It appears US troop withdrawal in Afghanistan is going to be accelerated faster than some would have thought as the money spent on an unwinnable war could be better used to save American jobs and boost US economy. On several occasions, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said he is confident the 100,000 troops still in Afghanistan under the NATO umbrella can hand over responsibility of Afghan security forces by the end of 2014.… Read More »Palpable worries: Obama second term could end Afghan war

As with everything else in its effort to achieve self-reliance in military equipment, India’s first stealth warship very nearly floundered on the shoals of an American embargo on the delivery of the General Electric LM-2800+ marine gas turbines. Fortunately the embargo was short-lived and the engines were delivered and the Shivalik joined the Indian Navy just a couple of months behind schedule. As with every other military platform the engine is the heart of its… Read More »Reach new heights: Naval engines and marine propulsion system

To be able to keep a sharp eye on every Chinese maneuver not just along the Line of Actual Control from Arunachal Pradesh to Aksai Chin but also along the Karakoram Highway where Chinese troops have been deployed under guise of engineers and technicians, India will have to use every means of detection, surveillance and reconnaissance it can muster. This is because we appear to become aware of Chinese activities long after they have become… Read More »Constant vigil: Monitoring Chinese activities along borders

Given the emerging geopolitics wherein China and Pakistan will collude in both encircling India as well as forcing it to relinquish claims to Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh, India will need to optimize the use of its air force fleet to be able to keep more aircraft and helicopters operationally aloft than is currently possible with the available midair refueling tankers. Given also that the Government of India scrapped the deal signed with the… Read More »Refueling range: Midair refueling needs of IAF

Military dogs are more protective towards their territory than the military itself. It is all over the history as how military dogs performed in the battlefield. It started with legendary Mongol warlord Zhengis Khan who deployed more than 30,000 Tibetan dogs in his quest to conquer Europe. Indeed, US military may not have survived in Afghanistan without military dogs as Taliban used to launch attacks in the night. It is the dogs who used to… Read More »Real sentinels: Indian military should deploy more dogs in war zone

India is all set to order a fresh batch of 42 Sukhoi fighter aircraft from Russia in a bid to placate Russian anger flared over being purged from the ongoing MMRCA deal evaluation process. The whole deal could go beyond USD 3.5 billion as the prices have already been increased by the Russian side and Indian Ministry of Defence officials are still asking Moscow to reduce. Citing currency volatility, Russian Defence Ministry has said it… Read More »Pacifying dolce: India to buy 42 more SU-30 to appease Russian anger

Year 2013 may prove to be the landmark year for Indian armed forces as the K-15 submarine based cruise missile, which has been named as B05 by Defence Research And Development Organisation, completed its test trials and has been declared ready for integration with the Arihant, India’s first indigenous nuclear powered submarine. The scientists of DRDO will thus take India to newer heights in strategic deterrence after its final induction in Indian Navy. After overcoming… Read More »Undersea punch: India’s K-15 SLBM completes development tests

The Defence Research and Development Organisation and the Indian Navy, recently tested the ability of launching a ballistic missile from underwater using a pontoon. The launch was said to be successful in that the scientists were able to calculate and experiment with the amount of thrust that would need to be generated to push the heavy missile out of the water given the drag exerted by the water on a body moving through its ambiance.… Read More »Springing surprise: India’s SLBM capability and setting up triad

Maritime cooperation is the buzzword among modern day strategic planners and analysts and countries with major navies are establishing architecture for bilateral and multilateral cooperation, though some of the navies do intend to have a monopoly over the sea. To avoid a situation of rivalry and competition India has been engaging in dialogue and bilateral exercises and as an extension of this policy India and China would be conducting first ever bilateral maritime dialogue, most… Read More »Fresh approach: India-China maritime dialogue

Gwadar, which used to host the American P-3C Orion maritime reconnaissance aircraft during the Cold War days for keeping a watch over the Russian naval movements in the Indian Ocean, will now formally host the Chinese. Situated 200 kms away from Karachi, the Gwadar base offers tremendous strategic advantages to the country which has a naval presence on the port. The Chinese had eyed the Gwadar after the American Navy withdrew its presence from the… Read More »Enemy in courtyard: Gwadar port and its strategic importance