India faces severe ammunition shortage, can fight war for only 20 days: CAG

[prasad1]

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India cannot fight a war beyond 15-20 days due to crippling shortages in its ammunition stocks. To add to its woes, the home-grown Tejas light combat aircraft is still nowhere near being combat-ready despite being in the making for over 30 years.

This grim reality of the critical shortfall in ammunition reserves adversely impacting the operational readiness of the 1.18-million Army as well as the problems dogging the Tejas fighter, which has led to a sharp fall in the number of IAF fighter squadrons, has been repeatedly highlighted by TOI.

On Friday, it was made official by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. In reports tabled in Parliament, the audit watchdog attacked the Tejas Mark-I jet for being just about 35% indigenous and falling short on as many as 53 technical requirements, greatly reducing its capabilities and survivability in combat.

It also slammed the defence establishment for the dismal management of ammunition in the Army, expressing shock that there was total "disregard" of the policy to hold ammunition for 40 days of "intense" fighting under the war wastage reserves (WWR).

Stocking of 125 of the 170 different types of ammunition was not enough for even 20 days of war-fighting or "minimum acceptable risk level" requirements. "Further, in 50% of the types of ammunition, the holding was critical or less than 10 days in March 2013," said CAG.

The situation has not changed much since then. As reported by TOI, the approved Army "ammunition roadmap" holds the desired 40-day WWR will only be possible by 2019, which as things stand now does not seem achievable.

The CAG said while the Ordnance Factory Board was failing to meet the requirements due to its limited production capacity, the import route was also proving to be "unreasonably" slow. "In 17 import cases (total imports worth Rs 16,594 crore) for which acceptance of necessity was accorded in July 2013, no contract could be concluded by December 2014," it said.

India faces severe ammunition shortage, can fight war for only 20 days: CAG - The Times of India

 

[prasad1]

The CAG said while the Ordnance Factory Board was failing to meet the requirements due to its limited production capacity, the import route was also proving to be "unreasonably" slow. "In 17 import cases (total imports worth Rs 16,594 crore) for which acceptance of necessity was accorded in July 2013, no contract could be concluded by December 2014," it said.

As for Tejas, the CAG held the fighter was "dependent on foreign sources" for important components such as engine, multi-mode radar, radome, flight control system actuators, multi-functional display system and the like.

Moreover, Tejas Mark-I is "deficient" in electronic warfare capabilities as the self-protection jammer could not be fitted on it due to space constraints. "The radar warning receivers/counter-measure dispensing systems fitted on the aircraft are also having performance issues," it said.

The Tejas Mark-II, with more powerful engines and weight reduction, which is what the IAF wants, is still on the drawing board. As of now, the fighter cannot fire BVR (beyond-visual range) missiles or drop laser-guided bombs, nor is capable of undergoing mid-air refueling. It, hopefully, will be able to do so when the Mark-I gets its final operational clearance (FOC) by December 2015.

"IAF would be constrained to use Mark-I, which has reduced survivability, lower performance, lower range and endurance, reduced pilot protection, reduced operational capability and reduced weapon accuracy," it said.
India faces severe ammunition shortage, can fight war for only 20 days: CAG - The Times of India

 

[Vaagmi]

India is a nuclear power. It has tactical nuclear weapons as well. It has reliable and adequate air and missile delivery systems in adequate numbers. It has no intention/plan to go on an offensive against any country in the near future. So this gap in ammo can be set right in course of time. There is no need to worry too much. Of course a gap is a gap and it has to be fulfilled.

 

[prasad1]

When there is a border skirmish one does not use an Atom Bomb.
Raheem Das says:

Rahiman dekhi baden ko, laghu na dije daar
Jahan kaam aawe sui, kya kar sake talwar
When you need a needle to sew, what good will a sword do.

Retired major general S. R. Sinho has expressed concern of the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) warning that Indian armed forces could run out of ammunitions if intense fighting with Pakistan or any other neighbouring country were to take place in the immediate future.
"There has been an article which has come out in the press saying that if there is any intense fighting with Pakistan or neighbouring countries, we will run short of ammunitions", said Major General (retired) Sinho.
"If there is an intense war with Pakistan, India would be left with just 15-20 days' ammunition (heavy weapons bombs, like motor bombs, aircraft bombs, etc). In the Kargil War (1999), this is exactly what had happened. India felt that its lazer bombs used for accurate firing from aircrafts were quickly depleting. These bombs are highly technical and not produced in large numbers and cannot be retained for
a long time. If there is no war for twenty years, these heavy bombs, RTE bombshells and tanks will get damaged and will have to be allowed to go to waste as part of training. In such a situation, our country can feel the shortage of ammunition", Sinho told ANI.
In its report critical of India's defence sector, CAG brought out a report on ammunition management that pointed out that the army faced a massive ammunition shortage with reserves that would barely last twenty days of intense fighting. The army needs to build up its war wastage reserves for more number of days.

Ex-officer says Indian Army facing ammo shortage in event of war with Pakistan very worrying | Business Standard News

 

[renuka]

Shouldnt all these info be considered Classified and be governed by an Official Secrets Act?

Its like revealing 'weakness' to the enemy.

 

[sarang]

If there is a war, there are enough friendly countries (and supply agents) to supply all arms needed at short notice. US will arm pakistan to the hilt in a matter of hours. Only USA and gorillas/terrorists can sustain a war longer than two weeks.

When it is between two countries, the warring countries will face intense pressure to halt hostilities. What happened in Ukraine? Even during bangladesh liberation war, indira gandhi had given indian army only 15 days to capture dacca and win, and she will resist american and its allies pressure till then.

 

[sarang]

Applies for other countries, but not for india. Indian media and some indians revel in such issues.

Shouldnt all these info be considered Classified and be governed by an Official Secrets Act?

Its like revealing 'weakness' to the enemy.

 

[Vaagmi]

When there is a border skirmish one does not use an Atom Bomb.
Raheem Das says:
Rahiman dekhi baden ko, laghu na dije daar
Jahan kaam aawe sui, kya kar sake talwar
When you need a needle to sue, what good will a sword do.

prasadji,

Again you have jumped the gun. Please read my post again. I said about tactical nuclear weapons and not strategis nuclear bombs. These weapons are theater specific and can be used in border skirmishes if the enemy has superior fire power and advantage of territory. These bombs are usually fired from special artilleries or by loading on to missiles. India has Brahmos equipped divisions. The brahmos is a cruise missile--means it is manouverable to a target after firing. and it travels at supersonic velocity. These missiles when equipped with nuclear shells can be formidable. All this was meant when I said succinctly that we have tactical nuclear weapons and delivery systems. LOL.

I do not say that the gap should be left a gap to remain. It must be closed at the earliest. But there is no reason to get alarmed. No neighbour will dare start a skirmish and India will not be hamstrung by its depleted stock of ammo. That is the point I wanted to make. You missed it and called Raheem Das to come into the picture with doha. LOL.

 

[V.Balasubramani]

As for the shortage of ammunition, hope on receipt of CAG’s report, the authorities concerned would have by this time initiated necessary action for procurement of enough ammution by following the well established tender or other formalities.

In this connection, I think it is not out of place to share the following news item which speaks about the recent welcome developments in our country's defence preparedness indicating the priority given to the subject by the ruling Government.

"8 significant developments in India’s defence preparedness"

Read more at: Developments in India's defence - 8 significant developments in India's defence preparedness | The Economic Times

Let us be optimistic.

 

[tks]

Some such news items - strategically leaked regardless of how true they are - have their origins in the defense industry 'mafias' worldwide that wants all countries to expand their arms portfolio. I usually read such news items with skepticism and such 'leaks' happen routinely in USA as well causing many to worry needlessly.

 

[prasad1]

TKSji,
It is not a leak, it is CAG report that was tabled in the parliament.
India does not need to buy ammunition, it should make it and stock it. In USA the arms industry is in private hands in India the the ordinance factory is government owned. So any so called "leak" is not going to help the private arms factory. So comparing with USA is misplaced.

Ordnance Factories Board (OFB), consisting of the Indian Ordnance Factories , is an industrial organisation, functioning under the Department of Defence Production of Ministry of Defence, Government of India. It is engaged in research, development, production, testing, marketing and logistics of a comprehensive product range in the areas of land, air and sea systems. OFB consists of forty-one Ordnance Factories, nine Training Institutes, three Regional Marketing Centres and four Regional Controllerates of Safety, which are spread all across the country.

If the industry was efficient, we will not have this shortage.
It is foolish to beg for ammunition during a conflict (even from those friends) they will extract the maximum price.

The 2014–15 India–Pakistan border skirmishes are a series of ongoing armed skirmishes and firing exchange between the Border Security Force and Pakistan Army along the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Kashmir area and Punjab. Started from mid-July 2014, military officials and media reports of both countries gave different accounts of the incident, each accusing the other of initiating the hostilities. The incident sparked outrage both in Pakistan and India and harsh reactions by the Indian army and Pakistan armed forces and governments.

India has to use ammunition to bombard the Pakistani position. The scarcity will weaken Indian Position.

The CAG said while the Ordnance Factory Board was failing to meet the requirements due to its limited production capacity, the import route was also proving to be "unreasonably" slow. "In 17 import cases (total imports worth Rs 16,594 crore) for which acceptance of necessity was accorded in July 2013, no contract could be concluded by December 2014," it said.