Experts Speak
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India joins ICBM 5000+ league
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
India successfully undertook the fourth and final test firing of the Agni-V today (December 26) from Wheeler Island, off the coast of Odisha. This is a wholly indigenously developed ICBM, which by itself is a gigantic achievement.
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Heart of Asia — Pak proxies named
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
In his inaugural address at the Sixth Ministerial 'Heart of Asia' Conference at Amritsar, represented by some 30 countries and international and regional organizations and co-chaired by Finance Minister of India and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the following...
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Visit of Israeli President — cementing ties
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
The eight-day visit to India in November by President Reuven Rivlin of Israel further cemented India-Israel bilateral relations. His visit was the first one by an Israeli President after 1996 when President Ezer Weizman had visited India.
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Coming — Armed drones
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
Pakistan tested its indigenous 'Burraq' UCAV last year and according to the Dawn quoting industry insiders, in 2015 China had offered to sell Pakistan its CH-3 UCAV, which can carry two laser-guided missiles or bombs.
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IA and PLA 'Hand-in-Hand' again
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
After a almost an eight year red-taped procurement procedure, the Army has got the delivery of 20,000 bullet proof jackets and another 30,000 are to follow. The Army needed 3,53,765 new jackets sanctioned as per a plan in 2009.
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Bullet proof jackets for Army — Trickling in
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
After a almost an eight year red-taped procurement procedure, the Army has got the delivery of 20,000 bullet proof jackets and another 30,000 are to follow. The Army needed 3,53,765 new jackets sanctioned as per a plan in 2009.
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Terror attack in Nagrota — What beyond?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
Pakistan-sponsored terrorists struck at two places in Jammu region of &K on November 29. In two major terror attacks, that rocked Jammu region on Tuesday, seven army personnel, including a Major, were killed and eight other security personnel, including a BSF DIG, were injured, before six heavily-armed terrorists were eliminated in the separate fierce encounters.
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Finally M777 howitzers through FMS
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
After almost seven years of discussion, trials and choosing, India and the US today inked a nearly Rs 5,000 crore deal for 145 x M777 ultra-light howitzers; India signed the Letter of Acceptance (LoA) on November 30...
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PM Modi's Japan visit — Historic nuclear deal signed
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Japan on November 11-12 may be termed the most historic as making an exception; Japan has signed a civil-nuclear cooperation deal with India.
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ISRO: Of Satellites, Moon and Mars
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
It may be recalled that on June 22, 2016, India launched 20 satellites in one go, which was the maximum ever by ISRO.
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Blacklisting Redefined
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
Since December 2014, media was reporting that a new government policy legalizing middlemen in arms purchases, a source of massive controversies...
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OROP: One-Man Judicial Commission
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
Politicization of the unfortunate suicide of Subedar Ram Kishan Grewal was indeed bad. The JCO's suicide note reportedly stated he was taking that drastic action not having been given the benefit of OROP.
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Internet of Things (IoT) and Dangers in Cyberspace
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
Much has been said in recent years about Internet of Things (IoT); it is coming, it has arrived or it is growing rapidly. But the enormity of IoT can be gauged from the one forecast that by 2030 there will be over 26 billion connected devices that would average to about six connected devices per each person on this planet.
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Xi Jinping — China's "Core Leader"
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
The Communist Party of China (CPC) has anointed President Xi Jinping as the "Core Leader" of China, which places him on par with Mao Tse Tung and Deng Xiaoping.
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Visit of Aung San Suu Kyi
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
Myanmar Foreign Minister and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi's four-day visit to India after attending the BRICS summit at Goa provided fresh impetus to India-Myanmar relations.
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Deriding military — Continues unabated
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
The latest attack on the military's ethos came from the MoD through the GoI letter number A/24577/CAO/CP Cell dated October 18, described by a national daily in talking about rank "equivalence" between defence officers and "armed forces headquarters civil service officers".
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Excalibur — Stopgap or final?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
It was only four months back (July 2016) when media reported that the Army junked DRDO's 5.56mm Excalibur assault rifle. Resultantly, Army's quest for a state-of-the-art assault rifles got been extended.
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Hand in Hand is Good — But what about Stab in the Back?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
Indian and Chinese army troops carried out a joint exercise in Eastern Ladakh on October 19, led by Brigadier R S Raman and Senior Colonel Fan Jun respectively
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India-Russia relations take next step
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
The recent meet between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Putin of Russia on the sidelines of the BRICs summit at Goa and the deals signed between India and Russia have silenced the critics that the Modi Government is putting all its eggs in the basket of America.
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Surgical strike in cyberspace
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
While the surgical strikes by Indian Special Forces in PoK on September 28 was heating up the digital media both in India in Pakistan, opposition parties baying for proof and Nawaz Sharif in denial till Ghulam Akbar, SP of Mirpur spilled the beans, surgical strikes by Indian hackers were also hitting Pakistan in cyberspace.
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Big ticket acquisitions — Overshadowing cutting edge again?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
As per media reports, the MoD is working towards seeking an annual hike of eight percent in terms of capital expenditure in the next decade...
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SAARC shuns Pakistan
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
Pakistan is blaming India for pulling out from the upcoming South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) meet scheduled to be held in Islamabad in November.
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Coming up — Israel type border fence
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
Post the visit of Home Minister Rajnath Singh to Israel last year and Pakistan's heightened hostility and persistent infiltration attempts, the government appears all set to install an Israel type of fence along our western border.
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Give more to private sector
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
During the second half of 1980's the Army went in for import of man-portable paratrooping parachutes from South Korea and Poland. Since the imports were done in bulk to make up operational voids there were no elaborate tests within India.
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New Long Range SAM
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
India successfully conducted the second test of the new Indo-Israeli surface to air missile (LRSAM) on September 20 from the launching complex - III of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur-on-sea.
