Rajaram Nagappa Editor & Author

Prakash Pannerselvam is Assistant Professor with the International Strategic and Security Studies Programme, NIAS, India. He holds a PhD in Japanese studies from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India. He was the first Visiting Fellow to Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) Staff College, Tokyo. He is a recipient of the Japan Foundation Fellow (2011) and Okita Memorial Fellowship (2008). He was also a trained merchant mariner with Poompuhar Shipping Corporation Ltd. Prior to joining NIAS, he was working with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Defence and Aerospace Sector.

Rajaram Nagappa, a specialist in aerospace propulsion, has worked extensively in the design and development of solid propellant rockets. His interests are in missile technology and space weaponisation. He has served at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO as its Associate Director, and later was Pandalai Memorial Chair Professor at Anna University, Chennai, India. He has also taught at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Israel. He is a recipient of the Astronautical Society of India Award, Distinguished Alumnus Award of the Madras Institute of Technology, DRDO’s Agni Award for Excellence in Self Reliance, Certificate of Appreciation of the International Astronautical Federation and the Honorary Fellowship of the High Energy Materials Society of India. His recent work includes an assessment of the Pakistani cruise missiles and an assessment of the Iranian satellite launch vehicle Safir. He has also traced the development of fighter aircrafts in China as a part of a study on China’s science and technology capability.

R.N. Ganesh (Retd. Vice Admiral) has commanded a diesel submarine, a nuclear submarine and the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. He has served as the Flag Officer Submarines, Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet, and Commander Andaman and Nicobar Islands. His other assignments were Director General, Indian Coast Guard, and Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command. His last appointment was as the Director General of the Indian nuclear submarine programme which he continued to head after retirement from active service till 2004. He has studied at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, the National Defence College, New Delhi, India and the Adm. Makarov Pacific Fleet Higher Naval Academy, Vladivostok, Russia. His interests include maritime security and strategic affairs, and maritime security developments. He is currently collaborating with ISSSP on the Chinese Anti-ship Ballistic Missile capability studies.