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| Science & Technology |
| India to sell BrahMos missile to Vietnam |
| 2011-09-20 |
| BrahMos Aerospace —the Indo-Russian joint venture that has developed the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile — is keen to sell the missile to Vietnam with which India is developing a strong strategic relationship, sources have confirmed. However, the Indian government’s approval will have to be taken for any such acquisition. Sources also confirmed that Vietnam is already on a list of about 15 “friendly countries” — that was decided by a joint Indo-Russian supervisory council — to whom the BrahMos missile can be sold. “Informal talks are on but no concrete proposal has been made as yet,” a source who did not want to be identified, told this newspaper. “Any acquisition of the BrahMos missile will be of immense value to Vietnam and will boost its defence preparedness,” sources said. So far, the BrahMos missile has not been sold to any third country although a few have already evinced interest in acquiring it. In a move that signalled the importance of strategic ties between India and Vietnam in the wake of increased Chinese military assertion in Asia, defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma had also recently begun an official visit to Vietnam. India is set to offer naval facilities for training and capacitybuilding to Vietnam. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #6 30-50 million draftees...Hmmmm...Isn't that the number of excess males in each country as a result of "birth control"? |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2011-09-20 19:40 |
| #5 That same idea applies in WWI with good old field artillery, but that didn't stop the use of mass armies. Nor did chemical weapons (also in the Iran-Iraq war). Today, in a conflict between two such armies, the most expendable weapon is infantry. Between India and China, some 30-50 million draftees. Literally overwhelming any weapons system short of nuclear. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-09-20 19:19 |
| #4 American firepower in a couple of the wars that we fought in Asia taught everyone the valuable lesson that the human wave is NOT for modern combat. The ChiComs stopped using them by the end of the Korean War; the Viet Cong stopped using them before the Tet Offensive; and the ChiComs relearned the lesson and stopped using them again after the invasion of North Vietnam in 1979 {the North Vietnamese 'rehabilitated' a bunch of South Vietnamese officers to lead their troops against the Chinese}. With modern cluster munitions, horde armies are simply landlocked chum waiting to happen. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2011-09-20 18:47 |
| #3 This is what happens when you give your Horde the ability to unionize. |
| Posted by: Charles 2011-09-20 13:14 |
| #2 This is Asia - its kind of hard *not* to have a vast horde army isn't it? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2011-09-20 12:08 |
| #1 Someone noted elsewhere that there are weird historical parallels happening in Asia right now that are somewhat mirror images of what happened in Europe prior to World War I. That is, the "Triple Alliance" of Germany, Austria–Hungary, and Italy, is today mirrored by China, Pakistan and North Korea. The "Triple Entente" of Britain, France and Russia, is today mirrored by India, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and everyone else in the area. And instead of the build-up of battleships (dreadnoughts), today there is a great build up of submarines. The biggest difference seems to be that no one has of yet decided to create a vast horde army. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-09-20 10:51 |