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1. Rafale Vs F/A-18: Battle For Indian Navy's Fighter Deal

Earlier this week, the battle for the Indian Navy's lucrative fighter jet deal entered a new phase as Boeing's two F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets arrived at INS Hansa, the naval air station located in Goa.

The Indian Navy wants 36 new fighter jets to operate from its aircraft carriers. Here's a brief recap before we jump into the details.

• The Navy has not been satisfied with the performance of the 45 MiG-29K fighter that it procured from Russia to operate from INS Vikramaditya, the only carrier in service presently.

• With the induction of the first indigenous aircraft carrier Vikrant on 15 August this year, the Indian Navy will have two aircraft carriers but not enough fighters to keep both warships operational.

• Thus, in 2017, it projected a requirement of 57 new fighters. But it has since downsized the requirement to 36 fighters as an indigenous fighter for aircraft carriers — the Twin-Engine Deck-Based Fighter — is also under development.

2. China's Second Bridge Over Pangong Lake

China is building its second bridge over Pangong. India and China have been locked in a tense military standoff in the region since May 2020.

• The construction of China's first bridge over Pangong Tso began sometime around November last year. Swarajya was the first to report that it was nearing completion in April this year.

• The second bridge is coming up right next to the first one, but it appears significantly wider in the satellite imagery we currently have.

• Given that it appears larger and wider, the bridge may have been designed to allow the movement of heavy equipment.

• The fact, however, is that China has been in occupation of the land where it has been building the bridge since 1958. I've given a detailed account of the history of the area and the story of China's occupation in this piece.

3. India's First Foreign Military Base

India is building its first foreign military base. It has started taking shape in Agalega, an island part of Mauritius, which lies in the southwestern Indian Ocean, not very far from the African coast.

• The agreement to build this base was signed in 2015, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Mauritius that year.

• Work started in 2019, and by the end of 2020, the signs of construction of a 10,000-foot runway and a jetty for naval vessels were clearly visible. India's first foreign military base had started taking shape, and I had reported on it in detail in this piece published in March 2021.