'He needs to see results while he is in office.'
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has seen a reduction in fighter squadrons due to the phasing out of ageing MiG-21, MiG-23 and MiG-27 aircraft. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence acknowledged the "shortage" and highlighted the multi-pronged approach being taken to address it. This includes the induction of indigenous Tejas fighters and the procurement of additional LCA Mk-1A aircraft. The report also addresses concerns over "incidences of spying" within the IAF and details the action taken against those involved.
India's first indigenously-built anti-submarine warfare corvette INS Kamorta is ready to be commissioned into the Indian Navy next month, defence officials said in Kolkata.
'Our politicians solely depend on bureaucrats who are unaccountable and follow their own agenda.' 'Our politicians would dare not dream of establishing a DOGE,' argues Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
The ministry of defence in September 2021 signed a Rs 21,935-crore contract with Airbus Defense and Space SA, Spain for supply of 56 aircraft.
HAL's sustained, long-term income will come from the design, development, manufacture, overhaul, and upgrade of a family of helicopters designed for deployment on India's 21,000-foot-high Himalayan frontier with Pakistan and China.
HAL has integrated the ASRAAM (advanced short range air-to-air missile) for the Tejas Mark 1A. The Tejas Mark 1A will carry twin ASRAAM missiles with a range of 60 to 70 kilometres.
Addressing an event in New Delhi, Gen Pande also said the recent global developments have underscored that the security of the nation can neither be outsourced nor be dependent on the largesse of others.
The Mark-1A will be more sophisticated and capable than the Tejas Mark-1.
The defence ministry on Tuesday approved the procurement of military equipment and weapons worth Rs 28,000 crore that included swarm drones, carbines and bulletproof jackets.
The deployment of the UK's "most advanced naval capabilities" has been flagged by the UK ministry of defence as a "decisive step" in bolstering UK-India security ties.
DRDO's failures over the decades have contributed significantly to India becoming the world's biggest weapons importer, points out Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
'It sounds hollow when the military -- the last bastion meant to secure India within the State of India -- is itself not found secure on the third day of the Pathankot strike, in spite of so-called definitive intelligence inputs and preparations,' says Lieutenant General Anil Chait (retd), former chief of the Integrated Defence Staff.
On the 25th anniversary of the battle that made his war cry 'Dil Maange More' part of national lore, we republish that feature to salute Captain Batra's ultimate sacrifice for the nation.
In line with the government's vision of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat', the ministry of defence on Thursday signed contracts with Indian shipyards for the acquisition of 11 next generation offshore patrol vessels and six next generation missile vessels at a cost of nearly Rs 19,600 crore, officials said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday asked banks and other financial institutions to ensure that their customers must update nominees to help resolve the problem of unclaimed money in future. "I want the banking system, the financial ecosystem including the mutual funds, stock markets to keep in mind that when someone deals with his (customer's) money, the organisations will have to think about the future and ensure that customers nominate their heirs, give the name and address," Sitharaman said speaking at the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) in Mumbai. According to a report, the banking system alone has more than Rs 35,000 crore of unclaimed deposits, while the overall quantum of the unclaimed money is said to be more than Rs 1 lakh crore.
The CDS has the option to focus on key areas of capability development to fight new generation wars or get bogged down in trying to bring cosmetic changes to humour the political leadership, asserts Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd).
Our caste warriors will not even ask these questions, let alone explore better solutions to address the problems of inequality and skewed life outcomes, argues R Jagannathan.
The real value of the Tejas Mark 1 is the role it will now play in the development of India's next generation of fighter aircraft that will be more technologically advanced and lethal.
The officials said that the recently developed SH-15, a 155 mm truck-mounted howitzer gun, has also been spotted at some places along the Line of Control after it was displayed on Pakistan Day last year.
With increase in range and payload capability, Madhavan said the new variant will be much superior than Tejas Mark-IA, 73 of which are being procured by the Indian Air Force from the HAL under a Rs 48,000 crore deal that was approved by the government on January 13.
'There is no such thing as ultimate survivability.'
'It's all comparative -- who outperforms, who uses tactics, who optimises technology to the best is what makes the difference.'
The entire gamut of China's activities is aimed at keeping India on tenterhooks, cause fatigue to its troops and keeping its security system unstable, so that it cannot play a meaningful role in international geopolitics as an effective partner of the US and Japan, observes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
One hopes in his next term, Narendra Modi will take up the mission of inculcating respect for following rules in Indians as a mission. Therein lies the chance for India to become a developed country, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Asia's richest man Gautam Adani, besides looking at opportunities to expand his vast empire, is hooked on ChatGPT - the programme that trawls vast amount of information to generate natural-sounding text on virtually anything - from crafting jokes to writing ad copy, debugging computer code, to even generating poems and essays. Adani, whose conglomerate has in recent years diversified from mines, ports and power plants into airports, data centres and defence, penned musing from his visit to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum meeting. "From a meetings perspective, this was perhaps my busiest WEF as I met over a dozen heads of states and several business leaders," he wrote on LinkedIn, talking of new geopolitical couplings, climate change and tight-lipped evangelists and AI.
The status of the current submarine force level is alarming and we need to address the threat perceptions expeditiously. Critical decisions pertaining to national security cannot be delayed any further due to the rapidly changing maritime threat perceptions and growing strategic importance of the Indian Ocean region, asserts Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
It was a year of so many contradictions and contrasts that it became dangerous to talk about movies, people lost their heads discussing Friday releases, psychiatrists began dabbling in film criticism, and film critics turned into psychiatrists, says Sreehari Nair.
In an open letter, they appealed to her to convey their concerns to the Union government and caution them that the attempt to change the character of the civil services is fraught with extreme danger and will 'spell the death of the constitutional government in India'.
The Army is looking at procuring the LUHs and LCHs to replace its ageing fleets of Cheetah and Chetak helicopters.
Sixteen aircraft will be delivered in a flyaway condition by the Airbus Defence and Space of Spain within 48 months of signing the contract while the remaining 40 planes will be manufactured in India, according to the defence ministry.
MH-60 Romeo Seahawks would add lethal capabilities of the Indian Navy, which experts say is the need of the hour given the aggressive behaviour of China in the Indian Ocean region.
The IAC would serve to bolster India's position in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and its quest for a blue water Navy
Notably, the IAF recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the IIT-Madras to develop indigenous solutions to maintain various weapon systems.
HAL is also integrating the Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile onto the Mark 1A. Each Tejas will carry two of these missiles.
Future conflict will involve bypassing of frontiers to strike at critical vulnerabilities directly and in the hinterland at the appropriate time, explains Lieutenant General Anil Chait (retd), who served as chief of the Integrated Defence Staff and Central Army Commander.
The Indian Navy has inducted two more Poseidon 8I maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft, in a boost to its surveillance capabilities in the Indian Ocean in the face of China's increasing forays into the region.
The chief of air staff also said that independent air defence systems in the field will have very little relevance in tomorrow's wars unless they are a part of a larger integrated air defence system.
With Fujian, China's third and most advanced aircraft carrier, having started sea trials last week, the PLA needed at least 200 qualified carrier-based fighter jet pilots to operate 130 ship-borne aircraft.
It is the first project of its kind in which a military aircraft will be manufactured in India by a private company.
Deepa Gahlot picks a list of 10 essential RGV movies though there are 84 to wade through.
