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

The Mangalyaan satellite was confirmed to be in orbit shortly after 0800, Indian time. It is, without doubt, a considerable achievement. This is a mission that has been budgeted at 4.5bn rupees ($74m), which, by Western standards, is staggeringly cheap. The American Maven orbiter that arrived at the Red Planet on Monday is costing almost 10 times as much. Back in June, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi even quipped that India's real-life Martian adventure was costing less than the make-believe Hollywood film Gravity. Even Bollywood sci-fi movies like Ra.One cost a good chunk of what it has taken to get Mangalyaan to Mars. So how has India done it? For sure, people costs are less in this populous nation, and the scientists and engineers working on any space mission are always the largest part of the ticket price. Home-grown components and technologies have also been prioritised over expensive foreign imports. But, in addition, India has been careful to do th

Image credits- Narendra Modi With the United States consumed by foreign-policy crises around the globe, many Americans are not according much importance to the  upcoming summit  between President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In fact, many Americans likely have no idea it is even happening. Americans should care about Modi’s visit because of the tremendous strategic significance of the country he leads. With over 1.2 billion people (a sixth of all humanity), the world’s third largest economy (on a purchasing power basis), the third largest army, nuclear-weapons capability, rocket technology to put a satellite around Mars at one ninth the NASA cost (and on the first try) and a deep reservoir of young, talented workers, India has the ability to help the United States tackle an array of major international challenges. High on this list is Islamist terrorism. On December 13, 2001, just three months after the United States experienced the 9/11 attacks,

Image credits-Wikimedia Commons/ United States Department of Defence Chinese leader Xi Jinping was humiliated during his just-completed meeting with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, turning the long-awaited summit into a “fiasco,” according to one observer. Sino-Indian relations, which were supposed to be propelled to new heights last week, now look troubled, at least in the short term. In mid-September, Chinese troops crossed the Line of Actual Control, the demarcation of the disputed China-India border, in the Chumar section of eastern Ladakh, high in the Himalayas. Reinforcements brought their number up to battalion strength, about 1,000 soldiers, according to reports. Although the Sino-Indian boundary there is ill defined, it was clear China’s commanders intended to create a provocation as they advanced several kilometers on the Indian side of the temporary line. Last Wednesday, while meeting Modi in Ahmedabad, Xi said he had ordered his forces to return to the Chinese

Image credits- Stars and Stripes When U.S. Marines stormed ashore during a beach-landing exercise in Okinawa recently, they weren’t alone. Charging alongside them was a group of Japanese soldiers assigned to live and train with the Marines and learn the basics of amphibious warfare. “When they landed on the beach, it was difficult to tell who was who, which was an impressive feat,” said Colonel Romin Dasmalchi, a Marine commander. The beach drill was just the latest in a dramatic increase in joint training activities between U.S. and Japanese forces. The goal is to broaden Japan’s military capabilities, weave U.S. and Japanese forces ever closer together and solidify the U.S. “pivot” to Asia. On almost any day, U.S. and Japanese ground troops, sailors or aircrews can be found practicing combat skills side by side or preparing for major training operations throughout the Japanese archipelago, and across the Pacific. Day-to-day coordination is up as well. U.S.

ISRO Mars Orbiter Mission ( Image credits- Wikimedia commons/ Author) India’s  Mars Orbiter Mission  (MOM), more commonly known by the Hindi nickname Mangalyaan (meaning Mars-craft), reached Mars early Wednesday (Indian Standard Time). The probe went into orbit around Mars after it was  captured by Mars’ gravity  around 7:41 a.m. This marks the end of the spacecraft’s ten month journey, which began with its launch on November 5, 2013. Mangalyaan’s success makes India only the  fourth entity  to put a spacecraft in Mars’ orbit, after the United States, the Soviet Union, and the European Space Agency. India is the  first Asian country  to successfully place a spacecraft in orbit around Mars, and the first country anywhere to do so on its first attempt. A  previous Chinese attempt  to reach Mars failed in 2011. While Mangalyaan’s primary purpose was to serve as a demonstration that India could indeed reach Mars, it will also carry out valuable scientific research. It  contains  

The romantic concept of a historic Silk Road by which camel caravans wend among the mountains and deserts of Central Asia is back in the news. So is talk on reestablishing the maritime networks by which the Chinese Admiral Zheng He steered his naval armada across the Indian Ocean seven times. China’s leaders promote the ancient trade routes, most recently during the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visits to countries in Central and South Asia, to emphasize the nation’s historic role as a harbinger of peace and prosperity. One minor problem in China’s history-based campaign – the history is distorted. In September 2013, less than a year after assuming the position of general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Xi launched new foreign policy initiative known as the “Silk Road Economic Belt.” In an address at Kazakhstan’s Nazarbayev University, calling for cooperation and development of the Eurasian region through this new Silk Road initiative, Xi pr

MOM in the Mars orbit.Congrats India, congrats ISRO. We are all proud of you

India’s MOM spacecraft arrives at Mars | NASASpaceFlight.com

Mars Orbiter Mission ( Image credits- ISRO) The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched its maiden mission to Mars – the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) – on November 5, 2013. This mission is expected to reach the ‘Red Planet’ on September 24, 2014 after a ten month long space journey. Currently, the MOM is travelling at a speed of 22 km/second. After reaching close vicinity of Mars, this speed needs to be reduced significantly to make a correct entry into the planet’s orbit. The biggest challenge of this mission will be faced by the on September 24, when the on-board liquid engine would require restarting. This engine has been in sleep mode since December 1, 2013. The challenge is significant because there is no information as to what kind of space weather and radiation the MOM has experienced during its long travel and how much of impact the spacecraft has taken. ISRO has announced that on September 22, 2014, about two days before the crucial orbit insertion, it woul

Babur Cruise Missile ( Image credits- Wikimedia commons/ Author- Skybolt101) Hatf IX (Nasr) is a Pakistani ballistic missile which can deliver a sub-kiloton nuclear warhead over a range of 60 km, or 37.3 miles. It is supposed to have entered service in 2013 and is believed to be fully integrated into Pakistan’s C3I (command, control, communications and intelligence). Its purported role is as a low-yield battlefield deterrent against mechanised columns. Should India – and the world – take Nasr seriously? The development and deployment of Nasr by Pakistan was inevitable and the impact of this tactical nuclear weapon (tac nuke) on the emerging India-Pakistan deterrence relationship is inherently destabilising. Defining Tactical Nuclear Weapons: The Pakistani Context There are four different yardsticks by which tac nukes could be defined and classified. The first is the range of the missile: it must be short range, that is less than 80-100 km. The second is yield of warhead, co

Mars Orbiter Mission (Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ Author- Nesnad The 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) of India's Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, last fired on December 01, 2013, was successfully fired for a duration of 3.968 seconds at 1430 hrs IST today (September 22, 2014). This operation of the spacecraft's main liquid engine was also used for the spacecraft's trajectory correction and changed its velocity by 2.18 metre/second. With this successful test firing, Mars Orbiter Insertion (MOI) operation of the spacecraft is scheduled to be performed on the morning of September 24, 2014 at 07:17:32 hrs IST by firing the LAM along with eight smaller liquid engines for a duration of about 24 minutes. Original link to the press release:  http://www.isro.org/pressrelease/scripts/pressreleasein.aspx?Sep22_2014

Image credits- Wikimedia commons/ Author WASHINGTON: With the mood in Delhi and Washington in harmony, India and the US can develop a genuinely strategic alliance, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared ahead of his first summit meeting with US President Barack Obama next week. "I have a one word answer: Yes. And with great confidence I say aye," Modi told CNN's Fareed Zakaria in a wide-ranging interview, his first since assuming office May 26, when asked if it is possible for the two countries to develop a genuinely strategic alliance. The interview was telecast Sunday. "Relations between India and America should not be seen within the limits of just Delhi and Washington. It's a much larger sphere," he said. "The good thing is that the mood of both Delhi and Washington is in harmony with this understanding," Modi said when asked if Washington genuinely wanted to try to substantially upgrade ties with India. "Both sides have played