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Sudhir Pillai

Sudhir Pillai

ThePrint

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How the Indian Navy counters modern maritime threats—Hard seas and steady hands

India's oceans have been getting nastier for some time, but our public discourse has struggled to move beyond familiar reference points.

09.04.2026 20

ThePrint

Sudhir Pillai

What Iran’s Hormuz play means for Malacca freedoms — and why India should be speaking up

The physical arteries of India's economic rise depend on a single legal principle that Iran's conduct during this crisis has put under serious...

08.04.2026 20

ThePrint

Sudhir Pillai

India isn’t shaping the West Asia crisis—it pays the price for caution

India is today immeasurably better resourced to make such bets than it was in 1950 or 1954. It has the credibility across divides that Pakistan can...

31.03.2026 20

ThePrint

Sudhir Pillai

DAP is going from Make in India to Owned by India. AMCA is the first test for success

Neither Indigenous Design nor Indigenous Content makes India immune to global supply chains. Advanced design tools remain tied to international...

13.02.2026 20

ThePrint

Sudhir Pillai

IndiGo meltdown carries a warning for India’s defence sector

IndiGo showed how a single point of failure can ripple across a sector. In defence, where there is no external fallback, the consequences are far more...

15.12.2025 20

ThePrint

Sudhir Pillai

India’s defence acquisition framework is designed to prevent wrongdoing, not deliver outcomes

Vivek Rae committee highlighted the deficiencies that persist even today: Fragmented authority, weak accountability, and the absence of dedicated...

31.10.2025 20

ThePrint

Sudhir Pillai

India’s defence needs financial institutions. Great powers build credit, not just arsenals

India spends heavily on defence but does not finance it. That distinction separates mature defence-industrial economies from those trapped in yearly...

21.10.2025 20

ThePrint

Sudhir Pillai

India doesn’t want to rely solely on HAL for fighter jets. AMCA project is the first step

India has long spoken of self-reliance, yet delays have repeatedly necessitated stopgap imports, including Jaguars, Mirages, Su-30MKIs, MiG-29Ks, and...

08.10.2025 20

ThePrint

Sudhir Pillai

Theaterisation reform is stuck on ranks and roles — India’s military needs clarity

On paper, the idea of theaterisation is elegant. In practice, it is paralysed by ambiguities of rank and command.

25.09.2025 20

ThePrint

Sudhir Pillai

Operation Sindoor model will not work in future wars. India must not delay theaterisation

War is not a staff college exercise. Battles are messy, losses mount, and the fog of war thickens. The safeguard is not temperament at the top but...

03.09.2025 20

ThePrint

Sudhir Pillai

India’s AMCA is a chance to break HAL’s monopoly and finally build an aerospace ecosystem

India has paid a steep price for HAL’s unchecked dominance, evident in the MiG-era overhauls, the decades-long Tejas saga, and the troubled ALH...

09.07.2025 30

ThePrint

Sudhir Pillai

What Operation Parakram taught us—deterrence requires more than just mobilisation or rhetoric

Lofty goals cannot obscure a complex reality: when the need arises to unsheathe the sword, we must already have it sharpened, maintained, and ready...

29.04.2025 20

ThePrint

Sudhir Pillai