The Yuan Wang 5 can easily monitor the Indian coast while operating in international waters. She does not have to enter a port in Sri Lanka to fulfill this mission, points out Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
'Captain Vikram Batra, PVC and his unit 13 Jak Rif did stand out because of the sheer magnitude of the task allotted to them but also the exceptional professionalism with which it was executed and completed,' recalls Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Deputy Chief of General Staff, People's Liberation Army, Gen Wu Quanxi, will arrive in Kolkata on Friday to visit the Indian Army's Eastern Command headquarters.
Colonel Sonam Wangchuk was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra, India's second highest honour for courage, for wresting the first victory of the Kargil War. Leading 40 men, his unit evicted 135 Pakistani troops in a three day battle fought in two feet snow and minus 6 degrees.
'General Sam Manekshaw looked from left to right and said, "Gentlemen, I have come to have a look at you. I am taking a good look at your faces. When I come back after the war is over, some faces may not be here".'
All of India welcomes the Light Combat Helicopter into the Armed Forces arsenal and wishes it a safe tenure and happy shooting. May it rule the skies and ensure that the enemies are given a fitting reply when the need arises.
'Me and my boys had never ever thought in our wildest dreams that we would be taking part in a rescue mission of this kind.' IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe, a helicopter pilot himself, reports on how the air force rescued those trapped in the Deoghar cable cars disaster last fortnight.
If the government of the day would like to set in place a smooth and well-planned changeover and facilitate the incoming chief to chalk out his action plan well in advance, the announcement of a successor needs to be done early, observes Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd).
Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat, 21, received the Mahavir Chakra in the 1962 War with China. Such was his valour that a temple and museum stands on the land he died defending in the icy valley of Arunachal Pradesh.
'Offensive operations to capture objectives across the LoC to eliminate terrorist launch pads and deny the use of the most dangerous routes of infiltration, are likely to be limited to brigade-level attacks.' 'These limited operations are unlikely to escalate to war across the international boundary,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Air Commodore Nitin Sathe discovers how the IAF trained Pakistani air force pilots, during the 1971 War, which led to the birth of the Bangladesh air force.
'One of the bullets grazed General Sagat's hand and one injured Flying Officer Sidhu in the leg.' 'The helicopter was quickly flown back to Agartala and after landing they found that the aircraft had been peppered with 38 bullet holes!'
Four veterans of the Indian National Army, an all-women contingent of the 183-year-old Assam Rifles marching down Rajpath and an Indian Air Force aircraft flying using a mix of traditional and biofuel.
'The Chinese thought India would back off. 'They did not expect such a firm Indian response to their expansionist manoeuvre.'
"Democracy, I firmly believe, has within it the capacity to reconcile all differences and also the capacity to bring out the best of the citizens' potential. Kashmir, happily, is already realising this vision," the President said in his convocation address at the Kashmir University in Srinagar.
'In the present era of strategic uncertainty and rapidly changing threats, no military professional now disputes the unavoidable necessity of a joint planning staff for the planning and conduct of joint operations so that integrated operations can be planned 'top down',' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'Pakistan was very mature in the way it dealt with the incident.' 'India too owned up to the accident.' 'The whole incident was resolved quite amicably.' 'Both countries should be proud of how they have handled this situation.'
The army rejected Jawan Sindhav Jogidas's allegations that he was forced to be a Sahayak as a punishment.
Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd), former general officer in commanding, 15 Corps, explains what may have happened during the Indian Army's anti-terrorist operation in Kashmir in which four soldiers and one policemen, including the commanding officer 21 Rashtriya Rifles, made the supreme sacrifice for the Motherland.
India has the ability in all respects to be a great power and address our security challenges in the best national interests, says Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
'The Pakistanis were not the mujahids or terrorists as claimed initially.' .'They were trained soldiers who held state of the art anti-aircraft missiles to shoot down our airplanes.'
The tearing hurry to form theatre commands has to be replaced by a balanced and deliberate approach. We need to accept that this process will take time if executed correctly and in the best interests of the Indian armed forces, argues Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on Thursday took over the baton of the chairman of the chiefs of staff committee from outgoing IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha even as the government plans to create a new post to focus exclusively on inter-services issues and acquisitions.
Before migrating into the theatre command concept, it would be worthwhile to study the shortfalls experienced by the Tri Services Command in the Andaman and Nicobar islands and make good the deficiencies, suggests Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
'General J S Aurora, the commander of the Indian forces in the East, asked General Sagat Singh to withdraw his troops who were on the move to Dacca -- but he refused.' 'He said, "Jaggi, over my dead body".' 'Therefore, I say the creator of Bangladesh was General Sagat Singh.'
From the dust and dirt of a warzone to the gleaming uniforms of an army parade -- these are the images that show the reality of life for British servicemen and women. The revealing series of photographs are some of the winning entries in this year's Army Photographic Competition.
'In India, China's capacities to conduct new types of warfare is critically underestimated,' says Claude Arpi.
In the travel advisory, the Health Ministry again asked people to refrain from travelling to China in view of the coronavirus outbreak in its Hubei province and said travellers on return from the neighbouring country could be quarantined.
The Indian Air Force is monitoring the developments along the western front, he said.
'Knee jerk reactions are the worst in this kind of conflict situation.' 'The responses have to be thought through for strategic advantage rather than tactical satisfaction and ego,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd), former commander of the Uri-based Kalapahar Brigade.
'Raazi is being hailed for breaking the glass ceiling for Daughters of Bollywood Inc,' says Sunil Sethi.
'I am grateful to God that I am alive and he has made me differently-abled for a greater cause,' says Wing Commander Shantanu.
'It is a testing time for our foreign policy which may involve a certain element of taking risks, assessing costs, and expecting failures,' asserts Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
'Pakistan's recent utterances and tendency to use pinpricks to try our patience appear reminiscent of 1965. We are a strong nation, emerging stronger,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
This is third day of shelling and firing by Pakistan troops along the International Border in Jammu frontier and comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday.
With less than 10 days left for the start of annual Amarnath Yatra, the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir government said there is a terror threat to the nearly two-month-long pilgrimage and that additional security forces are being deployed to provide safety.
'We need to be in a perpetual state of aggression, and able to swiftly change the goal posts to keep Pakistan in a state of imbalance,' argues Sanjeev Nayyar.
Did Vinod Sehgal die in Tsangdgar or was he taken PoW to Tibet or China? Why has the IAF kept so quiet for all these years, asks Claude Arpi.
Overall, the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has focused on building ground-based air defense networks and network-centric operations rather than trying to match the Indian Air Force (IAF) in terms of straight fighter numbers along the border. All air assets fall under the Western Theater Command of the PLA, the largest geographic region of China's five military theater commands.
India's national security strategy needs to be revised periodically since the global and regional geopolitical situation is dynamic, points out Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
