Arms

India has long striven for a three carrier fleet comprised of one carrier battle group stationed on each seaboard, and a third carrier held in reserve.

• Iskander Rehman
• June 01, 2010
• IDSA Comments

As an old fighter pilot, I would always pitch for a light, easily manoeuvrable, agile and relatively inexpensive fighter that delivers every time, generates high sortie rates and is easy to maintain and train on a day to day peace time schedule.

• Ramesh Phadke
• May 19, 2010
• IDSA Comments

China undertook a BMD test on January 11, 2010, which it claimed was an exoatmospheric interception. Though Beijing was known to be developing missile defence systems for long, there were very few indicators on how far it has gone in terms of technological prowess.

• A. Vinod Kumar
• February 25, 2010
• Issue Brief

China’s missile defence test could possibly up the ante in the region, with other regional powers considering measures in reaction.

• Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan
• February 01, 2010
• IDSA Comments

The military dialogue seems likely to remain suspended over the arms sales issue; discord over Iran’s nuclear issue may increase and more war of words may define the relationships between the two countries.

• Rajaram Panda
• January 25, 2010
• Issue Brief

To assuage fears, Japan might see merit to take India on board in the form of a naval cooperation framework to secure peace at sea. Developments in the past 4-5 years in India-Japan relations point towards that direction.

• Rajaram Panda
• January 05, 2010
• Issue Brief

The US Department of Defence has been contemplating whether to lift the ban on F-22 exports, the fifth generation stealth aircraft. This would mean that many of the US allies namely Japan, Israel and others might become interested in procuring the aircraft. For Japan it would provide much needed air superiority to the Japanese Air Force concerned at North Korean long range missiles and nuclear capabilities (even though the US has stationed a dozen F-22s at Kadena air base in Japan since May 2009). Israel would like to get the aircraft to launch any pre-emptive strike on Iran.

• Pankaj K Jha
• July 13, 2009
• IDSA Comments

The global defence industry has undergone serious restructuring since the end of Cold War. Military production has increasingly become concentrated in the hands of fewer but larger defence firms. The 1990s also saw mergers and acquisitions within the defence industry across the national boundaries. The resulting mega-defence firms especially in the United States dominate several sectors ranging from aerospace to shipbuilding to land systems, The European arms industry, on the other hand, has been under stress as the national markets are too small to support a heavily rationalised market.

• Richard A. Bitzinger
• July 2009
• Journal of Defence Studies

Is the French 4th+generation fighter aircraft doomed? This question must be anguishing people in Dassault and the French government. The Rafale has not won any contract in the export market since its entry into service in 2004 and is now apparently out of race for the MMRCA contract. What lies behind all these repeated commercial fiascos? The Rafale lost five major bids against its US counterparts in recent years: in South Korea (2002), Singapore (2005), Saudi Arabia (2007), Morocco (2007) and apparently India.

• Guillem Monsonis
• May 14, 2009
• IDSA Comments

True to its planned schedule, North Korea defied warnings from the international community on 5 April 2009, launching a rocket capable of reaching Alaska and Hawaii. As was expected, it stirred a chorus of worldwide criticism. Yet, the emergency meeting of the United National Security Council convened for the specific purpose of debating the North Korean issue remained deadlocked. China armed with veto power remained inflexible in its position and called for “calm and restraint” from the international community in an effort to “safeguard peace and stability of the region”.

• Rajaram Panda
• April 13, 2009
• IDSA Comments