Technology As A Substitute: Nukes, Missiles and Other Stories

With the advent of the guided missile and its sophisticated warheads, both tactical and strategic, the mere threat of deploying advanced technologies in weapon systems has, in the present times, increasingly acted as a substitutefor war-fighting. However, even now, military technology related social science issues constitute a small fraction of the writings by Indian analysts, engaged in national and international security studies (ISS). This book – by a former Indian defence scientist, an ISS analyst and the author of an earlier work on military technology in India – is, therefore, yet another contribution by an Indian scholar to the field of technology-related issues of international politics. Unlike most scholarly work on social sciences, this book, written in the first person singular, gives a personal account of the development of guided missiles technology in India, in particular, and an analysis of the working of the Indian DTIB (Defence Technology & Industrial Base), in general. And, in doing so, it has inevitably dealt with both the built-in defects of the management structure of the Indian DTIB and the special role that the legendary Scientist, late Dr Abdul Kalam, had played in overcoming the stupendous shortcomings of the Indian DTIB’s management structure by making full use of the incredible work that he had put in during his DRDO years.