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

PLAN Frigate ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Stekruebe) Source- The Diplomat Author- Steven Stashwick Early last Thursday morning, a Chinese Jiangkai I frigate entered waters near the disputed Japanese Senkaku islands, called the Diaoyu by China. The move sparked an immediate response from the Japanese government, which summoned the Chinese ambassador at 2 am to lodge a protest. When the islands were nationalized by Japan in 2012, incursions by Chinese ships and aircraft increased dramatically, from practically zero to sometimes several per day. This most recent incursion was unique because it was the first time China has used a naval vessel instead of a Coast Guard or other state ship to venture near the islands. One senior Japanese defense official said the warship’s presence meant “the level of crisis has gone up one notch.” However, both the frigate’s route and Japan’s response may actually have confirmed that Japan really has the upper hand in the Senkaku di

Israeli Elbit Hermes-900 UAV ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Matthieu Sontag) Source- The National Interest Author-  Alvite Ningthoujam Present-day Israeli foreign policy is giving considerable attention to the Southeast Asian countries, namely Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Myanmar. In the past few years, there has been a heavy traffic of high-level defense-oriented visits from both sides; as a result, military cooperation has received greater importance. The current state of political ties with the West has brought about this shift in Israel’s foreign policy toward the Asian region, particularly Southeast Asia. Defense relations with India and South Korea are visibly on the upswing, and economic relations with China are strong. As part of Israel’s “Look East” policy, equal importance is given towards strengthening ties with Japan. Although the extent to which both countries can advance their ties in the defense arena is uncertain, cy

Sukhoi PAK-FA ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Alex Beltyukov) Source- Russia & India Report Author- Rakesh Krishnan Simha With China having completed flight tests of its twin stealth fighters and commencing series production, India needs to show urgency in acquiring the PAK-FA stealth fighter. China’s J-20 jet has advanced to the eighth prototype and, after flight tests, is ready for regular production. The other stealth fighter, the comparatively smaller J-31, designed for export to customers such as Pakistan, is also ready to roll out. In its latest report to the US Congress, the US Department of Defence says these fifth-generation aircraft “could enter service as early as 2018” and warns that the new stealth jets could allow the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) to dominate regional skies. The Pentagon report of May 2016, titled ‘Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China’, says: “China seeks to develop t

F-35 ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / USAF) Source- The National Interest Author- James Hasik The Danish fighter competition is over, it would seem, as the parliament has officially approved a program for 27 F-35 Lightning IIs. As I noted last week, the purchase price remains indeterminate, so the Danish Defense Ministry may be seriously unprepared for the final bill, if it’s really taking seriously the source-selection team’s calculations. As I wrote earlier this week, it's hard to see how F-35As will cost to procure and fly than F-18Es. In Canada, the Trudeau Government seems sharply opposed to the F-35, strongly preferring the F-18E, and largely on cost. In the long run, though, it’s just possible that pursuit of the Joint Strike Fighter could be a low-cost option for air forces. Seriously—read on. As recently as this May, the Canadian Department of National Defence may have been wondering whether the F-18E would even be available. That’s one reason why Ot

Image credits- DRDO Source- Russia & India Report Author- Nilova Roy Chaudhury , RIR India has become the 35th country to be admitted to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), a major international anti-proliferation group of which Russia is a key member. India’s admission did not have to wait for the formal plenary meeting of the MTCR due in Seoul, (Republic of Korea) later this year. The current Chair of the MTCR, The Netherlands, took the decision after no member country raised objections to India’s membership. According to sources in the Indian government, this will help India and Russia raise cooperation in space technology. It will also enable India and Russia to sell the supersonic ‘BrahMos’ missile, which has a range of 290 kilometres, to third countries. India and Russia co-produce the Brahmos, in a joint venture. Such a development would raise India’s profile as an arms exporter. The sale of the ‘BrahMos’ missile was among the topics whic

Image credits- VOA Source- The National Interest Authors- Joshua W. Walker , Hidetoshi Azuma This year’s G7 summit in Ise-shima, Japan was full of spectacles worthy of arresting headlines, including U.S. President Barack Obama’s historic embrace of atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima on May 27th. Prime Minister Abe as host has enjoyed a considerable boost for his efforts as host and now is confidently heading into an upper house election on July 10th. Like most international summits, however, what lies beyond the headlines are the agreements made among leaders even if not declared in the moment. Much of what the G7 leaders was focused on was the creation of a joint approach to the global rise of revisionism led by China and Russia, who resent not being part of the gathering. The most consequential outcome of the two-day event on Japan’s idyllic island was the emergence of a new phase in the ongoing Sino-Japanese geoeconomic competition. It characterizes a global trend fo

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons /United States Navy Source- The National Interest Author- Dave Majumdar The United States Navy has started work on plans for a new family of warships that will eventually replace the service’s current surface fleet. These new warships will be tailored to address a future global security environment that is expected to be quite different from the one the United States faces today. “The Navy is working on the requirements for the family of ships that will join the future fleet replacing several combatants to include the first DDG-51 class ships,” said Lt. Kara Yingling, a spokeswoman for the Navy’s Surface Warfare Directorate (N96). “The Navy began a Future Surface Combatant Capabilities Based Assessment (FSC CBA) to identify a holistic common analytic basis for coordinated development of a future combatant shipbuilding strategy." While the work is currently in its preliminary stages, the Navy expects to start developing a set

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / USN Source- The National Interest Author-  Alexander Vuving What is China’s next big move in the South China Sea? Ask the experts this question and tally their predictions. The action that will get the most votes is likely to be the imposition of an air defense identification zone (ADIZ). Indeed, a widespread view among the South China Sea watchers is that China will sooner or later declare an ADIZ in this semi-closed maritime domain, where it has reclaimed thousands of acres of land to build long airstrips, high-frequency radars, stationed combat aircraft and long-range missiles. This view is undergirded by two assumptions. The first is that Beijing is willing to accept high costs, while an ADIZ will bring enormous benefits to China. The second assumption is that there will be a moment when circumstances raise either the costs for China’s rivals to retaliate, the benefits for China to impose an ADIZ, or both. Consequently, declaring