Category Archives: Great Power imperatives

A-5’s ballistic apogee

Posted on September 17, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

In the wake of the second Agni-5 launch, DRDO chief Avinash Chander confidently averred that India had an ICBM capability. On what basis did he assert this? Experts see it this way: the first stage fired for 90 seconds, getting … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Cyber & Space, Defence Industry, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Missiles, russian military, South Asia | 3 Comments

Great going A-5!

Posted on September 15, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Avinash Chander, DRDO chief and former head of ASL, Hyderabad, pronounced 2nd test firing of Agni-5 a success. He didn’t elaborate. But he must be particularly happy with several aspects. Firstly, with how well the second stage, 2 m dia … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Defence Industry, DRDO, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, South Asia, Weapons | 2 Comments

Thumbs up for A-5

Posted on September 14, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Agni-5 IRBM is expected to be fired a second time tomorrow from Wheeler on a depressed trajectory into the Indian Ocean. There are some important issues to consider about this missile. While it’ll eventually be an all-composite (kevlar) system, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Defence Industry, DRDO, Great Power imperatives, Indian Ocean, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, South Asia | 10 Comments

Obama — saving face

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

After all the heightened drama,war noises, and threatening talk emanating for the last several weeks from Washington of mounting punitive attacks on Syria for Damascus’ alleged úse of chemical weapons (CWs), President Obama seems all set to accept a so-called … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, China military, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, guerilla warfare, Missiles, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, United States, US., Weapons, West Asia, Western militaries | 4 Comments

Zubin and his Childish enthusiasms

Posted on September 8, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Zubin Mehta, conductor of perhaps the finest orchestra in the world, the Berlin Philharmonic, is happy he made music to bring solace to the people of Kashmir. Had he followed up with the kind of reserve he maintained in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, guerilla warfare, India's Pakistan Policy, Indian Army, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Terrorism | 5 Comments

Obama’s potentially appalling mistake

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

The US learns nothing from its wars, not from all the military disasters it set in train in this millennium — Afghanistan and Iraq that did little else but prepare the ground for the Islamist radical take-over. Yes, Saddam Hussain … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Cyber & Space, Defence Industry, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, guerilla warfare, Russia, russian military, Terrorism, United States, US., West Asia, Western militaries | 6 Comments

F-22 Downed (?) and US-Russian reset

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

There are conflicting reports about an US Air Force F-22 Raptor crashing in Jordan in the area bordering Syria. Whether or not such an aircraft was downed presumably by a Syrian S-300/S-400 anti-aircraft missile unit that Russia also touts as … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, Missiles, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, United States, US., Weapons, West Asia, Western militaries | 3 Comments

VADM RN Ganesh’s reaction to “India’s submarine production”

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Reproduced below is the reaction of Vice Admiral RN Ganesh (Retd) to my op/ed — “India’s submarine production”, published in the web version of the ‘New Indian Express’, Aug 23, 2013: ————— A very perceptive article that highlights the dire … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Defence Industry, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Military Acquisitions, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, South Asia, Technology transfer | Leave a comment

India’s submarine production

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

The Sindhurakshak tragedy raises many issues, among them, the danger of close-berthing of warships and submarines in the crowded Mumbai docks and the need urgently to commission the Karwar base to host most of the Western Fleet and take the … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Defence Industry, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Weapons, Western militaries | 17 Comments

Babu Vs. Leader

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Juxtaposing the addresses of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from the Red Fort and the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in Bhuj on the occasion of Independence Day, the differences and sort of leadership they provide could not have been … Continue reading →

Posted in China, China military, civil-military relations, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Politics, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Terrorism | 2 Comments