RBT's Defense Blog

          F-35 Vs.  NGAD Concept  Indian Air Force/IAF is happy flying 3rd Gen, 4th Gen, and 4.5++ Gen fighters like Mig-29/29K, Rafale/Rafale M, Su-30 MKI, Jaguar, and Mirage 2000. Most of these will still keep flying till 2035 and 2040 when the world is already looking forward to the 6th Gen fighter like NGAD (USA), Tempest (UK), and Mig-41 (Russia) and these will be launched around the same time as 2035 to 2040. IAF as yet is still trying to get its hands on a 5th Gen fighter. Its homegrown effort the AMCA will reportedly be a 5.5 Gen fighter. In all likelihood, the first AMCA TD will come out only by 2035, a time when the world would have probably already seen the launch of 6th Gen fighters like the NGAD (USA), and Tempest (UK). Mig-41 (Russia) is more likely to emerge by 2040. IAF is aware it's really falling behind in the race, so had attempted to get hands-on Su-57 (Russia) customized as FGFA, but that plan didn’t materialize. IAF must reali...

  In 2020, I had published an opinion piece on www.idrw.org - (UAE Mirage 2000, Last Chance for India to Grab These Magnificent Jets), below is the piece yet again along with my latest additions to why India should still only go for UAE Mirage 2000, or not at all. Also, why Mirage 2000 has actually turned out to be a tale of missed chances; be it bulk buy, production, and Mirage 4000. ----------------------------------------------xxxx---------------------------------------------------- 2020 - { UAE Mirage 2000, Last Chance for India to Grab These Magnificent Jets ) Around late 2019 there were reports that the  UAE Air Force  which operates the 2 nd  most number of  Mirage 2000 jets  after France was planning to sell around 24 to 36 fighter jets to the  Iraqi Air Force.  The reports also said that the UAE wanted to provide Iraq with these jets to be stationed inside or near the Kurdistan region after refurbishing the jets to the latest model. ...

Indian Navy is looking to induct more conventional submarines. After the P75 project resulted in Scorpene submarines, 9 of which will be ultimately acquired; logic says Indian Navy must progress to SSNs under P76A under which 12 boats should be acquired. But for some reason it wants more conventional submarines after 9 under P75; these include 6 under P75I (to be acquired in collaboration from foreign nation) and 12 under P76 (to be completely built indigenously). So, under P75I bids were invited and ultimate TKMS U212A and Navantia S80+ remain in the fray. Both U212A and S80+ are notable examples of use of advanced maritime technology; but while TKMS U212A has been in service for about 20 years, Navantia S80+ has been in service for about 2 years. Below is a comparative analysis of the 2 submarines. ● India’s Experience Indian Navy has previous experience with TKMS having operated the 4 U209/Shishumar submarines since 1980s. These submarines are known for their modular design and bu...

On April 1 2024 Iranian Embassy in Damascus, Syria was attacked. A fleet of F-35 of IDF that took off from Nevatim Airbase fired missiles at a building inside the diplomatic premises killing 7 IRGC men including 2 top generals. This was a clear violation of the Vienna Convention that states ‘no matter what diplomatic premises are the sovereign territory of a country’, and ‘whoever is inside the diplomatic premises must be accorded diplomatic immunity and must never be touched’. But Israel which gives a middle finger to everything be it law or convention or rules, didn’t give a damn and attacked it. Iran immediately asked the world to condemn it, but no one came forward, which basically implies, that Israel’s godfather USA either knew about it and gave tacit approval or got wind of it when it couldn’t do anything to stop it. Iran wanted the world community at the UN to condemn Israel and its strike, the same way it did in 1996 when the Iran Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan was raided by ...

Iran has taken REVENGE for Israel’s attack on its embassy in Damascus, Syria on 1 April 2024; by launching retaliatory strikes on the intervening night of 13-14 April 2024. Iran used a range of drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles to target a major intelligence centre and an airbase. Under ‘Operation True Promise’ Iran launched over 300 of them in total, with the slowest kamikaze drones first, followed by cruise missiles and then hyper/supersonic ballistic missiles. The 1st ever direct assault by Iran on Israel as a response to the Damascus attack that killed 7 top IRGC officials, covered a distance of around 1700 km or 1000 miles. This revenge attack amply proves that Iran not only has the capability but the means ready to hit Israel. This attack has left the major intelligence centre decimated and the NEVATIM airbase completely out of operation for a good enough time. Reportedly Iran had informed the USA through its NATO ally Turkey, of the impended strike 24 to 36 hrs i...

It’s been 6 months since the Gaza War started after Hamas in a surprise attack on Oct 7, 2023, raided Israel and killed more than 1200 people. While Israel says Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other organizations from the Gaza Strip killed them, my observation says at least 30 to 40 % of those were killed by IDF itself, which in its attempt to get rid of Hamas militants killed its own people (Israelis) by firing indiscriminately. Hamas on the other hand as per my observation almost exclusively targeted the Gaza border Kibbutz's (farming communities just for its name), whose sole reason for being right on the border was to keep an eye on movement inside Gaza and fire on them (being manned mostly by IDF reservist). Besides the Kibbutz’s, Hamas also targeted the remote-controlled observation posts, and its control rooms were almost exclusively womaned by IDF women soldiers, who also managed the informer networks inside the Gaza Strip. Hamas reportedly targeted the control r...