“Brahmand” in Sanskrit means huge or massive, and it can also signify the universe. Brahmand, World Defence Update 2012 lives up to its title, for the range and amplitude of the work is stupendous. As the blurb of 564-page tome says, the book features an updated (up to December 31, 2011) representation of the strength of the Army, Navy and Air Force of 165 countries with an in-depth analysis of the U.S., Russia, France, the United Kingdom, China, India, Pakistan, Brazil, Israel, North Korea, Iran, and Japan.
The editors have done meticulous work with an introduction on the area, coastline and maritime claims of each of the countries covered in the volume, the names and pictures of the Heads of Governments and Defence Ministers, the countries' state of economy, their imports and exports and internal strife and international disputes they are embroiled in.
The canvas covered is vast — from the tiny, land-locked Luxembourg or Mongolia, Belize with a coastline of 386 km, islands such as Seychelles, and Trinidad and Tabago to giants such as the U.S., Russia, France, the United Kingdom, China and Brazil.
The book covers their defence capabilities with details on their Armies' main battle tanks, light tanks, armoured personnel carriers, artillery, mortars, anti-tank guided weapons, tactical missiles, the strength of their Armies' aviation wing or the number of destroyers, frigates, corvettes, mine-sweepers, aircraft carriers and nuclear powered submarines their Navies may possess.
Elaborate details are available about their Air Force's fighter aircraft, bombers, Air-Borne Early Warning and Control System (AEWACS), helicopter gunships, and air-refuelling aircraft. The book gives details of the producers of armaments, ship-builders, aircraft manufacturers, research institutes, defence deals of these countries.
There is a mine of information available in the book on the inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBM), the long-range ballistic missiles, the submarine-launched ballistic missiles of the U.S. Russia, France, the U.K. and China.
The book does not merely proffer numbers. There are informed analyses on Russia's geopolitical importance including its membership of Group of 8 industrialised countries, the setting up of NATO-Russia council, its membership of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) club, and its huge gas reserves. The political overview on Russia gives glimpses into the break-up of the Soviet Union, the resurgence of the Russian Federation under Vladimir Putin's leadership, its conflict with Chechnya and Dagestan.
Snippets
There are interesting snippets of information such as how the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology, which previously was engaged in developing ballistic missiles and rockets, has now modified some of its ICBMs into launch vehicles for putting satellites in orbit. There is mention of how the Sevmash shipyard is completing the transformation of the vessel Admiral Gorkshkov into a modern aircraft carrier called INS Vikramaditya for the Indian Navy.
There is repeated mention of how India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Russia's Sukhoi Corporation have signed a contract to jointly develop a fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) and how the IAF will induct 214 single and twin-seater variants of the FGFA by 2020. Revealing is the paragraph on how “Russia and India are mulling a project for a recoverable rocket-firing drone” and how the “engineers from the two countries have started discussions” on the project.
The paragraph adds, “The drone will be capable of delivering heavy explosive payloads to targets thousands of kilometres away from its home base.” Inexplicably, the success story of BrahMos, the supersonic cruise missile, jointly developed by India and Russia, has been given a short shrift.
The awesome military might of the U.S. is in full play in the pages devoted to that country. Details are available on the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missiles which can intercept and destroy short, medium and intermediate range ballistic missiles, its flotilla of aircraft carriers, its armada of nuclear-powered submarines, the U.S. Strategic Command, its strategic missiles such as Minuteman, Peacekeeper ICBMs and Tridents and air-based nuclear weapons of its Air Force's heavy bomber group. There is mention about U.S. fears about Iran's nuclear ambitions and an ascendant China.
The chapter's “conclusion” is this: “The U.S. is the sole super power in the world. In 2010, the countries of the world spent a combined $1.63 trillion on their militaries, according to 24/7 Wall Street . This includes money for weapons, soldiers and maintaining infrastructure. The U.S. led the way by far with just below $700 billion, more than the top nine countries combined. The result, therefore, shows the U.S. military power worldwide. It is the only nation capable of unilaterally conducting large-scale, effective military operations far beyond its borders.”
India's strength
The pages on India are disappointing and show a marked reluctance to provide details on its nuclear-powered submarine, Arihant, its missiles such as Agni-I, II, III and IV, the Prithvi family, Akash, Nag, the highly successful interceptor missile programme, the K-15 missile that will be fired by Arihant and so on. Even the map of India shows only New Delhi. The chapter claims that the Indian Army has only 98000 soldiers although this egregious mistake has been corrected in the copies printed later. The number in these copies reads 1.1 million.
There are informative chapters on China, Brazil, France and North Korea. The book alleges that Pakistan has made “secret attempts to provide nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia” and has a contestable claim that “though, in terms of size, strength, strategic and technological perspective, India overpowers Pakistan, in terms of nuclear prowess, the two countries are viewed to be evenly placed.” Another questionable claim is that North Korea “possesses ICBM capability having a range of about 6,000 km (Taepodong-2), which was tested for the first time in 1998.”
The book, a brainchild of BrahMos Aerospace, mirrors the hard work that has gone into it. It provides a fund of information on a variety of topics related to 165 countries.
The book will be useful to academic institutions and think-tanks.
