February 2022

Whose Doing is Invasion of Ukraine

It was a time of hope. NATO, with the breakup of the Soviet empire, became obsolete. President Mikhail Gorbachev reached out to Washington and Europe to build a new security pact that would include Russia. The US Secretary of State James Baker in the Reagan administration and then West German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher assured the Soviet leader that if Germany was unified NATO would not be extended beyond the new borders.

Budget blueprint for Vibrant Defence Industry - PM

Ministry of Defence organised a post budget webinar titled ‘Aatmanirbharta in Defence - Call to Action’ on the announcements made in Union budget 2022-23, on February 25, 2022. The Union Budget 2022-23 related to Ministry of Defence has given further impetus to Aatmanirbharta in Defence and the objective of the webinar was to involve all the stakeholders in taking forward the various initiatives of the Government in the defence sector.

Indo-Oman Eastern Bridge-VI Concluded

The Indo-Oman exercise, Eastern Bridge-VI (2022) was successfully conducted at Air Force Station Jodhpur from 21 to 25 February 2022. Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) participated with Indian Air Force (lAF) in the exercise which was aimed at providing operational exposure and undertaking mutual exchange of best practices, towards enhancing operational capabilities of both the Air Forces.

Ukraine War - Tale of Two Doctrines

The first two days of Russian operations in Ukraine has stunned the world. The inability of Ukraine to stop the Russian forces from crossing its borders will be analyzed threadbare in coming months. Ukraine is not a minion nation. It has one of the largest armed forces in Europe backed by a robust defence industrial complex. During the Soviet era, Ukraine hosted around 30 per cent of the defence manufacturing and research installations.

Russia Declares War on Ukraine

While the UN Security Council was discussing the Ukraine Crisis, the Russian President, taking the world by surprise, on Thursday, declared war on Ukraine. Speaking to the nation on State TV, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced, “Anyone who tries to interfere with us, or even more so, to create threats for our country and our people, must know that Russia’s response will be immediate and will lead you to such consequences as you have never before experienced in your history.”

Quantum Key Distribution at 100 km by DRDO and IIT(D)

A joint team of scientists from Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, for the first time in the country successfully demonstrated Quantum Key Distribution link between Prayagraj and Vindhyachal in Uttar Pradesh, a distance of more than 100 kilometres. This technological breakthrough was achieved over a commercial grade optical fibre already available in field.