MiG 21 Bisons are flying coffins. These outdated planes crash even without any enemy shooting them. The life of these MiGs has been stretched beyond sustainability.
India must decommission the entire pre-MiG-29 series and the government must take the incompetent HAL to task for its shoddy work that endangers our pilots.
Politically, it is important to explain to the people that state-run HAL and DRDO are simply not cut out for the task. All possible help should be extended to competent companies in the private sector so that they come of age maximum by another decade.
Among the countries from where we import our weapons, Russia is the only one whose defence equipment manufacturing is handled by its state-run facilities.
However, even there, while they come up with some excellent weapon systems, inability to honour deadlines for both manufacturing and servicing is a problem.
The apprehension of going without orders, which would make it impossible for the private sector DEM companies in Europe and the US to pay their workforce in time, is what makes their industry strive for excellence.
On the other hand, even as HAL and DRDO sit pretty on projects for decades, the salaries of their workers are assured. Who suffers? India’s defence preparedness and our brave soldiers.
– Surajit Dashupta
