India Raises Defense Budget By 13 Pct To $72.6 Bln Amid Border Tensions With China

Indian Army soldiers march through the ceremonial Rajpath during the Republic Day parade in New Delhi, India, on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. India has bounced back strongly from the pandemic and stands poised to claim the mantle of fastest-growing economy in 2021 and probably 2022 as well. Bloomberg  

Reuters: India raises defense budget by 13 pct to $72.6 bln amid border tensions with China 

 India proposed on Wednesday 5.94 trillion rupees ($72.6 billion) in defense spending for the 2023-24 financial year, 13 percent up from the previous period’s initial estimates, aiming to add more fighter jets and roads along its tense border with China. 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocated 1.63 trillion rupees for defense capital outlays -- an expenditure that would include new weapons, aircraft, warships and other military hardware, as she unveiled nearly $550 billion of total federal spending in the annual budget for 2023-24 starting in April.  

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Update #1: Budget 2023-24: Good news for Indian military as defence budget gets 13% hike (First Post)  

Update #2: India raises defence budget to $72.6 bn (Express Tribune)  

WNU Editor: Some analysts and pundits expected a bigger defense budget increase .... India's Military Modernization in Doubt With Tiny Budget Rise (Bloomberg).

Tweets Accidentally Reveals India’s Next-Generation Ballistic Missile Submarine

Spot the submarine: The hydrodynamic model on the left provides clues to India's next-generation ballistic missile submarine.Indian Vice President Secretariat

Forbes: Tweet May Have Inadvertently Revealed India’s Next-Gen Nuclear Weapons Platform With Global Reach

Politicians’ tweets can sometimes reveal new intelligence about their own country’s military capabilities and programs. On August 28 the official Twitter account of the Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, tweeted photos of his visit to the country’s Naval Science & Technological Laboratory. Among the missiles and unmanned vehicles is a sub-scale model of a submarine. And it appears to be not just any submarine – the model may offer the first visual clues to India’s next-generation ballistic missile submarine, the S-5 Class.

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WNU Editor: You cannot keep anything secret for any long period of time.

Did India Shoot Down Its Own Mi-17 Helicopter in Kashmir During Last Month's India-Pakistan Air Clash?

An Indian soldier next to the wreckage of Indian Air Force's helicopter in Kashmir February 27, 2019 © Reuters/Danish Ismail

IBTimes: Did India's own missile shoot down Mi17 helicopter in Budgam crash?

Investigations are on whether the Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) systems were turned on that could have averted the Budgam helicopter crash.

A court of inquiry has been set up to ascertain whether an Indian missile shot down the Mi17 helicopter in Budgam district in Jammu and Kashmir on February 27 killing six Indian Air Force personnel and a civilian. The Mi17 helicopter was hovering over Kashmir skies when India and Pakistan were locked in an aerial stand-off had crashed minutes after the Pakistan jets crossed over the Line of Control into the Indian territory to target military bases.

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More News On Reports That India Shot Down Its Own Mi-17 Helicopter in Kashmir During Last Month's India-Pakistan Air Clash

Budgam: Indian missile fired before Mi17 V5 chopper crash -- Economic Times
Did India Shoot Down Its Own Mi-17 Helicopter in Kashmir During India-Pakistan Air Clash? -- Eurasian Times
India may have shot down its own helicopter in Kashmir thinking it was Pakistan’s -- Samaa TV
Indian Missile Mistakenly Hit its Own Chopper in Conflict with Pakistan - Report -- Sputnik
India blew up its own helicopter while trying to target Pakistani jets, killing 7 – report -- RT

Indian MiG-21 Bison Crashes Near Pakistani Border

Economic Times: Indian Air Force MiG-21 crashes near Nal in Rajasthan, pilot safe

The pilot ejected and is reportedly safe. Further details are awaited. A CoI will be set up to investigate the cause of the accident.

NEW DELHI: An Indian Air Force's MiG-21 crashed Friday near Nal in Rajasthan. The pilot ejected and is reportedly safe.

A Court of Inquiry will be set up to investigate the cause of the accident.

Bikaner SP Pradeep Mohan Sharma said the MIG aircraft crashed in Shobhasar ki Dhani, 12 km from Bikaner city.

IAF spokesperson Group Captain Anupam Banerjee said initial inputs indicated the likely cause as bird hit after take off.

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Update #1: MiG 21 fighter jet crashes near Rajasthan's Nal -- Times of India
Update #2: Indian MiG-21 Bison Crashes Near Pakistani Border -- Sputnik

WNU Editor: It crashed 150 miles from the Pakistan border.

India's Military Will Not Be Able To Sustain Itself In A War Against Pakistan

1. @nytimesworld you can draw your own conclusions, but dont basic reporting guidelines mean you at least report the detailed Indian claim that the IAF MiG 21 Bison shot down an F-16 before being downed itself ? https://t.co/7qNPw5F9qs

— Vishnu Som (@VishnuNDTV) March 4, 2019

Economic Times/New York Times: India dogfight loss raises questions about its ‘vintage’ military

The aerial clash, the first by the South Asian rivals in nearly five decades, was a rare test for the Indian military — and it left observers a bit dumbfounded.

NEW DELHI: It was an inauspicious moment for a military the United States is banking on to help keep an expanding China in check.

An Indian Air Force pilot found himself in a dogfight last week with a warplane from the Pakistani Air Force, and ended up a prisoner behind enemy lines for a brief time.

The pilot made it home in one piece, however bruised and shaken, but the plane, an aging Soviet-era MiG-21, was less lucky.

The aerial clash, the first by the South Asian rivals in nearly five decades, was a rare test for the Indian military — and it left observers a bit dumbfounded. While the challenges faced by the India’s armed forces are no secret, its loss of a plane last week to a country whose military is about half the size and receives a quarter of the funding was still telling.

If intense warfare broke out tomorrow, India could supply its troops with only 10 days of ammunition, according to government estimates. And 68 percent of the army’s equipment is so old, it is officially considered “vintage.”

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WNU Editor: A sobering analysis form the New York times, and one that India is not happy about .... Indians Blast NYT for "Biased" Reporting on Aerial Dogfight Between MiG-21, F-16 (Sputnik).

India Builds Up Its Navy To Counter China

Indian sailors aboard anti-submarine corvette INS Kadmatt arrive in Manila for a four-day goodwill visit in the Philippines, October 3, 2017. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco

Business Insider: India is beefing up its navy to counter China's increasingly powerful fleet

* India and China, the world's two most populous countries, have a long history of conflict.
* In recent years, India has been watching China's navy expand into the Indian Ocean.
* Now New Delhi plans to bolster its fleet in order to keep an edge in the ocean it abuts on two sides.

India has watched warily as China's navy has ventured into the Indian Ocean, and now New Delhi plans to expand its navy to keep its edge in the ocean with which it shares a name.

India's navy currently has 140 warships and 220 aircraft, and navy chief Adm. Sunil Lanba said Monday that there are 32 ships and submarines under construction in Indian shipyards

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Update: India to add 56 warships, six submarines to naval fleet (UPI)

WNU Editor: India will need a fleet if they want to do this .... Indian Navy monitoring all happenings in Indian Ocean (Economic Times/PTI).

India Surpasses France To Have The World's Fifth Largest Defense Budget

Indian Army's T-90 Bhishma tanks (front) are driving during the Republic Day parade in New Delhi, India, January 26, 2016. Reuters file

Bloomberg: India Joins World's Top Five Defense Spenders, Surpassing France

* Beijing spends far more on military than any other Asian power
* Worldwide military spending 2.2 percent of global GDP: SIPRI

India has joined the U.S. and China as one of the world’s five biggest military spenders, reflecting geopolitical tensions as well as the country’s reliance on imported weapons and sprawling personnel costs.

New Delhi’s defense spending rose by 5.5 percent to $63.9 billion in 2017 and has now passed France, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in a report released Wednesday.

Worldwide military spending rose marginally last year to $1.73 trillion, or roughly 2.2 percent of global gross domestic product, the group said. The list of the world’s biggest military spenders has remained consistent in recent years, dominated by the U.S. and China, which spent $610 billion and $228 billion respectively, according to SIPRI, which researches global arms spending.

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WNU Editor: Here is an easy prediction .... this budget will continue to grow because of China's military buildup, and the never-ending tensions with Pakistan.

India's Military Is Mostly Made Up Of 'Vintage' Equipment

UK Defense Journal: 68% of Indian military equipment is ‘vintage’ say officials

Indian officers and officials expressed concerns before an Indian parliamentary committee on defence, service chiefs revealed dire shortfalls in equipment and investment.

According to an article that appeared in the Asia section of the print edition of ‘The Economist’:

“Judging from the three services’ own testimony, the airing of such grievances is long overdue. MPs were told that some 68% of the army’s equipment, much of which was first supplied by the Soviet Union, such as BMP-2 personnel carriers and Shilka anti-aircraft guns, may be described as “vintage”. Only 8% could be considered state-of-the-art. “To be prepared for…a two-front war, the huge deficiencies and obsolescence of weapons, stores and ammunition existing in the Indian army do not augur well,” said the army’s report.

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WNU Editor: Bottom line .... India will not be able to fight in a modern war against China, and it will have a problem fighting a war against Pakistan.

Does India Need A Third Aircraft Carrier?

Creative Commons

Robert Beckhusen, National Interest: India's Aircraft Carriers Might Just Be the Ultimate Paper Tiger

The Indian Navy has put out a proposal for its third aircraft carrier, tentatively titled the Vishal due to enter service in the latter 2020s. The 65,000-ton Vishal will be significantly larger than India’s sole current carrier, the Vikramaditya known formerly as the ex-Soviet Admiral Gorshkov, and the incoming second one, the domestically-built Vikrantwhich is expected to enter service later in 2018.

To see why Vishal is a big deal for the Indian Navy, one needs only to look at her proposed air wing — some 57 fighters, more than Vikramaditya — 24 MiG-29Ks — and Vikrant‘s wing of around 30 MiG-29Ks. While below the 75+ aircraft aboard a U.S. Navy Gerald R. Ford-class supercarrier, Vishal will be a proper full-size carrier and India’s first, as the preceding two are really small-deck carriers and limited in several significant ways.

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Update #1: Aircraft carrier Vikrant to be commissioned by 2020: Official (Economic Times/PTI)
Update #2: Navy confident of commissioning aircraft carrier Vikrant in two years (The Hindu)

WNU Editor: There is an arms race underway in Asia right now. China's building a third aircraft carrier .... China's Third Aircraft Carrier Will Be A Massive Leap Forward (January 21, 2018) .... so why not India.

India Army Chief: India Should Be Ready To Go To War Against China And Pakistan At The Same Time

Indian army soldiers on duty in Chadoora, Srinagar Danish Ismail/Reuters

The Independent: India prepared to go to war with China and Pakistan simultaneously, says top general

Army chief Bipin Rawat says stand-off with Chinese troops on Himalayan border could snowball into larger conflict, with neighbouring nuclear power ready to pounce

India’s army chief has said the country should be prepared for a potential two-front war given China is flexing its muscles and there is little hope for reconciliation with Pakistan.

General Bipin Rawat referred to a recent 10-week standoff with the Chinese army in the Himalayas that ended last week. He said the situation could gradually snowball into a larger conflict on India’s northern border. Rawat said Pakistan on the western front could take advantage of such a situation.

The Press Trust of India news agency quoted Rawat’s remarks at a seminar organised by the Center for Land Warfare Studies, a thinktank in New Delhi.

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WNU Editor: Not surprising .... the Chinese are condemning these remarks .... Beijing angered as Indian Army chief warns of two-front war with China and Pakistan (International Business Times).

More News On The Indian Army Chief Remarks That India Should Be Ready To Go To War Against China And Pakistan At The Same Time

India cannot rule out possibility of two-front war with China and Pakistan, Army chief General Bipin Rawat says -- Times of India
War with China, Pakistan at the same time cannot be ruled out, warns Army chief General Bipin Rawat -- India Today
Army Chief: India Must Be Ready for War on 2 Fronts -- VOA
India army chief: we must prepare for simultaneous war with China and Pakistan -- The Guardian
India's army chief sees war threats from China, Pakistan -- National Post/AP

What Is India's Military Strength?

The Indian Army is the second largest standing army in the world. With over 1.2 million active personnel service in harsh environments like deserts, forests, glaciers etc, it forms the backbone of the Indian defence forces. (Data source Globalfirepower.com)

Indian Express: What is India’s military strength?

India seems to be modernising its military and its nuclear capabilities keeping an eye on China. India's declared policy is of nuclear deterrence and no first strike. However, the modernisation program, particularly the ballistic missiles program, shows that India is intent on bringing the whole of China in its strike range.

India’s military prowess is growing every year. It continues to face threats on both the eastern and western fronts from Pakistan, China, internally through militancy, Maoists and terrorist outfits. At such a time, India prepares for the most adverse situations and is in the process of a large military modernisation and overhaul. India has been fast developing new military technology, acquiring what is required, manufacturing weapons, aircraft, naval vessels etc to make India’s military a strong force to handle these threats. India’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles program has also caused concerns for India’s adversaries. Adding to this, the increased pace of acquisitions and commissioning of defence equipment shows that India is wary of the threats and wants to upgrade and bolster the military as much as possible.

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WNU Editor: A short and brief breakdown.

How Not To Develop And Manufacture A Tank

An Arjun MBT being test driven. Wikimedia Commons/Creative Commons/Ajai Shukla

Kyle Mizokami, National Interest: India Took 35 Years to Make Its First Tank (And It Was a Total Disaster)

In the mid-1970s, India began development on a totally new, advanced main battle tank that would satisfy the needs of the country’s Armored Corps. An impressive combination of firepower, armor protection and mobility, the tank was to be India’s first indigenously produced tank—and one of the best in the world. The service date for the tank, known as Arjun, was confidently set for 1985.

Instead, the Arjun suffered a tortuously long development period spanning two centuries. The final result, introduced into the army twenty-six years later than originally planned, is a mess of a tank that not even the Indian Army wants.

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WNU Editor: It took them 35 years to figure this out?!?!?!

A Look At India`s Armed Forces

Photo from Defence Forum India

The Trials and Tribulations of India’s Armed Forces -- The Diplomat

While spending billions of dollars on defense equipment, India's military faces a number of challenges in its quest to enter the 21st century.

The old saying that a developing country is at a crossroads, whether it’s India or Indonesia, is especially tempting when it comes to India’s armed forces. Decades of underinvestment, corruption, bureaucratic ineptitude and hazy strategic thinking have left the country with a decidedly mixed bag of military capabilities.

The old saying that a developing country is at a crossroads, whether it’s India or Indonesia, is especially tempting when it comes to India’s armed forces. Decades of underinvestment, corruption, bureaucratic ineptitude and hazy strategic thinking have left the country with a decidedly mixed bag of military capabilities.

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My Comment: An informative review of India`s military. In short .... they still have a long way to go.

China Comments On India's ICBM Test

Photo: The Agni 5 missile was launched from Wheeler Island off the eastern coast of India on Thursday. Reuters

China Warns India Of Arrogance Over Missile Launch -- The Telegraph

India has been warned against arrogance in its relations with Beijing following its successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking any city in China.

It has spent heavily on military expansion despite its poverty on an arms race it cannot win, according to an editorial in China's state-controlled Global Times newspaper.

The editorial was published after India claimed its successful test of the Agni V meant it had joined the elite group of countries with intercontinental ballistic missile capabilities. The missile can hit any city within 3000 miles with a nuclear war head.

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More News On India's ICBM Test

Chinese media mock India's 'dwarf' missile -- BBC
India downplayed Agni-V's capacity: Chinese experts -- Hindustan Times
Agni-V will be operational in 2 years -- Times of India/AFP
Signs of an Asian Arms Buildup in India’s Missile Test -- New York Times
The 'missile woman' behind India's new ICBM -- BBC
An Arms Race at Arm’s Length -- Daniel Politi, IHTimes

After Today's Successful ICBM Test, India Declares Itself A Major Missile Power

India Declares Itself Major Missile Power -- Voice of America

India Thursday said it successfully test-fired a new missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead as far as Beijing - announcing itself as a major "missile power."

Indian media showed video of the long-range Agni-V missile in-flight after its launch from a test range in the eastern state of Orissa.

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Previous Post: India Successfully Test Launches It's First ICBM

More News On India's Missile Program

India tests missile that can reach China -- Christian Science Monitor
Mixed views over missile success -- Sydney Morning Herald
India missile test has few critics, unlike NKorea -- AP
India's Fire God: A new ballistic missile puts China - and Europe - within striking distance -- Daily Mail
Agni-V: U.S. says “exercise restraint” -- The Hindu

What Happened To India's Military?

Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence in New Delhi. Rediff

Once A Beacon Of Integrity, India's Military Is In Disarray -- Globe and Mail

Indians wearied by a litany of corruption scandals and failures of government in recent years have been able to take comfort in the fact that one national institution – the armed forces – remained unbesmirched, its reputation for efficiency and integrity intact.

No longer. Leaked secret memos, million-dollar bribe allegations, a “near-coup experience” and a bizarre dispute over the army chief’s birthday have badly tarnished the image of the 1.3 million-member fighting force that controls nuclear weapons in a volatile region.

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My Comment: I (and everyone else) should be covering this story more extensively. India is one of our critical allies, and it is in a region of the world that will play a critical role in shaping policy for our own national security.

Rediff has a must read piece article on the shocking state of India's military forces .... the link is here.

Update: India Successfully Test Launches It's First ICBM

India Successfully Test Launches It's First ICBM

India Test-Fires Longest-Range Missile to Counter Neighbor China -- Bloomberg

India test-fired its longest-range missile for the first time, a weapon with the potential to target parts of northern China.

The 50-ton, 17.5-meter Agni-V missile that is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and traveling 5,000 kilometers was launched at about 8:05 a.m. local time from Wheeler Island in the eastern state of Odisha today, according to CNN-IBN television channel. Ravi Kumar Gupta, a spokesman for the state- run Defence Research & Development Organisation, which makes the missile, did not answer two calls to his mobile phone.

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More News On India Successfully Test Launching It's First ICBM

Agni-V, India's first ICBM test-fired successfully -- Times of India
Agni V, India's first ICBM, successfully test-fired -- NDTV
Agni V successfully test-fired -- The Hindu
India launches long-range missile on test flight -- CNN
India tests long-range missile; capable of reaching China -- CNBC
Agni-V missile to take India into elite nuclear club -- BBC
Indian missile that could hit Beijing tested -- CBS/AP
India Launches Long-Range Missile -- Wall Street Journal
India tests nuclear missile that can hit Beijing -- USA Today/AP
India tests long-range nuclear-capable missile -- AFP
Top 10 facts about Agni-V -- NDTV

Global Defense Firms Are 'In Love' With India

India Is Darling Of Global Defense Firms -- L.A. Times

India's military spending plan has arms merchants jockeying for a deal. Their only obstacles are political infighting, corruption and bureaucracy.

NEW DELHI — Sailor-suited Russian models touted their nation's submarines. Indian officers posed for pictures atop foreign-made armor-plated vehicles.

And working the room at New Delhi's aging exhibition center were French, British and American arms merchants from global defense giants, elbowing each other aside in the search for a deal at Defexpo India 2012, the country's biggest-ever weapons trade show.

Fueled by superpower ambitions and rivalry with China but hampered by a creaky domestic defense industry, India is on a military buying spree that's made it the belle-of-the-global-military ball.

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My Comment: India appears to be putting their money where their mouth is.

As China's Military Expands, India Is Faced With Some Hard Choices

A French Dassault Rafale multirole combat aircraft performs during the Aero India 2011's inauguration day in the Indian city of Bangalore on Feb. 9, 2011. India's planned purchase of 126 fighters from France's Dassault marks the latest stage in a huge military procurement cycle that has made the world's largest democracy the world's biggest arms importer. Dibyangshu / Sarkar

Facing the Challenge of China, Should India Embrace the U.S.? -- Ishaan Tharoor, Time

India’s Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna was in Beijing this week, inaugurating his nation’s new $10 million embassy and meeting with his Chinese counterpart as well as a range of high-ranking Communist Party officials. The biggest headline to emerge from the visit was invariably about the two countries’ commitment to reach $100 billion in bilateral trade by 2015. Sino-Indian summitry is notorious for its tiresome platitudespeak, full of stiff statements promising respect for the other’s sovereignty and even stiffer appeals to friendship and bonhomie between the two Asian giants. This is understandable. Presiding over vast, intensely nationalist publics, both governments need to tread lightly in order to stave off conflict. But there are reasons to expect a hardening of the geopolitical divide, despite Beijing’s and New Delhi’s talking points.

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More News On India's Military Expansion

India upgrades its military with China in mind -- Newsday/AP
India Upgrades Military to Match China -- Time/AP
India relying on Russia for arms -- Russia & India Report
Old weapons, new threats fuel India's military build-up -- AFP
India military build up: too little too late? -- Express India
An India-China Military Conflict? – Analysis -- Eurasia Review

India Confirms Agreement To Purchase Fighter Jets From France. Britain Not Amused

Well That's Gratitude! We Give India £1bn In Aid, THEY Snub The UK And Give France A £13bn Jet Contract -- Daily Mail

* Propaganda coup for Nicolas Sarkozy just days after he declared Britain has 'no industry'
* French firm Dassault Rafale slashes price of fighter jets to ensure deal
* 'Disappointed' Cameron insists there will be no job losses despite blow

India has snubbed British industry and awarded a £13billion deal to supply fighter jets to France.

The contract was lost despite Government claims that the UK’s £1billion aid package to India would help secure the order.

Yesterday’s decision also handed a propaganda coup to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who sneeringly claimed on Monday that Britain ‘has no industry’.

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More News On India's Decision To Buy France's Dassault Rafale Fighter

French Rafale jet beats Eurofighter in $10bn India deal -- BBC
India to buy 126 Rafale fighter jets in $11B deal with French aviation company Dassault -- Washington Post/AP
France's Dassault beats BAE Systems to clinch Indian government fighter jet contract -- The Telegraph
Dassault Aviation’s Rafale Is Lowest Bidder in India Jet Fighter Contract -- Bloomberg
French jet Rafale bags $20bn IAF fighter order; India 'briefs' losing European countries -- Times of India
Dassault Chosen to Bid on $10 Billion Indian Military Contract -- New York Times
India boost for Dassault as jet is frontrunner -- Financial Times

UK PM Cameron to ask India to consider Eurofighter instead of French Rafale fighter jets -- Washington Post/AP
Cameron promises to persuade India to buy Eurofighter -- BBC
Cameron looks to persuade India to rethink Eurofighter Typhoon deal -- The Guardian
Will urge India to reconsider Dassault Rafale fighter deal: British Prime Minister David Cameron -- Times of India
UK says will urge India to reconsider warplane decision -- Reuters
U.K. Still Pressing for India Fighter Jet Deal -- Wall Street Journal