evacuations, given the logistical and safety nightmare of bringing back and quarantining returning citizens.

Detailed instructions were issued by the government on the categories of people who were to be given precedence, medical screening of passengers, the procedure on reaching the destination,  protocols, the infrastructure to be put in place.

Evacuation by Air

National carrier Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express ran special ferry flights from New Delhi, Kochi and Kozhikode to Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively. The two airlines operated 64 flights in seven days to bring back 14,800 stranded Indians from 12 countries.

Three decades ago, Air India led a group of airlines which included Indian Airlines and Aeroflot as well as IAF to rescue an estimated 111,711 Indians from the Gulf, after Iraq invaded Kuwait in the year 1990. The 59-day operation involved 488 flights and was conducted before the first Gulf war. This time, the exercise encompassed flights to the US in the West to Philippines in the East.

The Indian Air Force prepared about 30 aircraft, including C-17 Globemaster and C-130J Super Hercules for the mission.

Role of the Indian Navy

The Indian Navy said, on 5 May, that it had launched Operation Samudra Setu (sea bridge), as part of the national effort to repatriate Indian citizens from overseas. Indian Naval Ship (INS) Jalashwa and INS Magar were sent to Malè, Maldives to commence evacuation operations from May 8 as part of Phase-1.

The Indian Navy had previously carried out evacuation efforts in conflict-hit areas like Lebanon (2006) and Yemen (2015). However, a potential operation in the Gulf will not only be larger in scale, but it would have to keep in mind social distancing norms.

INS Jalaswa. The ships were suitably provisioned for the evacuation operation. INS Jalashwa is the Navy’s Landing Platform Dock (LPD) and has a capacity to generate 60,000 gallons (212 tonnes) of fresh water a day, around 3MW of electrical power and has extensive medical facilities. Weighing over 16,400 tonnes, it is also the second-largest combat warship in the Indian Navy after the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya. It is capable of carrying tanks and can carry up to 1,000 soldiers. Since her commissioning in 2007, INS Jalashwa has proved to be indispensable and an extremely valuable acquisition for the navy. The ship has played major roles in amphibious operations, strategic sealift and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) missions. The Navy suitably modified INS Jalashwa by removing non-essential equipment in order to accommodate evacuees. The ship was provided relief and coronavirus protection material as well as medical and administrative support staff.  It set sail from Male to Kochi on 8 May with 750 persons.

INS Magar. INS Magar, also an amphibious ship, can carry armoured personnel carriers for transportation and tanks to target beaches. The Magar-class ships weigh about 5,500 tonnes. The ship can also carry 500 fully laden troops for nearly 10 days, in addition to her own crew.  The ship was zoned to prevent intermingling of the crew with the evacuees.

INS Airavat and INS Shardul also headed to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for evacuation and were in addition to the civilian aircraft sent.

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From Srinagar to Thiruvananthapuram and Dibrugarh to Kachchh, the Army carried out various activities like laying wreath at the police memorials, honouring and felicitating health professions and emergency supply operatives. Visits to hospitals were carried out over hundreds of towns in all states from the local army formations all over the nation in small and big numbers by army teams along with military bands which played patriotic tunes as a tribute to the nation’s frontline warriors against coronavirus.

Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Agra, Amritsar, Belgaum, Ranikhet Pithoragarh among many metropolis, big and small townships saw the Army, Navy and IAF and Coast Guard (ICG) visiting hospitals and paying tributes. The activities started with laying wreaths at the local police memorials, an event which is truly unprecedented and brings the forces closer to their uniformed brethren. Whole country and all countrymen enjoyed this rich salute and poured wishes and love to the armed forces over social media.

The Armed Forces also organised multiple other events like fly past by fighter and transport aircrafts of the IAF throughout the length and breadth of the country. The helicopters of IAF, Indian Navy and ICG showered flower petals on the hospitals treating COVID patients. Army and IAF bands visited COVID hospitals and played tunes in an expression of gratitude to the Corona Warriors.

Fighter aircraft formations, comprising of the Sukhoi-30 MKI, MiG-29 and Jaguar fly past over Rajpath and orbited over Delhi visible to the residents from their roof tops. In addition, C-130J Hercules transport aircraft also flew over Delhi.

The Navy and ICG ships formed formations near shores at select locations. Ships were illuminated at 25 locations covering the entire coastline of the country including the remote sites and far flung island territories of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and Minicoy islands.

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Nirmala Sitharaman, herself a former defence minister, allocated to defence Rs 471,378 crore, an increase of Rs 22,558 crore over the current year’s revised estimate of Rs 448,820 crore. This includes the outlay for revenue and capital expenditure, as well as military pensions. It works out to be 15.4 per cent of the country’s entire budget. If pensions are excluded, the defence budget was increased to Rs 3,37,553 crore, up from Rs 3,18,931 crore for the present fiscal ending March 31, 2020. This is a meagre 5.8 per cent hike.

Indian Army, Air Force and Navy which are facing a combined challenge from Pakistan and China, got just Rs 10,300 crore hike in funds to buy new arms and ammunition in the Union budget which could adversely impact their modernisation plans.

The salaries of the three Services and the civilians concerned work out to be Rs 1,34,989 crore, which now form 39.99 per cent of the budget. In other words, salaries and pensions take up more money than what is allocated for modernisation.

The forces have been demanding an increase in funds allocation to buy new weapons.  The Union budget has kept Rs 10,532 crore for defence research &development.

Army

The army has got the largest hike in capital spending, but this 8 per cent rise of Rs 2,669 crore will be insufficient to pay for the artillery guns, tanks and air defence systems the army badly requires.

Indian Army was also forced to cut some expenditures to ensure that it has ammunition for at least 10 days war.

The budget has allocated Rs 32,392 crore to the Indian army for its modernisation plans against Rs 29,666 crore given in the revised budget last year.

Navy

There is disappointment for the navy. Indian Navy has been given just Rs 26,688 crore in 2020-21 budget for modernisation against Rs 26,156 crore in the revised budget last year, despite public statements from senior admirals, including navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh, seeking a larger share of the defence budget.

Without that, the navy says it will be in no position to process important procurements – such as the production of six advanced submarines under Project 75I and the building of a second indigenous aircraft carrier to follow INS Vikrant, which Cochin Shipyard Ltd is likely to deliver next year.

A shortage in funds is forcing Indian Navy to curtail its plan to be a 200 ships fleet by 2027 as per maritime capability perspective plan. It has already cut some of the acquisition including Mine Counter Measure Vessels and P8i maritime reconnaissance aircraft.

Air Force

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has again been allocated the lion’s share of the capital budget – Rs 43,282 crore, much of which will go towards instalments on earlier procurements, such as the 36 Rafale fighters that will begin delivery this year. However, this is lower than the IAF’s allocation of Rs 44,869 crore in the current year’s revised estimates.

IAF, which is in the process of buying new Rafale aircraft and also needs more fighter jets to replace its ageing aircraft, has actually seen a slight decrease in its  capital outlay for modernisation.

Capital Expenditure

The capital allocation used for purchase of new weapons, aircraft, warships and other military hardware like guns and new UAVs is Rs 1,13,626 crore. This means modernisation gets an increase of Rs 10,316 crore over this year’s allocation of Rs 1,03,310 crore.

Despite the large number of weapons systems due for procurement, the capital allocation has been raised only marginally in 2020-21. That rise of less than three per cent is insufficient to even cover inflation and forex exchange rate slippages. The military will, therefore, have less buying power next year.

The government has allocated Rs 32,392.38 crore ($4.5 billion) for meeting the Indian Army’s capital expenses, of which Rs 4,000 crore ($560 million) has been earmarked for buying military aviation assets for the land forces.

The Indian Navy has got Rs 26688.28 crore ($3.73 billion) for new purchases, of which it is expected to spend Rs 12,746 crore ($1.78 billion) for building its naval fleet.

The IAF has got lesser capital allocation for the next fiscal at Rs 43,281.91 crore ($6 billion), which is already Rs 1,587.23 crore ($222 million) less than the current fiscal’s revised estimates. A major chunk, Rs 26,909.88 crore (3.76 billion), will go towards aircraft and aeroengine purchases in 2020-21.

Revenue Expenditure

The rest of Rs 209,319 crore (over $29.3 billion) will go towards revenue expenses, which is usually for meeting recurring expenses such as on maintenance of infrastructure, replenishment of existing weapons and equipment, and for capacity building. In the 2020 fiscal, under revised estimates.

Major Purchases

The Indian Army is already in the process of acquiring six Boeing Apache gunships and is negotiating the purchase with the global vendor under a follow-on order for the 22 Apaches bought by the Indian Air Force.

The Modi government had in 2016 ordered 36 Rafale combat jets from France and the deliveries of the aircraft began last October. The budget for the aircraft will go towards committed liabilities such as the Rafale purchase.

Pensions

The budget for pensions has been hiked by Rs 21,742 crore and is now pegged at Rs 1,33,819 crore. This year, a sum of Rs 1,12,077 crore is earmarked for pensions.

Worryingly, the only appreciable rise in spending is in defence pensions, for which the allocation has risen by almost 14 per cent to Rs 133,825 crore for 2020-21. This raise comes on the back of a an even larger 16 per cent raise this year, over the 2018-19 pension allocation.

Since the grant of “one rank, one pension” in 2015-16, the military pension budget has more than doubled from the level of Rs 60,000 crore in 2015-16.

To put this in perspective, India spends more on its defence pensioners than Pakistan’s defence budget (Rs 1 lakh crore this year). India has approximately 26 lakh defence pensioners and each year it adds 55 lakh pensioners to this total. Five-yearly revisions in pension – the One Rank One Pension (OROP) – granted by the government in 2015 – means that the pension burden is only set to increase.

Comments

The MoD is looking at “right-sizing” the forces and also at cutting costs within. The Army has already started the restructuring process.

The defence budget amounts to 15.5 per cent of the government’s total spending of Rs 3,042,230 crore next year. That share of government spending is significantly lower than this year’s share of 16.6 per cent, the 17.4 per cent share in 2018-19 and the 17.7 per cent in 2017-18.

With this, the plans of the armed forces for modernising their weapons and equipment with new acquisitions can take a backseat for the next fiscal at least.

In a tell-tale sign of how this defence budget is perceived, defence minister Rajnath Singh had not a single word to say about the allocation for the armed forces in his eight-paragraph statement on the annual budget itself. The statement came in the form of a text message to the media from the ministry’s official spokesperson.

The three Services have been pressing for higher allocations to carry forward their long-pending modernisation plans and go for big ticket acquisitions in view of fast changing security matrix in the region including China further boosting its military might.

The expectations for higher allocation rose after last year’s Balakot strikes. Military experts said though the allocation was inadequate in view of the demands of the three forces, the outlay was satisfactory considering the state of the country’s economy.

The military was hoping for healthy increase in defence funding as several modernization programmes have to be implemented – ranging from artillery guns and helicopters to fighters and submarines. The armed forces will have to prioritise their purchases given that the available resources are inadequate.

A parliamentary panel has asked the defence ministry to “strongly press” for additional funds from the finance ministry to enable the military to buy new equipment and also pay for weapons and systems it has already contracted to purchase, at a time when the armed forces projected a combined requirement of almost Rs 1 lakh crore more under the capital head for 2019-20.

The Army accounts for a lion’s share of the budget – over 56%. This year’s defence budget saw an increase of Rs 2,500 crore in the Army’s capital budget (when compared to revised estimates of last year’s defence budget). The IAF, in sharp contrast, saw capital budget slashed by Rs 1,200 crore.

For a nation that allocates 15.49 per cent of federal government’s total annual expenditure, India’s bid to strengthen its defence exports is rather an expectation than innovation. It only serves the country well to foresee itself excel in defence exports, especially when our net exports stands at a negative trade balance of $184 billion in 2018-19.

Taking pride in its defence capabilities, India can aspire for a larger role in defence export on the global front. Developing artillery guns, aircraft carriers, light-combat aircraft, submarines and combat helicopters will make India a manufacturing hub in defence on the global scale. The prime minister spoke of expanding the export of defence equipment to Rs 35,000 crore, at Defexpo show in February, mentioning how it had risen from Rs 2,000 crore in 2014 to Rs 17,000 in the last two years.

Boosting the Make in India sentiment for defence equipment not only decreases India’s imports in defence but also pushes its exports – which will help reduce the negative export balance. A call for defence investors is also a plus for India in the current economic outlook. Defence remains a lucrative sector and investor sentiment will be favourable despite dull economic growth that has played a pivotal role in shooing away investors and further adding to the misery of the investment-starved economy. A conducive business environment, efficient supply-chain and logistics supported by state-of-the-art infrastructure is perhaps the package which will put India in a position of advantage. Defence, then, can become a trump card. Expanding its defence exports will be a major plus for India. It will help reduce the net exports negative balance.

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Defence, Aerospace Got Rs 1,800 cr FDI in 5 Years

Defence and aerospace sectors, the corner stones of the government’s ambitious Make in India programme, garnered relatively miniscule foreign direct investment (FDI) in the last five years.

While the country attracted FDI valued around $286 billion in the past five years across sectors, defence and aerospace, which were projected as high potential sectors under ‘Make in India’, could grab only a measly Rs 1,834 crore, according to government data released on 10 February.

The government had also announced two defence corridors – in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. While launching the Tamil Nadu Aerospace and Defence Industrial Policy at the Global Investors Meet in Chennai in January 2019, the then defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said: “…by announcing the corridor, we have invited quite a lot of manufacturers from abroad to come, choose the location where they want to establish their unit and start producing defence equipment”. But the investments are still nothing worth writing home about.

As per the data furnished by 79 companies operating in Defence and Aerospace sector, so far, FDI inflows of over Rs 1,834 crore have been reported after 2014 under both government and automatic route.In May 2001, the defence sector, until then reserved for the public sector, was opened up for 100 per cent Indian private sector participation and foreign direct investment up to 26 per cent.

Further, the government later allowed FDI up to 49 per cent under the automatic route and above 49 per cent through the government route wherever it is likely to result in access to modern technology or for other reasons to be recorded.

The government had envisaged that by allowing higher FDI in the defence sector, the global companies having high-end technologies can be encouraged to set up their manufacturing base in India in collaboration with Indian companies, thereby, resulting in creation of employment opportunities, saving foreign exchange and increasing indigenisation.

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INS Shivaji was established in 1945 and it is one of the premier training establishments of Indian Navy. The establishment has been entrusted with responsibility of imparting training to officers and sailors of the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and friendly foreign navies in the domains of marine engineering. nuclear, biological and chemical defence including damage control and fire fighting, main and auxiliary controls. Overall, the establishment conducts more than 500 courses for officers and sailors and has an annual training throughput of more than 2800 officers and 7800 sailors. Shivaji also has the proud privilege of imparting training to personnel from 20 countries worldwide with an annual throughput of over 250 international trainees on an average.

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The DAC is headed by the defence minister. The other members of the council are the minister of state for defence, the chief of defence staff, the three service chiefs, the defence secretary, secretary defence research and development, secretary defence production and director general, acquisition. Gen Bipin Rawat attended the DAC meeting for the first time as the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).

P-75I submarines will scale up the navy’s undersea warfare capabilities and counter the rapid expansion of the China’s submarine fleet. The project will be pursued under the government’s ‘strategic partnership’ (SP) model, which seeks to provide fillip to the government’s Make in India programme.

The DAC short-listed the Indian strategic partners and potential original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) who would collaborate to construct six conventional submarines in India.

The Indian strategic partners cleared to collaborate with the foreign OEMs are Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) and Larsen &Toubro (L&T). The foreign yards they can team up with for the project are the French Naval Group, German conglomerate Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, Russia’s Rubin Design Bureau, Spain’s Navantia and South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Company.

Hindustan Shipyard-Adani Bid Rejected

A joint venture between the Adani Group and state-owned Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) was rejected by an empowered committee as it did not meet the eligibility criteria for being shortlisted as a strategic partner (SP). The Congress Party had alleged earlier that the Modi government was planning to overrule Navy decision to favour the Adani Group for the construction of the submarines, violating the defence procurement policy (DPP).

The two Indian entities were selected as strategic partners after an examination of financial records and manufacturing facilities by the Navy’s empowered committee. Both state-owned MDL and private sector giant L&T have considerable experience in shipbuilding. The empowered project committee was formed with the Navy’s Controller of Warship Production and Acquisition as the head of the panel including several other Joint Secretaries as its members.

It was the second project to be cleared under the SP model after the DAC, in August 2018, approved a project to build 111 naval utility helicopters in the country to replace the navy’s outdated fleet of French-designed Chetak choppers. The naval utility helicopter (NUH) project is worth Rs 21,738 crore.

Further Process

It will take years for the submarine project to materialise as the process is quite long-drawn out.

The ministry will take the project forward by issuing requests for proposals (RFPs) to the short-listed Indian strategic partners who will then respond with techno-commercial offers in collaboration with one of the short-listed OEMs. In exceptional cases, rules allow the Indian strategic partner to submit techno-commercial offers in collaboration with two OEMs.

The next steps would involve opening and evaluation of technical offers, trials, staff evaluation, opening of commercial offers of companies technically compliant with the RFP and finally, the selection of the strategic partner with the lowest bid.

P75I Submarines

The plan to build six new submarines as part of Project 75I(I for India) is a follow-on of the Project 75 Kalvari-class submarines. Under this project, the Indian Navy intends to acquire six diesel-electric submarines, which will also feature advanced air-independent propulsion systems to enable them to stay submerged for longer duration and substantially increase their operational range.

The Navy wants the submarines to be equipped with heavy-duty firepower as it wants the boats to have at least 12 Land Attack Cruise Missiles (LACM) along with Anti-Ship cruise missiles (ASCM). The Navy specified that the submarines should also be able to carry and launch 18 heavyweight torpedoes in the sea. Compared with the Scorpene, the firepower required in the next line of submarines is many times more than what is being put on the Scorpenes which have the heavyweight torpedoes and the Exocet surface to surface missiles as their main weapons.

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The same LCA also successfully took off from the from the “ski-jump” deck of the aircraft carrier for the first time next day. The ski-jump is the upwardly curved ramp on the deck of aircraft carriers designed to provide sufficient take-off lift for fighter jets.

Further landings and take-offs followed for a week. The second prototype, NP-1, piloted by Capt Shivnath Dahiya did a number of approaches, including a few Bolters (when a approaching aircraft misses the catching wire and get back airborne right away with full throttle).

The naval Tejas had earlier completed extensive trials on the shore-based test facility (SBTF) at Goa on 13 September. The Navy has created the SBTF as an aircraft carrier setting on the ground at its air base in Goa to operate these deck-based fighters, which use ski jump to take off and are recovered by arrestor wires on a carrier or STOBAR (short takeoff but arrested recovery) in navy parlance.

This was the first time an indigenous fighter, which has been designed and developed by DRDO, made arrested landing on an aircraft carrier in India.

Much more will be required for the naval Tejas prototype to become operational on the 44,400-tonne carrier INS Vikramaditya, as also the under-construction 40,000-tonne INS Vikrant. At present, the Navy operates 45 MiG-29K fighters, acquired from Russia for $2 billion, from INS Vikramaditya.

The Navy, in the past, has rejected the single-engine Tejas, stressing the “overweight” fighter cannot optimally operate from aircraft carriers. In December 2016, for instance, the then Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba had said it did not meet the “thrust-to-weight requirement to take off with a full fuel and arms load” from an aircraft carrier’s deck.

Only the US, the UK, Russia, France and China have built fighter jets that have carried out arrested landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier. Carrier strike groups help a country project maritime power thousands of miles away from its shores. Such groups are escorted by destroyers, frigates, submarines and supply vessels.

Difficulty in Landing

Landing on an aircraft carrier deck is the ultimate and most daunting challenge for a fighter pilot. He is required to slam down his fighter on a precise spot, so that the aircraft’s tail hook catches on a series of three wires laid across the landing deck. These wires unspool under resistance, dragging the fighter to a halt. Catching this so-called “arrestor gear” requires the fighter to descend much more sharply than in a regular landing. That requires a sturdy landing gear that can withstand the impact of what naval pilots often describe as a “controlled crash”.

To complicate matters further, the pilot approaching the carrier at at 230 km per hour is required to land with the throttle at “maximum power” so that, in case the tail hook does not catch the arrestor wires, the fighter can accelerate to take-off speed in the 200 metres of deck available to him.

The plane was carrying a full load of fuel so as to allow the pilot to land back at naval air station in Goa in case the landing on deck was to be aborted.

Carrier deck landings and take-offs can be greatly assisted by well-tuned flight computers.

Twin-Engined Naval Fighter

With this feat, the indigenously developed niche technologies specific to deck-based fighter operations have been proven. These will pave the way to develop and manufacture the twin-engine deck-based fighter for the IndianNavy.

The single-engine LCA Navy Mark I that landed, on 12 January, will not be inducted into naval service, being short on power and, therefore, fuel and weapons carriage capacity. The Navy is waiting for a twin-engine LCA Navy Mark 2, with the engine power to get airborne with more fuel and weapons, which will provide greater punch and a longer operating range. The current Mark 1 is a test bed for developing the aviation systems that will go into the Mark 2.

The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) refers to the Mark 2 version as the Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter (TED-BF). ADA says it is targeting the first flight by 2025-26 and induction into service by 2031, when it will start to replace the Russian-origin MiG-29K/KUB fighters that currently fly off INS Vikramaditya.

With the current LCA Navy Mark 1’s single General Electric (GE) F-404 engine replaced by two, more powerful, GE F-414 engines, the TED-BF will be a bigger and more heavily armed fighter.

The ADA will now carry out more test landings on INS Vikramaditya to generate inputs to finetune the controlling software.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is involved in development of the naval variant of Tejas along with ADA, Aircraft Research and Design Centre of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC) and CSIR among others.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has already inducted a batch of Tejas aircraft. Initially, the IAF had placed an order with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for 40 Tejas aircraft.

In 2018, the IAF issued the request for proposal (RFP) to HAL for the procurement of another batch of 83 Tejas at a cost of over Rs 50,000 crore.

HAL’s Contribution

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd eyes the prospect of fully designing and developing a twin-engine fighter plane for the Navy if or when an occasion comes up. HAL has been deeply involved in the deck trials of the two naval prototypes produced for the DRDO.

The DRDO’s special arm ADA or the ADA is tasked with designing and developing the Tejas versions and future indigenous fighter planes.

HAL said many critical paraphernalia and support staff for the naval prototype were its contributions, both before and during the recent trials on the ship. It contributed the arrestor hook system, a redesigned landing gear, a speed controlling device for landings, a drooped nose to give the pilot a good view, a stronger fuselage and the fuel dump.

The two Navy prototypes – NP1 and Np2 – seen as potential trainers, were derived from the IAF version of the indigenous light fighter. A production standard version called NP5 has also been considered.

All these are single-engine while the Navy indicated in 2016 that it needed only two-engined aircraft. With a double-engine Tejas being some time away, more so for the Navy, it is an area of interest for its stakeholders.

The current fleet of Russian origin MiG-29Ks are expected to go obsolete around 2028-32. Another opportunity to replenish naval aircraft could arise if the country goes in for a third aircraft carrier around the year 2040 as envisioned for the long term.

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What makes this test-firing of the K-4 missile more significant is the fact that a recent launch of the missile, conducted from a submerged platform in December 2017, had ended in a failure. The launch was not successful due to “a failure in the missile’s ignition following its ejection from the submerged pontoon.”

SLBMs are test-fired from submerged platforms not only to collect data to analyse its performance, but also to ensure safety. A failed launch from an active ballistic missile submarine would cause massive damage to its hull.

Developmental testing of the missile, which has an estimated maximum range of 3,500 kilometers and can be fitted with a 2,000-kilogram sub-kiloton nuclear or conventional payload, began in 2010.

The K-4 was last successfully test fired in full  operational configuration from India’s first domestically developed and built nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), the INS Arihant, in April 2016. Notably, the K-4 has been tested using depressed trajectories.

The INS Arihant, the first-of-class of a planned fleet of four to five SSBNs based on the Russian Project 971 Akula I-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN), has been designed to carry up to four K4s or 12 K-15 (B-05) short-range ballistic missiles (SLBM).

With the K-4, INS Arihant and future SSBNs will be able to target parts of China, including Beijing, and all of Pakistan, from the northern parts of the Bay of Bengal. Not ideal, but better than the K-15.

K-15 Sagarika

Three K-15s were successfully launched from the Arihant in August 2018. The K-15 Sagarika is a solid-fueled two-stage SLBM capable of carrying a single warhead and has a reported maximum range of 700 to 750 kilometers. It has been under development by India’s DRDO since the 1990s. Another test firing  of a K-15 SLBM from the INS Arihant took place in November 2015.

INS Arihant, the first and only operational SSBN, is armed with K-15 Sagarika missiles with a range of 750 km. It has a displacement of 6,000 tonnes and is powered by an 83 MW pressurised light-water reactor with enriched uranium. The K-4 will do away with the need to venture far way from the Indian waters and move closer to the adversary’s coast to launch the missile.

There are very few countries which have managed to achieve this technological breakthrough. The Circular Error Probability (CEP) was much more sophisticated than Chinese missiles. The CEP determines the accuracy of a missile. The lower the CEP, the more accurate the missile is. The missile has been tested several times earlier as part of developmental trials to validate different parameters.

Once inducted, these missiles will be the mainstay of the Arihant class of indigenous ballistic missile nuclear submarines (SSBN) and will give India the stand-off capability to launch nuclear weapons submerged in Indian waters.

Nuclear Triad

In November 2019, India formally declared its nuclear triad stated in its nuclear doctrine operational after INS Arihant completed its first deterrence patrol, which means Arihant has begun prowling the deep seas carrying ballistic missiles equipped with nuclear warheads. It was quietly commissioned into service in August 2016 and its induction was not officially acknowledged.

Given the  Arihant’s primary role as a technology demonstrator, it will likely take the Indian Navy at least until 2021-when the second Arihant-class SSBN the future INS Arighant (originally assumed to be named Aridhaman) is set to enter service – to achieve an operational long-range nuclear strike capability.

Towards Credible Deterrence

For a credible at-sea deterrence, a country’s SSBNs must be capable of, among other things, targeting population and industrial centres of the adversary. In India’s case, this means that the Indian Navy’s SSBNs must be capable of holding at risk cities not only in Pakistan but also in the Chinese mainland.

Cities in the Chinese mainland would remain outside the range of the missile even if the boat was at the north-eastern edge of the Bay of Bengal. Therefore, in the event of a crisis with Beijing, New Delhi would not have the option of threatening a nuclear attack on a target of consequence in China. (Theoretically, the SSBN can reach closer to China to make up for the short-range of the missile, but it will be at an increased risk of detection or worse – an attack).

Therefore, India may have operationalised its triad, but the naval leg or the at-sea deterrent is not credible given the limited range of the missile it uses.

The DRDO, reports say, is already working on 5,000-km range K-5 and 6,000-km range K-6 SLBMs.

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Inter-services issues and the reluctance of the three Services to let go of their respective turfs were some of the biggest hurdles in achieving greater jointmanship. The CDS will also be the permanent chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC). Until now, the COSC chairmanship was held in rotation by the senior-most service chief. It is no secret that Service chiefs have a tendency to be driven by the interests of their own Service. The creation of the CDS is therefore seen as a significant reform in higher defence management.

The Need

The existing model for cross-service cooperation was weak, with each Service working in its own silo. The efforts for jointmantship in the military were proceeding slowly, resulting in duplication of efforts, wastage of resources and delay in decision making. The appointment of a CDS will address the fragmented approach of the forces and bring about synergy at a time when the nature of warfare is evolving swiftly.

The Service Chiefs

The three chiefs will continue to report to the defence minister. They will not report to the COS, although it is widely accepted that he will be a first among equals. The CDS will be the principal military adviser to the defence minister on tri-services matters. The three military chiefs will continue to advise the minister exclusively on issues concerning their respective services. While the CDS will be in charge of tri-services organisations, their military command will be under the chief of the duly notified service. However, tri-services agencies and commands related to cyber, space and special operations will be under the command of the CDS.

Long Term Goals

The CDS’ first task will be to lead the integration of the different services, who have operated in silos, have got embroiled in inter-services disputes, and have been reluctant to let go of their own institutional interests. The CDS will have to build trust between the three Services and then use that to push for greater integration and jointness in training, capabilities, acquisitions, operations and planning. The nature of threats has changes with the newer technologies; so has the nature of warfare where distinctions between land, air and waters, and now cyber, are blurred. Ensuring India’s forces are prepared is now the CDS’ job, along with that of the respective Service chiefs.

The CDS will be responsible for establishment of theatre/joint commands. Theaterisation refers to placing under a Theatre Commander, specific units of the army, the navy, and the air force. There is stiff resistance from the IAF to theaterisation, or setting up of integrated commands where the assets of all three defence arms will come under the operational control of a three-star officer from any of the three services, depending on the function assigned to that command. In another important role, he will assign inter-services prioritisation to capital acquisition proposals based on the anticipated budget at a time when the military is facing a funding crisis,

The Challenges

The idea of creating the CDS’ post is that India should not have a fragmented approach. The entire military power must to work in unison. The three Services should move simultaneously at the same pace.

The second core challenge for the CDS is to become an effective link between the Services and the civilian bureaucracy, for the relationship has been mired in distrust. Being housed within the ministry will help. The Services are resentful that those who lack expertise and experience take all the decisions, while sitting in South Block, and ignore genuine concerns of the armed personnel. The bureaucrats see many demands of the Services and the leadership as unreasonable, and believe that political control of the armed forces will inevitably mean administrative oversight. The CDS will have to mediate these relationships and ensure that all sides remain committed to the big picture – of making India secure, while the forces continue to operate under the democratic framework of civilian control.

The charter of the CDS, if implemented properly, will prepare the 15-lakh strong armed forces for the wars of the future. The CDS is mandated to ensure the Army, Navy and IAF, which often pull in different directions, truly integrate to slash wasteful expenditure amidst the ongoing severe fund crunch for military modernization because of the ballooning pay and pension bills.

Over 70 countries like the US, UK, France and Germany, among others, have a CDS-like post for integration in military planning and operations. In the US, for instance, the chairman of joint chiefs of staff is the highest-ranking military officer and principal military advisor to President. But chiefs of the combatant theatre commands, who handle different parts of the globe, also report directly to the political leadership.

This is needed because India currently has 17 single-Service commands (Army 7, IAF 7 and Navy 3), while there are only two tri-Service commands in the shape of the Andaman & Nicobar Command and the Strategic Forces Command to handle nuclear weapons. Theatre commands, where all the assets and manpower of the Army, Navy and Air Force are placed under one operational commander, are cost-effective, save resources and prepare forces for integrated operations.

The most far-reaching and consequential job allocated to the CDS will be the restructuring of 17 single-service military commands, which currently operate independently, into tri-service commands that include all the army, navy and air force components needed for combat operations.

“[CDS will facilitate] restructuring of military commands for optimal utilisation of resources by bringing about jointness in operations, including through establishment of joint/theatre commands,” said the government release.

For now, the CDS will only command the new cyber and space commands. “Tri-service agencies/organisations/commands related to cyber and space will be under the command of the CDS,” said the notification.

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CDS: Roles & Responsibilities

•             Act as the principal military adviser to the Raksha Mantri (RM) on tri-Service matters (Army, Navy & IAF chiefs will continue to advise the RM on matters concerning their forces).

•             Head a new Department of Military Affairs (will include the armed forces) within MoD.

•             Will also be the permanent chairman of the chiefs of staff committee, but will not exercise any military command (three Service chiefs will continue to have full operational control of their forces).

•             Will function as the military advisor to the PM-led Nuclear Command Authority.

•             Will administer all tri-Service organizations, with direct command over space & cyberspace agencies.

•             Facilitate restructuring of military commands to bring jointness in operations, including establishment of theatre commands.

•             Provide integrated inputs to relevant authorities. Will be member of Defence Acquisitions Council &Defence Planning Committee.

•             Assign inter-Service prioritization to arms procurements based on the anticipated budget.

•             Bring about reforms in the functioning of three Services by augmenting combat capabilities & reducing wasteful expenditure.

•             Bring jointness in operations, logistics, transport, training, support services, communications, repairs, maintenance etc of the 3 Services within 3 years of the first CDS assuming office.

•             Evaluate plans for ‘Out of Area Contingencies’ as well as other contingencies such as humanitarian assistance & disaster relief.

•             Implement 5-Year Defence Capital Acquisition Plans, and 2-Year roll-on annual acquisition plans (AAP), as a follow-up of Integrated Capability Development Plan (ICDP).

•             Integrate and rationalize international cooperation plans.

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Govt Creates Department of Military Affairs

The appointment of Gen Bipin Rawat as the first chief of defence staff (CDS) was accompanied with the notification of the creation of the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) with Gen Rawat as the secretary of the department.

A day after the announcement, prime minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “Creation of the Department of Military Affairs with requisite military expertise and institutionalisation of the post of CDS is a momentous and comprehensive reform that will help our country face the ever-changing challenges of modern warfare.”

The DMA, having a mix of military and civilians, will deal with the three Services and HQ-Integrated Defence Staff (IDS), Territorial Army, works relating to Services and procurements, except capital acquisitions. The DMA will promote inter-service jointness in planning, integrated requirements, restructuring of military commands and indigenous equipment.

President Ram Nath Kovind approved changes in the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961, and following this, the department was set up.

With the latest changes, the defence ministry will have five departments under it and these are the Department of Defence, the Department of Military Affairs, the Department of Defence Production, the Department Defence Research and Development, an order from the Department of Exservicemen said.

The Department of Military Affairs will have an integrated headquarters of the Defence Ministry comprising of the Army HQ, the Naval HQ, the Air HQ, the Defence Staff HQ and the Territorial Army.

The DMA will function parallel to the Department of Defence (DoD) headed by the defence secretary, and other departments. The CDS will be one secretary among equals of the other departments headed by bureaucrats. This downgrades the four-star rank in protocol, though the CDS will draw higher pay. Till now, Service Chiefs were ranked alongside the Cabinet Secretary, which was higher than the secretaries in the MoD, including the defence secretary.

The composition of the DMA has not been announced and will take time to form and function. It will, however, include the armed forces and an “appropriate mix of military and civilian officers at every level” in a bid to also bridge the festering civil-military divide.

The CDS will enjoy financial powers. This will be the first uniformed officer since 1950-when the armed forces were structured after Independence – to enjoy such powers.

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