The State of the Indian Air Force (IAF) Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhri on assuming the office of Chief of Air Staff on September 30th last year had in his first media interaction stated that the IAF presently has 30 fighter squadrons. The Chief further stated that “Our count will remain around 35 tillContinue reading “Airpower: Harnessing the Power of Drone Swarms in Combat”
Tag Archives: JP Joshi
WAR IN UKRAINE: INDIA BALANCING PRINCIPLES AND NATIONAL INTERESTS
Breach of Ukrainian Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity The screaming headlines, ‘Putin Invades Ukraine’, announced to the world on 24 Feb 2022 that Putin had finally gone ahead and shown the ‘will’ to bring to fruition his pre-meditated plan; the capability had been assembled at the right places much earlier. All along, Putin kept insisting thatContinue reading “WAR IN UKRAINE: INDIA BALANCING PRINCIPLES AND NATIONAL INTERESTS”
India: National Security Snapshot
The Big Picture (HT, 09 Jan 2022) by Raghu Raman, the founding CEO of NATGRID, alludes to India’s burgeoning internal “half front”, which may prove to be our “Achille’s Heel”. The half front that he is referring to are the internal issues that are causing fissures and cracks in the hugely diverse Indian society, whichContinue reading “India: National Security Snapshot”
A Professional’s Rambling? Evolution of Airpower – Challenges, Questions, and Thoughts
End of Manned Figher Jet Era? During an informal chat with Lt. Gen John Thompson of US Space Command, Elon Musk made a very provocative statement and that too, in a room full of fighter pilots. He stated that the manned “fighter jet era has passed”. This happened during the annual US Air Force Association’sContinue reading “A Professional’s Rambling? Evolution of Airpower – Challenges, Questions, and Thoughts”
Understanding Chinese Belligerence and India’s Strategic Options
The 10 hours of talks at the Corps Commander level on 02 Aug 2020 seem to have made no further progress in the disengagement process, as there appear to be a total lack of trust, as also, varying perceptions between the two sides. On 28 Jun 2020, the Chinese side had claimed that the “processContinue reading “Understanding Chinese Belligerence and India’s Strategic Options”
India China Face-off – Employment of Air Power
The marathon talks of over 14 hours between the Corps Commanders of India and China, at Chushul, on the 14th of July has reportedly gathered forward traction on the disengagement process, from all the four stand-off points. As reported by the Hindustan Times of 16 Jul 2020, officials in the know stated that, “it looksContinue reading “India China Face-off – Employment of Air Power”
Understanding India-China Standoff – A Basic Primer
India has thus far, politically, and as a nation, been very diffident about dealing with China possibly haunted by the ghosts of our defeat in 1962, when China regularised its encroachments into Indian territory, and converted these into the present day Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Aksai Chin area, an area the sizeContinue reading “Understanding India-China Standoff – A Basic Primer”
Air Power Asia 