SOURCE: AFI

India appears to be quietly preparing the foundation for a new radar and sensor installation focused on next-generation ballistic missile tracking, signaling an important evolution in the country’s long-range early-warning and missile defence architecture. While official disclosures remain deliberately sparse — as is typical for systems tied to strategic deterrence — the broader trajectory points to a deliberate modernization effort aimed at staying ahead of rapidly advancing missile technologies in the region.

Ballistic missile defence is ultimately a race between detection and velocity. Modern missile threats are no longer defined solely by range; they increasingly incorporate maneuvering re-entry vehicles, decoys, and electronic countermeasures designed to complicate tracking and interception. In this environment, the first line of defence is not the interceptor missile itself but the sensor network that detects, classifies, and continuously tracks incoming objects with high fidelity. India’s apparent investment in a new radar site reflects recognition that future missile defence effectiveness will hinge on sensor precision, range, and resilience as much as on kinetic interception capability.

SOURCE: AFI

The roar of debate in defense circles just got louder, thanks to Wes O’Donnell—a U.S. Army and Air Force veteran, filmmaker, and sharp-eyed analyst who’s built a following dissecting modern warfare with no-nonsense clarity. In his latest video, dropped around February 2026 on his channel, O’Donnell flips the script on Russia’s Su-57 Felon, the jet he’s long criticized as more “fourth-gen in fifth-gen clothing.” His take? India, with its track record of breathing new life into Russian platforms, could actually turn the Su-57 from a cautious standoff performer into something genuinely dangerous—if New Delhi imports it and swaps in homegrown brains.

O’Donnell doesn’t sugarcoat the Felon’s flaws. He’s blunt: the Su-57’s stealth is compromised—engine face exposure, shaping shortcuts, infrared signatures that scream “target me,” and a radar cross-section nowhere near the F-22’s league. In Ukraine, the jet has mostly hung back, lobbing long-range missiles rather than diving into contested airspace, a silent admission from Moscow about its real survivability against modern defenses. Engines lag, radar (the N036 Byelka family with nose, side-looking, and L-band arrays) looks good on paper but struggles in clutter, and software feels clunky—separate silos for sensors and EW, poor fusion, high pilot workload.

SOURCE: AFI

In the shadow of the Himalayas and the arid plains of the Thar, the air arms race between India and Pakistan has always felt personal—a high-stakes chess game where every move echoes with the weight of history and the sting of past skirmishes. As of early 2026, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is flexing serious muscle: greenlighting a massive $35 billion deal for 114 more Rafales, eyeing 40+ Su-57E stealth fighters from Russia as a fifth-gen bridge, pouring resources into a sixth-generation program (likely tying up with France’s FCAS), and ramping up indigenous production of Tejas MkII and the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).

It’s a blueprint to hit 42 squadrons by 2040, blending imported punch with homegrown grit. For the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), staring down this buildup isn’t just about numbers it’s about survival in a neighborhood where air superiority can tip the scales of any flare-up. So, what could the PAF do? Drawing from recent lessons, like the May 2025 Kashmir clash where a J-10C tried to take out an IAF Rafale, here’s a grounded look at potential responses, laced with the realism that defines PAF’s underdog ethos.

SOURCE: AFI

When people compare fighter aircraft, the conversation usually revolves around stealth, radar range, or missile load. But one of the most revealing — and often overlooked — metrics is research and development spending. R&D is where doctrine, engineering risk, industrial maturity, and national ambition intersect. Looking at inflation-adjusted figures for India’s indigenous fighter programmes alongside major international platforms paints a striking picture of how different aerospace ecosystems approach innovation.

India’s light combat aircraft journey began with the HAL Tejas Mk1 — a programme that had to build not just an aircraft, but a domestic design and certification culture almost from scratch. In inflation-adjusted terms, the R&D outlay sits in the low single-digit billions of dollars. By global standards, that figure is modest. Yet the Mk1 delivered fly-by-wire controls, composite-heavy structures, indigenous avionics integration, and operational clearance into squadron service. The true value of that spending lies less in raw capability and more in institutional learning — a foundation India lacked three decades ago.

SOURCE: AFI

Parked in disciplined formation, painted in desert camouflage, and built for unforgiving terrain, the Moroccan Armed Forces’ LPTA 2445 Wrecker vehicles stand as a quiet testament to India’s growing defence industrial reach. These heavy recovery trucks are not glamorous frontline combat platforms, yet without them, no army can sustain momentum on the battlefield.

The image of multiple LPTA 2445 wreckers lined up together reflects more than logistics planning. It tells a story of reliability, endurance and the unglamorous backbone of military operations.