Army on shopping spree, commandos to get deadlier!

Mikesingh

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After conducting “successful cross-border surgical strikes“ against terrorist hubs, first in Myanmar in June 2015 and then in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir in September 2016, India is now fast-tracking some long-delayed modernization of the Army's special forces to make them even more lethal and mobile for clandestine warfare.

Defence ministry sources on Tuesday said “restricted“ tenders have been issued to select foreign arms companies for acquisition of new assault rifles, sniper rifles, general purpose machine guns, lightweight rocket-launchers, tactical shotguns, pistols, nightvision devices and ammunition.

“Seven tenders or RFPs (request for proposals) were issued last week to American, Israeli, Swedish and other companies for acquisition of the specialised weaponry on a fast-track basis. Separately in a different capital acquisition project, trials are in progress to acquire over 120 light strike vehicles, which can be carried by helicopters, for the Special Forces,“ said a source.

This follows soon after India inked a flurry of emergency deals worth around Rs 20,000 crore for ammunition and spares for the Army , Navy and IAF to ensure they are ready to go to battle at short notice, and sustain the high-tempo operations for at least 10 days, as was reported earlier by TOI.

The elite Special Forces in the 1.3-million Army constitute just nine Para-Special Forces and five Para (Airborne) battalions, each with 620 soldiers selected after arduous training to stretch their mental and physical capabilities to the limit.

So, the numbers and costs involved in the new set of procurement are relatively much smaller. The tender for new 9mm pistols, with silencers, for instance, is for just about 500 pieces, while the one for assault rifles is restricted to 1,120 for now. “If the new weapons prove effective, larger repeat orders will be placed at a later stage,“ said a source.

The Special Forces already have specialised weaponry , ranging from Israeli 5.56mm TAR-21 Tavor assault rifles and 7.62mm Galil sniper rifles to American M4A1 carbines and Swedish Carl Gustav rocket launchers, as well as equipment.

But the need for lighter, new-generation weapons was felt during the cross-border raid against the camps run by north-eastern insurgent groups in Myanmar on June 9, 2015. The Indian commandos, carrying huge weapon loads including rocket launchers and flame-throwers, had to quietly cross over six km of the thickly-forested terrain to reach their targets and hit them with full force under the cover of darkness, and then take an alternate route back to evade detection.



http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/...pree-commandos-to-get-deadlier-01032017009040

Thank the Lord Almighty our politicians have woken up at last from their seemingly unending slumber! By 2020 our defence forces will be a force to reckon with.
 
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Mikesingh

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@Mikesingh that is what happens when you put a badass engineer in the defense minister's portfolio he Modifys the MOD
Remember we once had an ass as the defence minister who didn't know a word of English and wanted all briefings and presentations by the brass done in Hindi? He even wanted all defence forces training pamphlets to be converted to Hindi!!! Jeeez!

And that nut was none other than....Mulayam Singh Yadav! He didn't even know how to fire a frickin pistol. And he was defence minister! There were also worthies like Bansi Lal!! :doh:
 

Kunal Biswas

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Gud to know, Hope they do the needful ..
 

pmaitra

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The Indian commandos, carrying huge weapon loads including rocket launchers and flame-throwers, had to quietly cross over six km of the thickly-forested terrain to reach their targets and hit them with full force under the cover of darkness, and then take an alternate route back to evade detection.



http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/...pree-commandos-to-get-deadlier-01032017009040

Thank the Lord Almighty our politicians have woken up at last from their seemingly unending slumber! By 2020 our defence forces will be a force to reckon with.
What is a rocket launcher? Are they referring to Carl Gustav RCL? We already have them. I believe the newer models are being license made in India.

Coming to flamethrowers, I believe it is the shoulder launched thermobaric Shmel that was used.

I'd like to see some technical details as to what is being procured.

Apart from that, we already know about Galil, M4, and Tavor.

This report lacks details, granted, it is the early stages of procurement.
 

pringles

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What is a rocket launcher? Are they referring to Carl Gustav RCL? We already have them. I believe the newer models are being license made in India.

Coming to flamethrowers, I believe it is the shoulder launched thermobaric Shmel that was used.

I'd like to see some technical details as to what is being procured.

Apart from that, we already know about Galil, M4, and Tavor.

This report lacks details, granted, it is the early stages of procurement.
Well said about the demand for more technical clarity, because the use of the phrase "flamethrowers" should be a red flag. According to Geneva convention, flamethrowers are in the same banned category as cluster munitions and chemical weapons. Thermobaric weapons are actually flirting with the thin line between "spraying chemicals" and "chemicals which explode", but flamethrowers are still illegal, so, as you said, it was probably thermobaric weapon.

It's one of those articles a newspaper writes on slow days when there is nothing else to write. The article does not provide any new insight. It just says "we are doing something and it is going to be great". Looks like Trump has written that TOI article :D

The other statistics seem a bit off too. 620 SF operators? did they forget to count the 10k SFF operators? Marcos, Garuds. Just 1200 assault rifles? The US provides ten times of this amount to their irregular militia in Syria than what we are providing to our SF people.
 
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Nicky G

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Remember we once had an ass as the defence minister who didn't know a word of English and wanted all briefings and presentations by the brass done in Hindi? He even wanted all defence forces training pamphlets to be converted to Hindi!!! Jeeez!

And that nut was none other than....Mulayam Singh Yadav! He didn't even know how to fire a frickin pistol. And he was defence minister! There were also worthies like Bansi Lal!! :doh:
Haha.. it's hilarious and absolutely tragic to fathom that such people have had access to our deepest secrets and capabilities. :doh:

I wonder how patriotic officers would have safeguarded us and our secrets while such people were in charge.
 

Mikesingh

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What is a rocket launcher? Are they referring to Carl Gustav RCL? We already have them. I believe the newer models are being license made in India.
That's the M-4 Carl Gustav. The M-3 which is being produced by us just got a lot smarter!


The SAAB M-4 Carl Gustav

Here....


The details.....


Coming to flamethrowers, I believe it is the shoulder launched thermobaric Shmel that was used.
Yep! But it's not exactly a 'flame thrower' in the classical sense.It's a rocket launcher with a thermobaric warhead having a range of 1000m. Here....


It's like the fury of hell! And the Paki Muslims think that getting killed by fire will not take them to heaven! So that's going to be a double whammy for them! Like get screwed by fire on earth and then burn in hell!! And worst of all, no 72 virgins down here!!! :crying: :biggrin2:
 
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