Experts Speak
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October 23, 2017
Swati Weapon Locating Radar - Good development
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)As Pakistan plunges more into the dungeons of terrorism and toss morals and ethics aside, its military is targeting more and more villages in cross-border...
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October 23, 2017
Modular bunkers - Define priorities first
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)According to media reports the Army is looking for Lego-like modular, portable, bullet and blast-proof bunkers to replace stone-mud-log and steel shelters as it secures the nation's frontiers against China and Pakistan.
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October 17, 2017
Visit of James Mattis — And Indo-US Defence Cooperation
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)US Secretary of Defence James Mattis arrived on a two-day visit at New Delhi on September 25 to hold talks with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. He is the first cabinet rank official under the Trump administration to visit India.
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October 17, 2017
The Rohingya Challenge
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The latest wave of Rohingya terrorist violence began on August 25, 2017, with multiple police and army posts targeted in Myanamr. According to one report in the early hours of August 25, 150 armed Rohingyas attacked 24 Police Stations and an Army Base in Mangdu district of Rakhine State of Myanmar that left 71 dead.
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October 17, 2017
The FICV Project — delayed inordinately
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Indian Army's quest for the indigenous future infantry combat vehicle (FICV) is in the news again with the US offering India development and production of armoured...
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October 17, 2017
China’s Airborne Brigades
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)During the recent 15-day competition of the International Army Games 2017 held in China during July-August this year, Chinese airborne troops won first place in 11 of the 12 events, winning the overall championship in the platoon level airborne competition.
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October 17, 2017
Border Rejig, Infiltration and Terroristan
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Recent media reports headlined 'Army changes tack, puts tanks at Akhnoor' describe deployment of tanks and armoured vehicles in Chammb-Jaurian sector of J&K that had witnessed pitched battles during 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars.
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September 20, 2017
Modi's Myanmar visit – And the Rohingya issue
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Myanmar on September 5 for a two–day visit on his way back from the 9th BRICS Summit at Xiamen in China.
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September 20, 2017
Border infrastructure – Execution is the key
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The Doklam standoff has brought into focus once again the poor infrastructure that India has. As on date, only 27 roads' (963-km) of the 73 strategic roads approved for construction (totaling (4,643-km) along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) over 15 years ago have been completed.
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September 20, 2017
Parrying ToT – US Defence firms spoof Make in India
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)It is well known that US firms Lockheed Martin and Boeing are bidding to enter the 'Make in India' initiative for supplying combat jets and military equipment to India.
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September 20, 2017
Indo-Japanese Strategic Partnership boosted
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Indo-Japanese relations have always been special. Even during the recent Doklam standoff, it was Japan's envoy to India Kenji Hiramatsu who said there should be no attempt to change the status quo on the ground by force; categorizing the crisis...
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September 20, 2017
Wonder Gun ATAGS – And charge of importomania
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The DRDO-indigenous private industry Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) has arrived on the scene with a bang. The ATAGS is a 155mm, 52-calibre gun-howitzer being developed on two parallel tracks – one prototype in partnership with Tata Power (Strategic Engineering Division) and another with Bharat Forge.
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September 20, 2017
Indo-Russian defence ties – Waning is misnomer
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Even as the armies of India and US are engaged in joint military two-week exercise 'Yudh Abhyas 2017' to hone their skills in counter insurgency and counter terror operations under a joint brigade headquarters at a military base in Washington...
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September 13, 2017
No Nonsense Approach of the New Defence Minister
By Lt General V.K. Kapoor (Retd)So while the enthusiasm of the Defence Minister to interact with the Service Chiefs is most welcome and is praiseworthy, we recommend that she should pay more attention to the Department of Defence Production, the Ordnance Factory Board...
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September 12, 2017
Various challenges facing the new Defence Minister
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Mrs Sitharaman holding independent charge of Ministry of Commerce & Industry did have an overview of the pathetic state of equipping of the military; the chapter on defence on official website of Ministry of Commerce & Industry in 2014...
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September 4, 2017
Lady at the Helm of Affairs
By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd)The challenges before the new Minister of Defence are formidable. Given her track record, the Indian armed forces are full of hope for better days ahead!
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September 4, 2017
Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman as Raksha Mantri
By Rear Admiral Sushil Ramsay (Retd.)Appointment of Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday, September 03, 2017 as the Defence Minister of India was welcomed as a refreshing news.
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September 4, 2017
New Defence Minister
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman has been appointed as the next Defence Minister. She is not the first lady holding this appointment since Indira Gandhi also held this portfolio, same as Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh Today. But she certainly is the first 'full-time' lady Defence Minister of India.
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September 4, 2017
President Trump's Af-Pak Policy
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Pakistan's has been playing the double game successfully all these years despite US and NATO military commanders in Afghanistan pointing out what the ground situation was; implying terrorist sanctuaries inside Pakistan must be destroyed.
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September 4, 2017
Visit of Nepalese PM amidst Doklam standoff
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's four-day visit to India commencing August 23 was his first foreign visit since assuming office in June 2017.
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September 4, 2017
Selective Military Reforms – Why not holistic?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Based on recommendations of the government-appointed Lt Gen D B Shekatkar Committee "Enhancing Combat Capability and Rebalancing Defence Expenditure of the Armed Forces", government has approved 65 of the 188 Committee recommendations mainly pertain to Army that included redeploying 57,000 personnel.
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September 4, 2017
Ignoring the Foot Soldier – Chronic malady
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)According to media reports, the Army is slated to get the advanced medium-range-surface to air missile (MRSAM) capable of shooting down ballistic missiles, fighter jets...
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September 4, 2017
Doklam Pullback – Advantage Modi
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)There is no doubt that the simultaneous pullback from the Doklam standoff by the Indian Military and the PLA is advantage Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Asia Times aptly summed up what India resolutely conveyed to China, "What's certainly clear is that India has no appetite for being pushed around by its increasingly hegemonic neighbor (China)".
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August 22, 2017
The Doklam Standoff
By Lt General V.K. Kapoor (Retd.)In all cases of boundary disputes between two countries, the sticking points evolve on the basis of historical records and differing perceptions of the boundary lines because of the inaccuracies of the old surveys and/or the mental conditionings of the people...
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August 21, 2017
Army to optimise robots
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)As per media reports, MoD has approved a proposal put up by the Army to "build indigenous robots" that are designed to deliver ammunition at targeted locations.
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August 21, 2017
Army's BSS – Still hiccupping
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Battlefield surveillance relates to the ability to obtain real or near-real time all weather picture of battle space. This encompasses human intelligence (HUMINT), technology related imagery intelligence (IMINT) and signal or communication intelligence (SIGINT) together with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).
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August 21, 2017
Apaches for Army Aviation – Long overdue
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)In September 2015, India had signed a deal for procuring 22 Apache helicopters from the US at the cost of Rs 13,952 crore for the IAF. Following this, the Army had sought government approval for acquiring 11 Apache helicopters as as "a follow-on contract".
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August 21, 2017
The Tank Biathlon fiasco – Need for introspection
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Naturally there was great euphoria when during the run up to the semifinal for the recent Tank Biathlon held at the 2017 International Army Games at the Alabino Range training ground outside Moscow, where the Indian team performed exceedingly...
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August 21, 2017
The Doklam spill
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Never had one heard of any military in the world stooping so low as to indulge in stone-pelting.
