Priority Defence decisions for the new govt.

member_28539 · Post by **member_28539** » 24 May 2014 20:00

Cutting across all the lines. This is my list:

Tangibles

1. Purchase of Small Arms for Army/special forces units across all services. Imports no bar...we need to give the Spec ops guys their knives for precision cutting & the regular infantry the desi punch with good stocks to meet any eventuality. We need GUNS GUNS GUNS! big & small all alike & many of them...along with locally produced ammo for all.

2. Basic infantry equipment like uniform along with theater specific clothing for high altitude/Desert, shoes...hell even the basic PT shoes need a revamp...it will not cost much to change all this if the paltry acquisition process is sorted...

Eg1: was talking to renowned sports shoes manufacturer's India head. He told me that they put in a proposal to MoD & GoI but they got brushed off real badly by the baboons related...

Eg2: There is a shoe manufacturer in Karol Bagh who exports camo pattern shoes mixed with leather (super awesome boots) to British army & US Marines...asked him why not our army...he replied that it was impossible to deal with the acquisition process & heavy bribes he would have to pay would make him bankrupt (btw i asked him if i could have one pair of these beauties but he declined stating his contractual obligations)

3. Sort out the MMRCA confusion & get it done with. Squadron strength is an important issue & the flyboys need some serious wings. The situation presented in the past doesn't look good even with foreign policy perspective also.

4. Speak in clear terms to the external agencies on questions of imports, narrow down the involvement of people to remove the blockages here in this critical artery of acquisitions.

5. Call in big involvement of Japan & South Korea to build shipyards. Step up development of Nuke reactors for submarines.
Extensive number of surface frigates for marine muscle is a must & also needs a boost.

6. Cover our backs for a Nuke war situation, we have zero preparedness levels with regards to avg. boots on ground situation. In case of this scenario, we need the men alive to keep the economy fueled & also to fight & survive.

7. Propose development of separate OS & hardware for communications among all the Govt. departments which will result in better surveillance capability to check on the Info. leaks & better our chances of anonymity of intelligence & communication.

8. Specialized counter intelligence groups with lethal teeth to execute & protect from any more of our scientists winding up in "Mysterious Circumstances". Please shut down NIA

Intangibles

1. Boost the morale of armed forces, ministerial trips to military installations & exercises with the presence of man (PM) himself.

2. Increased exposure of MoD baboons to on ground situations in extreme regions to make them realize the impact of acquisition files languishing on their tables in A/C offices.

3. Voice vocal support at regular intervals for armed forces...this would work miracles on the moral of average jawan on ground.

4. Push in the covert ops to the max to obtain the right information at the right time.

5. Keep the money flowing with good overall economic growth to the overt & covert capabilities of our nation.

The key to all this will only lie in Good Governance as promised by Modi Sahab...keeping the fingers crossed.

brar_w · Post by **brar_w** » 26 May 2014 11:33

CNN IBN is reporting that Modi is keeping the MOD portfolio for himself. This could be the best thing to happen to the MOD since independence.

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 26 May 2014 12:21

MOD with NM will be the best choice. MOD along with Internal security on PMO. True merger of Ministries. Security Internal and external treated as on and No money looting allegations etc in future. Babus in defense ministry better watch out.

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 26 May 2014 12:29

Zee report

Meanwhile, reports said that Modi, who often advocated for modernisation of the armed forces during his poll campaign, is expected to retain the crucial portion of Defence Ministry with himself.

According to news reports 24 Cabinet ministers, 11 Ministers of State and 10 Independent Charges will be sworn-in today.

List of Cabinet Ministers:

Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu, Sadanand Gowda, Uma Bharti, Najma Heptullah, Gopinath Munde, Ramvilas Paswan, Kalraj Mishra, Maneka Gandhi, Ananth Kumar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Anant Geete, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Narendra Singh Tomar, Jual Oram, Radha Mohan Singh, Thawar Chand Gehlot, Smriti Irani, Dr Harsh Vardhan

List of MoS (Independent): General VK Singh, Rao Inderjit Singh, Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Shripad Naik, Dharmendra Pradhan, Sarbananda Sonowal, Prakash Javadekar, Piyush Goel, Dr Jitendra Singh and Nirmala Sitharaman

List of MoS GM Siddeshwara, Manoj Sinha, Upendra Kushwaha, Pon Radhakrishnan, Kiren Rijiju, Krishan Pal Gujjar, Sanjeev Baliyan, Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai Vasava, Raosaheb Dadarao Patil Danve, Vishnu Dev Sahai and Sudarshan Bhagat

Modi's close confidante and Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley, who contested the Lok Sabha polls from Amritsar constituency, may be awarded with the Finance Ministry. During the 2012 Gujarat Assembly elections, Jaitley had relentlessly worked in the western state to ensure a victory for Modi.

nash · Post by **nash** » 26 May 2014 14:24

MOD :NaMo with internal security
MoS of Defense: VKS

Puri militari ke ache din aa gaye.

aur dalalo ke bure din

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 26 May 2014 14:34

Is it true that DOS is VKS??? My info is VKS is going to get independent charge of something else.

nash · Post by **nash** » 26 May 2014 14:41

Apart from NaMo as PM, all are speculation.

Yes the list is out but different newspapers have different view on combination.

Any way in next 3-4 hours we will know.

brar_w · Post by **brar_w** » 26 May 2014 14:52

Narayana Rao wrote:Is it true that DOS is VKS??? My info is VKS is going to get independent charge of something else.

From what is being spoken in the media VKS is likely to get a security based portfolio, MOD will either stay with Namo or as a additional charge to Jaitley (along with MOF).

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 26 May 2014 15:06

Hopefully VKS can clean up the Mess of Corruption thats spread like cancer inside MOD and DPSU.

Good Luck to him

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 26 May 2014 16:27

NDTV says Jaitley get Finance and Defence both , Think its bad for one minister to have two key post , Defence will get less attention not having full time minister.

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 26 May 2014 16:42

Wrong.

Defense is with NM as per all reports. Makes sense to have Defense and Internal security with the PM.

brar_w · Post by **brar_w** » 26 May 2014 16:58

I think Internal security is being retained with the MOH. Anyways, we'll know soon enough. VKS is going to be MOS External affairs Ministry with Jaitley controlling defense for now.

nash · Post by **nash** » 26 May 2014 18:50

Times Now and CNN-IBN: AJ handling both MoF and MoD.

Zee News: AJ as MoF only.

rakall · Post by **rakall** » 26 May 2014 19:00

Austin wrote:NDTV says Jaitley get Finance and Defence both , Think its bad for one minister to have two key post , Defence will get less attention not having full time minister.

I am holding my breath since morning for the new RM. AJ for Finance & Defence will be a huge disappointment... both ministries, by themselves, need more than 1minister actually..

Cain Marko · Post by **Cain Marko** » 26 May 2014 19:19

Might not be as bad an idea as one might think, perhaps the conflict between the two ministries as we have seen in the past, won't occur.

brar_w · Post by **brar_w** » 26 May 2014 19:25

With the mandate and the governence track record of Modi, inter ministerial conflict will be quashed rather quickly

Suresh S · Post by **Suresh S** » 26 May 2014 19:45

After 822 years of occupation and slavery a true son of India is the new king.

Jai Hind

Sumair · Post by **Sumair** » 26 May 2014 19:46

Top posts to cronies and not the most qualified, else how do you explain General VK Singh’s omission from MoD???

KiranM · Post by **KiranM** » 26 May 2014 20:16

My 2 cents, new Govt will stick with selection of Gen. Suhag as IA chief and let his tenure play out. To avoid conflict of interest it may be a plan not to have VK Singh as MoD till then. His current charge of NE affairs and MEA (as per NDTV) will also give him the ministerial experience to take over the reins when time his comes.

Victor · Post by **Victor** » 26 May 2014 23:06

brar_w wrote: I think the rafale is a great multi role fighter. However, it comes in at huge costs. If the capability can be made up by extending production of the MKI production line, that is already set up and by extending the affordable LCA then that is something we must look at.

Rafale will offer a quantum jump in capabilities over both LCA and Su-30MKI. It's range, payload, superior technology and cost per ordnance ton combined with its predecessors' reputation for longevity and serviceability (IAF M2K) will more than make up for the initial cost, no matter how "expensive" it seems now. Of course it would have been cheaper 3 years ago if Shri "Disarmament" Anthony had not knowingly harmed India's defense capability. The only concern would be HAL and its record of delay. Ideally, PM Modi will weigh in and let Reliance run with it instead of HAL, putting the entire responsibility on Dassault. It's likely that we will get the planes faster that way and our fledgling MIC will get a massive shot in the arm too.

Let's not lose the plot with MMRCA now.

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 26 May 2014 23:28

Reliance, lol

ShauryaT · Post by **ShauryaT** » 27 May 2014 02:31

Austin wrote:NDTV says Jaitley get Finance and Defence both , Think its bad for one minister to have two key post , Defence will get less attention not having full time minister.

It can make a lot of sense, for now. 90% of the issues or bottlenecks from the government is to do with sanctions for procurements. There is political football played between defense and finance ministries on funding and acquisitions. There is a finance bureaucrat embedded in most major ministries. Their entire job as signaled by their political masters is to delay and let the budget "lapse". This is how we have moved down from 2.7% levels to less than 2% of GDP for military spend. This whole exercise of announcing major acquisitions and working through its processes, in the end, which are not funded needs to stop. Defense being the LARGEST single area of spend needs this close financial coordination to ensure that projects are not stalled due to funding issues.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 27 May 2014 02:44

I think that AJ has been given temp. authority over Def. so that quick decisions can be made avoiding the usual war between Finance and Defence,PC -AKA style. Now that there is one head for both,decisions on a priority will be sorted out aap with finance not being a stumbling block.

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 27 May 2014 05:57

Good idea. We are in a cash crunch so it makes sense to combine both the ministries. Someone else can take over later. Special forces 60,000-80,000 is required both for internal and external. Equipping and training them to conduct covert operations at any point on the globe is going is going to eat up a lot of money. We are talking about camo, helmets, next gen radio sets, weapons, medical, etc.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 27 May 2014 06:05

rakall wrote:
Austin wrote:NDTV says Jaitley get Finance and Defence both , Think its bad for one minister to have two key post , Defence will get less attention not having full time minister.
I am holding my breath since morning for the new RM. AJ for Finance & Defence will be a huge disappointment... both ministries, by themselves, need more than 1minister actually..

I expect that the PM would retain a lot of say if AJ does get both. someone like Rao Inderjit Singh is likely to be MoS.

MoF would anyway have enough outside expert advice.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 27 May 2014 06:40

Sumair wrote:Top posts to cronies and not the most qualified, else how do you explain General VK Singh’s omission from MoD???

Gen VKS as RM would have been hugely controversial, not to mention improper. have you ever thought that IAF IN and DRDO might not want an army man at the helm ? a govt cant run on the basis of what feels right. it is much more nuanced than VKS was an army man so would make a good RM. a minister should not only act unbiased, he should also be seen by others as unbiased.

what's this 'qualification' anyway ? what is modi's qualification to be a PM ? a minister's job is not bringing domain knowledge to the table, he/she has experts for that.
what the MoD needs is not a RM who is ex-mil but a CDS who would become the one point of expertise on defence matters, and like the NSA, equivalent to a MoS.

member_26622 · Post by **member_26622** » 27 May 2014 09:02

snahata wrote:After 822 years of occupation and slavery a true son of India is the new king.

Jai Hind

More closer to 1000 years. Though I would not discount Nehru as a son of India (true or not is debatable).

Indira Gandhi killed the 'True' congress during the emergency (the old one split and died). This Congress shares the name only, nothing more than a thin makeup for the royal family and its caretakers.

We took a long time to regain back our Freedom. Makes sense why the Russians, French and Chinese royal lines were deposed off brutally.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 27 May 2014 09:15

AJ get Defence and Finance confirmed now.

I wonder how a busy finance minister with so much on hands will have time for Defence or vice versa.

Just to keep cabinet small we have single minister handling many portfolio.

member_26622 · Post by **member_26622** » 27 May 2014 09:30

Victor wrote: Rafale will offer a quantum jump in capabilities over both LCA and Su-30MKI. It's range, payload, superior technology and cost per ordnance ton combined with its predecessors' reputation for longevity and serviceability (IAF M2K) will more than make up for the initial cost, no matter how "expensive" it seems now. Of course it would have been cheaper 3 years ago if Shri "Disarmament" Anthony had not knowingly harmed India's defense capability.

Range -> Nothing comes even close to MKI. Nothing at all!
Payload -> MKI beats the everyone. This thing is a beast of a carrier with sensor range near mini Awacs
Superior Technology -> USA is best. F-35 is stealthy and cheaper compared to this french mademoiselle.
Cost per ordnance ton -> Anything French is EXPENSIVE. I mean ANYTHING. Just look at recent M 2000 upgrade costing 45 M $ a pop. We could have got two brand spanking new LCA's for the cost of upgrading a French plane. Missiles and everything else will be French or British nose bleed expensive due to inherent low demand.
Longevity and Serviceability -> Rafale will be on lower end for these measures. It's production run will not even exceed 130 without an Indian order. In fact, India's order will be same as the total number of Rafales ever made to date.

Honestly, Rafale is an 'Old' plane introduced in 2001 and likely to be written off as a failure. Even the French themselves have absorbed a grand total of 126 over a 14 year period >> Less than ten per year? Why?

Seems like this old cougar is dressing up and out hunting for an naive young lad!

symontk · Post by **symontk** » 27 May 2014 10:13

Austin wrote:AJ get Defence and Finance confirmed now.

I wonder how a busy finance minister with so much on hands will have time for Defence or vice versa.

Just to keep cabinet small we have single minister handling many portfolio.

My take is that, some big plan (war, nuke warhead mfr, nuke testing, otherwise all combined) is on the way. AJ will give the defence portfolio to someone else after some time. But before that he would have funded the needed activities in the defence ministry

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 27 May 2014 11:04

As I predicted rao inderjit singh is MoS defence. Given his experience we can expect him to do much of the heavy lifting for the moment till a full fledged RM takes oath, as arun jaitley indicated.

rakall · Post by **rakall** » 27 May 2014 11:06

Austin wrote:AJ get Defence and Finance confirmed now.

I wonder how a busy finance minister with so much on hands will have time for Defence or vice versa.

Just to keep cabinet small we have single minister handling many portfolio.

This is a huge disappointment.. AJ has mentioned that he is being given "transitory charge" or the ministry pending cabinet expansion.. so will get a new RM soon..

but, the way things are with Defence ministry, we need a dedicated minister to hit the ground running "yesterday"..

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 27 May 2014 11:39

I dont expect Modi government as Fix for every thing and one X Def Minister will solve the issue.

The fear I have is there is too much expectations from the new Government as be all end all to fix all problems.

Even if they managed to tone done the corruption , regulate defence purchase and give more inpetus to indiginous system it would be job well done.

In the end defence purchase ( import/local ) is a big earner for the party in power and that wont go aways for as long as parties need money to function.

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 27 May 2014 12:08

How is Rao Inderjit Singh. From Congress and jumped to BJP in 2014 and managed to get Defense MOS - What is his background?

Dmurphy · Post by **Dmurphy** » 27 May 2014 13:54

symontk wrote:
Austin wrote:AJ get Defence and Finance confirmed now.

I wonder how a busy finance minister with so much on hands will have time for Defence or vice versa.

Just to keep cabinet small we have single minister handling many portfolio.
My take is that, some big plan (war, nuke warhead mfr, nuke testing, otherwise all combined) is on the way. AJ will give the defence portfolio to someone else after some time. But before that he would have funded the needed activities in the defence ministry

Definitely May Be!

member_25399 · Post by **member_25399** » 27 May 2014 14:15

http://www.ndtv.com/elections/article/e ... topstories

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who has been handed additional charge of the important Defence portfolio in the Narendra Modi government, said on Tuesday that he expects a full-time Defence Minister to be named in a "couple of weeks."

Taking charge at the Defence Ministry this morning, a few hours after he had assumed office at the Finance Ministry, Mr Jaitley said, "Defence is an additional charge with me until the expansion of the council of ministers...It's an important ministry and needs urgent decisions." ( Controlling Inflation Top Priority: Finance Minister )

Till then, Mr Jaitley said, he would spend a "reasonable amount of time" at the Defence ministry.

He expressed concern over what he called a slowdown in decision-making in defence during the Congress-led UPA regime and said expediting procurement and modernisation in the armed forces would be a top priority of the new government.

"The security of India is of vital importance. Support to our armed forces and equipment support is going to be priority area," he said.

As Mr Jaitley took over came news that a MIG-21 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force had crashed in the Bijbehara area of Anantnag district in Kashmir, killing the pilot. "My heart goes out to the pilot and his family. It's a matter of great concern (today's accident). I offer my condolences," the minister said. (MiG-21 Crashes in J&K, Pilot Dead)

On the appointment of the new Army Chief by the previous government one day before votes were counted in the general elections, Mr Jaitley said, "I firmly believe that there should be no controversy on appointment of the person concerned. Some comments may have been made regards the procedure of a person's appointment but there should be no reflection on the person concerned." ( Lieutenant General Dalbir Singh Suhag is India's new Army Chief )

The Manmohan Singh government had two weeks ago announced that Lt General Dalbir Singh Suhag will be the next Army chief. Mr Jaitley had written in a blog post then that the decision not to leave the announcement for the next government displayed "a high degree of arrogance even in defeat." Then too Mr Jaitley had qualified his criticism by saying that "the BJP does not wish to bring the newly appointed Army chief into any controversy."

Wise comment as DM.

member_20317 · Post by **member_20317** » 27 May 2014 14:17

Arun Jaitley: Finance, Corporate Affairs, Defence

Obviously AJ will be occupied full time with Finance and even the little Corp Affairs ministry will be detested by him for extra pressure. My hunch is that AJ is only a Mukhoauta (with all due respect) in the MoD. No base understanding, not enough time to handle it, perhaps not even any interest in running the defence related matters. He would rather feel at home getting the money into the coffers.

So the question arises who are going to be the real hands at work in the MoD?

My hunch is that there is going to be absolutely nothing dramatic in foreseeable future. In fact the method seems to have been chosen to avoid any dramatics. A non-confrontational stance but one that would leave nobody in the armed forces in doubt as to where the 'power' behind the decision comes from and who is the feeding the intel into those decisions.

................

Probably the most important defence decision taken is in handing over the Home Ministry to the RSS rubber-stamp.

member_25399 · Post by **member_25399** » 27 May 2014 14:22

^^^
One side effect of the having RS as Home Minister, is that they cannot take out the Internal security from Home ministry. Probably would have made Rajnath felt low

Me thinks that was particularly a good move if it could be made possible.

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 27 May 2014 14:30

Full time DM in two weeks. No need to increase BPs gurus.

member_20317 · Post by **member_20317** » 27 May 2014 14:39

^^ Saar this wait for 2 more weeks increases the BP further.

The present arrangement would have ensured that NaMo was like Sonia for the limited case of MoD. No chances of any opposition from any any mole in the establishment. Now who knows what we will get in the MoD. All Raksha Mantris till date were independent charge only and most are not even remembered for any worthwhile effort.
..........

WT_ one place shows VKS is not even the MoD-Min. of State.

General V.K. Singh Development of North Eastern Region (Independent Charge)
External Affairs
Overseas Indian Affairs

Yeh kya ho raha hai re baba. Utha le re baba...arre mujhko nahi re baba...