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

USAF F-15 Strike Eagle ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / USAF) Source- The National Interest Author- Kyle Mizokami For nearly three decades, the F-15 Eagle fighter was considered the undisputed king of the skies. Until the debut of its replacement, the F-22 Raptor, the F-15 was the U.S. Air Force’s frontline air superiority fighter. Even today, a modernized Eagle is still considered a formidable opponent, and manufacturer Boeing has proposed updated versions that could keep the airframe flying for the better part of a century. The F-15 traces its roots to the air war in Vietnam, and the inauspicious showing of American Air Force and Navy fighters versus their North Korean counterparts. Large, powerful American fighters, designed to tackle both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, were performing poorly against their smaller, less powerful—but more maneuverable—North Vietnamese counterparts. The 13:1 kill ratio American fliers enjoyed in the Korean War dropped

Agni-5 ICBM ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons ) Source- The Diplomat Author- Francis P. Sempa  On June 22, 2016, the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute released a 60-page monograph analyzing the major trends in India’s nuclear posture and thinking in the increasingly challenging geopolitical environment of the Indo-Pacific region. India’s Evolving Nuclear Force and its Implications for U.S. Strategy in the Asia-Pacific is the work of three scholars who have written widely on India and Asia security topics: Yogesh Joshi, a PhD candidate at the Jawaharlal Nehru University whose work has appeared in Asia Policy and India Review; Frank O’Donnell, a lecturer in strategic studies at the University of Plymouth at Britannia Royal Naval College; and Harsh V. Pant, a professor of international relations at the India Institute at King’s College, London. Their work is a timely and important reminder that recent events in the East and South China Seas, which domi

BRICS heads of State ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Author-  Roberto Stuckert Filho) Source- Russia& India Report Author- Nilova Roy Chaudhaury , RIR The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) calendar year is packed with more than 50 meetings across a whole range of sectors which are held in the run-up to the Summit of leaders from all the five member countries. The BRICS Working Group on Energy Saving & Energy Efficiency just concluded their pre-Summit meeting (July 4 and 5) in which they deliberated on how to increase cooperation in energy saving and energy efficiency within BRICS. During the deliberations, officials from India, Russia, China, South Africa and Brazil made presentations on measures taken to save energy, improve energy efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint Among the main areas of cooperation and a key objective of BRICS is energy cooperation through joint research and technology projects. The meeting was a foll

PLAN Submarine ( Image credits- VOA) Source- The National Interest Author- Lyle J. Goldstein One of the challenges of analyzing Chinese defense and foreign policy for Western strategists is that China often behaves quite differently than conventional paradigms for strategy development would otherwise predict. For example, Beijing’s focus on sea power development has been parsed in rather excruciating detail for well over a decade, but Beijing still wields just one (almost) operational, conventional aircraft carrier and a single overseas “support point” in Djibouti. That location, adjacent to the bases of several Western powers including the United States, hardly suggests aggressive intentions. But nowhere is China’s unique approach to military strategy as evident as in the nuclear strategy realm. It is true that Beijing’s initial restraint in creating its “minimal deterrent” during the 1960s and 1970s no doubt reflected severe resource constraints. However, there can

HAL LCA Tejas ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Defence19) On 1.07.2016, history was made when Tejas, India's 4'th generation combat aircraft joined the Indian Air Force after a protracted delay as part of the Squadron No-45 Flying Daggers . The project which was 32 years in making, but the years of investment has finally borne fruit. Made of composites, Tejas is the lightest combat aircraft in the world. Designed as a replacement for the legendary MIG-21 in the Indian Air Force Fleet, Tejas is in many ways more than a project for the Indian aviation industry. LCA project paves way for the establishment of the entire ecosystem of an aircraft design and manufacture, an art that was long lost when the designers of HAL HF-24 Marut left or retired after the project. Hence the LCA team had to begin from scratch. Coupled with crippling sanctions post India's nuclear tests which delayed the project.  LCA as a project can be considered as a success as there has not bee