Defense

News , articles and essays on Indian Defense

Weapons, Astras and Warrior-Systems in the Mahabharata: An Ancient Indian Defence Study

The ordinary weapons of the epic represent different combat functions. The bow gave reach, precision and speed. The mace gave crushing power in close combat. The sword served as a secondary weapon when distance collapsed. The spear or lance gave thrusting and anti-cavalry value. The chariot served as a mobile fighting platform. The elephant acted as a shock platform, while cavalry enabled movement, pursuit and screening. Together, these weapons formed the ancient equivalent of combined arms.

DRDO Completes ULPGM-V3 Trials, Marking Major Step for UAV-Launched Precision Weapons

The ULPGM-V3 is significant because it gives unmanned aerial platforms the ability to engage multiple categories of targets with precision. In the air-to-ground role, the missile has been validated for anti-tank missions. In the air-to-air role, it is designed to engage drones, helicopters and other airborne targets, making it relevant for both battlefield strike missions and counter-air threats in the lower airspace.

Rajnath Singh Meets Vietnam President To Lam as India-Vietnam Defence Partnership Gains New Momentum

According to News On AIR, Singh called on President Tô Lâm and reaffirmed India’s commitment to further deepen defence cooperation with Vietnam. He described defence ties as a key pillar of the India-Vietnam Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, underlining that the relationship rests on mutual trust, shared values, security cooperation and common interest in regional stability.

India’s Near-Space Ambition Takes Shape as Red Balloon Aerospace Tests Super-Pressure Balloon

A super-pressure balloon is not an ordinary weather balloon. It is a specialised high-altitude platform designed to maintain internal pressure greater than the surrounding atmosphere, allowing it to remain stable at high altitudes for longer periods. Such balloons operate in the stratospheric or “near-space” layer, roughly between conventional aircraft altitudes and satellite orbits. This makes them useful for missions where satellites may be expensive and drones may lack endurance.

Command Under Dharma: Bhishma, Drona, Karna, Arjuna and Krishna as a Defence Study in Mahabharata Leadership

Krishna’s strategic brilliance begins before Kurukshetra. He reads personalities clearly: Duryodhana’s ambition, Yudhishthira’s moral hesitation, Arjuna’s sensitivity, Bhima’s force, Karna’s pride, Bhishma’s restraint and Drona’s emotional weakness. This is advanced strategic intelligence. Modern defence planning values the same ability through political assessment, adversary profiling, intelligence fusion and red-team analysis. A war is shaped by weapons, terrain and logistics, but also by temperament, ego, fear, legitimacy and morale.

Bhargavastra: India’s Indigenous Hard-Kill Answer to the Drone-Swarm Age

The system is described as a two-layer counter-drone shield. The first layer uses unguided micro-rockets designed to defeat drone swarms through a lethal blast radius. Reports say these rockets can neutralise drone swarms within a lethal radius of around 20 metres. The second layer uses guided micro-missiles for more precise interception of selected targets, especially individual drones or higher-value aerial threats requiring pinpoint engagement.

From Akshauhini to Integrated Battle Groups: Army Organisation and Battlefield Structure in the Mahabharata

The Mahabharata repeatedly presents armies as mixed forces, and Adi Parva gives a precise mathematical structure for the Akshauhini, beginning with one chariot, one elephant, three horses and five foot soldiers as one Patti. This creates a battlefield system where mobility, shock power, speed and ground-holding capacity move together as one fighting organism.

Indian Navy Opens Premier Naval Sailing Node at Bhopal’s Bhojtal

The new sailing node is designed as a state-of-the-art training facility for the Indian Navy Sailing Team, as well as the Navy’s rowing, canoeing and kayaking teams. It will also be used by the National Cadet Corps, giving young cadets greater exposure to disciplined water-sports training and naval-style adventure activities.

Operation Sindoor and India’s Shift to Non-Contact, Multi-Domain Warfare

Operation Sindoor was launched in May 2025 after the Pahalgam terror attack, with Indian forces carrying out precision strikes against terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. In later assessments, the operation has increasingly been presented not merely as a punitive military response, but as a demonstration of India’s evolving warfighting model — one that combines air power, intelligence, drones, electronic systems, information dominance and joint operational planning.