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It is now apparent that the maoists are increasingly dependent on IEDs to further their asymmetric war on the Indian State. In fact, given that India's paramilitary forces seem to be getting their act together on firepower, jungle warfare training and patrolling, contact battles are no longer the best option for relatively lightly equipped maoist cadre. Instead, remotely triggered IEDs of increasing sophistication and explosive power represent for the maoists a far superior proposition in the risk-return space. Concomitantly, Indian security forces need to focus their energies on directly countering the proliferating use of IEDs by the Reds. However any strategy to neutralize the IED threat has to look beyond mere technological solutions and actually needs the elevation of counter-IED methods to the level of a strategic culture within the State security forces. One of the painful lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan learnt by United States (US) forces deployed in those countries was that insurgents quickly switched to IED driven tactics to cause disproportionate casualties rather than engage in too many direct fire fights, just like the experience with maoists here in India. As such the Pentagon set up the Joint IED Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) to specifically redress the imbalance on the IED side of things. The idea of setting up a single organization to accomplish this seemed attractive enough - JIEDDO would help pool together a range of ideas under a single umbrella, oversee consolidated research into this critical area as well as procure necessary equipment by eliminating unnecessary duplication of expenditure. Accordingly, JIEDDO's mission comprises of three vectors: 'Attack the Network', 'Defeat the Device', and 'Train the Force'.
Read more here:
Saurav Jha's Blog : Countering Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in the Indian Context
Read more here:
Saurav Jha's Blog : Countering Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in the Indian Context