Monthly Archives: August 2018

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia, Defence Ministry’s top acquisition council today cleared the purchase of an estimated Rs 40,000 crore Russian S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems…

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia, Defence Ministry’s top acquisition council today cleared the purchase of an estimated Rs 40,000 crore Russian S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems, besides giving the go-ahead to other projects worth over Rs 25,000 crore.

Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, has decided to buy 5 units of the S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems that are capable of destroying incoming hostile aircraft, missiles and even drones within a range of up to 400 km.

Defence Ministry sources said that the step has been taken to enhance the national air defence capacity.

“The price discovery will happen hereafter,” a source said when asked how much would the system cost.

Industry estimates have suggested that the missile system will cost about Rs 40,000 crore. India will be the second buyer of the missile system after China if the deal goes through.

It is expected that the deal would be a government-to- government one and could see a forward movement during Modi’s visit to Russia next week.

The S400 Triumf is designed to knock down flying targets including those equipped with stealth technologies, at a distance of about 400 kms.

It is also capable of taking out ballistic missiles and hypersonic targets.

Compared with its predecessor, the S-300, the new S-400 has a 2.5 times faster firing rate. This is the most modern, air defence system in the Russian arsenal.

The DAC also gave the Acceptance of Necessity to Army’s proposal for the purchase of six regiments of the Pinaka rocket system under the ‘Make in India’ category for Rs 14,600 crore.

Each regiment of the Pinaka comes with 18 launchers and every launcher has the capability of firing 12 rockets at the same time.

Tata Power SED, Larsen & Toubro and state-run BEML will be providing the system.

The DAC also directed the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to continue with its process of making improved Pinaka system as it has proved to be a potent and proud indigenous product.

Army’s demand for 571 light bullet-proof vehicles to be used in counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations was also cleared at a cost of Rs 310 crore. The army currently uses Mahindra jeeps.

The DAC also gave the go-ahead for the purchase of 120 trawls to be used on Russia-origin T-72 and T-90 tanks under “Buy Global” category for Rs 450 crore.

DRDO has been tasked to field four sets of indigenous trawls by June 2017, the sources said.

The DAC has also fine-tuned an already cleared proposal to built a five fleet support ships for Rs 9,000 crore. It was cleared in July last year. The DAC today nominated HSL shipyard to build the ships.

The DAC also gave the go-ahead for digitisation of 24 Pechora Air Defence system for Rs 1,200 crore.

The acquisition council also cleared a Rs 425-crore electronic warfare system, for the Indian Army to be deployed in the mountain region. This would be developed by the DRDO and produced by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).

The DAC, set up in 2001 as part of the post-Kargil reforms in defence sector, approves the long-term integrated perspective plan for the forces, accords acceptance of necessity (AON) to begin acquisition proposals, and has to grant its approval to all major deals through all their important phases.

It also has the power to approve any deviations in an acquisition, and recommends all big purchases for approval of the Cabinet committee on security.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu’s ambitious plans for the Indian railways are known to all. The man wants to improve the state of Indian railways and modernize it with top-notch amenities. Just a few days back, we heard of designer ‘Make in India’ coaches and saw some amazing pics.

Yesterday, we got the news that Railways Ministry is inviting suggestions and innovative ideas from the public to include them in its forthcoming budget. “We have sought suggestions and innovative ideas from public for the Rail Budget 2016-17, slated to be presented in the last week of February next year,” a senior Railway Ministry official told PTI.

And today, Ministry of Railways revealed its plans of building the world’s Highest Rail Bridge over the Chenab River. This bridge would be built on a height of 359 metres, which will be 35 metres higher than Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Tribune Reporters

Jind, December 16

The DC along with senior officers of the administration today paid tributes to martyrs on the eve of Vijay Divas at the Shaheed Smarak on Gohana road today.“We should motivate youngsters to join the forces to serve the nation and help the families of all martyrs” said DC Vinay Singh. SP Abhishek Jorwal and other senior officers were also present on the occasion.

Kaithal

It becomes the duty of every citizen and society as a whole to grant respect to the martyr’s who made the supreme sacrifice to safeguard the honour and dignity of our nation. To pay our homage to the martyrs and revive memories of their sacrifice we celebrate December 16 as Vijay Divas.This was stated by ADC Jitender Kumar during a function held here today. He called upon the youth to devote their energy to make the country strong. The ADC honoured 16 war widows, 2 parents of martyrs, there war disabled, three orphans of martyrs.Major Tilak Raj (retd), vice president, Zila Sainik Board, said that we had won many wars but our brave soldiers had to make sacrifices to save the honour of country.He said that ex-servicemen and their families could avail services of the board for re-employment after retirement and rehabilitation of family members.

KULLU: Despite the arduous challenge of clearing the heavy snow, going up to five feet, on the Manali-Rohtang Road, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is once again geared up to reopen the road to traffic.

The heavy snowfall over the past two days had blocked the 13,050 feet high Rohtang Pass, the only gateway to Lahaul-Spiti district from Manali, stalling traffic movement completely and cutting off the district from the rest of the world.Talking to HT, BRO commander KP Rajendra said, “The BRO workforce and machinery has been deployed to clear snow from Manali towards Marhi, while the road clearing work on the Lahaul, between Satingri and Koksar, will begin on Saturday.”

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 9

Forty-four years after he spearheaded the Indian Army’s charge to Dacca (now Dhaka) during the 1971 Bangladesh campaign, one of the country’s most highly decorated soldiers marched into oblivion.Brig Sant Singh, twice decorated with the Maha Vir Chakra (MVC), the second highest award for gallantry, passed away here last night. He was 94 years old and had been ailing for some time.Brig Sant Singh is survived by his daughter Satinder Kaur, who is married to a Brigadier.Hailing from Panjgrain village near Kotkapura, he had settled down in Chandigarh after retirement. The cremation will take place tomorrow.Belonging to the Sikh Light Infantry, he was among the only six individuals to have been awarded the MVC twice. With his demise, only one such recipient now remains alive.During the 1971 Indo-Pak war, he was commanding the FJ Sector in the eastern theatre and his formation achieved spectacular results, advancing 38 miles almost on foot, to secure Mymensingh and Madhopur in eight days. During the advance, in spite of stiff opposition from the enemy, he cleared heavily defended positions at several places, personally leading the troops. His advance paved the way for Indian troops to enter Dacca and he was among the first officers to enter the headquarters of the East Pakistan Commander, Lt Gen AAK Niazi. For his actions, he was awarded the MVC.A framed picture of Niazi and a desktop timepiece, which he seized from Niazi’s office, was his war trophies displayed in his home.Six years earlier, in November 1965, while commanding a Sikh Light Infantry battalion, Sant Singh, then a Lt Col, had evicted Pakistani troops from the OP Hill in Jammu and Kashmir. The Pakistani troops had encroached on the Indian Territory after the ceasefire. Despite difficult terrain and mine fields, the feature was wrestled back after a bitter hand-to-hand fight. For displaying conspicuous gallantry and leadership in the face of heavy fire, he had received his first MVC.Colonel of the Sikh Light Infantry, Lt Gen NPS Hira has condoled Brig Sant Singh’s death. The entire Sikh Light Infantry fraternity treasures his courage, significant contribution and pays heartfelt tribute to the worthy officer, he said.In his message, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt Amarinder Singh said Brig Sant Singh was an exceptional soldier, of whom the Army and the nation was proud of and in his death, the country had lost a great soldier, whose services would always be remembered.

Brig Sant Singh

• Brig Sant Singh, twice decorated with the Maha Vir Chakra (MVC), the second highest award for gallantry, was 94 years old and had been ailing for some time.
• Belonging to the Sikh Light Infantry, he was among the only six individuals to have been awarded the MVC twice.
• With his demise, only one such recipient now remains alive

THERE WAS NO REPRESENTATION IN THE SEVENTH CENTRAL PAY COMMISSION FROM THE DEFENCE SERVICES THOUGH THEY FORM THE LARGEST GROUP OF GOVERNMENT SERVICE, OTHER THAN THE RAILWAYS

The military has been persistently disadvantaged by successive central pay commissions (CPC). In the case of the first and second CPCs, its case was fielded by the ministry of defence (MoD). The third CPC wanted to hear the case from the military directly but the MoD ruled against this on grounds of discipline, and the top brass accepted the absurd stand.
This pay commission brought down pensions of military personnel from 70% of last pay drawn to 50% but elevated pensions from 30% to 50% in the case of civil servants. Nearly 80% of military personnel did not even get 50% of the last pay drawn as pension. Only 37% got it because of the shorter span of service. The 50% pension was available only after 20 years of military service. Thereafter, subsequent CPCs persistently disadvantaged the military vis-à-vis civil services. However, the third CPC dangled the one rank one pension (OROP) scheme as an alternative to the decrease in pensions from 70% to 50%.
MOD, CDA PLAY NEGATIVE ROLE
Where subsequent pay commissions tried to improve matters for the military, the MoD and the controller of defence accounts (CDA) stepped in to negate them. The fourth CPC, as a consolation for OROP, gave rank pay up to the rank of brigadier. The CDA conveniently deducted this amount from the basic pay, which in turn impacted allowances as well. Three decades later, this is yet to be resolved. The Supreme Court orders on the payment of rank pay have not been implemented fully. Those behind this lapse were neither exposed nor held accountable.
The sixth CPC ruled that pension should be fixed at 50% of “the minimum of the rank in the pay band corresponding”. The civil bureaucracy rephrased this sentence to read, “minimum of the pay band corresponding”. Those who played this trick were never pointed out and no action was initiated against them. This put four ranks: Lieutenant colonel, colonel, brigadier and major general in the same band 4 and the ministry placed all of them at the bottom of the pay band for the purpose of fixing pension. Thus, a brigadier (with rank pay as admissible to him) got more pension than a major general. This has also not been fully resolved a decade later, the Supreme Court ruling notwithstanding. In addition, more than two score anomalies created by the sixth CPC are yet to be resolved.
DISABILITY PENSION
Disabled civil employees of the government are retained till they reach the age of superannuation and given normal pension. Whereas for military personnel, for whom the chances of suffering disability is higher due to professional hazards, the disabled are sent out of service and often denied adequate disability pension. Disabled personnel have been fighting their cases with the government for years. The seventh CPC has further complicated the issue of disability and broadbanding.
Early retirement, mounting family commitments and resultant financial worries has brought down a soldier’s life expectancy to 61-63 years, while the life expectancy of his counterpart in the civil services is 71-72 and those from the railways is 73. Early death of a soldier creates a wider gap in the sum total of pay and pension between him and his counterpart in the civil and police (state and central services). This sad state of soldiers seems to be of no one’s concern: least of all the military’s top brass.
CIVIL SERVICES ARE ONE UP ON OROP
The bureaucracy, via the sixth CPC, gifted itself and all-India Group A services (over four dozen of them) “non-functional upgrade (NFU)” but made it a point to exclude military officers from this largesse. This grant of NFU gave these civil services one up on OROP. Under NFU, everyone from those over four dozen civil services retired in the minimum appointment equivalent to an additional secretary to the government of India (equal to a threestar general), while less than 0.01% vacancies of three star general exist in the military. Even if the seventh CPC recommends NFU to the military, others would have gained 10 years advantage over them.
The seventh CPC could do no better. As in the past, there was no representation in the CPC from the defence services though they form the largest group of government service (other than the railways). Even among the 150-odd officers drawn from various services to assist the CPC in working out the details of the report, there is none from the military. So the perennial bias and prejudice of bureaucrats against the military play out to the full and even those from the top judiciary, the chairmen of the CPCs, fail to notice this glaring shortfall. It would be too much to expect our service chiefs to take a stand even on this basic issue.
MISLEADING FACTS
In working out the defence revenue expenditure and percentage share of revenue expenditure, the seventh CPC took into account only .01% of the defence forces that reaches the rank of lieutenant general and paired it with that of 95% of civil servants who reach the level of additional secretary. This has been done to present a facade of satisfactory remuneration to defence personnel.
This CPC’s terms of reference were to take into account the economic conditions of the country and the need for fiscal prudence, yet it has recommended grant of OROP to all government employees, while ex-servicemen have been agitating for OROP for more than 160 days and the government has been haggling with them to reduce their demand, citing the fiscal burden. The military’s demand for OROP rested on the grounds of early retirement and limited promotions. No such basis exists in the case of civil servants. The pay commission has gone horribly wrong on the retirement age of military personnel. For it, a sepoy retires at 42-48 years and a naik at 49. The CPC is unaware that 80% of army personnel retire at 37 years and less.

Putting the military at the disadvantage has made the service unattractive. This would impact national security in the long run because the man behind the gun continues to be more important than the gun. It’s time to rectify the anomalies of successive pay commissions and end the bias against the military.

LT GEN HARWANT SINGH (RETD) gen_harwant@hotmail.com The writer, a former deputy chief of army staff, is a commentator on defence and security issues. Views expressed are personal

PATHANKOT: Lieutenant general Rajeev Tewari handed over the charge of the Rising Star Corps to lieutenant general Ashok Ambre, here on Monday. According to a press release from the army lieutenant general Tewari, during his illustrious command of the formation, oversaw the effective handling of counterterrorist operations, resulting in the elimination of all infiltrating terrorists and the successful conduct of rescue missions in the Corps zone. “Lieutenant general Ashok Ambre with an excellent service profile and rich experience in counter-terrorist operations has assumed the command of the Rising Star Corps,” the release said.

Tribune News Service,Jammu, December 29

Days after returning from his China visit, Northern Army Commander Lt Gen DS Hooda discussed the overall security situation in Jammu and Kashmir with Governor NN Vohra.General Hooda apprised the Governor of the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, security measures taken along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan and winter strategy of anti-insurgency grid operating in the Kashmir valley.The Army Commander gave detailed briefing about the measures taken to counter transgressions by Chinese red army and understanding reached between both the countries to avoid conflict in future. He made a detailed briefing about the strategy to counter and neutralise the threat from local militants who are active in the Kashmir valley and pose a threat to peace.The Army has already created a three-tier security mechanism to counter infiltration from across the LoC and operations against militants operating in the hinterland.The Northern Army Commander led an eight-member delegation of the Army to China from December 14 on a six-day visit during which he met General Qi Jianguo, Deputy Chief of General Staff of People’s Liberation Army (PLA), at the Chinese army headquarters in Beijing during which they discussed steps to maintain peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).It is pertinent to mention here that it was the first visit of any Northern Command chief to China which in recent years had adopted an aggressive posture on the LAC leading to several transgressions and stand-offs.

PM Narendra Modi is scheduled to visitRussia on December 23-24 to hold an annual summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In addition to inking agreements on furthering the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant beyond stage 1 & 2, they are likely to push forward a plan to assemble Russian Kamov-226T helicopters in India. It is a light multipurpose helicopter and is meant to replace Chetak and Cheetah. The helicopters will be built primarily for the Indian armed forces and also for exports. Russia has reportedly offered full manufacture in India. India’s Ministry of Defence is currently scouting to choose a public or private sector partner company from within India.

Ahead of the visit, Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) also approved purchase of the very potent Russian S-400 air defence missile system with a range of 400 km. Five units would cost Rs 40,000 crores. Only preliminary discussions may take place at this stage.

Since the early 1960s, Soviet Union/Russia has been India’s largest defence weapons supplier. At the height of the Cold War, 85% of Indian Navy, 75% of Indian Air Force and over 50% of Indian Army equipment were of Russian origin. Purchase of Jaguar and Mirage-2000 aircraft in 1970-80s was a major departure. There was always a strong desire to move to alternative sources. The rise of China and desire of USA and the West to move closer to India resulted in offers of modern weapons that were hitherto not available.

In fact, Russia was somewhat upset when its MiG-35 lost to the French Dassault Rafale in the MMRCA contest; and also when IAF chose to buy the Boeing Chinook CH-47 heavy-lift helicopter over the only competitor Russian Mi-26; and the Boeing Apache-64 D won the attack helicopter competition against the Russian Mi-28 N Night Hunter. Six Airbus A330 tanker aircraft are being inducted in preference to Russian IL-78. Earlier, the India Navy chose the Boeing P-8I Poseidon to replace the ageing Russian TU-142. On the other hand, India was upset with Russia for reportedly agreeing to sell four Mi-35M – very modern attack helicopters – to Pakistan to strengthen their counter terror capability.

The Indian Army’s armour has been dominated by Russian T-72 and T-90 tanks. The mechanised infantry uses Russian infantry combat vehicles.  Indian Navy’s aircraft carrier Vikramaditya, the latest fighter aircraft MiG-29K, many of the frigates and most of its submarine fleet are of Russian origin.

For years, our Navy has flown variants of Russian Kamov helicopters. BrahMos supersonic cruise missile is an Indo-Russian joint venture for the three services. Indian Air Force (IAF) will soon have all 272 Sukhoi Su-30 MKI already committed. More orders are likely. IAF recently upgraded MiG-29s. IL-76 and An-32 transport aircraft, the AEW&C and Air-refuelling aircraft are all Russian origin. Nearly 200 Russian Mi-17 helicopter variants will dominate IAF’s medium lift helicopter fleet for next two decades. It will also act as the VVIP helicopter till a new one is decided.

Nearly 400 Kamov-226T will join the three armed forces. The surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles are mostly Russian. IAF is already committed to many future projects with Russians. A sum of Rs 40,000 crore is committed for just the design and development of the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA). 214 aircrafts are planned to be inducted into IAF at a cost of Rs 670 crores a piece. There are already delays and cost escalation. A joint venture 20-tonne Medium-lift Transport Aircraft (MTA) will finally take-off early next year with both sides agreeing to commit funds. Is the balance still tilted heavily towards the Russians?

India’s experience of the last five decades is that the Russian weapon systems are rugged and fairly good operationally. While they are initially relatively inexpensive, over the years, life-cycle costs work-out much higher than Western counterparts. Poor maintenance support often resulted in lower service abilities and sometimes, accidents. With so many defence projects already unfolding, it is an umbilical cord that will stay connected in the 21st century.