New Delhi: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday met the three service chiefs and assured of speedy procurement of defence equipments. Parrikar said indigenisation of defence manufacturing and higher transparency will be his top priorities.
The newly sworn-in Defence Minister met Defence Secretary RK Mathur, Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag, Indian Navy Chief RK Dhowan, Air Force Chief Arup Raha. I will take forward the work that (Arun) Jaitley ji has done…” Parrikar told media persons as he took charge.
In 2012 Army Chief General VK Singh had written a letter to the then Prime Minister, stating the country’s security might be at risk owing to the fact that tanks are running out of ammunition, air defence is going obsolete and the infantry is operating without critical weapons.
The retired Army chief had written the letter to former PM Manmohan Singh on March 12.
In the letter, the ex-Army chief had asked Dr Singh to “pass suitable directions to enhance the preparedness of the Army”.
In his letter, the former Army Chief had stated that while there is lack of critical ammunition for the entire tank fleet, the country’s air defence is “97% obsolete and it doesn`t give the deemed confidence to protect…from the air”.
Also, the infantry is crippled with “deficiencies of crew served weapon” and lacks “night fighting” capabilities, he had said. Elite Special Forces, on the other hand, are “woefully short” of “essential weapons”, he had added.
He had also hit out at indigenous ordnance factories, saying they produce weapon systems and other fighting material of poor quality with no sense of urgency. Stating the shortcomings were severely eroding the Army`s preparedness, he had stressed on the need to “urgently mitigate” these “critical deficiencies” that are “impacting the operational capability” of a 1.3million-strong Army.
Bureau Report
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