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Indian arms wrestle
Published: 29 July, 2009, 10:20
Edited: 01 October, 2009, 12:00
For half a century, India's weapons of choice have been Russian. Now, with its defense budget having been boosted by $40 billion, the US, Israel and others are trying to elbow into the lucrative market.
I am happy to know that India's future air-force will be dominated by Lockheed Martin products. Lockheed Martin's GPS Satellite became operational in Sep 2009. India must lean towards the USA for stealth and satellite and smart technology because the future of warfare will be reduced to indoor games. India must take a good look at the German Leopard MBT and scrap it’s Tin factory at Avadi. The Leopard is far superior to the M1 Abrams and the British Challenger 2 in multi terrain mobility, speed, firepower, armor protection, crew safety, electronics, night vision, communications, computing, defenses, jamming and far more submersible than the competition. It is surprisingly.. almost an amphibian! The rapid application of development and improvements to the Leopard 2 A6 EX has left the British Challenger 2 and the American M1 way behind. Mere size of the Gun does not determine the efficiency of the Tank (range, speed, maneuverability and technology does). The differences between these 3 leading countries in the manufacture of MBTs can be compared with the differences they have between themselves in production of automobiles. The MBT is after all a special vehicle on wheels. Also few NSSN Class nuclear attack subs with Tomahawk Cruise missiles will be an effective deterrent against Pak.
India should not be worried about the unpleasant news of the recent US approval to sell F 16s to Pak. Islamabad has been begging US for years for the clearance of it’s purchase of F16s. Pakis are locked with the manufacturer Lockheed Martin to purchase the F16s it had originally ordered in the 80s. The US allowed the supply of 40 F16s to Pak during the 1980s but stopped deliveries in 1990 over discovery of Pak’s covert nuclear weapons program. In 1998 Pak openly conducted it’s nuclear test. Followed by the US military intervention in Afghanistan after the 911 WTC attack, Pentagon gave two older model F16s to pacify Pak and to get it’s support in Afghanistan. F16s first came into service in 1976. It is a very old dogfighter. In fact the US Air Force does not buy any more F16s from Lockheed Martin. The out dated F 16s of the USAF are to be replaced by F 35 Lightning II. So let the Americans sell the lemons to Pakistan. USA has already sold F35 Lightning IIs to Australia, Italy, UK, Israel and Turkey. Why not India insist for the F35s from the US. India should buy dogfighters with stealth and BVR (beyond visual range) capability which Pak’s F16s lack. There is a huge opposition from the House International Relations Committee members here in the US against arms sale to Pak after the US has become the relentless target of Islamic extremists. This opposition has only grown stronger in the recent years. India has never attempted to annex it’s neighbors soil. India is not an aggressor and does not have the record of starting a war. The US must consider India’s virtues and strengthen India effectively to deter it’s neighbors from starting wars which will ultimately help Americas war on terror.
The 1965 Indo-Pak war witnessed the largest Tank warfare since the WW2. This war was fought mostly by land forces. Pak was clearly better equipped with American made armor. The then famous Patton Tank was Pak’s MBT in addition to Shermans, Chaffees and a plethora of other equipment Pak had rapidly amassed from where ever possible for its planned attack on Inida. The Bulk of India’s fleet were the older ShermanM4 and India was totally unprepared with inferior equipment. Pak had an overwhelming technological advantage over the Indian Tanks and over all superior equipment at that time. Pak also had a larger Tank fleet than India in 1965. Despite the qualitative and numerical superiority of Pakistani armour, Pakistan was outfought on the battlefield by India. Ultimately it boils down to the solider and his patriotism/determination behind the army’s equipment that decides the fate of war. India, today is in a position to purchase the most morden equipment the world can provide by slapping cash across the table. In view of the 1965 seanario; the heavy casualty and sacrifice on the Indian side to win the war – India must go for the full import of the Leopard 2A6EX, Challenger II 2Es (supposed to provide the utmost crew safety – not yet battle tested) and the ISRAELI MERKAVA -4 battle tested and proven for best performance and crew safety on record to date.
AL-KHALID’s design is based on the Chinese Type 90/2 Tank armed with a 125 smooth bore gun – now manufactured in Pakistan with Chinese assistance. ARJUN’s design is based on the German Leopard -2. To start with the Arjun has a huge advantage over superior design compared to the Chinese T-9l. Armor: They both have similar protection against several types of rounds while the Al-Khalid’s armor is modular Composite, Arjun has Heavy modular Composite armor providing better crew safety. The Arjun is heavier than the Al-khalid while they both are equal speed. Al-Khalid’s main gun is a smooth bore. Arjun – Rifled Gun. A rifled gun is a rarity and is found in the British Challenger (which is in the fore front of the contention of the worlds best MBT. Some of it’s specs are still classified). The Arjun is semi-submersible while the Al-khalid is not which is a huge advantage for the Arjun. It is true that the Arjuns are not fully developed to it’s optimized performance levels, still remaining on the drawing board and are snagged by defects. It is also true that India does not have enough of them. This day and age armor piercing technology is rapidly developing leaps and bounds, so the Tank’s armor alone cannot provide sufficient crew protection in the future. The M1 Abrams suffered huge casualty from a much inferior Iraqi army. Several M1s top side and rear armor suffered penetration while a few others suffered total fire destruction. Left and right side non-ballistic skirts were repeatedly penetrated by anti-armor RPG fire according to reports. The efficiency of the Indian Tank and crew protection can be only achieved by Technological advancement over the enemy in all fronts and by fully importing them from the most advanced nations in the business.
It’s high time India stopped dumping it’s precious recourses on Russian weapons which were always outdated. We may take pride in indigenous production of Aircrafts, Tanks etc. Sadly our armament industry is handicapped by the cancer of corruption and our R&D is highly lethargic and straggles way behind always giving an edge over technology to the enemy who purchases the latest weapons and systems from the West. It’s great that our country has decided to purchase the Boeing P-8 against the Airbus 319. India must insist for the Boeing P-8 Poseidon which is exclusively being developed for the US Navy (but perhaps our requirements are different). India's shift to USA for airborne intelligence is a relief. Intelligence determines the course and the direction of war. I hope India sticks on to the USA for all it’s missile technology and steps away from it’s former ally, Russia. The different types of failures of the SCUD missiles in the Iraqi arsenal including it’s pathetic failure to reach it’s targets is a warning to India to keep away from former Soviet duds. Our Government’s purchase of six Lockheed Martin Super Hercules military transports valued at $1B will finally make our troops safe.