Articles

Military Power

by Bharat Verma

On attaining independence, the first question that should have continually been thrown up was “What are the infirmities in our character that have made India remain under foreign rule and domination for almost 1000 years- the longest in known history?” An honest answer to this question was critical to help develop the ability to defend our nation and disallow a repeat of this shameful history.

Pakistan’s Duplicity

by B Raman

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, while talking to some TV channels in New Delhi, hoped India will share the outcome of the probe into the Samjhauta Express blast before the March 6 meeting of the Joint Anti-Terror Mechanism so that ‘meaningful contribution’ can be made to the fight against terror. Asked whether the intelligence agencies of the two countries could work together, he said, ‘They will have to if South Asia is to live in a civilised manner.’ He added that if both the governments ‘put their weight behind’ such an endeavour, it will work.

Time to Unshackle our Shipyards

by Admiral Arun Prakash, PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM

It is an article of faith with us in Navy Headquarters that we will create a “home grown” navy, and our commitment to indigenisation in the long term, is total. We are today offering a unique opportunity to the country’s shipbuilding industry, along with its ancillaries, to help us build a great navy commensurate with India’s stature.

Military Lessons

Israel-Hezbollah Conflict

by Maj Gen GD Bakshi, SM, VSM

A classical response option for a country faced with an externally inspired Low
Intensity Conflict (that can drag on for decades) is to conventionalise the conflict. In so doing, its strategic objective is to impose such heavy and deterrent costs on the perpetrators /external sponsors of the Low Intensity Conflict that they are forced to call it off or scale it down drastically

No Use of Combat Air Power in 1962

by Air Vice Marshal AK Tiwary, VSM

During the Sino-Indian War of 1962, the political leadership did not use the combat air arm of the IAF. General Kaul the Army Commander responsible in NEFA, later confessed, “Lastly, we made a great mistake in not employing our Air Force in a close support role during these operations”. This costly and catastrophic omission was a result of multiple factors which impinged on the decision-making process at the highest level.

Women in the Armed Forces

by Maj Gen (Retd) Mrinal Suman, AVSM, VSM, PhD

The recent debate about the entry of women officers in the armed forces has been highly ill- informed and subjective in nature. People have taken stands and expressed opinion without analysing the matter in its entirety. It is imprudent to consider it as an issue of equality of sexes or gender bias or even women’s liberation. It is also not a question of conquering the so-called ‘last male bastion’.

Military-Police Relations

The Kolkata Syndrome

by RSN Singh

The Kolkata incident on the New Years Eve wherein the military and police clashed over the detention of two young army officers belonging to a Madras Unit, which has arrived at a peace station (Kolkata) after a tenure at Siachen, is not an isolated occurrence. Such incidents are an increasing phenomenon and most of them escape media glare.

Strategic Missiles

by Arun S Vishwakarma, B.E, M.Tech

India’s strategic weapons programme started in early 70’s with Project Devil (SRBM) and Project Valiant (ICBM). Project Valiant was an attempt to build 8,000 Km range missile. Valiant missile had three liquid fuel stages. The first stage consisting of cluster of four engines, each of 30 tonnes thrust, second stage of two 30 tonnes thrust engines and last stage with a single 30 tonnes thrust. The missile lift off weight was about 85 tonnes. The 30 tonnes thrust liquid engine was first test fired on 10 May 1974, but soon thereafter the project was cancelled because of insufficient progress, weak programme management and organisation structure.

Offsets

by Vice Adm (Retd) GM Hiranandani, PVSM, AVSM, NM, PhD

For several years, the word “offsets” has been a facet of the large contracts that Ministries of the Government of India have negotiated with multinational corporations. Expectations of offsets have ranged from the euphoric to the sceptical.

Spreading Naxalism Napping Government

by PV Ramana

As an outfit, the CPI (Maoist) is a little over two years’ old. But, its constituents – the erstwhile Communist Party of India – Marxist-Leninist (People’s War) [CPI-ML (PW)] and the Maoist Communist Centre of India [MCCI] have been in operation for well over two decades, until they merged on September 21, 2004 to float the new outfit, CPI (Maoist), which is incontrovertibly the most lethal Naxalite group in the country and, arguably, one of the most dreaded extremist outfits in India.