Indian Defence Review

Why are Parties to Russia-Ukraine War Prolonging it?

Backdrop Russia-Ukraine War seems to be entering a deadly phase after seven months, witnessing significant twist in the form of Kremlin’s declaring victory in hasty referendum in four regions of occupied territory to join Russia, poising itself for complete annexation of occupied areas, having announced...

Crossing the Nuclear Rubicon in Ukraine: Long Term Implications

As a longtime student of nuclear warfare, (I began to study it in 1965 as an NDA Cadet, my Staff College dissertation on this subject in 1979 to my book in 1997) one has seen the evolution of nuclear doctrine over half a century. Most of the work on this subject was done in 1960s and 70s (Herman Kahn of Rand...

Rebuilding the Combat Fleet of the IAF to 42 Squadrons

In his first major media interaction in October 2021, just after taking over as the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari said, “The Indian Air Force (IAF) is focused on future warfare. There is a paradigm change in future warfare including the non-kinetic, non-lethal challenges. The IAF has...

Why are Parties to Russia-Ukraine War Prolonging it?

Crossing the Nuclear Rubicon in Ukraine: Long Term Implications

Ladakh Standoff: Beijing’s Muscle-Flexing Backfires

Many views are being expressed regarding the disengagement of Indian army and Peoples Liberation Army [PLA] from Gogra Heights-Hot Springs area near Patrolling Point-15 [PP 15] in Eastern Ladakh. While hawks see this move as a retrograde step that’s impinging on India’s territorial integrity, the fact of the matter...

Rightsizing the Army

Media reports of July 2022 stated that existing manpower shortages in the Armed Forces are as follows: Army – 7779 officers and 1.08 lakh soldiers; Navy – 1446 officers and 12,511 soldiers, and; Air Force – 572 officers and 5,151 airmen. This cumulatively totals up to manpower deficiency in the Indian Military to...

Role of the Armed Forces in Preserving the Nation

As India completes 75 years of independence, it also creates a new landmark in 5000-year-old history of India. If we count the period under British imperial rule (1857 to 1947), then India (most of it) has remained one political entity for 175 years. This is an unprecedented event in Indian history. Going back to...

DRDO successfully test fires indigenously developed laser-guided ATGMs

Indigenously developed Laser-Guided Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) were successfully test-fired from Main Battle Tank (MBT) Arjun by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Army at KK Ranges with support of Armoured Corps Centre & School (ACC&S) Ahmednagar in Maharashtra on August 04, 2022....

Indian Army’s Unmatched Resilience

While the nation was celebrating ‘Azadika Amrit Mahotsav’ [grand celebration of Freedom’s Nectar] to commemorate India’s 75th Independence Day, on the icy heights of Siachen Glacier, an Indian army patrol recovered the mortal remains of Lance Naik Chandra Shekhar Harbola, of 19 Kumaon Regiment which was the...

Targeted Killings: Kashmir Fights Back!

Wednesday’s killing of three Pakistan backed Lashkar-e-Taiba [LeT] terrorists [including self-styled LeT commander Lateef Rather] in the Waterhail area of Budgam district in Central Kashmir is indeed a major success for the security forces and J&K police. What makes this operation all the more special is that despite...

Yasin Malik: Kashmir’s Most ‘Artful Dodger’

From an ordinary public event disruptor to waging Pakistan sponsored armed insurrection in J&K [in the course of which he was actively involved in killing security forces personnel and innocent civilians alike], Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front [JKLF] chief Yasin Malik has not only come a long way. What’s really...

Rebuilding the Combat Fleet of the IAF to 42 Squadrons

Thales Alenia Space to lead EROSS IOD, On-Orbit Servicing project

European Horizon programme will deploy advanced space robotics to support sustainability in space by enabling satellites’ life extension and life enhancement to reduce space debris Thales Alenia Space, the joint venture between Thales (67 %) and Leonardo (33 %), and its Partners have been chosen by the European...

Two Cheers To INS Vikrant

India has the dubious reputation of being the largest importer of conventional arms (SIPRI Yearbook). Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, heading a committee to suggest improving India’s self-reliance quotient, assessed our SRI (Self Reliance Index) to be 30% only (1993) and suggested a road map to improve it to 70% by 2005....

The Mysterious Helicopter ‘Crashes’ in Balochistan

Despite pathbreaking advances in technology to obviate malfunctioning of machinery, incidents of equipment failure...

Battle of Dograi: Reminisces of a War Veteran

Like all infantry officers, Captain [later Colonel] Harendra Kumar Jha who was commissioned in ‘Third Battalion of...

Taliban is Islamabad's Redline; Avoiding it and Relations with New Delhi will not be an Easy Task...

The India and Afghanistan Friendly Relations Recently, the Government of India sent its Foreign Ministry representative for talks with the Taliban in Kabul. Whether there will be any fruitful outcome of these is to be seen. Throughout the contemporary history of Afghanistan, India has always been the best example of a friendly country when it comes to Afghanistan.Regardless of governments...

Pakistan’s ‘Terrorist Hunting’ Season

When it comes to any terrorism related issue, Pakistan insists on taking the high moral ground and never tires of repeatedly reminding the world about its participation in the most extensive war against terror in history. And herein lies the paradox because ever since 2018, the...

Polity at War with National Security

The Bengal police recently arrested two BSF personnel for alleged rape of a 23 year old woman. She was apprehended while attempting to cross the border from India to Bangladesh. Strangely, the accused duo comprised a Sub Inspector and a jawan. This kind of partnership between a...

Pakistan-TTP Ceasefire on Thin Ice

One third of Pakistan is under flood waters on an unprecedented scale; over 1100 lives have been lost, half a million displaced and 33 million affected. Pakistani Army Chief General QJ Bajwa has appealed to the world for aid though internally he may be happy that the IMF has...

A Commentary on the Tejas Programme (based on the DRDO’s recent book- Radiance in the Indian Skies: The Tejas Saga)

Several years ago, Air Marshal Rajkumar (PR) and Mr. Srikanth (BRS) had written a smaller book with a similar sounding name. Though the present book “Radiance in the Indian skies: The Tejas Saga” is authored by Air Marshal Raj Kumar and Mr Srikanth, this present avatar of the book appears to be an effort by DRDO to explain the Tejas Aircraft Project, its achievement and its delays. Just for that the book is welcome. The criticism of...