Articles By Gp Capt AK Sachdev
Rise of the Transport Aircraft Industry in China
By: Gp Capt AK Sachdev | Issue: Vol. 30.2 Apr-Jun 2015 | Date: 02 Nov , 2015
Reaching the leading edge in technological regimes is an objective purposefully being pursued by China and the velocity of development in some technologies has been astonishing. However, the means...
India’s Space Endeavour
By: Gp Capt AK Sachdev | Issue: Vol. 30.1 Jan-Mar 2015 | Date: 27 Oct , 2015
As in the case of the US, for India too, satellite data and its associated connectivity touch every aspect of daily life. As India’s space programme blooms in keeping with ISRO’s Space Vision...
Rise of the PLAAF: Implications for India
By: Gp Capt AK Sachdev | Issue: Vol. 28.4 Oct-Dec 2013 | Date: 06 Oct , 2015
The ‘inscrutable’ sobriquet for the Chinese is not so much because of their unsmiling faces but on account of their unpredictable actions. Military action against India may not come in the...
Helicopter Fleet for the IAF
By: Gp Capt AK Sachdev | Issue: Vol. 28.2 Apr-Jun 2013 | Date: 29 Sep , 2015
Although the US lost out in the MMRCA race, the consideration of life-cycle costs has tilted the balance in favour of US products when it comes to the C-17 Globemaster III, the C-130J Super...
IAF’s Trainer Fleet: Need for Revamp!
By: Gp Capt AK Sachdev | Issue: Vol. 29.4 Oct-Dec 2014 | Date: 09 Feb , 2015
Up till mid-2009, for basic training, the IAF was using the HPT-32, a piston-engine aircraft produced indigenously by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). This aircraft was in service with the...
Helicopters in Military Aviation in China
By: Gp Capt AK Sachdev | Issue: Vol. 29.3 Jul-Sep 2014 | Date: 07 Nov , 2014
China has the world’s second largest defence budget next only to the US and with the future looking upbeat for China’s economy and for its military spending, defence manufacturers and...
The Future of Military Helicopters
By: Gp Capt AK Sachdev | Issue: Vol. 28.1 Jan-Mar 2013 | Date: 16 Jul , 2014
Regrettably, advances in helicopter design have not been as impressive as for fighter aircraft. This is despite the fact that helicopters have been utilised in every conflict situation and despite...
Indian Military Helicopter Fleet
By: Gp Capt AK Sachdev | Issue: Vol. 29.1 Jan-Mar 2014 | Date: 09 Feb , 2014
In terms of size, the Indian armed forces are amongst the largest in the world but in terms of equipment, they are lamentably lagging behind the leading edge of weapon systems and aircraft...
India’s Energy Security: Role of Offshore Helicopter Operations
By: Gp Capt AK Sachdev | Issue: Vol. 28.3 Jul-Sep 2013 | Date: 13 Dec , 2013
The helicopter is the workhorse for the off-shore oil and gas exploration and production industry. The ever-increasing demand for energy, ever escalating prices of crude oil and the discovered...
Military Application of Unmanned Rotary Wing Aircraft
By: Gp Capt AK Sachdev | Issue: Vol. 27.4 Oct-Dec 2012 | Date: 14 Dec , 2012
The term Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is being slowly replaced by UAS as in many of its variegated missions, the aircraft is not carrying any payload from one place to another and is thus not a...
Helicopters in Special Operations
By: Gp Capt AK Sachdev | Issue: Vol. 27.4 Oct-Dec 2012 | Date: 26 Nov , 2012
By definition, Special Operations are those that are executed independently or in conjunction with conventional military operations with the aim to achieve a political or military objective where...
India and the European Aerospace Industry
By: Gp Capt AK Sachdev | Issue: Vol 26.1 Jan-Mar 2011 | Date: 22 Oct , 2012
After the nightmare of recession, the airline industry is convincingly on the path to recovery. The mood in European as indeed, in the global aviation industry, is definitely upbeat. In fact, the...
The Helicopter as a Combat Platform
By: Gp Capt AK Sachdev | Issue: Vol. 27.2 Apr-Jun 2012 | Date: 13 Oct , 2012
Development of the pure helicopter remained painstakingly slow. The first closed circuit kilometre was flown by a helicopter only in 1924, more than 16 years after the first rotary wing flight....
Civil Aviation: Component of Aerospace Power
By: Gp Capt AK Sachdev | Issue: Vol 26.2 Apr-Jun 2011 | Date: 06 Feb , 2012
“Air power is indivisible. If you split it up into compartments, you merely pull it to pieces and destroy its greatest asset – its flexibility” – Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. Since...