Such arbitrary endeavours, many said, also prompted a backlash, especially amongst veterans who too comprised the backbone of the services.

A cross-section of army veterans, who had served in high altitude regions, sentimentally remembered the sure-footed and hardy mule trains, which for decades were their logistic backbone and virtual lifeline.

The Parsee Punch, Awadh Punch and Hindi Punch, all published in the 19th and 20th-century, persistently used parody to mock their despotic and pompous British rulers.

While the army chief has said the forces have 100% confidence in the platform, many of his former colleagues strongly disagree.

Vagsheer’s induction comes 28 years after the SSK project's initial approval was accorded by the Ministry of Defence in 1997. 

One retired air marshal said the government and the MoD had been here countless times before but with the same dismal outcome: nothing.

The committee’s remit is reportedly to suggest ‘approaches’ to swell IAF fighter squadron numbers, which had declined to around 30, and were expected to drop to 28 by 2025-26.

The installation of Chhatrapati Shivaji's statue by the Indian Army at Pangong Tso has drawn sharp criticism from Ladakhi locals and military veterans, highlighting concerns over political motivations, historical relevance, and military traditions.

It is nobody’s case that accidents by the Indian Navy are wholly avoidable. But the preponderance of human failure in many of these calamities remains a commentary on the training regimen of the Indian Navy.

They also privately expressed their ire over the furtive and stealthy manner in which the oil painting was replaced with a semi-mythological artwork.

Indian diplomats and security officials have latched onto the notion that Trump – 'sada banda' or 'our man' in the White House — will manage the current tensions affecting India's relations with Washington and Ottawa in New Delhi’s favour.

Serving and retired service officers and military analysts said a written-down NSS was vital for a nuclear weapon-state like India encircled by two similarly armed, collusively inimical neighbours.

Such a gambit would eventually depend on the culpability levels of India’s security establishment in the Sikh activist's intended killing, and the credibility of its denials which, so far, has been somewhat questionable.

There was no indication that the two sides had resolved the knotty problem of India paying Russia for military gear, which has been bedevilling both sides for 12-14 months, after US-led sanctions were imposed on Russia for invading Ukraine.

Little seems to have changed since 1945 in the five basic principles governing the legal use of force by the powerful in an armed conflict.

An assortment of serving and retired IAF officers, security officials and analysts broadly agreed that Macron's visit was a part of ‘discreet signalling’ by India and France with regard to the former's purchase of additional Dassault Rafale aircraft.

Is this an indicator that the halcyon period of bilateral military commerce between New Delhi and Moscow has run its course and is fast nearing its end?

Because of this delay, the Ministry of Defence has approved the Indian Army's request for the follow-on import of 73,000 ‘Patrol’ Sig assault rifles from the US for Rs 840 crore, to meet urgent operational requirements.

'The IAF’s top brass seem to have taken Rajnath Singh’s generic observation on the military exploitation of space as an order from the government...'

The air arm of the indigenous carrier only inspires 'limited confidence', according to experts. The navy also continues to grapple with securing approval for a third carrier to supplement Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya.