Indian Special Forces (archived)

[Vinod DX9]

An Operative of Para SF with a rather unusual weapon

: A Crossbow

 

[rkhanna]

We need men like him who talk straight.There is no harm in criticizing yourself coz thats the only way you improve.Even i wanted to say this line...



But i held myself coz this forum has its share of extremists who dont understand positive criticism and are too defensive of somethings.

A section of well trained snipers can halt an entire Infantry brigade easily.Motivation and ethos can only take you so far.

Today,we are in a situation where both of our neighbors have better trained and equipped snipers.And to doubt the motivation of your enemies is a mistake of fools.

Back in 2001 i have seen US Sniper instructors in MHOW.I used to think that things would get better but it didnt.We need to set up a Specialist Sniper School like the SF school we have.

And the IA is not serious about it which can also be seen that we have no SNipers badge in the IA.I hope things change soon.

The first step to fixing something is admitting it's broke .

Today we see SF in mokut helmets that are circa 2000s and get all excited when SG are still running around with computer headphones made by Iball.

 

[COLDHEARTED AVIATOR]

The first step to fixing something is admitting it's broke .

Today we see SF in mokut helmets that are circa 2000s and get all excited when SG are still running around with computer headphones made by Iball.

And to criticise something in a forum expecting someone having power of controlling these things reads and decides to change is the best bet.

SOCOM,Sniper School,Marines,GPMGs are need of the hour.Someone needs to wake up from the slumber and start taking steps.We are almost at war in Kashmir and close to one with China.

 

[mayfair]

The question is the why has no one in the army raised the issue of our depleted Sniper strength, at least qualitatively. Succession of senior officers including Gen. Panag have come and gone and yet according to the Gen. himself there has been little movement or improvement on this front.

Is the Gen. telling us that no one in the entire army recognised this folly, which according to him has existed since 1960s in one form or the other and this is after...
2 full wars- 1965, 1971;
a full blown border conflict- Kargil;
"Peacekeeping" operation in Sri Lanka- 1987-1989;
CI ops spanning across Punjab and North East and J&K;
Not to mention countless blow ups over LoC, LAC and UN peacekeeping ops.

...IA still hasn't realised how inadequate our sniping capabilities are?

When he was a serving officer, Gen. Panag appeared to be well aware of the shortcomings as he points out that "The Sniper Course was restarted but remains a poor cousin of the former course....The skill levels are average...Adequate attention is not paid to selection, training and sustainment of specialists like the snipers....To the best of my knowledge no “sniper” of the Indian Army can pass this test."

That's a damning indictment as any. I assume it comes from his time during the service.

Did Gen. Panag do anything about it when he was a serving IA officer? Was he frustrated by the system and other officers? How do the IA senior brass and policy makers feel about this?

I wish he had touched upon his experiences in his article and offered some tangible solutions.

Nevertheless, I hope the policy makers take a note of this and address these shortcomings. What is the point of ordering fancy new sniper rifles if we do not have men who can make optimal use of them?

 

[captscooby81]

I would really love to hear about these IPKF stories for the personal association of my family in the IPKF ...Please do tell those stories once you get the Go ahead from the concerned authorities ..

i think IA learned more from its times in srilanka handling the LTTE which has come later handy in the counter insurgency and jungle warfare doctrine to be designed on the lesson learned from IPKF...

I have a couple of good incidents from Sri Lanka (will need permission to mention it) but IA stalking skills are second to none - specially coming out of CIJWS.

 

[COLDHEARTED AVIATOR]

The question is the why has no one in the army raised the issue of our depleted Sniper strength, at least qualitatively. Succession of senior officers including Gen. Panag have come and gone and yet according to the Gen. himself there has been little movement or improvement on this front.

Is the Gen. telling us that no one in the entire army recognised this folly, which according to him has existed since 1960s in one form or the other and this is after...
2 full wars- 1965, 1971;
a full blown border conflict- Kargil;
"Peacekeeping" operation in Sri Lanka- 1987-1989;
CI ops spanning across Punjab and North East and J&K;
Not to mention countless blow ups over LoC, LAC and UN peacekeeping ops.

...IA still hasn't realised how inadequate our sniping capabilities are?

When he was a serving officer, Gen. Panag appeared to be well aware of the shortcomings as he points out that "The Sniper Course was restarted but remains a poor cousin of the former course....The skill levels are average...Adequate attention is not paid to selection, training and sustainment of specialists like the snipers....To the best of my knowledge no “sniper” of the Indian Army can pass this test."

That's a damning indictment as any. I assume it comes from his time during the service.

Did Gen. Panag do anything about it when he was a serving IA officer? Was he frustrated by the system and other officers? How do the IA senior brass and policy makers feel about this?

I wish he had touched upon his experiences in his article and offered some tangible solutions.

Nevertheless, I hope the policy makers take a note of this and address these shortcomings. What is the point of ordering fancy new sniper rifles if we do not have men who can make optimal use of them?

Due to some Generals in the IA the Snipers and SF were ignored for a good 3 decades and especially the 80s.

 

[Radha Malhotra]

After the “surgical strikes” against Pakistan in September 2016, infiltration has come down by 45%. This is the impact what Pakistan needed. Pakistan was tackled differently. Balochistan was brought front and centre of the debate, from the ramparts of the Red Fort, “surgical strikes” were carried out across the border and LoC, and two friendly Muslim countries in SAARC, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, were persuaded to criticize Pakistan.

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/the-reputation-of-india-as-a-soft-state-is-over/

 

[Radha Malhotra]

Due to some Generals in the IA the Snipers and SF were ignored for a good 3 decades and especially the 80s.

Therefore Indian Army did "Surgical Strikes" like action to which can keep Pakistan Quiet. As Sudhanshu Trivedi said on surgical strike on Indian express "After the “surgical strikes” against Pakistan in September 2016, infiltration has come down by 45%, while the North-East and Naxal-affected areas have witnessed a huge decline in disruptive activities." Now India is not a Soft State.

 

[Radha Malhotra]

Little Diwali on the night of Para Surgical strike


POK


View attachment 11935

The reputation of India as a soft state is over

 

[Vinod DX9]

HAWK EYE of COBRA! But this one is conventional

 

[rkhanna]

I would really love to hear about these IPKF stories for the personal association of my family in the IPKF ...Please do tell those stories once you get the Go ahead from the concerned authorities ..

i think IA learned more from its times in srilanka handling the LTTE which has come later handy in the counter insurgency and jungle warfare doctrine to be designed on the lesson learned from IPKF...

Sir, There are no concerned authorities. Only my family members. Uncles who were veterans. They unfortunately are very cagey and private and do not approve of social media etc etc.

The only time i hear stories is during family re-unions when Old Monk and Black Label is flowing freely.

Have asked them .. waiting for a response.

 

[captscooby81]

No worries when ever you get the green signal you can ..I sadly have a Tom and jerry relationship with my father and my old man is little possessive about sharing his Monk with me.. so miss all those valuable history from him ...

Sir, There are no concerned authorities. Only my family members. Uncles who were veterans. They unfortunately are very cagey and private and do not approve of social media etc etc.

The only time i hear stories is during family re-unions when Old Monk and Black Label is flowing freely.

Have asked them .. waiting for a response.

 

[ghost]

SFF personnel with Bulgarian PK machine gun.

 

[COLDHEARTED AVIATOR]

I would really love to hear about these IPKF stories for the personal association of my family in the IPKF ...Please do tell those stories once you get the Go ahead from the concerned authorities ..

i think IA learned more from its times in srilanka handling the LTTE which has come later handy in the counter insurgency and jungle warfare doctrine to be designed on the lesson learned from IPKF...

Sorry to be the kebab mein haddi but there is one i know of...

During IPKF ops once a cook of the Inf Bat was held captive by 3 LTTEs.They had also managed to capture a RL in use with the IA with some rounds which they wanted to learn how to use.

So they asked the cook to teach them how to fire a RL and they will let him go.The cook being a smart arse he was asked them to stand just behind the exhaust opening of the RL(back side from where flames come out) and said he would fire it to show them...BOOM...all of them dead or injured i dont know but he escaped back to where his unit was.

 

[debspark90]

Aye.. again this pic has surfaced.
@Bornubus @rkhanna where was this taken ?
Was it from the Surgical strike inside PoK ?

 

[IndiaRising]

i feel as 2019 general elections approach, modi/doval will release video evidence of surgical strikes.

 

[SanjeevM]

We need men like him who talk straight.There is no harm in criticizing yourself coz thats the only way you improve.Even i wanted to say this line...



But i held myself coz this forum has its share of extremists who dont understand positive criticism and are too defensive of somethings.

A section of well trained snipers can halt an entire Infantry brigade easily.Motivation and ethos can only take you so far.

Today,we are in a situation where both of our neighbors have better trained and equipped snipers.And to doubt the motivation of your enemies is a mistake of fools.

Back in 2001 i have seen US Sniper instructors in MHOW.I used to think that things would get better but it didnt.We need to set up a Specialist Sniper School like the SF school we have.

And the IA is not serious about it which can also be seen that we have no SNipers badge in the IA.I hope things change soon.

We can dominate the eastern front if we can deploy quality snipers in the event of a war. I believe it's a very good point and need to be addressed while we have time to prepare. On Pakistani border also these snipers will come handy on a daily basis.

 

[rishivashista13]

An Operative of Para SF with a rather unusual weaponView attachment 17349 : A Crossbow

Is it really used, the crossbow?

Sent from my Redmi 4A using Tapatalk

 

[rishivashista13]

i feel as 2019 general elections approach, modi/doval will release video evidence of surgical strikes.

No they will not.
They can't improvise with national security for their personal interests or for party welfare.

Sent from my Redmi 4A using Tapatalk

 

[rkhanna]

View attachment 17462 Aye.. again this pic has surfaced.
@Bornubus @rkhanna where was this taken ?
Was it from the Surgical strike inside PoK ?

No idea.

Imo. Regarding the "surgical strikes". The media and us use the word like we discovered a new element. The shallow raids that took place have taken place countless times before.

The DIFF that is important (that is lost in translation) was that was a central command Authorized operation. Previously they were only theater commander level ops. I. E. Meaning pmo/nsa was involved in planning. Which also prompted this Govt to talk about it in the media.

There is no need to release anything to the public further.