Earlier this year, the defence ministry opened the commercial bids of competing manufacturers of air defence systems after a lengthy technical evaluation concluded in January, clearing all three systems under consideration. But as it turned out, the defence ministry is now faced with the prospect of taking a decision that could be open to serious challenges and create even greater controversy than the current political storm over the order for 36 Rafale fighters. This is a decision that will come 20 years after India first began its search for the system and appears headed towards a result that will be operationally deficient and strategically problematic.

As such, it is also a cautionary tale for any company considering the Indian defence market. But let’s begin with a recent quote.

“Igla-S has been used by the Indian ministry of defence for some years now. This system was supplied by Rosoboronexport contract before. And in international markets it is a well-known, very effective system. We also have some partners around the globe that have license production of the Igla-S. So the tender was conducted, the envelopes were opened and Russian proposal seemed — it proved to be better in terms of price than the competitors. It has some other competitive advantages with it being much more ergonomic than its competitors. If this Swedish system for instance should be operated by three personnel, the Russian system needs only one. So we are waiting for an official decision made by the Indians.” — Alexander Mikheev, Director General of Rosoboronexport, addressing Indian news media through an interpreter in Moscow on August 23, 2018 [Note: India has operated the older Igla-M, not the Igla-S.]

Background

In June of 1999, as the Kargil War raged in India’s Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian defence ministry initiated a case to acquire the Russian Igla-S air defence system to replace the Igla-M system, then already in service in India.

A Very Short Range Air Defence (VSHORAD) system allows forces on land to target low flying manned or unmanned aircraft. There are two major differences among the types of VSHORAD systems available today. Their guidance system employs either heat-seeking infra red seekers or works on laser guidance.

At the time, the Russian system was the only one under consideration. In 2002, Russia’s agency for arms exports, Rosoboronexport said the development of the new Igla-S system had been completed and in 2004, the Indian defence ministry’s Defence Procurement Board (DPB) recommended the procurement on a single vendor basis, for what was now considered a tri-service requirement. The following year, a Request For Proposal (RFP) was issued to Rosoboronexport.

But two years later, in 2007, the RFP was retracted because the Russians failed to show up with the Igla-S system for trials in India.

India’s defence ministry decided to try again three years later, in January 2010, and issued a global Request For Information (RFI), soliciting data on VSHORAD systems for a new acquisition process.

11 years had passed since the process was first initiated to replace the Igla-M system and the Indian armed forces were no closer to induction of the new kit.

Take 02

Still, this time the process moved a little quicker and in September 2010, a new Request For Proposal (RFP) was issued, beginning a new acquisition process through global multi-vendor competitive tendering, for an order worth INR 27,000 crores or USD 3.66 billion (Current Rate USD 01 = INR 73.57).

Four systems managed to clear the Technical Evaluation Committee’s (TEC) scrutiny in January 2012.

The last system, the South Korean LIG Nex1 Chiron, did not show up for trials and was eliminated. The Thales Starstreak had already been eliminated for inability to show compliance at the paper evaluation stage.

This left three contestants: French, Swedish and Russian.

Trials

In May 2012, trials for the three systems began in India.

Multiple rounds of trials were held until 2017. Each vendor was required to show compliance of their system with the physical and operational requirements of the RFP – except, as it became apparent, the Russians.

In the summer trials held at the Mahajan range in India in 2012, all three systems were required to demonstrate the ability of low-level short-range firing at targets at a height of 10 metres and at a distance of 500 metres. Both missiles fired from the Igla-S ended up in the dirt.

Successful summer targeting in the daytime summer desert at low altitudes is especially difficult for systems guided by infra red seekers. This is why the Igla-S managed a hit in December, because of significantly lower ambient temperatures.

Then in 2013, during trials in Leh, the Russians were allowed to change the complete sighting system on their Igla-S demonstrator — something questionable since only in situ repairs are allowed during trials.

Meanwhile, the official service life of the Igla-M systems in service in the Indian Army came to an end in 2013, leaving them no longer safe to operate anymore. These systems were acquired in the late eighties and mid-nineties and have a service life of seven years. Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) has since attempted to extend the service life of these systems with mixed results and there continue to be concerns about the safety of these systems in operation. Only a few thousand remain in the inventory of the Indian Army. In fact, Russia began replacing the Igla-S systems in its inventory with a newer system called the Verba in 2014.

In 2014, the Russians were required to contest in summer trials and fire the Igla-S, again. Once again, they simply did not show up.

A few months later, they were due for trials at Visakhapatnam (you know where this is going). And again, they were conspicuous by their absence.

They finally appeared for the summer trials held at Pokhran in 2017. Fortunately for them, this time there was no requirement for them to fire. They were only required to demonstrate their tracking ability. Out of 48 attempts allowed to them, they succeeded only 16 times, failing to track even targets as large as a fighter aircraft or an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) without flares.

All of this notwithstanding, the Russian bid had a charmed life. No failure during the trials was too great to allow them to stay in the contest. No absence from any stage of the trials was too significant for them to be disqualified. No transgression of the rules of the trials was enough for their bid to be thrown out.

Commercial Bids

In January 2018, the Russians, along with the French and the Swedes were declared technically compliant. And in May 2018, when the commercial bids were opened, the Russian bid was found to be, apparently, the lowest.

A system that had never been able to successfully prosecute a target under the summer sun in the deserts of Rajasthan had been declared compliant by the defence ministry and then discovered to be, seemingly, the cheapest.

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