Fw: The great betrayal

[Jayawant Patil]

--- On Fri, 12/11/10, sanjay sinha <sanjay...@gmail.com> wrote: From: sanjay sinha <sanjay...@gmail.com> Subject: The great betrayal To: "Adwitiya Sinha" <adwit...@yahoo.co.in>, "Avinash Thakur" <thak...@yahoo.co.in>, "Bhushan Awasare" <bhushana...@yahoo.com>, "Col D P Singh" <dpn...@gmail.com>, "Col M Barkakoti" <mridulb...@gmail.com>, "Col M S Talwar" <mandee...@rocketmail.com>, "Col Pradeep Bhatnagar" <prdpb...@yahoo.co.in>, "Col Vineet Sehgal" <vineetse...@gmail.com>, "Dhamankar Srirang" <dhamanka...@yahoo.com>, "Inderjeet Singh Chawla" <ijsc...@gmail.com>, "Jayawant Patil" <jayawan...@yahoo.co.in>, "K N Suresh" <sures...@hotmail.com>, "Karan Bajwa" <karanb...@yahoo.com>, "Maj S K Dhir" <dhirpr...@yahoo.co.in>, "Manish Bambha" <dipima...@yahoo.co.in>, "Manutosh Pande" <manuto...@yahoo.co.in>, "Munish Kukar" <munis...@gmail.com>, "P S BAKSHI" <mannat...@rediffmail.com>, "Rajesh Radhamma Nanukuttan" <aarye...@rediffmail.com>, "Somesh Tripathi" <tripath...@yahoo.co.in>, "Upkar Krishan Sharma" <monal...@yahoo.co.in>, "Mani Ahluwalia" <ahluwal...@gmail.com> Date: Friday, 12 November, 2010, 9:15 PM Subject: The great betrayal To: something to think about- written by Gp.Capt.Bewoor. Defence PSUs : The great betrayal Group Capt AG Bewoor     When India’s Saras crashed near Bangalore on March 6, killing its crew, the deafening silence in the media, as also from those who know about flight testing, design and manufacture of aeroplanes, was rudely apparent. What is the Saras for? Who would use it? What kind of pilots would fly such a piece of aeronautical disingenuity? Was the Saras made to order, or was it created without any Qualitative Requirements? Which potential airline or military user was consulted before the Saras design was frozen? Which certification agency oversaw the progress of Saras from the drawing board to the shop floor, and into the air? These and many more questions are out of the public domain, and alas, neither the media, nor the aeronautical engineering community, nor the Office of Scientific Adviser (SA)  to the Raksha Mantri (RM), nor the Parliament, nor the Defence Ministry have demanded answers from the Designers or the Flight Testing agency controlling the Saras programme. What can one say about the accountability of these organisations? Three precious lives of the Indian Air Force perished with the Saras. Why were they doing this job on an aeroplane which would never be inducted into the IAF? Why was this piece of poor aeronautical engineering thrust upon the IAF? Why do the armed forces get unusable weapons? Enough Is Enough. It logically leads us to a very basic question – why did the IAF do this for a lemon of an aircraft? No chief of the IAF will ever buy the Saras. Which VIP will fly in this piece of unreliable aeronautics? Just because the National  Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) can make nothing better, must we accept it and then precipitate an avoidable tragedy? What are the credentials of the NAL to design aeroplanes? Are NAL designers willing to travel in the Saras?

Indeed, the IAF must support indigenous industry, and it has done so for decades, many times against better judgment, and what is more, that it has sacrificed in men and efforts to boost indigenous technology.

After 26/11 the clamour  was: “enough is enough”.  Is it not time for the Indian Armed Forces to say the same thing about the DRDO, specially after the Saras crash? Arguments and justification for PSUs/DRDO/Ord Factories continuing to design and manufacture what the Armed Forces do not want, will remain. It has to stop somewhere, maybe this accident should galvanize us into affirmative action to resist being burdened with weapons that we do not need today, and we will certainly not need tomorrow.

India’s Security is in jeopardy: Some classic examples of our R&D failures are the Arjun tank, INSAS rifle, Saras, Kaveri, Akaash, Nag, Indra Radar, and so many more unknown to me and India.

During Aero India 2009 (Exclusive Coverage),  I was staying at the BSF Mess, and a young constable asked me:  “Saab, why have we been given the INSAS rifle? It stops more often than it fires”.

After pumping crores into Ordnance Factories, they make unreliable rifles for our jawans?

The recent revelations about DG Ordnance Factory Board, taking bribes from suppliers, tells us what is happening in that organization. What is worse, no one seems to want to remedy the malaise. We faujis have made so much fuss about the 6th Pay Commission, One Rank One Pension, Warrant of Precedence – fasts at Jantar Mantar, but no protest from any quarter, over all these years, about useless equipment being dumped upon the disciplined faujis?

In turn the fauji fights and wins the battle. Is this not willful dereliction of duty by successive DRDO scientists, and their supreme commander, the Scientific Advisers to RM? Each of them, without exception is guilty. Most SAs and their scientists are alive and flourishing.

Even today,  in 2009,  is it not shameful that we are importing flak jackets and winter clothing? Should DRDO/PSUs be even tasked to design and manufacture equipment for the Armed Forces? Won’t a small entrepreneur in NOIDA or Erode do a better job? Or better, ask Tirupur – they will replace their traditional hosiery with armored jackets for the Armed Forces, CISF, BSF, and ordinary cops.


Whenever the Armed Forces want a weapon system, the DRDO invariably says “we can make it” and they have an unassailable record of never delivering. Ultimately, we import that same equipment at ten times the cost. Stories of this perfidy are too many to enumerate. In the interim, battles take place, and till now over the last 62 years, the fauj has delivered victory to India, except in 1962.

The DRDO cannot boast of such a record. Why not? Forget the investment poured into DRDO, look at the loss of lives because of their incompetence and negligence.

The constant failure of the DRDO has placed India’s security in peril. The purpose of this article is not to list the unerring failures of our DRDO laboratories, Defense PSUs, and Ordnance Factories. It is to seek accountability, disciplinary action from those who have put India in jeopardy, by constant failure to give what is promised to the Indian Armed Forces to fight for India and her people.

Who gets punished for non-performance & manpower shortage?:  There’s no accountability. Fauji officers who underperform or commit blunders get punished, they miss promotions and the majority in any case waste out with as little as 25 years of service.

DRDO scientists continue unhindered till 60 years, even when they do not deliver. Which DRDO boffin was punished for the Jaguar that blew up over Pokhran, or for repeated failed missiles? Has anyone from Ordnance Factories been punished for the INSAS rifle? For nearly 35 years of their service, DRDO scientists fail to make what they are paid for. They fail in delivering goods. They fail to even copy a weapon system, and then retire gracefully with full benefits.

Can there be a more pitiable state of affairs in the scientific community of India? How much longer will DRDO and its associates gobble up large parts from the Consolidated Fund of India, with zero returns? How much longer must the Armed Forces be held hostage by non-performing technocrats? Will no one address this malady? Can India continue to accept this treachery? Is there no one who will free us from these incompetent high priests of technology? Can the media not seize this opportunity to reveal the truth and force remedial action? How come that greatest Scientific adviser  to the Raksha Mantri  could not ‘ignite the minds’ of his non-performing scientists? The basic cause is that motivational fuses were never inserted into DRDO scientists.

Manpower: Defense Labs complain of manpower shortages, and salaries being more attractive in the private sector. Scientists learn their trade with DRDO and walk away merrily into the waiting arms of the corporate world. Who has created this escape system? The DRDO bosses themselves for the painless exit of scientists at all levels.

On the other hand, the fauji has great difficulty leaving before superannuation, that very same fauji who has to fight with poor quality weapons that DRDO produces.

There is but one solution for this, and it has been mooted by persons more competent and knowledgeable than the author. Merge the 40 odd DRDO/CSIR/PSU laboratories that work for the Armed Forces into 10 to 12 laboratories. Do the same thing with Ordnance Factories. Relocate manpower to achieve 100 percent manning. Those who do not agree can go home. Difficult indeed, but inescapable, and the economic imperatives of the day demand it is done, sooner than later.

Let the Saras crash be the catalyst for this overdue change. It is pertinent to keep in mind that this is not just an economic solution but ineluctable for India’s security. Tragic though it was, let something beneficial emerge from the passing away of the Saras aircrew.

Some people have opined that the engine of the Saras is very reliable. So what? Till now no one has manufactured a flying engine, and pilots do not fly engines. Some years back the Government  announced that 25 percent of all work in DRDO would be outsourced. Immediately, DRDO/Ordnance Factory employees went on strike.

Observe their scandalous conduct – they will not do it themselves, and neither will they let more competent designers/manufacturers make weapons to fight our foes.


Time to strike: For years we have been constrained from taking precipitate action to rectify the systematic non-performance of DRDO. The communists and trade unions stymied any such moves. But today the economic realities present a rare opportunity to strike at the root of the malaise. The trade unions dare not protest against irrefutable evidence of poor results from DRDO, despite technological and financial support for the last 60 years. Politicians of all hues will hesitate to protect the recurring drain on India’s resources.

There is a need for TV channels/newspapers/journals to persistently highlight the constant failures of DRDO. Just as they forced the Government to take action in the Jessica Lal and other similar perfidies, they must play a role in boosting India’s defense capability by exposing the lethargy and insensitivity of these so called ‘scientists’.

The gridlock established by DRDO and its politico-bureaucratic masters has to be smashed if India is to produce weapons systems that she desperately needs. Or else we will remain a hollow power, despite our enviable manpower and infrastructure.

Look at ISRO successfully completing the Moon mission in just 300 crores, and compare it with the wasteful gobbling up of 100 times that money by DRDO, with no tangible results. Latest news reports say that DRDO is recruiting from IITs because of the economic slowdown. Will 500 M Techs/MBAs from IITs/IIMs change the non-performing culture that is ingrained into the DRDO psyche? No.

Unless an undeterred campaign of removing non-performing deadwood is done ruthlessly, fresh inductions into DRDO will be swiftly corrupted. Nations that can generate their own defense capability with reliable industry are respected. India cannot be a regional power with the present DRDO.

No Sacrifice: A nother reason for this crass callousness by DRDO is that none of their kith or kin will ever have to use the equipment they design and manufacture.  If sacrifices were necessary from the 50s to 80s to build the indigenous industry with unstinting support from the Armed Forces, it has been done in full measure. That support has not been redeemed by the DRDO. Now the Armed Forces must seek retribution by demanding that DRDO delivers what we need, not what they can make. Serving senior officers have to take up this cause, and the retired fraternity must also put in their worth.

The only solution is to have just 10 to 12 worthwhile design/production laboratories and hand over the rest to private industry. Let’s get rid of what can be best described as jetsam. Permit Tata, L&T, Mahindra, Wipro, Leyland, Reliance, Birlas to take over DRDO Laboratories. The Director General of Ordnance Services (DGOF) should be placed under the Integrated Defense Staff. HAL should be made answerable to the DCAS/DCOAS/DCNS for their respective projects. Unless we force the issue, we will remain militarily stagnant.

The souls of the Saras crew demand action. There are people who can make it happen. Media help is necessary. Criminal neglect needs to be exposed. The authorities in the armed forces must ensure that their men do not become canon fodder for want of suitable fighting wherewithal.

(The author is a former Indian Air Force Officer.)

Also read:  Indian Army, foreign hand  | Are our forces lower caste? |  Our military mess |

Group Capt Bewoor was commissioned into the Transport stream of the IAF in Oct 1965. He has flown more than 5000 hours on 11 types of aircraft. He was a Cat A flying instructor, an Air Force Examiner, and one of the 12 pilots selected for conversion onto IL 76 in USSR in 1984. Groupie Bewoor commanded 44 SQn with IL-76s and led the Airborne Assault into Maldives on 03 Nov 1988.  He was the Senior Instructor at DSSC Air Wing for three years.

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Keep Smiling,
Warm Regards,

Sanjay Sinha
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