India's Isolationist policy and the Military....

[Vamsi Musunuru <vamsi@siliconcorp.com>]

    I am a great admirer of George Fernandes, the Defense
Minister....not for any party or political affiliations but for his role
in giving India a Global Military responsibility for the first time
ever.  In the past, many defense ministers have avoided this difficult
task - maybe Viagra would have been helpful?  However, Fernandes doesn't
need any help.  By confronting China, US, and UK about their
hypocritical policies on Nuclear Weapons and their oppressive approach
to diplomacy around the world, Mr. Fernandes has made us all proud.  In
essence, we are telling the world that we are capable of being fair and
stand up for the liberties of all people around the World.

    One of the statements made by George Fernandes that confirm that
India is challenging the Ideological Hegemony and the Military
Oppression of the world Powers is that India is planning to build
Aircraft Carriers and Airborne Survailence Systems.  In a recent
comment, he admitted that India is far behind in using Information
Technology in the battlefield.  He said that while the Men and Women
serving in the armed forces are the most dedicated and the finest in
India, they don't have the hardware necessary to fight a Modern War!!

    I think Fernandes should have gone further and emphasized the
importance of Force Multipliers and what I would like to call
Intelligent Seek and Destroy Systems (ISDS).  Maybe the Military
analysts and experts would call it something else but the ISDS includes
such entities as the ground-based Laser Systems that can destroy a
Satellite's transponders in the first few seconds after a War starts.
They can also include air defense systems that can launch a
counterstrike against an invading Air Armada.  It can be argued that the
ISDS will form the first line of defense and it will also be the most
active part of a Modern Fighting Force in the first few minutes of a
War.

    Modern Wars will be highly destructive, short, and decisive.  In its
present state India will be unable to defend itself.  A modern Force
doesn't have to descend upon Indian land, air, and sea to do begin the
pounding.  For example, Tomahawk Missiles have a range of 1200+ miles
which is slightly higher than the Missile Systems developed by India
recently.  Furthermore, Missiles like Tomahawks use GPS leading to a
coordinated and "simultaneous" attack strategies.

    Not only are foreign forces superior in Technology but they also
outnumber the size of Indian Armed Forces.  For example, within 10 years
the US plans to produce over 1000 F22 Air Superiority Fighters and over
9000 Joint Strike Fighters - that is 10,000 aircrafts in total!!  JSF
will look and feel exactly like the F22 but they serve a common purpose
for the Air Force and the Navy.  Of course, the F22 is clearly a
superior fighter and it will be used to establish air dominance in the
first few days of a war.  While the Joint Strike Fighter will be used to
do the pounding (bombing).

    Both of these fighters carry air to air missiles and intelligent
systems that are simply not available to the Indian Air Force.  If
necessary, they can establish a quick and decisive dominance over the
Indian Air Force.

    The story is very simple, if India doesn't look at itself as a
Global player then someone else in the World will tell India how to play
its role.  I believe we can surely do better than that.

Sincerely,
Vamsi M.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a posting to India_Policy Discussion list:  debate@indiapolicy.org
Rules, Procedures, Archives:            http://www.indiapolicy.org/debate/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------