Foreign Firms, Parts, and Engineers: India’s Defense Industrial Supply Chain

• In Event: Security Issues in South Asia

Abstract

As India’s rise in power continues in the 21 st Century, domestically designed, developed, and
produced armaments such as the Arjun main battle tank, the Light Combat Helicopter, and the
light combat aircraft Tejas are forming the basis of its military power. One major factor that is
consistently overlooked about these armaments, however, is their utilization of foreign
intellectual and material inputs. While the literature on the Indian defense industry addresses
the industrialization process and reliance on armament imports, foreign inputs at the
component level have been ignored, despite playing critical roles in the past with the first
Indian fighter-jet the HF-24 Marut. This raises the question: what explains the variation of
foreign inputs in India’s weapons platforms and how do they vary over time? Drawing on
archival research in India, Germany, and the United Kingdom as well as elite-level interviews
for two key cases of domestic Indian armament production, I argue that this variation is best
understood by looking at the institutional structure of the entities developing and building
these. This variation not only has specific implications for India but also general, significant
implications for 1) post-colonial states’ engagement with Western powers, 2) hierarchical
relationships in defense globalization, 3) status-seeking behavior, and 4) rising power
relationships with great and extra-regional powers. Additionally, these findings have
implications for policy makers, in India and abroad. First, policy recommendations can be
designed with respect to the policies and institutional frameworks that enable and expedite
indigenization of foreign inputs, where possible, both within the Indian and non-Indian context.
Second, policy makers from foreign states, such as the United States, will be better equipped to
understand where input indigenization may be less easily achievable and provide those inputs,
thereby achieving mutually beneficial relationships with states reliant on specific inputs.

Author

• Florian Bodamer, Boston University