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

USS Lassen, DDG-82 underway ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / United States Navy) Source- The Diplomat Author- Steven Stashwick Baudelaire said the devil’s best trick was convincing us he did not exist. China’s best trick might be convincing us its claims over the South China Sea do exist. Official rhetoric about its “indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands” certainly sounds like a definitive Chinese position. And, of course, China occupies many islands in the area, its Coast Guard chases off foreign fishing vessels, and massive Chinese land reclamation projects provide new, persistent regional presence. But with the notable exception of the Paracel islands between Hainan Island and Vietnam, China has made no valid legal claim over the South China Sea. Instead, China’s official ambiguity appears carefully calibrated to produce international media coverage that proselytizes far more expansive claims than really exist. That popular narrative (like the p

Image credits- VOA Source- The Diplomat Authors- Satoru Nagao and Koh Swee Lean Collin The Indo-Pacific region has been fraught with maritime issues, including an array of non-traditional security threats, notably seaborne piracy and terrorism – two salient challenges highlighted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he addressed the valedictory function of India’s recent International Fleet Review. This warning came at an apt moment when regional waters have seen a recent spike in the number of piratical attacks and sea robberies. At the same time, the prospect of extremism and militancy spreading from land to the maritime domain constitutes a very real threat. But without a doubt, simmering tensions in the East and South China Seas have overshadowed reports of, say, pirates in regional waters. In the South China Sea especially, the situation has taken a turn for the worse. Between October 2015 and February this year, the U.S. Navy conducted freedom of navigati

Image credits-  Wikimedia Commons / NASA Source- Eurasia Review Author- Can Özcan and Xavier Quintana/ JTW In 2001, the Turkish National Security Council approved a decision titled ‘Establishing a Turkish Space Agency’, and a draft law will be submitted to the Turkish Parliament in the second half of 2016. What accounts for Turkey’s late entry to develop a major space program along with the independent capability to access space? Is Turkey on a path to address this shortcoming? If not, why? The politics of outer space involve planetary defense, asteroid mining, telecommunications, satellite projects, and the observation of Earth. The US-led Global Positioning System (GPS) is an integral part of space technology, whose function ranges from military survey and construction to farming, finance, and air traffic management. Russia, Japan and China are reluctant to be part of this system, and instead have followed their independent paths through the Glonass, Quasi-Zenith

Spike ATGM ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Dave1185) Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz Stefan-Gady India’s Cabinet Committee of Security (CCS), a government body headed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and responsible for military procurements, is ready for a final vote on India-Israel defense contracts and projects totaling $3 billion, The Times of India reports. The three pacts “should be cleared by the CCS within a month or so,” according to a source within India’s Ministry of Defense. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Israel for the first time later this year, at which time the final contracts ought to be ready for signature. The three deals include the acquisition of 164 ‘Litening-4’ targeting pods–targeting designation tools used by ground-attack aircraft—for Indian Air Force fighter jets such as the Sukhoi-30MMKIs,  and an undisclosed number of Spice 250 precision guided bombs with a standoff range of 100 kilometers (62 miles). F

Image credits- Indian navy Source- The Diplomat Author- Harsh V. Pant The Indian Navy underlined its growing prowess at the International Fleet Review (IFR) 2016 last week. Though it was largely a ceremonial inspection of naval warships by the Indian president, it provided an opportunity to the Indian Navy to showcase its might and rapidly expanding capabilities. It was in 2001 that an event of such a scale was last held in India and since then the Indian Navy’s participating contingent has only grown bigger, with 75 frontline ships and submarines in attendance, in addition to 24 ships and delegations from over 50 nations including Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, France, Indonesia, Iran, Maldives, the United Kingdom and the United States. Flagging the threat of sea-borne terror and piracy as two key challenges to maritime security and underlining the need to respect freedom of navigation against the backdrop of South China Sea dispute, Indian Prime Minister Nare

Source- The National Interest Author- John Hemmings The news last week that the U.S. defense budget will increase dramatically to face challenges in Asia and Europe came as no surprise. In many ways, one could argue that it marks the beginning of a new deterrence strategy by the United States, reacting to the rise of Chinese and Russian assertiveness: Force will be matched by force. Moscow and Beijing will be discouraged from picking off the smaller and less-capable members and allies of the West. Latvia will not become a new Ukraine. Chinese bullying in the South China Sea will remain just that, bullying. It is clear, however, that there is more going on here than simply the “rise of the rest” as was previously thought. There seems to be a new age of silent competition and geopolitics taking place. It is riddled with grand ambitions and grand stakes. In one corner is a fractured West, one-time victor of the Cold War, now exhausted by fifteen years of inconclusive wars

International Fleet Review-2016 ( Image credits- Indian navy)  Source- The Diplomat Author- Ankit Panda India’s Eastern Naval Command hosted the navies of approximately 52 countries for five days last week for the International Fleet Review. More than 100 naval vessels participated in the review, which involves a ceremonial inspection to showcase naval readiness among other activities. Warships and sailors from the Indian, U.S., Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Australian, and South Korean navies, among others, participated. The 2016 fleet review was held in the Bay of Bengal, off the coastal city of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Pranab Mukherjee, and Chief of Naval Staff R.K. Dhowan were in attendance. India last hosted an International Fleet Review in 2001 off the coast of Mumbai, with the participation of 29 countries. India’s naval fleet reviews occur once during the tenure of each president. This year’s review marks th

USS John Paul Jones launching SM-6 missile (Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ United States Navy) Source- The National Interest Author- David Majumdar The United States Navy’s fleet of Aegis cruisers and destroyers are getting a massive boost in lethality. For years, many believed that America’s mighty surface combatants were on track to be outgunned by their Russian and Chinese counterparts—however, a newly unveiled modification to the Raytheon Standard SM-6 changes of all of that. “I'm announcing today new capability for the SM-6. We're modifying the SM-6, so that in addition to missile defense, it can also target enemy ships at sea at very long ranges,” U.S. defense secretary Ashton Carter said at Naval Base San Diego in California on February 3.   “This is a new anti-ship mode. It makes the SM-6 basically a twofer. Can shoot down airborne threats,” Carter said. “And now you can attack and destroy a ship at long range with the very same missile.” Wh

Image credits- VOA Source- The Diplomat Author- Emil Sanamyan On his first visit to Beijing, then-Armenian defense minister Vazgen Sargsyan is said to have thrown the hosts into a state of mild confusion when he remarked that (paraphrased) “as we say in Armenia, together with the Chinese there is more than a billion of us.” Jokes and linguistic barriers aside, the comment reflected the main motivating factor behind Armenia’s outreach to China. When dealing with larger and often hostile neighbors, it is only natural for small countries to seek out support or, as a paper published by the Armenian government’s think tank put it, a “special partnership,” externally. The Caucasus, hemmed in by Russia, Turkey, and Iran, is particularly rife with conflicts. Armenia and Azerbaijan are engaged in low-intensity attrition warfare with non-existent bilateral relations. Turkey has largely sided with Azerbaijan and kept its economic ties with Armenia to a minimum. This leaves Armen