Ordering more Akash systems is essential for the Indian defence industry.
'Notwithstanding the realisation among the Indian leadership to build up its navy for the force's expanding role, the Indian Navy was allocated only 15% of the interim defence budget presented in Parliament in February 2019.' 'The outlay for the navy's capital acquisition is not even adequate to meet its committed liabilities,' points out Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'The military aim in a future conflict, if it can't be avoided, should be to cause maximum damage to the adversary's war waging capability and capture limited amount of territory as a bargaining counter,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Xi ordered country's 2.3 million-strong military to be absolutely loyal to the party, to focus on how to win in wars, to pioneer reforms and innovation, to scientifically manage commanding a unit, to lead troops in accordance with the strictest standards and to take the forefront in complying with laws and regulations.
For both India and China, the most likely option -- and the most challenging -- appears to be a freezing of the status quo.
A Naik Subedar with Army was on Wednesday arrested by the Hyderabad police on the charge of sharing information about strategic locations of Army bases and deployment of units with a woman, suspected to be a Pakistani national, through the Internet.
The United States has announced to reduce the number of American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq to 2,500 each by January 15 next year, which drew sharp reaction from influential lawmakers across the aisle.
This will be the fifth time that Prime Minister Sharif will pick the top commander of the country's nearly 550,000 ground troops.
5 planes and 13 ships are out trying to track the aircraft, which was carrying 29 people on board.
China will flood direct flights to India with wholesale takeaways of the authentic stuff; Indian businessmen will fight for the commission and the consumers for the cuisine, predicts Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
India cannot choose its geography and devise regional strategies to dovetail into the Western Indian Ocean hypothesis conceived in the Pentagon, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
In an apparent snub to India, a Russian ground forces contingent on Friday arrived in Pakistan to participate in the first-ever joint military exercises starting from Saturday.
Security agencies are also working in close coordination with the US Secret Service, officials said. In Ahmedabad, over 10,000 policemen from different parts of Gujarat have been deployed at strategic locations as part of the elaborate security arrangements, officials said.
'The Ladakh clashes are mere warning signals of the storm to come on May 22 when the Chinese parliament meets,' observes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
If the initial analysis of this YJ-21 is correct, then China becomes the first country in the world to operationally field such a missile from a naval vessel.
'Wing Commander Abhinandan would not have even worried if he was going to cross the LoC or not because he was not going to let go of a shot.'
Gen Naravane also said the Army will enhance combat capabilities along the border with China so that it is fully prepared to deal with any security challenge.
'The Chinese thought India would back off. 'They did not expect such a firm Indian response to their expansionist manoeuvre.'
"I am sure that the attempts to stall development and throttle democracy at gunpoint will not be successful ever," the home minister said at the meeting, being held two weeks after 25 paramilitary personnel were killed by a band of Maoists in Chhattisgarh.
'We should build a military with the capability to fight today's war on priority -- balancing it with the requirements of the future,' says Lieutenant General Anil Chait, one of the Indian Army's most cerebral thinkers who recently retired as chief of the Integrated Defence Staff, in his agenda for the new defence minister.
The Indian Army and more recently the Indian Navy have already set up dedicated intelligence branches. It is surprising indeed that the IAF, where real time and timely intelligence is most vital for effective and safe prosecution of the air war, has still not done so itself, says Group Capt (retd) P I Muralidharan.
General Rawat also said that adequate focus must be on ensuring that "trial procedure" for procurement of military equipment does not linger on for too long, in an indication of his unhappiness over the delay in modernisation of armed forces.
'It is ironic that General Rawat, an infantry officer who the government chose because of his expertise in counter-insurgency, has made his first bold statement in the realm of warfighting and mechanised operations,' points out Colonel Ajai Shukla (retd).
For the world and India, one of the most enduring challenges of the times is for Pakistan's nukes to be neutralised, before they are ever used by the State, their sponsored non-State actors or any rogue elements from the many terror tanzeems dotting Pakistan's unstable landscape, says Lieutenant General Kamal Davar (retd).
At least 54 suspected militants belonging to a pro-Taliban outfit, including its spokesman, were killed on Wednesday when Pakistani fighter jets pounded their hideouts and troops clashed with the insurgents in the volatile northwest tribal region near the Afghan border.
'India is not going to accept whatever the Chinese say. That is not going to happen.'
This is the first such incident along the border with China that Indian armed forces personnel have been killed after a gap of nearly 45 years.
The terror infrastructure across the Line of Control has the potential to vitiate the security environment in Jammu and Kashmir and Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act should not be withdrawn as it is a "strategic imperative" until the US' pullout from Afghanistan in 2014, Army Chief, Gen Bikram Singh, has said.
The AH-64E Apache is one of the world's most advanced multi-role combat helicopters, and is flown by the US army.
'At 1.58% of GDP, the defence budget is one of the lowest since the Chinese aggression of 1962.' 'The government of the day has lost sight of the fact that defence of the country is as important as its growth,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'Unlike the Chinese army that has been largely a peace time force, the Indian Army is a battle hardened force,' explains Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'It is purely based on real-time hard intelligence.' 'Timing is important. When you are attacking at 3.30 am, then everybody will be in the academy of terrorists.' 'If you attack at 10 am then someone will be out, so timing is very important.' 'Therefore, 3.30 am is the time when every terrorist is sleeping.'
'In India, China's capacities to conduct new types of warfare is critically underestimated,' says Claude Arpi.
'Tata A&D, when formed, will be better equipped to execute larger and more complex projects and be more globally competitive as part of the global supply chain.'
'If deterrence through India's conventional superiority is to be established now, then India will have to escalate to a point where its greater resources make the difference.' 'This is, to put it mildly, both difficult and dangerous and thus inadvisable,' points out Mihir S Sharma.
From Sri Lanka's most popular political family to its most despised -- going by the voices on the streets calling for the Rajapaksas' ouster -- what went wrong for the clan? Veteran Sri Lanka watcher N Sathiya Moorthy offers an insight.
He said in most of the Naxal attacks, it has been noticed that villagers were used as human shields by the insurgents during the gun battle.
'Having been an air warrior myself for three decades, I am sure the IAF has all the info in place to be divulged at the right time,' says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
The photo published by the People's Liberation Army Air Force showing a long-range strategic bomber flying within visible range of Yushan, Taiwan's highest mountain, has caused great concern in Taiwan amid debate about whether the mainland will reunify the island by force, state-run Global Times reported.
The navy finds itself fighting for relevance, with navy planners lamenting that its share of the budget has dropped dramatically.
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