Volume 2  Number 4 ● Winter 2005 (October-December 2005)

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Indian Air Force in the Evolving Security Environment

Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi PVSM AVSM VM ADC, Chief of Air Staff, Indian Air Force, shares his assessment of the IAF as it completes 73 years of its independent existence and spells out his vision of the roles, missions and capabilities of the IAF in meeting the challenges of the future.

Joint Operations in Modern Warfare : Place, Role and Impact of Air Power

Wing Commander Sartaj Bedi was awarded the First Prize in the “AIR POWER Essay competition 2005.” He argues strongly for changes in our thinking to ensure that joint operations are planned and executed around professional employment of air power.

Static Principles of War in a Changing World

The study by Captain Sanjay J. Singh, Indian Navy, focusses on the apparent dichotomy between the Principles of War that have remained static for a long time while advances in technology, doctrine, strategy and tactics have altered the way wars are being fought and are likely to be fought in the future, and makes a strong argument for aligning the principles with the practice of modern warfare.

Planning Military Power for the Future

Capabilities to successfully meet three concurrent types of challenges to India would be needed to ensure that military power in the future would be adequately prepared to deter, and succeed, if deterrence fails, argues Air Commodore Jasjit Singh AVSM VrC VM (Retd). The challenge of modernisation is how to achieve the requisite balance of capabilities in the quality-quantity paradigm, and the technology-intensive and manpower-intensive force to provide the capabilities for this goal.

Centres of Gravity : Relationship with Effects-Based Operations and Campaign Planning

Identifying the centres of gravity of the enemy and his military power has traditionally been an important goal in planning for war. According to Group Captain A.S. Bahal, it is necessary to identify the centres of gravity not only in relation to vulnerabilities, but also their criticalities, that some of the vulnerable centres are more critical, and, hence, offer greater potential for destabilising the opponent.

Air Power and Asymmetric Challenges to India

Group Captain T.D. Joseph VM examines the nature of asymmetric warfare that India has been dealing with and is likely to continue facing, and argues that many aspects need to be considered in thinking of, and planning, air operations in such contingencies.

ISR For Air Operations

Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, Air Marshal T.M. Asthana PVSM AVSM VM argues, have become a critical part of any successful air operation and suggests the way we need to approach the issue and its relationship to modern air operations.

ISR Doctrine, Technologies and Organisation for Air Operations

Air Marshal Bharat Kumar PVSM AVSM VM takes the examination of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance further to outline the ways and means of creating the requisite synergy between the elements that would contribute to effective use of air power.

China’s Nuclear Command and Control

Given the opacity shrouding most aspects of China’s military, the study by Lieutenant Commander Stephen Polk, USN, is invaluable for everyone within range of China’s expanding and modernising nuclear arsenal in understanding the key aspects of its command and control.