HAL/BEL Team To Build Rustom MALE UAV, Pvt Industry Furious

Today’s Mint has scooped the story of a team of HAL and BEL winning the contract to be “production agency cum development partner” (PADP) for the indigenous Rustom medium altitude long endurance (MALE) UAV. Private industries like L&T and the Mahindras are furious. For full details of the terms of the PADP contract, see my earlier post.

15 thoughts on “HAL/BEL Team To Build Rustom MALE UAV, Pvt Industry Furious”

  1. Damned if they damned if they do not give them a break, Finally some thing to even the playing field out internally and externally. Any word on mission profile, payload, range and altitude.
    Possible to arm with guided/unguided free fall ordnance , or had guided missile capability for atgm's or apm's.

  2. Its my understanding that UAVs are only useful when the adversary doesnt have SAMs and Radars, as the case with USA using predators against Talibans. I dont see a scenario where india uses it against Pak. Can anyone provide some Gyaan on this?

    For me it is a stepping stone for the design of UCAVs. Are there any plans to convert tejas into a UCAV?

  3. Private industry must aim for the international market. There they have a better chance of getting a fair deal.

  4. Actually This is not the first time the private industry was robbed of its manufacturing rights to a product which was actively developed by it.
    Same happened during the making of those 'saarang' bridges. L&T did all the developement and the DPSU finally got the order.

    Some 'justice' and 'accountability' needs to be there to attract private players. L&T needs to first get legal documents signed by DRDO before they enter the fray. Thats the onlyway they can keep their rights intact. ALl 'private' companies should insist on this contract otherwise these DPSUs will have a great time making fools out of them.

    THe private defence companies need to form a 'union' on the lines of 'CII' to protect their interests.

  5. IAF themselves chose BEL-HAL.
    Although there is much to be improved in the PSUs none of the private sector players have any experience in aerospace.
    I think this was a fair competition and we should be happy that PSUs won. We should not be unjustly prejudiced against these PSUs.
    Indian private sector is too risk averse and hardly invests in any project which does not give assured returns.

  6. This is so wrong. For the short-term gain, they are going for HAL/BEL instead of encouraging private sector. If this goes on why will private sector show interest and get involved at the design and development stage???? It will set a bad precedent for subsequent interactions with capable groups in private sector.

    Short-term gain but a Bad precedent.

    HAL and BEL have enough things to handle and finish right now. They would be better off doing those. The country has many other needs. Let private sector grow itself on these.

  7. @anon at 3:49pm,

    That way even the 4th gen aircraft are pretty much endangered against latest SAMs. But we still buy fighter planes don't we?
    UCAVs is the way to go.

  8. yeah rite private player should be given a chance….at least..then only they will show interest…Hal Bel got lot of things to do..already..i think a a joint venture of both PSU's and private company's should..be developed that have experience(from psu) and good managerial capabilities(from private).

  9. @anon 9:59 PM

    No but we cannot compare a much capable 4th gen fighters with a predator class UAV. 4gen fighetrs are more advanced with all kind of defense mechanisms. A predator class UAV dont have that much defense mechanism.

    I think its a bhed chal.

  10. Those who sing to the glory of private sector should realize that for all the great quality products that the private sector has brought to our markets….most of them have a fair amount of foreign R8D…

  11. None of these pvt companies have any expertise or capabilities in this area. So, do they want the heavily taxed "aam janata" to foot the bill for them to develop capabilities?

    Yeah rite, why don't they compete in the international market?

    Tata's Nano is bursting into flames, HM is still stuck with vintage Ambys and Mahendra's are yet to manufacture a decent car. And, they aspire to manufacture robotic aeroplanes? Let them learn to crawl before they think of running.All these companies outsource the R&D as well as design and development of new products to foreign firms.They have hardly any success as far as innovation and inventions are concerned.

  12. For those who are all praise for private sector , kindly do not forget how they messed up in the SARAS project .

    They can at the best be involved in manufacture of components, subparts (Hull of ATV) and low technology input platform like firearms as planned by the defence ministry . The Indian private sector is not matured enough , neither does it have the technology to deliver in a project from concept to production . Let them grow a step at a time .

  13. It is imperative to understand that the stock of people in private sector and public sector is the same. In fact the brighter ones join the private sector. Nurturing private industry clashes with government's need to keep the PSU behemoths alive and kicking. Can you imagine the aerospace giants in the US surviving without government patronage??
    Importantly we need to fund and encourage research in universities rather than our white elephant like government labs. Private industry needs to look beyond quick profits and spend on research.

  14. @Anony10.17AM

    You have no idea about the size and scale of R&D set ups of PSUs. No MNC, let alone a Pvt Co can come close to PSUs infrastructure.

    I will suggest that you visit one of the PSUs R&D setups to know what I am talking about. These Govt R&D labs are equipped with the latest tech and manned by one of the best talents in the country.

    Pvt Cos. hardly have any R&D setup.They out source their design and R&D to foreign companies.

    First let the Pvt Cos prove their worth. The PSUs have proved theirs and therefore the contract was awarded to them, it was not done out of any Govt benevolence.

    Pvt companies are also not able to retain talent.This is not the case with PSUs.

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Scroll to Top