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Our defence forces need an Indian 'kavach'
Avm Manmohan Bahadur | Oct 30, 2011, 07.04AM IST
On October 23, air power completed a unique milestone. It has been a hundred years since Captain Carlo Piazza carried out the first aerial reconnaissance flight in the Italian Turkish war in Libya. Eight days later, on November 1, 1911, the first combat sortie was executed when his compatriot, Lt Giuilio Gavotti hand-dropped four grenades on Turkish troops from a duffel bag he had carried aloft. Such humble beginnings could not have foretold the dizzying speed with which man exploited the vertical dimension in war. It is perhaps a bit eerie that after exactly a century, airpower is again seeing action in, of all places, Libya.
The pre dominance of sea power -' He who controls the sea, controls the world' -gave way to the relative superiority of air power, bringing in a dimension of quick dominance from the third medium. The development of the military industrial complex, especially the aviation industry, became the driving agent of Western economies after WW II. Thus, vast conglomerates brought with them money power, through which the best minds in academia and R&D institutes got together to produce fancy and dangerous weapons. Today, the armament trade figure stands at $1.6 trillion, which is 2.6% of the world's GDP. Why is this important? In the next two decades , as per one estimate, India's contribution to the global armament trade would be more than $100 billion. Anything to crow about this impressive order? Yes, but only if this was coming from the indigenous industry.
Lytton, in 1839, had said that the pen is mightier than the sword while Mao brought in a different view averring that 'power flows through the barrel of a gun' . The former cry is getting shriller by the day, as human security proponents question the centrality of the State as the fundamental entity in ensuring security for the individual . While this has merit, a developing nation such as ours, needs to be wary of this trap at the juncture we are in our economic development. India's medieval history is an example of how a flourishing nation, with the second highest trade figures in the world, became a playground of foreign powers and rulers due the absence of a strong military. No nation has developed economically without a surety of the security of the State. After WW II, Japan and Germany had the US umbrella while Taiwan and South Korea also prospered with the American guarantee; closer home, a city state too has had foreign benefactors behind it. With our policy of non-alignment, it's only right that our defence posture inspires confidence, one important ingredient of which is self sufficiency through indigenous armament production.
Our armament industry mirrors an event of the times of the epic Mahabharata. The presence of Lord Krishna with the Pandavas tilted the balance of power in the battlefield of Kurukshetra in their favour, despite Krishna's full army having gone to the Kauravas. Krishna's army was no match to the 'know how and know why' that Krishna provided as a kavach or shield to the Pandavas. All the transfer of technology and license manufactures of the past five decades have not got the Indian nation anywhere close to the power that comes from a genuine home-grown armament supply chain that has, to borrow an IT phrase, all the 'source codes' - this impacts the credibility to call the shots in times of crises.
India missed the industrial revolution and its economic gains. Now, as we take steps to claim our rightful place in the comity of nations, our march towards economic self reliance should be supported by the leverage we have with our buying power in the arms sector. If we do not jump start our armament industry now, using this leverage, when else will we? The aircraft industry, with the IAF's super high value contracts like the MMRCA, Medium Transport Aircraft and the Fifth Generation fighter programme, could be the catalysts in this in he centennial year of offensive employment of airpower.
Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur is a serving officer of the Indian Air Force. The views expressed are personal
Our defence forces need an Indian 'kavach' - The Times of India
Avm Manmohan Bahadur | Oct 30, 2011, 07.04AM IST
On October 23, air power completed a unique milestone. It has been a hundred years since Captain Carlo Piazza carried out the first aerial reconnaissance flight in the Italian Turkish war in Libya. Eight days later, on November 1, 1911, the first combat sortie was executed when his compatriot, Lt Giuilio Gavotti hand-dropped four grenades on Turkish troops from a duffel bag he had carried aloft. Such humble beginnings could not have foretold the dizzying speed with which man exploited the vertical dimension in war. It is perhaps a bit eerie that after exactly a century, airpower is again seeing action in, of all places, Libya.
The pre dominance of sea power -' He who controls the sea, controls the world' -gave way to the relative superiority of air power, bringing in a dimension of quick dominance from the third medium. The development of the military industrial complex, especially the aviation industry, became the driving agent of Western economies after WW II. Thus, vast conglomerates brought with them money power, through which the best minds in academia and R&D institutes got together to produce fancy and dangerous weapons. Today, the armament trade figure stands at $1.6 trillion, which is 2.6% of the world's GDP. Why is this important? In the next two decades , as per one estimate, India's contribution to the global armament trade would be more than $100 billion. Anything to crow about this impressive order? Yes, but only if this was coming from the indigenous industry.
Lytton, in 1839, had said that the pen is mightier than the sword while Mao brought in a different view averring that 'power flows through the barrel of a gun' . The former cry is getting shriller by the day, as human security proponents question the centrality of the State as the fundamental entity in ensuring security for the individual . While this has merit, a developing nation such as ours, needs to be wary of this trap at the juncture we are in our economic development. India's medieval history is an example of how a flourishing nation, with the second highest trade figures in the world, became a playground of foreign powers and rulers due the absence of a strong military. No nation has developed economically without a surety of the security of the State. After WW II, Japan and Germany had the US umbrella while Taiwan and South Korea also prospered with the American guarantee; closer home, a city state too has had foreign benefactors behind it. With our policy of non-alignment, it's only right that our defence posture inspires confidence, one important ingredient of which is self sufficiency through indigenous armament production.
Our armament industry mirrors an event of the times of the epic Mahabharata. The presence of Lord Krishna with the Pandavas tilted the balance of power in the battlefield of Kurukshetra in their favour, despite Krishna's full army having gone to the Kauravas. Krishna's army was no match to the 'know how and know why' that Krishna provided as a kavach or shield to the Pandavas. All the transfer of technology and license manufactures of the past five decades have not got the Indian nation anywhere close to the power that comes from a genuine home-grown armament supply chain that has, to borrow an IT phrase, all the 'source codes' - this impacts the credibility to call the shots in times of crises.
India missed the industrial revolution and its economic gains. Now, as we take steps to claim our rightful place in the comity of nations, our march towards economic self reliance should be supported by the leverage we have with our buying power in the arms sector. If we do not jump start our armament industry now, using this leverage, when else will we? The aircraft industry, with the IAF's super high value contracts like the MMRCA, Medium Transport Aircraft and the Fifth Generation fighter programme, could be the catalysts in this in he centennial year of offensive employment of airpower.
Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur is a serving officer of the Indian Air Force. The views expressed are personal
Our defence forces need an Indian 'kavach' - The Times of India
