'India finds itself in an unenviable situation today with its prospects diminished by acutely polarised domestic politics and the setbacks suffered during the pandemic,' notes Ambassador Shyam Saran, the former foreign secretary.
Raking up Kashmir, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said the non-resolution of the issue reflected failure of the UN and proposed a 4-point "peace initiative" which includes demilitarisation of Kashmir and unconditional withdrawal of forces from Siachen.
It was for the first time that the missile, capable of travelling at speeds of up to Mach 3.0, or three times the speed of sound, was tested with indigenously developed 'seeker' technology.
It is baffling how the PM chose the LCH as an indigenous product to celebrate on Rashtriya Raksha Samarpan Parv, even while his Cabinet holds up manufacturing clearance for 15 LCHs on the grounds that they are not Indian enough.
'In India, China's capacities to conduct new types of warfare is critically underestimated,' says Claude Arpi.
The deal which is worth 7.87-billion (Rs 58,363 crore) comes with a saving of nearly 750 million (Rs 5,611 crore).
A land-attack version of the missile was test-launched from Launch Pad-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR). An air force variant was fired from an IAF fighter jet over Bay of Bengal.
The executive order, which was signed by Trump on Thursday, prohibits certain purchases involving publicly traded securities or any securities that are derivative of or are designed to provide investment exposure to such securities of any Communist Chinese military company.
On the shopping list: Light tanks, anti-tank guided missiles, UAVs, assault rifles, fighter aircraft.
It will not be to India's advantage to create misperceptions that it is bandwagoning with some Anglo-American project for regime change in Myanmar, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'What the price will reveal, since the India specific capabilities haven't changed since 2013, is how much the Modi government padded up the cost,' points out Mohan Guruswamy.
The coming together of the Quad and the Australia-UK-US grouping would be a formidable adversary, moving toward the creation of a 'thousand ship navy' that reins in the PLA navy in the Indo-Pacific.
Admiral Puri says it would be wasteful to buy a foreign helicopter, pay for transfer of technology, and develop manufacturing capability in an Indian private sector strategic partner when all this already exists with HAL.
The defence ministry needs to focus keenly on "Made in India" projects without being distracted by "Make in India" slogans, says Ajai Shukla
The Light Combat Helicopter will enable the army to provide fire support to soldiers at altitudes of 15,000 to 20,000 feet, where the oxygen-depleted air prevents them from carrying weaponry heavier than their personal rifles and light machine guns.
'The Ayush minister (Shripad Yesso Naik) himself was suffering from COVID-19 and got treated in a modern hospital.'
The conversion facilitated range enhancement and improvement in Pinaka's accuracy.
Exercising self-defence is a nation's primary right when a situation demands 'immediate and proportionate action' and applies also to attacks by non-state actors, India told a United Nations meeting, highlighting several proxy cross-border and state-supported terrorist attacks like the 26/11 Mumbai assault the country was subjected to from its neighbour.
The Global Hawk can carry out surveillance of a stretch of land or ocean for over 30 hours continuously, physically scanning up to 100,000 sq km each day.
India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti said India remains on the side of peace.
Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria said the recent induction of Rafale jets along with previous acquisitions of C-17 Globemaster aircraft as well as Chinook and Apache helicopters have provided the IAF with substantial tactical and strategic capability enhancement.
'The F-21's capabilities far exceed all other torpedoes currently in service.'
'The debate is not whether the Indian defence apparatus is in a state of disrepair, but whether it is capable of securing the defence of the country if any envisaged threat becomes real.'
The defence ministry has signed off on a national security plan that it cannot fund. Ajai Shukla reports
The chances of the posts opening remain slim, with security agencies recently identifying 10 suspects who smuggled in weapons, narcotics and fake currency.
India abstained from a procedural vote taken in the United Nations Security Council to call for a rare special emergency session of the UN General Assembly on Russia's aggression against Ukraine, even as New Delhi welcomed Moscow and Kyiv's decision to hold talks at the Belarus border.
India's doctrinal policy shift in combating terror by carrying out the Balakot air strikes inside Pakistan, appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff and hastening work on military modernisation marked a new beginning in 2019 in dealing with complex security challenges.
Integrating supersonic missile with Sukhoi requires about $50 million; engine modifications, so many works given to Russians.
Integrating supersonic missile with Sukhoi requires about $50 million; engine modifications, so many works given to Russians.
The Bengaluru skies dazzled with somersaults and stunts by metal birds.
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).
Future, even present, wars -- at least those involving such tech giants as China -- include hi-tech battlefields, which a Pakistan-obsessed India has not sufficiently prioritised. Today's generals plan on how to disrupt an enemy city's power supplies, rail networks, airports, ports, and government departments, not just by bombing or torpedoing them; they also examine the option of tripping up the computer networks that run these, notes David Devadas.
One can only imagine how it is at the receiving end of the bomb. The sound is deafening, splinters and rocks fly like missiles and the blast sucks in the air around asphyxiating everyone. The shock waves can be felt for miles around.
Sitharaman said keeping morale of forces at the highest level was among the priorities of the government.
Soldiers fighting the enemy will receive state-of-the-art assault rifles, other soldiers will get 'Make in India' rifles.
With cruise missile and air strikes being India's most likely response to a hypothetical Pakistani terrorist outrage in the future, retaliation from the Pakistan air force is inevitable. That is where the S-400 will come into play, says Ajai Shukla.
The US military fired an intercontinental ballistic missile-type weapon on Tuesday from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. It then fired a missile to intercept it from Vandenberg air force base in California.
As the DefenceExpo gets underway in Goa, Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd) says the proposed Defence Procurement Procedure 2016 should ensure that the Indian defence industry is on the path to design, develop and make in India.
From 2018-19 onwards, 16 'Standard of Preparation-18' Tejas fighters, which involves four major upgrades, will roll off the line each year.
As the United States and China joust for supremacy, India might remain on the sidelines with its limited resources.
