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

T-14 Russian MBT ( Source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Vitaly V. Kuzmin) Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz Stefan- Gady The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has for the first time officially revealed the Russian Ground Forces’ most advanced armored fighting vehicles, including a brand new main-battle tank, self-propelled artillery, and new armored personnel carrier, ahead of the May 9 Moscow Victory Day Parade (see: “‘Arma Virumque Cano’ – Parades and Militarism in Asia”). It is important to not that the recently published photos on the Russian MoD’s website revealed prospective military hardware not yet commissioned into the Russian Armed Forces. Additionally, the vehicles displayed on the images have all their their weapon systems covered, which makes the initial analysis of the equipment highly speculative. “During the May 9 parade in Blagoveshchensk we will be showcasing for the first time the latest types of arms and military hardware the Eastern Military

Image credits- Reuters Source- The National Interest Author- Joshua Kurlanzink Until the past five years, the Philippines and Vietnam had minimal strategic ties other than working together, through ASEAN initiatives, on a range of nontraditional security issues. The two countries had very different styles of leadership—the Philippines is a vibrant democracy with one of the freest media markets in the world, while Vietnam remains run by a highly opaque Party—and Hanoi remained wary of diverging from its strategy of hedging close ties with China with increasingly close relations with the United States. By contrast, the Philippines, despite a very mixed historical relationship with the United States, was (and is) a U.S. treaty ally and one of Washington’s closest partners in Southeast Asia. Vietnam and the Philippines did not hold joint military exercises, rarely had high-level bilateral interactions between senior political and military leaders, and also had only modest t

Image credits- Xinhua Source- Eurasia review Author- Brigadier Arun Sahgal (Retd) The strategic landscape in Southern Asia is witnessing three major strategic shifts; most important from Indian point of view is the unveiling of China – Pakistan economic corridor linking landlocked Xinjiang region of China to the warm waters of Arabian Sea and further to Middle East, Europe and East Coast of Africa. In many sense it is game changer with long term strategic consequences for the region in general and India in particular. Second is the prospect of Iran’s integration with international community as a normal nation a process that has already begun. This has made number of regional actors most predominant being China and Russia and to limited extent even Pakistan initiate serious commercial and security dialogue, given the possibility of opening number of geopolitical and economic opportunities. A third element is the growing Eastern orientation of Russia and the emergin

Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Anthony Maw Source- The Diplomat Author- Akhilesh Pillalamarri China has recently extended Pakistan a much-needed economic lifeline, announcing infrastructure projects that could boost trade and investment. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will connect the western Chinese city of Kashgar with the Pakistani port of Gwadar, in the province of Balochistan, near the Iran-Pakistan border. The project would give Pakistan’s poorest province an economic boast and China access to another route to the Indian Ocean and the Middle East, while connecting many Pakistani cities in between. Many in Pakistan have hailed the corridor as proof of the eternal and amazing friendship between China and Pakistan, though obviously realpolitik is more likely at work here than anything. After all, a recent article notes that while China has proved a reliable and steady partner for Pakistan, many Chinese do not think highly of Pakistan. China

PLAN Ships ( Image source- Wikimapia) Source- The Diplomat Author- Jack Detsch China’s pursuit of construction projects to assert its claims to disputed territory in the South China Sea is intensifying. As Victor Robert Lee reported in The Diplomat last week, land reclamation and buildups have expanded from the Spratly Islands, where China is pursuing military installations, including radar towers, gun emplacements, port facilities, and airstrips, to the Paracel Islands, just 400 kilometers off of the Vietnamese coast. According to satellite imagery, Beijing is looking into major expansions of runway and airport facilities there. Now, per a report from Jeffrey Lin and P.W. Singer in Popular Science released Monday, China will have a new tool to pursue their ambitions further into the oil-rich sea: 1,000,000 ton floating islands, mobile battle stations that can be converted for civilian and military use, allowing for resupplying forces in the region, aircraft landing,

USS Virginia ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Source- General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard) Source- The National Interest Author- Zachary Keck Thailand is the latest country in maritime Asia seeking to build up its submarine force. According to local media reports, the Thai Royal Navy has formally submitted a proposal to the cabinet asking it to fund a submarine program. Admiral Kraisorn Chansuvanich, the commander of the Thai Navy, explained the rationale behind his service’s desire to acquire submarines. "Neighboring countries like Vietnam, Malaydsia, Indonesia, and Singapore have had submarines in their arsenals for many years,” Kraisorn said, according to Khaosad, a local Thai newspaper. "Now that I am here, I think it is a part of the strategy to improve our armed forces. It's my duty to submit the request to the government for consideration. Whether the government will approve it or not is up to them." In the proposal, Krais

French Rafale operating from American carrier ( Source- Wikimedia Commons / Credits- United States Navy)  Source- The Diplomat Author- Robert Farley In the fallout of the Rafale deal, can the Indian naval air arm be saved?  More to the point, could French-built Rafale fighters still, eventually, fly from Indian aircraft carriers? As the Diplomat has detailed, one of the fruits of India’s relationship with the United States should be the EMALS catapult system. Catapult launched (CATOBAR) aircraft differ from their conventional and Short Take Off (STOBAR) cousins in several ways, primarily with respect to their ability to endure the stress involved in the catapult system. Although INS Vikramaditya currently operates MiG-29Ks from her STOBAR deck, no one has yet made clear which fighter will fly from India’s catapult-capable carriers. At the moment, only five fighters operate off CATOBAR carriers; the F/A-18 Hornet (and its Super Hornet cousin), the A-4 Skyhawk (the

SU-30MKI ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons ? Author- United States Air Force by 1'st Lt George Tobias) Source- The National Interest Author- Zachary Keck India’s nuclear command has begun receiving fighter jets armed with the country’s most advanced, supersonic cruise missile. According to media reports, India’s Strategic Forces Command (SFC) has begun receiving 42 Su-30MKI air dominance fighters modified to carry air-launched BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. This will significantly enhance the striking power of the air leg of India’s nuclear triad. “Individually, the Su-30 and BrahMos are powerful weapons,” Russia and India Report noted. “But when the world’s most capable fourth generation fighter is armed with a uniquely destructive cruise missile, together they are a dramatic force multiplier.” The Sukhoi Su-30 MKI is a twin-seater, highly maneuverable, fourth-generation multirole combat fighter aircraft built by Russia’s Sukhoi Design Bureau and lic

Russian S-400 SAM ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author-- UMNICK) Source- The Diplomat Author- J. Michael Cole The confirmation last week that China has purchased between four and six battalions of the Russian-made S-400 air defense system has sparked alarmism in many circles, with experts stating that the new missile will allow China to strike aerial targets over major Indian cities, all over Taiwan, as well as within disputed areas in the East and South China Sea. But before we start calling the S-400 a “game changer,” a few comments are in order. Rosoboronexport, Russia’s state-run agency in charge of export of defense articles, announced on April 13 that Moscow had agreed to sell China four to six S-400 battalions for the sum of approximately $3 billion. The confirmation ended years of speculation as to whether Russia would agree to sell the advanced air defense system to China, a “strategic partner” that on some occasions has bitten the hand that feeds it,

INS Visakhapatnam ( Image credits- Getty Image)  Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz- Stefan Gady Yesterday, the Indian Navy, in the presence of Admiral RK Dhowan, India’s current chief of naval  staff, launched its latest stealth guided missile destroyer with a ceremony held at Mazagaon Dock Limited (MDL), Mumbai. The 7,300 ton Visakhapatnam is the first of four planned Visakhapatnam-class (Project 15B) vessels, based on the older Kolkata-class destroyers design (Project 15A), to enter Indian service. The other three vessels will be launched at an interval of three years at a total cost of INR 293.40 billion ($4.89 billion). According to Indian naval officials, the 164 m-long Visakhapatnam will be commissioned in July 2018.  The Kolkata-class destroyer INS Kolkata (Project 15A) was commissioned in August 2014, with the two remaining vessels of the class to be commissioned by 2016. According to IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly: Vishakhapatnam‘s key differences from th