Category Archives: corruption

Who is the REAL defence Minister?

Posted on December 19, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

(Sitharaman and Jaitley) When Nirmala Sitharaman, ex-JNU, ex-Price Waterhouse Cooper, ex-BBC, was appointed Defence Minister by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, some believed it to be an inspired choice. Others were more skeptical, aware that as a junior minister with not … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, corruption, Decision-making, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Weapons | 41 Comments

Coincidence, or uncannily simlar developments at the India and US ends

Posted on December 13, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

  This post is being written a day before the final phase of the state elections in Gujarat. It is an election that is already giving the ruling BJP a fright and the results on Dec 18 may show Prime … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, corruption, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, Indian Army, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Politics, SAARC, society, South Asia, United States, US. | 28 Comments

Rafale canards are a problem, and will escalate total lifetime programme costs by billions of Euros

Posted on December 10, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

(Rafale) The Indian Air Force has a proud 70-year record of BONE-HEADED acquisition decisions. Among them (1) the purchase of the under-powered British Jaguar DPSA at the expense of the entirely indigenously-designed but supposedly “under-powered” Marut HF-24 Mk-II (aka HF-73) … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, corruption, Decision-making, Defence Industry, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Russia, russian military, SAARC, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Weapons | 19 Comments

What, Rafale as a nuclear delivery system?!

Posted on December 5, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

(Rafale) Indian Express first carried a story Sept 18, 2016 justifying the purchase of 36 Rafales announced in Paris by PM Narendra Modi  17 months earlier because of its supposedly strategic role as nuclear weapon delivery system, http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/behind-rafale-deal-their-strategic-role-in-delivery-of-nuclear-weapons-3036852/ . On … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, corruption, Culture, Decision-making, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian ecobomic situation, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 34 Comments

Litigating Tejas LCA’s quality & utility

Posted on November 22, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

(Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa in the Tejas) No pilot who has actually flown the indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft has had anything but the highest praise for the fighter plane. This includes two recent … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, corruption, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Relations with Russia, Russia, SAARC, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons | 40 Comments

Defence Manufacturing — Dawn of a New Era?

Posted on November 19, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

Panel discussion on the subject with Air Marshal NV Tyagi, former Deputy Chief of Air Staff, Behera of IDSA and self, broadcast on Thursday, Nov 16

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, corruption, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, society, South Asia, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons | 12 Comments

Modi govt writing finis to Tejas?

Posted on October 29, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

(FGFA) All work related to designing and developing the indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft and its variants, including the right-weighted naval Tejas, has come to a stop at ADA and HAL. The plan was for the air force Mk-II version … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, corruption, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Internal Security, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 42 Comments

Akula in a Chakra-vyuh?

Posted on October 8, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

(Nerpa) The Press reported Sept 4 about damage done to its sonar dome  as the ex-Russian ‘Nerpa’ — Akula SSN — INS Chakra — was making its way back to or embarking on a patrol from — it isn’t clear … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, corruption, Decision-making, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 18 Comments

Will India Ever Be A Great Power? Swarajya — extended interview

Posted on September 21, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

https://swarajyamag.com/defence/will-india-ever-be-a-great-power-heres-what-bharat-karnad-has-to-say-about-it If time is available, I suggest listening to the podcast of the interview in extenso in the above URL. You’ll avoid some of the mistakes in transcription that have crept into the published Swarajya version of the interview. ————– … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, arms exports, Asian geopolitics, Australia, Bangladesh, Central Asia, China, China military, civil-military relations, corruption, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, disarmament, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, guerilla warfare, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Indian para-military forces, indian policy -- Israel, Indian Politics, Intelligence, Internal Security, Israel, Japan, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, nonproliferation, North Korea, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, SAARC, satellites, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Special Forces, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Terrorism, Tibet, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons, Western militaries | 23 Comments

Carrier aircraft muddle (augmented post)

Posted on September 2, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

(Navalised Rafale) [This blog post re-published by BloombergQuint Sept 18, 2017 as “Personal Feud or Technical Flaw, why was Tejas rejected?” at https://www.bloombergquint.com/opinion/2017/09/18/personal-feud-or-technical-flaw-why-was-tejas-rejected ———– Trust the Indian armed services to make it difficult for themselves and the country at every turn. … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, corruption, Decision-making, Defence Industry, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 27 Comments