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

USS Freedom ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ United States Navy) Source- The National Interest Author- Kris Osborn The Navy plans to deploy two separate long-range over-the-horizon missile weapons aboard its Littoral Combat Ship later this year as part of an effort to better arm the vessel and give it an ability to attack longer-range land and ocean targets than it is currently configured to do, according to industry sources familiar with the ship's development.  The Kongsberg-Raytheon Naval Strike Missile will soon deploy with the flat-bottomed "Freedom" variant LCS and a Harpoon Block IC missile will deploy on the Navy's trimaran "Independence" variant of the ship; the idea is to further assess each weapon in an operational setting as a way to better determine the ideal over-the-horizon weapon for the ship's future.  At the same time, the Navy is also weighing the prospect of arming the LCS with the emerging Long-Range Anti-Sh

K-9 Vajra ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / 권순삼, 국방시민연대 (Defense Citizen Network) Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz-Stefan Gady India has moved a step closer in acquiring 100 new K-9 Vajra 155 mm/52 caliber self-propelled tracked howitzers for the Indian Army. A contract between the Indian Ministry of Defense and the howitzer’s maker, South Korea’s Samsung-Techwin  (and its local Indian private-sector partner Larsen & Toubro (L&T), is expected to be signed within the next two months, an Indian defense official told Defense News. The defense ministry and L&T have completed price negotiations at the beginning of July. The $750 million deal, however, has not yet been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), a government body headed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The CCS’s approval is a prerequisite before the signing of any defense deal. IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly reported in early July that the contract is likely to be cleared by the C

PLAAF J-10 ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Author- 天剣2) Source- The National Interest Author-  Alexander Vuving Ever since China set up its first air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea in November 2013, a Chinese ADIZ has hung as a sword of Damocles over the South China Sea. The same day as China’s Ministry of Defense announced the establishment of the East China Sea ADIZ, the ministry’s spokesman proclaimed, “China will establish other air defense identification zones at an appropriate time after completing preparations.” Since then, official statements by both China’s Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs have never ruled out the possibility of a South China Sea ADIZ, saying consistently that setting up such an ADIZ is the right of China as a sovereign state. Adding to this suggestion, sources close to the Chinese military occasionally told foreign journalists that China had plans and was ready to impose an ADIZ in the

INS Viraat setting sail on her last voyage ( Image credits- Indian Navy)  INS Viraat hold a pride of place in the history of the Indian Navy. Joining the Indian fleet in 1987 as India's second aircraft carrier after her decommissioning as HMS Hermes from the Royal Navy, she played a critical part in the Indian Navy for over three decades. She was the flag ship of the Indian Navy until the mantle was passed on to INS Vikramaditya. INS Viraat was unique in many ways. She is the oldest serving Aircraft carrier in the world. She also has an illustrious carrier spanning well over five decades in active duty spanning from the Falklands war to the Indian Navy. As the Indian Navy prepares to decommission her in the later part of this year, an era will come to an end. As she is taken off the services, she also becomes the last carrier in the Indian Navy to have STOVL configuration which enabled her to deploy Sea Harrier jump jet. After her decommissioning, Indian navy is transitioning