tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post3502888544792709434..comments2024-03-28T05:22:10.255-07:00Comments on Broadsword by Ajai Shukla - Strategy. Economics. Defence.: Doing defence with Uncle SamBroadswordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076780076240598482noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-80338177234134964012010-08-30T03:34:44.150-07:002010-08-30T03:34:44.150-07:00If we do not have leverage with A particular suppl...If we do not have leverage with A particular supplier country, then why not do business with one with whom we do, such as Russia and the Europeans? It is a myth (largely pushed by US media and Hollywood) that US weapons systems are superior to Russian systems. Whether it is the C-17 vs An-124, or the PAC vs S-300 or any other system, their systems are comparable to the Russians, but at higher costs. Low costs for systems does not mean there are technologically inferior, just that development, labour and local costs (and perhaps margins) are lower. <br /><br />Nonetheless, since your trip was sponsored by Boeing, it is understandable that you feel the way you do, gratitude is certainly to be expected!arjunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16440124675645037997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-91499077137915321652010-05-26T00:24:06.588-07:002010-05-26T00:24:06.588-07:00Are there any free lunches? It is a correct questi...Are there any free lunches? It is a correct question asked to a wrong person, a journalist. This question should be asked to people who pay for the lunch! The answer is that their money is well spent on journalists because they are able to change public opinion through mass media. You don’t bite the hand that feeds you! Millions of dollars are spent on acquiring transponders on a given satellite because of the footprint or the people it covers. Give me total control of a transponder and just two months. I can play marry hell with the perception of the target population. The last sentence is not mine!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-28875759774764932132010-05-23T18:15:25.790-07:002010-05-23T18:15:25.790-07:00see the indian airlines they have only BOEING plan...see the indian airlines they have only BOEING planes and NO OTHER PLANES because UNCLE SAM is LIKE THAT....<br /><br />see canadas HIGHEND PLANE SIMILAR TO LCA in looks GONE TO .....<br /><br />stopped super computers <br /><br />stopped cryogenic engines<br /><br />IT ASKED LCA NO TO BE IN ANY COMPETITION......IF WE WANT CONSULTANCY....<br /><br /><br />navy consultancy...<br /><br />see what happened to gripen when they came in compitition in MMRCA<br />.....<br /><br /><br />TELL ME ANY ... ANY COUNTRY...which developed under us into a superpower ...dont tell japan,isreal etc they are up with own strength ...UNCLE SAM CREATES ONLY POODLES AND SLAVES ....OF THE NEXT GENERATION ...BY GIVING /SELLING/STOPPING ...the US TECHNOLOGY.........................Ru Lcanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-66287856694490253792010-05-23T09:00:52.113-07:002010-05-23T09:00:52.113-07:00Khud hee ko kar buland itna,
Ke current super pow...Khud hee ko kar buland itna, <br />Ke current super power tujh hi se puchhe,<br />Bataa teri razaa kya hai.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-85411429439807878202010-05-23T06:33:27.739-07:002010-05-23T06:33:27.739-07:00Saraswat of DRDO had recently announced an initiat...Saraswat of DRDO had recently announced an initiative to set up a testing lab to validate imported software / hardware, and check for Trojans. Hope these considerations will be kept in mind when doing any defense deals with suppliers from any country.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-77508855603707256722010-05-22T22:11:30.718-07:002010-05-22T22:11:30.718-07:00Great write up there Ajai.
On a related note, how...Great write up there Ajai. <br />On a related note, how many of these 126 fighters are actually going to see active duty in a war or a dog fight. Let's face it, these mass orders are just meant to build a deterrence so that our rivals can take note of it and not attack us. If that's the case, does it really matter if we get the best jets out there in the market, or should the second best also suffice, especially since the money saved could definitely be used elsewhere.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-27587514190416267042010-05-22T18:24:42.391-07:002010-05-22T18:24:42.391-07:00Yes, $10B is not much.
However, considering Indi...Yes, $10B is not much. <br /><br />However, considering India plans to purchase 100B worth of arms over the next 10 years, it would be foolish to walk away from a deal that has a potential to sell several add on products, and upgrades.<br /><br />Also, US military investments during a republican administration cannot be compared with a democratic administration. Especially when there is massive shortfall in tax revenue.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-55005229048197680662010-05-21T06:36:33.271-07:002010-05-21T06:36:33.271-07:00Really nice and thoughtful article ajaiji..Our bab...Really nice and thoughtful article ajaiji..Our babus shud visit this blog regularly..Pranabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17765165546792198905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-5063488483573784892010-05-21T02:10:03.068-07:002010-05-21T02:10:03.068-07:00I feel you are trying to point out that US cares a...I feel you are trying to point out that US cares a damn whether we purchase their stuff or reject. So we need to consider it as our greatest fortune to have someone like US agrees to honor us with their products. You are right there are some brief benefits being the big boss’s bitch like the pakis. <br />Please don’t forget there are other potential countries to which we can apply our buying power and get better bargain. US is always insistent on its customers to be constantly dumb and make all necessary steps to maintain it that way.<br /> Getting a( so called) slightly technologically superior product at the expense of being completely docile to a country which openly support our arch enemy with weapons which could seriously jeopardize our national security.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-29575709503449676032010-05-20T17:09:22.890-07:002010-05-20T17:09:22.890-07:00For a moment I thought "Doing DRUGS with Uncl...For a moment I thought "Doing <b>DRUGS</b> with Uncle Sam". In fact, defence is like drugs. The more one gets, the more one wants. Its never enough.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-33938494105188564162010-05-20T13:27:06.091-07:002010-05-20T13:27:06.091-07:00Ajai- good article. I am glad you pointed out the ...Ajai- good article. I am glad you pointed out the fact that we need to stop thinking of ourselves as 'economic or military' superpowers and the fact remains that $10-$20 billion is really nothing much for these huge military contractors to spend much time on. So, we need to actually be grateful for what we are getting, after all, where do our indigenous programs stand?<br /><br />I am glad you saw what makes a superpower, and what thinking big really means. Too bad our own dhotiwallas are busy applying their limited point of view to all strategic issues.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-55112169694766741532010-05-20T11:59:11.716-07:002010-05-20T11:59:11.716-07:00Boeing has show POK as part of Pakistan in one of ...Boeing has show POK as part of Pakistan in one of their latest PowerPoint presentation, need we do business with these nincompoops! That is callousness to the core from the part of his company. Refer Livefist blogger for an update on this matter.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-4483697037381441032010-05-20T11:05:57.201-07:002010-05-20T11:05:57.201-07:00Lungikawasta:
The blog posting on "Doing def...Lungikawasta:<br /><br />The blog posting on "Doing defence with Uncle Sam" is identical... verbatim... to my Business Standard column. Go to the BS website and check it out for yourself.<br /><br />I don't run two standards simultaneously.<br /><br />AjaiBroadswordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13076780076240598482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-55094453167646057712010-05-20T06:09:01.018-07:002010-05-20T06:09:01.018-07:00Hi Ajai ji,
Your comments should be eye opening to...Hi Ajai ji,<br />Your comments should be eye opening to the people, who are running behind F-16/18 for MMRCA. The MMRCA is commercially most useful for Gripen or Rafale(Although it is useful for all particiapnts). It is least useful for Americans commercially. You can bargain well only if person sitting before you, needs you badly. Otherwise you have to compromise. If India wants good aircraft with useful technology transfer, then choice is Rafale. If India wants a good aircraft wchich is cheaper, therefore number can be increased easily from 126 to 200, then choice is Gripen. I go with Gripen, because FGFA will come before 2020.<br />Punit ShuklaPunit Shuklanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-6573680432917619992010-05-19T17:27:04.181-07:002010-05-19T17:27:04.181-07:00I certainly hope your blog retains its neutrality....I certainly hope your blog retains its neutrality. <br /><br />And yes, my name is Tathagata (Tats in short). Have posted a lot of comments/read your blog regularly anonymously :-), will sign my comments in future.Tathagatanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-83927781446323089682010-05-19T17:08:15.339-07:002010-05-19T17:08:15.339-07:00@ shumayel
I agree 99% to what you have said; the...@ shumayel<br /><br />I agree 99% to what you have said; the other 1% being the fact that Russia (or the old USSR) for that matter behaves in the same manner. That is peddling its own view of the world through arms sales.<br /><br />The weapon systems that Russia hawks around the world are at their best only about 90% (capabilities) of their western (read US) counterparts. This is aptly highlighted by Aeroflot’s or Air India’s or Indian Airline’s inventory (composition off) during the glory days and the subsequent decline in Russia's civilian airliner (making) capability since the end of USSR.<br />So i guess if Indians are looking to buy cutting edge weaponry we have to buy from US (directly from the horse’s mouth as they say) or Israel (moderately modified one). Furthermore, India being a low to moderately democratic country has more in common values with the US than oligarch (read mafia) infested Russia (barring arms sales thus far). <br /><br />@ anon 2:39<br /><br />I think Ajai would have been invited by Boeing because he's jouro with a newspaper (yes he does help shape opinions) rather than a blogger. Moreover, i suppose what he's written here is not verbatim (or vice versa) to his report in that newspaper.<br /><br />lungikawastaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-34803017958650995322010-05-19T16:41:08.604-07:002010-05-19T16:41:08.604-07:00Anonymous 02:39:
I suggest you don't lose any...Anonymous 02:39:<br /><br />I suggest you don't lose any sleep about my neutrality; let me worry about that. When you find my writing becoming biased towards one side, simply stop reading me!<br /><br />By the way, the guy who said there are no free lunches was clearly not familiar with journalism. All of us are lunched and dinnered, sometimes even breakfasted by Indians, Americans, Swedes, Singaporeans, Brits, French, Germans... you name it, they pay the bill.<br /><br />So which one of them shall we favour?<br /><br />My friend, there are honest journalists and bought-and-paid ones. The honest ones can meet over a free lunch, go on a fully-paid-up trip, laugh, back-slap and still do a fair and balanced article. And there are journalists who can legitimately claim that they have never accepted a lunch or a facility-tour... but you'll still find their writing one-sided. So it might be a better idea to look at the integrity of the structure, rather than obsess only about the facade.<br /><br />You are also entirely wrong about the US cutting the Raptor programme because it is "debt ridden" and a declining superpower. The Raptor was cut because it was a Cold War platform in a War on Terror era and because it was way to expensive to keep in the air.<br /><br />For the short and medium term future, the US will remain the world's predominant military power, and I do not see any country leapfrogging it technologically for at least another few decades. <br /><br />AJ:<br /><br />Thanks for your kind offer. Am in Chicago airport waiting for my flight home!Broadswordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13076780076240598482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-70394469245448482562010-05-19T16:27:14.419-07:002010-05-19T16:27:14.419-07:00I am surprised that the inward looking culture (US...I am surprised that the inward looking culture (US Arms CO's)comes out as a surprise to so many posters on this thread. For Ajai it might have hit home after this trip but for others? hmmmm.<br />I work in the IT industry so i know what it means (also been to US). A few years ago when i went to the graveyard outside Tucson (those who are into aviation should go there, it's the ultimate place to be). There were thousands upon thousands of fighters lying there in the open without their engines and other sensitive parts. That gave me some indication of how big US military was and their economy. Another example i heard while flying (in US) was that at any given time there are over 9000 planes flying over US airspace, and at that time (a few years ago) Indian railways would run that many trains on any given day. Quite shocking but that gives us a sense of how big that country's economy is vis a vis it's population. If anyone of you see their banking sector or the insurance sector or their healthcare sector (and i suspect many posters here work in some of these sectors in India)you would know (and perhaps feel) how big their economy is. <br /><br />LungikawastaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-30576658521711015372010-05-19T15:14:50.244-07:002010-05-19T15:14:50.244-07:00For the US as a whole, the really important thing ...For the US as a whole, the really important thing is that an Indian airforce that buys the MRCA is an Indian airforce that is open to American influence. Weapons sales translate to influence. American influence leads to .....????<br /><br />Also, that while Indian weapons sales might only be gravy to the US firms, by winning contracts in India, they take away the meals for their counterparts in Europe and Russia, who need the Indian market. It is a win win for them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-65132053956451084272010-05-19T14:09:54.344-07:002010-05-19T14:09:54.344-07:00Well, couple of questions here Ajai.
Firstly, I ...Well, couple of questions here Ajai. <br /><br />Firstly, I remember your comment on the millionth visitor to your blog- "No advertising accepted to maintain neutrality of blog views". Does that statement still hold, given that you "accepted" the Boeing invitation to visit USA. I am in the US for the last 2+ years and if there is one thing i have learnt in this country it is that "There is no such thing as free lunch". Would love to hear from you and read your future blogs for signs of "blog neutrality". <br /><br />Secondly, I agree that India is still a nascent defence market for USA. But 10 years from today, which is what i am sure the US defence manufacturers are looking at-India will be a different market. The US economy, saddled with debt, will be and is reducing expenses on defence and capital equipment. Case in point-reduced orders for the Raptor/Spirit. Makes perfect sense-there is no country currently with a defence mechanism so advanced, and it will take a China 15-20 years to reach the level of sophistication the US has today. The days of a single order for 336 F-18 (was it 335?) spread over 4 years are gone. Boeing realizes that. Hence it is pursuing the 126+74 (options) Indian order. It would also propose a "downgraded" version of its F-18. That's also fine. What is not fine is conditional maintenance support (dependent on foreign policy, end user agreement to mention couple of areas) and non-technology sharing for critical components (Radar for one) for the planes it sells. This should be mentioned in bold in your post. This is a critical decision that the Indian armed forces would have to make (Independence with less glamourized platforms or Dependence with glamourized platforms) before deciding. I would not comment on effectiveness. I believe the true mark of platform effectiveness is dependent on the user, if the platforms are not lagging a generation or two.<br /><br />If it were my money and decision-I would buy SU-30 MKI's with the new Irbis-E radar anyday and integrate the new technologies (300 Km AESA radar, 3-D Thrust vectoring, Improved avionics, a superb turbofan engine-not a leaky turbofan)into the LCA/MCA in 5-10 years. But then, if wishes were horses....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-48153984374152099432010-05-19T12:14:38.109-07:002010-05-19T12:14:38.109-07:00A great analysis. Although i am from Pakistan but ...A great analysis. Although i am from Pakistan but i want to add something here. I have a little different perspective on this, perhaps as an outsider but: It is true that USA's defence industry is largely inwards, but USA is always in search of new partners in its policies. The dealings that india is having with USA (and vice versa) are not merely defence dealings, but political engagements for the new american century project, according to which usa has to more actively search for new partners in south asia and in other parts of the world. The best option that usa has right now is india in south asia. It is after all its problems, still quite an economy and looking promising. This is what USA basically requires and is in dire need of. the inclusion of india in afpak is pretty much in the same context. <br /><br />what basically the point is that if you only view deals with usa in military perspective, then you are missing the american point of view here. they want a close partnership with india and military deals only act as catalysts. USA will pretty much go to great extents over deals with india overlooking its inwards defence sufficiency and all. The MMRCA deal will most likely go to the American F18 hornet for many military reasons, but most of all the political alliance with india that usa now needs to counter china in the great game. i believe, indian officials up there know this well and that is why you see all the huge offset demands and expectations. In one word: keep it political, because usa wants to keep it that way. As far as india can maintain a sound and equal political partnership with usa, fulfilling military needs of india are of no matter to usa. If the need for bharat is no more felt by usa, it will be left out in the cold with its equipments rusting and hungry for spares. its that simple with the yanks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-63517988148476710922010-05-19T09:20:14.424-07:002010-05-19T09:20:14.424-07:00Balanced opinions presented in the post. India sho...Balanced opinions presented in the post. India should have increasing business with America in the field of defence for the sake of quantity. <br /><br />However India will never be able to penetrate in to the core group of America as it may require some special attributes. So India will have to be satisfied and convinced with what ever level of technology is offered to them. Also India should as always be careful and pre-warned of sanctions regarding cutting edge technologies.Ranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-90870869148409640362010-05-19T05:05:51.632-07:002010-05-19T05:05:51.632-07:00As usual with Ajay sir, another superb postAs usual with Ajay sir, another superb postMunishnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-63203984088186328372010-05-19T04:10:52.524-07:002010-05-19T04:10:52.524-07:00The obsession with anything American betrays India...The obsession with anything American betrays India as a country which lacks self-confidence and even self respect.How can we become a superpower if we are so proud of using foreign arms ?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-20755675166072457442010-05-18T23:21:31.123-07:002010-05-18T23:21:31.123-07:00Hi Ajai! I used to live in Virginia Beach, VA area...Hi Ajai! I used to live in Virginia Beach, VA area. Brings back memories of F-18s flying over head so many time. Hope you had a chance to visit the beach.<br /><br />P.S. My uncle lives there and owns a motel at the beach. Would be much obliged to get you a good deal for you and your family at the beach. <br /><br />Regards,<br /><br />AJAJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14186236645062047569noreply@blogger.com