The Indian Navy has acquired the laudable distinction of converting itself from a ‘buyer’s Navy’ into a ‘builder’s Navy’ by dint of steady accretion of design capabilities in warship building since the establishment of the Directorate of Naval Constructions in 1954. Today all 46 of a wide mix of different-sized warships from aircraft carrier to submarines to fast attack vessels, are being constructed in Indian shipyards. Its success lies in the culture of commitment to… Read More »Warship construction

New generation radars and Electronic Warfare technologies are changing the face of the battlefield which will witness a massive revolution in military affairs in coming decades that weapons of hitech warfare can be launched without sound, fire and smoke but can be radically destructive in nature. Indeed, in the arena of EW scenario, the evolution of the electromagnetic spectrum is much more agile and complicated than what it used to be 50 years ago, and… Read More »EW technologies

With all the weaponry arraigned against it including, amazingly, an anti-tank rifle it is a wonder that the tank has survived and can still dominate the battlefield. But for how long? That is the question. Will the air-land battle configuration carry the day as it did for the coalition forces in Iraq during the second Gulf War or will the many vulnerabilities spell the demise of the tank on the battlefield. It appears that it… Read More »Tank warfare

With the advent of new technologies, there is a portfolio enhancement for next generation anti tank guided missiles which are most sought after weapon for battlefield commanders when they need to stop the advancement of enemy armored columns from the front. An Anti Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) is a category of rocket-based weapon that is primarily used against armored vehicles. While rockets in warfare were used as early as the 11th century, they were crude… Read More »Anti-tank guided missiles

With six new submarines to be built indigenously India needs to ensure that a deep sea rescue facility is an integral organic component. While India has one submarine rescue vessel in the form of Nishtar any delay in arriving at the scene of an incident can be fraught with danger for the crew. The Indian Navy has a huge area of responsibility stretching from the southern tip of Africa in the west to the East… Read More »Submarine rescue

In a day and age when “Make in India” is the official buzzword one would legitimately expect that a concentrated and sustained effort would be in the scheme of things to upgrade and improve an indigenously developed anti-tank guided missile (the Nag) and the technology demonstrator Very Short Range Air Defence (VSHORAD) Trishul missile and perceptibly shift India from overdependence on foreign sources for these requirements. With the recent signing of a contract with the… Read More »Modern ATGMs

Though the A K Antony led DAC had cleared the acquisition of two Deep Sea Rescue Vessels in December, 2013 after the tragedy of the death of 18 naval personnel due to the sinking of INS Sindhurakshak Submarine, the current defence minister Manohar Parrikar led Defence Acquisition Committee again discussed the proposal in October, 2015 and cleared the acquisition of Deep Sea Submarine Rescue Vessels, which are required for the recovery of submarines or personnel… Read More »DSRVs for Indian Navy

Recent events need to be analyzed before deciding on how to modernize the Indian Special Forces. The most recent is the raid into Myanmar to eliminate the insurgents who had struck the Indian Army convoy in Chandel in Manipur in June this year. It needs to be underscored that it was a half-baked operation which failed to achieve the unqualified success that a hit against the very perpetrators of Chandel should have sent an unambiguous… Read More »Indian Special Forces

Air superiority is an essential military mission, and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. Air superiority has been an enduring prerequisite to military victory during conflicts in the twenty-first century. Although control of the air does not itself destroy or defeat the majority of enemy forces, it provides the freedom of action and strategic flexibility that allow other military forces to do so. Air superiority is central to a full range of… Read More »UCAVs in future battlefield

Among the many lessons learnt by India from the Kargil intrusion by the Pakistan Army Northern Light Infantry in 1999 was one that it should not require the wasteful expenditure of more than 2,50,000 tons of steel over a period of more than two months to be able to dislodge/eliminate an entrenched enemy. The efficacy and necessity of precision guided munitions that deliver a warhead to within a meter of a target was brought home… Read More »Laser guided bombs