World War 3 Watch 04: Indian Defense Equipment strategy

India needs to up its defense game. India is dealing with potential conflicts on two fronts. On both these fronts we have belligerent neighbors engaged in asymmetric multi-dimensional confrontation. Pakistan is more of warfare and China is more of competition. Yet, India must prepare for the potential conflict. And in this we need to improve our preparation substantially.

Airforce

Just cursory look at the Air force in the region will set us back. Pakistan Air Force generally known combat strength is about 500 aircraft. China is about 1600 aircraft. India is about 600. While the numbers are not exactly a way to differentiate - but considering the length of border and our defense requirement India should aim for 2000 combat plane air force.

This means HAL cannot produce 16 aircraft per year. It has to produce 16 aircraft per month. Using private participation we need to improve this number quickly. Second, it appears we need full Rafale deal AND a F16 manufacturing line at the same time.

IAF should also think of getting larger number of combat drones. These drones should be able to manage to fly with manned aircraft. This one manned aircraft (M) -coupled with around 10 drones (D) or more. Thus one mission unit with M-D combination. Then you can add mission units with xM-yD.

These mission units will need to collaborate and coordinate with share intel. That will require a robust ICT interface.

Airforce needs support from ground and space in the form of missiles and information. We should develop mechanism for coordinated launch of missiles controlled by the aircraft pilot herself. We can augment it with coordinator based ground support too.

Army

The future soldier will be an augmented information soldier. 

We need to up our game in terms of equipping the soldier with top-class equipment. AK-203 is a step in the right direction. But we need to lighten the soldier and get every soldier a robo-buddy. The buddies could be in multiple form - carrier mules, terrain mapping drones, communication bots and combat drones (sniper buddy). For this we need very intense development in robotics and again the ICT component will also play a role.

We should experiment with augmenting the soldiers with exoskeletons and other techniques to improve battleground performance.

Air-cover has been neglected part of the army. Apache helicopters in air support is essential. 

Navy

Future of navy is stealth platforms. As the US stealth ship Zumwalt goes for a maiden mission, China is developing aircraft carrier buster missiles. The Chinese missiles are hyper-sonic and thus almost impossible to intercept. In this context any above surface ship will find it difficult to beat the defenses. Hence reliance of submarine platforms should be increased.

Sub-marine drone tech is actually quite interesting. It can be used on sink-and-forget  wait mode. Thus we should be able to plant and move around many depth assets on wait and watch basis. Without humans on board this is (a) easier and (b) safer. It also improves the counter-strike and defense capability. These drones should be easy to manufacture in large numbers and low cost. These drones need not be large they can simply be attachments to ammunition that can help the ammunition to navigate and activate.

Deep sea surveillance and AGAIN ICT is also going to be critical.

So Navy must develop platforms but also develop choking -technologies for anti-ship systems.

Space wars

Space is important front for information wars. The satellites form critical part of the ICT infrastructure we need to deploy across the forces.

Satellites should be able to perform twin functions - jamming enemy satellites and keeping ICT infrastructure working for our forces.

The ability to quickly and rapidly restore downed satellites is very important. We should also explore possibility of smaller satellites that can last only for 5/6 months and then disintegrate. The smaller the satellite the costlier it is to destroy. Also because of size, you can build for redundancy. It is also possible to launch 100 satellites in one launch. These satellites are more relevant for theater coverage rather than country coverage.

Cyber war

Most of modern warfare is quite destructive and hence preventive techniques are more important than remedial measures.Cyber war allows for information and processing delays in enemy retaliation and gives us additional time and information to respond better.

Many times it is better for cyber initiatives to operate in bleeding mode than in crippling mode. Thus, it is better for cyber initiatives to delay the enemy communication rather than cripple it. Thus introducing delays and errors is better than crippling the infrastructure for short time. These cyber initiatives can also provide advanced information about enemy maneuvers. The aim is to destroy combat assets of the enemy.

---

Buy my books "Subverting Capitalism & Democracy" and "Understanding Firms".

Destabilised Eurasia and possibility of War - The SE Asia - East Asia equation

The events of the past few weeks and years have had a decisive geo-political point to them particularly concerning South-East and East Asia. Let me enumerate a few here. 

1. In 2015 Japanese parliament permitted their army to go aggressive( with US blessings). They have been making ships and aircraft carriers since few years ago  displayed in Aussie, Singapore, Japan and US joint exercise - small allegedly helicopter carrier or something.  
2. Last week I was seeing Singapore Air Force Fighter planes on evening patrols. Also every day they have the another surveillance plane - it is not the boeing posiedon in the air. 
3. On friday, India announced surgical strikes on terror bases in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. 
4. Last week, Singapore PM met Japanese PM Abe. Last month he met Obama. Chinese news paper is accused Singapore of siding with US. This week Singapore PM is meeting Narendra Modi.
5. Last week Japanese PM Abe met Narendra Modi and promised him some military tech and other assistance including manufacturing assistance.
6. Phillipines has abandoned US and is courting China. Durtete made a statement that he received encouragement from China and Russia on his anti-US remarks.
7. Last month the International Arbitration Tribunal restrained China from claiming rights on South China Sea.
8. Last month Austrailia published a white paper on maritime defence highlighting the need to protect the interest in the northern coasts and in the Pacific. Australia does not have any threat from any country in the Pacific save China. It is way far out and super friendly with most of the major powers. It has a love-hate relations with some island countries where China has become active.
9. US is offering F-16 (yeah the old ones) to India for make-in-India option. (The tech is old but the offer is quite lucrative)

So what is happeneing?

China is being encircled. Japan south Korea Taiwan Singapore, Australia and India are coming together step by step. South Africa is in the mix too. Philippines has chosen to side with China - or so it seems. Vietnam is on the fence blowing hot and cold. Laos is stuck between Vietnam and China but I sense it is more pro-china. Thailand is becoming more democratic but depends on their king who is about to die or may have died. 

Since China is being encircled, it thinks it can break the mix by encircling India. China thinks it can corner India because of its alliance with Pakistan. So Pak will keep India engaged on west and china will keep it busy on the east taking India out of the equation. So a day after announcement of surgical strikes we had reports of China reducing Bramhaputra waters for dam construction.

But, on day of surgical strike Iran attacked pakistan (which is weird). Afghanistan is already sick of  Pakistan. Now Pakistan thinks it too is being encircled by adversaries. Tajikistan is not really happy with Pakistan either. But it is more worried about China. So goes for Kyrgyzstan and we come to Mongolia and Russia which surround China. 

Within China too,  in Hong Kong separatist sentiment is acting up, mostly without encouragement of the west. Then there are other prennial problems in China - including Tibet, Uyghurs and others.

So we have China trying "string of pearls" strategy around India. World trying "string of pearls" around China. 

Why India is crucial element in the mix?

India is important because it is a navy that controls the major trade routes to Europe and East america. It saves a trip across Africa. So China wants to circle indian ocean by involving Africans - twin benefits resources and strategic support. So this is a move-counter move strategy. India is but small player if you ask me. I think US is the big bro here. We are seeing Obama's east pivot in action. 

Why is China all riled up?

China is being choked economically by all - sort of as a payback for its merchentilist begger thy neighbour policy. Actually when Milton Friedman was asked about dumping of low cost products, his argument was simply it benefits the importer. It means (to me, Milton did not say it so) that after the value is over you can reverse the equations by ring-fencing the excess capacity from creating problems for you.

The second narrative Chinese use is that its almost $4Trillion US Dollar reserves may lose value and thus cause wealth loss. This narrative is easy to sell to general pulic and it will make for a good anti-US story.

This has a lot of implications for China. It may wreck it from within. An empowered peasantry   / rural-folk may bring down the corporates to its knees using exactly the same arguments that Mao used. The citizenry may become subversive when faced with no jobs, or rapid decline in wealth as a result of capacity destruction. These will be difficult to control in a country of 1.6 billion. The cost of political unrest for Chinese Communist Party is too high. That could be one reason for Chinese aggression.

The first narrative fits the bill better because of the related developments. There was no reason for announcing a "make in India" policy when there is excess global supply. Not unless the Chinese capacity was suddenly going to be unavailable. And someone could pick up the slack. Indian PM Modi saw an opportunity in this and embarked on the picking up pieces. FYI none of the Chinese investments into Make-in-India have materialized. Foxconn which promised to set up an iPhone factory has backed out. Others are mostly European and american cos who continue on.

Is China a potent threat to US?

At present China is not a threat to the US. 

It does not have a wherewithal to pick up a fight with US. At least that is the public view. China needs at least 5 aircraft carrier units to be as aggressive as they are trying to be. It has none at the moment. Big daddy US has five major assets in Pacific including Okinawa. US also has two Aircraft carrier groups in Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean. India has two in the Indian ocean. 

China is a threat to India. It is an ally of Pakistan and has a long border-dispute with India. India needs to be wary and after fall of Soviet Union there is no regional counter-balance. India must ally with US. There is no other way. US knows this and promoting technology transfer to Indian defence. 

China is also a threat in South China sea. It is here that US is more worried. It is claiming more land and nautical area and becoming more assertive.

The least-expected strategy for China will be to challenge US. That will be a surprise and alter the military-power equations. For this it needs some greographical spread. By itself, China has tough geography which makes it difficult for it to create big trouble that could alter global balance of power equations.

The solution - A China circle

The Chinese circle comprises China, Pakistan, North Korea, some countries in Africa, some in Pacific Oceans including Laos. These countries have received heavy Chinese aid and China supports some questionable regimes in certain regions. Phillipines is becoming a China ally. The Burmese junta enjoys some support from the Chinese.

Clearly with this motley crew China cannot take on US or other major country. But what it can do is create strategic assets in these countries from where it can create trouble. The dirty work still comes to China's share. 

The tools

If China wanted to be a credible threat it should be building at least 10 Aircraft carrier units (including cruisers, frigates, destroyers, submarines, logistics ships). A better strategy would be to build them inland somewhere in Hainan (lake) or more likely in Sichuan (totally on dry land). Then one fine day plonk these in the sea. An event like that could alter the geo-political equations quite rapidly.

Yet such kind of shifting of balance of power is not possible easily. There are pretty unpredictable players in the mix.

The no-nonsense player -Russia

Russia is sitting on the fence. The Russian approach is just like in world war 2 - corrupt but away from the mess. It will take sides when it is forced to take sides. It has hinted that it may start supplying aircrafts to Pakistan and may have helped china build their J20 fighter which is copy of the F22 raptor. Russians are playing both sides as of now. They are cooperating with the West in Arabian geographies and counter-balancing them in Asian geographies.

Their problem is that they are too close to conflicts but not too powerful to force a resolution anywhere. Even Soviet Russia would have found difficult to contain China in its present state.

Pakistan the unpredictably-unpredictable player

The issue was easy to solve if Pakistan was not a long-term US ally. Because Nehru sided with Russians, Pak went to the US and US is feeling guilty of abandoning pak even when it housed Osama. If Pakistan was just another country in the equation, the US policy would have tilted pro-India by now and we would have been in a new stable-stalemate situation. The world would be chugging along by now.

The problem is that US would always help build Pakistani capability to counter-balance India. To the US, pakistan-India parity was the policy objective. US realised it late that Pakistan was playing double game. With US technology seeping into China and the inventory falling into the terrorist hands, US realised Pakistan is not a strategic asset but a mere pawn. It is China that was the new threat.

My guess

It is possible that the China is using the uncertainity related to US presidential election to test some destabilisation strategies. They see a window of opportunity and it expires on November with elections in US as the new president (even if Trump wins) will be briefed about all important issues and most likely toe the usual line. The uncertainty will reign till November as Obama may not be able make longer term commitments right now. So we have to sit tight for 1or 2 months. This is peak of crisis as we get to see. Then big daddy will be back in the saddle and world will be back to its normal stalemate situation. If this is indeed correct, then we should see a major policy decision by the new US President immediately upon taking office. It could be a pro-India change or opening of a full-functional base in South East Asia augmenting the one in Singapore and Okinawa.

In Sum

Something is definitely going on in the SE Asia / East Asian region. 

---

Buy my books "Subverting Capitalism & Democracy" and "Understanding Firms".

Yen Vs. RMB - China crippling Japanese companies?

Yves Smith asked "Has Chinese Currency Manipulation Succeeded in Breaking Japanese Manufacturers?" bringing out the effects of currency management. You can read the sorry strategic choices facing the Japanese regulators.

China is buying yen forcing appreciation that renders Japanese companies less competitive. China is also buying Japanese bonds. Now Japan must buy US Dollar to keep their exports competitive. Now, both countries are dependent on US/EU/developed world demand and hence they are fighting amongst themselves to capture the reducing developed world consumption share.

This is a problem you face when the market country undertakes QE. The supplier country has no choice but to undertake its own QE without which it suffers loss in competitiveness. The quantum of QE the supplier country must undertake is not merely equivalent to QE undertaken by market country but must also adjust for QE by other supplier countries and relative competitiveness between suppliers inter se. Thus, the supplier countries must do a lot more and therefore must face correspondingly lot more risks.

Thus, my advice to Japan would be to print till balance is restored. (This is not my optimal recommendation but I believe this will be best way to achieve their intent.

---

Buy my books "Subverting Capitalism & Democracy" and "Understanding Firms".

Comparing Euro with US-China - MMT

Edward Harrison points to a Randall Wray post about MMT, sovereign debt crisis in Eurozone.

Randall refers to difference in location of monetary policy, within the sovereign in case of UK and outside the sovereign in case of France (with ECB), leading to reduced risk of default. Randall refers to this as one main source of problems of the Eurozone.

However, Euro area is not the only problem. When it comes to difference between where monetary policy is located and where fiscal policy is located, we have two examples of this model operating currently- Euro model and US-China model. Both are at risk, different risk, but definitely at risk.

In principle, US-China model has a similar monetary-fiscal policy situation to Euro area. US sets the monetary policy and that policy trickles down to set of countries that peg their currencies to US Dollar. I have only used China as representative, in reality many more countries peg their currencies to USD and this group is bigger than the Euro-group.[1]

The issues is if you have given up monetary sovereignty, you are eventually forced to give up broad level fiscal sovereignty as well. So a system where monetary policy is regional, you must have a regional fiscal policy at least at a broad level. It all boils down to congruence between fiscal and monetary policy.

The persistence with this monetary-fiscal distortion polarizes the participants creating a production pole and consumption pole. In case of Euro area, we have Germany and Greece as representative poles. In case of US-China model the respective poles are China and US.

Now the difference is Germany, the production pole, has larger influence over monetary policy[2] in Eurozone while its corresponding pole China, has no say in policy of US. 

In the US-China case, US does not seem to have a problem. But actually it does. The model requires the China-group to keep buying US treasuries. This allows US more monetary policy room but forces these countries to absorb, either through government or overseas investment, this impact. It masks the problems of US till one fine day US suffers a heart attack. Further imagine the policy environment if Greece ran the policy in Eurozone. I won't go into more detail here but suffice to say this model is equally broken.

Notes:

1. Euro as a group, single entity, also has a similar arrangement. Here Euro-group occupies the position of US and few countries peg their currencies to Euro. In addition, Euro is also influenced by its value with respect to USD. It is sort of a complex fractal. We will leave aside these complications for the moment.
2. Apologies to those who believe monetary policy is truly independent. And, of course - there is no Santa Claus - it was your parents all along.

---

My book "Subverting Capitalism & Democracy" is available on Amazon and Kindle.

Income and intensity of unrest

History is littered with examples of the ruling class trying to keep the masses impoverished. I always wondered why it was necessary to keep people impoverished. Why can't people be rich and still suppressed? It seems to me that the problems of poor and nearly poor have different impact on social unrest. First, money gives a means to the poor to battle for their rights. Second, if people with means see someone they can identify with being oppressed then they are more likely to do something about it.

What this means is that income distribution in the form of a pyramid, lowest income has highest population, is better suited for oppressive regimes. And as income distribution turns into a diamond shape (middle class has most population) things start turning around. For a while middle class builds safety nets to prevent falling back. But once such a safety net is in place, it seems, this mass of population gets politically active.

The unrest so caused, is more potent and revolutionary than unrest of poor masses. I believe China is at such a point. The flexibility of Chinese political system will be tested very soon (may be 3-5 years). The political system in China is more rigid than a democratic system. If its leaders are able to understand and respond to these changes (they have shown more promise than politicians of other nations), then China will be the superpower. Otherwise we will see flimsy wars and deliberate crisis creation to take focus away from internal situation.

India is also likely to see this change in similar time frame, but the democratic setup is super-flexible and thus unlikely to impact much in India. The changes too are much more evenly spread. A lower-income-class bias in policy has started gaining traction since 2005.

---

My book "Subverting Capitalism & Democracy" is available on Amazon

Exchange Rate Conundrum

There is a great deal of talk about pressurizing China to appreciate its currency. The talk is bunk. The idea behind Chinese currency appreciation is not simply about China but it is about an exchange rate regime change. Asking China to let its currency appreciate in isolation will achieve nothing.

The old regime, dominated by US Dollar and other western currencies, was installed through higher savings and purchasing power (ability and intent). The intent to consume remains strong in the western economies. But the ability is seriously impaired due to lack of savings. So the old regime is falling unless we do something about it.

On the other side, a new regime is yet to emerge. China and eastern countries have higher savings rate (ability to spend), but seem to be lacking the intent. It is believed that the savings rate is excessive and may translate into consumption. Michael Pettis, professor from Peking University, believes this savings rate cannot rapidly translate into consumption. The savings are earmarked for social security, pension and education. Thus the demand that we expect from China or other eastern countries will not be that high. In other words, to be a strong consumer for the world, China will need much higher savings and purchasing power.

A rising currency can reinforce purchasing power for any economy. Importing capital goods becomes cheaper. Importing key raw materials becomes easier. There are lot of cost efficiencies that are generated. However, it exposes the economy to competition from overseas. It means employment is threatened. If economy has large population at lower incomes then it reduces consumption at national level. This is a good move for an economy where income pyramid is fatter in middle. It is natural that China would feel threatened by such a move.

There is other way to sustain the economy in appreciating currency environment. This stems from Porter’s competitive advantage of nations. Economies should start building sustaining competitive advantages. Low labour cost is not a sustainable advantage; rather it is a self-cancelling strategy over long term. The answers lie in Germany, in all likelihood.

In sum, it is time to establish a new regime based on fundamentals rather than managed currencies.  In such a regime, those with purchasing power will have stronger currencies than those without. There has to be global agreement on this regime to make it effective. Without it, we are going to wander aimlessly as far as exchange rate scenario is concerned.

---

My book "Subverting Capitalism & Democracy - Systemic faults that caused the financial crisis" is available on Amazon.

China Bust?

The Chinese Dilemma!

There is an interesting post at Marginal Revolution on Chinese model. Tyler Cowen smartly collects lot of pros and cons on the matter. Yet, this is very critical at this stage.

World economy had predominantly two engines of growth - the US consumer and Chinese producer. Both had second and third order effects that accelerated the economy. Now US consumer is dysfunctional - at least for some time to come. So the world looks at China!

China is also aware of the issue. It wants the huge savings rate to translate into consumption and therefore demand. The only way to get the saving population to start spending and kick-start consumption is to let them buy brands that have build up aspirations in their minds. This will be possible with letting CNY appreciate and letting the products be available freely.

The trouble is this will make non-china manufacturing cheaper - leading to job loss from manufacturing sector. However if China really wants to move to a consumption driven economy then there will be job shift to services and out of manufacturing.

This is more critical now। If China misses a step then we are all goner! The question is will china bite the bullet!

Links:

Marginal Revolution - Tyler cowen - This is another premium blog on finance and economics.