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

Source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Anurag Source- The National Interest Author- Akhilesh Pillalamarri Indian fighter jets will soon be equipped with the world’s fastest cruise missile. According to Indian news outlets, New Delhi India recently developed a modification for its Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighter airplane that will allow it to carry the Indo-Russian BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. Earlier this year, it was reported that India’s Strategic Forces Command (SFC) had begun receiving 42 Su-30MKI air dominance fighters modified to carry air-launched BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. The BrahMos missile will be tested from the modified Sukhoi Su-30 MKI plane this year. According to Sudhir K. Mishra, CEO and managing director of the Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited (BAPL), “It will take about four to five months to complete the instrument flight test, the dummy test and the actual flight.” The Sukhoi Su-30 MKI is a twin-seater,

Russian Yasen class SSN ( Source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- www.kremlin.ru) Source- The National Interest Author- Zachary Keck Fresh off building the fourth-generation Yasen-class submarines, Russia is already developing a fifth-generation submarine. Vladimir Dorofeyev, CEO of Russia’s Malakhit Marine Engineering Design Bureau, told TASS last week that "The work on the fifth generation of submarines is already underway. The project will be implemented after the Yasen nuclear submarine construction project is completed.”  This was subsequently confirmed by Admiral Viktor Chirkov, the commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy. Speaking at the Army 2015 international military and technical forum in Moscow last Wednesday, Chirkov said that “In order to avoid pauses and standstill, we have started design work on developing submarines of the next, i.e. fifth generation.” Both men said the submarines would be built within the Russian shipbuilding program through

Yoga being performed ( Source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Eli Christman) Source- Wikimedia Commons  Author- Rajni Bakshi On June 21, elaborate celebrations in New Delhi  marked the first United Nations International Day of Yoga. What this UN day highlights is part of a process that has been unfolding for well over a century and transcends the boundaries of nation states. In India, this process is commonly perceived to date back to Swami Vivekananda’s address at the Parliament of World Religions at Chicago in 1893. When the young Hindu monk declared that all humans are “children of immortal bliss,” he was sharing a philosophical and spiritual truth that transcends human-made boundaries of race, religious doctrine, and nationhood. In the decade that followed, Vivekananda exerted a substantial influence in intellectual circles on both sides of the Atlantic. This was largely because he powerfully expressed the transcendent dimensions of Indic spiritual and philosophi

PLAN Ship Hongzehu (Source- Wikimedia Commons/ Author- United States Navy) Source- The Diplomat Author- Shannon Tiezzi The Philippines released photos of China’s construction and land reclamation activities in the South China Sea, on May 15, 2014, a day after Manila accused Beijing of violating the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea by carrying out such construction. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying was asked about the photographs in her regular press conference on May 15. Here’s her response, in full: China has indisputable sovereignty over Nansha [Spratly] Islands including Chigua Reef [Johnson South Reef] and the contiguous waters. Whatever construction China carries out in the Chigua Reef is completely within China’s sovereignty. That response did not evolve much over the next ten months. In March 2015, Hua was still defending China’s construction with terse proclamations: “China’s normal construction activities

Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Syed Naqvi Source- The Diplomat Author- Saira Bano During the seventh round of the U.S.-Pakistan Security, Strategic Stability, and Nonproliferation (SSS&NP) working group earlier this month, Pakistan again demanded an India-style civil nuclear agreement under the auspices of the U.S.-Pakistan strategic dialogue. As previously, the idea received a noncommittal response from Washington. Islamabad has been critical of the India-U.S. civilian nuclear agreement, signed in 2008, under which nuclear sanctions against New Delhi were lifted and India was allowed to have civilian nuclear trade along with its nuclear weapons program. The Indo-U.S. nuclear deal recognized the nuclear status of India, while continuing to exclude Pakistan from the nuclear club. U.S. officials argued that India’s case was unique and Pakistan does not qualify for similar treatment. The questions arise: What were the factors that pushed the United States

Source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Yuriv Bugrov Source- Russia & India report Author- Ajay Kamalakaran It came as a surprise to few when Russia decided to co-sponsor the India-initiated United Nations Resolution to mark June 21 as the International Day of Yoga. Russia’s most famous practitioner of the Indian spiritual, physical and mental discipline is Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, under whose presidency in 2004-8, yoga gained immense popularity in the country. The Indian diplomatic missions in Russia are partnering with regional governments, the Yoga Federation of Russia, socio-cultural organisations and Yoga centres to organize events across the country on June 21. The biggest such event is being organized in Moscow’s historic Sokolniki Park, where over 3000 people are expected to gather for a yoga demonstration. Other Russian cities are also celebrating the day with enthusiasm. Vladivostok is expected to have more than a thousand participants in its progra

Image source- Internet Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz Stefan-Gady The U.S. Navy and Air Force agreed to jointly work on a next generation air superiority fighter with multirole capabilities and the ability to execute manned and unmanned missions, Kris Osborne over at military.com reports. According to Rear Admiral Michael Manazir, the U.S. Navy’s Director of Air Warfare: There is an opportunity to field an unmanned system in the F/A XX program. We are collaborating with the Air Force on the technologies that would be required to operate an air system that gives us enhanced capabilities in the future. The new aircraft, named the F/A XX, is meant to start replacing the majority of the United States Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircraft by 2035. The F/A XX is also intended supplement the F-35C Lighting II and the UCLASS unmanned aerial vehicle. U.S. military officials stress that the work is purely conceptual at this stage and that no pla

Sukhoi SU-35 ( Source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Aleksander Markin) Source- The National Interest Author- Zachary Keck Russia appears intent on selling China its most advanced fighter jet by the end of the year, a move that will greatly enhance Beijing’s ability to project military power in the South China Sea. Speaking to reporters at the Paris Air Show this week, Yuri Slyusar, chairman of United Aircraft Corp, a Russian civilian and military jet manufacturer, said his company is aiming to ink a deal with China to sell Beijing 24 Su-35 fighter jets. “Our position is that we still believe that we will sign the contract to sell 24 aircraft this year,” Yuri said, according to multiple Western defense news outlets. He added that the decision would have to be approved by the “federal service on military cooperation.” China and Russia have been in negotiations for years over the potential sale of the Su-35, which Moscow refers to as a 4++ generation multi-role fi

J-20 ( Source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Alexandr Chechin) Source- The National Interest Author- Harry J.Kazianis “Aggressive,” “coercive,” “antagonistic,” and “hostile” are some of the words various Asia-security experts have used over the last several years to describe recent Chinese foreign-policy choices. Such talk heated up dramatically in November 2013 when China declared—with no official advanced warning—an Air-Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea, a geographic flashpoint between various powers in the region. This unilateral action sparked intense global debate as to the logic of such a move, but also amplified larger concerns over Chinese intentions throughout the Asia-Pacific and wider Indo-Pacific regions. This essay, divided into several sections, offers a rationale for China’s ADIZ declaration, with an eye towards an even more important question: Will Beijing declare such a zone in the area of the South China Sea? This author believes