Role  of Defence Economists
Every nation has  well-considered National Strategic Objectives (NSO). These are based on a  nation’s aspirations as regards its envisioned place in the comity of nations  in short, medium and long terms. All its planning and initiatives (foreign  policy, economic reforms and military strength) are directed towards achieving  these objectives after a detailed exploration of available alternatives.

Advisory  Functions - Defence economists should be able to make useful  contribution in the above process by advising a nation as regards the following  aspects:

Caution the leadership against being over-ambitious and seek  an over-kill. NSO should be achievable, viable, practical and commensurate with  the nation’s potential. Affordability must never be overlooked. 
•Cost implications of pursuing different paths to achieve NSO  and suggest the most economically beneficial option. Besides military might,  security can also be achieved by following a combination of other means at a  much lesser cost.  
•Apprise the nation of inversely proportional relationship  between development and defence. Defence always draws resources away from  economic growth, hence the need to strike the right balance.

Nature and Level  of Military Strength Needed - Once a decision is taken as regards projection of desired  military capability in a given time frame, defence economists should assist in  identifying the least-cost solution. Military power of a nation can be  projected in a number of ways to convey the desired message to prospective  adversaries. It is for the defence planners to work out various alternatives.  Some of the issues involved with cost implications are: 
•Whether the strength should be based on nuclear capability or  conventional forces or a combination of the two and in what proportion? 
•What should be the proportion of air and ground potential? 
•Degree of primacy to be assigned to missiles and its affect  on land and air forces? 
•Contours of naval capability with regard to type and number  of fighting vessels it should possess. Are expensive aircraft carriers  essential and are there any less-costly alternatives?

Defence economists should be able to provide details of related  financial effects to enable selection. They should also be able to suggest  development of a vibrant and economically viable defence-industrial base (to include  defence research, development and production) to cater to the requirements of  the military. See Figure 1.

Structuring of  the Armed Forces - After the evolution of broad contours and dimensions of the  force level, defence economists should provide guidelines to help determine  exact shape and size of the forces and funds required to create and sustain them.  They should assist in getting most cost-effective answers to the following:-

•Manpower Issues. 
•Should there be a large standing military or a smaller force  with considerable reserves? 
•What should be the terms of engagement of regulars and  reservists?

•Equipment Issues. 
•What should be the equipment policy?  
•What should be the proportion of imported and indigenous  equipment?  
•What are the fields in which indigenous competence needs to  be developed? 
•What role should be assigned to defence R&D? 
•What should be the policy regarding co-development of  equipment with other friendly countries?

•Procedural Issues. 
•What procedures should be put in place to ensure transparency,  probity and best value for money? 
•How should contracts for import of systems be negotiated?  How to obviate lapses that may prove costly to the exchequer? 
•How to frame policies for defence offsets and how to draw  maximum benefits from them? 
•What should be the strategy to increase export of defence  related goods?

Defence Budgets  and Recurring Expenditure 

Continuous  improvement can be affected by periodic review of defence structures and  functioning. Though difficult, all aspects of defence should be subjected to  costing to identify areas which need cost-cutting measures. Innovative steps  should be initiated to re-engineer and reconfigure targeted constituents to  reduce costs and improve efficiency. Procedures should be regularly revised to  make them responsive to changing ground requirements and to facilitate speedy  decision-making. Regular stock-taking exercises should be carried out to  identify non-core functions to offload them to civilian facilities and contracted  service providers.