There was a time when the British Army used the SA80 (L85A1) combat rifle. So terrible was the rifle that they called it The Civil Servant. Well, it wouldn’t work and you couldn’t fire it. And in this humorous anecdote, there are stories within stories.
The Indian Army is suffering from crippling shortages of ammunition, equipment and weapons, and frankly the backlog is so huge that the government will take many years before things are right. Its not that we don’t have money; we do. But we also have the most inefficient bureaucracy in the world, which we have inflicted upon ourselves. Read the recent CAG report tabled in Parliament and feel those little things crawl up your arm. Our “babucracy” has not just destroyed the past; it has cast an eclipse upon the future, too.
Lets look at the government’s Make In India program. It’s a powerful initiative. Not only is it expected to generate millions of jobs; it also aims to make India self-reliant. So, why can’t a nation, which is a three trillion dollar economy, the fastest growing economy on earth and the third largest economy globally, provide good shoes to its army? Or a decent helmet? Or a bulletproof jacket? Or a good rifle? Or a decent disruptive uniform that does not differ from unit to unit, trouser to shirt?
The defence budget is touching almost USD 50 billion a year. We have another USD 500 billion lined up for modernization of the armed forces. As the Americans would say, “we have enough money to float a boat”.
Here is some information with you. The Ordnance Factory Board, a group of 41 factories, which are responsible for manufacturing weapons, ammunition, large trucks and thousands of types of equipment for the Indian Army, have a land bank of thousands of acres (by some estimates 80,000 acres, though this is unverified). It has tens of thousands of employees. It is the largest government operated production organization in the world. And it almost always produces third-rate weapons and equipment. OFB manufactured mosquito nets wont sell in the market, and the blankets will give you rashes. The quality of ammunition is pathetic and the Nepal Army has junked the INSAS 5.56 mm rifles. They don’t want it, even for free. And the INSAS 5.56 mm, my dear readers, is the main battle rifle of the Indian Army.
Many Indian Army soldiers and officers buy their own shoes, because the quality of shoes made by OFB is so bad that they fall apart in some time, after having substantially damaged your feet. I met a Para SF officer wearing high, thick-soled beige shoes, very similar to what US Navy Seals wear. I asked him, “Is the supply getting better?” He smiled and responded, “Sir, they cost me a lot of money. I asked my friend to get them from US. If I am going to be operating across the LoC, I want to be thinking about the mission, not my shoes”. Touché.
Quite frankly, the Ordnance Factory Board is a basket case. Had it been a private company, it would have shut down long back.
There are two keys to this entire enterprise. One, rather than focusing on Make In India, the government should focus primarily on removing red tape, with a military-mission like focus. Because with our kind of bureaucracy, there will be no Make In India. If it needs an Act of Parliament, so be it. Be ruthless with red tape and bureaucrats. Start sacking those who don’t deliver. Revisit each and every process and align it to the Indian Army, who is the customer and end user. The army moves at blinding speed. It needs a partner who can keep pace. A Cheetah’s racing partner cannot be an overweight snail.
The second key is best illustrated with an example. Lets assume that the Indian Army wants a new assault rifle. The process for acquiring the new rifle should be this:
- Indian Army to prepare detailed specifications for the rifle, but from existing rifles, already in the global market. No demands for interchangeable barrels to be entertained. Go with a fully automatic 7.62 mm assault rifle.
- Call the world’s top 5 weapons manufacturers who can meet the specifications.
- After checking weapon against specifications, ask companies to send rifles with ammunition, for trials to Infantry School, MHOW. Trails to last for 4 months only.
- Indian Army will be required to shortlist 3 rifles from the 5 that are under trial. These 3 shortlisted companies will submit their quote.
- The army will negotiate the best deal from the three vendors. However, in the end, the clear directions will be to give the contract to Q1 and not L1. Meeting cost targets does not mean compromise on quality.
- This entire process must be completed in 6 months and the Purchase Order given. 15% of the rifles to be fully imported and 85% to be under the Make In India program with a local Indian partner.
- The first set of imported rifles must land in India (part of 15%) by the end of the 8th month, from the day the specifications were floated. It may be a small number initially, but it must be handed over to the army.
- By the end of the 8th month, physical work on ground (factory construction) must start. Government must ensure ready land availability, in advance.
- With high-end pre-fabricated structures, the factory can be completed in 6 months time. Another 6 months for finishes, equipment & machinery.
- Shift in machines, raw material and equipment and start production.
We can start production in 18 months from the date the initial specifications for the assault rifle were given. Fairytale? No. China does this everyday. We have the same capabilities as China and far better engineers. But what China has, and we don’t, is intent and discipline. And that cannot be purchased with all the money in the world.
Any purchase process must bring the best equipment at the lowest possible rate and as quickly as possible, to the soldier. Any other process or rule contrary to this must go.
Back to the OFB, what business does the government have making quilts, mosquito nets, water bottles and shoes? Or for that matter artillery shells and tanks? Lockheed Martin makes fighter jets and is not a government organisation. Huntington Ingalls Industries is not a government company and it makes the biggest aircraft carriers in the world. This is true for rifles, tanks and…socks. We are still following the old Soviet model, long after the demise of the Soviet Union.
Make In India will only be successful when we are brutal in cutting away flab and bureaucracy. That has to be step one. The structure has to be lean and mean. It has to move fast and be nimble. OFB is a dinosaur. The Indian Army buys from OFB because it has no choice. If the army selects a rifle from an international vendor, the OFB steps in saying, “We can make a better rifle which is much cheaper”. That is often the end of the Indian Army’s foreign adventure. That rifle which OFB promised to make never sees the light of day. And if it does, it’s called an INSAS.
We will be militarily sovereign when we do not depend on any nation for the most advanced weapons systems. I refuse to believe that Indians who power the global engines of Google, Microsoft, Apple, SAP Labs and almost all the world’s top technology companies, do not have the capability to design defence software. Or that a country that can send a mission to Mars in its first attempt, finds it beyond its capacity to design an armed drone. Or a shoe.
The problem with OFB is that it knows it is assured of business even before the demand is placed. They make an extremely shoddy product and they get paid. Aren’t you envious of this business model?
What we need is an increasing participation of private players in defence manufacturing in India. We don’t have the technology, but we can get it through technology transfer. We need to achieve critical mass in defence manufacturing. We cannot achieve it by continued reliance on the Ordnance Factory Board. Make In India can make our nation a defence export powerhouse, but we need to get rid of red tape and needless bureaucracy. We have too many rules in India. And we have too little to show for them.
Sure, the culture is changing for the better, but it is not changing fast enough. Our obsession with bureaucracy and red tape is exposing our national security to flanking attacks. We have two choices; we either become as invention-centric as the Americans or as disciplined as the Chinese. There is no third way. It has been done in India before. The Delhi Metro is an example of what we can do, once we make up our minds. So is ISRO, and to a large extent, DRDO. Lets look deep within us. There is a Sarabhai, a Sreedharan or a Kalam somewhere, straining at the shackles that tie him down…straining to break free. Sometimes I imagine Dr. Kalam speaking to India…
Dreams float on an impatient wind,
A wind that wants to create a new order,
An order of strength, and thundering of fire.
– Dr. APJ Kalam, Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces.
If we want to sit at the high table of the United Nations Security Council, we must start acting the part. Superpowers think big and act bigger. Global projection of military might is a large part of being a superpower. For too long we have hankered for global respect, but respect is not enough. The world must fear us. For that, we must first put our house in order. Anything that stops us from becoming a superpower must be rejected. Mammoth bureaucracies like the OFB are some of the many roadblocks on our road to superpower status. They must go, and they must go now.
It is then that we will be able to look that Para SF officer in the eye and tell him, “Defend the nation. Do your duty. And don’t worry about your shoes.”
Major Gaurav Arya (Veteran)
#MajorGauravArya #SubmarinesAndSocks #adgpi
Disclaimer:
I have not discussed WWR, weapon induction or other technical issues, as I believe that they are not something that is meant for the public domain. Recently, the CAG put up a comprehensive report on the floor of Parliament and pointed a direct finger at the gross inadequacies of OFB, and the media covered it. While the Parliament must be briefed on all issues by CAG, inviting the media was a mistake. These are sensitive national security issues.
I have refrained from commenting on issues that IAF and IN may have.
OFB exports to a few countries, but those exports are a minuscule part of its revenues. My view is that Indian diplomacy must be commended substantially for this, rather than OFB quality.
Land bank and employee strength of OFB remains unverified. At some places, the employee strength is stated as 83,000 and at others, 164,000. I am not aware of the truth
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