U.S. cuts key submarine order for 2025 amid shipbuilding jam
Pentagon's 0.9% budget growth pales in comparison to China's 7.2%
The U.S. Department of Defense will order just one Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine in fiscal 2025, a drop from the two-per-year pace of recent years.
The decrease, announced Monday, reflects U.S. shipbuilding bottlenecks. The two private shipyards that produce the Virginia class -- General Dynamics and Huntington Ingalls Industries -- face mounting backlogs due to limited capacity and personnel shortages.
The decision also highlights the Pentagon's dilemma of having to counter a massive defense buildup by China while under fiscal limitations.
The Pentagon's total fiscal 2025 budget request was $849.8 billion, a 0.9% increase on the year. China's annual defense budget for 2024, revealed earlier this month, grew by 7.2% to 1.67 trillion yuan ($233 billion).
Shipbuilding: the new battleground in the US-China trade war
Labour unions are urging the Biden administration to investigate China’s dominance of naval engineering, potentially inflaming Sino-American tensions.
The software at the center of debate over Chinese cyber threat inside the biggest ports in US
80% of the “ship-to-shore” cranes moving trade at U.S. ports are made in China and that the U.S. government has claimed in recent testimony “use Chinese software.”
But port executives interviewed by CNBC say that operating software on these cranes comes from Germany, Japan and other countries outside the People’s Republic of China.
More than half of the roughly 200 Chinese cranes at U.S. ports have been inspected by U.S. Coast Guard, with Rear Adm. Jay Vann, commander of Coast Guard’s Cyber Command, saying the equipment could be “vulnerable to exploitation.
Countering External & Internal Security Challenges
Indian tourists shun Maldives
A full-blown backlash was directed at the Maldives following derogatory remarks against India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media by three Maldivian officials after Modi posted photos and video of the pristine Lakshadweep Islands on India's west coast on January 6 on his X handle.
According to the Maldives Tourism Ministry statistics, over 17 lakh tourists visited the island nation in 2023, out of which more than 2,09,198 visitors were Indians followed by Russians (2,09,146) and China (1,87,118). The number of Indian visitors was more than 2.4 lakh in 2022 while over 2.11 lakh Indians flew to the Maldives in 2021.
India occupied the sixth spot in tourist arrivals in 2024, the Ministry's statistics showed, compared to the consistent first spot since 2020 with Indian tourists visiting the island nation even during the pandemic time.
Till about 10 days ago, the Ministry data showed that tourist arrivals from India as of March 2 was 27,224, which is a 33 per cent decline compared to last year when the corresponding number stood at 41,224.
Japan eyes export of stealth naval ship antennas to India
Possible sale comes as New Delhi aims to lower reliance on Russian arms
The Japanese government is considering exporting naval ship communication antennas to India, Nikkei has learned.
The NORA-50 antenna, dubbed "UNICORN," was jointly developed by a group of Japanese companies that includes electronics maker NEC and Yokohama Rubber. Sources close to the matter said the government is still deciding how many antennas will be sold as well as the cost of the contact.
If the deal goes through, it will be just the second time Japan has exported defense equipment since it lifted a ban on such transfers in 2014. The first came last year when radar systems were exported to the Philippines.
The antenna deal would expand Japan-India security relations to defense equipment, which in turn would likely strengthen deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region.
Japan hopes the deal will also lead to India decreasing its heavy reliance on Russia for defense equipment.
'Divya Putri' Sheena Rani: Meet the brain behind India's deadliest weapon Agni-5 MIRV
India has achieved a significant milestone in defense with the successful test of the Agni-5 missile, equipped with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology. R Sheena Rani, known as 'Divya Putri' (Divine Daughter), leads the project, showcasing her expertise in missile technology. Her dedication has been crucial in developing the Agni-5, enhancing India's strategic deterrence capabilities. Inspired by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Rani's leadership underscores India's technological advancement in missile technology, ensuring national security and global recognition.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approves expansion of National Cadet Corps by adding 3 lakh cadet vacancies
Rajnath Singh has approved the expansion of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) by adding three lakh cadet vacancies, in response to increasing demand for NCC enrolment from educational institutions nationwide. The NCC, established in 1948 with 20,000 cadets, will now have a sanctioned strength of 20 lakh cadets, making it the world's largest uniformed youth organization. This expansion, aligned with the National Education Policy 2020, aims to empower youth as future leaders. The plan includes distributing vacancies evenly across all States and Union Territories, establishing new Group Headquarters, and adding new NCC units.
First crash in 23 years: Tejas fighter jet
An Indian Air Force's LCA Tejas aircraft crashed near Rajasthan's Jaisalmer, with the pilot safely ejecting. This marks the first crash involving the jet since its inaugural flight 23 years ago. The Tejas is a domestically developed supersonic aircraft used by the Indian military, succeeding the ageing Mig 21 fighter jets. It is the lightest and smallest multi-role supersonic fighter aircraft in its category, designed to accommodate various types of weaponry. The crash in Jaisalmer is a significant event in the aircraft's history, which began with its first test flight in 2001.
Can India forge a 3-way partnership with Japan, South Korea to ‘counter China’s actions’?
India’s deepening security ties with both nations highlights its growing ability to act as a go-between as Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific grows, analysts say
Such a grouping would likely act as a complementary force to the Quad bloc rather than against it, observers suggest.
India ramps up campaign to position India as alternative to China
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is taking advantage of India’s rising appeal as the world’s fastest-growing major economy and an alternative to China for global supply chains to clinch a number of free trade agreements (FTAs). India expects its deals with countries from the U.K. to Australia to help boost its manufacturing and soak up the tens of millions of young people entering the workforce in the years ahead.
The latest, and among the most ambitious, was a trade and investment pact signed with four European countries, including Switzerland and Norway, on March 10. It signalled India’s readiness to take on commitments in areas such as labor, environment and sustainability, and gender — topics it had shied away from in the past. It was also the first time India secured an investment commitment — of $100 billion over 15 years — in such a deal.
India has now signed four FTAs in quick succession since 2021 after a gap of about nine years where no agreements were inked. The latest pact with the European bloc of countries, known as the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), was hailed by Modi and comes just weeks before elections in which he’s seeking to extend his decade in power.
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