At the time of independence, Indian Air Force (IAF) inherited some of the aviation assets left by the British including Hawker Tempest and Spitfires. India also procured more British aircraft like the Hawker Hunter, the Gnat, Devon, and Vickers Viscount. The USA was reluctant but offered some helicopters. The French offered fighter aircraft in theContinue reading “Multiple Origin Fleets – Complexities for IAF – Time to Rationalise”
Tag Archives: Russia
Arctic: The New Great Game Arena – India must keep its Foothold
The Arctic region covers over one-sixth of the earth’s landmass and is set to play an increasing role in shaping the course of world affairs. The still less explored region is rich in exploitable natural resources, especially gas and oil and marine living resources. It is estimated that the Arctic could be home to nearlyContinue reading “Arctic: The New Great Game Arena – India must keep its Foothold”
Ukraine War. The War in the Air. An Analysis. Air Marshal Anil Chopra
Overview of Conflict The global attention at this moment continues to be on the very serious conflict that began on 24 February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. The Russo-Ukrainian war actually began in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. Ukraine is the second-largest European nation after Russia, with an area of 603,550 sq. km.Continue reading “Ukraine War. The War in the Air. An Analysis. Air Marshal Anil Chopra”
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”
Ukraine Crisis – A Backgrounder
German Naval Chief’s Delhi Visit The German naval chief Vice Admiral Schonbach’s visit to New Delhi in January 2022 coincided with the last docking of the German naval frigate Bayern at Mumbai, after having departed Germany in August 2021 and having sailed through the Indo-Pacific region. Schonbach alluded to the fact that the ship’s routeContinue reading “Ukraine Crisis – A Backgrounder”
The BAAZigars: All you need to know about the MiG-29 UPG
“The most advanced is the MiG-29UPG, implemented in India in collaboration with local industry” These were the words of Sergei Korotkov, the director-general of MiG. It was his reference to the Indian upgrade of MiG-29 to UPGs standard where he directly said that the India MiG-29 UPG is the most advanced variant of Mikoyan Mig-29Continue reading “The BAAZigars: All you need to know about the MiG-29 UPG”
Is China Changing the World order? Where does India stand?
Jai Hind! In this video, Aadi Anchit discusses with Air Marshal Anil Chopra the changing world order and the hope of China that it would be in its favour. He talks about various geopolitical combinations that we see around us today. To start with the US-China relations itself. Moving on to the relations between theContinue reading “Is China Changing the World order? Where does India stand?”
The MiG 29 ‘Baaz’ Story By A Young Defence Enthusiast
It was in the 1970s-80s that the Indian Air Force was turning a new page and a lot of major acquisition programs were initiated during the period to replace the older fleet making the air force practically brand new. These were done in the aftermath of one of the most influential aircraft deals by theContinue reading “The MiG 29 ‘Baaz’ Story By A Young Defence Enthusiast”
The Nagorno-Karabakh War: Advantage Hindsight: A View
Russian President Vladimir Putin made a televised statement confirming the details of the Russian brokered peace deal, which provided for “complete cessation of hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh”. The agreement went into effect at 01:00 local time (21:00 GMT) on 10 Nov 2020, just prior to the announcements. Armenia’s PM, Nikol Pashinyan, first made the announcementContinue reading “The Nagorno-Karabakh War: Advantage Hindsight: A View”
Wing in Ground Effect – Flight in an Ekranoplan
In 1998/99 I had the unique opportunity to take two flights in Volga-2 ekranoplan produced by Volga Shipyard in Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia. The small ekranoplan for non-military use like the eight seat Volga-2 were developed as small water taxis. They were part of the ground-effect vehicle (GEV), also called a wing-in-ground-effect (WIGE), ground-effect craft, wingship,Continue reading “Wing in Ground Effect – Flight in an Ekranoplan”
Air Power Asia 