Army eyeing offensive mountain warfare: Singh

[Vikramaditya]

New Delhi: After concentrating for long on taking the war to the enemy in the plains,basically a Pakistan-centric policy,the Army is now also steadily building its capabilities for offensive mountain warfare with China in mind.
This comes at a time when the Armys new doctrine and proactive strategy,which also factor in the worst-case scenario of g r ap p l i n g with both China and Pakistan simultaneously in a two-front war,are now ready and the 1.13-million force is poised for a comprehensive transformation into a lean,mean fighting machine.
As of today,we are capable of meeting any threat on our borders,whether it is simultaneous,single or double... We are also restructuring to ensure offensive capabilities in the mountains as well, said Gen V K Singh on Friday,a day ahead of the Army Day.
The aim is to transform into a more agile,more lethal,networked force capable of meeting all future challenges... how our strategic assets,in terms of the strike corps (Mathura-based 1 Corps,Ambala-based 2 Corps and Bhopal-based 21 Corps) and other assets,can be synergised to deliver a more lethal punch, he added.
All this comes after creation of the new South-Western Army Command at Jaipur in 2005,between the Western and Southern Commands,for a greater offensive punch along the entire western front with Pakistan.Since then,India is also finally taking steps to strategically counter the stark military asymmetry with China all along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control.Apart from basing Sukhoi-30 MKIs in North-East and upgrading several airstrips and helipads,two new infantry mountain divisions and the first battalion of Arunachal Scouts are now virtually in place.
With 1,260 officers and 35,011 soldiers,the two new divisions have their HQs in Zakama (Nagaland ) and Missamari (Assam).Plans are also afoot to create a new mountain strike corps as well as a third artillery division.
It was after the 10-month forward troop mobilisation on the western front under Operation Parakram in 2002 that the Army began to develop the capability to mobilise fast and strike hard across the border.
Now,said Gen Singh,the force is essentially looking at reorganisation and relocation to enhance and optimise our capabilities both for plains and mountains,creation of network-centricity,integration of logistics to support high tempo of future operations and enhanced operational synergy with IAF and Navy.
Holding that swift progress was being made to plug critical deficiencies in areas like artillery,air defence,aviation and nightfighting capabilities,the Army chief said,We are capable of fighting and winning with what we have even now.
Our thrust has been on surveillance and decision-support systems,acquisition of deepstrike capabilities with BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and Pinaka rocket systems,betterment of our artillery and mechanised forces and improving our aviation capabilities, he said.

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[civfanatic]

Can anyone tell me, what are the equipment, personnel, and other differences between a regular Indian Army infantry division and a mountain division?

 

[SpArK]

Army move to fortify border with China​

NEW DELHI: Plans about two defence-related moves that were let known the same day meant that the government is beefing up security along the stretch that borders China, while relaxing restrictions a bit on the western frontier that the country shares with Pakistan.

On Friday, the Army revealed plans about revamping its battle organisation with focus on acquiring offensive capabilities in the mountains, while the Union Home Ministry hinted at a 25 per cent reduction in the strength of the security deployed in Jammu and Kashmir.
Army Chief General V K Singh, in a move linked to countering Chinese threat on the eastern frontier, gave a glimpse of the new military reorganisation plan that would be tested soon.

This, when Home Secretary G K Pillai said the government - as a confidence-building measure that involves allowing people from Jammu and Kashmir and PoK to visit either side with a permit valid for 15 days - would "like to reduce security forces as soon as possible depending on the ground situation".

The Army, according to Gen Singh, was making moves to synergise the strike assets distributed among three offensive corps. All these three corps are based in the plains and focused on the western theatre facing Pakistan, he told reporters here.

"It will now include building strike capabilities in the mountain that would cover most of the northern and eastern frontier facing China," he said, adding that a study was on about ways to enhance agility and capability of delivering more lethal punches. The reorganisation will also include restructuring of the army headquarter, besides achieving deep-strike capability, improved artillery, developing surveillance and decision support systems, putting in place a network-centric system and strengthening aviation arm. India is paying increased attention to the China border, the army chief said, but he played down repeated instances of transgression by the People's Liberation Army.

The perception of the Line of Actual Control is based on large-scale maps (1: 5 million), he noted, adding a difference in this perception between India and China in some areas led to such instances.

Pillai, at a seminar here, said despite hiccups in the composite dialogue between India and Pakistan, New Delhi wants to reach out to people of the neighbouring country through various ways, including cultural exchange programmes.


http://expressbuzz.com/nation/army-move-to-fortify-border-with-china/239680.html

 

[SpArK]

 

[Tshering22]

Shouldn't he first worry about trying to get the new gizmos ASAP rather than send our soldiers into the slaughterhouse like in 62? The Artillery purchase is nowhere, DRDO is not given the go-ahead for their own indigenous howitzer system for obvious reasons. The light tanks are still to be seen in IA colors. Mountain warfare units are yet to get the latest stuff that has been ordered..etc etc.

Two-front war won't be easy and one must understand that though Chinese will not openly intervene if its a pure Indo-Pak war, but Pakistanis will openly intervene in a Sino-Indian scenario. Should we expect more aggression and rising tensions in the future, I think that the IA must call back all the reserves on Duty and start training them in specialized units for desert, mountain and forest warfare tactics with active troops. 1.13 million won't be enough to hand 2 countries. We will also need special forces to keep vigil in the country and Paramilitary to check if any "non-state" actors try to wriggle in taking advantage of the chaos. This again means boosting Coast Guard and CRPF gear as well as readying NSG within the country.

Every element of security forces must ready if a 2-front war is a reality. We don't have Israel's leverage that some other country would jump in and bleed for us. In such a scenario, not only would we have to fight ourselves, we will have to ensure Bhutan and Nepal's security due to that pact we had with them. Nepalis are quite capable but Bhutan would fall fast if IA doesn't open the Bhutan front.

In short apart from the courage of our soldiers, we have to have equipment that can strike hard, accurately and lethally to send an invading party back. And about time Army ignores the Chennai Center for China Studies (CCCS) rubbish suggestions and starts fencing the Sino-Indian border as per LAC.

The perception of the Line of Actual Control is based on large-scale maps (1: 5 million), he noted, adding a difference in this perception between India and China in some areas led to such instances.

Again with the "perception" bullshit. !!

 

[JBH22]

The sad part is that after more than 60years of independence we are still discussing whether to build adequate roads in India surprisingly though roads serve dual purpose develop local economy and support Armed forces babus has yet to be convinced.
A decade has passed since Kargil was the hard learned lesson implemented? We should not repeat RUssians mistakes who learned how to fight a COIN war in Afghanistan but went on to repeat same mistakes in Chechnya.