Indian Defence Review

Technology in Warfare: Is India Lagging Behind?

There are more than 250 government or private drone developers or manufacturers in China. Some are working closely with technical universities and the government. China is investing heavily in Swarm Technology and Artificial Intelligence. With the rapid rate of development and astonishing test results, China appears to...

Offensive Force versus Manning Border

India conducted Exercise ‘Him Vijay’ in Arunachal Pradesh before the recent Modi-Xi second informal summit at Mamallapuram. Him Vijay involved exercising three Integrated Battle Groups (IBGs) of the Mountain Strike Corps (MSC) in their combat role. The drill was carried out in phases with each IBG comprising around...

J&K Imbroglio

The abrogation of Article 370 and 35A, came as a surprise to some and shock to some others, though many of us have over time been demanding their abrogation. Some are knocking at the doors of Supreme Court, essentially banking on section 3 of Article 370. What is obvious is that government took this step without...

Offensive Force versus Manning Border

J&K Imbroglio

Assad will be Real Beneficiary

Turkey has launched its operation Peace Spring in Northern Syria aiming to uproot Kurdish forces. As the United States have already abandon their Kurdish allies which helped them to finish ISIS caliphate and pulling out all the American troops from the Syria to facilitate the Turkish operation. Turkey has come very...

Honouring Braves and Sleeping with Terrorists

Indian-American Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal, posted as Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy, was shot dead on September 28 while on duty. According to a senior police officer, Dhaliwal, who was in his early 40s, died after being shot multiple times from behind in a “ruthless, cold-blooded way” during a traffic stop in the US state...

The Rafale is finally on IAF inventory

The Indian Air Force had issued a “Request for Information” (RFI) for 126 MMRCA in 2001. After much dilly-dallying, for almost two years beyond the planned December 2005 issue date, the MoD finally announced a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) in Aug 2007, once the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) had granted the...

India takes delivery of first Rafale in France on Air Force Day

On the auspicious day of Indian Air Force, 8th October, Eric Trappier, Dassault Aviation Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, hosted the handover ceremony of the first Indian Air Force Rafale in Mérignac, Dassault Aviation’s Rafale final assembly facility. The event was placed under the high patronage of the...

Defence against Drones

The Houthi drone attacks on Saudi Arabia’s Abaqiq and Khurais oil facilities on September 14 have once again brought forth the deadly dimension of this type of disruptive threat. Not that this was the first instance of swarm drone attack. It was covered in these columns earlier that in 2018, there were periodic...

The Relevance of Geography and History in the Maritime Domain

Command Her! If you can’t command her, control her. If you can’t control her, dominate her. If you can’t dominate her, maintain presence and deny her to others. Oh! The sea is a wild child! — Anonymous Geopolitics emerged towards the fag end of the 19th century at a time when the international system was...

Terror’s Third Dimension

In a recent bid to revive militancy in Punjab, Pakistan has tried to smuggle in arms and ammunition from across the border, in multiple sorties using drones. The cargo was meant for the Khalistan Zindabad Force – a proscribed organisation. Intelligence was a tad late in getting this information on time. Had it not...

Technology in Warfare: Is India Lagging Behind?

The Way Ahead: Making India Self Reliant in Defence

On May 31, 2017, in a major policy reform intended to promote ‘Make in India’ in defence manufacturing, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced the much-anticipated Strategic Partnership model for the Indian private sector. The model, whose concept was first suggested by the Dhirendra Singh Committee in its July...

Sustaining Air Defence Weapon Systems: Facing the Challenge Here and Now

If there is one challenge that stares insurmountably in the face of Air Defence warriors today, it is the challenge of sustaining and keeping alive, guns, missiles, sensors and Battle Management Systems that are 40 to 50 years old. With the cumulative percentage of obsolescence of all Ground Based Air Defence Weapon...

The Final Nail in the Coffin of Pakistani Manipulations in J&K

Network and landline connections in Jammu and Kashmir, that have remained restricted in parts since 05 August this...

Indian Al Qaeda Boss Killed, Highlighting Growing Problem

Al Qaeda on the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) chief Asim Umar was killed in an air strike in Afghanistan that was...

Kashmir: Time to smell the coffee

There is a lot of talk about widespread dissatisfaction within the state of Jammu and Kashmir, especially in the Kashmir Valley, with regard to the reorganisation of the state into two manageable Union Territories and the annulment of Article 370 that has been carried out with the intention of mainstreaming the region in line with the rest of the country. As the time to implement these...

Was Modi-Xi Chennai meet a ‘civilisational’ encounter?

Indian commentators have always been fond of the word ‘civilisational’, it was already so during the Nehruvian days, it continues today; it must be something anchored in Indian genes. As I never really understood the meaning of the term, I finally looked it up in the...

Japan's 2019 Defence White Paper and the Contest for Southeast Asia

In Japan’s annual Defence White Paper released on 26 September, China’s growing military might has been given priority over North Korea’s belligerence as the country’s main security threat. This is the first time Japan has so explicitly identified China as a security threat...

China celebrates its Republic day in Minsar, the Indian village in Tibet

China celebrated the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in the Indian village/town of Minsar in Western Tibet. An article inChina Tibet Newsmentioned the performance held to welcome upcoming National Day on September 29. A picture showed a dance...

Pragmatism is Watchword of India's Foreign Policy: Enemy’s Friend is My Enemy

There is a pragmatism bordering on the Machiavellian that permeates the ‘enlightened self-interest’ that is guiding Indian foreign policy, by which, if an enemy’s enemy is a friend, then an enemy’s friend is an enemy. On the margins of the UN General Assembly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar held a series of meetings expressly to send that message to some countries who have been what...