Articles By Gp Capt Joseph Noronha
Directed-Energy Weapons: Mirage or Reality? Light at the end of the Tunnel
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 36.3, Jul-Sep 2021 | Date: 25 Oct , 2021
No doubt, much remains to be done before Directed-Energy Weapons (DEWs) make a convincing transition from laboratory wonders to effective and reliable weapons of war. But there is finally light at...
An Indian in Space: ISRO’s Human Spaceflight Programme
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. Apr-Jun 2020, (35.2) & Jul-Sep 2020, (35.3) | Date: 18 Dec , 2020
A year and a half from now, India will attempt the historic feat of launching one of its citizens into space. More than 35 years have elapsed since April 02, 1984, when Wing Commander Rakesh...
Surviving Stealth: Responding to Low Observable Combat Jet Threat
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 34.3 Jul-Sep 2019 | Date: 21 Nov , 2020
Since the radar was invented in the 1930s, it has been of major concern to aircraft engaged in offensive air operations. Radar was used extensively as a tool of warfare during the Second World War...
Trends in Aerial Weapons: Smart and Lethal
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 34.4 Oct-Dec 2019 | Date: 18 Oct , 2020
It is a truism that a combat aircraft, no matter how superlative its performance, is only as fearsome as its weapons. The type, numbers and capability of its armament indicates how effective it...
Drones: A Game Changer in Future Conflict
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 34.2 Apr-Jun 2019 | Date: 07 Feb , 2020
Drones have been called “the ultimate military growth industry”. Air, naval and land forces everywhere are striving to acquire these platforms. Herein lies the danger; thanks to advanced armed...
Strength Lies in Numbers: Rebuilding the Combat Fleet of the IAF
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 33.4 Oct-Dec 2018 | Date: 17 Nov , 2019
It is unclear just how many combat squadrons the IAF effectively has because some of the 31 remaining squadrons will be withdrawn from service over the next few years. They probably do not measure...
Countering Stealth Aircraft Technology: The Race to See through...
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 33.3 Jul-Sep 2018 | Date: 25 Aug , 2019
Stealth is the defining attribute of fifth-generation fighter aircraft and it has a two-fold appeal. First, stealth aircraft are far less vulnerable to engagement by hostile interceptors and...
Dragon’s Flight: China’s Advances in Aerospace Technology
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 32.2 Apr-Jun 2017 | Date: 17 Jan , 2019
China’s leaders recognise that aerospace mastery is critical if it is to become a military superpower. The dragon is closing the technology gap with the US and Russia and it is likely to take a...
Seizing the Ultimate High Ground: The Growing Military Exploitation of Space
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 33.1 Jan-Mar 2018 | Date: 08 Jan , 2019
War in space rather than on the Earth is not entirely undesirable because it would be fought entirely by machines with no direct risk to human life. However, a major shootout could make...
Force Multipliers for the IAF: Enhancing Aerial Power and Reach
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 32.4 Oct-Dec 2017 | Date: 07 Oct , 2018
With the IAF on track to become a true strategic force, it cannot content itself with increasing the strength and capability of its fighter squadrons alone. Carefully selected force multipliers...
The Strategic Bomber of Tomorrow: Stealth Spells Success
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 32.2 Apr-Jun 2017 | Date: 04 Mar , 2018
Today, many nations have hundreds of multi-mission, flexible fighter aircraft on their inventory. And now that aerial refuelling has become the norm for most advanced air forces, including the...
Fifth-Generation Fighter Aircraft for the IAF: A Mirage or Reality?
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 32.4 Oct-Dec 2017 | Date: 14 Feb , 2018
In military planning, it is essential to keep abreast of the potential adversary’s capabilities. The main reason the Indian Air Force (IAF) needs a fifth-generation fighter is to maintain...
Directed Energy Weapons: Game Changer or a Damp Squib?
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 31.3 Jul-Sep 2016 | Date: 09 Jan , 2018
Many believe that laser DEWs herald the dawn of a new era in military affairs. According to an October 2016 report by Washington-based analysts MarketsandMarkets, the global market for DEWs is...
The Unmanned Route to Military Might: India’s Evolving Unmanned Systems
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 32.1 Jan-Mar 2017 | Date: 17 Feb , 2017
India’s holdings of unmanned systems are clearly inadequate for a country of this size. This is, perhaps, due to uncertain commitment from the users in the past, inadequate funding and...
Women Join the Fighter Stream of the IAF: Will It Work?
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 31.3 Jul-Sep 2016 | Date: 06 Sep , 2016
History shows that change often triggers misgivings, grumbling and active resistance, especially if the old order is threatened. But within a short time, most people adjust. This happened when...
Success Breeds Stunning Success: The Story of India’s Space Endeavour
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 31.3 Jul-Sep 2016 | Date: 29 Aug , 2016
ISRO is aware of the looming challenge. Perhaps that is why it is already making efforts to rope in a private Indian consortium to manufacture its workhorse PSLV. It is also working to remove...
No Place To Hide: Latest Developments in Air Defence Missiles
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 30.4 Oct-Dec 2015 | Date: 28 Mar , 2016
In air combat, numerical superiority generally wins over quality, meaning much larger forces of inferior aircraft may swamp even superior forces while suffering surprisingly small losses. That is...
Flexible Reach: Balancing the IAF’S Air Transport Fleet
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 30.4 Oct-Dec 2015 | Date: 19 Mar , 2016
No country can be a true aerospace power without a defence aerospace industry and no country can have a powerful aerospace industry without involving the private sector. The Airbus-Tata C295...
Trying Times: IAF’S Avro Replacement Project
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 30.2 Apr-Jun 2015 | Date: 21 Nov , 2015
Till now, India’s defence aerospace industry has been the preserve of HAL. And HAL’s performance has been lacklustre, to put it mildly. Private sector participation will attract foreign...
Force Multipliers for Indian Air Force
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 30.3 Jul-Sep 2015 | Date: 08 Oct , 2015
Various devices or techniques to enhance or intensify military force have existed perhaps from the earliest period of human conflict but the term “force multipliers” has become popular in...