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

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Credits- Vikramjit kakati) "Legends die hard. They survive as truth rarely does" : Helen Hayes This hold true for one of the greatest personalities of this century India has ever produced. The legend is no more. Remembering one of the greatest personalities of modern India, the father of India's missile program, former president, eminent statesman, thinker and a philosopher. The man who taught us to dream about the future. May his soul rest in peace.  We celebrate this great life with a walk though his life in this brief blog: Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam 15 October 1931 – 27 July 2015) was an Indian scientist and politician who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. Kalam was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and studied physics and aerospace engineering. He spent the next four decades as a scientist and science administrator, mainly at the Defence Research and Deve

Type-52 D class Destroyer Kunming ( Source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- 海防先锋) Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz Stefan-Gady The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) commissioned its second Type 052D Luyang III-class destroyer, the Yangsha, IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly reports. According to IHS Jane’s, the vessel was inducted into the PLAN’s South Sea Fleet in mid-July and will in all likelihood operate out of Yalong Bay naval base on Hainan Island. The first Type 052D Luyang III-class destroyer, Kunming, was launched in March 2014 and the Yangsha launched in July 2014. However, the vessel was commissioned a full 16 months after the Kunming, “suggesting an extensive program of trials,” according to the article. All in all, the PLAN plans to build a fleet of 12 Type 052D destroyers–nicknamed “Chinese Aegis”–before shifting production to the newer Type 055D multi-role cruiser. IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly further notes that “[e]arlier in July, the seventh

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons Source- The Diplomat Author- Chau Bao Nguyen The redeployment of a Chinese oil rig in the South China Sea (SCS) shows an inconsistency in the rhetoric and practice of China’s policy in the disputed waters. Together with its mass land reclamation activities, these actions are part and parcel of coercive diplomacy. It affirms China’s territorial ambition in the highly strategic sea. But is it likely to escalate into regional conflict? China’s Haiyang Shiyou 981 (HD-981) oil rig was redeployed in June after the 2014 dispute with Vietnam. This time, the rig returned at a crucial moment: just weeks before the first visit by the General Secretary of Vietnam’s Communist Party Nguyen Phu Trong to Washington. With a rapprochement that is leading towards a US–Vietnam comprehensive partnership, the meeting’s agenda also includes South China Sea concerns, to China’s annoyance. The move itself, announced by China’s maritime safety authorities,

Zubr class LCAC ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- United States Navy) Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz Stefan-Gady A host of Chinese landing crafts and assault vehicles were unable to breach the defenses and establish a beachhead on an island during a recent amphibious assault drill conducted in the South China Sea due to “effective measures” by the defending forces, Chinese Central Television (CCTV) lamented, according to defenseworld.net. All hopes of victory were lost until the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) decided to send in its newest weapon, the Zubr-class air cushioned landing craft (LCAC), a move that (surprise! surprise!) ended up turning the tide and winning the day for the assault force. “The CCTV report described the exercise as testing the PLAN’s ability to land an amphibious assault force in collaboration with other parts of the armed forces. Screen grabs from the report show what appears to be a PLA Type 99 main battle tank (MBT)

Image credits- Indian Navy Source- The National Interest Author- James Holmes Whither Indian maritime strategy? New Delhi reportedly wants to fit out a 200-ship navy by 2027, centered on aircraft-carrier task forces, a mix of conventional and nuclear-powered submarines, and missile-toting aircraft and surface combatants. That’s up from 124 by my tally. What will India do with a navy whose numbers mushroom by over 60 percent in a dozen years? It’s a fair and indeed vital question to ask. India would be far from the first seagoing nation to build ships for shipbuilding’s sake. Now, it’s important to preface any foray into naval matters with a caveat, namely that it’s crucial not to get transfixed by brute numbers of hulls. Big round numbers exert a particularly potent allure—witness America’s bid for a 600-ship U.S. Navy during the 1980s, and its struggle to maintain a 300-ship navy today. Anyway. Estimating the combat punch of a 200-ship Indian Navy requires observ

Jiaolong ( Water Dragon) AG600 ( Credits- Author) Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz Stefan-Gady After months of speculation China finally announced that it is has started to assemble the Jiaolong (Water Dragon) AG600 – the world’s largest amphibious aircraft, according to the International Business Times. The first airframe is currently being constructed at a facility in Zhuhai in Guangdong province. Final assembly should be completed  by the end of 2015 with a first flight tentatively scheduled for mid-2016. Government sources report that an order for 17 planes has already been placed domestically. As I reported before (See: “Will This Plane Let China Control the South China Sea?”), the AG600 is capable of landing and taking off on water (and land) and could make it easier for Beijing to press its claims in the South China Sea. Back in April, a defense analyst observed: Amphibious planes like the AG600 would be perfect for resupplying the new artificial

Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Credits- Heurik) Source- The National Interest Author- Anthony Fensom The risk of “Grexit” may have rattled financial markets, but for the Asia-Pacific region, an even bigger and closer threat is giving policymakers sleepless nights. Memories of Japan’s bubble-to-bust have been revived by China, which like its neighbor has enjoyed a massive stock and property bubble that is now rapidly deflating. And with the communist giant currently the world’s second-largest economy and major trading partner to most of the countries in the region, the fallout from China’s downturn could be extremely damaging, hitting sectors from commodities to property, curbing investment flows and likely dragging down the rest of the region with it. Comparing the prospect of “Grexit” compared to a China crisis, Bloomberg columnist William Pesek put it into perspective. “The world, after all, has had a few years to contemplate a Greek exit from the euro. B