The Hindu Business Line : <I>Defence research facing a salient </I>

A flurry of activity was seen recently in Defence circles with a new Minister taking charge, followed by an international conference organised by the Ministry of Defence on Defence Finance and Economics, where the debate was as highfalutin as it always is with no clue however, about how, in practical terms, to decide between buns and guns.

While inaugurating the conference, attended by delegates from 40 nations, the External Affairs Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, called for a ``fine blend of economic sense and military sensibility''. The Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, cautioned, in the context of high priority for social sector and infrastructure spending, that ``there was no room for error or slippage'' in spending for building and sustaining Defence capability. He called upon the private sector not to be content with the role of a supplier but a "manufacturer and systems integrator of complete systems and platforms for the Defence Services".

Crisis of confidence

That Defence Research is receiving much flak is a matter of great concern not because its status as a `holy cow' is being thrashed in front of the very people who built this monolithic organisation, but because it also marks a crisis of confidence of the country's scientists, technologists and military and civil bureaucrats. While an introspection within the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is the need of the hour, it should not be forgotten that the pursuit of nuclear ambitions by the political leadership in May 1998 throttled the flow of all supplies of critical systems and associated technologies. A conservative estimate would attribute at least six years of slippage to this single factor. The effect: Pokhran II did not make us a nuclear power but blunted our edge in our bid to build strength in conventional weapons.

Likewise, insofar as the Army was concerned, its top brass dutifully mouthed allegiance to indigenous development, even while clamouring and succeeding in importing what it fancied.

Tunnel vision

Further, the incumbent Scientific Advisor seems to be suffering from the same tunnel vision as his predecessors when he restrictively states that only ``creating capacity is R&D's job''. R&D is expected not merely to make prototypes and test them but involve itself until free flow production is established and be all the time available, disengaging only when the product matures. The reported defects noticed in the bulk supplies of Russian-made T90s even after full-scale trials of the prototypes underscores the necessity to involve not only the Army but also the producers during the entire product development cycle.

Now, the challenge before the Defence Ministry is as enviable as that of the US President, Mr George Bush, in Iraq. It can decide to `cut and run' or `stay the course', that is, pour more resources in pursuing the same R&D projects with uncertain outcomes. But it is clear, with 50 years of experience, that government-directed research does not bear fruits. It also appears difficult to insensitivise private sector initiatives in Defence research.. Inviting reputed military industries from abroad for resurrecting the languishing projects will be turned into a battle royale by the Opposition. The Defence Minister, Mr A. K. Anthony, may just be hoping for a miracle like the unplanned advent of IT industry boom, which unshackled India from the Hindu growth rate.

(The author is former Member, Ordnance Factories, Ministry of Defence.)

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