India, May 17 -- India would have had a fullscope indigenous defence program in the way we managed in space, atomic energy and missile technology. Correctly, from the start, the Secretaries of the relevant departments have simultaneously headed the program, reporting directly to the Prime Minister. Generalists have their own relevance, but in highly technical areas, getting a file cleared would have been a far slower process through the multiple layers of the administrative system. It is also a fact that the present is even more an era of specialistion than was the situation in the past.

A fighter pilot serving or retired may be forgiven for clinging on to the belief that fighter aircraft are what is needed, whereas in modern warfare, mi...