Experts Speak - SP's Aviation

News Releases

Indian Army Launches Surgical Strikes along the Line of Control
By Lt General V.K. Kapoor (Retd)
Since 1989 Pakistan has waged an unrelenting asymmetric war on India which we call “Proxy War”. We have been dealing with the terrorists sent by Jihadi Tanzims like the Lashkar-e-Toiba or Jaish-e-Mohammed who have their home and hearth in PoK.
Beyond the Surgical Strike
By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd)
The Indian Army has now been given a free hand to take appropriate action against the enemy operating across the LoC from PoK.
India Responds to Uri Terror Strike
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
India executed surgical strikes against multiple terrorist launch pads-cum training camps in four sectors of PoK on night September 28-29. Post the Uri terrorist attack, Nawaz Sharif had shed the fake mask of friendship he had been showcasing in response...
Rafale Finally a Reality!
By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey
The Rafale combat jet packs a powerful punch that will be a potent force multiplier for the IAF and a deterrent for the Pakistan Air Force.
The Kashmir Imbroglio
By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey
In the last seven years, there have been as many as 20 major attacks of this nature in the State of J&K by terrorists groups sponsored by Pakistan.
Indo-Russian Strategic Partnership No reset required
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
Signing of the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) between India and the US has been a subject of intense debate in the media.
OROP and 7th CPC - Course correction required
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
It is quite apparent that civil-military relations have reached the lowest ebb with the military sick of being sidelined and continuously denigrated.
PM Modi’s Vietnam visit
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Vietnam on September 2-3 was special not only because Vietnam is India’s strategic partner and an important pillar of India’s Act East Policy, but also because it came at time of mounting tensions in the South China Sea (SCS)...
LEMOA, Balochistan and Chinese infirmities
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
A day after India and US signed the LEMOA during Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s three-day visit to the US commencing August 29, China’s mouthpiece Global Times came out...
Indo-Myanmar Construct good signs
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
In March this year, Myanmar got a democratically elected government after 57 years of military rule. On March 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated U Htin Kyaw on being elected as the first civilian President of Myanmar..
Missing Targets - bane of DRDO
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
Defence generally remains in the news in India for valid reasons. It was reported recently that the government procured 76,000 crores of defence equipment during 2015-2016. Of course this figure does not reflect what percentage of equipment deficiency of the forces was met by this expenditure...
Strengthening West Asian Ties
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
The recent visit to Lebanon, Syria and Iraq from August 17 - 23 by MoS External Affairs MJ Akbar has strengthened India’s ties with these countries as that part of the world continues to remain...
Scramjet Success - ISRO Blitzkrieg’s Space
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
It may be recalled that ISRO had to postpone its scramjet propulsion mission on July 23 on request of the military because the ill-fated AN-32 of the IAF flying from IAF Station Tambaram to Port Blair went missing the previous..
Triple whammy for Indian bureaucracy
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
If one hallmark of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent visit to India was targeting Pakistan for exporting terrorism, the second was Kerry lambasting the Indian bureaucracy...
Kerry’s Visit: India, US Focus on Pak Terror
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
Deliberations during the recent visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry is being hailed for delivering a blunt message to Pakistan, not to distinguish between good and bad terrorists...
Signing LEMOA and RM’s US visit
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
During his three-day visit to the US commencing August 29, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, India and US are slated to conclude the logistics exchange memorandum of agreement...
Treasure Troves of PSUs - something amiss?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
How many more shocks Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will suffer at the hands of his bureaucrats, shocking the public in turn is anyone’s guess. In March 2015, he made a startling announcement that India was paying the US Department of Defence (DoD) for new weaponry...
China: self-appointed NSG Policeman caught cheating
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
China, the self proclaimed Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) policeman has been caught, what may be described as with her pants down, violating NSG rules herself.
RM’s Independence Day eve broadcast - just routine
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
Raksha Mantri Manohar Parrikar’s customary message to the Armed Forces on the eve of the 70th Independence Day was broadcast over All India Radio.
SAARC Home Ministers Meet - Pakistan's prodigal bash
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
Turbulence at the recent 7th SAARC Home and Interior Ministers Conference was but expected simply because it was being hosted by Pakistan notorious for being the crucible of terror and continuing to export terror as an institutionalized state policy.
DPP - private sector awaits fair share
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
If anyone were to ask whether the Defence Procurement Policy (DPP) has been enunciated, the answer would be yes, but partially. When Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar first unveiled the DPP...
Adding Military Muscle - address foot soldier too
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
In a boost to the Indian Navy comes the news that India has signed a $1.1 billion deal to procure four more Poseidon-8I long range maritime patrol aircraft from the US, with the first to be delivered in 50 months.
Missing An-32 IAF medium lift aircraft
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
Tragedy struck on July 22 when an IAF An-32 on routine sortie from IAF Station Tambaram to Port Blair went missing. The aircraft had 29 personnel onboard; six-member IAF crew including two pilots, two Army personnel, eight civilians...
Visit of Japanese Defence Minister boosts ties
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani’s recent visit to India came post Malabar 2016 held in Western Pacific recently, in which Indian, Japanese and US Navies participated.
Pushing FGFA is good but much more needed
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
While India and France are reportedly getting “closer” to ink the 36 x Rafale deal costing some Euro 78 billion and there is talk also the air about American F/A-18 and F-16 and Swedish Gripen-E in contention for development under 'Make in India' project...
Disaster Strikes!
By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey
The one thing that is clear is that the disaster that has struck the aeroplane was somewhat sudden leaving the crew with no time to make a distress call.
China’s Strategic Airlift Capability
By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey
The traumatic reality for the nation is that the Indian aerospace industry has been left far behind in the race with its Chinese counterpart and the way things are moving, there appears to be practically no hope of catching up!
New MR SAM beefing air defence
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
On June 30, India successfully test-fired a new surface-to-air missile, developed jointly with Israel, from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, of the Odisha coast. Apart from the missile, the system includes a Multi-Functional Surveillance...
DCN Unveiled but how to Talk?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
Defence Minister Mohan Parrikar dedicated the Defence Communication Network (DCN) to the nation on July 1, 2016. While doing so, he complimented the three Services on putting...
BrahMos-Sukhoi: deep strike-deadly combo
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
Integration of the Su-30 MKI aircraft with the supersonic BrahMos missile and its successful maiden flight last month is a giant strategic stride that largely went unnoticed.
Tejas Inducted, Finally
By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey
After a wait of over three decades, on Friday, July 1, 2016, the Indian Air Force (IAF) was finally handed over by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) two Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk I in the Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) configuration to raise the first squadron of this type.
100% FDI in defence is good move
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch
Government has announced that FDI in the Defence Sector is permitted to 100% level. Till now, the FDI regime permitted 49% FDI participation in the equity of a company under automatic route. Foreign investment beyond 49% has now been permitted through government approval route, in cases resulting in access...
Foreign Direct Investment in aviation
By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey
As the Indian civil aviation industry is expected to become the third largest by 2022, it would be necessary for the government to have the right vision, planning and execution.