Commentary / Admiral J G Nadkarni

Abundance of manpower is likely to make our
armed forces fat and docile

The Rajput class cost less than a third of their international prices. No longer. As if to recoup their lost dollars, Russia reportedly wanted a cool billion dollars for the ten-year-old carrier, Admiral Gorshkov. At about Rs 4 billion to Rs 5 billion, the Gorshkov might have been a good buy, but at Rs 30 billion it would have wiped out the naval procurement budget for five years.

Pakistan today is standing at the edge of an economic precipice. At least a part of that grave has been dug by the country's armed forces who have resorted to some profligate spending on defence in recent years. In 1994, Pakistan signed for three Agosta class submarines from France at a cost of Rs 10 billion each!

What can countries like India do to cope up with the new reality? An increase in the defence budget is the inevitable answer. But there is an obvious limit to what a poor country like India, perpetually balancing guns against butter, will be able to afford for its security. Even so, to expect about three and a half per cent of the GDP to keep the country's body and soul together is not unreasonable.

Unfortunately, the one beneficial fallout of the high costs of defence has passed India's armed forces by. Greater sophistication has also brought in its wake a reduction in manpower. High tech means automated gun turrets, remotely controlled machinery and precision fired missiles. The capital intensive equipment of today has resulted in considerable reduction in the number of people required to fight it. Lean and mean is today's mantra.

India's armed forces have failed to take advantage of sophistication, which can to some extent offset the high cost of modern equipment. Having paid an exorbitant amount for a ship, we seem to feel that we can only get full value if we stuff it with people.

Indian naval ships habitually carry at least 50 per cent more sailors than their western counterparts. Fortunately for the army and the air force, space prevents a tank from carrying more than four and an aircraft can take only one pilot. But they make up in the tail what the teeth cannot have. Abundance of manpower is likely to make our armed forces fat and docile.

There is, of course, a silver lining to all this. The high cost of weapons will eventually drive the government to what the pundits have been advising it for years. Say, in 2005, both India and Pakistan will procure about a dozen nuclear weapons each, disband or reduce their conventional forces, and call that defence.

Retired Admiral J G Nadkarni, former chief of the naval staff, will contribute an occasional column to these pages on national security issues.