Ajey Lele

India’s increasing investments in space for strategic purposes clearly indicates the rising relevance of space assets for the armed forces.

• Published: August 31, 2015
• IDSA Comments

While India has a reliable vehicle for launching less than 2 tonne satellites into LEO, it lacks the necessary infrastructure to obtain larger commercial benefits from this capability.

• Published: July 16, 2015
• IDSA Comments

East and Southeast Asia are known to get affected by various diseases routinely. Particularly, various waterborne and other diseases likely malaria and dengue fever commonly affect the regions. There is a concern that global warming may translate into explosive growth of mosquito-borne diseases. In addition to this, growing number of natural disasters are found escalating the health related challenges. All this eventually poses a threat to health, economic and human security.

• Published: July 01, 2015
• IDSA Comments

While the attack on the chemical warehouse in France and the accident in the Taiwanese park are not cases of chemical terrorism in a classical sense, they can be analysed against the backdrop of a ‘chemical incident’.

• Published: June 30, 2015
• IDSA Comments

India’s ministerial presence at the Shangri La Dialogue could have helped India to articulate the new government’s strategic thought and expand from the realm of military diplomacy to defence diplomacy. So, is India’s defence establishment blind to probable benefits of participating in the Dialogue or are they thinking differently?

• Published: May 29, 2015
• IDSA Comments

US authorities have claimed that North Korea was behind the cyber-attack on Sony Pictures. But North Korea has strongly denied this claim. Now, both countries are threatening to fight this ‘battle’ in cyber space.

• Published: December 26, 2014
• IDSA Comments

The orbit insertion scheduled for September 24 will be a landmark achievement. The Mars accomplishment could assist the global efforts towards the possible human colonization of the Red Planet and would automatically increase India’s status.

• Published: September 19, 2014
• IDSA Comments

Technology has always played the key role in defining the outcome of war. A modern-day military is investing in cutting-edge technologies to leverage their benefits in the evolving nature of warfare, which encompasses every aspect of science. In the case of information and communication technology (ICT), the research and development has unleashed vast potential for civilian and military applications, which vary from simple logic execution to high-end supercomputing.

• Published: April 2014
• Journal of Defence Studies

The uniqueness of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) is to have a system with satellites in the geostationary orbit. India needs to exploit the ‘regional nature’ of the IRNSS to the fullest and effectively engage various states from Africa, Asia and Oceania region by using ‘satellite navigation diplomacy’.

• Published: April 07, 2014
• IDSA Comments

This brief has carried out an assessment of the launch vehicles used globally for launching of heavy satellites into the geostationary orbit. This assessment is mainly based on the comparison of the various features of different launch systems and the characteristics of the propellants put in use.

• Published: February 19, 2014
• Issue Brief