The Armchair Perspectives Podcast

The Indian Air Force presently operates a fleet of over 260 Su-30MKI fighters, about 140 old ground attack Jaguars, and an assortment of the French Rafale and Mirage, Russian Mig-29, and domestically-built Tejas Mk1 fighter jets, totalling close to 600 fighter aircraft. The force is already undergoing a major transformation, inducting hundreds of Tejas jets to replace its 1980s era fighters, moder...

The Indian Navy is preparing to sign contracts to induct a large number of powerful destroyers, stealth frigates, next generation missile corvettes, and a number of fleet support and offshore patrol vessels. But recent geopolitical events have threatened to torpedo the Navy's ambitious modernisation push. The Russia-Ukraine war broke out in 2022, and in March that year, the Zorya-Mashproekt ga...

The Indian Air Force's search for indigenous Airborne Early Warning and Control (AWACS) aircraft to operate alongside IL-76 mounted Phalcon AWACS systems began over two decades ago, but only three new Netra AWACS jets have been inducted so far. In this podcast, Armchair Perspectives traces the development of the Netra AWACS aircraft, covers the delays that pushed back the aircraft's induct...

On June 11, news portals across India rang out with the news that the Indian Army is poised to place a massive order for 300 K9 Vajra self-propelled artillery systems, and that the Defence Procurement Board could consider the acquisition as soon as this week. The announcement came as a surprise, considering that in March, the Army had leaked to the press that it intended to purchase a similar numb...

On 31st of May, Admiral Krishna Swaminathan became the 27th Chief of the Naval Staff of the Indian Navy. As Navy chief, Admiral Swaminathan now holds the reins of the largest naval force in the Indian Ocean region that spans a width of over 7,600 kilometres between the horn of Africa and the Australian coast. As the new chief, Admiral Swaminathan will have several critical hats to wear. In his ten...

Donald Trump is working hard to prevent Israel from escalating its war on Hezbollah while he struggles to bring his own war with Iran to a close. Can the world see a quick end to the conflict? In the first episode of the Armchair Perspectives Podcast, we take a look at the top geopolitical development that has been hogging the headlines in the past 24 hours - the US-Iran conflict with a healthy se...