Indian Defence Review

Consequences of the Manipur Conflagration

In the summer of 64 AD, nearly 2000 years ago, Rome, more or less, was completely razed to the ground in a fire that lasted six days. The hapless citizens, in utter frustration, turned on their much-despised Emperor, Nero. He was a patron of the arts, fond of music, with a talent for playing the Cithara or Kithára, an...

Russian trenches major challenge for Ukraine's counter-offensive

The Ukrainian army is preparing for a counter-offensive to recapture Donbas and Crimea, which are currently occupied by Russian forces. Ukraine has raised eight ‘storm brigades” specifically for the counterattack. President Zelensky is determined to retake all the territory occupied by Russia and is overseeing the...

Amrit Kal Lessons of History

The biggest lesson of Indian history is that we are negligent of our own history and do not know much about it and as a corollary do not learn from it. In my 30 years of study of military history, I have not come across a SINGLE treatise or book that attempted to describe and learn from our various military defeats...

Russian trenches major challenge for Ukraine's counter-offensive

Rumblings in Pakistan : Coup, Civil War and Disintegration?

There is nothing right in Pakistan as of now and that is a matter of concern across the world. Pakistan being a nuclear state surely has serious implications in case of administrative failure. The strategic community is rife with buzz words like an army coup, civil war and balkanization of Pakistan etc in their...

Dollar and the Petrodollar

The POTUS Joe Biden’s visit to Papua New Guinea in a bid to counter growing Chinese influence in the Pacific has been cancelled. Biden also cancelled attending the QUAD meeting scheduled in Sydney, due to which Australia was forced to cancel the QUAD meet. Biden’s plans have been disrupted because of the critical...

Amrit Kal Lessons of History

Army bears brunt of myopic political platitudes

Despite four wars being fought with Pakistan and thousands of bomb blasts devastating the soil of India, New Delhi’s pursuit of a pacifist policy towards Islamabad, except for occasional surgical strikes, has only emboldened terrorists into killing more and more of highly experienced military personnel. An explosion...

First C295 for India completes its maiden flight

The first C295 for India has successfully completed its maiden flight, marking a significant milestone towards its delivery by the second half of 2023. The tactical aircraft took off from Seville, Spain, on the 5th May at 11:45 am local time (GMT+1) and landed at 14:45 pm after three hours of flight. “This first...

Poonch Terror Attack Exposes Pakistan’s Duplicity

The recent attack on an Indian army vehicle by Pakistan backed terrorists in the Poonch area of J&K that claimed five lives is an extremely tragic incident that serves as a grim reminder of the fact that despite facing a host of extremely menacing domestic threats ranging from political instability to financial...

Kerala-Kashmir-Kabul and the Islamic State

Reports regarding emergence of a new terror group ‘Base Movement’ has been making rounds for some time. The ramifications, reach and consequences of this terror group, however has not been analyzed to any degree. Least to say, the ramifications are pernicious. The Base Movement, which has been carrying out revenge...

Kashmir on a Roll

Investment entails acquisition of assets or items with the primary objective of generating income or for the purposes of wealth appreciation. However, since successful investment is dependent on a host of factors-both quantifiable and undeterminable, it’s a risky business. Furthermore, the fact that the capital...

India's defence exports rise 23 times since 2014

India’s defence exports have reached an all-time high, surging from 686 crore rupees in 2013-14 to nearly 16 thousand crore rupees in 2022-23. This remarkable 23 fold increase reflects India’s progress in the global defence manufacturing sector. With exports reaching more than 85 countries, the country’s defence...

Future of Attack Helicopters: The Million Dollar Question?

Background Third of October 2022, was a memorable day for Indian Aviation as the defence minister presided over the formal handing over of the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) to the Indian Air Force.[1] Designed, developed and manufactured by HAL, the induction of LCH aka Prachanda, was a momentous occasion signalling a...

Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems: Existential Threat to Humanity?

Early in January 1942, Project X-Ray of the United States of America (USA) envisaged using the Mexican Bat, endemic to South Western USA, as a retaliatory weapon against the Japanese for the attack on Pearl Harbour. The plan envisaged attaching incendiary bombs to the bats and releasing them from cluster containers,...

An Overview of UN Peacekeeping Operations

29th May is observed every year as International Day of UN Peacekeepers. The United Nations was established in the...

Russia will not allow hunger in the world

A year after the war in Ukraine began, grain exports across the Black Sea will be extended for another two months....

Islamic Jihad Emerging as Most Eminent Threat from Gaza

The ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) has taken effect in the Gaza Strip after days of cross-border fighting. The confrontation left at least 33 Palestinians dead in Gaza and at least two persons in Israel. But most importantly in the Israeli military’s Operation named “Shield and Arrow” six PIJ commanders were killed. The main objective of the Israeli...

Can a nuclear war start with the unease felt by China?

Rohan Mukherji of the London School of Economics and Political Science believes that he writes in an article in Foreign Affairs magazine (China’s status anxiety May 19 2023) of the possibility of China being singled out by the US as its preeminent enemy should not be wished...

Manipur Unrest: A Complex Threat

The cycle of violence seems unending in Manipur, no matter how many Para Military and Army companies are pushed into the troubled state. Article 355 is already in place, giving the central government complete control of state law and order. This move is one step short of...

India’s Island Outreach

The Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) is a regional forum established by the Indian government to enhance cooperation and strengthen relations between India and the Pacific Island countries. It was launched by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit...

Taliban brutality against hapless Women in Afghanistan

Mahtab Hamdard is one of the women protestors and one of the women in military service during the era of the previous government. She has been imprisoned in the Taliban dungeon for more than twenty days. Mrs. Mahtab was one of the employees of the Afghan National Police in the Department of Criminal Crimes in Daykundi Province at the previous government of Afghanistan. After the fall of the republican system to the hands of the Taliban group,...