Spendings stuck, India trails China in firepower
Posted: Thu Sep 30 2010, 03:12 hrs
A year after China paraded its military might to mark 60 years of Communist rule, an internal study by South Block shows that the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) is way ahead of India in terms of strategic missiles, artillery, development of indigenous military hardware and acquisition. This comparison study has been shared with the UPA government at the highest levels.
Chinas defence budget, pegged at $77.5 billion, is more than twice that of Indias $32-billion but its 2009 military parade has set off alarm bells in Delhi given the shortcomings in indigenous production capability and gaps in acquisition of military hardware for a few years now, the Defence Ministry has not been able to spend the allocated capital for modernisation of the armed forces.
This is what the internal study found:
The PLA has a clear lead over the Indian Army in terms of infantry weapons, armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and artillery guns.
The Army has no answer to the Chinese QBZ-97 Type 97-2 5.8/5.56 mm anti-riot gun, the AK-74 modified QBZ-95 Type 95 automatic rifle, the M-16 NATO rifle modification Type 95B carbine.
The 9 mm Indian Army sub-machine gun (SMG) is considered inferior to the Chinese Type 5 sound-dampener 9 mm SMG, a modified version of the German Heckler & Koch MP 5 SMG. The original HK MP-5 is used by the Special Protection Group in India.
The Indian 5.56 mm INSAS is considered superior to the Chinese 7.62 mm (Type 85) assault rifles but the PLA QBZ-95 automatic rifle is better than the Indian 7.62 mm standard issue rifle.
Indians and Chinese are even when it comes to armour on display. The Arjun main battle tank is better than the Chinese third-generation ZTZ-99G MBT, a modification of the Russian T-72 battle tank. The Indian T-90 is superior to the Chinese ZTZ-96 A MBT in terms of firepower and accuracy. Even an Indian T-72 is a match.
India has no answer to Chinas ZRD-05 tracked amphibious assault vehicles, ZBD-03 tracked AB paratroopers combat vehicle and WJ-03B wheeled armed vehicle used by the Snow Leopard Commando units.
Chinas tracked APCs are superior to Indian APCs as they are copies of the Russian BMP-III India still uses the Russian BMP-I with a 30 mm cannon and anti-tank guided missile.
On the artillery front, the Indian Army cant match the PLZ-05 155-mm tracked self-propelled (SP) howitzer, PLZ-07 122-mm tracked SP howitzer, PLL-05 120-mm wheeled SP mortar and PTL-02 100-mm wheeled SP howitzer. Both countries use the same Russian 300-mm multiple launch rocket system.
New Delhi has no answer to the YJ-62 A shore-based anti-ship cruise missile with a range of over 300 km. But the Agni series of short range, medium range and intermediate range missiles are more than a match for the Chinese DF-11A SRBM, DF-15A SRBM, DF-21C MRBM.
Chinese fighters J-7, J-8 and J-10 are either equal to or a notch below the IAF MiG-21, MiG-27 and Mirages. The PLAs J-11B fighter has an equal in the IAF SU-30. The Indian Jaguar deep penetration strike aircraft is more than a match for the Chinese JH-7A Flying Leopard. IAF refuellers and AWACS are far superior to the Chinese HY-6 refuellers and KJ-2000 early warning aircraft.
The two armies are evenly matched when it comes to anti-tank guided missiles and anti-aircraft guns. PLAs Red Arrow missile is a notch below the NAG anti-tank missile; the Indian air defence gun ZSU-2S6M1 has an edge over the Chinese PGZ-04A gun.
India is still developing the Sagarika long-range missile as an answer to the Chinese DF-31A ICBM. Indian cruise missiles like Brahmos suffer from range limitations while the Chinese DH-10 land attack cruise missile can strike targets beyond 1,500 km. The YJ-83 anti-ship missile has a 500-km range.