Ajey Lele

Group Captain (Dr) Ajey Lele (Retd.) is the Deputy Director General, MP-IDSA. Earlier, he was a Senior Fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses and headed its Centre on Strategic Technologies. He started his professional career as an officer in the Indian Air Force in 1987 and took early retirement from the service to pursue his academic interests. He has a Masters degree in Physics from Pune University, and Masters and MPhil degrees in Defence and Strategic Studies from Madras University. He has done his doctorate from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. His specific areas of research include issues related to Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), Space Security and Strategic Technologies. He has contributed articles to various national and international journals, websites and newspapers. He has authored ten books and has also been an editor for seven books. He is a recipient of the K. Subrahmanyam Award (2013) which is conferred for outstanding contribution in the area of

strategic and security studies

Deputy Director General

Publication

Beyond China: Exploring Asia’s Emergence In Space

Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s Issue Brief ‘Beyond China: Exploring Asia's Emergence In Space’ has been published by Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict (SSPC) on 22 May 2023.

The Issue Brief tries to assess the space race among Asian powers, exploring the geoeconomics, geopolitical, and geostrategic dimensions behind the initiation of space programs in various Asian states and understanding the concept of a space race among them. This paper focuses on assessing Category-2 and Category-3 space programs; therefore, no direct assessment of China's space program is conducted.

Read Complete Article [+]

Russia, Ukraine, and the Chemical Conundrum: Exploring the Use of White Phosphorus in Bakhmut

Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s commentary ‘Russia, Ukraine, and the Chemical Conundrum: Exploring the Use of White Phosphorus in Bakhmut’ has been published by the Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict (SSPC) on 09 May 2023.

Russia's interest in Bakhmut stems from its strategic geography, which enables them to disrupt Ukraine's supply lines. Moreover, gaining control over this city provides a gateway for Russian forces to reach several important eastern Ukrainian towns, says Gp Capt Lele.

Read Complete Article [+]

G-20 and Space Economics

Consultant Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘G-20 and Space Economics’ has been published in Financial Express on 19 April 2023.

India is expected to make all attempts to lobby for making Space as a formal element of G-20 discussions, for future, says Gp Cpt Lele.

Read Complete Article [+]

Leapfrogging into the Future

Consultant Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘Leapfrogging into the Future’ has been published in Raksha Anirveda on 17 April 2023.

ISRO needs to quickly demonstrate to the global customers that the SSLV is fully capable of carrying a payload of 500 kg and putting it safely at an altitude of 500km. The organisation is also required to ensure the operaltionalisation of the proposed second spaceport at Kulasekharapatnam in Tamil Nadu, besides launching heavy satellites into geostationary orbits. This would also help them to establish capability to carry more than 10,000 kgs to LEO, says Gp Capt Lele.

Read Complete Article [+]

Indian ASAT: Mission Shakti should be a comma, not a full stop

Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘Indian ASAT: Mission Shakti should be a comma, not a full stop’ has been published in ‘The Space Review’ on 27 March 2023.

It could be said that India’s political objectives, both signaling to adversaries and increasing its relevance on the global stage in the space domain, were achieved with Mission Shakti, says Gp Capt Lele.

Read Complete Article [+]

ISRO Successfully Deorbits Satellite And Walks the Talk on Space Debris

Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘ISRO Successfully Deorbits Satellite And Walks the Talk on Space Debris’ has been published in Interstellar on 25 March 2023.

The time has come for India to take the lead in undertaking policy initiatives in the space domain towards establishing a global rule-based mechanism. The deorbiting of Megha-Tropiques 1 is a laudable step in that direction, says Gp Capt Lele.

Read Complete Article [+]

Ukraine theatre, is Russia’s hypersonic ploy working?

Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘Ukraine theatre, is Russia’s hypersonic ploy working?’ has been published in Financial Express on 10 March 2023.

If the purpose is to give a signal to the west, then it has already been achieved a year back. Though Russia needs to realise that now-a-days such singling hardly matters to the west, North Korea is a great example. With the use of such weapons, can Russia start a new arms race? The answer is: it has already started, says Gp Capt Lele.

Read Complete Article [+]