Indian Army: News and Discussion

[12arya]

https://www.financialexpress.com/de...a_Recirculation&utm_medium=RC&utm_campaign=FE

Air space intrusion from Pakistan border: Crew of a Georgian flight heading to New Delhi being interrogated
By: FE Online |
New Delhi | Updated: May 10, 2019 7:17:52 PM

A short statement from the Indian Air Force has stated that one AN-12 aircraft of Georgia which got airborne for New Delhi from Karachi had deviated from its scheduled flight path.

A short statement from the Indian Air Force has stated that one AN-12 aircraft of Georgia which got airborne for New Delhi from Karachi had deviated from its scheduled flight path.
Post Balakot air strike, the Indian Air Force has been in a constant state of high alert. On Friday afternoon, a commercial heavy cargo AN-12 was escorted by two Indian SU-30 fighter planes after it entered the Indian flight space through Pakistan.

There have been several instances since Balakot air strikes which have put Indian air defences systems on high alert, as fighter planes of Pakistan Air Force have violated Indian airspace in retaliation, and targeting military establishments on the Indian side.

In an official statement issued by the Indian Air Force (IAF), “An unknown aircraft entered Indian Air Space in North Gujarat Sector at 1515 hrs with its IFF (Identification, Friend or Foe) ‘on’. The aircraft did not follow the authorized Air Traffic Services (ATS) route and was not responding to Radio calls from Indian controlling agencies.”

“Since ATS routes in the area were closed due to the current geopolitical situation, and the aircraft entered Indian air space from an unscheduled point, the Air Defense interceptor on operational readiness was scrambled and vectored towards the unknown aircraft for investigation,” the statement adds.

On visual contact, the aircraft was identified as Georgian An-12 flying at twenty seven thousand feet. The aircraft neither responded on international distress frequency nor to visual signals during interception. However, when challenged, the aircraft responded and informed that it was a non scheduled AN-12 aircraft that had got airborne from Tbilisi (Georgia) for Delhi via Karachi. The aircraft was shadowed and forced to land at Jaipur for necessary investigation.

Officials confirmed to Financial Express Online that a plane has been intercepted by a highly alert IAF and two fighter planes were sent to escort the AN-12 and was forced to land at Jaipur airfield where the crew was being interrogated as per the standard procedures.

Recently, the government had cleared a project to build hardened shelters for IAF fighter jets areas which are closer to the Pakistan and China borders. Also, it is expected that 110 missile-proof shelters will be constructed at forward bases where the IAF could station its frontline fighters.

In an effort to increase its fire power, the IAF is also carrying out tests to equip Su-30MKI fighters with Israeli SPICE-2000 guided bombs. It may be recalled that these bombs were dropped by Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft when Indian carried out raids on terror camps in Balakot

 

[12arya]

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/india-paradrops-troops-on-island/772985.html

India paradrops troops on island
Plans for major event with Russia, China in August

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 14

India has conducted an important exercise to land parachute-borne troops on a remote island and is now planning an event in August in the deserts that will include Russia and China.

A tri-services team of paratroopers was airdropped on Teressa island in the Andaman and Nicobar islands. The exercise called ‘bullstrike’ was to mimic the need of landing men on an island to counter the enemy and also possible terrorists. The air drop included some troops dropping in a free fall from a plane called ‘combat free fall’ in military parlance. The exercise was done on May 9 and not made public.
India fears a threat from sea to several of its islands and has a role as dominating the Indian Ocean where some of the islands are vulnerable.

Separately, delegates of eight countries, including Russia and China, arrived in Jaisalmer today to plan out what will be the fifth International ‘Army games’ to be conducted in August. This will be first multi-nation participation by China in India. India will be hosting for the first time and will showcase military potential.
Other countries participating today and also in August will be Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe. Barring Zimbabwe, the others, including India, were considered by the US and its allies as part of the Soviet Bloc during the Cold War (1945-1991). The event in August will be over five stages and see the participation of some 250 personnel.

Though called ‘games’, it will have specialist military activity like checking infiltration and laying an ambush. It will have obstacle course. It see troops doing night infiltration and survival exercise. Weapons to be used are AK-47 and INSAS — both rifles. Draganov sniper rifles and infantry carrying armoured vehicles

 

[12arya]

In 20 Years, Jammu Man Has Visited Families of More Than 200 Martyrs. Here’s Why

The pursuit began in 1999 after the Kargil War, leading Manhas to visit more than 200 families of martyrs. He remains in touch with most of them!


For the last 20 years, Jammu & Kashmir resident Vikas Manhas has been travelling 11 months a year. These travails range from homes in metros to remote rural villages across the country.

No, these aren’t work-related or luxurious trips. The 42-year-old visits families of slain soldiers and martyrs.

The pursuit began in 1999 after the Kargil War, leading Manhas to visit more than 200 families of martyrs. He remains in touch with most of them!

Vikas Manhas with Rehan, son of Major Dhruv Yadav, who was struck by a splinter during a fire power demonstration in which Arjun tanks from the Army’s 75 Armoured Regiment were being used.
In an exclusive interview with The Better India, Manhas recalls that night in 1994. “It increased my respect for slain soldiers,” he begins.

He narrates, “During my summer holidays, I went to my hometown of Bhadarwah, Jammu & Kashmir, to attend a family wedding. One night, before dinner, I decided to go out for a stroll, blissfully unaware of the dusk-to-dawn curfew in the valley. I only walked 30 steps when a searchlight blinded me, and a strong voice yelled ‘HALT!’ Fear gripped me, and my blood ran cold. I ran towards my home, locked it, and sat down with the rest of the family as though nothing had happened.”

Just when he thought that the nightmare had ended, a group of soldiers arrived at the door. “We have seen a terrorist run into this house,” they said.

“Shocked, my uncle denied it. With a lot of courage, I told them, it was me, and I was not a terrorist. They told me I was lucky because the soldiers knew they’d catch me. So they did not open fire. It was a close shave with death.”

When the wedding ceremony ended, Manhas was the first person to enter the house. It was the same night they heard a volley of gunshots.

“As it turned dark, the sound of the bullets resounding within the valley became louder and clearer. I was scared and tried to block the sound. But it continued until 5 am. When we left home in the morning, we learnt that eight jawans had been attacked by terrorists. Seven of them had died in the ambush, and the only survivor spent the entire night fighting the militants to save the picket from being looted.”

This was years before the Kargil War.

(Then and Now) Vikas with Aprajita, daughter of Kargil martyr Major Padmapani Acharya in 2001, and in 2018 in Hyderabad.
As per the protocol then, the mortal remains of martyrs weren’t sent home. The soldiers would be cremated on the battlefield, and only their ashes would be wrapped in a handkerchief, which was sent back to their homes, with their bistarband (folded bedding).

“I was deeply disturbed to know that their families wouldn’t even get the chance to see them one last time. The soldiers carried out the rituals and took photographs. But my mind was blank. As I watched the bodies being consumed by the flames, I broke down and cried.”

Back in the day, information was a luxury. So even when the news of the martyrdom made it to the papers, none of their villages was mentioned. So all of Vikas’ efforts to get in touch with their families went to vain.

It wasn’t until the Kargil War in 1999 that the media started covering fallen soldiers in detail. With the dawn of technology, there were live broadcasts of their funerals. Their names, units, villages, details of their parents were readily available. Vikas did not let go off the chance this time.

Thus began a journey that would continue for the next two decades.

The first home that he visited was that of 19-year-old Grenadier Udayman Singh of 18 Grenadiers unit. The young soldier succumbed to gunshots on 5 July 1999 in the Kargil War. His home in Shamachak was just 20 km from Vikas’ house.

Grenadier Udayman singh with his mother. Source: Honourpoint
“I travelled on an impulse. But as I was on the way, several questions muddled me–what should I say? How would they react? I tried asking a few friends to tag along, but none of them agreed. So gathering my courage over months, I decided to go alone.”

When he reached Singh’s home and knocked on the door, a young girl opened it. When asked about the purpose of his visit, he replied, “I am here to meet Udayman Singh’s mother.”

He was let inside the home, into a room which had a mattress and a few photographs from different eras of Udayman Singh’s life.

“When his mother entered, she sat on the mattress with her head bowed down. For close to an hour, no words were exchanged. It was a comfortable silence. She was deeply grieving the death of her teenage son who laid down his life in the battle for Tiger hill. After an hour, she asked me if I wanted tea. She pointed to every picture in the room, narrating incidents from the slain soldier’s life. The last picture was of the 19-year-old sitting in his mother’s lap on their old cot. ‘This was the last picture he clicked with me before he left, never to return,’ she said.”

She insisted Manhas eat lunch with them, where he got acquainted with the rest of the family, including Singh’s sister who had greeted him at the door. When the time came for him to leave, Singh’s mother asked him, “Are you on leave from posting? When are returning to serve?”

Manhas told her he wasn’t in the army or even in Udayman’s unit. She was curious. He told her, “I came to pay my respects.”

Before he left, she asked him to visit again. And he did, several times. That was the beginning of a new journey.

How does Manhas manage these visits?

With Meghna Girish, mother of martyr Major Akshay Girish
His job at the Crosstream Consulting Pvt Ltd, a Bengaluru-based knowledge resource company, from 2007-11 allowed him to travel to different parts of the country. During work trips, he would visit martyred families. But once he returned to Jammu in 2011, he started his own travel company in Talab Tillo, making his schedule flexible for more such trips.

On his 42nd birthday, he donned a new blue-and-white kurta-pyjama. The outfit held a special meaning. It belonged to slain Major Akshay Girish, who died protecting unarmed fellow soldiers and their families during a terrorist attack on 29 November 2016 in Nagrota, near Jammu.

The kurta was a gift to Vikas from the officer’s parents. The officer was to wear the clothes to a wedding in Mumbai in December 2016. The officer’s father, Wing Commander Girish Kumar (Retd), mother Meghna and wife Sangeeta gave Manhas the outfit because he hardly wears any new clothes to celebrate his birthday.

“It was quite emotional. I was hesitant at first, but I hope Major Akshay Girish will be happy to see me wearing his clothes,” shares Manhas.

With the family of Major James Thomas of 10 SIKH LI, who won the Kirti Chakra for immmortalising himself fighting terrorists at Poonch in J&K in 2006.
Funding his trips and using public transport, he tries to visit as many families every year as possible. The families, in turn, provide him with lodging and boarding. Their pictures and stories find space on his Facebook page, with special posts on birth and death anniversaries.

When I ask him how he plans these visits, he adds, “I avoid visiting any grieving family in the initial weeks or months. This is a period when everyone visits them. While most offer emotional support, there are also a few who say insensitive things like, ‘Whom can you blame when you sent your son to the army? Was the money worth sacrificing your son?’ Others say things like, ‘But you must have received a lot of money when he died, right? How much did you get? Is your daughter-in-law going to take away the bigger share? Will she continue to stay with you? Will she get remarried?’ All kinds of ridiculous questions.”

Vikas prefers to see them when regular visitors have returned to their daily routines. Because emotional support is required throughout, not just the initial months, he says.

With Bhawna Dwivedi, whose husband Major C B Dwivedi from 315 field regiment, sacrificed himself in Kargil War in 1999.
When he meets them, he doesn’t begin by talking about the soldier. He speaks about other martyred families with more painful stories. At most times, it helps ease their pain, albeit a little.

“While women often let their guard down, due to their social conditioning, but men hold back their pain and inflict emotional damage on themselves. Sometimes, all they need is a stranger who patiently listens and allows them to vent,” he adds.

Manhas plans to share the stories of slain soldiers through a gallery, which also tells the tales of their bravery, regardless of their ranks or the medals they won.


As he concludes, he says, “Even as you and I talk within the safety of our homes, we aren’t scared that anybody will hunt us down. That is solely because a soldier is guarding us. A youngster who could have opted for a hefty package in a corporate office decided to join the armed forces. These are men gave up their safety so we could have ours. They live in pathetic conditions on the border so we can go on comfortably in our lives. They don’t need our financial help because the government takes care of it. But we must extend emotional support to them and their families. This is so that no mother ever wonders if her son’s sacrifice was in vain. It adds meaning to the sacrifice their loved one made for the nation, for you and me.”

If this story inspired you, get in touch with Vikas Manhas at [email protected].

 

[Bhadra]

Faulty ammunition for the Indian Army is a national security issue, says former Army General

http://idrw.org/faulty-ammunition-for-the-indian-army-is-a-national-security-issue-says-former-army-general/#more-201014 ​

Poor quality ammunition coming out of the state-owned Ordnance Factory Board has caused a flutter in the Indian Army. Quality Assurance of ammunition and military wherewithal is a national security issue, says former Army General.

Recalling a major tragedy that happened due to poor quality ammunition, Lt Gen Rakesh Sharma (retd) told Financial Express Online that “The problem of defective ammunition is severe and often gets swept under the carpet. One can recall the 31 May 2016 accident at Central Ammunition Depot (CAD) Pulgaon which caused the death of 19 civilian and military personnel.”

This was laid on a major flaw in anti-tank mines with poor quality of explosive. There is a very large quantity of ammunition lying segregated in various ammunition depots and dumps which requires certification of its quality. It is a grave risk,” he points out.

According to Sharma, the quality control of the ammunition is no casual talk- it’s playing with lives. “Inevitably the manufacturers in the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) will lay the blame on poor handling and storage! That is a poor excuse for an issue of immense importance. The tankers and gunners tend to lose confidence in the ammunition which will be detrimental to the war effort. (This issue) Cannot be brushed under the carpet as bureaucratese. Quality Assurance of ammunition and military wherewithal is a national security issue.”

The complaint relating to the failure of quality control by the state-owned entity has been raised with the secretary (defence production) Ajay Kumar.

Sources in the Indian Army have confirmed to Financial Express Online that “We have approached the Defence Secretary in the Ministry of Defence about the low quality of ammunition being produced at the OFB. These are being used in tanks, artillery, air defence and other guns.”

In several cases, there have been injuries to soldiers as well as the equipment which has burst due to the faulty ammunition. In a 15 page complaint made by the Indian Army, to the Defence Secretary Production, the Indian Army has pointed out that there are regular accidents involving 105mm Indian field guns, 105mm light field guns, 130mm MA1 medium guns, 40mm L-70 air defence guns, and ammunition for the guns of T-72, T-90 and the Arjun main battle tanks.

Following a major accident earlier this year in which a officer and soldiers were injured, the army has stalled the training firing of 40mm high explosive ammunition by the L-70 air defence guns.

The OFB has 412 factories across the country and is the main supplier of arms and ammunition to over 12 lakh strong Indian Army.

In fact when foreign guns are tested for the modernisation of the Indian Army, they are tested with the Indian ammunition which comes from the OFB. Last summer, during a field trial of the US-based BAE Systems’M-777 which was to be inducted in the Indian Army, exploded during a field trial in Pokhran due to faulty ammunition.

Last year, reportedly, OFB spokesperson Uddipan Mukherjee had attributed the incident to a complex phenomenon pertaining to internal ballistics as the shell moves at a very high speed inside the barrel. P

 

[bhramos]

Preparation underway in Jaisalmer, for the 'International Army Scout Masters Competition', as part of International #ArmyGames August 2019. Representatives from participating Armies, including Russia and China visited Jaisalmer earlier today for coordination conference & recce.

 

[Craigs]

Those are stories. I too have many real varifiable and well known stories to tell.
The case in point is the percussion Fuzes of Mortar and artillery ammunition which used to go off dimes a day during Op Parakram. OFB blamed Army for inadequate storage facilities. Ultimately, they said the fuzes were suffering from Copper Azide phenomenon which initiated fuzes automatically. I had carried out Investigation into one of the largest accidents that occurred at Birdwal.

We all knew how there were no fuzes for anti tank mines for over ten crucial years. OFB simply washed their hands off.

The question is -
Why only Indian ammunition goes bad and not imported ammunition when storage facility is same for both.
Storage of Ammunition in Field is not specific to Indian Army but world over. Why the blame is shifted to field conditions ? There are regulations for that as laid down by the UNO and ASTEC committees.

Thirdly, if storage facilities are bad, it is for MoD to provide funding for making storage infrastructure, Everyone is supposed to know the conditions of forward ammunition depots of the Army.

Finally, why there are accidents only in certain categories only and not in all.

A shell of 155 mm howitzer bursting inside M777 barrel during trial was not engineered by Indian Army. It is shame that the US refused to use Indian ammunition any further.

Please do tell your stories. At least we will get one point of view and then some one else will provide another point of view.

About M777 less said the better. Who knows if the accident was most propitious anyway as it gave the Americans a valid reason to reject Indian ammo (again press for more imports).

Anyway there have been accidents with M777 outside India too. Are Indian ammo to blame?:
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article10065953.html
https://sputniknews.com/military/201709141057380067-india-m777-howitzers-trials-failures/
https://www.stripes.com/news/2-us-soldiers-killed-in-artillery-mishap-in-iraq-identified-1.482836

I am not even responding to this rhetoric:

Why only Indian ammunition goes bad and not imported ammunition when storage facility is same for both.
Storage of Ammunition in Field is not specific to Indian Army but world over.

- We all know how much army likes to complain about Arjun but mum about T-90.

 

[Bhadra]

Please do tell your stories. At least we will get one point of view and then some one else will provide another point of view.

About M777 less said the better. Who knows if the accident was most propitious anyway as it gave the Americans a valid reason to reject Indian ammo (again press for more imports).

Anyway there have been accidents with M777 outside India too. Are Indian ammo to blame?:
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article10065953.html
https://sputniknews.com/military/201709141057380067-india-m777-howitzers-trials-failures/
https://www.stripes.com/news/2-us-soldiers-killed-in-artillery-mishap-in-iraq-identified-1.482836

I am not even responding to this rhetoric:
- We all know how much army likes to complain about Arjun but mum about T-90.

I told you two stories but you have no comments for that.
What can I say about Arjun when it has no ammunition to fire. DRDO / OFB have given a heavy weight pile of steel and iron which have nothing to fire. So no criticism or defects in annuntio.
T-90 = wherever OFB jumped in making ammunition they have miserably failed,

Why not answer basic question:
Why accidents only certain varieties if storage conditions are to be blamed ?
Why no accidents in imported ammunition stored under same conditions.
Is not ammunition stored as per rules laid down in "Storage and Handling of Ammunition in the Field" ?

No army in the world including those of banana republic will fire OFB ammunition if they ever happen to see how it is manufactured,

Who is responsible for death and injury to soldiers arising out of firing of defective OFB ammunition?

 

[ezsasa]

400 spotter scope with Digital recording being acquired...
And also there is RFI issued for Mod kits for sniper rifles. not much detail in the RFI...

 

[Aaj ka hero]

A shell of 155 mm howitzer bursting inside M777 barrel during trial was not engineered by Indian Army. It is shame that the US refused to use Indian ammunition any further.

An artillery shell just bursting inside the barrel doesn't mean IT IS ONLY A FAULTY Shell, IT CAN ALSO MEAN DIFFERENT Things.
Such as type of ammunitions used for desired effect,pressurization,chemicals used for long range,etc.the rectification and THE PERFECT TUNING of which requires time as well as work THIS HAPPENS WITH Every armed forces.
You are always pointing M777 but don't say about how DHANUSH ALSO SUFFERED THE SAME FATE WHEN IT'S SHELL BURST HAPPENED and then again USED THE SAME INDIGINEOUS SHELLS MANUFACTURED BY OFB to successfully COMPLETE THE TRIALS.
You yourself said na"dhanush has successfully passed the trials"so by your logic shells of OFB were not used but YOUR DARLING AMERICANS WERE USED.
YOU ARE AN IMPORT MAN.
Just few days earlier you were mocking that ABHYAS DRONE shows your logic.
YOUR ARTICLES ARE ALWAYS FILLED WITH IMPORT LOBBYING.
YE SIRJI KA BAS CHALE TOH AGNI KO BHI REPLACE KARKE MINUTEMAN KHARID LEIN.

 

[garg_bharat]

Bhadra when we take extreme positions, we suffer.

Best is to take middle ground.

OFB has to improve quality and quantity. But Army must be invested in the process; not only final product. All our problems arise due to segmentation created during Congress Raj between military and civil. Working together will bring results.

 

[bhramos]

400 spotter scope with Digital recording being acquired...
And also there is RFI issued for Mod kits for sniper rifles. not much detail in the RFI...
View attachment 35018

what about like this or similar system from Israel........

 

[Bhadra]

An artillery shell just bursting inside the barrel doesn't mean IT IS ONLY A FAULTY Shell, IT CAN ALSO MEAN DIFFERENT Things.
Such as type of ammunitions used for desired effect,pressurization,chemicals used for long range,etc.the rectification and THE PERFECT TUNING of which requires time as well as work THIS HAPPENS WITH Every armed forces.
You are always pointing M777 but don't say about how DHANUSH ALSO SUFFERED THE SAME FATE WHEN IT'S SHELL BURST HAPPENED and then again USED THE SAME INDIGINEOUS SHELLS MANUFACTURED BY OFB to successfully COMPLETE THE TRIALS.
You yourself said na"dhanush has successfully passed the trials"so by your logic shells of OFB were not used but YOUR DARLING AMERICANS WERE USED.
YOU ARE AN IMPORT MAN.
Just few days earlier you were mocking that ABHYAS DRONE shows your logic.
YOUR ARTICLES ARE ALWAYS FILLED WITH IMPORT LOBBYING.
YE SIRJI KA BAS CHALE TOH AGNI KO BHI REPLACE KARKE MINUTEMAN KHARID LEIN.

A shell burst inside a barrel is a burst...is a burst ... is a burst ..whatever may be the reason
It is for the manufacturer to rectify it particularly when Bofors (155mm) are part of IA since 1986. OFB operates one of the largest ammunition factory for shell and al shells manufactured by it -106, 120mm, 130mm,Arjun tank and 155mm all go defective.
Whatever may be technical defects, IA has no wherewithal to rectify those defects. IA ammunition technicians are limited to fitting or unscrewing fuzes.

There is a system of five year roll on indenting system and if OFB is unable to make any ammunition they must say so at least five years in advance. Why do they accept the indent anf money for it ?

But all Ordinance factories are "Social Justice" and positive action factories. Unfortunately war has no such considerations and will not spare Mayawati or Mulayam Singh.

And yah ! I am the biggest foreign mal agent ! tabhi to Jhak marta hoon tum jaise logon se.

 

[ezsasa]

what about like this or similar system from Israel........

Looks like LORROS in the pic, IA has been using them for sometime. More were ordered this year.

 

[Aaj ka hero]

A shell burst inside a barrel is a burst...is a burst ... is a burst ..whatever may be the reason
It is for the manufacturer to rectify it particularly when Bofors (155mm) are part of IA since 1986. OFB operates one of the largest ammunition factory for shell and al shells manufactured by it -106, 120mm, 130mm,Arjun tank and 155mm all go defective.
Whatever may be technical defects, IA has no wherewithal to rectify those defects. IA ammunition technicians are limited to fitting or unscrewing fuzes.

There is a system of five year roll on indenting system and if OFB is unable to make any ammunition they must say so at least five years in advance. Why do they accept the indent anf money for it ?

But all Ordinance factories are "Social Justice" and positive action factories. Unfortunately war has no such considerations and will not spare Mayawati or Mulayam Singh.

And yah ! I am the biggest foreign mal agent ! tabhi to Jhak marta hoon tum jaise logon se.

Na, hamare jaise log kaam bhi karte hain.
Aaadha tiiha kahe answer dete ho sirji.
Dhanush ka trials pe trials hote JA raha tha na jaane kitne saare rounds fire kiye gaye.
Who made those perfect rounds AMERICANS?
Don't want to discuss?
I doesn't have any logical answer of this.

 

[Bhadra]

Na, hamare jaise log kaam bhi karte hain.
Aaadha tiiha kahe answer dete ho sirji.
Dhanush ka trials pe trials hote JA raha tha na jaane kitne saare rounds fire kiye gaye.
Who made those perfect rounds AMERICANS?
Don't want to discuss?
I doesn't have any logical answer of this.

The barrel of a Dhanush prototype did burst during firing trials at Pokhran in August 2013 which OFB blammed on old ammunition and air bubble.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...ound-80-indigenous-now/slideshow/46846411.cms
ThenOFB ammunition hit the muzzle brake of M777 and burst inside the barrel OFB ammunition burst inside the barrel of M777 on 02 Sep 17 damaging the gun.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...osion-probe/articleshow/60815115.cms?from=mdr

Two guns ATAGS are under trial and two other will join soon. User assisted trials will commence from jun.

It is stupid and simple. Indian Army dos not cook up defects nor is it responsible for defects.Their storage ares are also inspected regularly by outside agencies. If the condition of storage are bad somewhere it is because no funds have been allotted for facilities. Also when M777 was being tested it was us people who were demonstrating the fire. And after your burst they refused to use Indian ammunition. They were selling guns to India not ammunition. Why should they cook up stories.

It is only OFB which cooks up things. They should sell off their ammunition producing factories to private industry.

 

[Bhadra]

Defective ammunition: Whose life is it anyway?
http://idrw.org/defective-ammunition-whose-life-is-it-anyway/#more-201261

​

Last week the armed forces, particularly the Army, were in the news because of two developments—one progressive and the other regressive. The progressive was the Ministry of Defence’s announcement of an Armed Forces Special Operations Division (AFSOD) headed by a major general, which is but a baby step into the 21st century considering that this formation falls well short of the creation of a Special Operations Command as recommended by the Naresh Chandra Committee in 2011

Alongwith, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) also announced the creation of a Cyber Warfare Centre and a Space Warfare Centre to be headed by a Navy and Air Force officer, respectively. This again falls short of a Cyber Command and a Space Command as was also the original recommendation. These three new establishments will report to the Chief of the tri-service Integrated Defence Staff or CIDS, which serves as the secretariat for a yet-to-be-created Chief of Defence Force.

But the creation of the tri-service AFSOD comprising the Army’s para special forces, the Navy’s marine commandos or MARCOS and the Air Force’s Garud commandos can be effective only if they are suitably, adequately and effectively equipped. A Special Forces soldier or an artillery or armour regiment serves no purpose if equipped with defective or dud ammunition.

This brings us to the regressive development. Last week the Army reportedly also expressed alarm at the unacceptably high number of accidents owing to defective and poor quality ammunition being supplied by our Ordnance Factories (OF). A 15-page report prepared by the Army details the many accidents they have had with a range of artillery and tank ammunition comprising the 40 mm L-70 air defence guns, 105 mm light field guns, 130 MA1 medium guns and also the 125 mm ammunition for the Arjun, T-90 and T-72 tanks manufactured by the OFs.

This has resulted in the Army taking the extreme step of placing an altogether halt to testing and firing certain types of ammunition such as, for example, the 40 mm ammunition for the L-70 air defence guns. The latest among the several casualties suffered in recent times is an officer and four soldiers injured in an accident last February.

The Army ascribes the defects to a range of factors that include “poor metallurgy and packaging, manufacturing deficiencies, improper maintenance of weapon systems and improper handling of ammunition and weapons during firing”.

Five soldiers suffering serious injuries should be an incident enough to invite serious attention. But going by past experience, it is unlikely to cut ice with either the concerned OFs or the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), which oversees the functioning of the country’s 41 ordnance factories.

Consider the following. Three years ago the Army recorded its probably worst peace time mishap in the country’s post-Independence history when on 31 May 2016 the Army lost a Lieutenant Colonel, a Major and 17 more soldiers in a devastating explosion at the Central Ammunition Depot (CAD) in Pulgaon, the country’s largest storage area for ordnance spread over 7,000 acres and located about 120 km from Nagpur. Many more soldiers were wounded, 17 of them seriously when about 20,000 defective anti-tank mines packed with about 134,000 kg of TNT caught fire and caused a massive explosion.

The anti-tank mines had been received at the depot six years earlier and were almost immediately classified as having a “serious manufacturing defect”. The Army was awaiting a decision for repair or demolition of these anti-tank mines since 2010 since many of the mines had been exuding TNT from their plastic bodies.

But notwithstanding the tragedy and the many lives lost, two years later, in July 2018, the Army found itself writing to the MoD expressing concern that the OFB has failed to fix responsibility and punish officials’ responsibility for the blast. It is unknown whether responsibility was ever fixed.

Then five months after the Army wrote this letter, another blast involving defective 23 mm Shilka anti-aircraft ammunition occurred in the very same CAD. This time six persons comprising a soldier, an OF employee and four labourers were killed, while between 10 and 18 persons were reportedly injured.

Indeed, defective ammunition supplied by the OFB has been a longstanding problem and at any given time the Army is in possession of between 15,000 to 20,000 tonnes of segregated ammunition. The impact is obvious: It has been causing deaths and injuries, an adverse impact on operational preparedness, a major monetary loss to the state, resulted in delays in replacement and occupying large amounts of storage space, while imposing a serious safety hazard. The inordinately long time it takes to investigate supply of defective ammunition and to take a decision adds to the problem.

The fact is that incidents and adverse observations regarding defective ammunition and the functioning of the OFs is well documented. The following few random examples should be demonstrative enough.

Fourteen years ago a report prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in 2005 had observed that 18 of 47 items of ammunition, weapons and heavy vehicles had quality problems and that between 1999 and 2004 the Army has reported a total 3,210 defects in OFB supplied products. The CAG quoted the Army’s DGOS saying that unserviceable ammunition was deteriorating and posed a potential fire risk. This was subsequently proven in the 2016 and 2018 blasts at Pulgaon.

Then again, replying to a question in Parliament in 2007, the Minister of State (Defence Production) acknowledged deficiencies in the supply of ammunition for small arms, rifles, machine guns and tanks. A more scathing observation was made in a more recent CAG report tabled in Parliament in 2018, which examined the performance of OFs between 2008 and 2013. Observing that there was an inordinately high rate for rectification, the report states that 17.5% of ammunition was lying in either segregated, repairable or unserviceable condition, with ?3,578 crore worth of ammunition alone lying in a segregated condition.

The situation is complicated by the fact that there is already a major shortage of ammunition since the OFB is unable to meet the Army’s demands. This is directly impacting the operational readiness of the Army. As of March 2013, there was a shortfall in 54% to 73% types of ammunition. Against a required War Wastage Reserve for 40 days, the availability of ammunition was for only 10% of all types of ammunition and for less than 10 days for 50% of total types of ammunition. The Minimum Acceptable Risk Level or MARL for 20 days set by the Army in 1999 could not be achieved even after 15 years.

All these and more observations have obviously not had much impact considering the repeat of negative incidents. The problem continues to fester and it seems unlikely to be rectified in the immediate future.

Much of the problem lies with the OFB, which oversees the functioning of the 41 OFs that are engaged in manufacturing nearly 1,000 principal items either by itself or in collaboration with the original export manufacturers. As in many departments of the government (and even in sections of the private sector), OFs face a major problem of quality manpower, talent, worth ethics and sound leadership. A report prepared by the 10-member Kelkar Committee in November 2015 recommended that all OFs be corporatised under a single corporation and led by a competitive management with greater autonomy to run its own affairs, while being held accountable for its performance.

Perhaps the next government could take a leaf from a lecture by N.N. Vohra, former Jammu and Kashmir Governor, who has held the key position of Defence Secretary and Secretary, Defence Production and Supplies, delivered at the United Services Institute in December 2013 that figures in his book Safeguarding India. “…The defence ministry must enforce strict measures to ensure that ordnance factories, Defence PSUs (public sector undertakings), DRDO establishments (Defence Research and Development Organisation) and other agencies concerned function efficiently to deliver supplies and services as per the envisaged time and cost schedules; prolonged delays cause serious difficulties for the armed forces and large economic losses, as the lack of certainty about supplies from indigenous sources compels expensive imports whenever any emergency arises.”

http://idrw.org/defective-ammunition-whose-life-is-it-anyway/#more-201261 .

 

[Bhadra]

With OFB / OFS around, does India and Indian Army need Pakistan and ISI around...

Shells and Anti Tank mine dabba exuding the explosive like thick liquid Jaggery...... my God ...

 

[Bhadra]

Repainting the white elephant

Hectic moves within the defence ministry suggest the Modi government is working to end one of the government's last monopolies - ordnance factories.

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Sandeep Unnithan
June 11, 2017
ISSUE DATE: June 19, 2017
UPDATED: June 16, 2017 19:04 IST
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The letter was followed by a series of policy moves signalling that business as usual was coming to an end within the ordnance factories, long criticised by the armed forces for supplying substandard, overpriced equipment. In April, the MoD invited the private sector to participate in tenders to supply nine types of ammunition for tanks and howitzers, hitherto a preserve of the ordnance factories. On April 27, an MoD circular to the chairman of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) identified a list of 143 'non-core' items, ranging from uniform cloth and sleeping bags to military trucks, that the army could buy from the open market. The shape-up or ship-out approach was outlined in the circular: '...the MoD can identify non-core activities that can be either closed down or put on the PPP model for optimal use of the OFB's vast infrastructure and skilled manpower'.

A May 30 meeting within the MoD, attended by OFB chairman S.C. Bajpai and secretary (defence production) Ashok Kumar Gupta, is believed to have identified four ordnance factories for public-private partnership (PPP). These include the Rifle Factory Ishapore, Small Arms Factory Kanpur, Ordnance Factory Project Korwa and Ordnance Factory Trichy.
It is still not clear if the government will corporatise the ordnance factories, merge the 41 factories into a conglomerate along the lines of other defence PSUs, such as Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, before selling a stake to the private sector, as in the case of Maruti Suzuki. Corporatisation was a panacea held out by various MoD-appointed committees, headed by former revenue secretary Vijay Kelkar in 2005 to vice admiral Raman Puri in 2016, but never implemented by the government fearing the political fallout. Still, the recent moves, that put the government on a collision course with ordnance factory trade unions, are big enough for a private sector CEO to call them the biggest after the Strategic Partnership policy cleared on May 20, that allowed the private sector to make defence systems with foreign vendors.

The ordnance factories are the oldest organisations of the government, predating the Indian Railways by a half-century and mirroring the march of military history on the subcontinent. The East India Company set up a Gun and Shell factory in Cossipore near Kolkata in 1801. The British empire added a dozen ordnance factories after the 1857 revolt. The newly independent Indian state, its decade of somnolence rudely awoken by defeat in the 1962 war with China, established 22 factories to equip its expanding armed forces. The factories were set up in four clusters, insulated from the need to raise finance or fight for orders.

Over 80 per cent of the OFB's orders come from the Indian army. Yet, these 41 factories meet less than 50 per cent of the army's requirements. A general reels out the factors afflicting the OFB-inability to absorb technology, support a product, maintain quality and meet time and cost parameters. The army has had to repeatedly order T-90 tanks from Russia to make up for production delays at the ordnance factory in Avadi, Tamil Nadu. As the general says, the OFB promised 100 tanks a year but could barely deliver more than 85.

Several OFB-built mainstays will soon need replacements. The army has to go shopping for a new main battle tank to replace the T-90 and T-72 tanks built at Avadi, it will need a new infantry combat vehicle to replace the BMP-2 made at the Ordnance Factory Medak, and a new 7.62x51 mm assault rifle to replace the INSAS rifle made by Rifle Factory, Ishapore.

A report submitted by a defence ministry officer in May 2016, copies of which were sent to the prime minister and the national security advisor, is believed to have set the OFB reform ball rolling. In the report, A.K. Saxena, additional Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA), an organisation responsible for financial advice, payment and accounting in the MoD, pointed towards the OFB's serious inefficiencies. The OFB, Saxena said, was overcharging the army several hundred crores in cases ranging from battle tanks to clothing to general stores. In the case of the T-90 tanks built under licence from Russia at the Heavy Vehicles Factory Avadi, the OFB was charging the army Rs 21 crore per tank, nearly 50 per cent more than what an import would cost.

"Make in India will fail unless the ordnance factories are corporatised, or better still, get into partnerships with the private sector. There is no way for them but to compete," Saxena says.

In September last year, NSA Ajit Doval assessed the army's dissatisfaction with OFB products in a meeting with then army vice chief Lt Gen. Bipin Rawat. This led to the series of policy decisions this year that gradually whittled away at OFB monopolies.
The powerful trade unions, which control over 88,000 employees in these factories, are aghast at the move to bring in the private sector and have warned of an agitation culminating in an indefinite strike. "The government's PPP move spells the death knell for our factories," says C. Srikumar, general secretary, All India Defence Employees' Federation. "Without orders, our factories will turn sick. And when they turn sick, they can be sold off."

Significantly, unions hold the change of guard within the ministry responsible for the corporatisation buzz. Former defence minister Manohar Parrikar had reportedly assured the unions he wouldn't corporatise or privatise the ordnance factories. Similar assurances were given by defence ministers in the UPA era, Pranab Mukherjee and A.K. Antony, as well.

Parrikar instead asked the factories to improve efficiency. "Let me see if I can paint another colour," he remarked to a 2015 media query on his plan for OFB 'white elephants'. Under Parrikar, the OFB boosted output from Rs 11,000 crore in 2014 to a record of over Rs 15,000 crore this year and cut its workforce from 96,317 to 87,707. He delegated financial powers to avoid delays in processing R&D projects at the OFB headquarters, gave factories a target to increase the expenditure on R&D activities to 3 per cent of their turnover by 2018-19.

After Parrikar's departure from the MoD in March this year, the government has stepped on the gas.

The ordnance factories are sitting on a land bank estimated to be 60,000 acres, a small but sizeable fraction of the total 17.5 lakh acres of defence land. The most valuable tracts are thought to be in Pune, Avadi, Jabalpur, Medak, Dehradun, Kolkata and Kanpur. This is where the MoD's April 27 circular specifically asks the OFB for its real estate holdings in these cities.

"The government is taking a proactive move to ensure land, machinery, capital and skilled manpower are best utilised," says Ratan Shrivastav, an independent defence consultant and advisor with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

"Corporatisation may not be the ultimate panacea," says Laxman Kumar Behera of the New Delhi-based MoD think tank, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA). "It is the first step for further reforms such as divestment of government equity and ultimately privatisation, if required."

Some recent successes suggest a hidden potential in the ordnance factories. One such breakthrough is the 'Dhanush' 155 mm guns, an indigenously produced upgraded version of the Bofors howitzers. The first batch of six guns successfully passed field trials, opening up both an opportunity and a dilemma. The OFB has an order for building 414 howitzers, which it presently lacks the capacity to produce. At current production rates, it would take the ordnance factories more than a decade to deliver all the guns. "This is where a PPP model needs to step in and ensure that the OFB can offload orders onto private sector players with howitzer-manufacturing capacity," says Lt Gen. P. Ravi Shankar (retired), former director general, artillery. A win-win for both.

 

[samsaptaka]

Good. These trade union fuckers should be jailed and OFB must be privatised ASAP !

 

[bhramos]

#IndianArmy 7th Para Airborne & Indonesian counterparts during Joint Exercise Garuda Shakti 2019 Quarter Zip Combat T Shirts in JUNGLE MARPAT like camo and in MULTICAM pattern with the officer in the last picture.