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Russia unveils robots for the military ( Source- Russia & India Report, TATYANA RUSAKOVA, RIR)

Uran-9 robot combat systems ( Image credits- mil.ru Source- Russia & India Report Author- TATYANA RUSAKOVA, RIR Russia's ambitious Robotics 2025 programme (adopted in late 2014) aims to develop military robots for every environment; maritime, aerial and terrestrial. Roman Kordyukov, deputy Head of the Russian Defence Ministry's Research and Innovation Department, talked about the programme with RIR. Common technical requirements and standards are now being developed for military robots. The issue of import substitution needs to be resolved, testing grounds need to be established and effective cooperation between the defence industry and the end user of the robotics, the Ministry of Defence, to be organized. The existing new robotic systems are undergoing testing and, according to Sergei Popov, head of Russia's Robotics Research and Test Centre, will enter service in 2016. A Russian attack drone (light version) At an exhibition on robotic au

Washington’s Masochistic Saudi Alliance ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Ted galen Carpenter)

American secretary of State John Kerry with the Saudi Foreign Minister ( Image credits- VOA) Source- The National Interest Author-  Ted Galen Carpenter A major part of the current turmoil in the Middle East is the product of a regional power struggle between the Shiite and Sunni branches of Islam. Iran is the leader of the first faction and offers strong support to the Shiite-dominated government in neighboring Iraq. Tehran is also the principal patron of Bashar al-Assad’s “coalition of religious minorities” regime in Syria (which is led by Assad’s Alawites, a Shiite offshoot), and it is a backer of Shiite movements in Lebanon, Bahrain, and Yemen. Although Turkey has played a significant role on behalf of Sunni causes in Syria and Iraq, as a non-Arab power (and with a history as the pre-twentieth century colonial master), Ankara’s influence among Arab factions remains limited. Saudi Arabia, together with Qatar and other smaller Gulf allies, has been and remains the pr

Eurofighter Typhoon vs Dassault Rafale

Blast from the Past: Soviet-Era Tu-160M2 Is More Lethal Than Ever ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Dave Majumdar)

Tupolev TU-160 Black Jack ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Alex Beltyukov)  Source- The National Interest Author- Dave Majumdar Russia’s upgraded Tupolev Tu-160M2 Blackjack supersonic bomber is expected to make its first flight in 2019. Moscow currently has sixteen of the original version of the Mach 2.0-capable bomber, which are the last surviving examples of the thirty-five aircraft built by the Soviet Union before its demise. Moscow hopes to build fifty new Tu-160M2 aircraft to upgrade its aging strategic bomber force. “I believe that in 2019 this plane, upgraded and manufactured, will make its maiden flight,” Col. Gen. Viktor Bondarev, commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces told the Moscow-based TASS News Agency on March 2. Russia made the decision to extend the development of the Tupolev PAK-DA in favor of the Tu-160M2 in 2015. Serial production of the new Blackjack variant is expected to start in 2023. According to Russia’s deputy defense ministe

Iran Chabahar Port could replace Pakistan Gwadar Port - Pakistani Media ...

1000 Year Old Secret Drilling Technology Revealed - India

Meet India's Indigenious unmanned stealth bomber AURA | Stealth UCAV | F...

North Korea and the Logic of a Nuclear Asia ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Robert A. Manning)

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ Source- The National Interest Author-  Robert A. Manning Reverberations of North Korea’s recent nuclear and missile tests are still rattling nerves in an uneasy northeast Asia, one filled with new threats of nuclear annihilation from Pyongyang. This week, North Korean media reported that the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has instructed for nuclear weapons to be ready for use at any time. This comes as the specter of a North Korea with an operational nuclear-tipped ICBM raises anew questions about the credibility of the U.S. nuclear umbrella over East Asia. Pyongyang’s provocations have also torpedoed South Korea’s hopes of building a strategic partnership with China, shifting geopolitical dynamics in the region. Look no further than the overheated debate in South Korea over whether Seoul needs its own nuclear weapons to understand the precarious state of geopolitical equilibrium in East Asia. North Korea’s recent tests have put Sou

The End of U.S. Primacy in Asia ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Richard Javad Heydarian)

USS Howard, DDG-83 ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / United States Navy) Source- The National Interest Author-  Richard Javad Heydarian The world is steadily confronting the prospect of full-fledged Chinese domination in the world’s most important waterway, the South China Sea. America’s decades-long naval hegemony in Asia, as we know it, may soon vanish into thin air as a resurgent China reclaims primacy in the region. Though economically vulnerable, Beijing has lacked nothing in terms of geopolitical assertiveness. In a span of two months, China has dramatically redrawn the operational landscape in adjacent waters. China kicked off the year with a bang, conducting several test flights to its newly built airstrips in the Spratly chain of islands. This was followed by China’s decision to (once again) deploy a giant oil rig, Haiyang Shiyou 981, into Vietnamese-claimed waters in the South China Sea, just as Hanoi deliberated on a high-stakes leadership transition. W

China’s Coming Mass Layoffs: Past as Prologue? ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Shannon Tiezzi)

Image credits- VOA / Author Source- The Diplomat Author- Shannon Tiezzi China’s minister for human resources and social security has said that China will lay off 1.8 million workers in the coal and steel sectors, part of an overall plan to reduce overcapacity and streamline state-owned enterprises. Reuters, citing anonymous sources close to China’s leadership, puts the figure much higher, at 5 to 6 million in layoffs over the next two years. Beijing is aware of the risks such massive layoffs pose for social stability, and it’s already moving to control to damage. A Chinese official recently announced that the national government will set aside 100 billion renminbi ($15.3 billion) to help find new employment for those who lose their jobs to the restructuring. On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which begins its annual session tomorrow, assured journalists that the job losses would be “te

Gigantic US Navy Amphibious Assault Ship in Action: USS Boxer

Pak feared Indian Army's 'cold start': WikiLeaks

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India's Plan to Counter China's 'String of Pearls'

Indian Military influence and presence in other countries | Him Fact

Russia remains biggest arms supplier to India ( Source- Russia & India Report/ TASS)

Indian Army T-90 tanks ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Cell105) Source- Russia& India Report / Tass Russia continues to be the largest arms supplier to India with a total value of agreements exceeding 340 billion rupees (more than $5 billion) over the past three years, the Indian Defence Ministry said in a statement on Monday. According to it, the United States ranks second, with 300 billion rupees (about $4.4 billion) allocated from India’s budget on its military products from 2012-2013 to 2014-2015 fiscal years. Russia also maintained its leading positions in the number of defence contracts signed with India within this period of time. "From 2012-2013 to 2014-2015 fiscal years, 162 arms purchase contracts were signed, among them 67 with other countries, including Russia (18 agreements), the United States (13) and France (six)," the defence ministry said. In India, a fiscal year begins on April 1 and ends on March 31. First publish

The Strategic Significance of China's Woody Island Power Play ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Ashley Townshend)

Chinese PLAAF J-11  ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / United States Air Force) Source- The National Interest Author- Ashley Townshend China's recent deployments on Woody Island carry a larger strategic significance. Aside from being unmistakable signs of militarization, Beijing's actions highlight both the effectiveness of its strategic expansion into the South China Sea, and the dilemma Washington and others face in crafting a response. Reports last week that China has sent J-11 fighter jets to Woody Island came less than ten days after satellite images revealed two batteries of HQ-9 surface-to-air missiles had been deployed to the disputed island. While provocative, neither deployment is entirely unprecedented. Rather, they represent the latest in a series of incremental steps that Beijing has taken to bolster its strategic foothold in the Paracel Islands.  Since late 2012, China has been steadily upgrading Woody Island's port facilities, radars a

India and the South China Sea Dispute ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Abhijit Singh)

Malabar naval exercises ( Image credits- Wikimedia commons/ United States Navy) Source- The Diplomat Author- Abhijit Singh  The South China Sea (SCS) is witnessing a dramatic rise in maritime tensions. Last week, China landed two fighter jets on Woody island – a subset of the Paracel group of islands – just days after the PLA placed surface-to-air missiles at the same location. With a range of about 200 kilometers, the new HQ-9 missiles can target aircraft approaching China’s claimed spaces in the South China Sea. To add to regional worries, the latest satellite images of several of the Spratly Islands showed probable radar infrastructure, suggesting that the PLA may already have established full radar coverage over the SCS. Needless to say, there has been much speculation over China’s “strategic” intentions in the South China Sea. The act of placing missiles on disputed territory has been widely interpreted as a hardening of Beijing’s maritime posture – not just on a