[Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] . . ----- Original Message ----- From: Sandeep Vaidya (LMI) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: STOPNATO (E-mail) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2001 9:57 AM Subject: India to spend $95 bn on arms over next 15 years [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Get a low APR NextCard Visa in 30 seconds! 1. Fill in the brief application 2. Receive approval decision within 30 seconds 3. Get rates as low as 2.99% Intro or 9.99% Ongoing APR and no annual fee! Apply NOW! http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/NextCard ---------------------------------------------------------------------- India to spend $95 bn on arms over next 15 years By Chidanand Rajghatta (Times of India, June 13 2001) WASHINGTON: India will spend a staggering $95 billion on military equipment and weapons during the next 15 years, with the Indian Air Force supplanting the Indian Army as the biggest spender. The amount includes some $15 billion that India will splurge on nuclear weapons research and development, and $5 billion for the development of nuclear command and control structures. According to estimates published in Defense News based on projections by Indian military planners, the Air Force will get the largest slice, around $30 billion. Much of this will go towards new combat aircraft, Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft and missiles. The Army, which usually gets the bigger slice of the military budget, will find its share drop to $25 billion. This will go towards main battle tanks, ammunition, self-propelled guns, and surveillance systems. The Navy will sail in last with $20 billion, which will be a bigger proportion than what it got till now. Much of this will go towards buying two aircraft carriers, missiles, surveillance aircraft and submarines. The $95 billion over 15 years will presumably constitute only a part of the India's annual defence budget. That bill came in at around $15 billion this year and will presumably continue along the same lines. Even if it were static, it would put a 15-year tab at $ 225 billion. Just to put the figures in perspective, $95 billion is about the same as India's entire external debt ($98 billion). It is also a little more than the amount of software and services India hopes to produce by 2008 ($87 billion). But large though it may appear to be, it is a pittance of the defence expenditure of other countries, notably the United States. Washington spends three times as much in a single year. Its defence budget this year alone is in the range of $300 billion. Japan, which claims to be a pacific country in more ways than one, has plans to spend $200 billion over the next five years. Germany, which has no hostile neighbours and is many times smaller than India, is spending nearly twice ($26.9 billion) as much as India in 2001. Pakistan, which whines constantly about India's defence expenditure, spends nearly twice as much as India in GDP terms, with one-fourth the landmass and one-sixth the coastline. It has the eighth highest military expenditure in the world in terms of GDP. Among the acquisitions the Indian Air Force is expecting to make in the coming years while adding 20 squadrons to its existing 39 are: 140 Sukhoi MK-I jets from Russia, 66 Hawk 100 advanced jet trainers form UK, 10 Mirage 2000H jets from France, an unspecified number of Rafale aircraft from France, Green Pine radars from Israel for Awacs, upgradation of 200 MiG fighter planes. Defense News also quoted senior Indian Navy officials as saying the Indian Navy will be nuclear within the next 15 years with at-sea satellite controls and modern electronic warfare systems. Besides, by 2008, the Advanced technology Vehicle, a $750 million nuclear submarine jointly developed by the DRDO and the Atomic Energy Commission, will also be in service. Apart from spending $750 million to retrofit the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov it is acquiring for induction by 2005, the Navy has made provision to buy another aircraft carrier from the overseas market. In the next three years, the Navy will also buy three Russian-built Krivak-class frigates for $800 million besides 18 MiG-29K shipborne aircraft for $540 million. Defense News said hardware for India's nuclear command and control, partially based on satellite communications, will be procured from Israel and France. ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
