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DIRECTORATE OF STANDARDISATION
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE PRODUCTION
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE, ‘H’ BLOCK
NIRMAN BHAWAN PO
NEW DELHI – 110 011
JSG 0206 : 2005
(Reaffirmed 2013)
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MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
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DIRECTORATE OF STANDARDISATION
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE PRODUCTION
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE, ‘H’ BLOCK
NIRMAN BHAWAN PO
NEW DELHI – 110 011
JSG 0206 : 2005
(Reaffirmed 2013)
1. This Joint Service Guide has been approved by Cmde B. Siva Kumar, PDEE,
Chairman Electrical Standardisation Sub Committee.
2. The following members / agencies have been consulted in approving the document.
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RECORD OF AMENDMENTS
0. FOREWORD 1
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0. FOREWORD
0.1 This Joint Services Guide has been prepared by COTS Electrical Equipment Working
Group under Electrical Standardisation Sub - Committee on the authority of the
Standardisation Committee, Ministry of Defence.
0.3 The objective of this Joint Services Guide is to provide guidelines for the users in
implementation of use of Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) equipments in the three
Services.
04. All technical enquiries regarding additions / alterations, corrections on this document
should be addressed to :-
The Director,
Directorate of Standardisation,
Ministry of Defence,
‘H’ Block, Nirman Bhawan PO,
New Delhi – 110 011.
The Director,
Directorate of Standardisation,
Standardisation Documents Centre,
Ministry of Defence,
Room No.05, ‘J’ Block, Nirman Bhawan PO,
New Delhi – 110 011.
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0.6 Indian Standard (IS) specifications are available free of cost for registered
users on :-
0.7 This specification holds good only for the supply order for which it is issued.
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1.1 COTS (Commercial - off - the - shelf) refers to components, equipments, systems etc.
which can be bought ready made from the manufacture’s virtual store shelf. COTS
procurement implies procuring something that already does the required job at a reasonable
cost. COTS procurement philosophy is thus different from the conventional defence
procurement methodology which involves formulating requirements, design, development,
evaluation of prototypes, bulk production and quality assurance to stringent defence
specifications before the item is made available to the user. COTS procurement in a sense
means that efforts is made to match the requirement (s) with the capabilities of something
that already exists in the market and procure the same rather than go in for ‘design – develop
- manufacture’ cycle.
2.1 Reduced Cycle Time : This is an obvious advantage as the equipment readily
available is procured and fielded as against the conventional ‘design - develop - manufacture’
which take considerably longer time.
2.4 Non - Dependence on Limited Sources : Use of MIL - grade or special grade
components / hardware would necessarily mean dependence on limited sources / foreign
sources. These sources may close down their production lines or components may become
non - available to govt. policies or there may be constraints of foreign exchange. COTS
procurement philosophy obviates such difficulties.
3.1 The advantages that look obvious when COTS procurement is discussed do have
inherent limitations or problems which need to be looked into.
3.2 The advantage of reduced cycle time may not be apparent when COTS items do not
fully meet the operational requirements. COTS items cannot be fielded in such cases as
operational requirements are likely to be compromised. While application-specific
development of items may not be warranted, it may still become necessary to implement
certain modifications / improvements in COTS items to make them meet operational
requirements. Such ‘Value - add - on’ requirements to COTS items may take considerably
longer time and effort as the existing design needs to be changed. The advantage of reduced
cycle time is thus lost in such cases of ‘Value - add - on’ to COTS items.
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3.3 While reduction in costs of procurement are too obvious. It is also necessary to
understand that such reduction in costs are achieved by the manufacturers by going - in for
cheapest available components in the market which just ‘do - the - job’. There is no control
on the use of such components as in the case of ruggedised equipments specially developed
for defence applications where the components are thoroughly tested / screened before they
are cleared for use in the equipment. The concept of L - 1 procurement may thus be exploited
by unscrupulous manufacturers.
3.4 While technology availability is a distinct advantage, this may lead to logistics
problems in defence scenario. The life of equipment is normally designated to be around 10
to 15 years while the technology advancements may lead to situations where COTS
equipments become technologically out - dated within 2 to 3 years. COTS equipments may
have to be phased - out to keep pace with the technological advancements and given the
defence procurement procedures, this may not be easy.
3.5 Support documentation for COTS equipments is a distinct problem. While ruggedised
equipments for defence applications are supplied with all the documents as per JSG 0251 - 01
such documentation cannot be insisted upon from COTS manufacturer. The COTS
manufacturer may not have the infrastructure to generate the necessary documentation and
may also not be willing to invest time and effort to produce such detailed documentation.
Deficiencies in the documentation for COTS equipments will have a negative impact on the
AHSP activities.
3.6 COTS products are not necessarily open. That is, they do not necessarily conform to
any recognised interface standards. Thus, it is possible that using COTS product commits the
user to proprietary interfaces and solutions that are not common with any other product,
component or system. The disadvantages of this approach become apparent for defence
systems. While the life designated for defence systems is 10 to 15 years, COTS product may
get upgraded / technologically updated every 6 to 12 months and new technology appears on
the scene about every 18 to 24 months. With proprietary interfaces, the ability to migrate cost
- effectively to other products and other technologies in the future will have been lost. COTS
Electrical Equipment may be warranted minimum for a period of 6 months from the date of
supply or commissioning which ever is later is recommended.
3.7 With COTS procurement, there is a need to lay - down the procedure for post -
procurement maintenance of the equipments. While the ruggedised equipments are supported
by detailed documentation as well as an established procedure for post - procurement
maintenance, the same cannot be made applicable to COTS equipment. Product maintenance
by the user cannot be guaranteed over a longer period due to constant fluctuations in the
technology. The manufacturer may stop supporting the product or goes out of business
altogether. In any case, the equipment cannot be phased out to keep pace with the fluctuations
of the technology and needs to be maintained for a longer duration. This calls a different
maintenance and spare procurement policy for COTS equipments / products.
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4.2.1 There can however be instances that off - the - shelf commercial electrical systems
may not meet the operational requirements fully. While going - in for ruggedised electrical
systems can be one option in such cases, the advantages of COTS electrical systems may far
out-weigh the considerations related to fielding of ruggedised electrical systems. In such
cases there would be a need to include additional qualitative requirements for commercial
electrical systems. These additional requirements may relate to climatic and dynamic features
(JSS 55555 Table 3.3.2 specifies climatic and dynamic requirements for commercial
grade - ruggedised equipments) or may even relate to functional requirements. Such
additional requirements would mean implementing improvements / modifications to the
existing features of the commercial electrical systems. Hence adequate caution should be
exercised while including the additional features in the qualitative requirements so that
minimal ‘value - add - on’ to the existing design features would be required else the
advantages of opting for commercially available equipments would be lost. In other words, a
balance should be maintained so that the essential requirements are still met retaining the
advantages of COTS procurement.
4.2.2 The draft Joint Services Qualitative Requirements (JSQR) shall then be discussed by
the concerned Inter Services Working Group formed under Joint Services Equipment Policy
Committee (JSEPC). The discussions on the qualitative requirements contained in the JSQR
shall focus on the following issues
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(d) Availability of the off - the - shelf commercial electrical system matching the
QR.
(e) Viability of matching the additional features, if any, which are not normally
found in the off - the - shelf commercial electrical systems with the technology
available in the market.
(f) Implications in terms of cost, time frame for development vis – à - vis the
deployment requirements for the value-add-on feature in the commercial systems.
4.2.3 The JSQR for the COTS electrical system shall then be finalized by the concerned
ISWG.
4.3.1 Adoption of BIS Standards as JSS : If the COTS electrical equipment is being
marketed against IS specification, the IS specification shall be adopted as JSS provided all
the essential requirements contained in JSQR are reflected in the IS specification with the
approval of the ISWG (Inter Services Working Group).
4.3.2 Adoption of Standards other than BIS as JSS : In cases where there is no BIS
standard for the COTS electrical equipment and conformance to any other recognised
standard is claimed by the manufacturer of the COTS electrical equipment, the standard shall
be discussed in the ISWG meeting and the standard shall either be adopted as JSS or a JSS
prepared based on the standard.
4.3.3 Preparation of JSS : In cases where there is no BIS standard or any other
recognised standard, preparation of JSS for the COTS electrical equipment based on the
JSQR approved by the ISWG shall be taken up. JSS shall lay down tests and test procedures
which shall ensure conformance to the requirements contained in the JSQR. QR procedures
namely tests applicable for evaluation / approval, bulk acceptance, sampling procedures and
acceptance / rejection criteria shall be unambiguously defined. Climatic and dynamic tests to
ensure the performance of the equipment under the conditions of use as specific in JSQR
shall also be laid down in the JSS. Reference to climatic and dynamic test as specified for
commercial equipments in JSS 55555 may be made. However, caution should be exercised
while specifying the test, test procedures and test requirements so as to match these
requirements with the COTS technology. It shall be possible to procure COTS equipment
against the JSS either off - the - shelf or with minimal ‘value - add - on’ features. JSS shall
also specify the supporting documentation to be supplied by the manufacturer with the
equipments.
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4.6 Storage and Issue : Procedures for stocking and issue of COTS electrical
equipments shall be laid down by Ordnance authorities. If both versions namely ruggedised
and commercial are procured for a particular class of equipment, it shall be ensured that
COTS equipments are issued only to those users whose requirements match with those
applicable for COTS electrical equipments.
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5.1 Any suggestion for improvement of this standard may please be forwarded to :-
The Director,
Directorate of Standardisation,
Ministry of Defence,
‘H’ Block, Nirman Bhawan PO,
New Delhi – 110 011.
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