The Sukhoi-30 MKI which is the main stay of IAF fighter fleets will have to undergo upgradation to remain relevant to future air warfare. Although the software is wearing out too fast, the fighter remains a potent combat machine. The IAF’s SU-30 MKIs which look similar to many Sukhoi fighters is significantly different from other SU-30s in terms of capabilities. This time IAF should clearly spell out what it needs in SU-30MKIs by 2020. Often,… Read More »Enhancing potentiality: Super Sukhoi to add punch to IAF

Ever since present Chairman Ashok Nayak took over as CMD, there is an uneasy tension prevailing in the ranks and files of India’s aerospace giant Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). While there is a brain drain due to lack of motivation and some even term present situation as ‘depressing’, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) which controls HAL is silent over the internal matters of HAL that is threatening to undercut India’s effort to create a strong… Read More »Hall of defame: MoD needs to restructure HAL urgently

A “stand-off” capability in air warfare is like a taller boxer using his longer reach to hit his opponent at will. India has learned the hard way the benefits of a longer reach in a different context. During the 1971 Indo-Pak war the naval warship INS Khukri was hit and sunk by a Pakistani submarine which had a longer-range sonar than did the Indian ship. It could not detect the threat. Much the same applies… Read More »First kill: Stand off aerial warfare

In recent years the distinction between the gun and the missile has become blurred in the employment of artillery on the battlefield. India too is following this trend with the recent test of the short-range Prahaar missile that is intended to cover the distances beyond what the 105 mm and 130 mm field guns, the Bofors howitzer, the Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launch system, and the Russian Smerch rockets can hit enemy targets from the forward… Read More »Flexible response: Special ammunition and artillery fire power

A well equipped, ground based tracking infrastructure is vital to constantly monitor the position of an orbiting satellite and detect its ground track with precision. The satellite pass prediction and real time satellite tracking constitutes the mainstay of the tracking activities. In the ultimate analysis, tracking is also a fundamental step towards determining the operational efficiency of a satellite for harnessing its potentials. In the Indian context, the telemetry, tracking and command network of the… Read More »War in orbit: Satellite tracking and threat of hostile satellites

The Indian aerospace industry is all set to follow the auto sector way which started its foray into the international auto market almost two decades ago as spare parts and equipments supplier for auto giants worldwide. Indian auto sector is now posing a big challenge to the international auto majors. Similarly, the Indian aerospace sector has all the potentials to emerge as a hub for supplying equipments and systems to the international aviation giants. In… Read More »Expanding footprint: Prospects of Indian aerospace industry

When the Pakistani forces, in the guise of Jehadis, had intruded along the Line of Control in the Kargil region of Jammu and Kashmir in 1999, Indian Army strongly felt the absence of a 70 km long range weapon system which could have destroyed the operational headquarters of the Northern Light Infantry in Skardu. India till that year had only the Bofors Howitzer guns which were rendered ineffective and counterproductive as it invited retaliation from… Read More »Lethal attack: Push to India’s Cold Start doctrine

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