I also do not understand why our Army does not allow private partnerships to improve the RnD process for these defense products? The whole world has done it except us. They could make the process very stringent to avoid smuggling/leaks of the technologies but without private stakeholders involvement, it is very difficult to keep up with the widening economic gap between Pakistan and India.
It's a lack of actual industrial planning at the top. The nat-sec leadership never trusted our scientific, industrial, and business communities. Where China had 5-year plans, or where India at least had a state-backed import-substitution play, we basically dropped the ball on industrial planning since the mid-1970s (i.e., following ZAB's nationalization).
They should open their own technology parks across multiple cities if they are serious with keeping HIT running... HIT has also attempted at manufacturing of trucks as well but that didn't go anywhere... They had partnered with a chinese subsidiary of daimler benz i.e North Benz.. the trucks weren't that bad and Chinese Companies have made their presence known in trucking sector BUT HIT couldn't make ingress.
That’s unfortunate, there’s still plenty of work being done in both public and private sectors to create indigenous components for it but if there’s no buyer and no production then this will stall too. Haider shouldnt be another Al-khalid story, but with this pace it might end up as one.
They signed a contract for VN1 8x8 armoured vehicles and NOT THE DAMN VT-4 TANK. That's more relevant here.
The core reason for the barrel explosion of the VT-4 tank in Thailand was that the Thai Army was using the tank as a continuous-fire artillery piece.
HIT, for all its inefficiencies being a state run concern, has delivered significant value. It has, in essence, completely removed Pakistan's reliance on foreign (western specifically) land-systems and their upkeep.
I know they are responsible for the upkeep of various land based systems, but the problem as you have rightly pointed out is that of innovation. That has been absolutely down the drain. Not one totally indigenous design/system. I would love to be corrected if such systems/designs do actually exist that came from HIT without collaboration with other conglomerates.
All our tanks from al khalid, t80 ud to vt4 have it. Including al zarrar.
They have but I've heard that they aren't turned on
