Indian Army: News and Discussion

ezsasa

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Indian Army marching towards Battlefield Supremacy with integrated battlefield management systems


SITUATIONAL AWARENESS MODULE FOR THE ARMY (SAMA)
REPORTING OVER ENTERPRISE-CLASS GIS PLATFORM (E-SITREP)
ARMY’S OWN GATISHAKTI (AVAGAT)
ARTILLERY COMBAT COMMAND CONTROL AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEM (A4CS)
PROJECT SANJAY (BATTLEFIELD SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM)
 
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is there an assumption from your end that IA is making zero efforts in upgrading their tech for the future battlefields?
Not fast enough. Choinese are already experimenting with exoskeletons for their mountain corps. They know that humans cannot work properly at those heights. They are also perfecting pressurized mountain habitats. It is possible they may invest in R&D to develop high altitude weapons such as lightweight swarm drones, and hi-tech gear to make their soldiers deadlier. I think IA is laying OFC networks in border areas now and getting the infrastructure up. There has been some modernization in habitat development and food from DIHAR. But the question is will the PLA outspend to build technology that makes our mountain corps ineffective? The question is are we keeping tabs on all that the choinese are doing, or are we as usual going to react?
 

ezsasa

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Not fast enough. Choinese are already experimenting with exoskeletons for their mountain corps. They know that humans cannot work properly at those heights. They are also perfecting pressurized mountain habitats. It is possible they may invest in R&D to develop high altitude weapons such as lightweight swarm drones, and hi-tech gear to make their soldiers deadlier. I think IA is laying OFC networks in border areas now and getting the infrastructure up. There has been some modernization in habitat development and food from DIHAR. But the question is will the PLA outspend to build technology that makes our mountain corps ineffective? The question is are we keeping tabs on all that the choinese are doing, or are we as usual going to react?
"Not fast enough" is a personal judgment call.

it's better for you to get in touch with a retired officer who is still tracking the game, to give a realistic perspective. i don't think anyone here at DFI can give you a satisfactory answer.

my take is that, for a ten lakh strong organisation, change management spreads across years especially in peace time, that is for full induction cycle from gap analysis to unit level SOP cycle and there are multiple such cycle, to give a private sector example reliance started preparations for jio in 2008 and launched in 2016 .no matter how many ideas come up in reviews, in IA's case the budget they have for capex is limited. given the limited budget, they have no choice but to prioritise, and the backlog is three decades old in some equipment profiles. on top of this constraint because of LAC factor, funds will have to be diverted to fill the multi-decade deficit in preparations against china.

whether to factor in these complexities into a judgement call is a personal choice of course.

for one off incidents like terrorist attacks, it's largely upto the CO to have contingency plans in place in advance. response to terror attacks are always going to be reactive.
 
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"Not fast enough" is a personal judgment call.

it's better for you to get in touch with a retired officer who is still tracking the game, to give a realistic perspective. i don't think anyone here at DFI can give you a satisfactory answer.

my take is that, for a ten lakh strong organisation, change management spreads across years especially in peace time, that is for full induction cycle from gap analysis to unit level SOP cycle and there are multiple such cycle, to give a private sector example reliance started preparations for jio in 2008 and launched in 2016 .no matter how many ideas come up in reviews, in IA's case the budget they have for capex is limited. given the limited budget, they have no choice but to prioritise. on top of this constraint because of LAC factor, funds will have to be diverted to fill the multi-decade deficit in preparations against china.

whether to factor in these complexities into a judgement call is a personal choice of course.

for one off incidents like terrorist attacks, it's largely upto the CO to have contingency plans in place in advance. response to terror attacks are always going to be reactive.
I already do that. Indian Army foot soldiers have been a victim of politics between def Min, generails, DRDO and massive internal corruption/commission seeking black sheep. They say that there was even corruption in procurement of coffins during Kargil war. The people I talk to are of the opinion that Manohar Parrikar was the best thing that happened to IA in a long, long, long time as he was technologically savvy. Also, the reason for current chief of IA being appointed from the Engineering corps is to focus on increasing the speed of tech adoption. IA veterans are actively aware of the technical supremacy of PLA and almost all I spoke to support a lean and hi-tech force.
 

ezsasa

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I already do that. Indian Army foot soldiers have been a victim of politics between def Min, generails, DRDO and massive internal corruption/commission seeking black sheep. They say that there was even corruption in procurement of coffins during Kargil war. The people I talk to are of the opinion that Manohar Parrikar was the best thing that happened to IA in a long, long, long time as he was technologically savvy. Also, the reason for current chief of IA being appointed from the Engineering corps is to focus on increasing the speed of tech adoption. IA veterans are actively aware of the technical supremacy of PLA and almost all I spoke to support a lean and hi-tech force.
all large organisations have some sort of inefficiencies, which ever name they are called.

infantry gear upgrade is on my list too since 2015, my estimate was that the process infantry-wide will start in around 2020 after some backlogs of big items are cleared. pandemic and china seems to have altered the plans and changed to give priority to theatre specific upgrades. i am assuming there is no choice but to wait till saturation is achieved in theatre specific acquisitions (big and small), and come back to infantry wide gear upgrade later.
 

SwordOfDarkness

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Not fast enough. Choinese are already experimenting with exoskeletons for their mountain corps. They know that humans cannot work properly at those heights. They are also perfecting pressurized mountain habitats. It is possible they may invest in R&D to develop high altitude weapons such as lightweight swarm drones, and hi-tech gear to make their soldiers deadlier. I think IA is laying OFC networks in border areas now and getting the infrastructure up. There has been some modernization in habitat development and food from DIHAR. But the question is will the PLA outspend to build technology that makes our mountain corps ineffective? The question is are we keeping tabs on all that the choinese are doing, or are we as usual going to react?
To be honest, exoskeletons as of today are quite bad and best relegated to research labs. The amount of strength added is countered by the hindrance to mobility.

As of today, it is much better to simply use troops from high altitude areas, or troops who have been deployed there for a long time .

IMO three things are needed in IA for mass induction ; Good Ballistic vest +plates , A scope on every rifle, and at the very least night vision for every officer.
 

Blademaster

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To be honest, exoskeletons as of today are quite bad and best relegated to research labs. The amount of strength added is countered by the hindrance to mobility.

As of today, it is much better to simply use troops from high altitude areas, or troops who have been deployed there for a long time .

IMO three things are needed in IA for mass induction ; Good Ballistic vest +plates , A scope on every rifle, and at the very least night vision for every officer.
And secured comms with tablets capable of receiving hi-res imagery and mapping of enemy location and targets.
 

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