Military spares : spare a thought

Most of the military weapon systems & equipment are portable, capable of being deployed in remote areas having inhospitable terrain & weather conditions.  The deployment is widely dispersed. The Indian army is equipped with weapon systems & equipment procured from various countries. The geopolitical considerations play a vital role in this procurement & may at times outweigh cost considerations. Once procured, military equipment is required to be sustained for many decades, often much beyond their economic life cycle. In contrast, procurement & discard of plant & machinery in the Indian industry is based mainly on cost considerations. Besides, these equipment are mainly static in nature & are usually positioned in the hinterland having a fairly good infrastructure for maintenance. Thus, maintaining military equipment pose unique challenges which are generally not faced in the industry.

The most critical facet of engineering support to military equipment is the shortage or non availability of the desired spares. The maintainer is often grappling with this problem both in the field as well as in depth areas. This often leads to “jugaad” (innovative repairs) or poor quality of repairs especially during overhaul. There are many reasons for the shortage of spares at the repair point. One of the many reasons for this shortage/non availability is the long procurement cycle for imported spares. These spares may be required for imported equipment or for indigenous equipment fitted with some imported items. The Directorate of Indigenisation was established under the Directorate General of EME to address this issue. However, its success has been limited even though it has been in existence for many years.

In the present context where the government is rooting for “ Make in India” under    “ Atmanirbhar Bharat”, the time is right to upgrade & empower the Directorate  of Indigenisation with a mandate to indigenise all required spares of foreign origin. The industry in India has come a long way & can find solutions to most of our spares requirement. The entire cycle of identification of spares, identification of agency to develop it, its development, acceptance & introduction into service , needs to be simplified. Hence, this directorate would need to be completely restructured & staffed accordingly. It would also need to be empowered to provide a single window clearance to fast track the process of indigenisation.

Rajesh Datta

Maj Gen Rajesh Datta (Retd) is a result oriented & performance driven professional with 37 years experience in the Indian Army & thereafter 5 years experience as a CEO & plant head . He is a multi disciplinary engineer who has been essentially involved with repair and overhaul of army vehicles , equipment and weapon system in forward areas and in the hinterland . At the peak of his army career , he was responsible for managing the engineering support to all army equipment deployed in J&K . Having functioned as CEO of Cavendish Industries Ltd & thereafter of Cygnet Industries Ltd , he is fully equipped with the requirements for top management positions in the corporate sector . He has functioned as a trouble shooter across multiple locations & in multiple disciplines .