CLAWS Journal
Not a member yet
142 research outputs found
Sort by
Modernisation and Transformation in the Armed Forces
Full text linkArmed forces worldwide face an epic challenge in keeping pace with the emerging regional and global threats and the changing battlefield milieu. The global security environment is marked by regional conflicts, asymmetric threats, terrorism, and the rise of fundamentalism, as well as rapid progress in technology. The armed forces of any nation are, thus, constantly trying to evolve, to stay abreast in dealing with the myriad challenges being faced by them. The commonly used parlance for demonstrating the will to meet these challenges is to modernise/transform. However, the terms modernisation and transformation, especially when referring to the armed forces, are often misused, misapplied, and used interchangeably even though they mean different things and have very different connotations
India and Its Air Power: Transformational Challenges
Full text linkThe Balakot airstrikes and the air combat thereafter in which a MiG-21 Bison of the Indian Air Force (IAF) had to engage a much more modern F-16 of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has once again brought IAF modernisation back into focus. IAF Chief, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, has said that the IAF has hit an all-time low of 31 fighter squadrons vis-à-vis the government authorised 42.1 He highlighted the convergence of strategic interests between China and Pakistan and their rapidly modernising Air Forces. The IAF, on the other hand, has been slowly losing the combat edge that it had enjoyed over Pakistan in 1971 in terms of both quality and numbers. Technology-intensive airpower requires Faster replacement of assets due to quicker obsolescence
‘Jointness\u27 in the Armed Forces: An Assessment
Full text linkJointness is a military term, as explained by the Collins Dictionary, which refers to “the cooperation and integration of different branches of the military”. India has the fourth largest military in the world and each operates independently. The cooperation among the three Services is according to the priorities as visualised by each Service, with coordination by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). In April 2017, the three Service Chiefs released the latest Joint Doctrine for the Indian armed forces. It is important to note that the first doctrine was written in 2006 and was a classified version that was not released to the public. The current document has very little depth and would not be able to integrate the various branches of the Indian armed forces. There would be no joint response to a military situation. Currently, there are more than 32 countries with joint Services set-ups
Israeli National Security: a New Start for an Era of Change: by Charles David Freilich
Full text linkPublisher: Oxford University Press Place: New York, NY; ISBN 978-0-19-060293-2 Pages:47
Hybrid Warfare: Battlegrounds of the Future
Full text linkIn the 34-day Israel-Hezbollah War of 2006, Israel\u27s Army, one of the most technologically advanced militaries of the world, was pitted against the fundamentalist Shia Muslim organization Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah, a non-state armed group, was armed with high-tech weaponry and other disruptive technologies, such as Precision Guided Munitions (PGMs), anti-tank missiles, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) that are traditionally used by the regular forces of a country. Hezbollah forces shot down Israeli helicopters, severely damaged a patrol boat with a cruise missile, and destroyed a large number of armored tanks by firing guided missiles from hidden bunkers. The group\u27s guerrillas stood their ground with their hi-tech weaponry and guerrilla tactics. They operated in a decentralised manner at the tactical levels, from both their urban and mountain bases, and shocked the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) with their conventional-cum-unconventional forms of warfare. Israel accepted that it committed a mistake in not adequately preparing for a ‘hybrid\u27 conflict with Hezbollah.2 US Army Chief General George W. Casey said that a new type of war that would become increasingly common in the future would be “a hybrid of irregular warfare and conventional warfare.
Fight and Win Without Waging a War: How China Fights Hybrid Warfare
Full text linkThe Chinese perception of the increasing security challenges has prompted a shift from having “fixed mindsets of mechanized warfare” to “establishing the ideological concept of information warfare”.  In this framework of understanding, ‘hybrid warfare\u27 acts as a significant component of China\u27s way of fighting a modern war, as witnessed in its growing interest in waging an asymmetrical form of warfare in areas that constitute its ‘core interests\u27. Wherein, Sun Tzu\u27s recommendation of deception and intelligence, the use of regular and irregular methods with an emphasis on defeating the enemy\u27s will to fight, act as key components of the current Chinese understanding of such warfare
India\u27s National Defence-2024 and Beyond
Full text linkNational security has been a prominent issue in the just-concluded elections. In the course of intense electioneering, almost all the major parties have used it as a means to secure electoral gains. Be that as it may, the reality is that national security has not been given the importance it deserves by successive governments. No wonder, we do not have a comprehensive national security strategy document in place even 72 years after independence. However, thanks to the focus during the elections, some pertinent and relevant aspects pertaining to national defence have been raised which need to be deliberated upon by the new government on priority
Pakistan’s Relations with China and the US: Increasing Misgivings on all Sides
Full text linkThe vision of a Naya (new) Pakistan enunciated by Prime Minister Imran Khan, Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Party, faces seemingly insurmountable challenges. The new government has inherited poor relations with India, continuing conflict along the Af-Pak border, intractable internal security challenges, a failing economy, a huge external debt, and a steady souring of relations with the US. It also faces the possibility of a dent in its relations with China. By accommodating and promoting the geo-strategic interests of China and the United States in Southern Asia over several decades, Pakistan made itself virtually indispensable to both. However, the Trump administration is unwilling to countenance the Pakistan Army\u27s doublespeak and has drastically curtailed military aid. And, in a bearhug which the Pakistanis did not see coming, China has entangled the country in a web of debt through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). China intends to make the CPEC the flagship project of its ambitious ‘Belt and Road Initiative\u27 (BRI) for the geopolitical and economic domination of Asia
Note From the Editor: Winter 2019
No full textThe term hybrid warfare, at a normative and intellectual level, appears to be too abstract and the latest thinking seriously considers referring to irregular methods to counter a conventionally superior force. A hybrid adversary is a complex, non-standard, and fluid adversary that demonstrates flexibility and adapts rapidly, uses advanced weapon systems and many disruptive technologies plus mass communication for propaganda for recruitment and to spread fake news. A hybrid war takes place in conventional battlefields, amongst the indigenous population of the war zone and the International community. Therefore, it is pertinent to counter such threats not only militarily but also through unconventional means to make it more holistic. As is evident, the ISIS-like phenomena proliferate because these are not just terrorist organisations but comprise an idea which operates as a highly decentralised entity. Thus, countering it would require a strategy that cuts its basic supply chain, that is, the ISIS needs to be refrained from monetising its acquired natural resource which is oil. If not contained at the primal stage, these entities will sprawl, as ISIS-like organisations can be equated with metastasised cancer, and can form an example for other such hybrid adversaries to be a mirror image in operations. Therefore, the world has to take note of these to contain this phenomenon.  
Hacking the Bomb: Cyber Threats and Nuclear Weapons: by Andrew Futter
Full text linkPublisher: Georgetown University Press Location: Washington, DC ISBN 978-162616565