India's raised its defence budget for 2010-11 by 3.98 per cent to Rs. 1,47,377 crore. This allocation represents 2.12 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), which is below the global average of 2.5 per cent. Considering the void in defence preparedness and the rising military expenditure and capability in neighbourhood, India needs to increase its defence spending to around 2.5-3.0 per cent of GDP. However, the increase in allocation has to go with reforms in capital acquisition system, which in present form is unable to spend the allocated resources.

• Authors: Laxman Kumar Behera
• April 2010
• Journal of Defence Studies

Modern aerospace power is the only instrument that would give the country an assured capability to project precision fire power at great distances with or without mid-air refuelling and AWACS support and therefore, continues to remain the best instrument for deterrence and instantaneous and calibrated response to emerging threats. Whatever India decides, it cannot but modernise its aerospace power.

• Authors: Ramesh Phadke
• April 2010
• Journal of Defence Studies

This book explores the options for building a fence between dormant Iranian nuclear-weapons ability and a real weapon, both in practice and in terms of observation. There is no definite firewall between the peaceful nuclear activities as Iran claming allowed under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and weapons abilities, but there are some ways to make the difference between the two wider and more visible.

• Authors: M. Mahtab Alam Rizvi
• April 2010
• Journal of Defence Studies

Our defence forces require timely and cost effective acquisition of defence equipment to enable them to meet any challenge to the country's security. Especially all of you who represent the strategic community know very well that we are living in an era of challenges from many quarters. The emerging security scenario is very challenging. Nobody can say what will happen in some of our neighbouring areas. The situation is that critical.

• Authors: A. K. Antony
• January 2010
• Journal of Defence Studies

…..SQRs form the basis of any procurement /development/R&D project
undertaken by SHQs, the process of formulating the same should be free of
vested influences, maintaining the confidentiality.

• Authors: Puneet Chadha
• January 2010
• Journal of Defence Studies

Acquisition efficiencies represent the most vital element in India's quest for optimal defence capability build up in the desired time and cost horizons. The focused attention bestowed by MOD and Services Headquarters in recent years on this critical theme is a clear assertion of the country's resolve to acquire full spectrum military strength over the next 15-20 years.

• Authors: V. K. Misra
• January 2010
• Journal of Defence Studies

……if Paper Evaluation were achieving its aim of ensuring that only those equipments that meet the technical parameters were invited for field evaluation and if that conclusion was to be true then such equipments should by and large clear field evaluation. However, experience does not suggest that. ……. modify …… existing procedure of Paper Evaluation to achieve the desired results much faster in the context of our acquisition philosophy of SUNDER – SASTA – AUR TIKAU alluded to earlier.

• Authors: I. S. Chaturvedi
• January 2010
• Journal of Defence Studies

The Government has professed it's inclination to promote indigenous production of defence products over and over again but unfortunately something seems to be holding the ministry back in taking on the issue wholeheartedly. In order to go full steam on the bandwagon of indigenization……..Scrap the present elaborate categorisation process completely and replace it by a simpler process….

• Authors: Alok Perti
• January 2010
• Journal of Defence Studies

To prevent diffusion of responsibility, dedicated teams should be in place for the entire duration of a project, especially for non-R&D projects. The team should be mandated to stick to sanctioned time and cost but sufficiently empowered to make minor alterations in the scope. The team may be asked to sign a performance and integrity related MoU and assured of necessary support. This should include assured funding support because old projects may sometimes gasp for funding as new priorities take over with change of key decision makers.

• Authors: Subhash Chandra Pandey
• January 2010
• Journal of Defence Studies

The present defence procurement and management structures in the Ministry of Defence were set up in 2001 in terms of the recommendations of the Group of Ministers on reforming national security system constituted in the wake of the Kargil conflict. The GOM recommended setting up of an acquisition wing with the task of expediting the acquisition of capital equipment required for the modernisation programmes of the three Services.

• Authors: S. Banerjee
• January 2010
• Journal of Defence Studies