Manoj Ambat's Blog dealing with Defence, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Affairs and Politics

Russia- China Ties( Image courtesy-Xinhua News Agency) China, Japan, India and Russia are competing for power in Asia, boosting their military to defend their interests in the region, while China is also attempting to drive the United States out of the western Pacific to secure its territorial claims, according to Philip Stephens, political columnist for the Financial Times. New partnerships within this dynamic could occur as India swears in its new prime minister, Narendra Modi. According to Stephens, Modi has higher ambitions than his predecessors — to strengthen the nation's power to match China rather than just improve India's economic growth and living standards. Meanwhile, the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, who also wants his country to be able to withstand China's rise, hopes Modi will choose to visit Japan when he embarks on his first overseas trip as India's new leader. Japan could provide much-needed technology and investment to spur the Indian

Pinaka Multi Barrel Rocket launch system ( Pic courtesy- Wikimedia commons/ Author- Hemant Rawat) BALASORE (Odisha): Indigenously developed Pinaka rockets, capable of destroying enemy positions at 40kms-range with rapid salvos, were on Thursday successfully test- fired thrice from a multi-barrel launcher at an armament base in Chandipur-on-sea, near here.  The rockets, which have undergone several tough tests since 1995, have been already inducted into the armed forces and the present trials were conducted with some improvements in the weapon system, defence sources said, adding some more tests are likely to be held.   "Three rounds of Pinaka rockets were successfully tested from the proof and experimental establishment (PXE) today at Chandipur," about 15km from here, they said.   The unguided rocket system is meant to neutralise large areas with rapid salvos. With a battery of six launchers, the system can fire a salvo of 12 rockets in 44 seconds and neu

155 MM Howtizer ( Image courtesy- Wikimedia commons/ Author-Jason Long) NAGPUR: The indigenous 155mm artillery guns, made on the lines of the Bofors howitzers procured by Indian Army in the 1980s, will go for the last round of firing trials next month. After successful winter trials in snowbound Sikkim during March, the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) is now preparing for the summer rounds of Operation Dhanush, as the project has been christened. The tests will be held in June-end and shall continue till July in the Pokhran desert. If everything goes well, this will be the last time these guns will blaze to prove their mettle. However, other tests, which include an evaluation by the directorate general of quality assurance (DGQA) of the Army, will follow before the howitzers are finally inducted. The other tests will not involve test fires however, said a source. A year ago, during the summers trials in August, the barrel of the gun being tested had exploded, pushing back

INS Chakra ( Image courtesy- Wikimedia Commons/ Indian Navy) One of the best articles on Indian Nuclear Sub Program in recent years. Just had to share the link here........... On 4th April 2012 , The Indian Navy commissioned the  INS Chakra  , an Akula II class  nuclear submarine  into their submarine fleet . It’s their only nuclear submarine in service . But that’s not what makes it special , nor does the fact that it’s the most advanced and powerful submarine in Asia , outside of Russia. What is special is , the way they obtained the submarine by cleverly finding a loophole in international laws. According to International Law , a country cannot sell or purchase a nuclear powered ship / submarine from another country . But the law never mentioned anything about a lease . Now read on the following link:  http://defencyclopedia.wordpress.com/2014/05/17/the-great-indian-nuclear-submarine-saga/

USS Freedom ( Image Courtesy-Wikimedia commons/US Navy) The task force working to come up with ideas for the US Navy’s small surface combatant (SSC) got a major data download Thursday, as industry submitted their proposals for modified or entirely new designs. Both builders of littoral combat ships — Lockheed Martin and Austal USA — submitted ideas to modify their designs. Huntington Ingalls proposed frigate variants of its national security cutter design. And at least one outlier, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, put in a bid. Companies were also invited to come up with ideas for the ship’s combat system. In separate proposals, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems (GD AIS) described systems and components to equip the SSC. The submissions were in response to two requests for information (RFIs) issued in April by the task force — a unit stood up in March to provide recommendations to Navy leadership by the end of July on p

INS Satpura ( Image Courtesy- Wikimedia commons/ United States Navy) The Indian Navy (IN) is expectant that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, which assumes office on 26 May, will approve the purchase of urgently needed equipment such as heavyweight torpedoes for its under-construction Scorpene submarines and advanced towed array sonars (ATAS) for its warships. "The navy anticipates that prime minister-designate, Narendra Modi's, new administration will be more receptive to the many gaps in its equipment profile" a three-star IN officer told IHS Jane's . Naval headquarters, he added, is readying its list of long-delayed procurements to present to the new defence minister. Following 2010 trials the IN opted to acquire 98 Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquei (WASS) Black Shark heavyweight torpedoes over Atlas Elektroniks Sea Hake for its six Scorpene submarines. The first Scorpene boat, scheduled for commissioning in 2016, will be armed only with MBDA Exoce

Solomon Islands ( Image Courtesy- Wikimedia Commons/ Author: Jim Lounsbury) Looking to the canary in the climate change coal mine — low-lying island states that are slowly being swallowed by the sea — offers a clear warning of the perils associated with a warming planet. With sea levels steadily rising, spurred by melting glaciers and ice sheets and thermal expansion of the ocean as the water warms, small island developing states (SIDS) are increasingly besieged, their shores nibbled away by a swollen tideline. Latest  reports  by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) project a sea level rise in the range of  26 to 82 cm  by 2100. The rate of rise is dependent on whether the temperature increase is kept to a minimum  forecast  of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, or whether it reaches worst-case projections of 4.8 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Climate change has been declared “ unequivocal “ by the IPCC, the leading international

 Admiral Samuel J. Locklear ( Pic courtesy- Wikimedia Commons/ United States Navy) Compromise, and not a “winner-take-all” attitude, would help resolve worsening maritime disputes in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), a visiting US military commander said on Friday, May 23. Security experts discussed the outlook of security in Asia, emphasizing the need for regional collaboration and the urgency to move towards multilateralism, at the World Economic Forum on East Asia, held for the first time in Manila. US Pacific Fleet commander Admiral Samuel Locklear III said the region had become the world's "most militarized" amid rapid economic growth, deepening the importance of dialogue to ensure the disputes did not lead to armed conflict. "What's going to underlie that most importantly is a commitment to the rule of law, a commitment to international forums to solve problems and to solve disputes," Locklear told a WEF meeting. "You can

Littoral Combat Ship ( Pic Courtesy- Wikimedia Commons/United States Navy) The Littoral Combat System was one of the Navy's most significant modernization efforts. The LCS was a push to replace dozens of vessels with next-generation ships  capable of fighting off submarines, mines or swarm attacks from asymmetrical enemies in coastal waters - while also possibly operating against conventional enemy battleships or aerial targets. The defense department eventually cut their order of littoral vessels in half, and some believe the entire LCS program to be a  bit of an expensive failure . The LCS was effectively canceled earlier this year when the Pentagon reduced its order from over 50 down to 32 vessels - it turns out the craft was " not expected to be survivable in high-intensity combat ," and wasn't as versatile in facing multiple threats as had initially been hoped. But the LCS was once at the cutting edge of military technology, and it's only fitting th

Image courtesy- Military.com One of the most useful exercises for understanding Russia’s geopolitical dilemmas is to take any of the number of commercial flights from Moscow to Vladivostok, in the Russian Far East. It is a journey of about eight hours, covering thousands of miles and a dozen time zones of virtually uninhabited space – in the words of a 1960s Soviet hit, “a green sea of the taiga.” It really does look like a sea from 30,000 feet, rolling in all directions: forbidding, vast, mesmerizing. For generations Russia has tried to come to terms with its size, sending explorers, colonists, convicts, peasants, soldiers, and Youth Communist league activists to build up islands of “civilization” across Siberia and the Far East. They built cities dilapidated from inception, laid roads that turned to swamps, erected golden church domes and monuments to Lenin. They brought Russia to Asia and made Asia a part of Russia, leaving indelible marks on Russia’s identity, its present d