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Prime Minister Narendra Modi stepped into the War Room of the Military Operations Directorate of the Army Headquarters for the first time on Friday to review the security challenges on India's troubled frontiers. He hadn't reckoned with the inconvenient truth that India is not ready for war. Army chief General Bikram Singh did not hold back on the "critical hollowness" afflicting the Army after a decade of missed deadlines for procurement and wherewithal to face war. He made it clear that the basic weapon available to the infantry soldier — the INSAS Rifle — was obsolete. Firepower, critical in any war, is a worry because there's been no new addition of artillery guns since the scam-tainted Bofors deal of 1986. Army air defence is outdated as well. Army aviation, which is the lifeline for soldiers deployed on forbidding border posts up to 23,000 feet high, is saddled with the over 40-year-old Cheetah-Chetak helicopters. Night blindness is a critical factor not adequately addressed.

The efforts to deal with military obsolescence over the last decade appear clumsy and incompetent. No headway has been made in the over $5 billion artillery modernisation programme, despite multiple tenders and repeated trials. It's the same story with the $1 billion acquisition of 197 light helicopters for the Army. India's big air defence programme — the $5 billion Very Short Range Air Defence Systems (VSHORAD) is stuck in red tape. So is the Short-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (SRSAM) development programme. The $1.5 billion procurement of the basic assault rifle and carbine for the infantry hasn't made any significant progress. The anti-tank Javelin missile too appears a mirage, as also the Future Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV).

The most startling of the challenges flagged by General Bikram Singh to be addressed on a priority basis was the depletion in the war wastage reserves for ammunition, which has fallen well below 50%. "Current levels will not last even a week of intense war," sources acknowledged. General Bikram Singh wants a Rs 19,250 cr funding to replenish ammunition stocks. "The roadmap entails making up 50% of the war wastage reserves of ammunition by the end of 2015 and 100% by 2019," sources disclosed.

"Of all the services, the progress in the modernisation programme of the Army has been the worst. The only significant assets we've added over the last decade are the T-90 tanks, the Smerch long-range artillery, Pinaka rocket systems and the Brahmos missiles. Very serious gaps are showing in our capability. These must be addressed by the new government on avery urgent basis. That's our urgent appeal to the political leadership," said a senior officer.

Sources said the War Room briefing for Modi lasted 2 hours and 45 minutes. The Army is hoping that its severe readiness deficit registered on the Prime Minister.

Source : Sunday Guardian