Marut wrote:If you can flag my piskology for cutting edge research, then shouldn't EME also be flagged for lacking aspiration to raise the bar for themselves.
In fact that is the piskology here - if you want to stick to the subject. EME probaby don't even know what the current state of "cutting edge" is. You do. It is very likely that they use expressions like cutting edge without having deep insight into what other people (such as yourself) understand cutting edge to be, having been exposed to cutting edge in your experience. (**please see footnote )The fallout of this is that the armed forces - faced a choice between Hummer and Stryker on the one hand and Huffy and Tuffy on the other will make the no brainer choice.
The solution in my view is neither mockery nor piskology. There has to be coordination between armed forces and manufacturer. Ths last statement is well known to us - but I believe its significance is not easily recognised. If you travel back in time to say World War 1 when nations in Europe suddenly found themselves at war with other nations using "cutting edge" technology - they did not have the choice of importing Hummer because their Tuffy was no good. They did not even have the time to moan. They just had to choose the Huffy/Tuffy and get on with the job - get killed and demand improvements. That is what drove technology - the armed forces - driven by the unenviable situation of facing better equipment demanded that of their own industry because they did not have the import choice.
No, we do not want our armed forces to face that situation. But if we are sincere about not wanting that situation there is no alternative to the incompatible and unhappy marriage and cooperation of armed forces and local industry. Mockery and derision are funny, but they don't cut it.
**Footnote: Why don't you (and anyone else who cares) have a go at laying down specifications of a Tuffy like vehicle and say what cutting edge should be. Weights, engine, performance, thickness of armor, Armament if any, electronic requirements for sensors and comm, accommodation. Then lake a list of materials/alloys/composites (for armor/engine) etc available to India and check if EME has access to the required material and technology. Or any Indian company for that matter. That would show how much we know about cutting edge and what to demand of industry.