Monthly Archives: August 2018

Rahul Bedi

Senior Journalist

A HOST of recent developments have placed Dassault Aviation, France’s principal combat aircraft manufacturer, in pole position to potentially secure the IAF’s long-pending requirement for 114 multi-role fighter aircraft (MRFA) with its twin-engine Rafales.

Joining the dots, a cross-section of military veterans, defence analysts and industry officials have posited that backed by growing Rafale sales to India and Dassault’s inclination to transfer fighter and related technology to it, the IAF could well end up with Rafale as its default MRFA option.

If so, it would be an ironical redux of the Ministry of Defence’s stillborn 2007-08 tender for 126 Rafales — of which 108 were to be licence-built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited — that was scrapped in 2015 due to contractual, political and bureaucratic snafus.

A review of these emerging dealings with regard to the possible induction of additional Rafales into the IAF is instructive on multiple counts. At the outset, Dassault will supply 26 Rafale-M (Marine) fighters to the Indian Navy (IN) for deployment aboard INS Vikrant, its newly commissioned aircraft carrier. The multi-role carrier-borne fighter’s (MRCBF) ‘commonality’ with the 36 Rafales, which the IAF had imported in 2016 for $9 billion, had influenced the IN’s choice following user trials in 2022, which featured the rival Boeing F/A-18 Block III ‘Super Hornet’ fighter.

The delivery of these 26 fighters over the next two-three years would total an inventory of 62 Rafale variants in India’s arsenal, not an insignificant number. Hence, increasing this quantity further, according to some retired senior fighter pilots, to meet the IAF’s requirement for 114 MRFA makes ‘immense operational, commercial and logistical sense.’

Dassault, they said, had already established a Rafale flight training and Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at Ambala Air Force Station, which would go a long way towards reducing the overall costs for any additional buys. Importantly, acquiring tried-and-tested Rafales would hasten fighter inductions by dispensing with trials and boost the IAF’s declining fighter squadrons, whose number has depreciated to around 29 from a sanctioned strength of 42.

They added that acquiring extra Rafales would also streamline the IAF’s diverse fighter catalogue, which currently features seven aircraft types, sustaining all of which is an enduring logistical nightmare and a costly affair for the force.

In a related development that could enhance Dassault’s MRFA bid, the French manufacturer is believed to be in advanced negotiations to acquire 51 per cent stake of its partner Anil Ambani in Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited (DRAL) joint venture in Nagpur. India permits 100 per cent foreign direct investment in individual cases and Dassault is reportedly keen on acquiring DRAL, which, if effected, would augment its chances of bagging the MRFA deal.

At present, Dassault owns 49% of DRAL, formed within days of India confirming the IAF’s 36 Rafale purchase, to discharge the 50% offset obligation of the inclusive contractual price in accordance with MoD’s procurement procedures.

Initially, DRAL was tasked with producing components for Dassault’s Falcon business jets and only recently, it had begun producing sub-assemblies like engine doors and canopies for Rafales. But as per media reports, a domestic financial resource crunch had curtailed DRAL’s manufacturing capabilities, rendering it vulnerable to a buyout.

Meanwhile, the MRFA procurement envisages the importing of a squadron of 18 shortlisted fighters in flyaway condition from amongst seven models proposed by overseas original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in response to the IAF’s April 2018 Request for Information (RFI). The remaining 96 platforms would be built indigenously by a collaborative venture between the qualified OEM and a domestic strategic partner (SP) from either the private or public sector, with progressively enhanced levels of indigenisation in the all-encompassing deal valued around $25 billion.

The MRFA tender is expected imminently, industry sources said, with the selected platform required to complete 30-35 years of squadron service or flying time of 6,000 hours, with at least one midlife upgrade. Senior IAF officers estimated that MRFA numbers could increase to around 200 units for the IAF alone, in addition to possible export options, resulting in the platforms’ cost amortisation.

The six other OEMs which had responded to the IAF’s MRFA RFI are Eurofighter Typhoon, Sweden’s Saab (Gripen-E), Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation and Sukhoi Corporation (MiG-35 ‘Fulcrum-F’ and Su-35 ‘Flanker-E’) and the US’ Boeing and Lockheed Martin (F/A-18 and upgraded F-21).

However, in the light of the ongoing war in Ukraine, evaluating the two Russian fighter types for eventual IAF acquisition was, justifiably, irrational, considering the grave spares and components crisis the force is facing with regard to its fleet of 260 multi-role Sukhoi-30 MKIs and 50-odd upgraded MiG-29M fighter-bombers.

Alternatively, shortlisting the Typhoon would only mean adding to the IAF’s continuing logistic challenges, whilst the US’ F-18 and F-21 — a retrofitted F-16 — had been rejected by it on multiple capability counts during trials conducted 2010 onwards for the binned MMRCA contract. Saab’s Gripen-E, on the other hand, was a single-engine platform, and though the MRFA RFI had not specified any preference for single or dual power packs, the IAF’s intrinsic preference for the latter remains unstated.

Hence, by the process of elimination, Rafale was more than favourably placed in the MRFA sweepstakes, due not only to its operational superiority over its competitors, as acknowledged by the IAF — and now by the IN — but also the host of multiple ancillary factors.

There was also the abandoned contractual template for the MMRCA contract, which, industry officials said, could easily be ‘tweaked’ to suit an analogous MRFA purchase by resolving earlier glitches and shortening negotiations. These anomalies had centred on insistence by the MoD that Dassault shoulder eventual quality control responsibility for the 108 Rafales licence-built by HAL. This unwarranted conditionality had emerged as the deal-breaker for the MMRCA deal and led to the IAF procuring just 36 Rafales in flyaway condition, all of which were delivered by late 2022.

Even geopolitically, Indian diplomats and security officials conceded that it was less ‘arduous’ conducting materiel commerce with Paris than with Washington as the former was more flexible and pragmatic than the latter, especially with regard to transferring hi-tech military knowhow. 

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 31

Indian Air Force helicopters have recently undertaken around 100 sorties to the areas that have been totally cut off due to floods in the higher reaches of the state.Almost 130 persons have been airlifted, while over 20 tonnes of material, including food and medical supplies, have been airdropped.

Today, a helicopter was used to airdrop telecommunication equipment. This will be used to provide mobile phone connectivity in distant areas. Helicopters have been forward located to Bhuntar, near Kullu. Sorties have been undertaken to drop rations and airlift stranded tourists.

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, July 31

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday sought Bharat Ratna for the legendary martyrs Udham Singh, Bhagat Singh and Kartar Singh Sarabha.

Mann also gave a clarion call to people for launching another freedom movement to cherish the aspirations of great martyrs by ousting those, who have plundered the wealth of the country after the British had freed the country.

Addressing a gathering at a state-level function to mark the martyrdom day of Shaheed Udham Singh at Sunam Udham Singh Wala, the CM said though the country attained freedom in 1947, the dreams of the nationalists were never fulfilled. He said the successive governments at the Centre and state looted the people, besides unleashing countless atrocities on them. CM Mann said now the time had come when these atrocious leaders must be ousted for which a second movement of freedom struggle must be launched.

He said a recent delegation of the BJP that met the Governor over some issues comprised all turncoats who had left the Congress. Mann said none of the old guard of the BJP was part of this delegation.

“Former Finance Minister Manpreet Badal, who had brought him into politics, has been facing action for the misdeeds. Manpreet had taken a vow at native village of Shaheed Bhagat Singh to serve the state, but instead of fulfilling his pledge, he forgot it and joined the Congress and now the BJP for sake of plum postings,” said Mann.

The CM claimed that the state exchequer was no longer empty and every single penny was being utilised for the well-being of the common man.

“The state government has already ordered a special girdawari to ascertain the loss to people due to floods. My government will compensate the people even if they had lost a hen or a goat,” said Mann.

ANI

New Delhi, July 30

The Indian Air Force has moved its indigenous Light Combat Aircraft Tejas to Jammu and Kashmir for the fleet to gain experience in flying in the valleys of the union territory situated along the border with Pakistan.

The LCA fleet has been moved to forward bases for gaining experience in flying in the valleys and other operations. The pilots of the fleet are carrying out extensive flying there, defence officials said.

The Indian Air Force has multiple bases in the Union Territory which are critical for operations on both fronts including China and Pakistan.

The Indian Air Force keeps moving its aircraft in both the union territories in the Northern sector including Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to give them the experience of flying there in their unique terrain.

The IAF is strongly supporting the indigenous LCA Tejas fighter aircraft programme by adding more and more capabilities to the aircraft.

The IAF has already operationalised two of its squadrons in the initial operational clearance and final operational clearance versions while a contract has been signed for the 83 Mark1As set to be delivered a couple of years from now.

The Force has also its eyes set on the LCA Mark 2 and the AMCA being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation.

The Indian plane is already considered to be far more capable than the Pakistani and Chinese joint venture JF-17 fighter jet and with additions like the HAMMER, the Indian plane would be in a much higher category than them.  

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 30

Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), a unit that specialises in jungle warfare to fight armed Naxals, are now being trained to deal with terrorists in urban and rural areas and plans are afoot to deploy them for operations in Kashmir, officials said today.

According to officials, the 205 CoBRA battalion, which is deployed in Bihar where the presence of Naxals has been shrinking, are now being trained to counter terrorists in urban and rural centres. They would be shifted to Kashmir soon.

The officials said the elite commandos were being trained under various units operating in Jammu and Kashmir. A senior security officer said, “As per the plan, these trained commandos are being deployed in Srinagar with the Valley Quick Action Team (QAT). The teams reached Kashmir earlier this year and are getting all relevant training.”

Since CoBRA commandos are already trained in jungle warfare, it would be an added advantage as no force operating in Kashmir has a similar experience, the officer said.

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 31

Chinese President Xi Jinping has stressed the need to speed up efforts to boost modernisation of the armed forces while inspecting the air force of the Western Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which is responsible for border management with India.

In the inspection tour ahead of China’s Army Day on August 1, Xi, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), stressed the need for enhancing military preparedness and ensuring airspace security by thoroughly carrying out regular air defence. He also “demanded an accelerated pace of pushing new equipment and forces to form combat forces. The new equipment and forces should be integrated into the current combat systems”, reported Chinese news agencies.

The President also called for continuous efforts to carry out training under real combat conditions.

“The party must maintain leadership over the armed forces in ideological, political and organisational terms,” the agencies reported Xi as saying.

He also ordered strict steps to improve party conduct and enforce discipline.

Gen He Weidong, CMC vice-chairman, took part in the inspection.

Border management with India

• The Western Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is responsible for border management with India
• The Chinese President called for continuous efforts to carry out training under real combat conditions
• The inspection tour was held ahead of China’s Army Day on August 1. Xi is also chairman of the Central Military Commission

Tribune News Service

New Delhi: Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar on Monday commenced a three-day official visit to Oman. The visit is aimed at consolidating bilateral defence relations. Coinciding with the visit, the Navy’s indigenously designed and constructed guided missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam arrived at Port Sultan Qaboos, Muscat, for a three-day port call. TNS

Maj Gen Raj Mehta (retd)

OUR plane landed at Singapore’s Changi airport in the pelting rain. ‘Cheer up,’ my peppy co-traveller said. ‘You will reach your hotel bone-dry; our infrastructure is the world’s best.’ That was Singaporean-Chinese Cheng, the back-from-Harvard super-specialist doctor. Guided by him, we indeed arrived at the hotel bone-dry despite the wind-swept rain. We had covered 24 km on the super-smooth, safe, superbly designed, signposted and cambered asphalt road amid moderate traffic; the drainage system had absorbed water like blotting paper.

Over tea on our 12th-floor room with a view, Raju, our loquacious Singaporean-Tamil concierge, pointed out a road repair team in luminous jackets and helmets, with JCBs and pneumatic rigs. ‘They are going to check defective utilities and ensure traffic resumption by dawn.’ Seeing my disbelieving expression, he laughed: ‘Sir, the team has 12 hours to do its work. If the supervisor fails, he is awarded demerit points; he faces suspension or sacking if there are lapses on his part.’

After dinner, I ventured out to the site cordoned off by luminous ‘work-in-progress’ tape and precise diversion markers. I struck up a conversation with tablet-wielding site supervisor Edwin, a re-employed Singaporean-Christian military veteran. He told me that repair, maintenance and inspection were guided by a bible, the Singapore Land Transport Authority’s Code of Practice for Works on Public Streets (2008). Supervisors are civilians, with only emergency work being done by the Singapore Public Works Department. They must have minimum five years’ experience and a government certificate in road construction/maintenance or a degree/diploma.

They need to present a comprehensive repair/maintenance plan with sketches/images, specifying the work duration, cost estimates and restoration of utilities as per the code. Edwin said his work would be ‘surprise-checked’ by strict government inspectors before according approval. They examine the quality of work, adherence to norms and whether adjacent utilities had been inadvertently damaged. The focus is on the safety of both road users and workers. His tablet had the under-surface utilities’ layout in various perspectives with inspection points marked every 200 metres along the sidewalks.

Portable machines X-rayed roads, bridges, culverts and pillars to identify weak spots for repair. Edwin stated that under a radical time-bound programme, launched in 2018, all underground utilities were being encased in concrete tunnels accessible through manholes for speedy repair without disrupting surface vehicular movement. ‘We have stray occurrences of water accumulation, blocked drains, poor construction/oversight, sir,’ he quipped. But there was the fear of punishment, besides respect for the law and national pride in seeking a world-class status. ‘Hum honge kaamyab ek din,’ I thought.

Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur (retd)

STRANGE are the ways in which politics plays out in international relations; nations use various methods to convey their viewpoint or send a message across. In July 2022, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan kept his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin waiting for a minute as payback for the two minutes he (Erdogan) was made to wait by the latter in 2020. Erdogan’s gesture was also attributed to the clout he wielded, being the first leader of a NATO nation whom Putin had met after the start of the Ukraine war.

Way back in 1971, when then PM Indira Gandhi visited Washington to apprise world leaders of the genocide in East Pakistan, then US President Richard Nixon kept her waiting for half an hour; it’s no secret that Nixon and Henry Kissinger despised Indira for the strong stand she had taken during the developing crisis. Indira and India had the last laugh with the birth of Bangladesh.

The news of the Indian team being withdrawn from the University Games being held in Chengdu, China, because of Beijing issuing stapled visas to three players from Arunachal Pradesh underlines the use of sports as a geopolitical tool. It brought back memories of a similar happening a decade ago.

I was Assistant Chief of Air Staff at Air Headquarters in 2009-11 and the media was rife with the news of stapled visas being given to Indian nationals from Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir who were going to China. The Chinese view was that since Arunachal (which they call South Tibet) is their territory, and J&K a disputed area, a regular visa would not be issued. Nothing could be a bigger lie and the government decided not to accept this political signalling and cancelled many engagements that required players from these states to travel to China. Both sides played this ‘game’ till Beijing, to paraphrase the name of a famous movie, took a step too far!

In July 2010, India’s Foreign Minister was to travel to Beijing in an Embraer aircraft of the Indian Air Force’s VVIP Squadron for meetings with China’s Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Premier Wen Jiabao. As per the protocol, the Air HQ sent the passports of the aircrew to the Chinese embassy for visas. Normally, it is a routine affair, but on this occasion a message came back to me that the captain of the aircraft, who was from Jammu and Kashmir, would get a stapled visa! I spoke to the Joint Secretary looking after the protocol about this Chinese shenanigan and their embassy was told in no uncertain terms that the pilot would not be changed and the visit would be cancelled if a standard visa was not issued to him.

The Chinese blinked, underscoring the fact that in international relations, a firm stand counts. We must maintain this position for the forthcoming Asian Games to be held in September in China. Just watch, they will blink again!

Maj Gen Amrit Pal Singh (Retd)

Military Commentator

NINETEEN years ago, when Manorama Devi was allegedly picked up by a detachment of the Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force then deployed at Kangla Fort in Imphal, a series of events was triggered that reverberates even today in strife-ridden Manipur. The allegations of rape, torture and killing of Manorama Devi led to an iconic women’s protest on July 15, 2004, by 12 Meira Paibis or ‘torchbearers’, who stripped naked in front of the Assam Rifles’ headquarters and held aloft banners that screamed: ‘Indian Army Rape Us’. The fact that there is a difference between the Army and the Assam Rifles was lost in the din. The reputation of the Indian Army was sullied the world over.

This nude protest by ‘women torchbearers’ — also known as Emas or ‘mothers of Manipur’ who belong to the majority Meitei community — is epitomised by the statement of one of them, Soibam Momon Leima: “It made me very angry. It was not just Manorama who was raped. We all felt raped.” The protests led to the then government acknowledging the need to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which gave sweeping powers of arrest to the security forces in the North-East. The AFSPA was fully revoked in Manipur in March 2023. The present unrest in the state flared up on May 3.

Surprisingly, this time, no such indignation has been shown by the ‘torchbearers’ in protest against the horrific sexual assault on two tribal women on May 4, allegedly by marauding Meitei groups, even as the local police mutely stood by. The incident came to light only after a video clip of the brutality went viral on social media in mid-July. It is mobs led by women that have obstructed the Army and Assam Rifles units from reaching the flashpoints where Meitei mobs have attacked tribal villages.

On June 24, a 1,500-strong mob led by women or Meira Paibis forced the Army to release 12 captured terrorists of the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup — an outfit banned by the National Investigation Agency — including the mastermind of the 2015 ambush of an Army unit, 6 Dogra, in which 18 soldiers were killed. Numerous such incidents of mobs led by women disrupting operations in Manipur have been observed in the present strife and the Army has put out appeals busting the myth of women holding peaceful blockades. There is drone and video footage of mobs digging up approach roads to security forces’ bases and of women activists accompanying terrorists in vehicles to get past security forces’ check-posts and roadblocks as proof of disruptive actions by women. These incidents also show that the Army should have taken action to stop the rioters, especially when called in to aid the civil authorities to maintain law and order. The local commanders should be allowed to use force against mobs involved in arson and killing.

In May, armouries of police stations, battalions and training centres across Manipur were attacked by Meitei mobs and 3,000-5,000 sophisticated arms and huge amounts of ammunition looted while the guards meekly handed over the keys of the strongrooms to them. It is this same partisan police that has now been entrusted with the recovery of the looted arms. The undermining of institutions so critical to efficient functioning of the state is disturbing.

The situation is frustrating for the Army and the Assam Rifles, which had until March 2023 controlled violence in the state and restored normalcy after decades of dedicated deployment. This is because the Unified Security Headquarters is run by the state government, which has its loyalties and political interests skewed towards the majority community. There is little effort by the police and state security forces to recover the lethal arms looted in May, other than a few token surrenders and recoveries of obsolete weapons.

There is a certain finality regarding the deployment of the Army to aid the civil authorities in law and order situations because it is the last resort after the police and local law enforcers have failed. An unlawful situation will need the use of extreme measures.

In Manipur, the Army and Central forces must be given clear-cut Rules of Engagement (RoE) to deal with the mobs — led by women or otherwise — if the aim of deploying them is to restore law and order. The existing half-baked arrangement is not working, as has been demonstrated. The command structure of the Army deployed should take a strong stand on being given the freedom to exercise its powers to prevent loss of life and property.

The logic of using human shields in Manipur is to discredit the security forces that are always wary of collateral damage to unarmed civilians. That the shield is a woman is even more disturbing to the psyche of the soldier. The RoE in such a situation in Manipur must be defined and crafted to ensure decisive success of the security operations.

The use of a targeted strike must be justifiable from a legal perspective. As first impressions shape the narrative, public opinion tends to be influenced by the images of civilians suffering. The Unified Security HQ in Manipur should publicly justify its position and reveal the use of civilians in combat situations by mobs infiltrated by terrorists. This can be achieved by documenting incidents and preparing supportive messages which are streamed across multiple channels to discredit the terrorists in the mobs.

Political will is required to launch coordinated intelligence-driven operations to target the rioters. The intelligence apparatus of the state government, the police network of informers and women battalions from the Central forces need to be activated effectively to counter mob carnage and women being used to disrupt the security forces’ operations. It is time the Army was allowed to do its job and restore peace yet again.