In Our Defence

India's Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft, or AMCA, is usually discussed as a fifth-generation stealth fighter: low observable design, internal weapons bays, sensor fusion, advanced engines, and all the cool stuff that makes defence nerds sit up straighter.

But this episode of In Our Defence asks a slightly different question: is AMCA really about building a plane or about building the factory, institutions, and accountability structure needed to make that plane real?

The Ministry of Defence's AMCA tender lays out an ambitious plan to rope in a private-sector industrial partner in order to create a fifth-generation aerospace manufacturing ecosystem.

But then comes the big gap: who is the real project manager?

ADA owns the design. The IAF owns the requirement. Private industry will build and integrate. Certification agencies will certify. GTRE-Safran's engine effort appears, for now, to be running on a separate track. So, if X owns A and Y owns B...Who owns the delay?

In this episode of In Our Defence, host Dev Goswami and defence expert Sandeep Unnithan unpack why AMCA needs more than a good airframe. It needs the kind of mission-mode structure India built for the ATV/Arihant submarine programme - one that brings the alphabet soup of agencies together under real authority.

We also get into the quirks of India's L1 bidding culture: sensible for many contracts, but possibly dangerous when applied to complex, high-risk, must-succeed strategic programmes like a fifth-generation fighter.

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Produced by Taniya Dutta

Pakistan did not just become America's ally after 1947 – it slowly became a state whose military and strategic establishment learned that survival depended on staying useful to Washington.

In this episode of In Our Defence, host Dev Goswami and national security expert Sandeep Unnithan trace how Pakistan evolved into a geopolitical rentier state: trading geography, military cooperation and strategic access for money, weapons, political backing, and regime stability.

We break down:

-Why the United States backed Pakistan after independence

-How Pakistan's military became deeply tied to Washington

-Why Pakistani generals realised pleasing the US was often the key to surviving domestically

-The Cold War origins of the US-Pakistan partnership

-How this relationship pushed India closer to the Soviet Union

-What the Imran Khan cipher controversy actually revealed

-Whether the US played a role in Khan's removal

-The rise of Asim Munir and Pakistan's military establishment

-Why Pakistan may still prioritise US ties even at the cost of China

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Produced by Taniya Dutta

Sound mixed by Aman Pal

India has had a very busy missile season. In this episode of In Our Defence, host Dev Goswami and defence expert Sandeep Unnithan unpack a cluster of recent developments: the reported long-range hypersonic anti-ship missile test, DRDO and IAF’s TARA glide weapon trial, the Advanced Agni MIRV test, the long-duration scramjet combustor test, and the chatter around possible K-series submarine-launched missile activity.

But this is not just spec-sheet episode.

The episode looks at the story of how India managed to develop a rocket and missile force that is abreast with the rest of the world.

We go back to PN Haksar’s 1968 strategic thinking, Project Valiant, the IGMDP era, the shadowy Project Surya, and the modern Agni-6 question to understand how India’s missile ambitions evolved.

We also ask whether the least glamorous weapon in the news cycle -- TARA -- might actually matter the most in an age of long wars and attrition.

Hypersonics are sexy, MIRVs are apocalyptic, scramjets are manic engineering, but cheap precision at scale may be the real battlefield superpower.

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Produced by Taniya Dutta

Sound mixed by Rohan Bharti

One year ago, the template for India's response to state-sponsored terror changed forever. It began with a tragedy in Pahalgam -- where tourists were targeted with M4 rifles -- and ended with a 30-minute IAF rampage that shattered Pakistan's airbases.

In this episode, host Dev Goswami and national security expert Sandeep Unnithan go beyond the headlines of Operation Sindoor. They break down the "fast-moving missile" that nearly triggered a nuclear escalation, why India stayed silent about it, and the birth of Cold Start 2.0: a new era of kinetic non-contact warfare that uses Pakistan's own geography against it.

Key Takeaways:

The Geography Curse: How Pakistan's lack of physical depth (only 600-900km wide) makes every inch of its territory a target for BrahMos and S-400 systems.

Tactical Mistakes vs. Strategic Wins: Unpacking CDS Gen Anil Chauhan's comments on military losses and the evolution of India's policy: no more distinction between state and non-state actors.

The Silent Interception: The story of the ballistic missile fired at Delhi and why India's "off-ramp" diplomacy was just as lethal as its jets.

The lessons learnt: What India, Pakistan and even will have taken away from Operation Sindoor.

Produced by Taniya Dutta

Sound mixed by Suraj Singh

In this episode of In Our Defence, host Dev Goswami and defence expert Sandeep Unnithan unpack one of the most complex parts of modern warfare: the art and science of shooting things out of the sky.

India is preparing to induct another S-400 regiment, the system that grabbed attention during Operation Sindoor and remains one of the most formidable long-range air-defence systems in the world. But the S-400 is only one piece of a much larger puzzle.

The episode breaks down India’s layered air-defence architecture: VSHORADS, MANPADS, Akash, MRSAM, Barak-8, S-400, ballistic missile defence, and the crucial command-and-control network that ties it all together: IACCS.

The episode also looks at what recent conflicts have shown us: from mass drone and missile attacks in West Asia to the growing challenge of cheap drones forcing expensive interceptors into action. And then, we turn to the uncomfortable but necessary question: what happens when air defence goes wrong?

This is not just about missiles. It is about sensors, software, human judgement, rules of engagement, friendly-fire risks, and the terrifying pressure of deciding what to shoot -- and what not to shoot -- in real time

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Produced by Taniya Dutta

Sound mixed by Aman Pal