Spotlight on India

India has defence procurement and military technology development systems that are consistently criticised for long delays, corruption rows and cancellations affecting the nation's perennial efforts to modernise its military and to create a strong defence industrial base. While much of this is...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inMilitary Technology Vol. 44; no. 2; p. 37
Main Author Donaldson, Peter
Format Trade Publication Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bonn Monch Publications 01.01.2020
Subjects
Aircraft carriers
Armed forces
Attack helicopters
Ballistic missiles
Defense industry
Defense programs
Development systems
Federal agencies
Guided missiles
Military aircraft
Military helicopters
Military policy
Military readiness
Military technology
Military weapons
Missile control
Modernization
Procurement
Submarines
Unmanned aerial vehicles
India
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ISSN0722-3226

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Summary:India has defence procurement and military technology development systems that are consistently criticised for long delays, corruption rows and cancellations affecting the nation's perennial efforts to modernise its military and to create a strong defence industrial base. While much of this is justified, dysfunction, corruption and waste are hardly unique to India: comparable failures litter the landscape of the European and US defence establishments. The most egregious example is the US Department of Defense (DoD), which is seemingly impossible to audit and cannot account for at least $21 trillion (€18.9 trillion) spent between 1998-2015. This puts India's well-publicised procurement woes firmly in the shade. However, the list of very demanding systems - either in its current inventory or subject to international procurement and/or to indigenous development efforts - includes nuclear ballistic missiles based on land and at sea and submarines to carry the latter, aircraft carriers and their air groups, fleet submarines, satellites and anti-satellite weapons, fourth- and fifth-generation fighters, unmanned aerial systems (UAS), attack and multi-role helicopters, main battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and multiple classes of guided missile.
ISSN:0722-3226