Are our defence forces suitably tech-ready to fight a war? No, we are not, says the man who led the Army in the Kargil war. Former Chief of Army Staff Gen V P Malik tells Times of India that our war-preparedness will remain hampered unless DRDO and ordnance factories are made more accountable
Just to put things in perspective, technology today is a very important factor in not only military strategy, but also national strategy. Unless you develop and possess technology, you can’t reach the level that you want for your nation at all levels. But we have really not been able to develop technology, which has been a major concern.
He said till recently, we were importing 70 per cent of our sophisticated weapons systems from abroad, which is a huge number. And during the Kargil war I personally felt that we were so dependent on other countries that they took you for a ride. There were some countries that simply refused to part with weapons and equipment we wanted.
Asked if he felt hindered during the Kargil war, General Malik said there was a total ban on the import of any equipment from the US and UK, because in 1998 we had gone nuclear and 1999 was the war. We were short of spares for Bofors guns, and some parts for our naval helicopters. We did not have proper radar systems which could detect the guns firing from the other side. We did not have any ground sensors and one of the reasons why infiltration took place was that we did not have adequate surveillance devices along the LoC.
He said there no greater awareness about filling technology gap in armed forces today.
There is better realisation among some people but the procurement part is still lagging. I have spoken to PM and other leaders. I have said that you can’t have national security if we are importing 70% of our needs from foreign countries.
General Malik said DRDO has to focus more on core issues. They should also try and get technologies from outside. But the most important aspect is that the DRDO must be made accountable. By the time Arjun came, there were these whole lot of anti-tank guided missiles which it could not withstand. When we raised this issue, they said it was not part of the GSQR.
The ministry of defence is a bad organisation. Accountability within the ministry is zero. If DRDO has not delivered, the ministry has not reported the matter to anyone and not taken any action. If the DRDO is not delivering, I would like to see some secretary, some joint secretary resigning or being sacked, besides the DRDO head.