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DRDO chief says India is ready to become major exporter - IHS Jane's 360
Rahul Bedi, New Delhi - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
23 June 2014
The head of the DRDO has claimed that the Tejas has major export potential. Source: IHS/Patrick Allen
India is ready to export locally developed defence equipment at competitive prices to friendly countries and is in the process of devising the means to do so, the head of the country's premier weapons agency said on 22 June.
"We are discussing the methodology and policy mechanism for the export of indigenously designed weapon systems," Avinash Chander, director general of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) told the Press Trust of India news agency.
Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to boost Indian arms exports, Chander suggested a "single-window clearance" to attain this goal in a "timebound" manner.
He listed platforms such as the locally designed Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) - which has been delayed by nearly a decade and is yet to enter local service - and various missile systems that India could export cheaply. These include Akash surface-to-air (SAM) missiles, Prahar short-range tactical ballistic missiles, and the Indo-Russian BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.
Chander claimed that since local production costs were lower, India's weapon systems were cheaper compared with those of other countries.
India, for instance, could produce long-range strategic missiles that China sells to Saudi Arabia at a third or quarter of their cost, he said. He also said several countries were interested in acquiring the Akash SAM system, which is in Indian Army and Indian Air Force service, but declined to name them.
Chander also said there was scope to export 500 to 1,000 of the "cost-competitive" single-engine Tejas LCAs but, once again, did not name the prospective buyers.
India's routine defence exports from 2007 to 2011 of surplus small arms to friendly neighbouring states, including ammunition, demolition stores, and spare parts for vintage rifles, totalled INR1.23 billion (USD20.5 million).
ANALYSIS
The world's largest materiel importer, India for decades has opposed arms exports on ideological grounds, although another reason was that it produced few systems that compete internationally.
In recent years it has begun to participate in domestic and overseas defence shows, advertising its materiel.
Its first major export of a locally designed platform came in 2008 when the Ecuadorian Air Force bought seven Dhruv advanced light helicopters (ALHs) for USD50.7 million. In August 2013 India's comptroller and auditor general criticised ALH manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for underpricing the 5.5-ton helicopter by INR520 million and being penalised INR60 million for delays in delivering two platforms, thereby further compounding their losses.
"The DRDO's declarations on exporting defence equipment are nothing but wishful thinking," Major General Mrinal Suman (ret'd), a materiel procurement and offset specialist, told IHS Jane's . "Unable to even remotely meet local needs, all talk about exports is laughable."
Rahul Bedi, New Delhi - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
23 June 2014
The head of the DRDO has claimed that the Tejas has major export potential. Source: IHS/Patrick Allen
"We are discussing the methodology and policy mechanism for the export of indigenously designed weapon systems," Avinash Chander, director general of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) told the Press Trust of India news agency.
Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to boost Indian arms exports, Chander suggested a "single-window clearance" to attain this goal in a "timebound" manner.
He listed platforms such as the locally designed Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) - which has been delayed by nearly a decade and is yet to enter local service - and various missile systems that India could export cheaply. These include Akash surface-to-air (SAM) missiles, Prahar short-range tactical ballistic missiles, and the Indo-Russian BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.
Chander claimed that since local production costs were lower, India's weapon systems were cheaper compared with those of other countries.
India, for instance, could produce long-range strategic missiles that China sells to Saudi Arabia at a third or quarter of their cost, he said. He also said several countries were interested in acquiring the Akash SAM system, which is in Indian Army and Indian Air Force service, but declined to name them.
Chander also said there was scope to export 500 to 1,000 of the "cost-competitive" single-engine Tejas LCAs but, once again, did not name the prospective buyers.
India's routine defence exports from 2007 to 2011 of surplus small arms to friendly neighbouring states, including ammunition, demolition stores, and spare parts for vintage rifles, totalled INR1.23 billion (USD20.5 million).
ANALYSIS
The world's largest materiel importer, India for decades has opposed arms exports on ideological grounds, although another reason was that it produced few systems that compete internationally.
In recent years it has begun to participate in domestic and overseas defence shows, advertising its materiel.
Its first major export of a locally designed platform came in 2008 when the Ecuadorian Air Force bought seven Dhruv advanced light helicopters (ALHs) for USD50.7 million. In August 2013 India's comptroller and auditor general criticised ALH manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for underpricing the 5.5-ton helicopter by INR520 million and being penalised INR60 million for delays in delivering two platforms, thereby further compounding their losses.
"The DRDO's declarations on exporting defence equipment are nothing but wishful thinking," Major General Mrinal Suman (ret'd), a materiel procurement and offset specialist, told IHS Jane's . "Unable to even remotely meet local needs, all talk about exports is laughable."
