Gunners Shot

This is an extension of my article  Defence Technology - An Indian Conundrum KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.  IT COMES FROM RESEARCH. RESEARCH GENERATES TECHNOLOGY . TECHNOLOGY OWNED IS CHEAP. TECHNOLOGY BOUGHT IS COSTLY From Oxymoronism to a Framework India lacks adequate defense technology. It needs to invest in defense R&D if it must be a power of reckoning. It needs to break its trader mentality. It needs need leadership and massive involvement of our academics in research. These oxymorons are well known. That is probably why the PM has asked the IITs to contribute by coming up with indigenous defense technologies. So far so good. How does one do it? That has been our zillion-dollar question. The fact that outsiders have been better at tapping our brain power and technological potential is also another oxymoron. Hence, I am shifting from pontificating to suggesting a framework on which this entire thought process should progress. So, let us begin with a SWOT

                                The US has a new command called the Army Futures Command which aims to modernise the Army. It had six priorities- long range precision fire, next generation combat vehicle, future vertical lift platforms, a mobile and expeditionary Army network, air and missile defence capability and soldier lethality. Disruptive technologies are part and parcel of these next generation systems. They have an outlay of 18bn USD for development of laid down future capabilities. China is reorienting its regional land-based force into a Global Force capable of operating across oceans and continents. The fact that it is going hammer and tongs at it by incorporating next gen technologies is a no brainer. It has sent over 2500 PLA scientists and engineers systematically to universities abroad to study and get hold of latest technologies - navigation technology, AI, combustion in scramjet engines (hypersonic aircraft capable of 6 mach), directional-emission high-

As a responsible state Pakistan will…,  Grant consular access to Kulbushan Jadhav as per directions of ICJ.  As a responsible state Pakistan will…,  Arrest and keep Hafiz Sayeed in jail as per FATF requirements. He will be kept in the jailers bungalow with home made food.  As a responsible state Pakistan will…, Agree to all Indian demands on the Kartarpur corridor after due negotiations.  As a responsible state Pakistan will…,  Pay up over 5. 9  bn USD as arbitration award in the Reko Diq case it has lost in The International    Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). As a responsible state Pakistan will…, Arrest its former PM for corrupt practices in the signing of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) contracts between 2017 and 2018 As a responsible state Pakistan will…, Open its airspace for overflights just one day after it said it will only do so if Indian Fighters are withdrawn from forward bases.  As a responsible state Pakistan will…

May I Have Some More?    That was Oliver Twist’s classic question for which he got caned at the orphanage for asking for some extra gruel. 1.5 % of the GDP allocated for defence evokes hunger of the Oliver Twist variety in the Armed Forces who have been asking for more for from the Government for a long time now.   This has been analysed and commented upon by many experts. All of them unanimously recommend that the allocation should go up to 2% at least. The Government has given the same answer repeatedly. No caning but an emphatic but silent NO. (Caning guaranteed only if you are on Jantar Mantar!) The logic of the Government appears to be that 1.5% of the GDP may seem static however it is of a GDP set to double from 2.5 Tn to 5 Tn USD. So, will the defence budget not be doubled? In addition, it must cater for many more Oliver Twists’ in the Indian social welfare landscape- Ayushman Bharat, Swach Bharat, Farmer Distress, National Water Mission etc. The Government mi