Political turmoil is rampant on both sides of the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. China and Pakistan have held joint military exercises in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir with absolutely ineffectual posturing by the Government of India. Expecting the Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP to assert its sovereignty over the whole of Jammu and Kashmir (inclusive of the PoK) is a bit too much to ask. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar found it more expedient to flail at those… Read More »Chinese economic corridor

Imagine a next-generation attack helicopter platform so advanced that it can reach speeds more than 220 knots (407 km/h), flying as high as 10,000 feet (3 km) in 95° of heat. The new generation military attack helicopters are poised for a greater role in the modern battlefield where piking targets are crucial for winning the game. Americans are always ahead in choosing finest technologies for the military. The Sikorsky S-97 Raider helicopter is poised to… Read More »Military attack helicopters

With the responsibility of protecting and projecting power across more than 50 million square kilometers of ocean space within the Indian Ocean littoral the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard Organization will have to improve their presence by the more easily and quickly achievable method of increasing the numbers of its fleet replenishment vessels of which there are only four. That there are vulnerable gaps in the maritime security network has been admitted by… Read More »Role of OPVs

The Defence Research and Development Organisation has been working on robotics to create unmanned ground vehicles for reconnaissance and surveillance; detection and destruction of mines and improvised explosive devices. The intent and purpose of this weapons platform is to provide protection and enhance the strike capability of the man on the forward edge of conflict be it on the conventional battlefield or in counter-insurgency/counter-terrorism situations. The programme has been in progress since before the turn… Read More »Robotics and UGV

There is a clear distinction between deep submergence rescue vehicles (DSRV) and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) or remotely-operated vehicles. The former is deployed for rescue of submarines/submariners in disaster situations and the latter has a wider repertoire of applications in the military marine domain. Both before and after the disaster on board the Indian Navy submarine Sindhurakshak in Mumbai’s Naval Dockyard in 2013 the absence of such platforms has been felt by India and there… Read More »DSRV and naval UUVs

A Directed Energy Weapon (DEW) is still in its nascence but there are signs that it could soon bloom into effective reality. India has already made some progress in the use of laser energy for the precision delivery of bombs and is aiming to create a directed energy beam powerful enough and focused enough to be able to knock out enemy missiles, both conventional and nuclear tipped, up to seven kilometers in altitude during the… Read More »Laser technology

China has become a teacher in matters pertaining to non proliferation regime and issues involving its conduct among technologically superior nations who are holding signing of NPT as criteria for entering into NSG club. In contrary China is one of the biggest proliferators in the world, perhaps the largest one in terms of volume. By proliferating it successfully held its strategic flanks to control India and Japan till date. China single handedly destroyed the very… Read More »NSG fall out

Protecting India’s vast coastline of around 7500 kms is not an easy task. The challenge assumes even more significance given the fact that anti-Indian forces have tried and are trying to use waterways to spread terror in the country. The 26/11 attack and incidents of many ships drifting undetected near Indian shores reinforces the common understanding that the Indian coastline is vulnerable to foreign intrusions. Further, since Indian Navy has in recent years given commitments… Read More »Role of Offshore Patrol Vessels

A paupered Artillery Regiment of the Indian Army is now suddenly inundated by a surfeit of weapons systems be they of the original Bofors howitzer vintage reconstructed from drawings that had been gathering dust for nearly three decades or the Indo-South African hybrid that had been languishing because of corruption charges or the Armament Research and Development Establishment product the advanced towed artillery gun system. The icing on the cake is that all of them… Read More »Howitzer gun development

As prime Indian military objective in the event of an outbreak of hostilities between a Pakistan-China collusive alliance against India, STRATEGIC AFFAIRS in its March-April issue, has already pinpointed the Karakoram Highway/railway/pipeline alignment through Pakistan and China-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Breaking this link at several geologically difficult portions can render it unuseable for years as the landslide and formation of a huge lake north of Gilgit at Attabad in 2010 did to communications between Pakistan… Read More »Chinese infrastructure