Gp Capt Ajey Lele (Retd.) is a Consultant at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. Click here for detailed profile.
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.
Consultant, MP-IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘Military Applications of Artificial Intelligence’ has been published in the March 2023 edition of Defence & Security Alert.
AI-based weapon systems have great advantages. AI has already brought a major disruption into the existing military technology domain. There is a possibility of the AI emerging as a ‘new nuclear power’ revamping the existing global order, says Gp Capt Lele.
Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘China’s Space Dream is getting Bigger’ has been published in Udai India on 10 February 2023.
China’s space programme has leapfrogged. They have multipronged space agenda from social, economic, scientific to strategic sectors. It is important for states like India to continuously keep a track of China’s fore into the space domain and design its own space policies accordingly, says Gp Capt Lele.
Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘China’s balloon making the Sino-US relations hotter’ has been published in Financial Express on 06 February 2023.
It would take some time for the truth to come out (provided that the US decides to share with the rest of the world), however it appears that the (unguided) travelling of one (weather) balloon has ended up bringing in lot of bad weather in the Sino-US relationship, says Gp Capt Lele.
Consultant, MP-IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘US Air Force F-22 Shoots Down Chinese Spy Balloon Off South Carolina Coast’ has been published in Taaza Khabar News on 05 February 2023.
The US military shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the East Coast in the United States (US) floating at an altitude of about 60,000 feet. Though the balloon did not pose any military or physical threat, its intrusion into American airspace over several days is being viewed as an unacceptable violation of U.S. sovereignty, says Gp Capt Lele.
Consultant MP-IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘S&T and Space Budgets….no major push’ has been published in Financial Express on 02 February 2023.
The article takes a broad overview in respect of the ‘demands on grants’ given in the budget for two ministries: one, the Ministry of Science and Technology (S & T) and two, the Department of Space.
Consultant Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘Space debris: is the USA serious about solving the problem?’ has been published in Taazakhabar News on 11 January 2023.
It is not clear why is USA on one hand pushing for a mechanism to stop ASAT tests which end up creating space debris, while on another hand it wants to go solo when it comes to the physical removal of debris. This raises suspicion about the actual intent of the US toward ensuring global space security, says Gp Capt Lele.
Consultant Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘Indian Space Force: A Strategic Inevitability’ has been published in Space Policy on 08 December 2022.
The article attempts to recognise India's atypical space security challenges and debates on the possible response mechanism to these security challenges. The article further argues that constituting an Indian Space Force could be the most apt response mechanism in this context.
MP-IDSA Consultant, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘India is onboard of China's Space Station’ has been published by the Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict (SSPC) on 01 November 2022.
MP-IDSA Consultant, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘ISRO’s LVM3-M2 mission: an expansion of India’s commercial activities’ has been published in ‘The Space Review’ on 31 October 2022.
It would be of interest to see how India succeeds to fill the void created by Russia being removed from the launch market by sanctions. It is also important for India to develop its own market beyond filling this void, says Gp Capt Lele.
