Articles in Vol. 35.4 Oct-Dec 2020
UAVs: A Great Operational Asset
By: Gp Capt AK Sachdev | Issue: Vol. 35.4 Oct-Dec 2020 | Date: 14 Feb , 2022
The precursor to modern day Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) flew more than a century ago as the Curtiss-Sperry Flying Bomb manufactured in 1917 – a 230kg empty weight aircraft capable of...
Contours of a Sixth-Generation Fighter Aircraft
By: Air Marshal Anil Chopra | Issue: Vol. 35.4 Oct-Dec 2020 | Date: 09 Feb , 2021
The air combat that took place during Pakistan Air Force (PAF) riposte on March 27, 2019, as a response to the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Balakot strikes, rekindled interest in fighter aircraft...
Make in India and The Aerospace Industry
By: Gp Capt AK Sachdev | Issue: Vol. 35.4 Oct-Dec 2020 | Date: 04 Feb , 2021
This article delves into ‘Make in India’ and India’s aerospace industry, the two regimes have a lot in common. Each has immense potential, but is hobbled by policy dilemmas. Each is...
Turnaround of the IAF Fighter Fleet
By: Air Marshal Anil Chopra | Issue: Vol. 35.4 Oct-Dec 2020 | Date: 03 Feb , 2021
The Galwan showdown of June 2020, and the continuing stand-off between the world’s two powerful nations India and China has once again initiated public debate in India and brought the focus back...
Equipment Capability Gaps: Its Impact on Mission Outcomes
By: Lt Gen (Dr) NB Singh | Issue: Vol. 35.4 Oct-Dec 2020 | Date: 18 Jan , 2021
“In the 21st century, leaders who lack sufficient technical know – how, function at a marked disadvantage. An officer or a soldier who feels insecure about even a small portion of his weapon,...
Indo-Pacific: An Emerging Outlook for the 21st Century
By: Vice Admiral MP Muralidharan | Issue: Vol. 35.4 Oct-Dec 2020 | Date: 16 Jan , 2021
Strategically located in the Indian Ocean, India was a flourishing economic and cultural centre from the dawn of civilisation. As historian KM Panikkar in his seminal work ‘India and the Indian...
Nuclear Submarine Ahoy: Whither Bound?
By: Rear Adm AP Revi | Issue: Vol. 35.4 Oct-Dec 2020 | Date: 15 Jan , 2021
The idea of nuclear propulsion for ships and aircraft for India was first mooted by Dr Homi Bhabha in 1954. In 1965, he sought assistance from US Atomic Energy Commission for developing nuclear...
Bay of Bengal: The Emerging Undersea Battlefield and the Concomitant ASW...
By: Cmde CP Srivastava | Issue: Vol. 35.4 Oct-Dec 2020 | Date: 10 Jan , 2021
Bay of Bengal, a 2,600,000 sq km water body, NE of Indian Ocean, is the largest water body called a “bay” in the world. It has seven basin countries, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Indonesia, Sri...
Need for a Defence Industrial Ecosystem for Atmanirbharta in Defence
By: Maj Gen Rambir Singh Mann, VSM | Issue: Vol. 35.4 Oct-Dec 2020 | Date: 04 Jan , 2021
The rapidly evolving global politico-strategic environment and the manner in which security challenges are now crystalising before our nation necessitate urgent transformational reforms in our...
Israel’s Peace Agreement with UAE and Bahrain: Compulsions and Implications
By: Maj Gen Nitin P Gadkari | Issue: Vol. 35.4 Oct-Dec 2020 | Date: 20 Dec , 2020
On Sep 15, 2020, a historic accord, now named as the ‘Abraham Accord’, was signed between the governments of Israel and the Arab states of United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, at the White...
Changing the Demography of the Border
By: Claude Arpi | Issue: Vol. 35.4 Oct-Dec 2020 | Date: 17 Dec , 2020
The Sixth Tibet Work Forum (TWF), held in Beijing on August 24 and 25, 2015, was a turning point for the Tibetan plateau. Tibet Work Forums are large meetings called every five to ten years to...
Rising Jihadist Recidivism in Tamil Nadu: A Red Flag
By: Dr V Balasubramaniyan | Issue: Vol. 35.4 Oct-Dec 2020 | Date: 15 Dec , 2020
On 08 January 2020, two alleged terrorists inspired by the Islamic State1, Abdul Shameem and Y Thowfeek, shot and killed Wilson, a Special Sub Inspector of Tamil Nadu Police at Kaliyakavalai,...
The United States and India: Active Partnership in Defense and Commercial...
By: Peter Marko Tase | Issue: Vol. 35.4 Oct-Dec 2020 | Date: 11 Dec , 2020
In one of his academic papers, Turkish retired admiral Cem Gürdeniz emphasized that: “the collapse and the demise of the Soviet Union created huge geopolitical and economic tsunamis as well as...
Is India Finally Emerging: From its Strategic Reticence?
By: Lt Gen (Dr) JS Bajwa | Issue: Vol. 35.4 Oct-Dec 2020 | Date: 07 Dec , 2020
“The world is a gymnasium where nations come to make themselves strong.” — Swami Vivekananda Ancient Indian identity was forged by distinct geographical reality that insulated India from...
Pakistan Democratic Movement and the Military Proclivity
By: Danvir Singh | Issue: Vol. 35.4 Oct-Dec 2020 | Date: 28 Nov , 2020
Although India continues to be the eternal enemy of Pakistan, the people of Pakistan no longer blindly yield to the establishment’s narrative – a narrative inventively built by showcasing some...