Virendra
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Dozens of T-72 tanks are rolling in the sand dunes of Thar desert, bombarding the eerie silence out with pounding ammunition.
Mahajan Field Firing Range (MFFR) in Bikaner, Rajasthan is bustling with the Indo-Russian joint drills this week under the supervision of South Western Command.
Col. Rajesh Nambiar of the Indian Army informed media that these are specialized drills. They are held with the aim of developing better operational expertise in stopping infiltration and fighting armed militias better.
Since 2003, five such joint exercises have taken place. Last year the military event took place in Russia in a jungle terrain. This time the IA brought their Russian peers to the desert experience.
These drills are also expected to help the Indian Army with inter-interoperability in situations tackled under the UN flag in South Sudan, Africa. In that part of the world the armies have to face armed militia and rebellions every now and then. This preparation will improve the capability of both the armies in search, block and destroy kind of missions.
Around 250 soldiers including special forces have been invested from each side for these activities. They will be segregated in combat groups and put under the hot grill of Rajasthani Maru-Bhoomi.
The hardware of these tasks in mostly India owned and Russian built. Other than the tanks, it includes Infantry Combat Vehicles (ICVs) such as BMP-2K and BMP-2, Choppers etc. While both sides learnt each other's Tank Zeroing procedures; many Russian soldiers were seen operating India owned T-72 tanks fluidly.
The two armies also practices agile raids like that one that took out Osama in Pakistan. For this a model town had been erected in the firing range itself where an imaginary rebel leader was placed
Both sides were also clear about the hurdles and differences observed in the exercise till now. While Russians were a bit more frustrated with language barriers initially, Indians were wary of the higher fire power and comparatively lower yield to collateral that the Russians showed in the drills.
While the IA leadership played down any connection of these exercise to the developing situation in Afghanistan and post withdrawal prospects; it cannot be ruled out that both sides gearing up this way would leave clues for impending regional issues that need to be approached soon.
The INDRA 2013 that started on October 18th, is scheduled to go till the October 28th.
Regards,
Virendra
Mahajan Field Firing Range (MFFR) in Bikaner, Rajasthan is bustling with the Indo-Russian joint drills this week under the supervision of South Western Command.
Col. Rajesh Nambiar of the Indian Army informed media that these are specialized drills. They are held with the aim of developing better operational expertise in stopping infiltration and fighting armed militias better.
Since 2003, five such joint exercises have taken place. Last year the military event took place in Russia in a jungle terrain. This time the IA brought their Russian peers to the desert experience.
These drills are also expected to help the Indian Army with inter-interoperability in situations tackled under the UN flag in South Sudan, Africa. In that part of the world the armies have to face armed militia and rebellions every now and then. This preparation will improve the capability of both the armies in search, block and destroy kind of missions.
Around 250 soldiers including special forces have been invested from each side for these activities. They will be segregated in combat groups and put under the hot grill of Rajasthani Maru-Bhoomi.
The hardware of these tasks in mostly India owned and Russian built. Other than the tanks, it includes Infantry Combat Vehicles (ICVs) such as BMP-2K and BMP-2, Choppers etc. While both sides learnt each other's Tank Zeroing procedures; many Russian soldiers were seen operating India owned T-72 tanks fluidly.
The two armies also practices agile raids like that one that took out Osama in Pakistan. For this a model town had been erected in the firing range itself where an imaginary rebel leader was placed
Both sides were also clear about the hurdles and differences observed in the exercise till now. While Russians were a bit more frustrated with language barriers initially, Indians were wary of the higher fire power and comparatively lower yield to collateral that the Russians showed in the drills.
While the IA leadership played down any connection of these exercise to the developing situation in Afghanistan and post withdrawal prospects; it cannot be ruled out that both sides gearing up this way would leave clues for impending regional issues that need to be approached soon.
The INDRA 2013 that started on October 18th, is scheduled to go till the October 28th.
Regards,
Virendra
