Page 36 - Scientech 2016-17

Science and Technology hand in hand with Military Power
For a nation to be considered great, the sustainability in terms of internal and external
security is the foremost requirement. Ancient India, though were having great Kingdoms
in the past, the Buddha era came in later taught to be ultra-restraint and thus were
insensitive about strengthening their armies and protecting their land. Thus the nation
enfeebled and eventually got brutally rampaged by the invaders. After the independence,
as realized from the past lessons, the country has given equal importance to the military
power along with the development streams. But with the growth of technological era around
the world, the superpowers in the world started using their technological advancements in
empowering their military to gain upper hand. We were initially bit behind in modernising
the armed forces. However, with the induction of DRDO and involvement of ISRO into
military refurbishment, India is now one of the leading military power both technological
and capacity wise. Presently, government’s initiative in transforming India is evident,
currently the world’s biggest arms importer into a defense manufacturing powerhouse, with
the $150 billion that will be spent over the next decade in modernising the armed forces.
It has also been noted that closer collaboration with military would enhance technological
capacity of local companies and create job vacancies of over 10 million Indians each year.
With many important deals being signed, India’s defense arsenal will soon get a mammoth
boost in the forthcoming years. The decision to build BrahMos missile (world’s fastest
anti-ship cruise missile), with significant enhanced range will go a long way in augmenting
India’s strike capability. On collaboration with Russia, the range would be significantly
better than the current 290-km, with India now being part of Missile Technology Control
Regime (MTCR). The indigenous technological progress turned out to be the inhalation of
our defense forces today. This has opened up vast opportunities for the young generation
for their future careers as well as for small and large connecting businesses.

With the army forging a relationship with private sectors, specific needs are being identified
about the kind of problems they encounter in day to day military activities. This has enabled
private sector in building solutions likewise. “Almost two-thirds of the army’s contracts for
critical weapons and equipment concluded from 2007 to 2012 — worth nearly $4.5 billion
— were delayed, India’s national auditor said in a report this week. The foot-dragging
was so severe that it “hampered” the military’s modernisation plan and impacted defense
preparedness,” says a recent report. The delays were said to have been caused by “heavy
dependence” on imported weapons. However, the indigenous development campaign has
harnessed preparedness of Indian private sector towards congregating the “felt-needs of
the armed forces”. This has considerably reduced dependency on foreign vendors.

Indigenous Production Drive
The nation’s development boom has been supported enormously by the indigenous
production campaign which has been proffered as a huge technological boost for India.
The aim has been transformation of India to a global manufacturing hub, by boosting
multinational and domestic companies to manufacture their products within the country by
sharing their technologies too. Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion is in charge of
this project, with the initiative
aiming to raise
the contributions
of manufacturing
sector to 25% of Gross Domestic
Product 2025 from the current 16%.
A mammoth number of initiatives have
been triggered under this movement

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