Inaugurating the biennial conference of Defence Accounts Controllers, India’s Defence Minister, Mr A.K Antony said “Defence expenditure and procurement issues are complex and time consuming and have a direct bearing on our national security.” As India struggles hard to increase its footprint on the world stage in multi dimensional spheres, need for defence preparedness cannot be underscored. After all a nation has to possess the ability to protect what she owns. In our cover story on Defence Procurement Policy (DPP), we make an attempt to analyse if the decade old (and still evolving) policy has succeeded in delivering the promise of equipping our defence services adequately to meet the present challenges and the ones that lie ahead. In our next issue we shall present the views of various entities (both private & public) that are directly associated with the process.

South Asian region continues to occupy a prominent place on the world stage as ‘Af Pak’ simmers and the Iran imbroglio adds another dimension, destablising the geo-strategic dynamics in this part of the world. Do we need to re-think our strategy on AfPak; will the recent sanctions on Iran succeed? Only time will tell; what we do know for sure is that the earlier we find an amicable solution, the better it is for the entire region in particular and the world community at large.

In this issue we also focus on some of the immediate acquisition needs of the Indian defence sector. The Indian Navy is getting ready to replace the Alouette III (Chetak) helicopter after almost five decades of service in SAR missions. The Indian Air Force’s transport fleet, too, continues to modernise its inventory to cater to the requirements of strategic lift and tactical operations. As the face of warfare changes in the 21st century, defences forces across the world are gearing up to face varied enemy the from fourth generation warfare warrior to the invisible one in outer space.

We also carry an interesting article on ‘Third Generation Taliban’ from Rohit Gandhi, and take a peep into Pakistan’s submarine programme. I wish you all an enjoyable read.