Articles By Gp Capt Joseph Noronha
The IAF’s Elusive Quest for a New Tactical Transporter
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 29.1 Jan-Mar 2014 | Date: 01 May , 2015
Although it is certainly important to have an indigenous aerospace production base, a monopoly (as HAL has enjoyed so far) is not conducive to efficiency. Some private sector competition might...
Electronic Warfare: The Promise of Soft-kill
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol 26.2 Apr-Jun 2011 | Date: 20 Mar , 2015
Electronic Warfare (EW) is reckoned as one of the most technologically advanced branches of warfare today. Is it really so? In a world where electronic devices have invaded practically every field...
Flying High: The Bright Future of India’s Military UAVs
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 29.4 Oct-Dec 2014 | Date: 18 Feb , 2015
The pace of India’s UAV acquisitions is likely to quicken over the next five years or so and the size of the Indian market during the same period is estimated at over $2 billion. According to an...
Fifth Generation Fighters and the IAF
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol 27.3 Jul-Sep 2012 | Date: 21 Dec , 2014
The capability of any modern fighter is usually way ahead of its predecessors, especially so if it is replacing decades-old planes such as the MiG-21 and the MiG-27. This is even more applicable...
Let Private Aerospace Manufacturing Flourish
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 29.2 Apr-Jun 2014 | Date: 10 Aug , 2014
Clearly the aerospace needs of India, civilian as well as defence, are growing. The public sector which has so far been tasked to meet these needs has failed to deliver. What’s more, as...
Future of Manned Combat Aircraft
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 28.2 Apr-Jun 2013 | Date: 31 Jul , 2014
It has long been known that the forte of an unmanned device is to undertake “dull, dirty and dangerous” missions. No pilot can ever hope to equal the staying power of a UAV while orbiting a...
An Increasingly Unmanned Future
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 29.1 Jan-Mar 2014 | Date: 30 Mar , 2014
The main attraction of military UAVs stems from the fact that their acquisition and training costs are far lower than those of combat jets. They can also be operated or stored at a fraction of the...
The Ray of Death: Directed-Energy Weapons
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 28.4 Oct-Dec 2013 | Date: 25 Dec , 2013
Why do laser guns and other DEW devices seem so much more attractive than conventional projectile weapons such as guns and missiles? For one thing, DEWs can be precisely targeted. It is claimed of...
UCAV: Airborne Without a Pilot
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 28.3 Jul-Sep 2013 | Date: 05 Oct , 2013
It seems likely that UCAVs will supplement manned aviation in a growing number of operational situations. The main reason is the capability UCAVs offer to mount a lethal attack without endangering...
The IAF at 79: The Challenges Ahead
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 27.1 -Mar 2012 | Date: 17 Jan , 2013
As the IAF strives to confront many challenges, it rightly means to transform itself into a capability-based force, rather than an adversary-centric one. In future, the service may have a critical...
Israel Aerospace and India
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol 26.1 Jan-Mar 2011 | Date: 13 Oct , 2012
IAI: Aiming High : What is remarkable about Israel is that despite its size and less-than-friendly neighbours—one of whom regularly threatens annihilation—it continues to survive. The country...
Power and Proficiency: Future Military Engines
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 27.2 Apr-Jun 2012 | Date: 30 Jul , 2012
Very few companies in the world can claim to have mastered the art of producing high-performance military engines and most of them are in the United States and Europe. Russia and Europe lag behind...
The IAF at 79: The Challenges Ahead
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Date: 01 Jun , 2012
As the IAF strives to confront many challenges, it rightly means to transform itself into a capability-based force, rather than an adversary-centric one. In future, the service may have a critical...
India's space endeavour
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 26.3 July - Sept 2011 | Date: 01 Feb , 2012
Space exploration has its moments of sheer ecstasy but it can be terribly unforgiving as well. Just 63 seconds into the launch of India’s most advanced rocket, the Geosynchronous Satellite...
Indian Air Force: Looking into the future
By: Gp Capt Joseph Noronha | Issue: Vol. 26.4 Oct-Dec 2011 | Date: 30 Jan , 2012
When everything arrives together it may easily result in wastage of time and money. There may be sophisticated equipment lying unpacked in a corner because no one knows how to use it. There could...