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INDIA's defence policy aims at promoting and sustaining durable peace in the sub-continent and equipping the defence forces adequately to safeguard against aggression. The Supreme Command of the armed forces is vested in the President of India. The responsibility for national defence, however, rests with the Cabinet. The Defence Minister is responsible to Parliament for all matters concerning defence.
Administrative and operational control of the armed forces is exercised by the Ministry of Defence and the three services headquarters.
As on 1 November 1993 the Chiefs of Staff are:
Chief of the Army Staff : General Shankar RoychowdhuryChief of the Naval Staff : Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat
Chief of the Air Staff : Air Chief Marshal S. K. Sareen
At the Army Headquarters in New Delhi, the Chief of the Army Staff is assisted by the Vice-Chief of the Army Staff and seven other Principal Staff Officers, namely, the two Deputy Chiefs of the Army Staff, Adjutant General, Quarter-master General, Master General of Ordnance, Military Secretary and Engineer-in-Chief. The Army is organised into six commands, viz., Southern, Eastern, Western, Central, Northern and Training. Each command is under a General Officer Commanding-in-Chief who holds the rank of Lieutenant General.
A General Officer Commanding-in-Chief is the commander of demarcated geographical area and has both field and static formations under his command. The major field formations are Corps, Division and Brigade commanded by a General Officer Commanding of the rank of Lieutenant General, a General Officer Commanding of the rank of Major General and Brigadier, respectively. The major static formations are Areas, Independent Sub-Areas and Sub-Areas. An Area is commanded by a General Offficer Commanding of the rank of Major General and an independent Sub-Area and Sub-Area by a Brigadier.
The Army consists of a number of arms and services. These are:
Armoured Corps, Regiment of Artillery, Corps of Engineers, Corps of Signals, Mechanised Infantry, Infantry, Army Service Corps, Military Nursing Service, Army Medical Corps, Army Dental Corps, Army Ordnance Corps, Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Remount and Veterinary Corps, Military Farms Service, Army Education Corps, Intelligence Corps, Corps of Military Police, Judge Advocate General Department, Anny Physical Training Corps, Pioneer Corps, Army Postal Service Crops and Defence Security Corps. In addition, the Army has its own Recruiting Organisation, Record Offices, Depots, Boys Establishments and Selection Centres and training institutions.
The Navy is responsible for defence and security of India's maritime interests and assets, both in times of war and peace. The Chief of the Naval Staff at the Naval Headquarters, New Delhi, is assisted by fourPrincipal Staff Officers, namely, the Vice Chief of Naval Staff, Chief of Personnel, Chief of Material and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff. The Navy has three commands i.e., Western, Eastern and Southern with their headquarters located at Bombay, Vishakhapatnam and Cochin, respectively. Each command is headed by a Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief in the rank of Vice Admiral. Western Command and Easlern Command have under them operational fleets i.e., Western and Eastern Fleets comprising warships, submarines, aircraft and other support ships. Southern Naval Command is responsible for all training activities of the Indian Navy.
The Indian Navy is a well balanced three dimensional force consisting of sophisticated missile capable warships, two aircraft carriers, minesweepers, advanced submarines and the latest aircraft in its inventory. Many of the warships are of indigenous design and have been constructed in Indian shipyards. These ships compare well with the ships of similar capability constructed by the advanced countries. The Naval forces are maintained and supported by modern dockyard facilities encompassing state of-the-art technology. At present, it has two major Naval bases at Bombay and Vishakhapatnam.
The Coast Guard was constituted as an armed force of the Union in 1978 under the Coast Guard Act to protect the maritime and other national interests in the maritime zones of India, covering an area of approximately 28 lakh (2.8 million) sq km. The force, which is headed by Director General Coast Guard, is functioning under the effective control of the Ministry of Defence. The headquarters of the force is presently located in New Delhi and regional headquarters are at Bombay, Madras and Port Blair. The three regions namely Western, Eastern and Andaman and Nicobar cover ten districts, one in each of the eight coastal states in the mainland and two in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. At present, the Coast Guard district headquarters are functioning at Vadinar, Okha and Porbandar in Gujarat, Cochin in Kerala, Mandapam and Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu, Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Haldia in West Bengal, New Mangalore in Karnataka, Paradeep in Orissa, Diglipur and Campbell Bay in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Coast Guard air enclaves are functioning at Goa and Calcutta. Coast Guard air station squadrons are operational at Daman and Madras. Establishment of DHQ at Goa and stations at Kavaratti and Kamorta are being planned.
The force has effectively served national interests in high-risk areas. Special trawlers fishing illegally have been apprehended. Coast Guard ships and aircraft have been regularly assisting the customs authorities in anti smuggling operations. In 1990 and 1991 contraband worth Rs 548.629 million and Rs 639.3 million respectively was confiscated while in 1992, Rs 218.427 million worth contraband was confiscated. Besides, the force is available for search and rescue operations, anti-pollution and other duties in the maritime zones of the country. The recent oil spill situations of Nicobar Islands and Bombay were efficiently handled by the Coast Guard.
The Air Force is organised both on functional as well as geographical basis. There are five operational commands. These are:
Western Air Command, South-Western Air Command, Central Air Command, Eastern Air Command and Southern Air Command. In addition, Maintenance Command and Training Command are two functional commands.
At the Air headquarters in New Delhi, the Chief of the Air Staff is assisted by the Vice-Chief of Air Staff, Deputy Chief of Air Staff, Air Officer Incharge Administration, Air Officer Incharge Maintenance, Air Officer Incharge Personnel and Inspector General Flight Safety and Inspection. These six Principal Staff Officers are assisted by Assistant Chiefs of Air Staff.
Today, the Air Force consists of an array of modern aircraft. Its fleet consists of fighter bombers, air superiority fighters, interceptors, transport and logistic aircraft and helicopters. The fighter force comprises Hunters and Ajeets which are older generation aircraft and MIG-21 variants, MiG23s, MiG-25s, MiG-27s and Jaguar which represent the modern generation strike aircraft. MiG-29s and Mirage-2000 provide the Air Force with a present generation air defence aircraft. The ageing light bomber, Canberra is presently used in ancillary roles. The transport fleet consists of IL-76s, AN-32s, Boeing-737 and indigenously produced HS-748. Dornier-228 has replaced the Otter aircraft and is manufactured under licence by the HAL. The helicopter fleet has been modernised through acquisition of Ml-8s, Ml-17s and Ml-26s. In addition, the force has been supplemented with Ml-25s and Ml-35s which are used as attack helicopters. Ml-25 helicopter has done yeoman service for the IPKF in Sri Lanka. Chetak/Cheetah helicopters are manufactured by HAL for the Air Force. They are used as airborne Forward Air Controller (FAC), Anti-tank Guided Missile (ATGM) carrier and for search and rescue operations.
HPT-32 manufactured by HAL is used as the basic trainer aircraft. HJT16 (Kiran) and Polish Iskara aircrafts are used as trainers in the applied stage of training. HS-748 is used as transport aircraft trainer. The Air Force MI-8 Helicopters are specially modified to undertake tasks in Antarctica. MI-17 and Chetak are used for high-altitude operations. They provide logistics support to ground forces.
COMMISSIONED RANKS
Following are the commissioned ranks in the three services; each rank is shown opposite to its equivalent in the other services:
| General | Admiral | Air Chief Marshal | Lieutenant General | Vice Admiral | Air Marshal | Major General | Rear Admiral | Air Vice Marshal | Brigadier | Commodore | Air Commodore | Colonel | Captain | Group Captain | Lieutenant Colonel | Commander | Wing Commander | Major | Lieutenent Commander | Squadron Leader | Captain | Lieutenant | Flight Lieutenant | Lieutenant | Sub-Lieutenant | Flying Officer | Second Lieutenant | Acting Sub-Lieutenant | Pilot Officer |
A substantial part of defence stores needed by the Services is now being developed and produced in the country. The responsibility for this has been entrusted to the Department of Defence Production and Supplies in the Ministry of Defence. The Department directs and coordinates production of material and equipment required by the Armed Forces.
ORDNANCE FACTORIES
At present, 39 ordnance factories spread all over India operate a wide range of technologies and product-mix. Some of the important products are field guns, anti-aircraft guns, mortars, various small arms and ammunition for weapons and guns, rockets, projectiles, pyro-technics, bombs, grenades, mines, demolition charges, depth charges, infantry combat vehicles, battle tanks, self-propelled guns, transport trucks and patrol vehicles. High-altitude and combat clothing, optical and fire control instruments, engineering equipment, supply dropping equipment including parachutes, rubberised items, various knitted and woven items like blankets, web equipment and a wide-range of general stores are produced by them.
(Rs. crore = Rs. 10 million)
The gross value of production in ordnance factories has risen from Rs 1,846 crore in 1987-88 to Rs, 2,225 crore in 1991-92. The budgeted gross value of production for 1992-93 is Rs 2,500 crore. Production of 5.56 mm (indigenously designed) weapon system has been started in ordnance factories. These factoriesare also successfully producing bombs required by Air Force. Besides, liquid fuel required for successful flight trials of PRITHVI and AGNI missiles, igniters and copper liners for the warheads were also supplied in the development of PRITHVI missile.
To utilise the sparable capacities after meeting services requirements, linear and lateral shift in customer/product profiles is taken up as a major thrust area of operations in the coming years.
The production of Ajeya tank (T-72) and Sarath (BMP-II) infantry combat vehicle continues at Heavy Vehicle Factory, Avadi and Ordnance Factory. Medak, respectively. A most modern and sophisticated opto-electronic production unit is set up at Dehradun to produce the opto-electronic fire control and night vision devices required for Ajeya Tank (T-72MI) and Sarath Vehicle (BMP-II). Completely indigenous production of Ajeya tank and Sarath infantry combat vehicle is planned from 1994-95.
DEFENCE UNDERTAKINGS
There are eight public sector undertakings (PSUs) under the Department of Defence Production and Supplies. These are: Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL), Bharat Earth Movers Ltd. (BEML), Mazagon Dock Ltd. (MDL), Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd. (GRSE) Goa Shipyard Ltd. (GSL), Bharat Dynamics Ltd. (BDL), and Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd. (MIDHANI). These undertakings, besides meeting the requirements of the defence sector, also cater to the needs of the civil sector.
Of the eight defence PSUs, five PSUs, namely, HAL, MDL, GRSE, BDL and MIDHANI are wholly owned by the Government of India. During 1991-92, 20 per cent shares each of BEL and BEML were sold to various banks/financial institutions/mutual funds. GSL, which was till recently a subsidiary of MDL, has now become a Government company in which 51.08 per cent shares are held by the President of India, 47.21 per cent by MDL and 1.71 per cent by other parties. The value of production of the PSUs during 1992-93 has been of the order of Rs 3, 769.17 crore (provisional) against Rs 3, 272.22 crore in 1991-92. During the year 1991-92, the value of sales by these PSUs to the defence and civil sectors amounted to Rs 2,182 crore and Rs 1,260 crore respectively.
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) set up in 1964, has 12 divisions located in six states with its corporate office at Bangalore. The principal function of the company is to design, manufacture, repair and overhaul various types of aircraft, helicopters andrelated aero-engines, avionics, instruments and accessories. HAL is currently manufacturing Jaguar, Dornier-228 and MiG-27M aircraft, Cheetah and Chetak helicopters, and various types of aero-engines. HAL is also engaged in the design and development of an Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH). The first prototype of the ALH flew on 30 August 1992.
Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) was established in 1954. Presently, it is the country's premier electronics organisation, having nine manufacturing units located at Bangalore. Madras, Hyderabad, Machilipatnam,Pune, Taloja, Panchkula, Ghaziabad and Kotdwara. Its corporate office is at Bangalore. BEL is engaged in the design, development and manufacture of sophisticated, state-of-the art electronic equipments for the use of Indian Defence Services, and para military organisations. Other users are All India Radio, Doordarshan. Department of Telecommunications. Police, Meteorological Depatment etc. It has a very wide product range and makes over 350 different products, comprising communications equipment, radars for military and civil use, optical and opto-electronic equipment, sound and vision broadcasting equipment and electronic components.
Bharat Earth Movers Ltd. (BEML) commenced its operations in January 1965. lt has three modern production units at Bangalore, Kolar Gold Fields and Mysore a subsidiary foundry unit in Tarikere (Karnataka) and a nation-wide network of sales offces, spare parts depots and service centres. Its corporate office is at Bangalore. The company is presently engaged in the design, development and manufacture of a wide range of sophisticated equipments and systems, particularly earth-moving machines, rail coaches, tracklaying equipment, heavy-duty trucks and trailers, diesel engines etc. BEML is a leader in earth-moving industry with over 70 per cent market share. Over 30,000 of its equipments and systems are productively deployed in India and over 30 other countries across the globe.
Mazagon Dock Ltd. (MDL) is the country's leading ship-building yard and can build warships upto 6000T displacement and merchant ships upto 2700 DWT. It has units at Bombay, Nhava and Mangalore and headquarters at Bombay. At present, its major activities include construction of submarines, missile boats and destroyers etc. for the Indian Navy and offshore supply vessels and well-head platforms etc. for the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC). The company also provides diving services as well as services for coating/laying sub-sea pipes.
Garden Reach Ship-builders and Engineers LTd. (GRSE) is a multi-unit shipyard-cum-general engineeing company. It has six units in and around Calcutta and a Diesel Engine Plant at Ranchi (Bihar). Its corporate office is at Calcutta. It has three distinct divisions - ship engineering and engine divisions. It is presently engaged in the construction of corvettes, frigates, fleet tankers, survey vessels etc. for the Naval Physical Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL) and in the refit of ships belonging to the lndian Navy and the Coast Guard.
The company is also manufacturing portable bridges, marine sewage treatment plant, deck-machinery items, agricultural pumps and diesel engines etc.
The activities of Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL) located at Vasco-da-Gama, primarily comprise construction and repair/refit of ships/vessels. It has undertaken construction/refit of variety of vessels for the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard as well as for the non-Defence sector. It is currently building advanced offshore patrol vessels of inhouse design.
Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL), established in 1970, is primarily engaged in the manufacture of guided missiles and allied equipments. It has units at Hyderabad and Bhanur (Medak district). Its corporate office is at Hyderabad. It is also the prime production agency for manufacture of four new missile systems, namely Prithvi, Trishul, Akash and Nag, being developed indigenously. BDL, which had earlier diversified its activities in a number of Naval projects, now proposes to take up manufacture of 7.62 mm self-loading rifles (SLRs) and 9 mm pistols.
Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd. (MIDHANI) located at Hyderabad, was incorporated in 1973. MlDHANI'sproduct range includes super alloys, titanium alloys, maraging steels, heat resistance alloys, controlled expansion alloys, tungsten, molebdenum etc. in a variety of mill forms. Most of the products of MIDHANI are import substitution items.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Defence Research and Develoment Organisation (DRDO) was established in 1958 by amalagamating Defence Science Organisation and some of the technical development establishments. A separate Department of Defence Research and Development was formed in 1980 which now administers DRDO and its 50 laboratories/establishments.
The Department of Defence Research and Development formulates and executes programmes of scientific research, design and development in the fields of relevance to national security leading to the induction of new weapons, platforms and other equipments required by the Armed Forces. It also functions as the nodal agency for the execution of major development programmes of relevance to Defence through integration of research, development, testing and production facilities with the national scientific institutions, public sector undertakings and other agencies. It functions under the control of Scientific Advisor to Raksha Mantri who is also Secretary, Defence Research and Development.
Research and development activities at DRDO cover important demarcated disciplines like aeronautics, rockets and missiles, electronics and instrumentation, combat vehicles, engineering, naval systems, armament technology including explosives research, terrain research, advanced computing, artificial intelligence,robotics, works study, systems analysis and life sciences including high-altitude agriculture, physiology, food technology and nuclear medicine. In addition to undertaking research and development activities, DRDO also assists the Services by rendering technical advice regarding formulation of requirements, evaluation of systems to be acquired, fire and explosive safety and mathematical and statistical analysis of operational problems.
DRDO has made significant achievements in its efforts to meet the requirements of the three Services. The notable developmental successes include flight simulators for aircrafts, 68mm reusable rocket pod, brake parachute for fighter aircrafts, mini remotely piloted vehicle, light field gun, new family of light weight small arms systems, charge line mine clearing vehicle for safe passage of vehicles in battlefield and illuminating ammunitions for enhancing night fighting capabilities. Cluster weapon systems for fighter aircraft, naval mines, next generation bombs for high speed aircraft and low-level hombing, mountain gun, 130 mm SP gun, low-level tracking radar Indra-I and II for Army and Air Force, light field artillery radar, battlefield surveillance radar, secondary surveillance radar have also been achieved. Bridge layer-tank Kartik, military bridging systems capable of withstanding tank load, advanced ship sonar systems, advanced sonobuoys, naval decoys. naval simulators, torpedo launchers, advanced materials and composites for military applications and parallel processsing computer for aerodynamic computations have also been developed.
Several high-technology projects are in various stages of design and development. The main battle tank Arjun, incorporating state-of-art tank technologies with superior fire power, high mobility and excellent protecion has been developed.
Limited number of tanks are being produced as pre-production series which are in final stages of evaluation by the Army. A light combat aircraft which would be lighter than any other combat aircraft and would incorporate modern design concepts and several state-of-the art technologies, is under full scale engineering development.
The Integrated Guided Missile Development programme is in progress. The programme comprises of four missile systems namely Prithvi - surface-to-surface tactical battlefield missile, Akash medium range surface-to-air - missile systems, Trishul -a short range surface-to-air missile and Nag - third generation anti-tank missile.
Number of flight tests of these missiles have been successfully carried out proving various sub-systems.
DRDO offers specialised training at its two premier training institutions called Institute of Armament Technology, Pune and Defence Institute of Work Study, Mussoorie. The courses at these institutions have been evolved primarily to meet the needs of DRDO, Department of Defence Production and Supplies and the three Services.
TERRITORIAL ARMY
The Territorial Army is a voluntary part-time civilian force which plays a useful role in the defence of the country. It affords an opportunity to civilians to receive military training and also provides the country with a reserved force that can assist the regular Army during operations, whenever required. It was raised in 1949 and, since its inception, has rendered valuable service, both in times of war and during internal disturbances.
The Territorial Army consists of departmental and non-departmental TA units. Departmental TA units are raised from amongst the employees of government departments and public sector undertakings. There are, at present, 27 departmental and 25 non-departmental TA units. The three ecological battalions are also part of the departmental TA units.
As a result of internal disturbances and terrorist activities in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and other states and the prevailing conditions along our northern and western borders, the Territorial Army has, of latebeen called upon to play an active role in assisting the local Army formations in these areas. As a result of these demands, all the 25 infantry battalions (TA) have been embodied since l990-91, for varying periods.
The three ecological battalions of the TA (called Eco Task Forces) have continued their excellent work of environmental upgradation of the degraded areas in Rajasthan. UP and Jammu and Kashmir. In consultation with the Ministry of Environment and Forests, several steps aimed at reducing the cost of these Eco Task Forces, without actually lowering their output or efficiency, have been taken up. A proposal to reorganise 16 infantry battalions (TA) initiated by the TA Directorate, has been approved by the Ministry of Defence.