Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Armed Forces versus Technologists in India’s Military Modernisation



Bibhu Prasad Routray

Defence Studies, vol.13, no.1, 2013, pp.33-55. 

Abstract


India's arms acquisition and technology absorption process remains skewed, even six decades after India's independent existence. It undermines the preferences of the armed forces and remains overly tilted in favour of the civilian technologists. The combination of a policy of autarky, distrust of the military, and the avowed objective of building an indigenous technology base and establishing self-reliance in military preparedness – these factors have together prevented the graduation from a distorted acquisition process to a structured one. Largely in the name of self-reliance, the technologists continue to reign over a regime that is known for its delays and cost over-runs rather than for providing an efficient system of delivery. Belated attempts have been made to restore order in the overall state of affairs. However, the success of the technologists belonging to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), India's primary military Research and Development (R&D) agency, in one field – that of missile technology and missile defence – perpetuate this distortion in the system as a whole.  

http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/fdef20/13/1#.UjgJM8ZmhQY

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