85 percent of India's defense equipments outdated: KPMG

By siliconindia   |   Friday, 15 January 2010, 22:30 IST   |    8 Comments
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85 percent of India's defense equipments outdated: KPMG
New Delhi: A news reports has exposed shocking details about Indian defense equipments, stating that almost half of the country's defense equipment is obsolete and needs urgent upgrade. Only 15 percent of India's equipment is "state of the art", according to the first comprehensive report on the country's defense sector prepared by global consultancy firm KPMG and the Confederation of Indian Industry, according to Reuters. The Indian government has changed its defense procurement policy last year to further open its defense sector to the world and local companies after the Mumbai attacks in November 2008, in which 166 people were killed. Such an attack revealed loopholes in country's security system. The new report, released by Defense Minister A K Antony, says the country will have to focus on improving homeland security after the Mumbai attacks and the government needs to support private firms in manufacturing equipment locally. The government says it is keen to upgrade its largely Soviet-era arsenal to counter potential threats from Pakistan and China with a series of acquisitions and by phasing out old weapons. India has lost many brave pilots and nearly 200 Russian-made MiG series aircraft in crashes since 1990. Indian government came under harsh criticism for purchasing defected aircrafts. India wants to increase its air force squadrons from 34 (612 fighters) to 42 (756 fighters) by 2020 with modern aircraft. The army also needs new weapons urgently, the report said. Bofors Howitzers were the last major acquisition made by the Army way back in 1986, it said. "The Kargil conflict of 1999 (with Pakistan-based militants in Kashmir) highlighted the shortcomings of equipment held by the armed forces, highlighting the need to modernize the equipment portfolio," the report says. Since early 2000, India began to buy weapons from other countries like Israel and the United States to replace Russian-origin defense equipment and is now speeding up deals. India is currently the 10th largest defense spender in the world with an estimated 2 percent share of global expenditure. Last August, the country started field trials to buy 126 multi-role fighter jets, defense officials said, moving forward on a $10.4 billion deal, one of the biggest in play. India is also seeking heavy lift helicopters, submarines, ships and artillery for its army, valued at millions of dollars, the KPMG report says. All deals are part of a $100 billion budgetary provision over the next 10 years, Indian officials say.