Innovation in Military Systems

Innovation in Military SystemsIntroductionTechnology expatriation crosswise social sectors, industries, and national boundaries is a common phenomenon in contemporary times. These transfers are most(prenominal)ly driven by economic paradigms the need to embrace radix innovations so as not to be left behind in the race to be at the forefront of technological and/or mercenary envelope. It is gum olibanum obvious that the technological generators nonpareil who invested in Research and Development (RD) and came up with crown jewel innovations, hold the sway in todays markets. If one were to consider the investment in RD as a benchmark of invention (and probably innovativeness) potential then the exoneration sector would lead in most countries. As an example, in 2007, the US defence budget was $440 billion. Out of this, the technology development component was $73 billion. As compared to this, the largest non-military research funding went to National fetch of health, which got $28 billion in the same year.2The costs and risks in the research for military system is not really an important feature as frequently in private sector or any other state investment.3 RD for defence products is mostly sponsored by the state. This is a far cry from the conditions governing civic (private sector) RD efforts where the costs must be subsumed by the producer in the end-cost of a product, paid forby consumers in a cost competitive market. Therefore, it makes eminent commercial sense whenever defence products (inventions) can find their way into complaisant markets and become truly innovative.In the context of the aforesaid, it becomes pertinent to study success stories examples where defence inventions reached cultivated applications. Examples range from Internet (the US military) to packaged ready to eat food (developed by our own DRDO Defence RD Organisation). This point would be demonstrated by dickens major case studies from the foreign markets that came up wit h radical innovative products. The forgotten story of Jeep is a name that is synonymous with four-wheel drive, light and right on fomites that admit spawned the contemporary Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) and Multi Utility Vehicles (MUVs). The second example is that of Ray Ban glass. Both of these have become top-notch commercial products with Jeep Cherokee and Ray-Ban aviator glasses being considered as status symbols anywhere in the world.JeepWith a brand punch line of Go Anywhere, Do Anything4, Jeep has been associated with adventure and macho since the World War (WW) II. The original vehicle was born out of sheer necessity of the US forces5. Since WW-I, the US army had been looking for a fast, lightweight and all-terrain vehicle that could be used in the war zones around the world. In the early 1940, with the Nazi forces on the ascendancy, the need for such a vehicle by the US army became acute. The army asked automobile manufacturers for a running prototype in just 49 day s. The specifications were quite stringent and only two companies responded amongst 130 companies that were invited to bid. Bantan machine Company, worked with a Detroit engineer Karl Probst, who designed the vehicle in two days flat. His design was improved by the other company Willys-Overland (Quad and powerful) and accepted by the army. The take on was awarded to Willys and Ford as the sheer size and rate of delivery during the war was beyond any one company to undertake. During WW-II, Willys and Ford supplied more(prenominal) than 700,000 orders with Willys supplying more than 330, 000 units.By 1942, long before the war came to an end, in an innovative move, Willys-Overland recognised that the vehicle could serve the polishedian market by virtue of the fact that it had reinforced a brand for itself in ruggedness and durability. An advertisement campaign was undertaken for building the civilian brand value. Even as the first civilian Jeep vehicle was built in 1945, Willys obt ained a US Trademark Registration in 1950, five years later. Since then the trademark nowadays registered internationally, has passed from Willys-Overland to Kaiser to American Motors Corporation, and most recently, to Chrysler Corporation. From 1968 to 1978, the proceeds of Jeep rose three times to 600 vehicles a day. With the present day, Grand Cherokee being a more-cherished 4X4, still, the jeep story lives on. Over half of all Chrysler vehicles exchange outside the US, are Cherokees.Ray-Ban The 1930s was an era of great strides in military aviation. Aircrafts became faster and flying envelopes expanded. Many US Air Force (USAF) pilots were reporting that the shining from sun was hindering their flying prowess. This led to invention of a new kind of glasses, with green colour that could cut the glare without obscuring vision. Thus was born Ray-Ban. This anti-glare eyewear precept many models being introduced but the traditional aviator model with metal frames remained the f avourite for a long time to come. Cashing in on the newness factor and need, the eyewear went on sale to public in 19376. Within seven years, the strides were made from defence to civil usage, since the basic needs of protective eyewear were same for both.In the 1940s, innovations such as gradient mirror lens with coated upper part and uncoated lower part, for a clear view of aircraft instrument panels, were introduced. Such innovations though meant principally for defence usage, appealed to civilians also due to the styling and macho pilots looks. After the WW-II, the Ray-Ban came to be popularised by many Hollywood stars and rest as they say, is history.The Luxottica group is the owner of Ray-Ban and popular eyewear brands same(p) Oakley, besides in license production of many other top eyewear brands. In 2011, it posted net sales of almost 6.2 billion.7 swill-overThe technologies and the product that moved across defence research and usage to the civil markets have been coined as spill over technologies. The opposite route has been recently coined spill-ins. The coinage of terms is quite logical. Spill over is meant in the sense that the technology/product was originally meant for a smaller segment the defence sector and it spilled over to reach the outside world, a untold wider segment of the populace.In India, there are instances of spill over, albeit the scale has been rather timid. A list of 140 technologies developed by the DRDO, which have duel applications are listed in the form of a publication8, inviting the civil Industry to participate through technology diffusion. Some of these technologies have been transferred to civil sector homogeneous a novel pressure sintering/bonding technique for large clutch plates have been successfully transferred to Clutch Auto Limited.9By a simple equality of the narrative given above, it would be clear to the readers, why hugely successful stories of innovations like Jeep or Ray-Ban are not scripted in India. The defence RD model followed in India is purely disposal centred. The government invests in defence related research in government labs of the DRDO. Such funding or maiden does not come the way of private sector for many reasons. The primary reason is the absence of a roadmap for harnessing the private industrys efforts into the mainstream by ensuring that aesthesia associated with defence sector is not compromised. In the name of national security, the private industry has been kept out of the defence sector, till recently. Now it has been realised that without the mien of a competition to the government labs and Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), their efficiency would never increase. Also it is not possible to quickly leapfrog the technological spread head that exists between India and the developed (and even not so developed) world without finding a solution to the inefficiency that has or sohow become a hallmark of governmental sectors. excerpt of capital and innovativeness by and into the private sector is a must for the RD efforts to realise their true potential.The methodology of sharing IPR of products developed through funding by the government and innovations by the private sector is a stumbling factor for the process to go forward. It is obvious that defence related IPRs, even those having duel use, needs to have some governmental control inbuilt. The mistrust and vested lobbying has thus far not allowed a solution to this process even though the US model is very much present to be emulated. The down side is that since the private sector is not invested in product development from the beginning, they do not have any lay on the line to carry forward the product so developed, to a wider market for maximising profits. What remains then is just an invitation by the Scientific Adviser to Raksha Mantri, to the private sector, to tinct the RD efforts of the DRDO labs, as mentioned earlier. In such a scenario the defence RD efforts woul d not reach its true market potential. Consider that the Jeep brand received 2012 Silver OBIE demo from the Outdoor Advertising Association for America for the Jeep Wrangler Call of Duty billboard design10. Is it possible to see this kind of aggressive market chuck by a government entity? The markets would be penetrated predominantly by the desire to maximize profits and this desire would manifest with the private sectors and thus comes the efficiency and innovativeness.The succeeding(a)Innovations require the factors of newness and commercialisation to be present in a product. While defence products are always required to retain the cutting edge element, the demand of commercialisation is rarely a factor. However, this thought process is fast changing and defence equipment, along with providing the balance of power, are also turning out to be big business in the global arms market. The commercialisation angle though, can be really addressed if the product/technology reaches a m uch bigger clientele than just the security forces. Involvement of private industrial sector in development of such product/technology is thus a necessity, for them to be termed an innovation.Products like Jeep and Ray-Ban that could be termed as innovations today, were essentially made on demand of the defence forces but it brought to the fore, a latent need of the civil market. This would always be the common thread for all spill over technologies. We all know drones can deliver death on the battlefield, but great power they also soon be delivering gifts and purchases to our door? Amazon.com is counting on it. UAVs pioneered by the military are finding a home down in farmers fields. A UAV can treat an acre of steep hillsides in five minutes, which is very difficult or even impossible to do with a tractor Such technologies are now also known as duel use technologies and controlled by the innovator nations under The Wassenaar Arrangement11 due to their highly commercial/strategic r amifications. One such instance is the jet engine technology that is used for military as well as commercial aircrafts. India and China are striving to develop a jet engine and when they do, the commercial and strategic ramifications are obvious. Innovative defence technologies are very much the future to strive for. In the same vein, it is cost considering that civil technologies developed for high-end technical function may be considered for defence applications because any RD effort is time and capital intensive. Thus, a convergence of RD efforts, for defence and civil applications is the need of the hour.1 Steven R. Rivkin Technology Unbound Transferring Scientific and Engineering Resources From Defence to Civilian Purposes (New York USA Pergamon Press Inc., 1968), p xii.2 T.W. Lee, Military Technologies of the World Vol II (Westport USA Praeger shelter International, 2009), p. 364.3 Dr Hatice Karacay Cakmak, Department of Economics, Beytepe, Ankara, Turkey, A Theoretical Gla nce at Military Expenditures, 2009 p.3, see hrcak.srce.hr/file/74277, accessed on Aug 06, 2014.4 History of Jeep modelS, at http//www.jeep.com/en/history/ accessed on July 21, 2014 .5 The evolution of jeep has been traced at http//www.hrja.org/jeep.htm, accessed on July 22, 2014.6 The history and evolution of Ray-Ban at http//www.luxottica.com/sites/luxottica.com/files/ray-ban_history_en.pdf.Accessed on July 23, 2014.7 Ibid.8 DRDO, Advanced Technologies for Civil Application (DESIDOC, New Delhi, 1987)9 Ibid, p. 117.10http//media.chrysler.com/newsrelease.dojsessionid=5F352AF1915E13814ADD6F1A32B6E67D?id=2210mid= accessed on 05 Aug 1511 Manoj Kumar, Resources Optimisation through Environmental Leadership (New Delhi, Knowledge World, 2012), p126