New Delhi: Against the backdrop of procuring Rafale fighter aircraft from France, India’s defence secretary Dr Ajay Kumar told ETV Bharat’s Senior Correspondent Gautam Debroy in an exclusive tête-à-tête that India is also in process of designing and development of fifth-generation fighter aircraft Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).
Classifying Rafale as the 4.5th generation fighter aircraft, Dr Kumar said that development of AMCA is on track and will be available in a few years.
Asserting that Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has the capability to undertake world-class manufacturing, Dr Kumar said HAL is now emerging as a significant industrial player with both design and development capabilities as well as manufacturing capability.
Referring to the ban on imported defence items, Dr Kumar said that it is a historic decision because it has demonstrated the great political determination of the Government at the highest level to source defence equipment from domestic industry.
Taking ahead Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s concept of Atma Nirbhar Bharat, Dr Kumar said that India has given two major thrusts in recent times including promoting greater participation of private industry while strengthening the defence PSUs. And moving away from licensed based production to the development of indigenous technologies in defence.
He said that launch of “Sarthak” will deter people with ill-intent and at the same time reassures maritime community, who look up to the Indian Coast Guard as “Saviours at sea”, as they are aware that Indian Coast Guard will swiftly respond to any distress call or life-threatening situation at sea.
Talking on India’s fight against COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Kumar said that country’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) came forward and did some critical innovations to fight the pandemic.
The defence secretary also divulged in detail about the strategy being undertaken by the Defence Ministry to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Excerpts of the Interview:
Q: What is your take on the induction of Rafel in our mission of Atma Nirbhar Bharat?
Ans: We are presently making fourth-generation fighter aircraft, i.e. Tejas in the country. It is among the top fighter aircraft in its class. This is totally indigenously designed and indigenously manufactured. We are also in process of designing and development of fifth-generation fighter aircraft AMCA. Development of AMCA is on track and will be available in a few years. Rafale has some features which are more advanced than Tejas. In that sense, it can be classified as a 4.5th generation.
While we make Indian aircraft which has capabilities similar to Rafale. Our endeavour in Atma Nirbhar campaign is that we should be able to produce best in class equipment in India, for our Armed Forces and also for export.
Q: Looking into the ability Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), can India make Rafale fighter jets in the country?
Ans: I have no doubt in HAL’s capability to undertake world-class manufacturing. HAL is now emerging as a significant industrial player with both design/development capabilities as well as manufacturing capability.
HAL has several aerospace platforms which it has designed in-house. These include Advanced Light Helicopter, Light Combat Helicopter, Light Utility Helicopter in rotary-wing class.
In the fixed-wing class, it has Basic Jet Trainer which is totally in-house design and development of HAL and LCA where it provides support to design of ADA.
It is also in advanced stages of design and development of Intermediate Jet Trainer. It has also indigenized most of Dornier aircraft.
HAL is also in process of getting civil certification for Advanced Light Helicopter and Dornier thereby marking its entry in the civil aircraft sector as well.
Q: Do you believe that India’s ban on 101 defence items for import, is a big push for Atma Nirbhar Bharat?
Ans: This is a historical decision and will provide a big encouragement to the domestic industry who can focus on developing these items. The best thing is that they can now invest long term in these equipment and make the best equipment in this class as they know that these items will be procured from domestic industry.
It is a historic decision because it has demonstrated the great political determination of the Government at the highest level to source defence equipment from domestic industry.
It also demonstrates great trust in the ability of our industry to be able to rise to the challenge and deliver.
Q: Where does India stand, if we talk about Chinese defence capacity?
Ans: We are continuously evaluating the threat to our security and taking steps necessary to ensure that our sovereignty is not endangered. This is an ongoing process.
Our defence preparedness involves decisions in the context of the international security environment and the domestic constraints and motivations.
The contours of these decisions are influenced by the context of international politics and deal with threats and challenges of the alliances, the balance of power, nuclear weapons, transnational terrorism, and war and peace. Based on assessment made, the decision regarding modernisation of armed forces, procurement of weapons are made.
Q: Built by Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL), India has recently got Offshore Patrol Vessel ‘Sarthak.’ How will it help India’s maritime security?
Ans: Launching of “Sarthak” must be looked at as a good development in indigenous capacity to build OPV every time meeting the deadline in delivery. It will be deployed in the Exclusive Economic Zone. Presence of additional IndianCoast Guard unit at sea serves dual objectives of “Deterrence” and “Reassurance”.
It deters people with ill-intent and at the same time reassures maritime community, who look up to the Indian Coast Guard as “Saviours at sea”, as they are aware that Indian Coast Guard will swiftly respond to any distress call or life-threatening situation at sea.
“Sarthak” has been designed & built indigenously by Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) in line with the PM’s vision of ‘Make in India’.
It was reassuring to witness the growing strength of Indian Coast Guard, and capabilities of Indian Shipbuilding industry, a strong supporting pillar for production and maintenance of ships of Indian Maritime Forces.
Goa Shipyard is quite commendable in meeting the timelines of the contract despite the pandemic COVID-19. Sarthak is the 4th in the series of 5 OPVs.
In addition to the 05 OPV project, 52 ships are at various stages of construction at different Indian Shipyards and 16 Advanced Light Helicopters are under production at M/s HAL, Bengaluru, which will provide the added strength to the surveillance capabilities of Indian Coast Guard to deal with the dynamic maritime challenges.
Q: The Government of India has been emphasizing Make in India and Atma Nirbhar Bharat in the Defence sector. Tell us some of your major initiatives?
Ans: Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, "Aatmanirbhar Bharat is not about being self-contained or being closed to the world, it is about being self-sustaining and self-generating."
Over the years, transparent and streamlined Procurement Procedures, 7Production Policies and ‘Make in India’ initiatives have provided a significant stimulus to demand indigenous products. The recent call for “Atma Nirbhar Bharat” has provided further impetus to realise the goal of self-reliance.
Two major thrusts in recent times have been promoting greater participation of private industry while strengthening the defence PSUs. And the second is moving away from licensed based production to the development of indigenous technologies in defence.
Several steps have been taken in this direction and we hope to see results in coming months and years. While there is a large number of measures, let me mention a few.
In the private sector, many engineering majors have diversified and joined the Defence sector.
More than 460 licenses have so far been issued to private companies for the production of defence equipment.
Over 8,000 MSMEs provide strength and vibrancy to the defence supply chain.
In May 2020 Department of Military Affairs (DMA), Ministry of Defence (MoD) has promulgated a list of 101 items for which there is an embargo on the import as per deadlines indicated in the list.
This is a big opportunity for the Indian defence industry. The list of 101 embargoed items comprises of not just simple parts but also some high technology weapon systems like artillery guns, assault rifles, corvettes, sonar systems, transport aircraft, light combat helicopters (LCHs), etc.
Further, the government has also restricted the floating of global tenders above the value of Rs 200 crores thereby enhancing the opportunities for the domestic defence industry.
Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 has been unveiled on September 28, 2020.
Changes in DAP 2020 enhancement of indigenous content, use of indigenous raw material, software & components and conduct of trials & acceptance tests etc.
Given that Indian defence industry size is about Rs 80,000 crore, 10% of enhancement in its indigenous content, as provided in DAP 2020, has the implication of creating a new industry for MSMEs to the tune of Rs 8,000 crores.
It is surprising that despite having the world’s strongest software industry, we continue to depend on imported software.
A new chapter on Information & Communication Technology in DAP 2020 will provide necessity to use of Indian software and electronics capabilities in defence equipment, wherever such capabilities exist.
This will not only promote indigenous content but also enhance the cybersecurity of our defence equipment.
Similarly, DAP 2020 also provides a special emphasis on material development for defence and aerospace platforms.
The effort is to develop all kinds of materials, to the extent possible, whether metallic or non-metallic in the country.
Therefore, in all Make projects of defence and aerospace, it has been provided that feasibility to make the materials in the country would be first explored at the RFI stage.
Use of indigenous materials will be encouraged in the procurement procedure.
FDI in Defence Sector has been further liberalized for attracting global OEMs to shift manufacturing facilities and expand India’s presence in international supply chains.
The FDI limit in Defence Sector has been increased up to 74% through the Automatic Route for companies seeking new defence industrial license and up to 100% by Government Route wherever it is likely to result in access to modern technology or for other reasons to be recorded.
DAP provision of Buy Global-Make in India has been introduced in line with increased FDI provisions.
Export authorisation procedures have been streamlined through the introduction of online procedures and portals.
Defence Lines of Credit (LOCs) being extended to sovereign governments are also enabling buyers in those countries, to import goods and services from India on attractive credit terms.
Similarly, several steps have been taken to promote the design and development of the domestic industry.
Make-II procedure which encourages industry to design and develop products required for Armed Forces has been very successful.
Starting with relatively smaller projects, now projects worth thousands of crores have been taken under Make-II.
DRDO has started working with industry for design and development in a big way.
In August 2020, DRDO identified 108 systems and sub-systems for design and development by industry.
DRDO has also decided to identify design and development partners at inception stage itself, thereby reducing the delay in identifying a production partner after the technology is developed.
DRDO has also started labs where all its scientists are below 35 years. These young scientists labs are particularly relevant for new and emerging technology areas.
Startups have been steadily gaining ground for developing new technologies for defence and aerospace ever since the launch of Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX).
iDEX has provided a platform for startups to get connected to the defence establishment.
Under iDEX, more than 50 startups are currently developing new ‘fit-for-military-use’ technologies/ products.
iDEX would be further scaled up to engage with 300 more startups and developing 60 new technologies/ products during the next five years.
DAP 2020 has provided for an incentive up to 6% of product value for enhanced features thereby incentivizing industry to aim for specifications beyond that specified in the RfP.
Simplification of testing and quality assurance procedures is yet another step being taken by the Government in promoting Atma Nirbhar Bharat. DAP 2020 has introduced, for the first time, provision of third party testing in the procurement of Armed forces procurement, thereby doing away the necessity of having to test with specified labs/government agencies. Development and User testing is being combined to avoid additional time and costs in the testing of indigenously developed products.
QA and testing plan including rejection criteria and sample size are to be provided in the RfP so that the industry has clarity in this regard and there are no surprises.
Above, all, the Government is prioritizing procurement from domestic industry. 33 out of 38 AoNs (nearly 88% of value) granted during 2020 have been under Make category giving a big boost to Atma Nirbharta in Defence.
Q. India’s Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) has played a major role at the time of COVID-19 pandemic. Tell us about that?
Ans: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in its continuous quest to provide scientific solutions for the country, took leadership in many fronts during COVID Pandemic.
DRDO has developed several solutions from its existing arsenal of technologies and experience.
These consist of innovations and quickly configuring the products for present requirements.
DRDO has come out with over 130 products and several technologies in the fight against COVID-19.
DRDO’s contribution could be classified into three categories viz., Technologies, Products and Testing. In addition, it is also collaborating with industry for Transfer of Technology (TOT).
To point out the important ones, in April 2020 CFEES, a lab under DRDO introduced Automatic Mist Based Sanitiser Dispensing Unit Centre for Fire Explosive and Environment Safety using its expertise in mist technology for fire suppression.
This sanitises the hands with minimum wastage.
In May 2020, DRDO came out with Ultra-Violet (UV) Disinfection Tower for rapid and chemical-free disinfection of high infection-prone areas.
In June, DRDO came out with a disinfection unit named Ultra Swachh to disinfect a wide range of materials, including Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), electronics items, fabrics, etc.
DRDO built 1,000-bedded with 250 intensive care units (ICU) beds in Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel COVID Hospital in a matter of 12 days.
National PPE Testing Facility under INMAS became a certified laboratory authorized for “Synthetic Blood Penetration Resistance” Testing for COVID-19.
In another important contribution, DRDO developed technology was transferred to BEL for manufacturing ventilators.
BEL joined with M/s Scanray, Mysore for large scale production of ventilators.
DEBEL also developed critical components of the ventilators which were not available in the country. Now, these are produced with the help of Indian industry.
An unmanned aerial vehicle (DRONE) is configured for surveillance of COVID-19 hotspots and containment zones to ensure strict compliance of lockdown guidelines in densely populated areas, where streets are too narrow for motorised patrolling and police personnel are susceptible to infection.
Crowd Temperature Monitoring System is another useful technology which has been developed using expertise in infrared imaging for missile applications.
Not only DRDO, other Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) have also played their part in making available various items required for the fight against COVID-19. BEL made ventilators. Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) PPEs and sanitisers.
