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Showing posts from October, 2015

South China Sea: No Win-Win for China and US ( Source- The Diplomat / Authors- Bernard Fook Weng Loo and Koh Swee Lean Collin)

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / United States Navy Source- The Diplomat Author- Bernard Fook Weng Loo and Koh Swee Lean Collin In October 2015, the U.S. Navy announced that it was preparing to send a surface combatant to sail within 12 nautical miles – what the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) recognizes as the territorial waters of littoral states – of the artificial islands that China has been constructing in the South China Sea. On October 27, the USS Lassen, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, patrolled within 12 nautical miles of Subi Reef, in the Spratly Islands. As Ashton Carter, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, said, “Make no mistake, the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, as we do around the world, and the South China Sea will not be an exception.” The move has potentially serious consequences for the security and stability of the South China Sea and Southeast Asia, especially

Russia's Lethal Su-35 Fighter vs. China's J-11: Who Wins? ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Dave Majumdar)

Sukhoi SU-35 S ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Aleksandr Medvedev) Source- The National Interest Author- Dave Manjumdar While the Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker series was originally developed in the Soviet Union to counter the American F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter, the design has evolved beyond what its designers might have imagined. Variations of the Flanker are not just built in Russia; China has its own knock-offs. Russia produces myriad variations of the Flanker that range from the relatively basic Su-30M2 to the top-of-the-line Su-35S Flanker-E. But moreover, there are a host of Chinese-made copies of the Flanker. And China continues to tinker with the design to develop ever more advanced and creative variations of the original Soviet design. Most of these Chinese knock-offs are unlicensed derivatives that Beijing reverse engineered and modified from the original Russian hardware. Indeed, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that Chinese and Russian derivat

Why Russia chose India over China to develop T-50 stealth fighter ( Source- Want China Times)

Sukhoi PAK-FA ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons /  Alex Beltyukov) Source- Want China Times  While China is considered a key partner for Russia, Moscow is turning to India to jointly develop the T-50 fifth-generation stealth fighter to prevent Beijing from stealing its advanced technology, our sister paper Want Daily reports. China has had a reputation for stealing technology from Russia since the Cold War. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, China became one of the chief buyers of Russian-built Su-27 fighters and Russia allowed the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation to open up a production line to build the fighter for both the PLA Air Force and Navy, which was known as J-11. China subsequently acquired a license from Russia to upgrade the J-11 into the more advanced J-11B. However, China became a potential challenger in the export market for military aircraft when it began to sell the aircraft to other nations. To avoid Chinese engineers back-engineeri

Evaluating India-Africa Maritime Relations ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Abhijit Singh)

INS Mysore D-60 ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Indian Navy) Source- The Diplomat Author- Abhijit Singh On October 26, leaders of 54 African nations gathered in New Delhi for the third edition of the four-day India-Africa Forum Summit – an event billed in the Indian media as India’s most ambitious outreach program towards Africa. On the eve of the high-level conclave, reports indicated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposed launch of “a new era of India-Africa relations” included a plan for the comprehensive development of Africa’s littorals. In keeping with India’s expanded focus on Africa’s maritime economic potential, commentary in the media suggested, the Indian government was keen to formalize a wide-ranging maritime partnership. Indeed, the past few years have witnessed a reorientation in India’s nautical outlook towards Africa. With increasing emphasis on developing maritime relationships with Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Seychelles and M
USS Lassen  ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ United States Navy) Source- Want China Times President Xi Jinping of China is faced with a dilemma on how to respond to a US Navy vessel's patrol close to two reefs controlled by China in the disputed South China Sea, Ding Shuh-fan, director of the Institute of International Relations of National Chengchi University in Taipei said Tuesday. The USS Lassen sailed to waters within the 12 nautical mile territorial limit claimed by China around the artificial islands China has built on Subi and Mischief reefs earlier in the day in a challenge to China's territorial claims to uphold freedom of navigation. Ding said both China and the US will maintain their "fight without breaking" strategy, meaning exercising self-constraint to avoid further escalation of tensions while continuing to compete with each other. Ding said the US is fully justified in its action based on legal principles as the United Nations C

Stealing their Thunder: India to offer Tejas fighter to Sri Lanka ( Source- Want China Times)

HAL Tejas ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Subharnab) Source- Want China Times India plans to export its LCA Tejas multirole fighter to Sri Lanka to compete with the JF-17 Thunder or FC-1 Xiaolong multirole fighter developed jointly by China and Pakistan, according to a senior officials from Colombo, the Sunday Observer, an English-language weekly based in Colombo, reported on Oct. 25. Air Marshal Gagan Bulathsinghala, commander of Sri Lanka Air Force, will visit Pakistan next month to learn more about the Thunder, as Sri Lanka wants new supersonic fighter jets to strengthen its air defense. However, air force officials said Bulathsinghala's visit to Pakistan is only a routine official visit. The nation has not made a final decision about purchasing the fighter from Pakistan. Pakistan and Myanmar are the only two operators of the JF-17, developed jointly by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and China's Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group. Since China does not

Malabar 2015: Strategic Power Play in the Indian Ocean ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Abhijit Singh)

Image credits- Indian Navy Source- The Diplomat Author- Abhijit Singh Earlier last week, India and the United States held the 19th edition of Exercise Malabar, a joint naval exercise, in the Bay of Bengal. This year, the interactions were an improvement over previous engagements, owing not only to the closely coordinated nature of combat drills, but also because of the presence of Japanese navy that took part in an Indian Ocean iteration of the Malabar for the first time in eight years. Importantly, the interaction has transitioned from being an India-U.S. bilateral engagement into a formal structured trilateral exercise, which maritime analysts say may be aimed at countering growing Chinese military presence in the Indian Ocean. An abiding symbol of warming strategic relations between the U.S. and India, Exercise-Malabar is the most wide-ranging professional interaction the Indian Navy has with any of its partner maritime forces. Even so, the decision to include Japa

Russia to lease another nuclear sub to India in December ( Source- Russia & India Report)

Akula class SSN Vepr ( Source- Wikimedia Commons / Ilya Kurganov) Source- Russia & India Report An agreement on leasing another Russian nuclear-powered submarine to India is to be signed at the Russian-Indian summit in December, a source at India’s Defense Ministry told TASS. The possibility of leasing a second submarine from Russia will be studied when India’s Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar will visit Moscow next week," the source said. "Parrikar will hold talks on this strategic project with his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoigu. After the ten-year contract is signed another two or three years will be required for upgrading the submarine in keeping with India’s requirements," he said. Over the past 45 years Russia and India have established reliable, time-tested strategic ties in the field of defence. India’s armed forces are equipped with Soviet and Russian military hardware 70%, the source said, adding that Russia had always provided its best

Emad: Iran’s New Ballistic Missile Amid The Nuclear Deal – Analysis ( Source- Eurasia Review / Author- Debalina Ghoshal)

Iran's new EMAD MRBM (Credits- Internet image) Source- Eurasia Review Author- Debalina Ghoshal Iran recently test-fired the ‘Emad’, a precision-guided medium-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile. The missile has a range of 1700 kms and a payload capacity of 750kgs. Any missile above a 500 kg payload is considered nuclear capable. Emad is liquid-fuelled but with improved accuracy and maneuverable re-entry vehicles for evading enemy defence systems. This improved accuracy is extremely important if Iran is to deliver a conventional payload. The missile is also reported to carry thrusters for course correction. Reports suggest that this missile is an improved version of the liquid-fuelled Shahab missiles. The maneuverability is achieved by steering warheads that can perform last minute maneuvering even at the terminal phase. According to Iranian Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan, Emad is Iran’s first ever missile that can be guided and controlled until the missil

Beyond the F-35: 3 Things Canada Should Consider For Its Next Fighter ( Source- The National Interest / Author- James Hasik)

F-35 ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / United States Navy) Source- The National Interest Author- James Hasik Last week’s federal electoral victory by Canada's Liberals probably means the end of the F-35A as a prospective fighter jet for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). The immediate bad news accrues to Lockheed Martin, which stands to lose $6 billion in future revenue, and its remaining customers, for whom smaller volumes will mean as much as one percent more per production aircraft. The remaining longer-term question is what this means for Canada; U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch, after all, called the decision “stupid.”  But it’s not that prime minister-designate Justin Trudeau is outrightly refusing the stealthy airplane. Rather, he’s promising an open competition on a much smaller budget, presumably now for a twin-engined jet, which pretty much restricts the race to Boeing’s F-18E/F Super Hornet and Dassault’s Rafale C/B. The philosophies behind those aircraft

Revealed: China's Forgotten Maritime Compromise ( Source- National Interest / Author- Issac B. Cardon)

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / NASA) Source- The National Interest Author- Issac B. Cardon China has nine maritime neighbors (including Taiwan) but no settled maritime boundaries, due in part to Beijing’s unwillingness to specify its maritime claims. Only one partial exception to this imprecision exists: a boundary agreement with Vietnam to delimit the northern part of the Gulf of Tonkin and a fishery agreement establishing a joint fishing regime in that area, both reached in 2000. The agreements offer both positive and negative lessons. At a minimum, they provide important precedents that should be more widely appreciated – foremost among them that it is possible for China to come to the bargaining table on maritime disputes. Meanwhile specific lessons can be applied to China’s bilateral maritime disputes with Japan, Vietnam, and the Koreas. Unfortunately the Tonkin agreements support only modest expectations for resolution of the complex, multilateral Spratly Is