Volume 4  Number 3 ● Monsoon 2009 (Jul-Sep 2009)

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In his article, North Korea’s Nuclear Tests and its implications for the nuclear non-proliferation regime, Shri Jayadeva Ranade has analysed some of its far-reaching ramifications beyond the brazen challenge to the US-led Six-Party Talks begun in 2003, introducing new dimensions into the talks. While the DPRK’s first test, conducted on October 9, 2006, had stunned the world, this latest test has changed the geo-political structure in Northeast Asia. By the time North Korea tests its long range Taepodong-II missile, it would have enlarged the arc of countries directly threatened by its capabilities to include parts of the USA. The two nuclear tests have together additionally graphically highlighted the dangers of the uncontrolled spread of nuclear weapons technology and programmes to unstable regimes and exposed the vulnerabilities of the nuclear non-proliferation regime ushered in by the USA in 1968.

SIX DECADES OF PEACEKEEPING

Wing Commander E.R. Rajappan in his survey of Six Decades of Peacekeeping by the UN concludes that while a great amount of effort has been put in by a large number of countries, the UN peacekeeping was limited to a mere 18 cases of conflict resolution during the Cold War in spite of over 100 major armed conflicts, with 32 million deaths, having affected the human race across the world. He ascribes a number of reasons for the poor record, mostly as a result of lack of consensus among the P-5. In order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of peacekeeping, greater cooperation and support by the powerful and rich nations, especially the members of the UN Security Council, need no underscoring. Meanwhile, the challenges ahead for the peacekeepers are getting more complex.

LOWERING THE HIGH GROUND FOR EFFECT-BASED OPERATIONS

Wing Commander Kaza Lalitendra in his study titled Lowering the High Ground for Effect-Based Operations, through the impact of technology on space exploitation for effect-based operations with new space vehicles, argues that we need to find the right synergistic mix of air, space, and near space capabilities to produce the battlefield effects our combat commanders need. Near space is, thus, the obvious and correct solution to the armed forces’ surveillance and communication needs, forming an additional layer of effects delivery medium between satellites and air-breathers and enhancing the survivability and redundancy of such battlespace awareness systems.

Wing Commander A.B.S. Chaudhry in his study on AWACS and Aerostats: Roles and Missions examines the comparative advantages and limitations of airborne and ground-based radars. He concludes that airborne early warning systems provide better track histories by virtue of improved coverage against low flying aircraft, and, thus, provide a more reliable identification of tracks. The real answer to the tactical problems of air operations being executed at low levels lies in an integrated command and control system of which AEW systems constitute the key element. AWACS alone cannot win wars, it is has to be integrated with other interoperable war-fighting components and employed aggressively for optimal exploitation. AEW systems cannot replace the ground-based radar network due to their inherent limitations. This must, therefore, form a complementary, though increasingly important and indispensable element in the control, reporting and response system vital for conducting air operations in the modern environment.

In a conceptual construct, Sitakanta Mishra argues in The Evolution of Cruise Missile Technology that to get an empirical notion on the evolution of a particular weapon system, one needs to establish an understanding of the “physical factors” required for effective weapons and the “psychological enabling factors” required for effectively employing these weapons. Because cruise missiles can strike targets at long ranges, it has been recognised that they can supplement or replace manned aircraft for many strategic missions.

There has been much criticism in the recent decades in our country that the Parliament does not show any interest in, nor debates, the defence budget. Shri Amiya Kumar Ghosh, former Financial Adviser (Defence) in the Ministry of Defence, explains in his article on Review of the Defence Budget that the process is now gone into in much greater detail by a body of bipartisan members of the Parliament numbering nearly 45 who constitute the Standing Committee on Defence of the Parliament (established since 1993) who examine the budget in great detail and depth. He also proposes changes in the procedures and content to make the process serve national interests better.