Separate budgetary provision need of the hour for strategic military tech

In an exclusive interview by Senior Journalist Sanjib Baruah, Group Captain (Retd) Ajey Lele, Senior Fellow in the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) discusses his opinions regarding the separate budget that is allocated for the defence space agency as well as defence cyber agency for the first time.

New Delhi:With the Union Budget 2020 to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday, this will be the first time that a separate budget will be allocated to defence space agency as well as defence cyber agency. ETV Bharat spoke to Group Captain (Retd) Ajey Lele, Senior Fellow in the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) about his opinion over the cutting edge technology in space and missile and discussed his expectations with the upcoming budget.

Question: We have with us today Mr Ajey Lele, senior fellow of IDAS, a leading think tank of the country. This is a very important time in the Indian Military history because for the first time we will be allotting separate budgets for something as important defence space agency as well as defence cyber agency so what his expectations are from the budget as far the budget provision go.

Ans.I think I would not like to guess as far as a number is concerned and how many rupees or how many crores of rupees are going to be there but what I will try to look at it at the backdrop of what has happened recently in India's defence establishment. For the first time, now we got CDS in place, so that means the defence has been taken at a different level where you got an agency which is within the Ministry of Defense which is exclusively looking at few important issues. So, Space and Cyber will become a part of CDS mandate. So under the CDS mandate, whatever their requirements are there, I am sure these agencies right now in initial stages so will have a relevant requirement from the budget they will require to invest in more into the building of infrastructure and their assets and system and the unites. so I think all allocations which should happen should be in line with what is the requirement to built the basic infrastructure to take these agencies further because right now these agencies should not go into project mode. They should look at issues that what they want to do on the ground and how they can build further and the defence allotment should be in tune with that.

Question:You have spoken about the infrastructure aspect for these two agencies but besides the infrastructure what should be the main thrust of our development as far say something like the DSA what will be the major heads of expenditure?

Ans. I think the major heads of expenditure as far as DSA is concerned you got to go slightly go back to the history, there was a call for a defence agency as far as space is concerned in form of a space command, initially under headquarter ID is, we started with a small space cell, the importance of a space cell is that it was a coordinating agency to ensure the requirements of all three services from space are ensured. So to my mind, defence space agency should invest themselves into ensuring communication and remote sensing requirements of the various agencies that means what are the communication requirements of the Army, Navy and Air Force what are the remote sensing requirements for all these three services also and right now we are having our own GPS, that is the Navik system, so you need to make investments into that also because all these three services will have their own requirements. If you look back, in 2013, there have been satellite launch for Indian Navy called Rukmany. which is doing a wonderful service. It is a communication satellite exclusive for the Indian Navy. Last, to last year, we have launched a satellite which is meant for Indian Air Force which is an exclusive satellite for Indian Air Force. There is a demand and I think the work is already on for exclusive satellite for Indian Army also. So, I think the Defence Space Agency should ensure that all these projects will go slightly further and more amount of investments into space domain are being done because at one end we are developing into space at the other end we are developing into our other platform technologies also. So, when you talking of a fifth-generation aircraft and you talking of having Rafales and all that, you require an adequate investment which will match with the requirements of the Rafale as a flying platform. Similarly, you got modern flying platforms which are going to be there into the Indian Army as well as the Indian Navy too. So, tomorrow, when you are talking of a net centre city or network eccentric warfare space, plays a very import role and DSA has got a scope from that perspective.

Question:To your mind, for example, China has set a very significant feature of their PLA, the Peoples Liberation Army has set up something called a Rocket Force, which is increasingly getting more importance in today's time, so, do you think that there is a requirement as far as India is concerned to set up something on those lines?

Answer:I think as far as India is concerned, India first needs to have very clarity of they require space for what. Today in modern times, already, the United States has established its own Space Force. There was a meeting of NATO forces, which happened in London in the month of November where there they clearly come out saying that space is emerging as the fifth dimension of warfare. So, under those circumstances, one has to look at space from two perspectives, one from a perspective of a domain of warfare and other from a perspective of using space for improving the capabilities of the exiting Indian military services. I think DSA's basic job should be not getting into Melhem of a space warfare per se but to ensure that the requirements of the armed forces to improve on their existing systems with the assistance of space should be met with and as far as your space warfare area is concerned, I think more than a space warfare area, this is more of a space defence, you got a network of around fifty satellites, what is the guarantee that all these satellites are secure, so you require to make a system which at least becomes a deterrent system for the adversary. So to make that sort of system, India has already made beginning with project Shakti. The mission Shakti's success which happened just a couple of months back is a very unique case where India has done an anti-satellite test without creating much of debris. Our intention was to have zero debris but definitely these are scientific experimentation, a certain amount of ten to fifteen are still exiting but otherwise now India should move beyond this and get into the development of technologies and other related technologies. To ensure that all these things go very well, organised way, and we are prepared for future space warfare, I think other than Army, Navy, Air Force, we require separate force which needs to be built up over a period of time like a space force, where cyber could also become an element of it.

Question:And there's obviously a budgetary requirement for that?

Answer:Definitely, but space force is an idea which has not been circulated into the minds of the government as of now. I think over a period of time once the idea starts getting mature, you will require to make the budgetary allotments also, and if you want to start it today there is no harm in doing it. Because today if you look at a space budget, essentially the space budget is ISRO's budget. One has to now identify and clearly make a differentiation between what is ISRO's budget and what is the budget for the defence allocations, I think that is going to be the real challenge that you need to somehow ensure that ISRO will continue doing a wonderful job which it is doing into the civilian space domain but at the same time the requirements of the military also need to be looked at and for that point of view you need to make a separate budgetary allotment to the armed forces.

Question: Space, of course, is the final frontier, and there is a feeling that no too much of budgetary support has been made for cutting edge scientific developments and research in development, do you think we need to increase it to a substantial level so that at least we can emulate certain bodies like the DARPA in the US.

Answer: I think one has to look at it slightly look at it from a realistic point of view. If you really look at a defence budget over the years, all defence analysts have argued that defence budget requires 3 per cent of a GDP but still we end up getting around 1.6 -1.7 per cent of GDP, and one must understand that as a country you got a huge budgetary requirements, every penny should not be considered as a penny requirement for the defence only. So, one must understand that you are not going to go beyond 2 per cent of a GDP at any cost, and amongst that two per cent you got to manage your resources. How best you manage your resources depends on the policymakers. What you say is very correct is that you need to make investments towards technology build-up. As far as India's missile forces are there, India is making investments into hypersonic weapons and other developed weapons also. So, there is a certain amount of a push which is being given, I think if more budget comes for science and technology, particularity in the defence sector, it will be better.

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