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Sunday, July 25, 2021

Hasimara AFS Being Upgraded For Hosting The IAF's Rafale M-MRCAs


 

57 comments:

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To KAUSTAV: When viewing the larger picture, it becomes evident that the present-day political cockfighting WRT NSO/Pegasus is due to the inability of successive Govts of India since the early 1990s to fully grasp the long-term repercussions of information & communications technologies (ICT), which in essence indicates that India’s decision-makers have been largely ICT-illiterate. What does this mean? Essentially, it means that the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885 & the Indian ITA-2000 Act of October 2000 cannot operate independently of one another. While the former authorises tappings of phone-lines & interception of postal mail for national security reasons, it does not authorise electronic eavesdropping. The ITA-2000 Act too does not explicitly authorise official electronic eavesdropping & instead makes the usage of electronic spyware illegal, regardless of whether the user is a private individual/entity or a govt entity. And herein lies the principal conundrum. Consequently, believe it or not, all Govt agencies now using electronic spyware for national security purposes are, in essence, violating Indian laws every single day! Consequently, how exactly can any discerning talented individual be encouraged to work for such agencies when they know that in case they are caught red-handed, then the Govt of India will disown them & will officially claim that it did not breach the ITA-2000’s guidelines???

Therefore, the only way out of this disgusting mess is to do the following:

1) Enact through parliamentary legislation a new ITA that explicitly authorises govt agencies to use electronic spyware via a codified system of checks-n-balances. Similar work needs to be done for amending the 1885 Telegraph Act.

2) Bring all national intelligence agencies under Parliamentary oversight by enacting parliamentary legislation on the existence of agencies like IB, R & AW and NTRO, so that their employees are given legal protection for their activities & all controversy over the usage of ‘secret funds’ will come to an immediate end (since the accounts of such agencies will henceforth have to be audited as mandated by law).

3) Usher in the long-overdue Police Reforms that will free the State Police from the clutches of politicians, and which will also forever do away with the need for maintaining Special Branches in every State & UT Police Force, since the sole job of the Special Branch since colonial times has been to only monitor & report on acts of sedition.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SOUBHAGYA/ASD: No, perhaps you did not understand what Prof P Stobdan was saying. Kindly allow me to contextualise what he meant:

There is a very poor Indian scholarship with regard to the Himalayas and the Himalayan frontiers, which paves way for policy decisions that are not rooted in historical context. Unless an elementary Indian understanding of the Himalayas is corrected and borders are relooked at, a lasting resolution to the India-China dispute in Ladakh & Arunachal Pradesh cannot not be found. China highlights Tibet as the core issue with India by laying claim to Indian territories on the basis of purported Tibetan ecclesial or tutelary links, rather than any professed Han Chinese connection. One needs to understand the basis of the Chinese territorial claims to understand the border dispute. China’s claims to Indian territories are based on Tibet’s historically irredentist claims on these territories. Consequently, since China considers Tibet as its integral part, it considers Tibet’s territorial claims as integral too. Contrary to the present-day position of the Dharamsala-based Central Tibetan Administration or CTA (Tibetan government-in-exile), Tibet was never entirely independent, but it was rather an autonomous or a semi-autonomous state with allegiance to Peking (present-day Beijing). Historically, the relationship between Lhasa and Peking was that of an overlordship till 1949, just like between a princely state and Delhi would have in India. The present dispute is, therefore, a result of India’s undefined borders with Tibet, coupled with a lack of understanding about the distinction between the Indian Himalayan identity and the Tibetan identity. When a historical context is brought into the argument, it is learnt that now that the Tibetans do not have any authority, they do not claim Indian territory, but their claims lasted as long as their authority in Lhasa (i.e. till 1950). Lhasa never owed political allegiance to India, but to Peking. Tibet’s relations with India concerned only pilgrimage and trade. There were no political stakes for India there. Yet India gave asylum the Dalai Lama in 1959 who has historically owed allegiance to China. The CTA may now say that it doesn’t have claims on Ladakh & Arunachal Pradesh, but it has no authority today. As long as it had authority till 1950, it asserted those claims. In 1947, upon Independence, the Tibetans were officially invited to Delhi for partaking in the celebrations and to address the question of borders. But they refused to turn up! Instead, shortly after, in October 1947, Lhasa sent telegrams to Delhi stating its irredentist claims on India-held territories and asking for their return. Such telegrams are a matter of historical record.

Cont'd below...

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

The then PM Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru mentioned this in Lok Sabha in 1959. He had said: “In Premier Chou’s letter, he has referred to a telegram we received from Tibet—from Lhasa—in 1947. The point which Premier Chou has made is that even in 1947, that is, soon after we became independent, Tibet claimed territory from us. It is true that we received a telegram from Lhasa, which was forwarded to us by our Mission in Lhasa, claiming the return of Tibetan territory on the boundary of India and Tibet. A reply was sent by us demanding the assurance that it was the intention of the Tibetan government to continue relations on the existing basis until new agreements were reached on matters that either party might wish to take.” Had there been no Communist Party of China, the Tibetans and China would be peacefully co-existing today. It was about the ideological differences, about communism and non-communism that pit Tibet & China on a collision course in the 1950s. If New Delhi were to support the Tibetan independence cause, then Tibet’s historical claims that have now been taken up by Beijing will also be advanced. So a sort of legitimacy will be given to China’s territorial claims over India. This is why successive Govts of India have never supported Tibet’s independent cause and have instead only advocated for autonomy for Tibet & hence India continues go refer to Tibet as the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).

There is a distinction between Indian Buddhism and Indian Himalayas from Tibetan Buddhism and the Tibetan plateau. Just like an ignorant person may consider all South Indians as Tamils, a layman may consider all Buddhists as one but that that is not the case. There are distinct sects. In Tibet, there is the yellow sect of Buddhism. These yellow sect’s Lamas have historically been an instrument of expansion for Beijing. In India’s Bihar, Bengal, and Odisha, there is the red sect of Buddhism, distinct from that of Tibet. The Tibetan system had always been more linked to that of China than with India. In giving emphasis to Tibet in India, India’s own Buddhist and Himalayan identity is being diluted. Such a distinction had always been there, but it has been forgotten over the last seven decades and it has created confusion in Govt of India’s policy-making. Such a muddled understanding of Tibet along with an undefined border with it, therefore, remains at the core of the India-China dispute. Even though Bhutan’s Buddhist religion is very similar to that of Tibet, Thimpu has maintained a very strict distinct identity. It has not confused its identity with that of Tibet like India has confused its Himalayan and Buddhist identity with that of Tibet, because, unlike India, Bhutan had recognised long ago that threats to its territory do not come from China’s claims but from Tibet’s claims, so Bhutan has maintained the distinction. The same was the case with the Sikkim monarchy till 1975.

In conclusion, it is the Tibetans who have shot themselves on their feet, while giving China all the fodder it needs against India. Neither the Dalai Lama nor the CTA has as yet officially renounced Tibet's claims on Ladakh, Sikkim & Arunachal Pradesh. Even Taiwan has not yet officially renounced such claims made by the Nationalist Kuomintang govts in the past.

Cont'd below...

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

In fact, it is the Nationalist Kuomintang govt bthat had given birth to today's territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

The origins of China’s 9-Dash Line claim can be traced back to the official maps made by the Nationalist Kuomintang Party-led government before and after World War-2. The 9-Dash line was originally an 11-Dash Line, and Chinese geographer Yang Huairen helped etch it. Yang was born in 1917 and pursued his education in the UK before being employed by China’s Nationalist government. In 1947, he worked on the map introducing the 11-Dash Line and 286 bits of rock and turf in the South China Sea. Yang helped to officially name each chunk of rock and reef, referring to the territory collectively as the ‘South China Sea Islands’. In 1949, when the nationalist government lost to the Communists, and relocated from Nanjing to Taiwan, Yang stayed back. However, he was eventually persecuted as an “anti-revolutionary academic authority” during the Cultural Revolution—a sociopolitical movement in China from 1966 to 1976—for his role in the Kuomintang government. But Yang’s conception of the U-shaped line would stay on. In 1952, the 11-Dash Line became the 9-Dash Line when in a moment of Communist camaraderie with Vietnam, Chairman Mao gave up China’s claims over the Gulf of Tonkin. Each of the dashes, according to both China and Taiwan, represents the median line between the islands within the South China Sea and the large landmasses comprising the sea’s littorals.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SOUBHAGYA/ASD: In case you are interested on what China is up to inside TAR, then this book offers interesting insights:

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81IR-ZWAozL.jpg

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81r+-UtRUoL.jpg

DAshu said...

Sir, Don't you think you are very kind to say that - India’s decision-makers have been largely ICT-illiterate-. ONLY ICT-illiterate?

Unless SC comes down hard and puts its feet Police Reforms will be a pipedream.

Kaustav said...

Thank you Sir

asd said...

Dear Prasun,

Thanks for your excellent explanation. You took a lot of pain to articulate this for us. We are grateful to you. Please keep on enlightening us. Thanks again!!!

just_curious said...

Prasun,

1-- Your detailed explaination of tibetian issue just goes to show how stupid have the indian leaders been w.r.t demarcating & securing their borders...
2--interesting article bya sputnik journalist--http://www.indiandefensenews.in/2021/07/indian-experts-are-wondering-why-new.html .. this looks more like something a typical global times article would spew out, does this reflect the views of russia ? if yes, the its time to say bye bye to the russians. what gains anyone get anyway. even with all things said n done I have never understood why is pakistan location being given so much importance ... even during the best of times none of the super powers did anything to take advantage of it for economics..it was more an ideological thing which made it look imp during the cold war era..even then apart from being used as a hired nuisance, pakistan never had any relevance. as for the CIS whe did they ever have any major business with India & also nothin has changed post the cold war .. all CIS countries still pretty are under russian influence & will be so in the foreseeable future..and if its seen as a gateway to midlle east- what has anyone gained in that bottemless shithole anyways.. SA & Iran will never reconcile and no major power will want it else who do they sell their arms to?and in the next 25-30 years as the world become more independent from oil who would any way bother.. I'll not be surprised if SA, iranis n rest of the GCC become bedfellows n have an orgy come 2050.. all this blood spilt so far is caused by the "muft" oil money which has poured in for the past 60 odd years with abs no effort whatsoever by them.. muft ka khana zayda luch der baad hazam nahin hota..
4-- why isn't the govt of india even raising a token of protest against elections in PoK if it calls it it's own piece of land.. is there an unwritten agreement to let go of PoK & GB?

Pratap said...

Prasun da, will Akash-NG be launched vertically or at an angle like QRSAM? As you said the launch vehicle is similar to QRSAM and in an earlier thread you had shown an image of the vehicle which looked similar to QRSAM, but why did DRDO retain the 6 tube cannister design instead of developing an 8 tube version which is standard norm for comparable systems like KM-SAM of South Korea for example?

Raghu said...

Hi,

Please see the following link. It talks about discussions during MAKS between the officials of the two countries regarding modernisation of the MiG-29K for the Indian Navy. Is it not a little too early for that?


https://www.aex.ru/m/news/2021/7/23/232452/

Regards,

Raghu

Sumit sen said...

How much more time it will take to get completed? Hashimara afb is about 150 km from where I live. It will be interesting to see it fly overhead. I do watch mig27 too when it was in service.

সুমন্ত নাগ said...

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/science-technology/scientists-from-kolkata-kharagpur-develop-new-self-healing-organic-material-285404

*"The researchers say while self-healing materials have been developed earlier and are used in aerospace, engineering and automation, the difference is that they have now synthesised a new class of solid material which they claim is 10-times harder than other competing material.

Earlier materials developed were in contrast soft and amorphous (without a clearly defined shape) in nature and needed light, heat or a chemical to help them repair by themselves.

However, the new material is hard and does the repair by itself using its own electric charges.

“During repair, fractured pieces travel with honeybee wing-like motion with acceleration comparable to diesel cars,” one of the researchers Prof. Bhanu Bhusan Khatua of IIT Kharagpur explained Monday."*

Vedant said...

With respects,
Prasun da,

1) I was reading your last article in which you mentioned that the Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan are asking for Indian military assistance, do we have the capacity to help them, do they vale our influence in the region.

2) there has been a news that India has been included by Russia in the troika plus group, how much positive it is for us.

Are we providing any weapons assistance to them.

3) in the current Afghanistan situation are we at any lead, where things can turn sweet for us again in Afghanistan.

4) Was the bomb blast in which Chinese died in Pakistan a part of intelligence operation....!?

5) in one of your articles you wrote that India gave active assistance to NDS in their HQ construction....
What kind of cooperation does we have with the NDS.

(A stupid question)
Is Indian intelligence R&AW doing anything about Afghanistan !????

With regards
Vedant

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To DASHU, KAUSTAV & ASD: VMT.

To JUST_CURIOUS: 1) India had between 1947 & 1949 to sort out the borders between India & Tibet, by examining all historical treaties & related documents, plus the historical claims over the Kailash-Mansarovar & Tholing areas. From 1949 till 1952 all ground survey work should have been completed, which would have revealed just how was it possible to go eastwards by road & consequently how could such real estate be militarily secured & held. Only after all this should the borders have been drawn up. Instead, Pandit Nehru due to reasons known only to him first issued a map in 1950 showing the Aksai Chin area to be no-man’s land & in 1954 arbitrarily adopting the Johnson Line as the final boundary of India without even asking India’s armed forces whether or not such territories could be secured & held on to. It was due to this mis-handling that China took advantage of India’s total absence in Aksai Chin by sending its ground surveyors to survey such areas between 1950 & 1957 & only after this did China begin making territorial claims, i.e. a perfectly logical & common-sensical way of claiming territory. Fast-forward to today & now it is about what does India want the resolution on: on what India presently has or on what India has always considered to be hers.

2) Total hogwash, as proven by the US Secretary of State’s visit to India starting tomorrow, as well as the Afghan National Army Chief’s 2-day visit starting tomorrow.

3) Pakistan is being given importance because the US won’t deal with Iran & hence Pakistan offers the only means of geographic approach into Afghanistan. Had India established her geographic contiguity with the Wakhan Corridor/Badakhshan back in 1999, the situation would have been totally different since late 2001.

4) Perhaps the MEA’s statement will come later today, based on developments revealed here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaYmx23Rpd4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NCJyVKuq50
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wree4nn1plQ

To PRATAP: There’s no need for VL-SHORADS. Even the NASAMS isn’t vertically-launched. The KM-SAM of South Korea is just a slightly re-engineered variant of Russia’s S-350E Vityaz MR-SAM.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To RAGHU: The MiG-29Ks started arriving in India in 2010 & by 2023 they will have to be sent back to Russia for mid-life refits & hence that will also be the best time for upgrading such aircraft. Here is the list of items the IN wants to indigenise:

https://makeinindiadefence.gov.in/admin/writereaddata/upload/files/IN%20-%20MIG%2029%20and%20Vikramaditya.pdf

In addition, the MiG-29K’s existing radar, the Zhuk-M2E, will be replaced with an AESA-MMR. This is the existing radar:

http://toad-design.com/migalley/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Zhuk-ME-Radar.jpg

And this is the preferred AESA-MMR replacement:

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O_AaDV71Z1c/V2MfedThVsI/AAAAAAAAK7c/_thnTc2gykIXnyf1K6q27Sar_DXbYau3gCLcB/s1600/Phazatron%2BJSC%2527s%2BZHUK-AE%2BFGA-35%2BAESA-MMR%2Bproposed%2Bfor%2BTejas%2BMk2%2BMRCA.jpg

To SUMIT SEN: All civil engineering works should be completed before the onset of winter, following which the Rafales will start operating from there. The Barak-8 & Akash-NG Batteries too will be deployed there.

To SUMANTA NAG: here is the downloadable PDF paper:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/353280873_Autonomous_self-repair_in_piezoelectric_molecular_crystals

To UNKNOWN/VEDANT: 1) The capacity is there. Only the finances are reqd & this is where the US will come in & ask India to ensure platform serviceability of the Afghan Air Force’s Mi-17 & Mi-25 helicopters by getting India to procure spares from either Ukraine or Russia, with the US bankrolling such activities, since the US by law is prohibited since April 2014 from directly procuring such spares or MRO support from Russia. 2 & 3) India is the only available option for Afghanistan’s economic revival since only India is capable of initiating manpower-intensive & World Bank-funded developmental projects in Afghanistan, be it in the arena of agriculture or infrastructure construction like dams. 4) Could well have been the handiwork of the Afghan NDS or even Iran’s Al Quds Force. 5) All kinds of cooperation. 6) Of course.

Kaustav said...

Prasunda

Ofcourse, No Indian minds India helping Afghanistan. They need all the help they can get. But all this US funded help does serve to buttress the fact that India is not an independent power. There are many other examples ofcourse. PRC isn't mistaken at all when it considers India not only a second tier or lower power but one which is controlled by the West. Even the pandemic, it's effects on PRC, US, Europe big pharma, India, Asia, Africa etc. prove the point that India is nothing but a big Market. The PRC has ahown that ibspite of initiating bio-warfare, it can not only get away with it but also keep the world dependent on itself both due to supply chain imperatives, economy of scale & large scale de-industrialisation in the last 30 years. PRC continues to grow faster, US economy boom underway, big pharma has already made huge profits. Even in India on a local level, its the hospitals & pharmacists making money while many small mom&pop businesses have closed.

How can PRC respect or more importantly deal evenly such a country which is only a big consumer market but has very limited capabilities. India is & has always been a lackey of rhe West but not even like SoKo, Japan or the ASEAN nations but more like rhat of Paxtan, the Gulf states, Africa & Soyth American nations. Our politics, casteism & limited intellectual vision will keep us so but atleast, India could tey to secure itself & protect its interests better.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

MBRL-launched Standoff PGM Being Developed in the US: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E608GweXMAQbFjN?format=jpg&name=4096x4096

Taiwan’s Ports & PLA Invasion Plans: https://project2049.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/P2049_HostileHarbors_Easton_072221.pdf

Man-portable HJ-12 ATGM Debuts in Tibet: https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202107/1229590.shtml

https://www.memri.org/reports/beijings-overseas-military-base-djibouti

Indian NSCS Budget Increases: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACB1s1NRZTc

DRDO Chief's Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U8FD6CRMe4

The DRDO Chief really needs to provide his own definition & understanding of what constitutes self-reliance, especially when India remains totally dependent on imports of the core micro-electronics components.

Su-57 Aerobatics at MAKS-2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6vagXzy754

The Fight for Rare-Earth Minerals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlShNCKx8rw

Drones as Security Challenge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqGgswrGirQ

Talk by Defence Secretary, Dr. Ajay Kumar on India’s Defence Reforms:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFimR0BM_3o

India-Sweden Defence Industry Cooperation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nMI8N7l8vQ

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

It has become fashionable for several retired armed forces veterans to glorify or whitewash or even refuse to acknowledge past shortcomings & deficiencies that, in reality, reduce India’s armed forces to the world’s laughing stock. Here is one such prominent example:

https://theprint.in/opinion/kargils-little-known-fact-how-iaf-used-helicopters-to-target-intruders-at-high-altitudes/263391/

Claim: In the initial stages of the conflict, helicopters were planned to be used as the primary strike weapons against intruders housed at sangars (encampments made of rocks and boulders that could only be damaged by a direct hit.
Reality: Which IDIOT had come up with such a brain-wave? Did any other air force in the world ever even try to achieve such a feat at such forbidding altitudes? Were the 57mm or even 80mm rockets ever certified for such usage? If not, then did the IAF make any attempt to certify such firings during peacetime between 1972 & 1999?

Claim: The IAF had only about four or five CMDS kits available to be strapped on to the helicopters, and an equal number of armour plates to protect the cockpits. It was decided that the first helicopter would have both CMDS kit and armour plates, while others would have to do with some deficiency.
Reality: The utterly shameful reality is that despite all the lessons learnt from the Afghanistan civil war of the 1980s, the IAF never bothered to install CMDS kits on its vast inventories of the Canberra PR.57s MiG-21Ms, MiG-21Bis, MiG-23MFs, MiG-23BNs & MiG-27Ms. Only the Mi-25, Mi-35P, Jaguar IS/IM, Mirage-200H/TH, Su-30K & MiG-29B-12 fleets had CMDS for dispensing flares. CMDS kits should have become mandatory for installation from 1991 onwards, but this wasn’t done. Even personal locator beacons were procured in very small numbers from UK-based SARBER only after the mid-1990s & again they were not made mandatory for usage. Night-vision goggles attached to the pilot’s helmet, although well-proven during OP Desert Storm in early 19912, were never procured for armed helicopters like Mi-17. All Chiefs of Air Staff from 1991 till 1999 must be held accountable for such operational lapses.

Cont'd below...

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

Claim: Upon their return, they were told about the ejection of Squadron leader Ajay Ahuja, the MiG-21 pilot who had kept orbiting in search of Nachiketa: a SAM had brought down his aircraft. SAMs were being fired at each helicopter in the formation, but the CMDS flares deflected them–except for Pundir’s helicopter, the only one in the formation that did not have a CMDS. It got hit and crashed with four brave Indians on board.
Reality: Nachiketa’s MiG-23BN & the MiG-27Ms were never certified for dropping ordnance or firing their six-barrel GsH-30 cannons from such forbidding altitudes at high angles of attack. Yet why was such a suicidal attack profile authorised by IAF HQ? Why were CMDS kits not installed on those Mi-17s, MiG-21Ms, MiG-21Bis, MiG-23BNs & MiG-27Ms that were earmarked for OP Safed Sagar? And why were such aircraft then committed into battle for strike missions, knowing fully well that this was suicidal? The then CAS of the IAF, ACM A Y Tipnis, must be held accountable for displaying criminal negligence.

Several other questions remain unanswered till this day. For instance:

1) Despite the IA’s ground formations throughout northern J & K reporting highly increased sortie generation by the Pakistan Army’s SA.330 & Mi-17 helicopters all the way to Turtuk since April 1999, why did the IAF not launch MiG-25R recce sorties in April & May that year to find out what was going on, especially at the PA’s major logistics base at Oltinthang?

2) Why did the IAF fail to deploy an airspace surveillance radar north of the Zoji La Pass at this time?

3) The IAF had already procured second-hand Searcher Mk.1 MALE-UAVs from Singapore back in 1996. Why were such UAVs not pressed into service for airborne recce?

4) What was the reason given by the IAF’s then CAS, ACM A Y Tipnis, for his reticence to employ offensive airpower without political authorisation when he knew very well that such airpower was reqd for usage well within India-controlled airspace & not anywhere along the LoC?

5) Why did the IAF insist on maintaining its own fleet of SA.315B lama/Cheetah light observation/search-n-rescue helicopters when the IA’s Army Aviation Corps (AAC) was perfectly capable of doing such jobs? Shouldn’t the IAF have long ago (after 1986) transferred such helicopters to the IA’s AAC & in their place procured armed Mi-17s capable of undertaking combat search-n-rescue (CSAR) operations? Is it not a matter of shame for the IAF that even on the morning of February 27, 2019 the IAF could not launch a single CSAR sorties for safely recovering Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman from within hostile territory? Is that why Abhinandan wasn’t carrying any personal locator beacon?

6) All of the above only go on to prove the intellectual bankruptsy of the contents of the KARGIL Review Committee’s report, while the contents of the Lt Gen A R K Reddy Committee’s report (he was then the Chief of Staff of the IA’s HQ Northern Command) on the lessons learnt from OP VIJAY remain confidential till this day, and no one knows if a similar committee had been constituted by the IAF’s HQ Western Command to learn lessons from OP SAFED SAGAR.

MORAL of the Story: If mistakes continue to be brushed under the carpet & are glossed over for the sake of false glory & mutual back-patting, then such mistakes will continue to be repeated, but next time with far greater negative repercussions.

Karnflakes said...

Hello Prasun Da.
What do you make of this
https://www.geo.tv/latest/361593-ajk-elections-will-seek-indias-help-if-administration-fails-to-cooperate-pml-n-candidate-says

Kaustav said...

Prasunda

And another oft repeated point of yours besides the singular lack of tactical imagination & strategic foresight displayed by both IA & IAF is the mistake in not capturing an inch of territory across the LoC allowing Paxtan to get away with it & making our loss of guman life & cost to equipment a near excercise in sheer waste. We should have been allowed to capture Pakistan territory: General VP Malik - http://toi.in/IbK78Y/a31ga9

KIDDO said...

Hi Prasun
Are these pictures current? Bcoz it most definitely seems like there are a bunch of Mig27s lined up on the taxiways near the Hangars.

Also, a while back u had mentioned how the Chinese tried to purchase some tea gardens around Hashimara through their "agents" based in North Bengal. Care to elaborate a bit on that episode?

What kind of measures can the Armed Forces adopt to ensure that this kind of thing does not happen in and around other Army Cantonments & Regimental Centres/IAF Bases/other important Military facilities etc.
Thanks

Anonymous said...


Can we now counter Pakistani AMRAM better now as compared to 2019? Any lesson learnt and corrective actions taken>

aarpee said...

Mr. Prasun
1)What does U.S Government wants to achieve by acknowledging the UFO/UAP?

2)Are those objects related with the Nimitz encounters secret aircraft of U.s?

3)Does the U.S want to secure more funding for Advanced Aerospace research from this?

Thanks

aarpee

Technology, Photograpy and Travel said...

Prasun Dada,

Can you please let know some decent post on
1. What are different radar used , for a) aircraft (why they are called , FCR) b) why we can not use the older generation radars for Air search , operations from the ground)
2. What is the versions used for the Ground based RADAR search and scan and weapon locating radars
3. What are the next techologies being developed for the Radars

Parthasarathi said...

Prasunda,
Is it true that 60 percentage of Tejas fleet is always grounded due to various maintenance issues ? If true then what is HAL doing on it ?
Best regards

AKS said...

Sir,

Whether, Xi Jinping is likely to attend BRICS summit in India? This was speculated by Mr. Subramaniam Swamy!!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zQS7ECf2jDQ

AKS

সুমন্ত নাগ said...

Prasun Da , thanks for the link of the document.

You seems only one now, from whom we can learn.


Ved said...

Dear Prasun,

Recently IAF ordered R77-1 with so called range of 100 KM for su30mki and Mig29. Now they are testing I Derby ER
from su30mki. Is su30mki being used as a test platform or they intend to carry all these varieties in combat role.

What are the advantages wrt each other in between R77-1 and I Derby ER and what is their range at high and low altitudes?

just_curious said...

Prasun,

1--Moheeen yusuf & ISI chief in US for what? Blinke in India

just_curious said...

prasun,

how true is this --China & Pakistan to launch joint operations in Afghanistan?

Indrajit said...

Hi Prasun da,

It seems that the Soviets were instrumental in bringing down the Morarji Desai government.
https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/morarji-desai-had-stolen-pmo-documents-was-set-to-reveal-classified-secrets/703738/

What is your view on this? Is the same possible for any foreign power today with a similar impact?

Anonymous said...

Prasun,
interesting development this ---http://idrw.org/uighurs-border-safety-on-agenda-as-china-taliban-meet-india-keeps-a-close-watch/#more-260954
looks like the pakis are hell bent in involving chinese in afghanistan ..guess the gameplan is to mine minerals & export it via pakistan ...taliban is still firmly under the ISI thumb afterall..

Vikram Singh said...

With the new King MBS, Saudis have become Sanghi Arabia. Bold approach of current government paying off compared to pusillanimous approach of previous leadership. Hats off must be given when positive developments happen.

Now we need our Arab friends to share this news with delusional Paxtanis. Rigged election and human rights violations are underway in Gilgit Baltistan. This is the right time to liberate Gilgit Baltistan. Shia nizaris want economic development and religious freedom, not Punjabi mafia-military government of Sunni Paxtan Autonomous Region of PRC.

https://idrw.org/after-70-years-of-deprivation-indias-kashmir-witnessing-massive-change-saudi-media/

https://idrw.org/pakistan-occupied-kashmir-elections-rigged-huge-protests-against-pakistan-army-in-pok/

bhoutik said...

unbelievable stuff at assam-mizo border. prasun bhai, your take please.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To KARNFLAKES: It is just an instance of venting one’s frustration through provocation. There’s nothing more to it.

To KAUSTAV: Well, now let’s listen to the other side of the story here:

https://thewire.in/security/kargil-war-vijay-diwas-truth

And this appears to be more of theatrics, rather than theaterisation:

https://theprint.in/defence/no-consensus-yet-on-structure-of-theatre-commands-discussions-tweaks-to-continue/704565/

Israeli Journalist Exposes Idiot Called Arnab Goswami: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9JQBMKG-Xw

And while the US Secretary has no qualms about opening & holding his own umbrella, India’s pompous MEA officials still insist on being accompanied by pall-bearers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpZ6cjpJeao

IAC-1 to Soon Undertake Sea-Trials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_bEBSwJpls

Only recently did a Sea King Mk.42C undertake a daytime landing & takeoff from IAC-1. The biggest challenge now is to establish the weight & buoyancy loadings of IAC-1, without which she can never proceed for sea-trials. Hence, at best, IAC-1 will be accepted by the IN only sometime late next year or early 2023.

To KIDDO: The images are 6 months old. Cannot elaborate on that episode anymore as the matter is still regarded as coming under the purview of the Official Secrets Act.

To AARPEE: 1) That it exists, especially after China’s deep forays into deep space exploration. 2) Yes. 3) Not at all, because it already has all the funding that it needs through its ‘Black Budget’ projects.

To TECHNOLOGY, PHOTOGRAPHY & TRAVEL: 1) FCR has been replaced with the term MMR. B) That’s like claiming that the hose-pipe used for watering a garden or lawn can be used for putting out fires by firefighters. 2) Posters of all such radars were uploaded by me over the past 12 years & they provide all such answers. 3) Photonic radars.

Permanent Artificial Hearts Are Closer Than You Think:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uV8XZcIBbk

To PARTHASARATHI: Yes, because it is not just about developing & producing the aircraft, but also producing various technical manuals that take time to be mastered by the IAF’s ground-crews. After all, the Tejas Mk.1 has a quantum of on-board avionics that were never seen on any other combat aircraft, until the arrival of the Rafale M-MRCAs. This therefore requires a complete re-skilling of the IAF’s existing ground-crews, especially in terms of acquiring proficiency in operating various types of testers & computerised training courses.

To VED: No Derby testing is possible on either the Su-30MKI or MiG-29K. Only members of the R-77 & Astra family of BVRAAMs can be used by such aircraft. Russia has never shared the source-codes of its MMRs with any non-Russian BVRAAM manufacturer, with the sole exception of Bharat Dynamics Ltd.

1971 IAF Heliborne Operations in East Pakistan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j69y8-KScJg

To JUST_CURIOUS: For hammering out the air corridor access that has been demanded by the US for conducting air-strikes inside Afghanistan.

To INDRAJIT: It is just a claim. Unless someone can today produce such files/documentation in the public domain, they will remain just speculative gossip.

Raghu said...

Hi Prasun,

Please see the below link. Australia is considering redeployment to Afghanistan. Don't know how reliable the news is. If true, how long before the other EU states and US ramp up presence there, at least in a limited way?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-20/australia-considering-return-afghanistan-monitor-taliban/100305336

Regards,
Raghu

Ved said...

Dear Prasun,

Is Hammer also deployed with IAF Rafales?

Will we be inducting predator drones?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To BHOUTIK: It is all beautifully explained here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEoy5vWCv3g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm5DeMO8AEs

Lt Gen A S Kalkat on IPKF Fiasco: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnhVo7oeLv4

How are Mizos Dealing with Burmese Refugees: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I232zSkLJN8

To RAGHU: As I had explained before, the ANA is not short of manpower, but requires weapons supplies & air-support by both fixed-wing strike aircraft & rotary-winged attack helicopters.

To VED: No, not yet. As for drones, all 3 armed services are not interested in armed drones. Instead, they all want turboprop-powered MALE-UAVs for surveillance purposes only. Don’t believe bullshit like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zStWQkxXcI

In fact, the Sea Guardian is not a HALE-UAV at all, but a MALE-UAV. The original sin was committed by the VCNS who WRONGLY classified the Sea Guardian as being a HALE platform in this interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_bEBSwJpls

To DASHU & VIKRAM SINGH: Interesting ANALYSIS on the elections in PoJK:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2bvXu_soaU&t=2s

This again compels us to conclude that this Govt of India has no intention of getting back PoJK by any means.

Rogue said...

I am from Assam and the thread that you have pasted is a while lot of bullshit. Barak valley has no Assamese, it is Bengali speaking ( both Hindu and Muslim). The term lusai hills, the name virangte it self explains the whole situation.

Rogue said...

Btw, the fellow was peddling a fake narrative and his account has disappeared. What a stupid rant that was too.

DAshu said...

Unfortunately, the PoJK conclusion is unambiguous now. Maybe this current govt is planning to bring legislation to annul the 1994 resolution to appease ccp too soon.

Kaustav said...

Absolutely. One of those dumbo ideologues, who know very little about India's East specially about it's Bengalis. Such opinion makers influencing the BJP's leadership cost the BJP quite a few votes & seats, not that they would have won but they would have won in more seats & crossed a 100 seats.

Vedant said...

I found this shit....prasun da
Is it even valid.....!?

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com › ...
On Sonia Gandhi - Blog by Ex-Indian Intelligence ... - Bharatkalyan97

bhoutik said...

chinese pushing grabbing land from the north, pakis from the west and now southeastasian migrant into India are pushing from the east. maybe all of us should grow gills and leave the country for the seas.

Praksh said...

http://trishul-trident.blogspot.com/2012/09/travesty-of-national-security.html?m=0

1)Which delivery platforms were available to India for using nukes?

2)https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/nandygram/china-moved-n-missiles-and-launchers-via-karakoram-highway-to-pak-in-2005-indian-intelligence-reports/

Why no one talks about this?

3)Which missiles did the 15 TELs of PLA were carrying in April 2002 through KKH?

4)So does Pakistan have TNWs since when?2002 or 1990s?

5)Did the Israeli government or Private firms provide the overhead satellite imagery of movement of these TELs in 2002 because the Pakistanis were obtaining their images from a Canadian company as you mentioned in the thread?

I hope you will elaborate.

Thank you

Praksh

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To ANUP: That’s because we are probably condemned to have the worst-ever Union Home Minister at the helm of affairs! As for reservations, it only reveals the utter failure of the Union Ministries of Education & Health to create additional infrastructure that is reqd for providing medical degrees to anyone & everyone without any reservations.

To ROGUE: LoLz! Yes, it indeed seems that bullshitting has become the national pastime nowadays. The Union Health & Chemicals Minister gives one figure about monthly production of COVID=19 vaccines, while his colleagues go & give another set of figures in affidavits filed with the Supreme Court, while the ‘Param/Uttam Bandalbaaz’ from BUSINESS STANDARD has this to say:

Worryingly, Dassault is delivering Rafale fighters to India without their so-called “India specific enhancements”. These include specially ordered capabilities such as helmet-mounted sights, radar warning receiver, radio altimeter, Doppler radar and the ability to start up the fighter without assistance in extremely cold areas such as Ladakh.

Unusually, the test was intended to validate whether the MPATGM is effective against tank targets at the lower end of its range spectrum, which is 200-300 metres. The MPATGM has already proven in earlier tests that it can strike targets at its maximum range of 4,000 metres. Seldom on a battlefield does an infantryman have occasion to fire a missile at a tank from as close as 200-300 metres. Usually, the infantryman would prefer to take advantage of the MPATGM’s 4,000 metre range and destroy the tank from afar, before its main gun--with a maximum range of 2,000-2,500 metres can accurately shoot at him. The DRDO has long argued that ATGMs require about 400-500 metres of flight in order to stabilise and deploy their guidance mechanisms. However the Army insisted on the MPATGM being effective and accurate at 200-300 metres.

So, the IAF’s Rafales don’t have (according to him) the RBE-2 AESA-MMR & Targo HMDS, while the MPATGM has a range of not 2.5km as claimed by the DRDO, but 4km as claimed by the ‘Param/Uttam Bandalbaaz’. He fails to understand that the IA’s Milan-2T ATGMs have a range of 2km & they can easily be controlled after attaining a distance of 90 metres (although MBDA claims that control can be attained after 25 metres). In fact, all MBT versus MBT engagements in the subcontinent have thus taken place between 500 metres & 700 metres, primarily due to problems associated with target acquisition with target sighting sensors & that too due to the tall ‘Sarkanda’ grass & fully-grown crops in agrarian terrain.

To UNKNOWN: If it was true, then the writer of that narrative would not have chosen to stay hidden & he would have revealked his/her identity.

To PRAKSH: 1) The Agni-2 IRBMs. 2) Because it is FAKE NEWS. Pakistan began receiving M-9 & M-11 SRBMs & TBMs way back in the early 1990s from China just after India began conducting test-firings of the Agni-2 IRBM & the SS-150 Prithvi SS-BSM. 3) M-9 & M-11. 4) Since 2011. 5) No.

Anonymous said...

Hello sir,
You said "As for drones, all 3 armed services are not interested in armed drones. Instead, they all want turboprop-powered MALE-UAVs for surveillance purposes only."

But why? What are their operational strategy with drones?
I mean, why just do surveillance if you can also get option to carry out anti-surface mission alongside.

-Atul

murthy said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LZwkdGU0-g

Inside Rolls Royce Factory - Building Future Jet Engines

Rogue said...

Prasun da.

It's quite disheartening to see the direction we are going. This wierd understanding of nationalism and patriotism that is going about these days. This lack of empathy, this intolerance of anyone who does not fit the so called narrative.

Praksh said...

Thanks ver much for your response.

Some more questions are arised

1)Was Prihvi missile ever in Nuclear role?

2)You had mentioned in your 2011 thread that the missiles which were transferred to Pakistan by China through KKH in 2002 were equipped with TNW and acc to then Army Chief they were for use against Battlefield formations and had limited fallout so doesn't that mean that Pakistan has TNWs since 2002 or even before?

3)Some reports say less than a Agni-2 missiles were available for use by end 2001 so would have these missiles with Rail-mobile TELs been enough for Second strike?

4)Were IAF Jaguars apart from Mirage-2000 also available for Nuclear delivery role with NGBs?

Thanks

Praksh

Vedant said...

Indian R&AW chief Vikram Sood was caught passing documents to CIA mole Rabinder Singh.
He talks better sense...btw

What is ur view on this and the man himself.....his tenure was full of disasters.....please give ur insight about him.

Also please write about the state of Indian intelligence and can it get better and is it worth to work in it. (if possible)

With regards
Vedant

Millard Keyes said...

Rogue: man you are probably the most sensible Indian not a rogue at all except in the eyes of those opportunist saffron groups that are a Hindu equivalent of Pakistan - nationalism is equated with their view of a religion and if you do not nod your head you are a traitor. In a way it is exactly what North Koreans, Chinese CP and any dictatorship would have you believe and do - only that they do not use religion necessarily but ideology such as Communism or whatever. These guys have brainwashed so many Indians today that they believe all of India's evils have external origin. If an Indian adopts a pseudonym such as Johnny Phucker they will call him a Christian converted by missionaries {well in reality could be the missionary position :)} and start persecution. Interestingly there is a worldwide surge of phone scammers originating from India and they are a mix of red tikka wearing and cut dick Muslims who seem to forget religious principles and worship the dollar sign in perfect unity! India doesn't need weapons- needs a brain pressure clean as the country is now registered a huge majority of retards with a small exception of genuine Indians who these morons are trying to eliminate. Thank goodness PKS and you seem to be in that minority group.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To ATUL: Because if India were to use such armed drones even from within her own airspace against either China or Pakistan, then they would be shot out of the skies. Thus far, history shows us all that armed drones have successfully operated with reasonable success ONLY within UNCONTESTED airspace. Wherever air-defence artillery was available (like in Libya & Yemen) the armed drones were shot down. But such armed drones should not be conflated with killer-drones that are not re-usable & which can be used only once on a one-way trip.

To ROGUE: It indeed is, especially after the waters get muddied even further by retards like this programme anchor, who does most of the speaking during the debates & hardly gives time to the invited panelists:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhZyU2boAFA&t=14s

This is a saner debate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkOqcr8asZw&t=19s

Nationalism keeps on getting conflated with patriotism simply because, as I had explained earlier, India’s colonial-era laws & regulations that are still in force can never be synchronised with India’s Constitutional ideals & goals that were adopted in 1950. Hence one keeps on harping about Mizoram’s insistence on clinging on to 19th century arrangements while Assam talks about early 20th century arrangements. In other words, existing legal provisions cater only to ruling, not governance. At a larger level, this can only result in the steady & systematic destruction of the law enforcement institutions thanks to their flawed methodologies which in turn are all due to continuing adherence to colonial-era laws, as explained here:

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/one-nation-one-police-is-a-reform-that-is-long-overdue-7429149/

And who are those that can usher in the legislations that ensure governance, instead of being ruled over? The ‘Netas’. Are they doing their jobs with sincerity & diligence? Most certainly not & this is a pan-India phenomenon.

To PRAKSH: 1) Never, as explained in the thread titled FROM PRITHVI TO PRALAY. 2) No, because those TNWs in late 2002 went back the same way they had entered Pakistan. 3) There were more than 10 Agni-2 IRBMs available—enough for the job. None of them were or are rail-mobile. The rail-mobile TEL is used ONLY in Wheeler Island for rolling the BMs out of their final integration hangar. 4) No.

To VEDANT: One cannot objectively judge the performance of intelligence agencies, especially in India, by benchmarking them with their foreign counterparts, simply because Indian agencies function in a totally different environment that is legally flawed & enjoys no legal protection. There are thus severe systemic deficiencies in place.

To DASHU: https://theprint.in/world/pakistan-summons-indian-diplomat-to-convey-its-rejection-of-indias-comments-on-pok-polls/706333/

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210719120310.htm

AMIT BISWAS said...

https://fb.watch/7kH9b66erv/

Has us really stopped developing rail gun technology...any relevant data can you share for us

rad said...


hi prasun
the navy ordered 49 club missiles and they cost nearly 7 mill % apiece , why so expensive when it is belived that a cruise missile is about 2 mill per copy? what would be the cost of the nirbhay..? was the recent test of it a failure or the flight served the purpose of verifying the desi engine. Is it not prudent to start manufacturing the missiles wiht the russian engine till the desi one is proven?