The Great Cover up?-Scorpene and the Scorpion Sting

Former Defence Minister George Fernandes rushed to France and struck the deal for six Scorpene submarines under the name Project 75. Extremely stealthy and lethal, the first Scorpene was supposed to roll out of Mazagon Dock in Mumbai in 2012 and one Scorpene would be launched every year from 2010 through 2017. These plans were made in 2005. Now, fast forward to 2010 and the Project 75 is running 2-3 years late which means the first Scorpene can't be expected before 2015-2020. By the time we get all the six sometime in early 2020s the Scorpenes would not be as valuable as they would be now as technology would have advanced significantly. But more importantly, India is going to retire all of its existing submarines this decade, including the Kilo class Submarines which form the backbone of India's current Submarine fleet! Which means, this decade Indian Navy will be MORE VULNERABLE THAN EVER.


So, Why was the delay?

• The official line of Ministry of Defence is that France increased the price of some critical components and the adamant bureaucrats who handle the payments refused to pay, causing the delay.
• Is there an unseen angle to these happenings? Would India really take a cost hike so seriously that our National Security be compromised? Unlike Gorshkov, the Russian Aircraft Carrier which in the end cost India three-four fold the initial agreement, the Scorpenes are state-of-the-art. Let us peep back into the past and find out what exactly went wrong..........................................................

The Naval War Room Leak Case(2004/05/06)

When Outlook broke the story linking the naval war room leak case and the Rs 18,798-crore Scorpene submarine deal, the defence ministry as well as naval HQ were quick to go into denial mode. The then Union minister of defence, Pranab Mukherjee, was dismissive when he told a TV interviewer that the civilian recipients of the secrets—arms dealer Abhishek Verma, his associates Ravi Shankaran (a relative of the recently-retired naval chief Admiral Arun Prakash) and Kulbhushan Parashar—would not be acted against. Reason: "Why does action have to be taken against them? This is commercial information," he said. Verma and Shankaran, reiterating their innocence, also issued similar denials. Thales, the French manufacturers of the Scorpene, denied any "contractual" relationship with Verma or the Atlas Group that he co-founded. But the CBI's second chargesheet filed in October demolishes many lies. The files recovered by the CBI from Verma and his associates—Kulbhushan Parashar and Commander Vijender Rana—covers a range of defence secrets pertaining to acquisitions by the army, air force and navy, including submarines. These were sourced by Rana and passed on to Verma and Shankaran via Parashar and then to foreign armament companies. The CBI chargesheet is categoric that the information leaked was "top secret" and not merely commercial. Crucially, it reveals that the Thales group did have links with Verma. As many as 369 pages of sensitive documents appended to the chargesheet and handed to the magistrate says it all about Verma, the Atlas Group and Thales. On February 14, 2006, Jean-Paul Perrier, executive vice president, Thales, sent a fax to Admiral Arun Prakash, claiming that "the Thales group has no contractual relationship with Atlas Defence Systems. The possibility of working with this company was examined on several occasions, but no partnership has ever materialised." The CBI chargesheet tells a different story. On page 22 it is specific: "A document recovered from the Jet Flash pen drive (of Rana) is part of a proposal of M/s Thales Communications with respect to the Aerostat Project, which is related to unmanned aerial surveillance mainly in border areas to keep a watch on the activities of enemy countries. It appears to have been generated in February 2004.

Such was the clout of Verma that he "could charter private aircraft" for his foreign clients.

The pen drive also contains a scanned copy of a letter (No. ARDE/BEG/GEM dated November 2004) from K.K. Thaper, scientist with the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE), and addressed to Atlas Defence Systems, 407, Tower B, Global Business Park, MG Road, Gurgaon, regarding the subject 'Aerostat Presentation'. It is thus proved that Kulbhushan Parashar was the contact person with regard to the Aerostat Presentation made by Atlas Defence Systems. The hard copy of this document has also been recovered independently from the residential premises of Kulbhushan Parashar during the various searches. This also establishes the link of Abhishek Verma with M/s Atlas Defence Systems and the Jet Flash pen drive recovered from Rana which contains sensitive information pertaining to national security." Further linkages with the Scorpene deal emerge as documents relating to procurements of submarine equipment have also been recovered. Listed as item 21 in the chargesheet is a note (SA/3098) regarding submarine equipment "to be procured as enclosed in the note dated December 2004". The CBI has also recovered a confidential draft relating to naval staff requirements for underwater communication and sensors. Sources in the CBI also confirmed that when Thales' Jean-Paul Perrier visited India in January this year, he spent a considerable amount of time at Verma's farmhouse on the Mehrauli-Gurgaon road. "There is enough evidence to show that the Atlas group of companies had some ongoing discussions and dealing with the Thales group. The Thales proposal recovered by us of February 2004 is an indication that they must have shared a deeper business relationship," a senior CBI official told Outlook. Such was the clout of Verma and his colleagues that the CBI chargesheet notes they "could charter private aircraft" for their foreign clients and put them up at five-star hotels. What's more, the CBI chargesheet alleges that "Abhishek Verma has received pecuniary benefits from foreign companies in the form of cash remittances. These companies had interest in various defence procurements by the government of India." The CBI has also managed to zero in on huge unexplained remittances into the Atlas' group companies like Atlas Interactive. Could these have been meant as kickbacks? Incidentally, Atlas had also entered into a contract with the Chinese telecom major ZTE to enter "the Indian defence market". A year ago, naval HQ issued two press releases insisting that the leaked information pertained to minor items such as patrol boats, electronic chart displays and breathing air compressors. It also insisted that no operational information was leaked and the government stubbornly refused to take any action. Now, as skeletons start to tumble out, it's becoming certain that there's more to the war room leak than the MoD and naval headquarters wanted everyone to believe.

From the above report it becomes clear that critical information regarding the Scorpene deal was leaked by the traitors. The most vital information about any modern day weapon syatem is about its communication system and that was what the unscrupulous agents sold to foreign players. With that Scorpene deal also slowed down. We can presume that Indian Navy wanted significant modifications in the Scorpene’s communications and that led the French to hike the price more than ever. This is not the first time that espionage has threatened our National Security nor will this be the last such instance. The incident just goes on to prove that it is not just machines but also the people that fight and win wars.

India & Russia- Great Scope of Improvement

India's relation with erstwhile Soviet Union was unparalleled in many ways. But the same cannot be said of India's relations with Russia today. To most observers the relations have been on wane for some time now especially since the U.S-India Nuclear Deal. But for all we know we need a very trustworthy friend at the very top i.e the United Nations Security Council and Russia is the only option. So, what are the problems plaguing our relations with Russia? What are the solutions? Here is all that at a glance.........

The Obstacles:

Wane in Defence Sector: India has diversified its defence procuremebts greatly. What was once a Soviet [or Russian] monopoly is now a stiff market with Israel and Russia slugging it out. France and the U.S are also emerging in a big way. What needs to be done here...............?

• Russian Weapons to China: Russia has been treating India and China on an equal basis on the Defence front, a departure from the Soviet era. Generally what is available to India is also available to China these days. These greatly affects India's National Security as China is the greatest threat to India. So India has been easing up to the West whose technology China will never have. If Russia wants to win India's trust, there should be some exclusive zone for India.
• Divergent Interests: India's bilateral trade with the U.S very high when compared to that with Russia. India's trade with E.U is also high. But Russian and the West's interests are divergent. Hence India is torn between both because India's sphere of interest is, ironically, not outside ASIA.

What has India gained from Russia?

1. India has received uninterrupted supply of Uranium from Russia.
2. Russia (or Soviet Union) always backed India on Kashmir and shielded India from U.N Sanctions.
3. During the 1971 Indo-Pak war, India was practically saved from the U.S by Soviet Union. The U.S President Richard Nixon sent an Aircraft Carrier into the Bay of Bengal to threaten India. India's cry for help was heeded by Soviets and they sent a nuclear submarine to hunt down the aircraft carrier. The Americans beat a hasty retreat and India won the war,splitting Pakistan into two.
4. India's indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant , which was launched earlier this year was completely designed by Russian with Indian modifications..
5. Throughout our independent history we have had only one real friend:Russia.

What about our immediate future?

• India needs nuclear triad to realise its dreams of being a Super Power. We need to negotiate for 40-50 Tu-160 Blackjacks which is the world's heaviest military aircraft. It would be the perfect platform for India's Nirbhay cruise missile and also Shourya if there is an air launched version of the latter. If you doubt Tu-160s credentials just click on the link here. It will boost India's Nuclear Deterrence and immediately make India more important on the global scene.
• MiG-21s are dedad birds flying. Replace them with Su-30/Su-35. India would need Supercruising engines,better airframe for reduced RCS etc. In short India can integrate optimum technology from the PAK-FA project into the Sukhoi fleet.
• India would need to develop Carrier Strike Group for Indian Navy which would need more Frigates, Submarines e.t.c. We can procure the best from Russia with the best of the rest.

In short, India and Russia have a very good future together. When most of the world will be torn between the slug fest of China and the U.S, India and Russia can negate all their influence on a common platform; thereby realising a truly multi-polar world.