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Quad Goes After China

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Quad Goes After China

The Quad is going after China. China now is the number one power in the world. Twenty years of mindless and pitiless war has left America enfeebled. No American now claims victory in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Sure the US is still a military power to be reckoned with, but the world has lost fear of it. Witness Iran

Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, terms the Quad as four great liberal democracies in the Indo-Pacific region. The Quad of course comprises India, the US, Australia and Japan. The first question to be asked is how the US is a democracy in the Indo-Pacific region. The US is a Pacific power and an Atlantic power, but it is certainly not an Indo-Pacific power even though it projects and pretends itself to be one.

The second of course is how liberal a democracy Japan is when it is still a vassal state of the US, with its defence and foreign policies being determined by the Americans.

The Quad is going after China. China now is the number one power in the world. Twenty years of mindless and pitiless war has left America enfeebled. No American now claims victory in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Sure the US is still a military power to be reckoned with, but the world has lost fear of it. Witness Iran.

Iran reportedly has at least fissile material ready in the basement for two bombs. It wants the crippling sanctions that the US has imposed on it to be lifted, so it wants to talk to the US. It will pretend that it doesn’t want the bomb. The US will try to suss out Iran’s bombs through inspections. But Iran is a much larger country than Iraq, where inspections brought up nothing, and has many nuclear sites, some known and yet others unknown. If Iran has the bomb, it will certainly not give it up. Checkmate the US and its allies – Israel and the Sunni Gulf states.

All the while America has been waging war, China has been busy beefing itself up. It has been building up Africa while importing raw materials from there. Made in America (and Make in India) have not really taken off because the Chinese have become the factory floor of the world. It seems like most anything you find in America now is built in China. China provides over a trillion dollars in loans to America. How can America think of waging war against China, or even trying to contain it?

Morrison’s Australia too is stuck with China. His country exports tons of material and other goods like wine to China. His economy too is hopelessly dependent on China. Out of the Quad, the only country that has real historical animosity with China is Japan, but it has to break the shackles of the US if it has to take on China.

What is India doing in the Quad? India is fascinated with anything America does. America wants to create a new enemy in China, so India must follow its example. India has a limited border dispute with China, nothing to fight a large-scale war over. For millennia, India and China have had amicable relations. Fa-Hien and Hsuan- Tsang were Chinese Buddhist monks who visited India about fifteen hundred years ago to gain knowledge of Buddhist scriptures. How can we even think of fighting with the Chinese?

Firstly, the Chinese are in much better shape than us in almost every sphere. India is the world’s biggest vaccine maker but it is the Chinese who have captivated the world with their vaccine diplomacy. The dragon sprints while the elephant continues to plod on.

The Quad is irritating China. In case war erupts between India and China, only Japan might join in. The white nations – the US and Australia – will stay away. Why? Because neither of them is in position to take on China. America is too enfeebled to take on the mighty dragon, and Australia is too small. There goes the Quad.

Why is India needling the Chinese by joining the Quad? Since long, India’s diplomacy has been to join any and every multilateral forum that will have it. It’s part of the G20. It wants to be part of the UN permanent security council as well as the nuclear suppliers group. Sometimes it seems that its foreign policy has just one single minded objective – to stymie Pakistan over Kashmir.

Note that in 2017 it joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which was founded by China and is heavily dominated by it. So while we have become part of an anti- China grouping like the Quad, we are also members of a pro-Chinese organization like the SCO. What kind of confusing diplomacy is this?

China now is the number one power in the world and India has much to gain by befriending it, and not vexing it. Foxconn, Apple’s long-term manufacturer in China, is now building Apple phones in India. Indian industry just doesn’t have the nous to rival Foxconn and build Apple phones on its own, so isn’t it welcome that Foxconn is moving part of its production to India? Foxconn is going to build the latest iPhone, the iPhone 12, in Tamil Nadu, and is likely to shift 7-10 per cent of its production capacity from China to India.

India can do so much to foster such deals with the Chinese, but that is only when it stops playing a double game with them. There is no harm if India has to play second fiddle to China for the next decade or two. Cooperation with the US for the last three decades has frankly not given us much. Working with China will give us much more. We must not let the US fire its guns against China over our shoulders.

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INS Arihant’s Nuke-Capable K-4 Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile ‘Ready To Roll’

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INS Arihant’s Nuke-Capable K-4 Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile ‘Ready To Roll’


NEW DELHI: India tested its nuclear capable K-4 submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), designed to have a strike range of 3,500 km, for the second time in six days on Friday. The missile test, as the one conducted on January 19, was undertaken from an undersea platform in the shape of a submersible pontoon off the coast of Andhra Pradesh according to a report by Rajat Pandit of TOI.

The solid-fuelled K-4 missile is being developed by DRDO to arm the country’s nuclear-powered submarines in the shape of INS Arihant and its under-development sister vessels. INS Arihant, which became fully operational in November 2018 to complete India’s nuclear triad, is currently armed with the much shorter K-15 missiles with a 750 km range.

“The K-4 is now virtually ready for its serial production to kick-off. The two tests have demonstrated its capability to emerge straight from underwater and undertake its parabolic trajectory,” said a source.

India has the land-based Agni missiles, with the over 5,000-km Agni-V inter-continental ballistic missile now in the process of being inducted, and fighter jets jury-rigged to deliver nuclear weapons. But INS Arihant gives the country’s deterrence posture much more credibility because nuclear-powered submarines armed with nuclear-tipped missiles are considered the most secure, survivable and potent platforms for retaliatory strikes.

Once the K-4 missiles are inducted, they will help India narrow the gap with countries like the US, Russia and China, which have over 5,000-km range SLBMs. The K-4 missiles are to be followed by the K-5 and K-6 missiles in the 5,000-6,000 km range class.

The 6,000-ton INS Arihant, which is propelled by an 83 MW pressurised light-water reactor at its core, in turn, is to be followed by INS Arighat, which was launched in 2017. The next generation of nuclear submarines, currently called S-4 and S-4*, will be much larger in size.





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After Upgradation, Sukhoi Su-30MKI Indigenisation To Reach 78%

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After Upgradation, Sukhoi Su-30MKI Indigenisation To Reach 78%


India has received clearance to upgrade 84 Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jets, which will result in 78% indigenization after the upgrade

In a significant step towards bolstering its military might with indigenously developed technology, India is poised to witness its Russian-origin Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jets evolve into a domestic platform. Speaking at a recent lecture.

The upgrade program is being led by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in partnership with the Indian Air Force and other partners. The upgrade is expected to cost US$7.5 billion.

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) granted Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for the upgrade. The upgrade is part of India’s efforts to improve the capabilities of its primary fighter aircraft, it refers to as the “Super Sukhoi”.

This initiative is a part of a larger effort by the Indian Air Force to modernize its ageing fleet. Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari asserted the critical role of an offensive air force as demonstrated in current global conflicts and emphasized India’s move towards an indigenized arsenal. To this end, the IAF has been proactive, from upgrading its Mirage 2000 to enhancing its MiG-29 fleet.

In summary, the IAF’s commitment to updating their combat forces with the latest technology, including shifting to fifth-generation fighter jets, ensures operational preparedness and a strong deterrence capability. The gradual indigenization of its air fleet marks a pivotal shift in India’s defence landscape, reducing dependency on foreign imports and fostering technological sovereignty.





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Akash Weapon System Exports For The Armenian Armed Forces Gathers Pace

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Akash Weapon System Exports For The Armenian Armed Forces Gathers Pace


According to unconfirmed reports, Armenia is a top contender for an export order for Akash SAM system manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL).

While there is no official confirmation because of the sensitivities involved, documents suggest that the order for the same has already been placed the report further added.
There are nine countries, in turn, which have shown interest in the indigenously-developed Akash missile systems, which can intercept hostile aircraft, helicopters, drones and subsonic cruise missiles at a range of 25-km. They are Kenya, Philippines, Indonesia, UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Vietnam and Algeria reported TOI.

The Akash export version will also be slightly different from the one inducted by the armed forces. The 100-km range air-to-air Astra missiles, now entering production after successful trials from Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, also have “good export potential”, said sources.

Akash is a “tried, tested and successfully inducted systems”. Indian armed forces have ordered Akash systems worth Rs 24,000 crore over the years, and MoD inked a contract in Mar 2023 of over Rs 9,100 crores for improved Akash Weapon System

BDL is a government enterprise under the Ministry of Defence that was established in 1970. BDL manufactures surface-to-air missiles and delivers them to the Indian Army. BDL also offers its products for export.

Akash Weapon System

The AWS is a Short Range Surface to Air Missile (SRSAM) Air Defence System, indigenously designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). In order to meet aerial threats, two additional Regiments of AWS with Upgradation are being procured for Indian Army for the Northern borders. Improved AWS has Seeker Technology, Reduced Foot Print, 360° Engagement Capability and improved environmental parameters.

The project will give a boost to the Indian missile manufacturing industry in particular and the indigenous defence manufacturing ecosystem as a whole. The project has overall indigenous content of 82% which will be increased to 93% by 2026-27.

The induction of the improved AWS into the Indian Army will increase India’s self-reliance in Short Range Missile capability. This project will play a role in boosting the overall economy by avoiding outgo of precious foreign exchange to other countries, increasing employment avenues in India and encouraging Indian MSMEs through components manufacturing. Around 60% of the project cost will be awarded to the private industry, including MSMEs, in maintaining the supply chain of the weapon system, thereby creating large scale of direct and indirect employment.





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