India's entire tank fleet is out of ammunition, air defenses are "97 per cent obsolet

[Anfield]

In arms way: India's 'hollow' army to buy in bulk

As a recently-leaked letter scandal reveals the Indian army, one of the biggest in the world, is virtually “naked”, foreign weapons producers cast longing looks at the country’s never-shrinking military budget: over $100 billion to be spent by 2020.

*India's entire tank fleet is out of ammunition, air defenses are "97 per cent obsolete" and the elite forces are "woefully short" of "essential weapons," reads a leaked letter Army Chief Vijay Kumar Singh sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in March.

"The state of the major (fighting) arms i.e. mechanized forces, artillery, air defense, infantry and special forces, as well as the engineers and signals, is indeed alarming," adds Singh, as quoted by the DNA newspaper.

The "hollowness" of the fourth-largest army in the world, according to the general, lies with the slow procurement process and lack of urgency among bureaucrats.

Heavy corruption remains a major plague for India. In March alone, six arms companies were barred by the Defense Ministry for 10 years for alleged graft, all in the case involving a former director general of Ordnance Factories. The sanctioned companies include producers from Israel, Switzerland, Singapore, Russia and two local facilities.

All the factors combined, first, signal prospects for huge military contracts to follow, as the Defense Minister A.K. Antony, lashed by the uproar in the parliament, has vowed to “speed up the modernization of the armed forces” and ensure defense capabilities of the country. Then, international arms producers can line up for meaty contracts, for the market is to see a further reshuffle among arms suppliers.

India, with its 1.13-million-strong military staff, has announced this month the government has announced a 17 per cent rise in defense spending for 2012-2013, up to $40 billion. Given the tendency, Delhi is likely to spend over $137 billion on foreign contracts between 2013 and 2022, forecasts the Wall Street Journal website.

India has already overtaken China as the world’s largest military hardware importer: the latest estimates show it accounts for 10 per cent of global market sales.

This is creating opportunities for US and European manufacturers – as well as for Russia, India’s long-standing military supplier. After the arms exhibition in Delhi, Moscow stated it is capable of delivering some $3 billion in arms to India each year.

The current stock of contracts between the two countries already exceeds $10.8 billion, including orders for long and medium range missiles, warships and helicopters.

http://rt.com/news/india-weapons-sca...-military-152/

[Sir_Afridi]

Not surprising at all for a third world country.

[waqar_ahmad]

I find this hard to believe. India is one of the largest arms importers. No way this can be true

[Anfield]

It was all over the internet.

[PakPrince]

must be investing the money in other more useful ventures such as eduication and setting up employment opportunites

[freelance_cricketer]

So where's all the money going?

[Ambi]

Originally Posted by freelance_cricketer So where's all the money going?

lot of punjabi officers in our force

[ftbno1]

This is a great eye opener for both the country and the army.Hopefully this will lead to more transperancy in the tender process of arms.

[kkmix]

perfect time to attack

[ftbno1]

Originally Posted by kkmix perfect time to attack

"Gabbar! tumhare liye toh humare pair hi kaafi hai"

[freelance_cricketer]

Originally Posted by Ambi lot of punjabi officers in our force

They are the honest ones.

[tanzeel]

Originally Posted by freelance_cricketer They are the honest ones.

Really? In Pakistan they're the ones most responsible for the introduction and development of extremist ideologies(google Punjabi Army), disenfranchisement of minorities *cough* Balochistan *cough* and corruption.

[Qelic]

I do not understand what this talk is all abt ....

Military warehousing and logistics is not a flexible but a fixed system and is kept like that even during times of war . Military SC are not made to offer any quantitative or qualitative flexibility otherwise you can lose war against 10 times small enemy even with best hardware in ur hands .

Anything changes e.g shelf lives end ... and it is reported as per pre determined schedule or as soon as it is noticed e.g. a static state failure ( highly unlikely ) . A whole mechanism then starts ... I dont think Indians r this unprofessional as General here is trying to portray it or if its true then ... be ready for a massive fail in war field .

[par]

Whenever there is a 'leak' in the media about Indian Army, saying our ships are old, ammunition is less, there is no food for army men or something like that, it is always the budget time. India already spends a huge chunk of its income on army and they are still not satisfied.

[Aly]

Aur manao devaali!

You guys can only manage 'phuljarees' !

[Gabbar Singh]

Surely this is the perfect time to start the ball rolling for Ghazwa-e-hind

[mithun_minhas]

I hope the Govt does not over spend on defense. We have become the largest importer of fire arms.

Instead it should be spent on infrastructure development.