In a country that is often focused on the ways in which it falls short, the start of a year is a good time to remind oneself of such positives, observes T N Ninan.
On December 30, 2018, the prime minister had laid the foundation for the 2,312-kilometers long submarine optical fibre cable project connecting Chennai - Andaman and Nicobar Islands (CANI).
London hopes to convince New Delhi's naval planners to power India's second indigenous aircraft carrier with the Queen Elizabeth's integrated all-electric propulsion system.
In insight into PNS Ghazi, the Pakistan Navy's prized submarine that now lies embedded in the Vizag seabed about 1.5 nautical miles from the breakwaters.
'Naval Aviation has contributed through numerous humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations during which it has provided relief to fellow citizens like the recently conducted rescue operations off Mumbai during Cyclone Tauktae in May 2021.'
A war film that keeps you riveted to your seat, says Prasanna D Zore.
Nearly four months after submarine INS Sindhurakshak sank following a huge explosion and fire in Mumbai, navy divers are still looking for bodies of missing sailors in the wreckage of the warship.
Mere shuffling of resources or cosmetic changes to prove a point would be counterproductive in the long run, observes Commodore Venugoptal Menon (retd).
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.
Should we not stop uncritically celebrating NRIs' elevation without regard to what kind of companies they are getting to run, and the nature of their products or business practices, asks T N Ninan.
Key to China's decision regarding Taiwan will be its leadership's assessment whether the US will come to Taiwan's defence, explains Jayadeva Ranade, the former senior RA&W officer and China expert.
The sale of 10 AGM-84L Harpoon Block II air-launched missiles is estimated to cost $92 million (Rs 699 crore), while 16 MK 54 All Up Round Lightweight Torpedoes and three MK 54 Exercise Torpedoes are estimated to cost $63 million (Rs 478.8 crore), the Defence Security Cooperation Agency said on Monday in two separate notifications to the Congress.
A debate rages between the submarine arm and the surface navy particularly the dominant aviation wing on whether the future lies in submarines or aircraft carriers. The navy's submariners, meanwhile, debate the merits of conventional versus nuclear-powered submarines.
Two officers, who went missing on Wednesday on the accident-hit INS Sindhuratna submarine, are confirmed dead.
The Indian Navy on Wednesday ordered a board of inquiry to probe the explosion and subsequent fire onboard its submarine INS Sindurakshak which has sunk
In a major step towards completing its nuclear triad, India has activated the atomic reactor on-board the indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant, paving the way for its operational deployment by the Indian Navy.
Without advanced towed array sonar systems, all warships the navy has built and bought since the 1990s would be sitting ducks in war.
While we seem to want soldiers on short-term engagement, warfare itself is getting more technical and needs skilled manpower. The world has seen the dismal performance of armies that rely on short tour of duty soldiers or have outsourced war to 'contractors' in Afghanistan and now in Ukraine, points out Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The exercise is taking place at a time India and China are locked in a nearly six-month-long bitter border standoff in eastern Ladakh that has significantly strained their ties.
Parrikar was originally scheduled to travel to Bangladesh much earlier this month but the visit was delayed.
'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).
What is being exposed is we have no real doctrine and no idea how to deal with the world, asserts Aakar Patel.
The armed forces will completely ban the import of clothing, required to sustain its soldiers at extreme temperatures across the country, if the Indian textile industry is able to innovate and manufacture them, said Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat.
As a debate raged over sensitivity of leaked Scorpene data, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Friday played down the leak, saying it is "not a big worry" as weapon system details were not included, a remark challenged by the publisher who asserted these will be made public on Monday.
The biggest procurement green-lighted was the Rs 217 billion purchase of 111 naval utility helicopters.
The utility helicopters will be used in attack missions as well as for search and rescue and surveillance operations.
The US has deployed its naval carrier strike group, led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, as well as a fleet of F-18 fighter jets and E-2C Hawkeye all-weather aircraft for the exercise, officials said. The Indian assets at the exercise included Jaguar and Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets, IL-78 air-to-air refuelling tanker aircraft, Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft and warships Kochi and Teg. The Indian Navy has also deployed a fleet of P8I maritime surveillance aircraft and MiG 29K jets, apart from other platforms.
'The MEA, hopefully, made it clear that the Indian PM can't be seen in Xi Jinping's company when China has, for all intents and purposes, annexed over 1,000 sq kms of Indian territory in eastern Ladakh, and essentially that the Wuhan spirit and the Mamallapuram spirit have turned into vinegar.'
India lost its frontline submarine on Wednesday in a blaze. Rediff.com presents some magnificent archival images of the vessel.
The UK said the deployment of the carrier strike group marks the start of "a new era of defence cooperation with allies in India and the Indo-Pacific."
Five months after salvors were appointed, the ill-fated Russian-made Kilo-class Indian Navy Submarine Sindhurakshak has been raised out of the water.
The air defence command is to be rolled out by the beginning of next year and the Peninsula command by the end of 2021, Gen Rawat told a select group of journalists. The Indian Air Force will helm the air defence command and all-long range missiles as well as air defence assets will come under it, he said.
The sources said the military brass is considering deploying Indian Navy's MiG-29K fighter jets in a couple of air bases in the northern sector as part of efforts to bring in tri-services synergy in dealing with national security challenges.
When the news of INS Sindhurakshak mishap broke out, a mother was hopeful that her son, on board the ill fated submarine, would survive. But as time passes, she is losing all hope, reports Prasanna D Zore.
The cost of the project will be Rs 21,738 crore, the sources said.
The autopsy conducted on five navy men, whose bodies were extricated from submarine INS Sindhurakshak, has found that they died due to severe burns and drowning, even as divers on Saturday continued search operations for other personnel who were on board.
With the induction of these four systems, the underwater surveillance capability of the Indian Navy will get a boost, besides providing a fillip to the quest for self-reliance in this critical area of technology.
China for the first time has divulged the deployment of a nuclear submarine for anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden, a move defence experts say could cause unease among neighbours, including India.
The Indian Navy has just one aircraft carrier. The INS Vikramaditya carries just 26 unreliable MiG-29 fighters and 10 helicopters -- an insufficient capability to battle a serious foe.
The India-Japan joint naval exercises are a strategic signal for China, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
