Indian Strategic Studies

22 December 2025

Indian Army Fast-Tracks AI-Powered SAKSHAM Procurement to Unify Real-Time Counter-UAS Ops in Tactical Airspace

Raj Basu

In a decisive move to counter the proliferation of aerial threats, the Indian Army has accelerated the induction of SAKSHAM (Situational Awareness for Kinetic Soft and Hard Kill Assets Management), a fully indigenous command-and-control system.

Developed in partnership with the state-owned Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), this advanced platform is set to revolutionise how the Army manages drone threats by creating a unified, real-time defence grid.

Securing the Tactical Battlefield SpaceThe procurement marks a strategic shift in the Army's operational philosophy, specifically targeting the newly defined Tactical Battlefield Space (TBS).

While traditional surveillance focused on higher altitudes, the TBS concept prioritises the "Air Littoral"—the airspace extending up to 3,000 metres (approximately 10,000 feet) above the ground.

This zone has increasingly become the preferred domain for loitering munitions, quadcopters, and other low-flying unmanned systems in modern conflicts.

Gaps In The Military Officers Selection Process

COLONELS SHASHANK RANJAN & D.K.RAWAL

In serving the nation during crises situations of various kinds, our Armed Forces have stood the test of time by coming out with flying colours through their dedicated performance. The leadership provided by the officers in our military has always been exemplary and provides the foundation to how the unit functions. Intermittently however, cases of mis-conduct on part of military officers come to light; aptly viewed as aberrations. Few such examples in the recent past are death of two cadets at the National Defence Academy (NDA) in the month of October 25 by alleged suicide and the dismissal of an officer on the charges of ‘refusal to attend the religious functions of the troops', a normative practice for the officers towards upholding the cohesion and integrity of the outfit being led. Also Read - US Presidential Pardon Made “Destructive And Arbitrary” The larger question that deserves attention is, ‘have the Psychologists at the Services Selection Boards (SSB) erred in their assessment?’. The cases flagged have triggered concern and widespread media commentary by analysts and veterans. While endeavouring to address the roots of the challenge, few analysts suggest that certain behavioural tendencies may not have been detected and escaped verification during the selection process by the military's SSB.

China's 'mother of all dams' project keeps region on edge; India eyes mega counterplan

China’s plan to build a $168 billion hydropower system, also known as the “mother of all dams”, on Yarlung Tsangpo remains shrouded in secrecy due to lack of transparency around the project and widespread concerns in India about the potential weaponisation of water.

In a detailed report, the CNN highlighted how the lack of transparency around the dam, dubbed as an engineering marvel by China, is causing unease in neighbouring India, which has already expressed its concerns and said that it is closely monitoring the construction. China’s project is on the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet, which becomes the Brahmaputra downstream.

The report said that the dam, which will be the world's most powerful, is part of President Xi Jinping’s ambitious infrastructure expansion plan with an eye on boosing national security. It appears that Beijing not only wants to ramp up energy supply but also tighten control along the India border amid recent tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The Weakness of the Strongmen

Stephen Kotkin

Not long ago in the sweep of history, countries that had once been buried behind the Iron Curtain, and even some Soviet republics, were transformed into members of the solidly democratic club. Some of those that weren’t, such as Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan, experienced mass revolts against rigged elections and corrupt misrule amid widespread public yearning to join the West. Free trade was again celebrated as an instrument of peace; Kant’s “democratic peace theory” enjoyed a revival.

Western democracy promotion, inept as it could be, struck fear into authoritarian corridors of power. Ever-shriller authoritarian denunciations of supposed Western conspiracies to foment “color revolutions” seemed to confirm a direction toward democracy. In the early 2010s, spontaneous uprisings rocked the heavily autocratic Middle East and North Africa. Hopes for political loosening persisted in the stubborn holdouts of China, Iran, and Russia. Large-scale demonstrations had broken out in Iran in 2009 and, in 2011–12, similar protests accompanied Vladimir Putin’s announcement that he would return to the Russian presidency after a brief stint as prime minister. Many clung to what they considered signs that Xi Jinping, who rose to become China’s top leader in 2012, would be a reformer.

Top 10 Fault Lines China Can’t Acknowledge (But You Should Watch Closely)

Erika Lafrennie

Most assessments of China focus on what Beijing chooses to display. The speeches. The numbers. The theatrical unity. Yet political systems reveal more through what they cannot name. Silence often carries more information than any public declaration.

China enters 2026 with outward confidence. The narrative is unified. The posture is controlled. The performance is polished. Beneath that surface sits a set of fractures that shape the system from within. These fractures weaken China’s ability to adapt. They distort how it interprets events. They increase the likelihood of sudden shifts.

Beijing uses silence to sustain the illusion of systemic control. But that silence creates blindness. Leaders can’t address problems they refuse to name. The performance of strength becomes a source of weakness. What Beijing refuses to acknowledge becomes what’s most likely to break under pressure.

Netanyahu: ‘There will not be a Palestinian state,’ even at cost of ties with Saudis

Nava Freiberg

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives an interview to the Abu Ali Express Telegram channel, which aired November 20, 2025. (Abu Ali Express screenshot/Telegram)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that there will not be a Palestinian state, even at the cost of normalization with Saudi Arabia, during an interview aired on Thursday evening.

“There will not be a Palestinian state. It’s very simple: it will not be established,” the premier said in the wide-ranging interview with Abu Ali Express, a popular local Telegram channel.

Asked by the interviewer if his opposition holds even if it jeopardizes normalization with Riyadh — which insists on a credible pathway to Palestinian statehood in exchange for such ties – Netanyahu said: “The answer is: a Palestinian state will not be established. It is an existential threat to Israel.”

Asked about what has prevented normalization with the Saudis, Netanyahu said the war in Gaza strained progress, but that “the conditions could develop” now that the war is winding down.

“But the conditions must be acceptable to both sides – terms that are good for both sides,” he said. “I know how to stand firm on our essential conditions and not endanger our security. And if this process ripens later on, excellent. And if not, we will safeguard our vital interests.”

The UK Royal Navy’s future – hybrid high stakes

Nick Childs

A change of course

Most major Western navies are grappling with the dawning realisation that they need a course correction to address developing threats at sea and the accelerating pace of technological change. The operational lessons from the Black Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, continuing resource constraints (despite some promised budget hikes), personnel bottlenecks and industrial-capacity issues mean that simply regrowing naval capabilities in a traditional sense is not an option. Navies will have to do things differently from now on.

The First Sea Lord also underscored the urgency of changing course and that he is on a four-year mission to deliver a renewed war-fighting capability by 2029, known as the Warfighting Ready Plan 2029. That sense of urgency, again, is a common theme among NATO members.

Supply-chain resilience: the foundation of economic security

Dr Maria Shagina

Supply-chain resilience has moved from being a technical concern to the backbone of economic security. As pandemics, wars and export controls expose dangerous dependencies, Western governments are racing to map supply-chain vulnerabilities, rebuild economic resilience and rethink cooperation in an era of weaponised interdependence.

The principle that economic security is national security is now widely accepted among Western policymakers. What is only just beginning to sink in, however, is that supply chain resilience is the foundation of economic security. The COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and China’s weaponisation of export controls have collectively exposed the fragility of global supply chains. In just five years, the concept of supply-chain resilience has shifted from being a niche, technocratic notion to a central pillar of modern geo-economics.

What once seemed efficient, just-in-time systems optimised for cost and speed are now recognised as potential vectors of coercion and disruption. Without mapping where vulnerabilities lie, governments remain ill-equipped not only to manage disruptions but to anticipate them.

Universities, Patents, and the Future of U.S. Competitiveness

Shruti Sharma and Chris Borges

Universities are among the most powerful engines of U.S. innovation, transforming federal research investments into scientific discoveries that underpin economic growth, technological leadership, and national security. Current law, via the Bayh-Dole Act, allows universities to patent inventions and license them to private companies, with royalties shared between the university and the inventors. In this way, universities are incentivized to accelerate the commercialization of federally funded discoveries made in their labs, fostering innovative start-ups, stimulating regional economic growth and jobs, and creating new competitive products and services.

Yet this fundamental driver of U.S. innovation is increasingly under strain. Already, federal support for basic research is in a decades-long decline. Now, the Department of Commerce is reportedly exploring a “patent tax” and new profit-sharing mechanisms for federally funded university research—proposals that have the potential to harm the very system that translates government investments in scientific research into lasting economic growth and competitive advantage.

Questions to Ask After a Terrorist Attack

Daniel Byman

Terrorist attacks and plots have dominated headlines in the last week. In Sydney, Australia, two gunmen killed 15 people at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on December 14. The same day, a gunman—currently on the loose—killed two students at Brown University in Rhode Island. A day later, the FBI announced the arrest of what it claimed were four pro-Palestine, left-wing terrorists who planned to bomb multiple targets in California on New Year’s Eve. Less noticed, on Saturday, a gunman shot over 20 bullets into a Hanukkah-decorated home in Redlands, California, and shouted “fuck Jews.”

The immediate aftermath of one such attack, let alone such a large number over one weekend, is marked by shock, grief, anger, and profound uncertainty. In those first hours and days, there is little that can or should be done to blunt the emotional impact of violence deliberately designed to horrify. Yet the confusion that follows often compounds the harm. Misinformation is common, particularly on social media. Rumor spreads faster than verified information; speculation outpaces evidence; and early media narratives—however tentative—can influence perceptions of the event and terrorism in general, even if mainstream sources debunk the false information.

Is the Ukraine War Nearly Over?

Georgia Gilholy

MiG-29 Fighter. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Key Points and Summary – Volodymyr Zelenskyy says up to five draft peace documents for Ukraine are nearly complete, including proposals for long-term U.S.-backed security guarantees that stop short of NATO membership.

-Washington and key European capitals describe their Berlin talks as productive, claiming most disagreements with Kyiv are resolved.

Neptune Missile. Image Credit: Government of Ukraine.

-Yet Russia, not present at the table, has signaled little interest, insisting on recognition of its occupied territories and rejecting NATO troops in Ukraine.

-A floated idea to turn parts of Donbas into a demilitarized “free economic zone” has angered Zelenskyy and clashes with Ukraine’s constitution.

U.S. and China Are Headed for an AI Collision

Oren Etzioni

Trump and Xi Are Talking — But the U.S. and China Are Headed for an AI Collision

President Trump spoke by phone to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on Monday November 24 and later posted on Truth Social, “Our relationship with China is extremely strong!” The warm feelings from Washington came on the heels of the two leaders holding a productive meeting in Korea recently and scheduling several more get-confabs for the year ahead.

But bubbling beneath the surface is a rivalry between the two countries over the most vital technology of the 21st century: artificial intelligence.

To understand the rivalry, consider a recent announcement by the U.S. Justice Department: on November 20, it charged two Americans, and two Chinese nationals, with a conspiracy to illegally export about 400 high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs) to China. Federal law requires that a license be secured for export of these technologies, which can be used to develop and strengthen AI.

Billy Mitchell: Lessons a Hundred Years Hence

Jason Korman and Brig. Gen. John Teichert, USAF (Ret.)

Exactly 100 years ago, on Dec. 17, 1925, Brig. Gen. Billy Mitchell was convicted by court-martial for violating an order that required approval before he could engage with the media. Ironically, his conviction grounded him on the 22nd anniversary of the Wright Brothers first flight.

Mitchell’s provocative thoughts and unorthodox methods sought attention for a cause that he saw as uniquely American. In his mind, airpower would be “the determining factor in international competitions, both military and civilian.” Thus, he knew that its promotion was vital to national security.

In preparing to publish “Mitchell’s Winged Defense: The Development and Possibilities of Modern Air Power, Economic and Military,” his publishers recommended that he back off from his more flamboyant claims and radical concepts. They feared it would hurt his book sales. Mitchell didn’t care, saying he wanted his writings to be read and relevant “a hundred years hence.” They are!

Upcoming Spectrum Changes To Affect Military Users

Allyson Park

The Trump administration is seeking to make parts of the wireless spectrum previously reserved for the federal government available for commercial use, and it will require close collaboration between industry and agencies like the Defense Department to make it happen, experts said recently.

Federal spectrum refers to the portion of the electromagnetic radio frequency spectrum used by the U.S. government for the exclusive or shared use of federal agencies, and it is managed by the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, or NTIA. The Federal Communications Commission manages all non-federal spectrum.

Spectrum policy is not just a commercial issue, it’s “fundamentally” a national security imperative, said Matt Pearl, director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act mandated that the federal government make available at least 800 megahertz of spectrum, including at least 500 megahertz of spectrum currently allocated for federal users that will be reallocated toward primary or shared “full-power commercial licensed use cases” by July 2029

Modern Generals and Selfish Service

Modern generals like to say they serve their country. Increasingly, they serve their own legacy.

They don’t always start that way. Most of them come up the hard way: sand in their teeth, rotor wash in their eyes, the metallic taste of fear on patrols they are too young to fully understand. They remember the platoon leader who bled out in the medevac helicopter, the interpreter who disappeared after a raid, the mother at a checkpoint who screamed over a dead child. At that stage of a career, legacy is a luxury. Survival and competence are the only currencies that matter.

But something happens as they rise.

The war moves further away, even if they’re still flying into theaters and walking flight lines. The meetings get larger, the rooms get nicer, the words more abstract: “effects,” “lethality,” “gray zone,” “near-peer competitor,” “strategic messaging.” At the rank where your collar carries stars, every decision comes with a quiet, unspoken question:

RUSI Expert Urges India to Reassess S-400 Vulnerabilities Amid Ukraine War Lessons and Drone Threats

Raghav Patel

In a frank evaluation that may prompt serious discussions within the Indian military establishment, Jack Watling, a leading expert on land warfare at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), has advised India to urgently re-evaluate the combat resilience of the Russian S-400 air defence system.

His comments come amidst growing evidence from the Ukraine conflict regarding the system's performance against modern, high-intensity aerial threats.

Speaking to The Hindu, Watling, who has extensive experience advising Ukrainian forces and briefing NATO allies, stopped short of suggesting India should cancel its existing contracts with Russia.

However, he emphasized that the S-400’s operational record in Ukraine has exposed significant weaknesses that marketing claims can no longer hide.

Contrasting Experiences: Operation Sindoor vs. UkraineWatling acknowledged that the S-400 has served India well during limited engagements, specifically referencing its deployment during "Operation Sindoor."

During this operation—launched in response to the Pahalgam terror attack in 2025—the system reportedly provided a credible deterrent against Pakistani aerial assets.

The Deterrence Facade

Kevin Spillman

This article argues that Operation Southern Spear should not be mistaken for an exercise in deterrence. It posits the current administration is using “securitization” – reframing drug trafficking as an existential “narco-terrorist” threat – to legitimize extraordinary military measures and pursue the unstated political objective of regime change and ultimately, regional hegemony. The article concludes that this high-risk approach is strategically counterproductive, as it abandons the rule of law and creates a self-fulfilling prophecy that will drive Latin American nations toward U.S. adversaries.

Last month, a Navy rear admiral visited a group of junior officers to discuss the state of the fleet and answer their questions. Unsurprisingly, one of the first questions raised concerned the legality and ethical considerations of the Navy’s new, aggressive actions in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. The admiral, clearly practiced in his response, explained that this operation was a textbook case of deterrence theory, one deemed both legal and necessary. His use of the term ‘deterrence’ not only melded nicely with the current administration’s messaging of Peace Through Strength, but it supported the longstanding U.S. strategy of defending the homeland and deterring attacks, rather than seeking to escalate or provoke confrontation (the concept remains the backbone of the current National Defense Strategy, penned by former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin). Many in the crowd nodded along, accepting the answer at face value, while others remained skeptical.

The New Arms Race: Global Drone Dominance and America’s Tactical Wake-Up Call

Bill Edwards

Are we truly learning lessons from recent major conflict zones and applying them to doctrine, training, and technological or material solutions? Beyond isolated innovations, are we considering the broader ecosystem of unmanned systems (UxS), which now dominate the modern battlefield?

The war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year, has inflicted immense human suffering but has also reshaped global perspectives on warfare. Lessons emerging from Ukraine and Gaza are rapidly influencing tactics across Southeast Asia, Africa, Central America, and South America. Alarmingly, Mexican cartels—just across our southern border—have sent fighters to Ukraine and are now deploying evolved tactics rooted in internal violence.

These are the questions every Department of War leader should be asking, even at the tactical level. The global UxS ecosystem demands holistic consideration, as modern conflict shows drones and robotics fundamentally altering the character of war. Ukraine’s UxS evolution has been rapid, adaptive, and driven at the tactical edge. Its model of distributed innovation and networked communications is worth tracking closely for applications in counter-UAS challenges that must account for autonomy, electronic warfare, and mesh networking.

U.K. Spy Chief Warns of Acute Russia Threat: The ‘Frontline is Everywhere’

Mark Landler

The new spymaster of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service warned on Monday that Russia posed an “acute threat” to the West, plotting arson and sabotage operations, assassinations, and cyber and drone attacks across Europe.

“The new frontline is everywhere,” said the chief, Blaise Metreweli, who in October became the first woman to lead the agency, known as MI6, after a career as an intelligence agent. “The export of chaos is a feature, not a bug, in the Russian approach to international engagement,” she said.

In her inaugural speech at the MI6 headquarters, Ms. Metreweli struck an unapologetically dark tone, describing a “new age of uncertainty” in which Russia and other hostile powers use a battery of weapons, from cyber technology to disinformation, to sow discord and disrupt Western democratic societies.

In such a world, Ms. Metreweli said, intelligence agencies need to harness A.I. and other technologies to fight back, by striking alliances in the “wider tech ecosystem” and changing the mentality of intelligence agents.

What Would An Insurgency In Venezuela Look Like?

“Information technology is expected to make a thousandfold advance over the next 20 years. In fact, the pace of development is so great that it renders our current materiel management and acquisition system inadequate. Developments in information technology will revolutionize-and indeed have begun to revolutionize-how nations, organizations, and people Interact. The rapid diffusion of information, enabled by these technological advances, challenges the relevance of traditional organizational and management principles. The military implications of new organizational sciences that examine internetted, nonhierarchical versus hierarchical management models are yet to be fully understood. Clearly, Information Age technology, and the management Ideas It fosters, will greatly Influence military operations in two areas – one evolutionary, the other revolutionary; one we understand, one with which we are just beginning to experiment. Together, they represent two phenomena at work in winning what has been described as the information war – a war that has been fought by commanders throughout history.”

The quotation above was written in 1994. During this period, the Army attempted to marshal its resources to prepare for the future operating environment in anticipation of the information age. While Force XXI Operations correctly identified the characteristics of the information age and the need for adaptation, the Global War on Terror blindsided the United States and interrupted this effort. Now, 31 years later, the U.S.’s adversaries effectively retain the capabilities to outcompete it in the information environment (IE), as seen in modern conflict and within strategic competition. In response, the U.S. military must adapt now to ensure future relative advantages across competition, crisis and armed conflict.

Invading Venezuela: The One-Word Reason America Won't Do It

Steve Balestrieri

Key Points and Summary – A U.S. ground invasion of Venezuela is highly unlikely—but if it happened, the real war would start after Maduro fell.

-Expert Steve Balestrieri argues that America’s poor track record in counterinsurgency, from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan, would collide with Venezuela’s size, dense cities, and fractured politics.

A U.S. Army M1A3 Abrams Tank from the 1-12 Cavalry Squadron, 1st Cavalry Division waiting to be guided onto a loading vehicle and secured for transport at the Port of Agadir, June 3, 2022, Agadir, Morocco. African Lion 2022 is U.S. Africa Command’s largest, premier, joint, annual exercise hosted by Morocco, Ghana, Senegal and Tunisia, June 6 – 30. More than 7,500 participants from 28 nations and NATO train together with a focus on enhancing readiness for U.S. and partner nation forces. AL22 is a joint all-domain, multi-component and multinational exercise, employing a full array of mission capabilities with the goal to strengthen interoperability among participants and set the theater for strategic access. (U.S. Army photo by PFC Donald Franklin)

Japan’s Strategic Challenges: Historical Lessons and the Imperative for Comprehensive War Understanding

Ryota Akiba

Japan stands at a strategic crossroads. Eighty years after World War II, the country still orients its security identity around pacifism and emotional memory—an inheritance that once stabilized the nation but now risks constraining it. Japan ranks among the world’s top five economies and is the United States’ most important ally in the region—an indispensable pillar in maintaining a free and open international order. Geographically, it sits in close proximity to China, the Korean Peninsula, and Russia, and hosts over 55,000 US troops, making it central to regional deterrence and rapid response capabilities. In an Indo-Pacific defined by intensifying great-power rivalry, which plays out beneath the threshold of conflict, Japan can no longer afford to treat war as a taboo subject or assume that abstention from strategic inquiry equates to safety. Whether it wishes to or not, Japan is a significant player on the board.

Invading Venezuela: The One-Word Reason America Won't Do It

Key Points and Summary – A U.S. ground invasion of Venezuela is highly unlikely—but if it happened, the real war would start after Maduro fell.

Why (and how) the US military wants to resupply troops from space

David Roza

The Air Force and Space Force are spending millions of dollars researching a concept called “rocket cargo,” where they would shoot a capsule full of troops or supplies into orbit and land it anywhere on Earth in 90 minutes or less, which is way faster than anything they have currently.

That kind of capability could be a game-changer in future conflicts, where U.S. troops may be more spread out and isolated than they’ve been in decades. But tough questions remain, such as how to make rocket cargo cheap, fast and safe enough to work at scale and in combat?

First, some context. From 1970 to 2000, the average launch cost to get a kilogram into space was about $18,500, according to a NASA research paper. In 2010, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 brought it down to $2,700 per kilogram, and it could fall even further as more companies enter the space launch business and as bigger, more reusable rockets make for better economies of scale.

Cheaper space launches mean things like rocket cargo may become more feasible. Since 2020, the Air Force and Space Force have awarded more than $100 million in research and test contracts to companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin, Anduril, Sierra Space, and Rocket Lab. The idea for rocket cargo is to adapt these companies’ rockets to urgent tactical or humanitarian missions.

The US pivot on regulating AI diffusion

Donald Trump’s announcement of a one-year waiver on the export of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China marks a sharp turn away from Joe Biden’s ‘small yard, high fence’ approach to AI controls. By treating advanced chips as bargaining instruments in a wider contest for market share and influence, Washington is testing how far it can diffuse AI hardware without losing strategic leverage.

On 8 December 2025, United States President Donald Trump announced a one-year waiver of export restrictions on Nvidia’s H200 chips, which are used in data centres for artificial intelligence (AI). Trump’s decision will give Chinese firms legal access to Nvidia’s Hopper chip line, its second-most advanced after Blackwell, marking a notable expansion in Washington’s willingness to permit advanced AI hardware to reach the markets of potential adversaries.

The H200 decision followed another notable action, on 13 May, when the administration announced it would rescind former president Joe Biden’s ‘AI diffusion’ rules, which were poised to take effect that month. Those rules were announced in mid-January as Biden was preparing to leave office. The reasons for the Trump reversal were outlined in a document published by the US Department of Commerce, which argued that Biden’s rules ‘saddled companies with burdensome new regulatory requirements’ that would stifle American innovation and impede efforts by American companies to capture and grow their international market share

Transforming and Modernizing Army Information Forces: Creating the Information Warfare Branch

William Bryant

Morgan Plummer argues in his War on the Rocks article, “Operating AI in the gray zone: Drawing Clear Lines Before They Blur,” that the AI problem is not on a near-future battlefield—it is already here. Plummer discusses AI’s role in the gray zone where influence operations, economic coercion, and cyber campaigns converge, blurring the lines between peace and war.

Using Michael Walzer’s Spheres of Justice, Plummer’s key warning is that AI is too portable: capabilities that may be appropriate in combat become corrosive when repurposed for peacetime manipulation. He concludes that we must urgently establish clear lines across domains before norms harden, explicitly defining what should be prohibited, restricted, and permissive in AI-enabled statecraft.

21 December 2025

Army places orders worth Rs 5,000 crore for indigenous drones after Op Sindoor trials

Manu Pubby

New Delhi: The Army is placing a series of orders for indigenous drones capable of operating in spoofing and jamming environments after conducting rigorous trials that recreated conditions faced on the Op Sindoor battlefield.

The imperial past of Indian geopolitics

Ved Shinde

‘Every nerve a man may strain, every energy he may put forward, cannot be devoted to a nobler purpose than keeping tight the cords that hold India to ourselves,’ argued Lord Curzon, one of the few British viceroys in India to develop a lasting emotional attachment to the country. Curzon possessed a perceptive grasp of history and geography. It was geopolitics, for Curzon, that held the key to keeping India under British control.

In particular, having travelled across the larger Middle East in his formative years, Curzon understood the importance of the Persian Gulf for India’s westward security. Following in the footsteps of the Portuguese general Albuquerque, Curzon believed that a permanent British base in the Gulf could serve as a bridgehead to Bombay. The Persian Gulf is landlocked in all directions except the southeast. Mastery over the Gulf of Oman and the larger western Arabian Sea translated into control of the Persian Gulf. Geographically, Muscat is closer to Mumbai than Kolkata. If British ships could control the waterways of the Gulf, a seamless maritime highway would connect London’s interests in the larger Middle East to the Indian subcontinent. After all, other European powers had penetrated the East through the oceans. By the early twentieth century, when Curzon served in India as the Queen’s viceroy, Pax Britannica was writ large over the Persian Gulf. The cords of commerce connected the destinies of the Gulf sheikhdoms with the Indian subcontinent.

Pakistan’s Integrated Kill Chain Exposes India’s Airpower Vulnerability, Says Top US Aerospace Analyst

According to Dahm, “Pakistan is capable of integrating ground-based radars with fighter jets and airborne early warning aircraft,” a statement that underscores the growing operational sophistication of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

He added, “The Pakistani Air Force deployed… ‘A’ launched by ‘B’ and guided by ‘C’, hitting its intended target,” referencing a detailed May 12 report by China Space News, a publication closely affiliated with China’s defence-industrial complex.

The success of this kill chain, Dahm explained, is less about platform-versus-platform comparisons and more about how well each element—from sensor to shooter—is fused into a networked, real-time engagement loop.

In modern high-velocity conflict environments, where milliseconds can determine mission success or failure, the concept of the kill chain—an end-to-end cycle of detection, identification, tracking, targeting, engagement, and battle damage assessment—has become the heartbeat of 21st-century military operations.

Each stage of the kill chain is now supported by a vast architecture of ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) assets, satellite links, high-speed data networks, and increasingly autonomous fire-control systems driven by artificial intelligence.

In the context of the Pakistan-India confrontation, Dahm believes the sequence likely began with a ground radar or air defence system detecting an Indian Air Force aircraft entering contested airspace.

China’s plan to quarantine Taiwan while avoiding war

Peter Olive

While an amphibious invasion remains the most dangerous scenario, most analysts agree it poses a range of challenges for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), despite rapid expansion and increasingly complex mission rehearsals.

These include the logistical hurdles associated with the most ambitious amphibious invasion ever attempted in history, the risk of becoming bogged down on arrival and of triggering an outside intervention and escalation.

Given these challenges, focus has shifted to how the PRC might instead seek to cut off Taiwan’s maritime supplies of energy, food, medicines and other key commodities. The purpose would not be territorial conquest but rather to pressure Taiwan’s society, potentially forcing its government to negotiate on the future of cross-Strait relations on terms favorable to Beijing.

Chinese main battle tank, upgraded for high altitudes, could be sent to border with India

Liu Zhen

One of China’s newest main battle tanks, the Type 99B, is an upgraded model designed to perform better in high-altitude and cold weather operations, according to state media – suggesting it could be sent to the Himalayan border with India.

The tank is the latest of the Type 99 armoured vehicles and was among the military hardware unveiled during China’s huge Victory Day parade in Beijing in September.

State broadcaster CCTV reported on Thursday that the upgraded model has a raft of new features. It was shown going through testing of its driving capabilities and electronic systems in diverse terrain, as well as live-fire exercises.

The report did not say when or where the testing had been carried out.

The tank was shown being put through its paces, including a live-fire exercise. Photo: CCTV

The main upgrade is to the tank’s information-based command and communication capabilities and its integrated firepower, which the report said reflected “a new level of sophistication” in the People’s Liberation Army’s ground combat equipment.

Small Wars in the New Strategic Era: Why the United States Must Prepare for a World of Limited Conflict

Joe Funderburke

The 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS) signals a deliberate shift toward restraint, hemispheric prioritization, and selective engagement. Yet history shows that when major powers seek to avoid large wars, competitors often exploit gray-zone tactics, proxy campaigns, and limited conflicts to test boundaries. The United States must therefore prepare for an era in which small wars become more frequent, more ambiguous, and more strategically consequential for the balance of power and the credibility of American leadership.

The United States is entering a strategic realignment unlike any since the end of the Cold War. The 2025 National Security Strategy tightens the definition of vital interests, reorients national defense toward a revitalized industrial base and homeland protection, and places greater expectations on allies to shoulder regional burdens. By design, it moves the United States away from open-ended expeditionary campaigns and toward a more disciplined, selective posture abroad. The document explicitly frames this shift as a response to domestic demands for restraint, fiscal pressure, and the recognition that the United States cannot and should not police the international system alone.

Days later, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth reinforced this direction at the Reagan National Defense Forum, announcing the end of “undefined wars” and promising a new era of clarity in objectives, timelines, and exit strategies in the use of force. His remarks signaled to allies and adversaries alike that Washington intends to be more judicious about when and where it fights—and far more skeptical about long-duration stability operations.

Does the Road to Disarming Hamas Lead Through Qatar and Turkey?

John Haltiwanger

Despite the optimistic messaging of the Trump administration regarding its Gaza peace plan, moving the process to the next phase faces a slew of serious obstacles. The disarmament of Hamas, a key aspect of the 20-point plan, stands as perhaps the greatest challenge to overcome.

Armed resistance against Israel is a fundamental aspect of Hamas’s ideology, which is a large part of the reason the group has not agreed to disarm. Hamas recently signaled that it could be open to freezing or storing its arms, but Israel will not be satisfied with anything short of complete disarmament.

Spies must be fluent in code, says MI6 boss

Ann-Marie Corvin

In her first speech as head of Britain’s Security Intelligence Service, MI6, Blaise Metreweli is to push for the need to invest in technology to tackle threats to UK security.

In pre-released remarks, the agency’s first-ever female head is set to say: “Mastery of technology must infuse everything we do. Not just in our labs, but in the field, in our tradecraft, and even more importantly, in the mindset of every officer.”

“We must be as comfortable with lines of code as we are with human sources, as fluent in Python as we are in multiple languages.”

The new M16 chief is also set to warn of hostile state actors, Russia in particular, who are trying to destabilize the UK from abroad using cyberattacks, spreading false information, and employing criminals remotely.

“The export of chaos is a feature, not a bug, in the Russian approach to international engagement, and we should be ready for this to continue until Putin is forced to change his calculus,” she will add.

Metreweli was appointed head of M16 – a role publicly known by the codename “C” – in June this year, becoming the first female head in the spy agency’s 116-year history.

She was previously head of the tech side of espionage – known as “Q” and depicted in the Bond movies as providing agents with exploding pens and Aston Martin cars equipped with ejector seats, machine guns, and rotating plates.

Ghost Busters: Options for Breaking Russia’s Shadow Fleet

Benjamin Jensen and Jose M. Macias III

Victory in Ukraine will prove elusive without finding ways to counter Russia’s use of illicit maritime trade to sustain its war economy. That is, Ukraine and its Western backers need to resurrect the idea of commerce raiding and broad-based economic war to bust the ghost fleet and impose costs on Putin’s war machine. In the twenty-first century, states can conduct commerce raiding without ever firing a shot, effectively using open-source intelligence to support diplomacy, lawfare, and sanctions designed to attack a rival state’s economy. By finding ways to aggregate open-source data, the United States can support broader international efforts to restrict Russian illicit maritime trade.

Ghost Ships: How Putin Finances His War

Since sanctions limited oil exports in late 2022, Russia has purchased an illicit fleet estimated to range from 155 tankers and 435 total vessels, when support ships are included, to as high as 591 ships. This shadow fleet—or ghost fleet, as it is colloquially known—transports an estimated 3.7 million barrels per day, representing 65 percent of Russia’s seaborne oil trade, and generates an estimated $87 to $100 billion in revenue per year. To put that in perspective, revenue from this illicit trade network has matched, if not exceeded, the total value of economic and military assistance provided to Ukraine since the start of the war.

How the New National Security Strategy Misses the Mark on Cybersecurity

Mark Montgomery

To combat China and Russia’s cyber capabilities, the Trump administration must stop eliminating cybersecurity professionals and invest in federal programs that protect domestic critical infrastructure.

While there will be heated disagreements on how President Donald Trump’s new National Security Strategy characterizes America’s relationship with both China and Europe, few will disagree with the clear sentiment to defend the homeland. More than any strategy document released since the September 11 attacks, this one emphasizes defending the homeland or, more specifically, “the continued survival and safety of the United States” as the top national security priority.

When Trump took office earlier this year, it must have been clear to him that the homeland has never been less secure, with challenges extending well beyond the border issues, which he tried to address in his first Presidency, to now include imminent missile and cyber threats to the homeland.

The President’s efforts to secure the border and defend against missile threats are well underway—he has reduced illegal immigrant crossings by 95 percent from March 2024, and signed a new “Golden Dome” executive order backed with $25

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