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Capacity Building for Military Diplomacy
Full text linkIndia’s military diplomacy objectives of capacity building are geared toward enhancing capacities in military inventories as well as honing capacities in the training and deployment of India’s armed forces. In the pursuit of its military diplomacy, India has responded to the challenges posed by its two avowed adversaries (Pakistan and China) through interactive partnerships with its preferred strategic partners. The character of India’s military diplomacy is “human-centric”. It looks at the capacity of India’s armed forces for achieving the tasks set for them, particularly when deployed to maintain international peace and security under the United Nations. This article carries out an assessment of the current status in this sphere to ascertain the extent to which India’s core national interests are being assisted by military diplomacy
Pakistan’s Security Dynamics and Nuclear Weapons: Editors: Shalini Chawla and Rajiv Nayan
No full textPakistan’s nuclear thinking, doctrine, and posture are critical for Indian policymakers and the international security community. For Pakistan, nuclear arsenals are rationalised as an ultimate guarantee of security, a deterrent to Indian conventional military superiority, and an umbrella to pursue a proxy war through terrorism. The book, Pakistan’s Security Dynamics and Nuclear Weapons, co-edited by Dr. Shalini Chawla and Dr. Rajiv Nayan is an attempt to gain a deeper understanding of Pakistan’s intricate security dynamics from a large number of experts in a wide range of disciplines. The book is divided into three sections with a number of chapters in each section covering the overarching theme of the section
Air Power and War Endurance in the Indian Context
Full text linkThe changing character of warfare and recent wars indicate a change in the trend related to the duration of wars. The conflicts arecontinuing for longer periods but with a wavering tempo of operations. The changing trend has reopened the debate about the aspect of readiness for a short and intense war or a long protracted one. The level of preparation required by the defence forces is determined by the combination of the expected duration of the war and the likely tempo/intensity of operations. Several key factors contribute to air war endurance and affect the duration, effectiveness, and efficiency of air campaigns. There is a need to review the factors associated with the use of air power vis-à-vis air war endurance. Air powers in prolonged conflicts must demonstrate resilience,adaptability, and effective resource management to endure the challenges associated with extended durations of war and contribute to achieving the desired strategic objectives over the long term. The Indian airpower, mainly IAF should be ready for short and intense war and be prepared for long-drawn standoff
Amphibious Operations: Do We Need a Hard Reset?
Full text linkMankind has been landing troops by sea-going vessels on foreign shores since time immemorial. In 1200 BCE, to attack Troy, the Greeks had to make a shore landing, as did the Persians prior to the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE. Both the world wars saw several amphibious landings, the most prominent ones being Gallipoli in 1915 and Normandy in 1944. During World War 2 the Pacific Theatre witnessed many amphibious operations. Over time the complexity of amphibious operations increased with technologically enhanced land power, and the advent of maritime and air power, all of which necessitated a high degree of joint planning and flexibility of execution. This article will analyse amphibious operations in the contemporary context and examine if there is a need for a hard rese
Securing India’s Security Interests in a China-Taiwan Conflict
Full text linkThe security situation across the Taiwan Strait is precariously poised, with China having adopted an overtly proactive stance over the past couple of years. The current hardline stance of China which considers this time as “a new starting point for reunification”, creates further portends for conflict. In this context, this article provides a brief overview of the evolving India-Taiwan relations; assesses the contours of the China-Taiwan conflict; investigates the effect of such a contingency on India’s interests in terms of quantum and intensity, and finally analyses the options available to New Delhi to mitigate, if not wholly address the consequential challenges
AI and the Potential to Create Digital Twins to Transform Military Logistics
Full text linkEfficient and reliable military logistics are essential to the success of military operations. When effectively integrated into logistics planning and decision-making, Artificial Intelligence (AI) can simplify complex logistics operations. Digital twins are digital representations of physical objects, systems, or processes. When powered by AI, digital twins have the potential to make military logistics smarter, more efficient, and cost-effective. It is proposed that all military equipment (embedded with sensors) and military depots in the Indian Army should have their AI digital twins created to facilitate predictive maintenance and AI-driven demand forecasting respectively. An attempt has been made to explore and validate the proposed concepts through two prototype machine-learning projects. The article further delves into the implementation aspects of AI digital twin-based predictive maintenance anddemand forecasting followed by key recommendations for adoption in the Indian Army
The Future of Land Warfare
Full text linkPredicting ‘Futures’ is a hazardous business, especially where it concerns the “Future of Land Warfare”. Militaries have mostly not been able to predict the future correctly. Yet, despite this dismal record, most militaries are seriously in the business of outlining the future as it would unfold a couple of decades hence. This is necessary because there is a lead time that is required to build what will be needed one to two decades later. This is certainly true of developing next-generation weapons and equipment, but equally applies to the development of doctrine, strategies and organisations that will be relevant in the future. The future we see is not “Black & White”, but many shades of Grey, as this article will explor
The India-AfghanistanPakistan Conundrum
Full text linkIt has been two years since the US withdrew from Afghanistan in an ignominious manner, though in keeping with the declared US objective to exit Afghanistan. This article carries out a recapitulation and an assessment of the security situation since then which can best be described as a conundrum. Forward progress appears to be very slow as the conflicting interest of the three countries impede it and the Taliban’s continuation of their non-inclusive government and persistence with a closed society shackles it. The article indicates the limited options in the road ahead in order to make the best out of a bad situation
Note from the Editor
Full text linkThe CLAWS Journal Summer 2023 is focused on strategic, technological, financial and diplomatic aspects of the development of military capabilities. The authors, who are acknowledged experts in their diverse fields, write on a number of subjects which educate and make us contemplate hitherto obscured or opaque areas in these subjects. They cover aspects of air and space capability development, organisational evolution, the value of intangible aspects such as military diplomacy and alliances, and strategic affairs in our neighbourhood or globally.
The past six months have been eventful. They have witnessed an acceleration of certain trends that had been underway since 2014 when Russia first took over Crimea. This exacerbated the geopolitical frictions at global, regional, and domestic levels fuelled by uncertainty and insecurity. Undoubtedly the war in Ukraine is one of the defining conflicts of this decade and a continuation of the conflict between the erstwhile USSR and the West. That conflict itself was rooted in ideology and two different political systems each of which tries to enhance its sphere of influence and the strength of its system. The evolution of modern warfare and lessons learnt from this war in various spheres of defence and strategic studies are evident because Ukraine finds mention in a number of articles in thisissue. This is either directly or indirectly because willy-nilly the Ukraine war does enter any military discourse—whether in detail or in passing
Enhancing Combat Capabilities 2035 with Affordable Defence Spending
Full text linkIt is feasible to significantly enhance combat capabilities by 2035, within the resources realistically available. However, aiming to enhance combat capabilities by 2035 cannot be done by merely presenting wish lists and hoping that funds will be somehow available. It can only be achieved if we plan ahead realising that defence spending has to be affordable for the nation. Other major countries are restructuring their armed forces with this realisation, and there is no reason why we cannot do so too. There are opportunities that can be seized and realised within the budgets available, provided we are ready to think differently. From historical service-specific and turf-conscious thinking, we need to move on to adopt a whole-of-nation approach in support of our national security goals. We need to learn the lessons of recent experience, and look at optimal trade-offs accordingly