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| India-Pakistan |
| India, together with the United States, will make armored vehicles used by Kiev in the Northern Military District |
| 2023-11-15 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by German Polysalov [REGNUM] Washington and New Delhi have agreed to jointly produce American Stryker armored vehicles in India. This was one of the results of the visit to India by Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin , accompanied by US State Department chief Antony Blinken. Wheeled armored cars Stryker, note, are among the equipment that the United States supplied to the Ukrainian army. In February, Austin announced, among other things, the transfer of 90 units of these armored vehicles to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Kyiv used this technique in the summer-autumn “counter-offensive”. At the end of September , TASS reported that Strykers were among the weapons knocked out in battles near Rabotino in the Zaporozhye region. Stryker “is valued in the US Army for its versatility - there are more than two dozen variants that perform, among other functions, infantry, reconnaissance platforms, medical and engineering support,” The Times of India explained to its readers . The agreement to jointly produce combat systems was announced after a meeting between Blinken and Austin with Indian colleagues Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh . ARMORED VEHICLES "WITH AN ELEPHANT" Joint production of Strykers can begin quite quickly, but the timing of the start of work will depend on the level of localization of production, Vasily Kashin , senior researcher at the Institute of China and Modern Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences, expert at the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, explained to IA Regnum . If we are talking about the production of complex elements in India - engines, electronic components and remotely controlled weapons systems, it may take more time. If India produces low-tech elements of armored vehicles, it will be able to set up production faster. New Delhi's interest in producing its Strykers is understandable. These are modern and relatively good wheeled armored personnel carriers that will surpass the Soviet-type vehicles used by India in armor protection, communications and surveillance equipment. The way these vehicles were used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces - as ordinary transport to transport soldiers to the line of contact or to attack them - “is strange,” Kashin notes. But it is unlikely that in the foreseeable future we should expect the appearance of “Strykers” with the “made in India” mark in the Northwestern Military District zone. And the reason is not only politics. Although in it: Delhi distances itself from any form of support for the Kyiv regime and in contrast to neighboring Pakistan. The main reason: from the moment the contract is signed until the production of armored vehicles begins, years will pass in any case, Kashin pointed out. The fact is that the state program Make in India, which was approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi , involves abandoning “screwdriver production” (in this case, simple welding of armored hulls) in favor of deeper localization. This implies the construction of factories with full-fledged production lines and the training of qualified personnel - and this is a matter of more than one year. Thus, there is no need to fear that Indian-assembled American cars will fall into the possession of Kyiv. Another concern is the very growing pace of military cooperation between India and the United States. “WE PLEDGED TO DEEPEN TIES BETWEEN THE MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX” On November 8, the American and Indian sides held a meeting to mobilize private capital for defense startups, Nikkei reported. These agreements are a logical continuation of the June agreements. Then Prime Minister Modi visited Washington to benefit the national military-industrial complex. The Indian Prime Minister and US President Joe Biden then agreed on a “road map” for cooperation between the two defense complexes. For example, as part of the “map”, the aerospace division of the American General Electric signed an agreement with the Indian state-owned company Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd on the production of American F414 turbofan “engines” for promising Indian fighters - the fourth generation Tejas machines. During Modi's top-level state visit, the two countries not only strengthened cooperation on aircraft engines and munitions, but also " committed to deepening defense industry ties, including intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance technologies," The Times of India noted. In addition to cooperation on aircraft engines and ammunition, the parties are “working to streamline regulation, licensing and export controls, as well as deepen ties between defense companies . ” This, among other things, implies contacts through military intelligence and underwater communications projects. The Indian Army (4th in the ranking of the strongest armed forces according to Global Firepower) is planning to update its helicopter fleet: by 2027 it is planned to abandon the old Cheetah and Chetak aircraft. Yes, New Delhi expects to partially replace it with its own LUH light multipurpose helicopters. But it is also planned to turn to an external supplier - which, again, turns out to be the United States. Open sources reported that in July of this year, the US Army received a request to lease twenty light helicopters for reconnaissance and surveillance. WHY INDIA IS INTERESTED IN AMERICAN SUPPLIES American arms exports to India are indeed growing, but this is mainly due to sectors where Russia has nothing special to offer, says Vasily Kashin. These are basic patrol aircraft, heavy transport aircraft and armored personnel carriers. Our own program of the newest armored personnel carrier "Boomerang" is still delayed, and we continue to mass-produce the BTR-82, which is essentially a deep modernization of the BTR-80. In these conditions, the Indians are looking for other modern models of armored fighting vehicles, which are in great need, and the same Stryker is not the worst option for them. The lack of armored vehicles in the Indian army is also confirmed by researcher at IMEMO RAS, Indologist Alexey Kupriyanov . The interlocutor points out that for obvious reasons we cannot compete with the United States in the export of modern models of armored transport and combat vehicles: armored vehicles are occupied on other fronts, in other directions. At the same time, when the SVO is completed and its goals are achieved, a functioning industry churning out tanks, armored personnel carriers, shells and cartridges will obviously allow us to win back part of the market, Kupriyanov told IA Regnum . RUSSIAN DEVELOPMENTS IN INDIAN DESIGN At the same time, Kashin believes, joint Russian-Indian military projects are continuing now. But we cannot see many of them due to their closed nature due to sanctions. But we can talk about joint projects in the field of air and missile defense. In addition, India clearly intends to continue strengthening its air force - on November 7 it became known about the creation of additional air brigades on the borders with China and Pakistan. Each brigade is expected to be equipped with 50–60 helicopters. This circumstance opens a window of opportunity for continued contacts between India and Russia, despite the objective military rapprochement between New Delhi and Washington. It is necessary to work out mechanisms for financing all these projects under conditions of extreme sanctions pressure. And at the same time take into account the mentioned Make in India program and the emphasis on the national military-industrial complex. In this case, Moscow can integrate into joint production chains: R&D (research and development work) is carried out in Russia, production in India, and arms exports are carried out jointly. Moscow and Delhi already have accumulated experience, including relatively recent ones: in the mid-1990s, the parties quickly agreed to create a joint aerospace venture, BrahMos Aerospace, which also produces missile weapons. Russia's role was in development, technology and R&D, while the Indian side was assigned the creation of the ground part of all systems. However, the same Make in India project also involves cooperation of a similar format between the Indian military-industrial complex and the Americans or other Western gunsmiths. It is necessary to understand the percentage of localization of production and the markets where weapons will be exported, notes Kupriyanov. It should be taken into account that India has been professing the principle of “multi-vector” weapons for quite a long time. Despite all the disadvantages (in terms of the interchangeability of parts and the difficulty of training military personnel to operate equipment), there are obvious advantages: this allows the Indians not to be left without spare parts and with outdated equipment in the event that something happens to the supplier - as happened with the Soviet Union. Russia, obviously, has to come to terms with the fact that our traditional partner will continue to diversify its arms purchases without clinging to one exporter. |
| Posted by:badanov |