Journal of Defence Studies

African Defence: A Statistical Analysis

Africa’s continental aspirations are well documented in ‘Agenda 2063’. With a laid-out implementation plan for well-articulated goals to meet the aspirations, Africa is moving in the right direction, albeit a little slowly. The main reasons are intertwined and interrelated—conflicts and slow economic growth. To top this, African governments are splurging on building military capabilities without clearly defined strategic goals.

Two Decades of US-Taliban War in Afghanistan

In August 2021, the world was stunned by dramatic visuals of Afghan civilians running along and attempting to cling to a US Air Force (USAF) C-17 aircraft taking off from the Kabul airport in a desperate bid to flee from Afghanistan that had fallen to the Taliban. Just a month before this, in the first week of July 2021, the last of the American troops left Bagram Airfield, which had been the nerve centre of American-led military operations in Afghanistan for nearly 20 years.

A Study on Measuring the Index of Technologies (Smart and Conventional)

Humans have been developing technologies that make living easier and open unimaginable horizons. Scholars have been combining technologies to innovate and evolve newer concepts. The evolution of smart devices has led to the concept of creating smart cities. Several nations intend to develop a smart technology ecosystem for ease of governance, economic growth, and comfort of their citizens. The not-so-nascent concept of a smart city requires a scale to measure the levels of technology in the system.

Aptitude Tests to Assess the Suitability of Gentlemen Cadets for Allotment of Technical Arms/Services upon Commissioning at the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun

Science of warfare maintains that man is more important than his weapon. Today, technology is changing very rapidly and weaponry is continuously evolving. It is the age of high technology and rapid improvement of weaponry. The defence forces of all the countries are forging ahead every day with improved systems and technology. The fit between the man and his weapon is perhaps more important today than in any other time in the history of warfare. We cannot be adhering to the old colonial procedure for allocation of human capital to handle the fast and ever-changing technology of weapons.

Cyber-Biosecurity: An Emerging National Security Frontier

Cyber-Biosecurity, an emerging threat landscape at the intersection of cybersecurity, cyber-physical security and biosecurity has a potential to disrupt economic, social and political well-being of the nation and has tremendous national security implications. All forms of cyber-attacks impact the manufacturing industries, governments, health infrastructure, patients and bio-economy at large.

India–Egypt Defence Cooperation: Continuity and Reset

India–Egypt relations are gaining momentum once again. Back-to-back high-level exchange of bilateral visits in the past few months have set the tone for India and Egypt to strengthen their ties. India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited Egypt in September 2022 and India’s External Affairs Minister
Dr S. Jaishankar visited it in October 2022. Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi was the Chief Guest at India’s Republic Day in January 2023.

Reality, Lies, and Automation: How AI-Powered text generation models could cause chaos?

In the past few years, the emergence of social media as a robust platform has ushered in a new era of social interaction, communication, community building, and sadly, fomenting conflicts through disinformation and propaganda. Social media has opened new, easily accessible avenues for disseminating falsehood, sowing division and promoting real-world (offline) damage through violence, harassment and exploitation. Using disinformation to win wars is not something new.

Critical Analysis of the Chinese Private Space Sector: The Past, Present and Future

This article presents a comprehensive review of China’s emerging private space industry, including an analysis of government policies, investments and international relations. China’s private space industry has grown significantly since 1988, with over 60 startups emerging by 2022, thanks to the strong support from the government and military civil fusion.

India–Malaysia Defence Relations: Issues and Challenges

This article aims to analyse the bilateral defence relations between India and Malaysia in the context of ongoing geo-political and strategic issues confronting the Indo-Pacific region. Writings on defence partnerships between India and Malaysia are very few and when seen in the context of India’s new ‘Act East Policy’, this article attains significance. The article analyses these relations in a descriptive and analytical manner by first looking into the historical relations and thereafter by highlighting, in brief, the developments during the Cold War era.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Human-Machine Teaming

The battlefields of the future will be dynamic, chaotic, unpredictable, and uncertain. In such interlinked battlefields in multiple theatres and domains, commanders and staff would be sifting through multitude of data for information, decision, and feedback. In such a time-constrained operational environment obscured by Clausewitzian fog of war, effective and unbiased decision-making by leaders and cohesive, cogent actions by teams of humans and machines/systems will be enablers for succinct victory.

TDRD: A New Conceptual Model for Advanced Targeting Systems using Artificial Intelligence Algorithms

With the growth of hyper-active internet, the requirement of protection against hostile threats has become a matter of concern. In this article, an effort has been made to create a suggestive model based on Artificial Intelligence algorithms to understand the nature of calculated threat posed by potential threats and take necessary actions as and when deemed suitable. The suggestive model can be useful for policy-makers and concerned industries to consider more research effort unilaterally or collectively.

Slender is the Corridor

Is 22 kilometres (kms) adequate enough for an emotional connection? The famed Siliguri Corridor is 22 kms wide at its narrowest point, a rectangular box of about 400 sq kms (20x22 kms), and has multi-dimensional aspects connected to it: strategic, economic, emotional and political. Have we recognised the importance of this 22 kms strip? Strategically yes, but what about other issues, which connect a nation? Have we connected with it politically and emotionally?

V.S. Ranade |
January-March 2023 |
Journal of Defence Studies

Celebrating the Journey of the Indian Armed Forces and the Way Forward

The journey of the Indian Armed Forces over the last 100 years has in many ways mirrored the momentous history of the birth, struggles and victories of India. It straddles a colonial period in which the armed forces of India owed allegiance to a foreign sovereign and could readily be used to fight an alien power’s wars and promote its strategic objectives. This did not however erode the heroism and professionalism that the Indian armed forces came to be known for over two centuries.

India’s Civilisational Ties with the World: An Underexplored Theme in India’s Soft Power Discourse

‘Soft Power’ has never before been explicitly stated as part of India’s foreign policy, like it has been done in the last few years. However, much remains to be done to transform India’s capacities into capabilities for an effective soft power exercise, and to be able to employ such soft power as a veritable instrument of influence. This article discusses the civilisational asset that India possesses and its potential for enhancing soft power, that is, India’s historical and civilisational ties with, and the cultural footprints thereof, in different parts of the world, especially Asia.

Arpita Mitra |
January-March 2023 |
Journal of Defence Studies

Terror Attack Prediction Based on Time Series Forecasting of Twitter Data

The use of social media such as Twitter by terrorist organisations to spread their propaganda and to recruit new members is well-documented. As per an estimate, there were about 46,000–90,000 Twitter accounts in 2014, which either advocated for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or were run by supporters of the group. In 2015, Twitter reported that it had banned 1,25,000 ISIS sympathetic accounts. In 2016, it published an update that 3,25,000 accounts had been deleted.

Ranjit Mishra |
January-March 2023 |
Journal of Defence Studies

Starlink’s Role in Ukraine: Portent of a Space War?

Starlink, a satellite internet constellation owned by Elon Musk, provides satellite-based internet connectivity to consumers globally, and has been actively involved in guiding Ukrainian military drones and missiles against Russian military positions, thus becoming party to the ongoing Russia–Ukraine conflict and a bonafide military objective. Russia had also accused Starlink of helping the Ukrainian forces to guide and modify fire of the two Neptune missiles, which led to the sinking of the Russian warship Moskva.

Unpacking India’s Defence Cooperation with Africa

India’s defence cooperation with African countries is on the rise. This cooperation is to some extent driven by the common security challenges faced by these countries. It is also guided by three principles: keeping African priorities first, SAGAR (Security and Growth for All) and ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, the World is One Family. Training of African defence officers, involvement in United Nations Peacekeeping on the continent and maritime cooperation are the three pillars of defence engagement with African countries.

Ruchita Beri |
July-September 2023 |
Journal of Defence Studies

2034: A Novel of the Next World War by Elliot Ackerman and James Stavridis

For a book published in 2021 and preceding the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, 2034: A Novel of the Next World War by Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis is remarkably topical and prescient. It forecasts a future where great power ambition and a sense of infallibility of a superpower lure it towards utilising ‘compellence’ as a strategy towards attaining its goal of world domination, leading to predictable consequences.

Alok Deb |
January-March 2023 |
Journal of Defence Studies

Militaries in Cyberspace: Approaches, Expectations and Outcomes

Militaries are the sword arm of the state, entrusted with defending the state against all threats that would harm its interests. These threats are increasingly emanating from cyberspace and militaries around the world are being called upon formally to undertake responsibility for defending against threats from this domain in addition to the existing physical domains of land, sea, air and space. The unique nature of this domain has required some restructuring on the part of the military.

China’s Bagamoyo Port Project: Geo-economic and Geo-political Imperatives for India

Tanzania is a strategically located country on the eastern coast of Africa. It is an important node of China’s Maritime Silk Road project and constitutes a significant part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Under the BRI, China had envisaged that Bagamoyo would be the largest port in all of Africa, supplemented by a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), and a trans-continental railway line, making Tanzania a hub of commerce in East Africa.