Indian arms imports fell 33% over last five years, drop hits Russia the hardest

[Vanamali]

New Delhi: India’s arms imports saw a 33 per cent drop between 2011-15 and 2016-20, with sales from Russia hit the hardest even as Moscow increased its exports to Beijing, new data shows.

In a report published Monday, Swedish think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said Russia witnessed a 53 per cent fall in its arms exports to India even as Delhi’s imports from Paris increased.

The report said the drop in Indian arms imports seems to have been mainly on account of its complex procurement processes, combined with an attempt to reduce its dependence on Russian arms. It added that India is planning large-scale arms imports in the coming years from several suppliers.

The new data comes at a time when the Narendra Modi government is taking steps to reduce imports with a focus on Make in India.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on 8 March, the Ministry of Defence said 304 contracts were signed for modernisation of armed forces in the previous five fiscals (2015-16 to 2019-20) and the current financial year (up to January 2021).

Out of the total, 190 contracts were signed with Indian vendors for capital procurement of defence equipment for armed forces.

In August last year, the government had released a negative list of 101 imports and their time tables. At the time, the ministry had said almost 260 schemes of such items were contracted by the tri-services at an approximate cost of Rs 3.5 lakh crore between April 2015 and August 2020.

With the latest embargo on import of 101 items, it is estimated that contracts worth almost Rs 4 lakh crore will be placed with the domestic industry within the next five to seven years.

Of these, items worth almost Rs 1.3 lakh crore each are anticipated for the Army and the Air Force, while items worth almost Rs 1.4 lakh crore are anticipated by the Navy.

In its report in April 2020, SIPRI had said with an expenditure of $71.1 billion in 2019, India emerged as the third largest military spender in the world, just behind the US and China.

Indian arms imports fell 33% over last five years, drop hits Russia the hardest

The new data published by Swedish think-tank SIPRI comes at a time when the Narendra Modi govt is taking steps to reduce imports with a focus on Make in India.

theprint.in

 

[GHALIB]

New Delhi: India’s arms imports saw a 33 per cent drop between 2011-15 and 2016-20, with sales from Russia hit the hardest even as Moscow increased its exports to Beijing, new data shows.

In a report published Monday, Swedish think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said Russia witnessed a 53 per cent fall in its arms exports to India even as Delhi’s imports from Paris increased.

The report said the drop in Indian arms imports seems to have been mainly on account of its complex procurement processes, combined with an attempt to reduce its dependence on Russian arms. It added that India is planning large-scale arms imports in the coming years from several suppliers.

The new data comes at a time when the Narendra Modi government is taking steps to reduce imports with a focus on Make in India.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on 8 March, the Ministry of Defence said 304 contracts were signed for modernisation of armed forces in the previous five fiscals (2015-16 to 2019-20) and the current financial year (up to January 2021).

Out of the total, 190 contracts were signed with Indian vendors for capital procurement of defence equipment for armed forces.

In August last year, the government had released a negative list of 101 imports and their time tables. At the time, the ministry had said almost 260 schemes of such items were contracted by the tri-services at an approximate cost of Rs 3.5 lakh crore between April 2015 and August 2020.

With the latest embargo on import of 101 items, it is estimated that contracts worth almost Rs 4 lakh crore will be placed with the domestic industry within the next five to seven years.

Of these, items worth almost Rs 1.3 lakh crore each are anticipated for the Army and the Air Force, while items worth almost Rs 1.4 lakh crore are anticipated by the Navy.

In its report in April 2020, SIPRI had said with an expenditure of $71.1 billion in 2019, India emerged as the third largest military spender in the world, just behind the US and China.

Indian arms imports fell 33% over last five years, drop hits Russia the hardest

The new data published by Swedish think-tank SIPRI comes at a time when the Narendra Modi govt is taking steps to reduce imports with a focus on Make in India.

theprint.in

russia is not trustworthy anymore .

 

[Zapper]

russia is not trustworthy anymore .

Neither is the US. The moment we act against their interests or they start perceiving us as a threat, we'd be in the same boat as Pakistan or Turkey. It'd be a dumb move to procure any major weapons systems in significant numbers. Despite the chinese threat, we should invest in domestic defence industry instead of emergency imports and end up paying a premium

 

[magra]

Neither is the US. The moment we act against their interests or they start perceiving us as a threat, we'd be in the same boat as Pakistan or Turkey. It'd be a dumb move to procure any major weapons systems in significant numbers. Despite the chinese threat, we should invest in domestic defence industry instead of emergency imports and end up paying a premium

We will not be fully self-sufficient for atleast a decade or so. We should obviously aim for domestic production or insist on technology transfer / joint development as much as possible. One way to avoid blackmail from either US or Russia is to diversify our imports which we have done. We have option to import from Russia, US, UK, France, Israel, Sweden etc

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

India hasn't bought anything substantial from Russia since early 2000s. Even Tejas and Vikrant are powered by American engines. S-400 would be the first major sale from Russia to India in decades if it goes through after American CAATSA threat.

 

[Zapper]

We will not be fully self-sufficient for atleast a decade or so. We should obviously aim for domestic production or insist on technology transfer / joint development as much as possible. One way to avoid blackmail from either US or Russia is to diversify our imports which we have done. We have option to import from Russia, US, UK, France, Israel, Sweden etc

Even the most optimistic Indians aren't expecting us to be self-sufficient for a decade but it's a start. Turkey has been kicked outta F-35 project due to S-400, pak being denied of additional F-16s or AH-1Zs' and we're already being pressurized regarding the same. Sooner or later, we might end up being victims of CAATSA. Our shipbuilding industry has been indigenized with IN's surface fleet completely built in-house over the past two decades though some sub-systems were imported which is a norm for every country. Same goes for our missile and rotary winged aircrafts. Private firms are acting as contract manufacturers to PSUs like HAL while ADA is contracting to private firms for prototypes. We've also seen private firms develop artillery systems like ATAGS by Kalyani & Tata, UHL by Kalyani, armored vehicles etc.

We might have options to import weapons platforms from multiple countries but the moment a particular system is imported, it's indigenous alternate would be delayed indefinitely or scrapped. More than the chinese, I admire the Turkish defence industry given their economy/defence budget and where they are in terms of self-sufficiency...particularly their UAV platforms

It's time we scrap future MMRCA deal which is worth $10-15bn and pump that money into MWF, TEDBF and AMCA.

 

[magra]

Even the most optimistic Indians aren't expecting us to be self-sufficient for a decade but it's a start. Turkey has been kicked outta F-35 project due to S-400, pak being denied of additional F-16s or AH-1Zs' and we're already being pressurized regarding the same. Sooner or later, we might end up being victims of CAATSA. Our shipbuilding industry has been indigenized with IN's surface fleet completely built in-house over the past two decades though some sub-systems were imported which is a norm for every country. Same goes for our missile and rotary winged aircrafts. Private firms are acting as contract manufacturers to PSUs like HAL while ADA is contracting to private firms for prototypes. We've also seen private firms develop artillery systems like ATAGS by Kalyani & Tata, UHL by Kalyani, armored vehicles etc.

We might have options to import weapons platforms from multiple countries but the moment a particular system is imported, it's indigenous alternate would be delayed indefinitely or scrapped. More than the chinese, I admire the Turkish defence industry given their economy/defence budget and where they are in terms of self-sufficiency...particularly their UAV platforms

It's time we scrap future MMRCA deal which is worth $10-15bn and pump that money into MWF, TEDBF and AMCA.

We have to keep a balance between building domestically and making sure our armed forces have credible deterrence. If the armed forces evaluate that they are ok with scrapping MMRCA deal, then sure lets go ahead.

Regarding CAATSA, US will never penalize India on that. India is far too important to US right now. Its entire Indo-Pacific strategy is hinged on India. India will be pressured to reduce further big-ticket imports from Russia though.

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

We have to keep a balance between building domestically and making sure our armed forces have credible deterrence. If the armed forces evaluate that they are ok with scrapping MMRCA deal, then sure lets go ahead.

Regarding CAATSA, US will never penalize India on that. India is far too important to US right now. Its entire Indo-Pacific strategy is hinged on India. India will be pressured to reduce further big-ticket imports from Russia though.

India has too much to lose under CAATSA. Without American engine, Tejas don't fly. Americans know India is vulnerable to CAATSA so IMO India will drop S-400 and go for David's Sling from Israel instead.

 

[Khan vilatey]

Even the most optimistic Indians aren't expecting us to be self-sufficient for a decade but it's a start. Turkey has been kicked outta F-35 project due to S-400, pak being denied of additional F-16s or AH-1Zs' and we're already being pressurized regarding the same. Sooner or later, we might end up being victims of CAATSA. Our shipbuilding industry has been indigenized with IN's surface fleet completely built in-house over the past two decades though some sub-systems were imported which is a norm for every country. Same goes for our missile and rotary winged aircrafts. Private firms are acting as contract manufacturers to PSUs like HAL while ADA is contracting to private firms for prototypes. We've also seen private firms develop artillery systems like ATAGS by Kalyani & Tata, UHL by Kalyani, armored vehicles etc.

We might have options to import weapons platforms from multiple countries but the moment a particular system is imported, it's indigenous alternate would be delayed indefinitely or scrapped. More than the chinese, I admire the Turkish defence industry given their economy/defence budget and where they are in terms of self-sufficiency...particularly their UAV platforms

It's time we scrap future MMRCA deal which is worth $10-15bn and pump that money into MWF, TEDBF and AMCA.

Oh yes please do, pump away. India should only buy indigenous. A law should be passed banning any import without 70% Indian deletion for manufacturing

k

 

[Zapper]

We have to keep a balance between building domestically and making sure our armed forces have credible deterrence. If the armed forces evaluate that they are ok with scrapping MMRCA deal, then sure lets go ahead.

The Indo-Chinese conflict will never blow out into a full scale war. Both are growing economies, China aiming for global hegemony while India aiming for what China is now...both economies recovering post covid. Any major conflict or armed escalation and that will be a major dent to both countries. There were many flashpoints and show of force during the recent scuttle both we're both aware not to fire a bullet on the LAC

Our 270 Su-30s along with all the other fighter jets in our inventory should provide enough deterrence for the near future. In terms of our fighter jet capabilities, even if we go for a foreign jet...the negotiations, contract signing, setting up of production lines, ToT will all put the delivery of the first aircraft over 7-10yrs. We might as well pump that money into our domestic programs

Regarding CAATSA, US will never penalize India on that. India is far too important to US right now. Its entire Indo-Pacific strategy is hinged on India. India will be pressured to reduce further big-ticket imports from Russia though.

Yeah, like giving up S-400 something which we can't afford right now. S-400 is far more important than a few F-16s

 

[magra]

India has too much to lose under CAATSA. Without American engine, Tejas don't fly. Americans know India is vulnerable to CAATSA so IMO India will drop S-400 and go for David's Sling from Israel instead.

US can say good-bye to billions of dollars of future weapons sale to India if it applies CAATSA. India can buy stuff from other countries.
It will also need to say goodbye to Quad.
US will not dare apply CAATSA on India.

 

[Zapper]

India has too much to lose under CAATSA. Without American engine, Tejas don't fly. Americans know India is vulnerable to CAATSA so IMO India will drop S-400 and go for David's Sling from Israel instead.

Really!! The last I checked India is still on track to receive the S-400 later this year and our men have travelled to Russia recently to get trained on it's operations

Indian specialists begin training in S-400 air defense system operation

Shipment of S-400 proceeds according to the schedule


https://tass.com/defense/1252077

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/i...r-defence-systems-in-2021-russia-5765941.html

 

[magra]

Yeah, like giving up S-400 something which we can't afford right now. S-400 is far more important than a few F-16s

S-400 is already a done deal. I am talking about future big ticket contracts. India will be pressured but I did not say India will necessarily buckle under that pressure.

 

[Zapper]

S-400 is already a done deal. I am talking about future big ticket contracts. India will be pressured but I did not say India will necessarily buckle under that pressure.

There are no future big ticket items in the pipeline with Russia. We're even building our SSBNs in-house designed by IN's Naval Design Bureau. No T-14 Armata since IA recently signed the deal for Arjun Mk-1A MBT, DRDO is developing a light tank so no Russia Sprut, Ka-226 is unlikely since the armed forces have shown interest in HAL's recently developed LUH which has successfully passed all trails.

Ak-203 is the only deal we're going ahead with which will be license produced by OFB with locally sourced components where Russia is receiving a royalty of $82.5 per rifle.

https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/india-quest-new-assault-rifle-almost-over/

 

[925boy]

There are no future big ticket items in the pipeline with Russia. We're even building our SSBNs in-house designed by IN's Naval Design Bureau. No T-14 Armata since IA recently signed the deal for Arjun Mk-1A MBT, DRDO is developing a light tank so no Russia Sprut, Ka-226 is unlikely since the armed forces have shown interest in HAL's recently developed LUH which has successfully passed all trails.

Ak-203 is the only deal we're going ahead with which will be license produced by OFB with locally sourced components where Russia is receiving a royalty of $82.5 per rifle.

https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/india-quest-new-assault-rifle-almost-over/

what about the Mig-29s and Su-30s you ordered recently around the time China started harrassing India in Ladakh?? YOu also agreed to buy more submarines from Russia..you guys have huge defense needs bra.