Defence Security Asia

In the wake of a deeply embarrassing series of reported aerial losses in the recent conflict with Pakistan, India’s refusal to allow French auditors access to its Rafale fleet has raised red flags across the global defence community.

In a rare and highly consequential admission, India has acknowledged for the first time that it suffered fighter aircraft losses during its recent high-intensity conflict with Pakistan, although New Delhi has chosen not to disclose the number of aircraft lost.

In a move that underscores the militarization of Russia’s private sector in support of the war effort, twelve Russian servicemen have been awarded a total of 15 million rubles (approximately US$195,000) by the industrial firm Fores for reportedly shooting down the first U.S.-supplied F-16 Fighting Falcon operated by Ukraine.

In a move that may signal a major shift in Southeast Asia’s strategic airpower calculus, Indonesia appears poised to dispatch its Air Force (TNI-AU) pilots to China for operational training on the Chengdu-built J-10C multirole fighter jets.

For the first time since reports emerged of Rafale losses in the latest Pakistan-India aerial confrontation, France has publicly acknowledged that it is in close contact with New Delhi to determine the fate of the Indian Air Force’s prized multirole fighters.

In a landmark move that could recalibrate the strategic balance of power in South Asia, the United States is reportedly preparing to formally offer the F-35A Lightning II fifth-generation stealth fighter to India as early as June this year.

In the modern battlespace, where engagements are often decided long before opposing aircraft enter visual range, Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missiles have become the central instruments of aerial dominance, strategic deterrence, and power projection.

In the aftermath of India’s high-profile Operation Sindoor, a wave of claims emerged on social media suggesting that Indian missiles had successfully targeted Pakistan’s nuclear-linked Kirana Hills facility, sparking fears of a covert strategic escalation between two nuclear-armed states.

In a dramatic evolution of South Asia’s strategic calculus, Pakistan’s operational deployment of the Shaheen-III medium-range ballistic missile marks a pivotal escalation in the regional deterrence equation—one that decisively neutralizes India's assumed geographic buffer and exposes even its farthest eastern military installations to credible nuclear strike options.

In a dramatic escalation of South Asia’s fifth-generation airpower race, India has greenlit the development of its first indigenous stealth fighter jet—the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA)—in a strategic response to the growing threat posed by China's J-20 fleet and Pakistan’s accelerating acquisition of the stealthy J-35A "Gyrfalcon."

In a move poised to significantly recalibrate the airpower dynamics of Southeast Asia, Indonesia is reportedly preparing to acquire 42 second-hand Chengdu J-10C multirole fighters from China, while also signalling renewed interest in the long-suspended procurement of Russian Su-35s.

Unverified reports emerging from Indian media outlets and amplified by social media chatter suggest that India may have executed a high-stakes precision strike using cruise missiles on Kirana Hills, a site long suspected to house elements of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons infrastructure.

A recently surfaced image has triggered intense scrutiny among global defence analysts after it allegedly showed China’s fifth-generation stealth fighter, the Chengdu J-20, armed with what appears to be two PL-21 ultra-long-range air-to-air missiles.

In a move that could have far-reaching strategic repercussions across the Indo-Pacific, Japanese electronic warfare (EW) and radar specialists have reportedly become the latest foreign experts granted access by New Delhi to inspect debris from China’s PL-15 beyond-visual-range (BVR) air-to-air missile, recovered in northern India during the recent Pakistan-India air conflict.