Indian Special Forces (archived)

[ALBY]

 

[ALBY]

 

[COLDHEARTED AVIATOR]

I would love to see this in use by Marcos or Para.(not comparing it to the canoe)

Again not much of a technological achivement but tough for us.

And yeah like they say in the Indian Air Force...People with UCC aka Unhappy childhood condition please ignore this negative propoganda post by me.

 

[abingdonboy]

I would love to see this in use by Marcos or Para.(not comparing it to the canoe)

Again not much of a technological achivement but tough for us.

And yeah like they say in the Indian Air Force...People with UCC aka Unhappy childhood condition please ignore this negative propoganda post by me.

What’s the use in the indian context? These guys are USN SWCCs who were created during Vietnam during their gunboat era. Today SWCC are used to infiltrate and extract SEALs usually but I don’t see the utility given the threats india faces

 

[COLDHEARTED AVIATOR]

What’s the use in the indian context? These guys are USN SWCCs who were created during Vietnam during their gunboat era. Today SWCC are used to infiltrate and extract SEALs usually but I don’t see the utility given the threats india faces

Pangong Tso hahaha

North East has a lot of use plus Wular lake in Kashmir instead of those speed boats this could be used.

 

[MuzzleVelocity]

I would love to see this in use by Marcos or Para.(not comparing it to the canoe)

Again not much of a technological achivement but tough for us.

And yeah like they say in the Indian Air Force...People with UCC aka Unhappy childhood condition please ignore this negative propoganda post by me.

Completely different utility. That engine can be heard more than a km away.

 

[COLDHEARTED AVIATOR]

Completely different utility. That engine can be heard more than a km away.

For sure but brings the firepower.I would rather be ambushed on a SWCC than a speed boat.

Plus these days no one relies on ears only.Ajkal miss call pe terrorist alert hote he bhai.

I maybe wrong but i can already think of a few places where it could be used.

 

[COLDHEARTED AVIATOR]

SFF raided SSG headquarters in East Pakistan 71.SSG thought they are ghosts.

watch video for details..

 

[rkhanna]

SFF raided SSG headquarters in East Pakistan 71.SSG thought they are ghosts.

watch video for details..

Whenever they have been called to the task they have never been found wanting

Key take away - in 71 the SFF had better kit than the entire army. Kit is important

 

[ALBY]

Whenever they have been called to the task they have never been found wanting

Key take away - in 71 the SFF had better kit than the entire army. Kit is important

Yup Aks were with them back then and IA got the importance of it only some two decades later.
Btw the casualties seems to be bit high for a crack unit meant for such ops.When compared with the just recently created 9th with less than 10 men or so lost 56 men KIA and 190 other casualties were a bit high.

 

[rkhanna]

Yup Aks were with them back then and IA got the importance of it only some two decades later.
Btw the casualties seems to be bit high for a crack unit meant for such ops.When compared with the just recently created 9th with less than 10 men or so lost 56 men KIA and 190 other casualties were a bit high.

Oh they had Aks , Thompson guns, colt carbines,. It was their absolutely nfirst gen NVG sets that were given to the Paras in Lanka

 

[rkhanna]

When compared with the just recently created 9th with less than 10 men or so lost 56 men KIA and 190 other casualties were a bit high.

The nature of their tasking was also different. Take into account the terrain they worked in, and the relative size of the opfor they moved against. And then consider the speed with which they advanced without a logsitcs train


It's akin to a AF conducting Sead/dead , offensive strike will take more casualties than a force during CAP and air interdiction.

 

[rkhanna]

PS - SFF lost 50 odd men and 150 odd wounded. Their size was 6 battalions

This is what they achieved

- trained and led the mukti bani
- destroyed Kaptai Dam
- secured numerous strategic bridges for use by follow on army
- captured numerous villages in the Chittagong Hills
- kicked the crap out of the Pak 97 ind brigade and 2cdo SSG
- blocked the entire border with Burma to prevent any pak units from escaping

Over 560 operators were given gallantry awards

They did half their stuff with no air, no mortar or artillery and they wanted to take Chittagong before Army HQ ordered them to chill the f*uck out

 

[COLDHEARTED AVIATOR]

PS - SFF lost 50 odd men and 150 odd wounded. Their size was 6 battalions

This is what they achieved

- trained and led the mukti bani
- destroyed Kaptai Dam
- secured numerous strategic bridges for use by follow on army
- captured numerous villages in the Chittagong Hills
- kicked the crap out of the Pak 97 ind brigade and 2cdo SSG
- blocked the entire border with Burma to prevent any pak units from escaping

Over 560 operators were given gallantry awards

They did half their stuff with no air, no mortar or artillery and they wanted to take Chittagong before Army HQ ordered them to chill the f*uck out

Now write about the achievements of SSG in 1000 words..

If you loose you buy me beers in Mumbai.

 

[ALBY]

Ghost used to post pics of SFF back then.dont know why he vanished into thin air.

 

[ALBY]

For how many years officers are deputed to SFF? In what sense the training of them is different from that of Para Airborne?

 

[Vishal reddy]

Now write about the achievements of SSG in 1000 words..

If you loose you buy me beers in Mumbai.

Biggest achievement by them is by surrendering to unarmed Punjabi wheat farmers during 1965 war!!
They made grand entry into Indian territory only to get owned by the farmers and the farmers made "grand" entry into "gand" entry.
Out of 180 ssg commandos, 22 were Kia and rest were made pow including Major. khalid butt.

 

[Gessler]

Ghost used to post pics of SFF back then.dont know why he vanished into thin air.

Raaa wale utha ke le gaye honge.

 

[MuzzleVelocity]

Honestly, some of the shit that our units pull off is effing ridiculous. I still can't get that image of that recent encounter where Para SF operators jumping out of Dhruv on to waist deep snow with full battle load to hunt millitants down out of my head. It's superhuman stuff.

That's what makes the equipment differential so sad to be honest.

 

[AZTEC]

3 Vikas of SFF in Siachen

The very first SFF freefall training batch! -

Source:

How India's covert Tibetan unit has been mauling terrorism all these years

The elite Special Frontier Force (SFF) is not only involved in repelling Chinese incursions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), but was also deployed during the Bangladesh Liberation War and Kargil War, and in anti-terror operations in Kashmir and Punjab, under different names.

www.indiatoday.in

An interesting excerpt from the above article about SG:
In the mid-90s, as counter-insurgency operations raged in Kashmir, obituaries started appearing in Indian newspapers of fallen soldiers from a unit mentioned simply as 22 SF or 22 Special Force. The funny thing about 22 SF was that Indian Army at that time, and even now, does not have any such unit.

So, what was it?

It was an organisation about which most even within the Army didn't know about. And while it was staffed 100 per cent by Indian Army personnel, it was not even under Army control! This was the Special Group, known simply as SG.

If SFF was an enigma, SG was literally a black hole with very few people even aware about its existence.

During the 1970s, terrorism was at its peak globally with aircraft hijackings, bombings, hostage-taking, etc. becoming common. The Munich Olympic massacre of Israeli athletes made countries realise the requirement of units specialised in counter-terror operations.

The failed US operation to release its embassy hostages in Tehran in 1980 led to birth of Delta Force in America. Meanwhile, the British Special Air Service (SAS) burnished its reputation as a leading special force through successful execution of Operation Nimrod - neutralising terrorists who had laid siege to the Iranian embassy in London.

A need was felt to raise a similar crack counter-terrorism and hostage rescue (CT/HR) formation in India. However, rather than work with the Indian Army to either raise a new unit or convert one of the three Para Commando Battalions (1,9 and 10), a new unit was raised under the aegis of Director General (Security).

For the sake of obfuscation, it was termed 4 Vikas. Its real name was Special Group. However, it was different from other Vikas battalions in that it comprised 100 per cent Indian soldiers and officers.

A nucleus of officers was sent to Israel for training with Israeli special forces. This nucleus trained the rest of the unit. The unit comprises four squadrons and each squadron has four troops.

Some operations where the SFF is believed to have been involved were actually carried out by the SG. For example, during Operation Blue Star, an SG team was sent to take part in the military action. A combined team of SG and 1 Para (SF) (then known as 1 Para Commando or 1 Para Cdo) led the opening phase of Operation Blue Star.

Even prior to Operation Blue Star, a plan had been prepared by SG for a heliborne assault on Golden Temple with the aim of neutralising or capturing Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the leader of Khalistani separatists inside the holy site.

When SG was conceived, it was supposed to be a pan-India elite force responsible for all CT/HR operations on the lines of British SAS. But post Operation Blue Star, a new CT/HR force was raised under the Ministry of Home Affairs that came to be known as National Security Guard (NSG). The core of NSG came from SG.
When Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her bodyguards, SG was deployed to provide close proximity security to the new Prime Minister and the deceased PM's family. When militancy reared its head in Jammu & Kashmir, SG was deployed to this theatre as well and this is where 22 SF was born.
During this period, Indian Army had just four Para (SF) battalions namely 1, 9, 10 and 21. Now, since obituaries could not be placed under its correct name, the story goes that 22 SF designation in continuity to 21 Para (SF)] was coined. This name stuck and even the formal award list carried the 22 SF/SG designation.
All men within SG are from the Indian Army, with many coming from Para (SF) and Parachute Battalions. However, with a wider selection net, it includes officers and men from other regiments and arms as well. Men serve with SG on deputation and after that, revert to their parent unit or regiment.
By virtue of being part of the intelligence set-up, it is said that the unit has access to latest weaponry and does not suffer from bureaucratic delays in acquisitions like Para (SF) battalions. Also, through RAW's Aviation Research Centre (ARC), it has access to air transport for various activities at a short notice.
In 1975, a rule was put in place whereby Tibetans could not be placed within 10 kms of the Indo-Tibet border. This was because of some cross-border actions taken by Tibetan teams, including firefight with the Chinese.
However, given the recent news of SFF troops being used to directly confront the Chinese in Eastern Ladakh, this rule for sure has been scrapped long back.
For long, Indian Army has been making a case for incorporating SFF under its complete operational control for better synergy and utilisation of such a key asset. As it is, few Vikas battalions are always under the Army's operational control, the Inspector General of the SFF is an army Major General and its supporting staff and officers are from the Army. However, given how tenaciously turfs are protected in our bureaucratic set-up, this is unlikely the case.
Same goes for SG. While being 100 per cent Army staffed, it remains outside the ambit of Army's control. Available material about the new Armed Forces Special Operations Division (AFSOD) shows its jurisdiction will extend to special forces of the three services. SG will still continue to remain away from control of the armed forces.
Its tasks and objectives continue to remain a mystery.