"Blue thunder" unit of SAS:
Landing on London Bridge after the recent terror attack:
The sub-unit was formed after the 2015 attacks in Paris and is based out of 5 airbases/feilds in the UK to respond within minuets (30ish) anywhere in the UK
Made me think about the NSG and its role which is pretty similar to this sub-unit's; intervention during terror attacks to support/relieve local units. Sure we have seen the NSG's equipment improve post-26/11 but this will be immaterial if they can't mobilisa fast enough to get to the scene of the attack as it is unfolding. And this has been the NSG's achilles heel for a long time, yes the hubs improve the situation but even then mobilisation times will suffer if the teams from the hubs have to travel to the incident via road.
The NSG's "ready teams" are on call round the clock to be ready to move out within 3 minuets but given the vast distances in India and local road conditions how long will it take them to reach any attack site? I would wager over an hour for anywhere other than the immediate vicinity of a NSG hub.
NSG hubs have helipads but no helos of their own, having to rely on IAF or CAPF helos instead but are there helos with them 24/7 and ready to go? AFAIK no, they are only called upon when required which adds a considerable time delay (flying from nearest base to NSG hub, landing, embarkation then travelling on to wherever).
Or if the distance is larger and the NSG hub team has to fly via fixed wing a/c then the issue is compounded; getting the nearest helo to come and take the team to the nearest airport (or travel there by road), find/charter a suitable a/c, loading up (if it's a civilian a/c then this will be done with a civilian crew that will be very slow), flying out, landing and the reverse on the opposite side (travel via road/trying to get the relevent helo to meet you etc), it's not only a logistical nightmare but at every single stage time is being lost.
Until the NSG has a dedicated airwing I will not be satisfied that this situation has been resolved, at least 3-4 ALH should be deployed at every hub and at least 2 fixed wing military transports should be operated by the NSG (based out of Palam) that can either fly out the main CT task force (based at Palam) or fly to the relevent airport to pick up a NSG hub's team.
We saw during 26/11 that time is the critical factor, I just really hope we don't see a similar situation repeat itself, India will not be immune to these atrocities for much longer.
