All stories by Ajai Shukla
Beware Of Agnipath!
Rediff.com13 Jul 2022The greatest unknown in this risky initiative lies in the way human relationships will play out -- not just between the Agniveers, who will be competing with their fellows for permanent jobs beyond their four-year tenures -- but also between the Agniveers and existing full-time soldiers, warns Ajai Shukla.
Indian Navy Tests Secret Missile
Rediff.com27 Jun 2022The VL-SRSAM, which DRDO developed for the Indian Navy, was fired from a warship at a high-speed aerial target mimicking incoming enemy aircraft.
IAF Or AAI: Who Should Get Precedence?
Rediff.com13 Jun 2022There is increasing friction between the IAF's military requirements, and the AAI's need to provide infrastructure to many more airlines.
Indian Army's Achilles Heel: Artillery Power
Rediff.com10 Jun 2022The army has long been deficient in artillery, the modern battlefield's most lethal killer, says Ajai Shukla.
Why the Chinese Need To Worry
Rediff.com31 May 2022In the two years since the PLA's intrusions into Eastern Ladakh, the Border Roads Organisation is sparing no effort to build and upgrade road highways from Tezpur to the McMahon Line.
It's Rafale vs Boeing for INS Vikrant's fighters
Rediff.com23 May 2022The Indian Navy has decided that the twin-seat Rafale will not be disqualified on the basis of its inability to operate from an aircraft carrier.
Is Doval the reason there's no CDS?
Rediff.com13 May 2022Gen Bipin Rawat's appointment, first as army chief superseding two other army commanders, and then as CDS, was the consequence of his close personal rapport with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. Now, with General Rawat gone and nobody named to replace him as CDS, it is evident that no other top military officer enjoys that relationship with Doval, observes Ajai Shukla.
Does IAF Need Eagle II To Take On China?
Rediff.com5 Apr 2022The latest avatar of the F-15 is designed to deal with the world's most potent air threats that are emerging from China.
US Sanctions Unlikely For India Buying Russian S-400 Missiles
Rediff.com24 Mar 2022Russia has already begun delivery of the first S-400 systems, and the question of sanctions, or of a waiver to sanctions, preoccupies New Delhi.
Will US Stall Russian Arms Sales To India?
Rediff.com5 Mar 2022New Delhi is vulnerable to US sanctions under a 2017 law called CAATSA.
What 'Hike' In Defence Budget Doesn't Reveal
Rediff.com11 Feb 2022Even as Chinese troops continue squatting on territory that we claim as our own -- this was the lowest allocation for defence in percentage terms since the 1950s, reveals Ajai Shukla.
BrahMos deal is India's first-ever weapons sale
Rediff.com5 Feb 2022The Philippines, confronted with Chinese bullying in the South China Sea, have become the first foreign military to order the shore-based, anti-ship cruise missile.
What India Needs In Ladakh: Light Tanks
Rediff.com27 Jan 2022India has over 4,000 medium tanks, but not a single light tank. It remains to be seen whether the Ladakh face-off with China galvanises a change, observes Ajai Shukla.
INS Vikrant Sails Closer To Joining The Fleet
Rediff.com17 Jan 2022INS Vikrant is being delivered about six years late and at a cost of about Rs 20,000 crore instead of the sanctioned Rs 3,261 crore.
Defence ministry report ignores Ladakh stand-off
Rediff.com14 Jan 2022The ministry's year-end review is silent on the continued occupation by Chinese troops of territory that India has always claimed and patrolled.
Get ready for Indian Army's new uniform on Jan 15
Rediff.com13 Jan 2022Like most army combat uniforms, this one has been designed to serve two requirements: First, protection against harsh climatic conditions, including extreme heat and cold. Second, the need to provide soldiers' outfits with field camouflage, so as to increase his battlefield survivability.
CATS: India's Secret Weapon
Rediff.com11 Jan 2022Burned by the shooting down of a MiG-21 aircraft and the capture of its pilot after a dogfight over the India-Pakistan border in February 2019, CATS eliminates the need to send pilots into enemy air space.
HAL gets cracking on Tejas Mark 2
Rediff.com6 Jan 2022HAL is also integrating the Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile onto the Mark 1A. Each Tejas will carry two of these missiles.
Pralay will not be part of India's nuclear deterrent
Rediff.com30 Dec 2021Like the Shourya and Prahar missiles, the Pralay is powered by conventional solid fuel, and its payload is designed to carry only a conventional warhead.
LCH: Lessons For Indian Defence
Rediff.com15 Dec 2021It is baffling how the PM chose the LCH as an indigenous product to celebrate on Rashtriya Raksha Samarpan Parv, even while his Cabinet holds up manufacturing clearance for 15 LCHs on the grounds that they are not Indian enough.