‘India staring at weapon shortfall’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi. File pic/AFP

The Modi government's ‘Make-in-India campaign has led to a slowdown of domestic production of defence systems, with the country staring at a shortfall in weapons in the next few years, Bloomberg reported.

"India's air force, army and navy can no longer import some critical weapons systems to replace aging ones," Bloomberg quoted the officials as saying. This means India will fall "critically" short of helicopters by 2026 and hundreds of fighter jets by 2030, they said. Before the Make in India policy came into effect in 2014, the country was the biggest importer of military equipment in the world. "Eight years later... India still doesn't manufacture enough weapons locally to meet its needs--and government rules are blocking imports," it said.

This has left India in a vulnerable position, considering the constant threats from China and Pakistan, according to the report, which Bloomberg said is based on conversations with multiple officials of the Indian navy, army and the air force. China has reportedly deployed soldiers along the borders with India, since the 2020 Galwan Valley border clash. "The weaker air force in particular means India will need twice the number of soldiers on the ground to deter aggression along the Chinese border," one official was quoted as saying.

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According to the report, India doesn't manufacture diesel-electric submarines and twin-engine fighters, and the Modi government is insistent on locally made "single-engine fighters, which are in short supply". Officials told Bloomberg that the strength of air force's fighter squadrons will reduce to 30 from 42 that it needs on the China and Pakistan borders. In the next eight years, it will have to do away with half-a-dozen squadrons that will be out of date, they added.

"Almost 80% of India's fleet of choppers [for the army] has already outlived their lifespan of 30 years," a defence ministry official was quoted as saying. The army will have to ground most choppers by 2026. "Last year, the Army advised the Defence Ministry to ignore PM Modi's import bans and buy a few dozen much-needed utility helicopters," an official said. The Navy's submarine fleet has torpedoes bought 40 years ago.

"PM Modi's import substitution plans don't take into account the fact that developing world-class weapon systems requires billions of dollars in investment and years of research," said Rahul Bedi, a New Delhi-based independent defence analyst.

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