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

IAF SU-30 MKI ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons) Source- Russia& India Report Author-  Topwar.ru India has accelerated negotiations to begin the modernization of 194 Su-30MKI fighters, worth $ 8 billion, with Russia, reports the Defence News portal. The Indian Defence Ministry plans to upgrade the status of these fighters to 5th generation aircraft. The updated aircraft will be named ‘Super Sukhoi’. "The Russian delegation visited New Delhi in early July to discuss the modernization of the aircraft. The contract should be signed within the next four to six months," Defence News reported, quoting its source in the Defence Ministry. Why the BrahMos armed Sukhoi is bad news for India’s enemies The source said India was planning to upgrade 272 fighters in all and appeared confident that the programme "will not hurt the project of joint development of FGFA (fifth generation fighter aircraft) costing $ 25 billion”. However, retired Air Mars

USAF F-35 in flight ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / USAF) Source- The National Interest Author- Loren B. Thompson Fifteen years after development began and ten years after it first took flight, the F-35 fighter is operational with the U.S. Air Force.  This week's announcement of initial operational capability for the F-35A is arguably the most important milestone in the tri-service fighter's evolution, because the Air Force will buy over 70% of the plane's domestic production run (1,763 of 2,443 aircraft), and its variant is the version that the vast majority of overseas allies will acquire. (Editor's Note: The U.S. Air Force IOC announcement is anticipated for Aug. 2 - DM) So it is no exaggeration to say that the Air Force buy is the linchpin of the whole program.  Without it, the cost of Navy and Marine Corps variants would be prohibitive.  The economies of scale generated by purchasing three variants with high commonality to meet the future t

Credits-Internet image Source- The National Interest Author-  Harry J. Kazianis Over at the Washington Post, acclaimed columnist David Ignatius takes on the always tumultuous tides roiling the South China Sea. Ignatius points out the scope of Beijing’s defeat in the recent international court case brought by Manila, noting that while most that follow professionally this important part of the world were of the collective mind China would lose in some fashion, but no one (myself included) thought Beijing would lose so badly. Score one for the “rules-based international order.” But it’s what happens next that is key. And to be clear, China will respond — and respond with a vengeance. However, as Ignatius points out, at least for now, while Beijing has only stepped up the rhetoric and seems content to take selfies of its bombers over what could be its next island reclamation project in the South China Sea, the hotly contested Scarborough Shoal, China is not exactly i

Russian Air Force TU-22 M Bomber ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Dmitriy Pichugin) Source- Russia & India Report Author- Rakesh Krishnan Simha The Indian Air Force has a variety of specialised fighters, ground attack jets and multirole aircraft in its fleet, but a strategic bomber has never figured in its war plans. According to the Russian wire service Interfax, that could change as India’s Ministry of Defence has reportedly sought to buy four Tupolev Tu-22M3 maritime strike bombers from Russia. This isn’t the first time reports have surfaced that India is interested in acquiring this fearsome Cold Warrior – codenamed Backfire by NATO. According to the Federation of American scientists, “In December 1999 it was announced that India would lease four Tu-22M3 Backfire bombers, with the aircraft slated to arrive in India as early as June 2000.” They never did. However, the first time the Backfire was set to fly into the subcontinent was in mid-1971 when Russ

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