In Our Defence

In Our Defence

In Our Defence is a weekly podcast that breaks down wars, weapons, and the world of military power with clarity, curiosity, and zero jargon. Hosted by journalist Dev Goswami, each episode features sharp, story-rich conversations with leading defence experts, offering distinct perspectives and nuances on how nations prepare, fight, and defend. From battlefield strategy and military tech to geopolitics, intelligence, and national security -- In Our Defence focuses on conversations that are grounded, engaging, and made for curious minds. No fluff. No noise. Just a clear line of sight into the world of conflict.

Episodes

December 5, 2025 57 mins
India is set to commission its third -- and most powerful -- nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, the INS Aridhaman (codename: S4). But this isn't just another ship joining the fleet, it marks a critical tipping point in India's national security architecture.

INS Aridhaman is the most complex and devastating weapon to exist in India's weapons arsenal.

In this episode of In Our Defence, host Dev Goswami and defence expert S...
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Seventeen years ago, India was shaken when Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists launched 12 coordinated attacks across Mumbai, striking the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Chabad (Nariman) House, and other locations in the country’s financial capital. The assault killed 166 people and injured over 300. Nine of the ten terrorists were killed, while the lone surviving attacker, Ajmal Kasab, was captured alive.

In this episode of In Our Defence, host D...
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On November 21, an Indian Air Force Tejas fighter jet performing aerial manoeuvres at the Dubai Airshow crashed, killing its pilot, Wing Commander Namansh Syal. This is the second crash involving the indigenous aircraft in its 24-year history but the first to result in a fatality. The previous Tejas crash took place in Jaisalmer in March 2024 when the pilots ejected safely.

With the IAF ordering a court of inquiry, this bonus segme...
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With the release of the Farhan Akhtar-starrer 120 Bahadur, the spotlight returns to the Battle of Rezang La -- one of the bravest last stands in military history. But the 1962 India-China war was much more than just one battle. It was a geopolitical storm involving a "Forward Policy," a distracted America, and a political leadership caught off guard.

In this deep-dive episode, host Dev Goswami and national security expert Sandeep U...
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A car explodes near Delhi's Red Fort and the trail runs through Srinagar posters, Faridabad storehouses, and an alleged "white-collar" module featuring multiple doctors.

In this episode, host Dev Goswami and national security expert Sandeep Unnithan take their first impressions of the deadly terror attack that has revived scary memories of blasts in India's urban centre.

The two examine what we know (and don't) about the Red Fort a...
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Donald Trump says China, Russia and Pakistan are "testing nuclear weapons". And that is why he's told the Pentagon to immediately prepare to test the US's nuclear weapons. In this episode, host Dev Goswami and national security expert Sandeep Unnithan unpack what counts as a nuclear test in 2025, who's actually doing what at their test sites, and what a US return to explosive testing would mean for India, the CTBT, and global stabi...
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India's Navy faces two very different fronts at sea. To the west, it has history and geography on its side against Pakistan -- think Karachi aflame in 1971 and quiet coercion in Kargil. To the east, a bigger, busier chessboard: the Chinese PLAN surging into the Indian Ocean and sniffing around the Bay of Bengal.

On this episode, national security expert Sandeep Unnithan joins host Dev Goswami to separate swagger from substance: Pak...
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Once Islamabad's (or Rawalpindi's) protégés, the Taliban are now exchanging gunfire with Pakistan. The recent clashes mark the deadliest fighting between the two since Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in 2021. What changed?

In this episode, host Dev Goswami and national security expert Sandeep Unnithan unpack the clash along the Durand Line -- a fight tangled in Pashtun identity, militant kinships, and Pakistan's own Frankenst...
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Two years after Oct 7, a US-brokered ceasefire takes hold in Gaza: living Israeli hostages are freed, the IDF pulls back to a predefined "yellow line," leaders fly into Sharm el-Sheikh to toast Donald Trump, and we hear talk of a "new Middle East." But how durable is this peace and what do we make of India's tightrope act?

In this episode, Dev Goswami and national security expert Sandeep Unnithan break down:

- What the Gaza deal ac...
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A fresh jolt in West Asia: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have signed a Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement. Is it just a formalisation of a decades-old security relationship or the birth of an 'Islamic NATO'?

On the latest episode of In Our Defence, host Dev Goswami and national security expert Sandeep Unnithan unpack what's real, what's posturing and why the announcement landed just as Israel struck targets in Qatar, a US ally, trying ...
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The Indian Air Force has retired the MiG-21 – the iconic Soviet-era fighter aircraft—that became the most produced supersonic jet in history and the backbone of the IAF. The Mig-21 trained generations of Indian Air Force pilots and defended India’s skies for six decades.

Recorded around Mig-21’s farewell at Air Force Station, Chandigarh, this special episode of In Our Defence with national security expert Sandeep Unnithan ...
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Kamikaze drones, or loitering munitions, have been everywhere in recent conflicts, from the Russia-Ukraine war to battles in the Middle East. They're cheap, deadly, and changing how militaries think about strikes and defence.

In this episode, host Dev Goswami sits down with defence journalist Sandeep Unnithan to trace the idea back to its WWII origins and ask why India, despite having a buzzing drone startup scene, still doesn't ha...
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India is betting big on the Holistic Development of Great Nicobar Island, a decades-long project to build a massive transshipment port, a new airport, a power plant, a township, and associated military build-up at the doorstep of the Strait of Malacca, the world’s busiest shipping lane.

The project had been flying under the radar until this month when concerns of ecological damage and impact on tribal population put the spotlight on...
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In this episode of In Our Defence, host Dev Goswami and national security expert Sandeep Unnithan unpack the debate over theaterisation -- the buzzword that has divided India's armed forces for years.

Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh's recent comments about India not needing theaterisation right now have once again opened a debate that was meant to have been settled with the appointment of the Chief of Defe...
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India's latest Agni-V missile test, just days before the PM's visit to China, got tongues wagging this week. Was it a message to Beijing? Islamabad? Or both?

In this episode of In Our Defence, national security expert Sandeep Unnithan joins host Dev Goswami to unpack the story of how and, more importantly, why India became a nuclear power. From the first "Smiling Buddha" test in 1974 to the Pokhran-II Shakti series in 1998, and tod...
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Five years after the deadly Galwan Valley clash, India and China are suddenly warming up again. Flights are restarting, a Modi-Xi meeting is on the cards, and Beijing says that the setbacks of the past years were not in anybody's interests.

But is this thaw for real or just another chapter in the freeze-thaw cycle of India-China relations?

In this episode of In Our Defence, host Dev Goswami and national security expert Sandeep Unn...
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Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir recently made wild headlines in the US, casually threatening nuclear apocalypse at a private dinner. He claimed that if India ever attacked, Pakistan would "take half the world down" with it. Yes, really.

In this episode, defence journalist Sandeep Unnithan joins host Dev Goswami to unpack what's behind this latest nuclear sabre-rattling. Why would Pakistan's top general say something so re...
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India's buying cheap Russian oil. Trump's not happy. And now he's slapped 50% tariffs on Indian goods. Officially, it's about funding Russia's war machine. Unofficially? It might be about one man's ego, a Nobel Peace Prize dream, and India refusing to play along.

From the MEA's unusually sharp statement to the PM's vow to "pay any price to protect farmers," we unpack the real stakes amid the India-US showdown over tariffs.

- Is Ind...
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India's 30-year submarine plan promised a world-class fleet. A mix of conventional diesel-powered submarines and both nuclear-powered attack and ballistic submarines. But decades later, delays, policy paralysis, and shifting priorities have left the Indian Navy with far fewer submarines than it planned for. In this episode, Dev Goswami and Sandeep Unnithan dive deep into the Navy's Project 75, 75I, and beyond -- exploring what went...
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In this episode of In Our Defence, host Dev Goswami marks the anniversary of India's victory in the 1999 Kargil conflict by turning sights on the unsung hero of that war: artillery.

The episode dissects how the much-maligned but battle-proven Bofors guns turned the tables on the intruding Pakistani soldiers and rained fire to help India win the conflict.

The episode also takes a deep dive into India's march to self-reliance in the ...
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