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Showing posts from April, 2014

Very concerned with development of Indian navy: Pakistan naval chief ( Copy Right @ NDTV)

Indian Navy fleet ( Image Courtesy- Indian Navy)   Pakistan is "very concerned" with the development of the Indian navy which has emerged as "very powerful", Pakistan naval chief, Admiral Asif Sandila said today. "The Indian navy is very strong I must say," Admiral Sandila, who is in China for the 65th anniversary celebrations of the Chinese navy told China's state-run Global Times. "India is a big nation which has over one billion people. It has made a very powerful navy and continues to develop the navy forces," he said in reply to a question about his assessment of the Indian navy. "On the other hand, Pakistan and India do not have very friendly relations at the moment, which makes people in Pakistan very concerned about the development of the Indian navy," he said. "At the same time, we would like to do what we want to do if there's any threat to us. I don't want to say the threat can only com

New U.S. Stealth Jet Can’t Hide From Russian Radar ( Copy Right @ The daily beast/ Author)

F-35 ( Image Courtesy- Wikimedia commons/ United States Navy) The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter—the jet that the Pentagon is counting on to be the stealthy future of its tactical aircraft—is having all sorts of shortcomings. But the most serious may be that the JSF is not, in fact, stealthy in the eyes of a growing number of Russian and Chinese radars. Nor is it particularly good at jamming enemy radar. Which means the Defense Department is committing hundreds of billions of dollars to a fighter that will need the help of specialized jamming aircraft that protect non-stealthy—“radar-shiny,” as some insiders call them—aircraft today. These problems are not secret at all. The F-35 is susceptible to detection by radars operating in the VHF bands of the spectrum. The fighter’s jamming is mostly confined to the X-band, in the sector covered by its APG-81 radar. These are not criticisms of the program but the result of choices by the customer, the Pentagon. To suggest that the F-

Thirumanthamkunnu Bhagavathy Temple, Angadippuram

Thirumanthamkunnil Temple, Angadipuram ( Pic Courtesy- Wikimedia Commons, Author- Rajakeshav) Thirumanthamkunnu Temple is situated at Angadipuram in Malappuram District , adjacent to the main National Highway connecting Palakkad with Calicut near to the town of Perinthalmanna. The presiding deity is the Bhagavathy who is also the deity of the entire Valuanaad. For me personally, this temple has special significance as I visit the temple before I take any major  decisions in life along with Manapullikavu Temple. The Bhagavathy in both the temples has always blessed me and given me the courage to face any problems in life and find a solution. I visited this temple today and thought of writing a blog about the history of this temple. I dedicate this blog in the lotus feet of the Thirumanthamkunnu Bhagavathy:  Thirumandhamkunnu Temple  is a historically significant  Hindu temple  in  Angadipuram , which was the capital of Valluvanad Rajavamsham,in  Malappuram district ,  Kerala s

India: The global arms bazaar’s anchor buyer ( Copy Right @ Russia and India Report)

SU-30 MKI ( Image Courtesy- Wikimedia commons and US Military) With India set to become the world’s biggest player in the arms bazaar over the next two decades, its acquisition of high-octane military hardware will play a decisive role in the buying decisions of other countries. Take the Sukhoi-30 Flanker. In the spring of 1997 the Indian Air Force (IAF) took delivery of the first batch of these air dominance fighters from Russia, and started assembling them locally. According to Defense Industry Daily, India's expertise in manufacturing and maintaining the aircraft has turned it into "a regional resource for Su-27/30 Flanker family support". The availability of regional expertise has played a key role in deciding which aircraft Malaysia and Indonesia would field as their frontline attack fighter. Today both Southeast Asian countries outsource their pilot training and Flanker maintenance requirements to India. “In August 2003, Malaysia signed a $900 million co

Beijing angered by Obama’s stance on disputed Diaoyu Islands ( Copy Right @ South China Morning Post)

Tokyo Tower showing the Americal Flag ( Image Courtesy- Wikimedia commons/ author)  US President Barack Obama has angered Beijing by saying the uninhabited Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, which are claimed by China and Japan, would be covered by the US-Japan security treaty. He is the first US president to spell this out. He gave the assurance as he began a four-nation Asia tour in Tokyo yesterday. Watch: Imperial pomp starts Obama’s Japan visit China was quick to hit back. “The so-called security alliance between the US and Japan is a bilateral arrangement made during the cold war period, and it should not be used to damage China’s sovereignty and legitimate interest,” foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said. “We resolutely oppose applying the Diaoyu Islands to the Japan-US security treaty.” We resolutely oppose applying the Diaoyu Islands to the Japan-US security treaty FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN QIN GANG China and Japan are engaged in a bitter territorial di

Why Obama's Asia Tour Is Bad News for China ( Copy Right @ The Diplomat, Author- Shannon Tiezzi)

President Obama in Japan ( Image courtesy- The White House/Chuck Kennedy) President Barack Obama leaves today for a tour of Asia, with stops in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The trip is Obama’s first to Asia since 2012 — a planned visit to Southeast Asia in the fall of 2013  was cancelled due to the government shutdown  in Washington. While Obama will not be visiting China, the trip could have major implications for U.S.-China relations. As former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in his memoir, “On any trip to Asia, even if China isn’t on the itinerary, it is on the agenda.” Beijing will certainly be watching the tour with great interest, trying to gauge U.S. commitment to and intentions for the Asia-Pacific region. During U.S. Secretary of Defense  Chuck Hagel’s recent trip to China,  Chinese officials made it abundantly clear that they pay close attention to comments made to other Asian officials. Before arriving in Beijing, Hagel met with  ASEAN

Asia's Changing Naval Landscape ( Copy Right @ The Diplomat)

United States Navy Ship ( Image courtesy- Wikimedia commons and US Navy) In this week’s podcast for  The Diplomat , U.S.-based editors Ankit Panda and Zachary Keck discuss the 2014 Western Pacific Naval Symposium, including the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) and the brief encounter between top Chinese and Japanese naval officials, Japan’s radar deployment to Yonaguni Island, Taiwan’s plan to build indigenous submarines, and Australia’s decision to purchase additional F-35 fighters. Original link to the podcast:  http://thediplomat.com/2014/04/asias-changing-naval-landscape/

China splurging on military as US pulls back ( Copy Right @ Yahoo News)

Peoples Liberation Army, China ( Image courtesy- Wikimedia commons and US Army)  China's navy commissioned 17 new warships last year, the most of any nation. In a little more than a decade, it's expected to have three aircraft carriers, giving it more clout than ever in a region of contested seas and festering territorial disputes. Those numbers testify to huge increases in defense spending that have endowed China with the largest military budget behind the United States and fueled an increasingly large and sophisticated defense industry. While Beijing still lags far behind the U.S. in both funding and technology, its spending boom is attracting new scrutiny at a time of severe cuts in U.S. defense budgets that have some questioning Washington's commitments to its Asian allies, including some who have lingering disputes with China. Beijing's newfound military clout is one of many issues confronting President Barack Obama as he visits the region this week. Wash

Russia to Build 50 GLONASS Stations in 36 Countries ( Copy Right @ Ria Novosti)

GLONASS (Image courtesy- Wikimedia Commons/ Patrick.G/ Pavel Kolothilov) MOSCOW, April 23 (RIA Novosti) – Russia plans to build 50 stations of Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) in several dozen countries across the world, Russian presidential administration chief told the Navitech 2014 forum for navigation system Wednesday. “We will continue promoting GLONASS technologies on global markets. We will increase competitiveness of Russian navigation services. To this aim, we will create a ground measuring segment abroad,” Sergei Ivanov said. “Ideally, in prospect, we would like to have 50 data-collection stations in 36 countries. This guarantees more stable and precise work of GLONASS,” Ivanov said. Russia also plans to create a single navigation space with Kazakhstan and Belarus, Ivanov said. The Global Navigation Satellite System, which began operating in 1993, is a Russian equivalent of the US Global Positioning System (GPS). The GLONASS network provides real-tim

Know the Battle Ship- Destroyer

USS Zumwalt ( DD-X Class), Pic courtesy- Wikimedia commons and US Navy ( Today we start a weekly series called Know the battle ship. In each series we focus on a particular class of warships, their evolution and their present and future role. We start with the Destroyers, today considered the most potent surface combatant after Aircraft Carriers) In  naval  terminology, a  destroyer  is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance  warship  intended to escort larger vessels in a  fleet ,  convoy  or  battle group  and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. The first ship named and classified as a destroyer was the  Spanish warship Destructor (1886) , designed by Fernando Villaamil and constructed in England in the shipyard of James and George Thomson of Clydebank, near the Yarrow shipyards. By the time of the  Russo-Japanese War  in 1904, Torpedo Boat Destroyers (TBD) were "large, swift, and powerfully armed torpedo boats designed to destroy other t