Two issues that dominated the debates of the strategic community in the first quarter of this year were; ‘Make in India’ energetically marketed at the Aero-India Show and the Defence Budget. The Defence Budget is looked at intently to get the general emphasis of the government on security. Brig Gurmeet Kanwal has debated this lucidly. Maintaining a large standing armed force requires more than mere day-to-day support. An ill-equipped large force mired with equipment hollowness is not a guarantee for security but in a future war will be cannon fodder for the adversary. Someone will have to be held accountable to the nation for this debilitating lapse. Or take a conscious decision to reduce its size if this country cannot afford a well equipped large armed force!!! Preparing an armed force on a long-term basis requires a deeply considered perspective of its future role in the national security scheme and the road map for its implementation. The absence of a doctrine and the hesitation of establishing a single point of contact on all matters military have been well debated in this issue. Generals Harwant and Banerjee and Colonel Achutan look at the aspects of doctrine. ‘Make in India’ has been the didactic theme of this Government. It needs to be spelt out in clear terms and not left to the (mis-)interpretation of the bureaucracy. Make in India will be feasible only when the basic industrial manufacturing has notched up a number of counts and the manpower skills to go with it are matching. Currently it is more theoretical than implementable. The articles Dr Misra, Air Marshal Kukreja and Group Captain Noronha address these issues with particular reference to the aero-space industry. Two articles relate to the major current event on PM Modi’s visit to China; the first is on Tibet and the second on the boundary issue. Cyber space is emerging the next frontier; Gen Davinder Kumar has generated an excellent discussion on the issue. Col Harjeet has looked at the implications of social media on security. As a first Claude Arpi has documented a diary highlighting prominent issues relating to China’s PLA in this first quarter. This will now be a regular feature in the print edition. Wishing all our readers a worthwhile professionally invigorating reading experience.

IN THIS VOLUME: • Securing India’s Rightful Place in the Comity of Nations - Lt Gen JS Bajwa • Army Aviation: A Future Perspective - Lt Gen BS Pawar • Air Elements in Special Ops - Air Marshal Anil Chopra • Mobile Phones: A Disruptive Military Communications Change - Col NP Singh • A New Kind of Warfare Drones: A Game Changer in Future Conflict - Gp Capt Joseph Noronha • China’s New Constellation in Asia-Pacific: India’s Bind - Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee • The Russian Shift - Danvir Singh • Technology in Warfare: Is India Lagging Behind? - Sumit Walia • Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft for the IAF - Air Marshal Anil Chopra • Private Sector in Aerospace and Defence: An Evolving Success Story - Gp Capt AK Sachdev • Aerospace and Defence News - Priya Tyagi • Pushing the Red Line: Analysing India’s Response Post Pulwama - Maj Dibya Satpathy • India: Need for Strategic Culture and Policy Options - Vice Adm MP Muralidharan • Deconstructing the Psycho-Political Profile of a Terrorist - Dr Veena Ravi Kumar

IN THIS VOLUME: ‘Sagara Manthan’: Make in India Transition | Lt Gen JS Bajwa “Our vision in next 10 years is to become top defence industry in the world...” | Interview by Danvir Singh Indian Airborne Troops Script History | Danvir Singh Submarine Ahoy – Whither to Bound? | Rear Adm AP Revi Aerospace and Defence News | Priya Tyagi Higher Defence Organisation for India: Towards an Integrated Approach | Maj Gen Rajiv Narayanan Indian Army: Adopting ‘Deep Operations’ Doctrine | Col JK Achuthan The Government’s Burden of Military Security | Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee Global Terrorism: An Analysis of Fault Lines and Risks | Maj Gen SB Asthana Tackling Global Terror | Anil Kumar Tandale Islamic State: The New Brand of Terrorism in India | V Balasubramaniyan India & China Territorial Dispute: The Growing Challenge | Brig Gurmeet Kanwal China-India-Myanmar: The Forgotten Frontier | Air Cmde PC Chopra Myanmar and India: A New Future | Maj Gen Nitin P Gadkari Airfield Security: Lessons for the IAF | Air Marshal Anil Chopra Acoustic Capacity Building in the Indian Ocean Region | Cdr (Dr) Arnab Das & Vice Adm DSP Varma Transportation Infrastructure in the North East | Air Marshal Dhiraj Kukreja Our Forgotten Wars: Victimisation and Survival in Bodoland | Dr Samrat Sinha Women Officers in the Indian Army: A Reality Check | Lt Gen Mukesh Sabharwal Socio Economic Transformation: Through Ex-Servicemen | Lt Gen SK Gadeock & Col Nishant Sharma DPP 2016: A Missed Opportunity | Dr SN Misra Defence Budget 2016: Hits and Misses for the IAF | Air Marshal Anil Chopra Privatisation of the Indian Aerospace Industry: Problems and Prospects | Gp Capt AK Sachdev The Patrol Leader | Sumit Walia

In 1950, when he commissioned the first edition of The Armed Forces Officer, Secretary of Defense George C. Marshall told its author, S.L.A. Marshall, that "American military officers, of whatever service, should share common ground ethically and morally." In this new edition, the authors methodically explore that common ground, reflecting on the basics of the Profession of Arms, and the officer's special place and distinctive obligations within that profession and especially to the Constitution.