Teer, that is news, unlike the old Defpro story, but the defence ministry will fight it, & the decision won’t actually be taken for sure until 2012. Note that it’s an FDP policy, not a CDU policy, & therefore susceptible to bargaining between the coalition partners, as well as the state of government finances.

Yup, its not a given that it will occur, but I thought it demonstrated well what I was attempting to point out, namely that budgetary pressures on existing programs in Europe continue to be a challenge.

For instance about the UK:
http://www.domain-b.com/defence/general/20091028_aircraft_carrier.html

This may also not come to pass, but politicians generally do leak doomsday options to the press, and then quickly do the smaller snip which they had originally intended but which now comes across as a relief as versus the earlier leak. But this ends up impacting OEMs which have to look towards diversification (new markets, either product wise or geographically) to compensate.

You know Abhimanyu, almost everything you have written so far is ….to put it mildly….nonsense.

The problem is that you are approaching this from the ideological point of view, as usual, and have no practical experience of either working for, documenting or observing what the reality is in terms of the indian private or public sectors.

You rant on and on about HAL- fact is you know diddly squat about what they have done and not done.

Without HAL, the IAF’s entire MiG fleet would have collapsed a long ways back. The number of design modifications, and improvements they have done would merit a book by itself in any “developed economy” where such things sell.

Nor do you have any clue of the amount of effort HAL spent in developing a local design & development capability only to have it frittered away by MOD bureaucracy who refused to fund it. If HALs plans had been suitably supported there would have been no need for a last moment LCA. But you dont even know this.

You talk of L&T and Godrej-Boyce, ever talked to anyone from those organizations or have an idea of their programs? DRDO has delivered world class solutions thanks to the engineering contributions from teams at L&T Heavy Engr & G&B. These include EW, radars, mission avionics and tracked vehicle programs.

But you have no idea. But you see fit to pronounce judgement on these organizations before they even begin the race as peers.

I really must remind myself periodically that its a waste of time talking to you on these matters though. As is borne out each time around, the lack of practical knowledge about the Indian Aerospace industry is evident in the “commentary” that you offer & you let your juvenile emotions run astray.

Ergo statements like these:
Thus, in India the DRDO must remain as the lead designer and integrator of all systems ….never mind that DRDO is not even the lead integrator in many cases but the OEM is. And nor does DRDO have the resources to even address the vast indian defence market and that the DRDO itself fully supports private sector involvement to widen the pool for codevelopment as versus PSUs alone.

This of course is another scintillating comment:
The private sector is good at mass production and mundane tasks of testing, validation and routine low level design only.

…this when the private sector is developing functional blocks and acting as the entire system integrator for system of system projects for the DRDO already, ranging from design development and integration. Your ignorance is astounding.

And then comes this amazing observation:
It is when they start becoming designers and integrators, then we can immediately conclude that they are merely “hawking” foreign equipment under the banner of a JV.….

what a silly, silly, ridiculous remark.

I mean – just goes to show how utterly out of your depth you are.

If it was anyone serious, he’d say that he’d investigate each project and determine what the contribution was before passing judgement and actually determine how it would assist the overall indian industry.

But you simply wont even do that.

Why, the mere fact that its a JV means that the evil private sector would have done nothing.

This is an amazingly shallow remark, and remarks of this level dont even deserve a response.

“See, the objective is to indigenize, and NOT to “free the private sector”.

That single statement shows your total inability to understand the topic at hand.

Freeing the private sector is but a method to indigenize given the vast needs and requirements of the Indian armed forces & that the PSUs are able to meet only a fraction of them.

About research & the GOI as a patron and what not, clearly you have not read the DPP, or followed the debate about Raksha Udyog Ratnas (which incidentally were shot down because the Army justifiably pointed out they would harm the innovation being done at the SME level).

The basic problem here is that you dont understand the Indian defence industry and what its strengths, weaknesses are.

Ergo, another blooper in your commentary: “So, merely changing the players doesn’t change the scenario. “

Where and how is the MOD changing the players in the scenario!

It is merely levelling the playing field.

Earlier, after substantial delay, the MOD would earmark some unsuited PSU eg BHEL to take up license production of an absolutely new product – eg radars which the relevant PSU eg BEL could not take up because of capacity constraints.

Now thanks to this policy, the private industry puts up its own funds, co-develops the item in question & creates a parallel infrastructure which only adds DEPTH to the Indian defence industry, far beyond what already exists.

It is a good step overall & the 50% cut off expected from the private sector is the same as expected more or less from the public units in the earlier DPP “Make” section. Hence, your objections ring hollow.

Thanks to this policy, defence manufacturing will broadbase and diversify beyond the handful of BEL, HAL, BEML types which can continue to drive strategic programs. And the good part is that in the case of small arms and tube artillery, this policy may actually drive the OFB to improve and even supplant it. If it was the Tatas making the Arjun, things may have moved far more smoothly.

Another comment which shows how out of touch you are with actual affairs:Private sector is good at mass production.…as if that is all that is the private sector is good at. Ask DRDO labs et al about what they think of working with the private sector versus the OFB for design and delivery of subsystems.

Your concerns about corruption are also amusing – you seem to think that there is some magic wand to be waved (“tough language”) that will make things alright.

Thanks to the MOD’s crazy attempt to be purer than driven snow by involving every donkey and its rider to vet defence deals, multiple critical projects are delayed, and events like 26/11 catch the Indian security forces scrambling for emergency buys with more leeway for corruption.

I’d rather deals take place on time, on budget, and the right item is chosen even if every fourth or fifth deal has someone make money. Corruption is a reflection of the state of the society in India today, and given how Indians are, expecting the impossible is a joke. Be practical.

Its the cost and the timeline which are the key challenges for the JSF. That the US can do it is not the question – the US has already demonstrated a substantial amount of ability in developing integrated avionics, stealth and BVR weaponry.

For German Eurofighters, refer to:
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=defense&id=news/TYPH102709.xml&headline=Germany%20Eyes%20Reduced%20Eurofighter%20Typhoon%20Buy

And I did say there have been reports, not that it is certain to happen..

For lateral hires they are looking at the relevant work experience.

The people who will talk/interview experienced persons will be in turn (in any decent organization) sensible themselves and not bother themselves with what is not relevant. Of course, the interview process varies and there is no guarantee, but its worth a shot, so that at least you get an idea.

At any rate, what I meant by contacts was that they bypass the usual spam filters and get you noticed by the right hiring managers so that the talk is initiated. After that, of course, whatever relevant process there is will still be followed.

That is the problem. They cancelled the F-22 because it is too expensive and it became expensive because they decided to buy so few.

B-2 all over again.

Today need does not define what is purchased, only the short term costs decided what is ordered for the armed forces.

Today- well to be honest, the F-22 got hit by two things, one the bleeding hole in the wallet that was Iraq ie def budget had to adjust, and second, the WW Financial crisis. With TARP and what not, theres only so much money which gave F-22 detractors that much more ammo.

The point is that if you get some good contacts and bypass the entrance exams and stuff. For lateral hires, the process is often considerably simplified. They look at tangible work experience.

So dont let that stop you.

I am aware of foreign nationals – let alone NRIs working in several MNCs in India in the past. So if the company is supportive, there is nothing to stop you. The paperwork can also be managed.

As far as DRDO goes, they too are hiring NRIs and the research environment varies according to the people in charge. For the record, there are some excellent labs where some good work is being done, and people working there are happy (I have had opportunity to speak to people in several South based labs) & they do hire NRIs but the thing to remember is that remuneration will not match what the private sector offers but nor will there be the stresses of abusive fire you for nothing stuff that might happen in the pvt sector.

http://rac.drdo.in/
http://rac.drdo.in/nri.php

Why dont you try and explore something with groups such as the TATAs et al? They plan to get into aerostructures in a big way, and being part of a group like that shields you from the more cut throat aspects of business.