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The National Security Initiative of the Observer Research Foundation held a workshop to examine the relevance of the Army Aviation Corps. This report details the outcome of a discussion amongst prominent defence personnel.
This brief evaluates the state and development of China’s cruise missile capabilities, specifically that of its air-launched and ground-launched missile forces. It finds that China has developed a formidable inventory of cruise missiles, which poses a threat to India’s own military infrastructure. The brief lays out the imperative for India: to build up its long-range cruise missile forces. It argues that India’s current capabilities woul
Thanks to decades of underinvestment, the force has lost its edge over its increasingly aggressive rivals. A few more planes won’t fix that.
The primary role of the Indian defence forces is to safeguard the nation’s sovereignty from external threats, but when called upon, they are equally
The Indian Air Force and Indian Army along with the Ministry of Defence should jointly negotiate for the Israeli NLOS missiles to avoid unnecessarily
Speaking at a meeting of the Foreign Correspondents' Association of Sri Lanka at Colombo on May 26,2005, Hagrup Haukland, the chief of the Norwegian-led military mission, which monitors the three-year-old ceasefire between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), confirmed the allegation of the Sri Lankan Government that the LTTE had constructed an airstrip near Iranamadu in the Wanni area under its control in
The ‘Cope India’ military exercise holds broader significance for the bilateral relationship.
The Indian Air Force faces threats in its Northeastern sector similar to those facing the United States in the Western Pacific. So, it would benefit both to share data on a more regular basis and plan joint responses to any problems.
As China innovates its aerial platforms and weaponry to match the US Air Force, the Indian defence-industrial planning will have to be more ambitious.
India’s service chiefs would need to lay down their priorities. These would involve a mix of operational and non-operational tasks.
Allowing women in combat roles in the Air Force is very different from such deployments in Navy or Army. This is mainly because, while the Air Force can ensure their selective employment on tasks within our borders, the same does not hold true for naval ships or more so for the Army.
Several developments over the last few months have made clear that the Army modernisation programme, at least, is turning into a train wreck. This is not to say that all is well with the modernisation of the Air Force and the Navy, but just that the Army modernisation programme stands on far shakier ground, with minimal scope for results.
Logistics is meaningless if it cannot do what is central to war—fighting. In order to bolster the logistical capabilities of all the major service branches of the Chinese military—including the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), PLA Air Force (PLAAF), and the PLA Rocket Force (PLARF)—the People’s Republic of China (PRC) under President Xi Jinping established a Joint Logistic Support Force (JLSF) in 2016. To what extent does the JLSF
Defending Indian airspace from any potential Chinese aerial challenge or intrusions in the future with the proliferation of stealth aircraft in the re
As the complicated nature of security across this geography changes, the Asian footprint is expected to only grow
China's Air Force (PLAAF) conducted the test flight of its new generation stealth fighter J-20 on January 11, 2011. Whether the J-20 matches the F-22 (latest US stealth fighter) or not, the Chinese flight-test has spot-lighted the spiralling arms race in Asia and beyond.
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has undergone many changes since Xi Jinping became general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2013. Efforts at modernising the PLA have been conducted in earnest for the past 10 years through the overhaul of the organisation and the introduction of latest technologies to make it battle-ready. This paper describes these capability-related and institutional changes in China’s military, wh
The Indo-Pacific concept might have little currency in Beijing, but the Chinese Navy is at a point where not just the Western Pacific, but even the In
In the absence of combat mass, technology has to do the heavy lifting. For the last twenty years, the IAF has seen combat aircraft numbers rapidly dwi
Most leading air forces around the world were quick to learn from the experiences of the US Air Force between the Vietnam War in the 1960s and the Gulf War three decades later. This resulted in the widespread adoption by these forces of Precision Guided Munitions (PGMs) beginning in the mid-1990s. Only a few of these air arms, however, have matched the overall effectiveness of US air power, which combines aircraft survivability with weapon range,
Within the coming decade, the PLAAF and possibly the People’s Liberation Army Naval Air Force will begin to field several operational UCAV designs w
Despite renewed efforts, the complex integration of the aerial refuelling probe on the Tejas fighter hasn’t been properly accomplished.
The most quoted reason for aircraft accidents in the Indian Air Forces is the absence of Advanced Jet Trainers. It is a valid point but to blame the increasing number of accidents on one factor would be grossly misleading.
The Indian Air Force’s problems with numbers is no secret, It has been plagued by poor decision-making, poor acquisition strategy and shoddy quality control and contract delivery.
As long as both sides focus on reassuring their domestic constituencies rather than contradicting each other’s version of events, the chances of conflict are paradoxically lower. The problem is that in this crisis like any other, facts inevitably intrude.
Whatever fighters India might opt to purchase would attempt to rectify imbalances in this mix.
Four years after creating the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) post, the landmark plan of integrated theatre commands still needs to be implemented
Occasional concerns about corrupt defense deals are merely the symptoms of broader structural issues that need to be addressed.
Budget woes are unlikely to ease. The Chief of Defence Staff and the Army leadership are likely come under pressure to seriously think about downsizing the Army.
Tactful usage of available resources is essential to mitigate the diminishing strength of India’s fighter squadrons and the vulnerability of its hel
India needs to adopt adequate counter-measures against the growing use of IW by China and Pakistan
A reworked bid gifts India the prospect of owning 110 medium-role combat aircraft. Nevertheless, the IAF may be down to 15 squadrons by 2032.
While India's abstention at the UN vote on Libya is debatable, is there an opportunity for India and the Indian Air Force in particular in the Libyan crisis?
Even as the Indian Air Force gets ready to welcome its new acquisitions, ad hocism should give way to strategic thinking
The government's decision to insist that the Indian Air Force induct a large number of Light Combat Aircraft fighters is the kind of shock treatment that was needed to push the 'Make in India' project.
The opposition is right to demand information on the pricing. Providing information on the cost of an aircraft, its engine, missiles, radar warning receivers, radars, does not undermine the country’s security.
If the Balakot strike is not to join the dismal achievement of previous Indian attacks, it has to be part of a deterrence strategy.
Instead of restructuring its existing combat forces, the army is merely tinkering around with the problem by shaving off marginal costs.
There needs to be a technology acquisition drive to military modernisation plans.
LTTE's operational capabilities, in different dimensions, were hit hard at several places this week. While the Sri Lanka Air Force jets pounded the LTTE¿s communication base with transmitting tower in the north-east of Oddusudan junction, British parliamentarians came down heavily on the group's credit card frauds to fund its terrorist activities.
