editor-in-chief DSA is as much yours, as it is ours! ntering its second decade of being India’s premier technology showpiece, Aero India has also emerged as the largest show of its kind in Asia. Not that India is the largest aviation market, or aero technology provider, or even an aircraft production giant. None of these apply to India, as yet anyway. Despite all these factors missing, India has succeeded in pushing Aero India to the top of the blocks of aviation shows. The numbers are not staggering as yet, but they're Enevertheless impressive. At the last edition of the biennial event more than 100,000 people attended. Good fi gure for a specialised technology intensive event. But not enough given the scale of India’s potential and emerging manpower talents. It is for the emerging India that Aero India holds great promise and hope. Showcasing the best in the world and the best India has to offer, in the aviation technology sector, the aim is to attract greater talent into this fi eld. Only when more bright young technologists enter this sector will India and its aviation industry pick up pace. At the moment it is not much to talk about. Everyone knows there is potential and everyone also knows there is a huge requirement. But between the potential, the requirement and the delivery, there is a mismatch. And this mismatch has to be overcome to enable India achieve its military-technical potential. Since 1996 Aero India has been the benchmark for aviation enthusiasts and professionals, in the country and outside. So much so that it has grown into being the biggest of its kind in the continent. That is an admirable feat. The Defence Exhibition Organisation under the Ministry of Defence puts it together. There is of course ample help from Defence Research and Development Organisation, Ministry of Civil Aviation and other government departments and agencies. They all combine talent and resources to put together the most impressive aviation show in Asia. It is important that the same coming together of talent be emulated and repeated in the fi eld of military and civil aviation industry in India. The recently concluded visit of US President Barack Obama has generated much hope for the bettering of relations, particularly in the fi eld of defence cooperation. The decade old Defence Framework Agreement has been further extended and some ‘pathfi nder’ technologies are to be jointly developed. Amongst them are the Raven mini-UAVs, vital for the immediate tactical battle space. The next generation Raven will provide small team, or even larger unit level, operations with an eye in the sky capability. This will greatly expedite decision-making, thus helping the conduct of combat. In the same vein there is the development of roll on roll off kits for C-130 Hercules, an aircraft that India is already fl ying in a specialised version. These kits will greatly enhance the capability of the C-130. Then there is reportedly an agreement for aircraft carrier technology that helps in the development of technical landing systems for planes. All of these are aviation related agreements and it is great coincidence that they were signed on the eve of Aero India 2015. After all their end result is to enhance India’s aviation capabilities in combat or combat support. But that can only truly happen when the Indian domestic sector picks up the responsibility and truly develops its technical skills. These begin with research, design, development, production, testing and fi nally full scale manufacturing. For all of this to happen there has to be a partnership between the state and the private sector. There are enough examples around the world for this model. Once India’s largest supplier, Russia, has a model and now the largest supplier, the United States, has its own model. India has to be open to selecting a model that suits it best, in terms of what is feasible and what is required. And on that basis proceed ahead. Hopefully the Indo-US agreement will spur the domestic to do its bit and in the near future Aero India will see greater variety and levels, of Indian aviation products. Manvendra Singh February 2015 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT 1 publisher’s view Propitious Resurgence he reaction of our neighbours China and Pakistan to US President Barack Obama’s An ISO 9001:2008 Certified Magazine visit to India underscores the dangers Volume 6 | Issue 5 | February 2015 posed by these two to India and the Asia-Pacifi c region. The collusion between Shyam Sunder Chairman Beijing, Islamabad and Pongyang in the horizontal Publisher and CEO Pawan Agrawal T President Urvashi J Agrawal proliferation of nuclear weapons and the means of Director Shishir Bhushan delivery has created a bulwark from behind which Pakistan-trained terrorists have tried to sap the Editor-in-chief Manvendra Singh strengths of both India and the US. It reveals that Executive editor Nitin A Gokhale the kernel of the China-Pak geostrategic relationship is based largely on the Corporate consultant KJ Singh use of terrorist ‘non-state actors’. In its ‘all-weather’ support to Pakistan, Corporate communications China is also bolstering to the hilt the use of Islamic fundamentalist jihadi Mamta Jain terrorists as tools of state policy. This conjunction of the nuclear, conventional and sub-conventional Administration methods of warfare has stoked fears in the region that they will provoke Jyoti Chopra a two-front war against India to satisfy a craving for an overland connection between China’s Pacifi c Ocean seaboard and the Arabian Sea Creative Pal Singh over illegally held territory that belonged to the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India. It also highlights the new hegemonic Representative (USA) aspirations in the Indian Ocean region. It is in this context that this year’s Steve Melito biannual Aero India exposition acquires special signifi cance for creation of Representative (J&K) the wherewithal within India for an aerospace defence capable of sustaining Salil Sharma two-front war on the India-Pakistan and India-China frontiers and Correspondent (Europe) Pak / China-inspired machinations in the hinterland. Dominika Cosic The new BJP-led government has sought to clear the logjam in the acquisition of new generations of fi ghter-bombers to replace the ageing Production and obsolescent MiG family of Russia-built aircraft that helped defend Dilshad and Dabeer India successfully in the 1965 and 1971 Wars with Pakistan. It is now time to look two decades ahead at what should be India’s posture in the Webmaster Sundar Rawat aerospace domain. That is what the DSA in this issue has sought to do. The Republic Day parade highlighted the current capabilities, including the air IT operations display by US supplied medium-lift C-130J Super Hercules, the heavy-lift Mehar Dogra C-17 Globemaster and P8I maritime reconnaissance and strike aircraft and Mahendra Singh the Russian Sukhoi deep penetration strike aircraft all of which have a very Ankit Kumar specifi c China orientation and can handle Pakistan collaterally. The accent of air power in the coming decades will be on acquisition Photographer Subhash of fi fth generation-plus fi ghter-bombers and the ability to reach into the Chinese heartland if necessary. This entails the upgradation of not Circulation and distribution only the air power infrastructure of the Air Force, Army and Navy but Anup Kumar also the fl exible deployment facilities for the Paramilitary forces like the Border Security Force, the Central Reserve Police Force and Indo-Tibetan E-mail: (fi rst name)@dsalert.org info: [email protected] Border Police. So in a way the upcoming Aero India 2015 will create more articles: [email protected] value addition to the procurement process in lieu of the announcement of subscription: [email protected] 49 per cent FDI in Defence by the current government and all the major online edition: [email protected] manufacturers of the aero products and technologies around the world will advertisement: [email protected] be participating. This edition is dedicated to the show and you will Editorial and corporate offi ce Aero India 2015 Prabhat Prakashan Tower fi nd many, research-based articles by the experts on all aspects of 4/19 Asaf Ali Road air power which make this edition a very special one. DSA has the privilege New Delhi-110002 (India) of publishing an interview with the Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal t: +91-011-23243999, 23287999, 9958382999 SBP Sinha in this edition. Under a new DSA feature titled ‘Know The Chief’ e: [email protected] we present a complete profi le of our Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal www.dsalert.org Arup Raha, his great career graph and his achievements. Disclaimer This edition also carries Pre-budget Musings by renowned subject All rights reserved. Reproduction and experts. With the announcement of defence budget round the corner, this translation in any language in whole or in is an integral aspect that needs meticulous scrutiny of its strengths and part by any means without permission from weaknesses. It is an exercise in explaining the crux of national security Defence and Security Alert is prohibited. planning and the means and sapience of achieving the required Defence Opinions expressed are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily refl ect those of capabilities. I am sure that these articles will open new ways and provide the publisher and / or editors. All disputes are insights to develop a robust defence budget of India considering the subject to jurisdiction of Delhi Courts.