tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post370720751790939227..comments2024-03-28T05:22:10.255-07:00Comments on Broadsword by Ajai Shukla - Strategy. Economics. Defence.: Rafale deal faces turbulent weather: Part 1Broadswordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076780076240598482noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-80767930446069082582017-11-24T18:53:09.803-08:002017-11-24T18:53:09.803-08:00Reason is simple,
France is the only reliable def...Reason is simple,<br /><br />France is the only reliable defence partner for India, from fighters or submarines. It is in our strategic interest to support French Defence research, whether we like it or not. <br /><br />Russia is with China<br />US is not reliable<br />Israel don't have full spectrum competence<br />Euro zone. Too much of complexity. Even a Italian marine case may stop your Eurofighter flying as Italy is supplying some stuff in Eurofighter.<br />All this cannot be discussed in press because of obvious reason. Simple tables of figures will not add up to cost of aircraft.<br /><br />As far as technology transfer is concerned, nobody is going to teach you how they developed the product or process. Reverse Engineer if you are smart. That option is still available with 36 aircraft also. China us doing the same with Russia. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01888617556534200241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-77268498533954412622017-11-24T09:58:12.765-08:002017-11-24T09:58:12.765-08:00the timing of this article itself is suspect. what...the timing of this article itself is suspect. what were you and the opposition doing for the last 14 months, when the contract was signed. suddenly congress is smelling a scam.<br />Congress had 2+ years time, they should have closed the deal or scrapped it and not passed on messy and dodgy calculations to NDA govt. This govt realised that starting all over again would have been a bigger disaster. who cares if CCS was bypassed, we all know PM is the boss and he took a call for 36. what they could have done is to avoid the modifications which jacked up the costs. that could have come in the follow on order if any. anyways its too late to do anything. Would be nice to see how the offset amount is fulfilled. best is to give orders to all companies so that no one can raise a scam. next scam in the making is single engine contract and then naval contract. some things will never change.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-9774049509381028222017-11-24T02:04:31.647-08:002017-11-24T02:04:31.647-08:00It was Modi ji's first major tour of europe an...It was Modi ji's first major tour of europe and he had the sword of being behind the killing of muslims hanging over his head. He had to offer something to France with a left wing President. A major power, that smoothed his entry and be accepted by the rest of the Europeans without them being embarrassed by being in the company of a rather undesirable PM. <br /><br />He had no other choice. It was a card he had to play to be treated as an equal and he played it well. After his term(s) is/are over, he will be liable for prosecution again in europe for genocide against humanity. His days of world wide travel will again be over.<br /><br />Prasun Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-74291018154423046732017-11-23T15:23:47.400-08:002017-11-23T15:23:47.400-08:00The questions you are raising have been added by N...The questions you are raising have been added by Nitin Gokhale in the excerpt of his book reproduced in Swarajya.<br /><br /><b>On CCS approval</b><br />The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) also gave its approval to the new proposal before Modi left for Paris on 9 April 2015.<br /><br /><b>On negotitations with L2/Eurofighter</b><br />Under the circumstances, there was no alternative but to withdraw the original tender, Parrikar told Modi since the CVC (Central Vigilance Commission) guidelines provide that negotiations cannot be held with the competitor who has come second in the contract (L2 vendor in officialese).Krishnanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-55541982802806931342017-11-23T14:36:07.957-08:002017-11-23T14:36:07.957-08:00was that the defence ministry had realised as far ...was that the defence ministry had realised as far back as 2012 that Rafale might have been erroneously declared the lowest bidder.<br /><br />sir with all due respect dont you think this seems to be the bigger scam???<br />why was such a situation allowed to arise...???<br />plus mmrca requirement is as old as 2000s.... deal for more mirages was being worked out by NDA 1 but mirage assembly line finally shut....<br />Vulkan85noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-27704774444079015372017-11-23T12:13:39.650-08:002017-11-23T12:13:39.650-08:00Pathetic article.... requirement for aircraft was ...Pathetic article.... requirement for aircraft was identified in 2002...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00901970916246126059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-80229217402105838472017-11-23T10:05:54.535-08:002017-11-23T10:05:54.535-08:00IF BJP govt take a decision on buying a aircraft w...IF BJP govt take a decision on buying a aircraft which airforce so badly need then media and reporters have a big problem , i think the author of the article would have been happy if BJP had slept over the file like the congress . As a indian citizen i dont care if we paid more or less , what i care is our air force has fighters to face the enemy.Decision paralysis is not going to help the nation .Any decision is good decision if the alternate is NO decision ..Indian News Media is biased and paidAvik Nayakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03081726350887145599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-23895836007272326002017-11-23T09:02:33.927-08:002017-11-23T09:02:33.927-08:00Very well articulated Ajai. The current deal leave...Very well articulated Ajai. The current deal leaves a lot of unanswered questions on probity and due process undertaken. Most of the counters by the government to criticism have been personal attacks and obfuscations. A basic apples to apples comparison of both the new and old deal would show we are overpaying and the other mmrca contenders should have been given the same opportunity to bid for the new 36 aircrafts deal.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-53363813902413187282017-11-23T07:30:33.891-08:002017-11-23T07:30:33.891-08:00 Compare rafale with su mki wrt life cycle costs.
... Compare rafale with su mki wrt life cycle costs.<br /><br />1 Now that brahmos has been integrated with su mki we have a formidable defensive option wrt CHIN-PAK<br /><br />2 Why were the euro fighters not asked to match the L1 Price.? Else 64 euro fighters and 64 Rafales with TOT WOULD HAVE AUGMENTED OUR SQUADRON STRENGTH<br />Vikram_prasadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06198432511981448264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-73869750394366425352017-11-23T06:05:49.348-08:002017-11-23T06:05:49.348-08:00Dear Colonel,
I gets the muddle that is being cre...Dear Colonel,<br /><br />I gets the muddle that is being created.<br />If I remember my reading of Broadsword earlier, there used to despair at indecision that 'St Anthony' was prone to. Under his leadership the MoD just sat on its back, actually doing nothing at all.<br />The negotiations between HAL and Dassault broke down on certifying the HAL built airplanes and later, the money. We actually did not see the unit costs of them acs as the result.<br /><br />Is the breast beating that is now happening is because of the Guj elections or maybe Lokheed Martin or their ilk seeing opportunity or your news(?)paper policy suddenly changing?<br /><br />Dileep Puranik<br /><br /> Wg Cdr (Retd) D M Puraniknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-1855898232876680702017-11-23T05:20:43.504-08:002017-11-23T05:20:43.504-08:00Hi Ajai,
1) Due dilligence done? Maybe or Maybe n...Hi Ajai,<br /><br />1) Due dilligence done? Maybe or Maybe not. But context is always important.<br /><br />2) Why did French get it on a platter? Again context is important<br /><br />3) UPA took a decade? Guilty written across all governments, but let us not forget IAF is an equal culprit<br /><br />4) Did NDA buy it more costly? Context, Context, Context<br /><br />Telling a narative or having a preamble is always important. So let's look at the above 4 questions with facts.<br /><br />A) It was a known fact in year 2000 that IAF wanted more Mirage 2000s in lock, stock and barrel. But government (gov) went with multi vendor for what was essentially a single engine fighter to a mix of single and double engine fighter. That was the start of the problem.<br />B) We wanted the French and we got the French. It happened across UPA and NDA<br />C) The discussion started in 2000, but what took the UPA government another 3 years to issue the tender for what was essentially a critical requirement due to falling squadrons. Both gov were at fault because no gov in India wants to carry forward any of the good work<br />D) IAF is the biggest culprit here along with the gov. Their requirement, their ask, their criticality, their falling squadrons and they couldn't plan this across a decade better? And most importantly, their fault in coming up with a winner who everyone knew was not cheap. If it isn't their fault since they are only support to select a winner, then why cry that it is expensive when you knew that both the winners were going to be expensive?<br />E) At the end, the current NDA gov had to take a decision on the strategic requirement without going bankrupt. This was also probably why Antony said that he would not sign on the dotted lines when he knew Rafale was the winner<br />F) And finally cost! I am in a business world and I can prove it that Rafale is cheap or expensive depending on which side my affiliation lies, UPA or NDA. True cost of Rafale is always flyaway cost + Support + Armament + Setting up new lines + etc. Unless we know that, everything else is just a narrative either supporting UPA or NDA.<br /><br />From my point of view, no one is discussing the strategic compulsions in any of this discussion. If NDA cancelled the deal and not signed 36 Rafales, what was the strategic outcome of our relationship with French? What was it's impact on the world with respect to our standing? What was our answer to the replacement of our Nuclear delivery which today is dependent on Mirgage 2000and had to be replaced? Should we have signed an expensive deal for 126 Rafales by claiming losing squadron strength which is at a critical level?<br /><br />Without context we cannot say if UPA or NDA took the right or wrong decision. But IAF has to be a party to this discussion when we are debating this.Teewsbbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11558172919681765977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-1963391825116840962017-11-23T03:41:33.064-08:002017-11-23T03:41:33.064-08:00Excellent analysis Sir.
I think there are these ...Excellent analysis Sir. <br /><br />I think there are these factors to consider:<br /><br />1) Strategic needs of the country - We were getting a full ToT with the old deal, would have helped develop indigenous ability.<br /><br />2) Needs of IAF - if IAF needed 11 squadrans of MMRCA's, was getting 7, how could it operate with just 2, with no clarity about the plans about the remainder? Wouldn't getting planes of the other partners (Grippen/F16) become a logistical headache for IAF? (Spare parts, staff training) <br /><br />3) Costs - the base model costs may not have escalated a bit, but if the cost breakdown in some media reports is to be believed, the strange bit is the excessive amount being paid for HMDS integration? (Elbit-Adani JV)<br /><br />4) Expertise of the chosen private sector partners - Why not sell off some stake in HAL, get some private management in, if efficiency was a concern? Also, why not get companies such as L&T involved, a professionally managed firm with a track record in precision engineering, and having public sector Financial Institutions as its largest shareholders. Why are we giving this to a conglomerate from oil & telecom?<br />Saaf Baathttps://saafbaat.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-2265939968532498922017-11-23T03:26:45.653-08:002017-11-23T03:26:45.653-08:00well, I have great respect for you, I hear you alw...well, I have great respect for you, I hear you always.<br />I must say 3 things.<br />great aircraft, PM not corrupt, HAL needs to be sorted out.<br />samAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-3205952708727968122017-11-22T20:56:14.628-08:002017-11-22T20:56:14.628-08:00Dammed if you do , Dammed if you don't
We can...Dammed if you do , Dammed if you don't<br /> We can't make in 30 years ; We cant buy in 10 years <br /> No wonder China did not adopt so called Democracy .<br /> We have one excellent skill , pull down everyone, progress be dammed.Northstarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03612965219775804146noreply@blogger.com