Modernisation of the armed forces and delays in acquisition of weapons due to paucity of economic resources topped the agenda when the three Services chiefs briefed new Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar here on Tuesday. Security scenario on Pakistan and China borders and operational preparedness to meet any challenge was also reviewed.
The Army, IAF and Navy chiefs gave exhaustive presentations separately to Parrikar to highlight issues facing their respective services, officials said here. Defence Secretary RK Mathur also gave an overview of the working of the Ministry to the Minister who assumed charge on Monday.
That the Army is yet to procure long range artillery guns since the Bofors gun controversy in 1986 was flagged during the meeting. More than 1,000 long range and short range artillery guns worth over Rs20,000 crore are urgently needed. Also, raising of mountain strike corps to counter China has given urgency to this project and the Army cannot afford any more delays.
The UPA Government had given the go-ahead for raising the strike corps last year and it will cost more than Rs80,000 crore. The raising is spread over a seven-year period including recruitment of more than 40,000 personnel and building infrastructure besides acquisitions. Parrikar was apprised of the progress made on the raising of the Corps which started in January this year.
As regards the IAF, delay in finalising the medium multi-role combat aircraft(MMRCA) Rs47,000-crore contract for 126 jets worth and low number of squadrons were discussed. Negotiations with French aviation giant Dassault, whose plane Rafale emerged as the lowest bidder, are on for the last two years.
The IAF urgently needs these aircraft as fleet of MIG-21s is in the last leg of their operational life and will start going out of service by 2017. In case, the Government inks the deal now, the first lot of 18 jets to be bought off the shelf from Dassault will only joio service in 2018 while the Hindustan Aeronautics limited(HAl) will manufacture the remaining lot in India.
Moreover, the IAF now has 34 squadrons(one squadron has 18-20 planes) of fighter jets while it needs ten more squadrons to maintain edge over Pakistan and China. The IAF top brass stressed on this point during the briefing to Parrikar, officials said.
Paucity of submarines came for review during the Navy briefing besides steps taken to prevent mishaps on frontline warships. At present, the Navy has 15 submarines including one nuclear-powered submarine INS Chakra. Given the operational responsibility to guard the entire Indian Ocean, seven to eight submarines carry out patrols while the remaining have to undergo mandatory maintenance.
The Navy needs more than 30 submarines, with six Scorpene submarines now under construction at Mazagon Docks limited, Mumbai, which will only join service in the next three to four years. Similarly, the indigenously designed and manufactured nuclear powered submarine Arihant is expected to be operational after two years.
Plans to procure six submarines were delayed by more than seven years despite the government's clearance. The NDA Government last month decided to build all of them in India. The project worth over Rs50,000 crore will give a fillip to the Indian industry and a committee is now reviewing the capabilities of six public and private shipyards to construct complex platforms.