Terrorist attack on Pathankot Airbase

[Screambowl]

Nitin Gokhale, reports on how quick decisions saved a repeat of a Mumbai-like carnage at the key air force base.

As more details emerge on the Pathankot terror strike and India's response, it is becoming increasingly clear that the quick decision-making at the highest levels of the country's security apparatus saved a repeat of a Mumbai-like carnage at the frontline airbase.

Information pieced together from multiple conversations I have had with security officials also indicates excellent coordination at the field level, although many half-baked and ill-informed reports have appeared to the contrary.

Although there were generic intelligence reports about infiltration of terrorists into Punjab since the evening of December 31, 2015, the actual story begins post-lunch on New Year's Day when the general intelligence gets crystallised into a specific alert that the target definitely is the Pathankot air base. This is what happens in rapid succession after that:

3 pm: National Security Adviser Ajit Doval convenes a meeting to decide on the next course of action. In attendance are the Army chief, General Dalbir Singh Suhag, the Air Force chief, Air Marshal Arup Raha, and chiefs of intelligence agencies.

4 pm: Meeting concludes with specific tasks allotted to each stakeholder. Army moves nine columns (nearly 1,000 men) from nearby cantonments into the Pathankot airbase.

The National Security Guard is told to get ready with two teams to be flown out from Manesar near Delhi as soon as possible.

6 pm: Army columns start arriving into the air base and get deployed at key locations. Their main task: To secure the air assets in the technical area (fighter aircraft, helicopters, missiles, ammunition dump, etc) and guard the residential quarters that house nearly 3,000 families within the base.

In Delhi NSG teams emplane for Pathankot. They are being pre-positioned in case any hostage situation develops or the terrorists get into houses or built-up areas.

9 pm: The technical area is sealed; NSG gets deployed. The wait and search for terrorists begins. There is no definite information on their exact location.


January 2, 3.30 am: Gunfire is heard; the terrorists have emerged from hiding and have entered the cookhouse of the Defence Security Corps personnel. Four unarmed personnel of the force get killed instantly. One of their unarmed colleagues runs after a terrorist, turns his gun on him and kills him before being shot by other terrorists.

Moments later, a Garud commando confronts the other terrorists, gets shot.

Daybreak: Hunt begins for the well-armed terrorists and a cordon is thrown around a small area of 250 metres by 250 metres. They are suspected to have entered into a building.

By evening, four terrorists are eliminated, one by one, by the army troops who come into action immediately.

After nightfall, the focus area is kept under surveillance with floodlights keeping the area lit. Intermittent firing continues. The advantage is now with the security forces; they have confined the terrorists to a small patch and have the luxury of time to eliminate them in daylight.

Next day the remaining two terrorists are eliminated, but not before a lieutenant colonel dies during the removal of the body of a slain terrorist.

Key takeaways: In the absence of key ministers like Rajnath Singh (home) and Manohar Parrikar (defence) from the capital on January 1, there was no time to lose, to wait for the Cabinet Committee on Security to meet.

Instant decision had to be taken, which was done by the NSA in consultation with the key stakeholders. The swift action saved the day in Pathankot.

Moreover, the terrorists were eliminated before they could achieve their key objective of destroying the air assets or take hostages in the base.

The criticism that the operation took too long is a matter of opinion. If the terrorists were neutralised without losing any further men, it is to the credit of the security forces and their coordination on the ground, notwithstanding the time they took.

There will, of course, be questions asked about the ease with which the terrorists managed to cross the border and also get into the airbase without being detected, but that is a matter of review and revamp.

For the moment, all key players -- from NSA Ajit Doval to senior officers, from the brave but unheralded men of the DSC to the ground troops of the Indian Army, the Garud commandos and the NSG -- need to be commended for a clinically executed anti-terror operation.

Link : http://m.rediff.com/news/special/bl...ction-saved-the-day-in-pathankot/20160107.htm

I give a damn about aircrafts... IAF is already a kabadi force

but families and ammo dump were the most important assets.

 

[Navneet Kundu]

Telegraph has written this tastelessly cynical piece : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160107/jsp/opinion/story_62467.jsp#.Vo50zvl97IU

I think this counts as sedition. Does anyone on this forum have any contacts to security establishment or media watch dogs or anyone who could take action against them?

 

[Screambowl]

Telegraph has written this tastelessly cynical piece : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160107/jsp/opinion/story_62467.jsp#.Vo50zvl97IU

I think this counts as sedition. Does anyone on this forum have any contacts to security establishment or media watch dogs or anyone who could take action against them?

if u are on BR then post there..or fb .. this will take up the momentum.

 

[pmaitra]

True. We have Iran on our side, UAE and now even Bahrain.

Cabinet nod to anti-terrorism pact between India, Bahrain

Link : http://www.business-standard.com/ar...act-between-india-bahrain-116010600437_1.html

Indonesia used to be heavily anti-India but we have made them pro-India over the years. I doubt if Saudi will interfere. The Shia-Sunni conflict is at its peak, Russia is staring down on USA in Syria, Iran is screwing them in Yemen. China is preparing to gobble up Taiwan, N.Korea is doing nuclear tests, all of USA's worst night mares seem to have come true simultaneously. If there is a good time for India to indulge in any military adventurism, it is now!

Iran and Bahrain are enemies, and we are friends with both? Odd, isn't it?

 

[Screambowl]

Iran and Bahrain are enemies, and we are friends with both? Odd, isn't it?

diplomatically they don't go well but ideologically they are together specially the people as 65-70 percent are shias. But as the ruler is Sunni, hence bad ties with Iran.

Russia can bring the revolution there, just like Iran, to uproot Sunni kingdom.

 

[Screambowl]

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...gaps-in-border-patrol-patchy-police-response/

 

[Navneet Kundu]

Iran and Bahrain are enemies, and we are friends with both? Odd, isn't it?

It's not something new to Indian strategic culture. We are friends with USA while being friends with Russia as well, we are friends with Iran, but we are also friends with Israel, we are friends with Israel but we also officially support the Palestine cause, we are friends with Vietnam, but we are also friends with Cambodia, we are friends with Syria but we are also friends with Turkey, we are friends with Britain but we are also friends with Argentina.

Only India could manage such a feat. We are awesome.

Jai Hind.

 

[Navneet Kundu]

I give a damn about aircrafts... IAF is already a kabadi force

but families and ammo dump were the most important assets.

No one has disputed that aircrafts are important, I don't remember any official saying or doing anything that would put our aircrafts in peril during the Pathankot raid.

As to the strength of the airforce, in my humble opinion, they are an alarmist lot who keep coming up with vaguely underplayed numbers of squadron strength in every press release. On day they say we have 40 squadrons, one day 35, one day 28 squadrons, then they say half of the planes are always in maintenance so we need 2X the amount of mandated jets to meet the requirements. When you further quiz them as to what the 'requirements' are, they will tell you that the mandate for the air force is to fight a two front war with China and Pakistan.

If you ask them to justify the high cost, they say that cutting edge technology is expensive and they need to spend that money to stay updated. Well, can they tell us why, just why, did this 'cutting edge' force NOT have something as essential as Laser guided bombs during Kargil war? Laser guided munitions were invented in 1970s, how come our 'cutting edge' airforce didn't have them in 1999? can anyone explain please? Especially when these people give annual reports stating that they are the best among other forces and justifying the exorbitant expenditure. If you are asking the tax payer to spend loads of cash in the name of pioneering technological superiority, and you don't have Laser bombs, well, the public are going to ask some difficult questions, be prepared for that, instead of always begging for more funds and lecturing others for ignoring the airforce. What have you done with the funds that have already been allocated? you mismanaged it, now you want more.

As a schoolboy, I imagined hypothetical scenarios where bad guys enter the school and I alone defeated all of them single handedly. Unfortunately this is the delusion the IAF lives in. They think that the airforce alone can win all wars for India and the nation needs to give all its defense budget money to airforce and scrap all other plans aside. It has no regards for other important issues like funding the Navy, or Army or indigenization. They prefer winning the inter-services ego war instead of looking at the holistic national realities. Like rich spoiled brats they want a higher % of defense budget be allocated to airforce, on top of that they want all shiny, expensive imported planes, otherwise, they will have you believe that India will be invaded and defeated if we dare to induct Tejas. That's the impression they give through the alarmist blogs they write. The truth is that they want to fly expensive imported planes while Army, Navy, DRDO is starved for funds for indigenous R&D. Airforce doesn't give a shit about that.

We have a national plan which mandates the % of defense budget to be spent on each branch of the military, it has a long term vision to eventually stop reliance on foreign equipment but the airforce is hell bent on scaremongering and blackmail to increase squadron strength at the expense of other national objectives.

When the Rafale deal was in limbo Parrikar had said that if we don't get Rafale, we can make do by SU30MKI. Maybe he said it deliberately as a bargaining tactic to show Rafale that we are not desperate. Instead of falling in line, the airforce chief immediately called a press conference to publicly reprimand the defense minister for not knowing the difference between multi-role Rafale and SU30MKI. This was uncalled for. No service chief has ever indulged in such gross indignation. If he had voiced the concerns in private, then Parrikar would have told him that he made those statements as a bargaining trick. But the airforce chief wanted to demean our defense minister in public so that he could get some shiny European aircraft. One must probe whether airforce people have been paid bribes by foreign agents to make favorable recommendations for buying foreign planes. Period.

So, don't tell me about the tantrums of airforce about falling number of squadrons and falling quality. They need to fall back in line.

 

[Chris Jude]

Question to be asked Wat the f.uck BSF is doing . The Punjab border is heavenly guard . Electrified , infrared camera and motion sensor . Fire some BSF officials

Those MF should have taken something in cash or in kind to let them in, or were they among the 18 ultras who infiltered through Kashmir as informed by the Intelligence agencies.

 

[Screambowl]

@Navneet Kundu

I am afraid that the evolving bureaucratic nature of our armed forces, specially the IAF and BSF, is dangerous to the whole nation. This was already noticed by then the army chief gen VK Singh. Most probably the motivation level has gone down. As the thinking of military has been changed from offensive to more responsible, disciplined, defensive force. Army is still better as they are engaged with enemy in Kashmir and N-E.
Lack of action is one of the cause, and we try to solve things diplomatically. And our aircrafts are just to show on 26th Jan.

 

[Screambowl]

any how ..

We know about the soldiers who fight and kill the terrorists, bullet vs bullet... But Remembering those soldiers who are operating inside the enemy territory as shadows, watching enemy very closely and fighting a war every day every second in the hostile environment in a different atmosphere very far from their home and family.

Hats off for these bravehearts!! They are the first ones who introduce the might of India to the enemy force.

 

[Blackwater]

Indian army is weak in my opinion. Unless Indian army is strong, any war with Pakistan will not result in gains.

I have not idea of time-frame in which Indian Army will become strong. I believe the Army has several organizational and material challenges.

Army is not weak equipment and after training and regular maintenance is weak[emoji41][emoji41][emoji41][emoji41][emoji41][emoji41]

 

[Navneet Kundu]

@Navneet Kundu
As the thinking of military has been changed from offensive to more responsible, disciplined, defensive force. Army is still better as they are engaged with enemy in Kashmir and N-E.

I disagree. Actually, all armies follow this path as and when the economy of their country grows : Infantry (large number of cannon fodder troops) > Mechanized Army (relatively smaller number of troops) > Air Mobile Army (even lesser troops). The lethality and offensiveness goes up with each stage. India is at the second stage right now, America is at the final stage. As an when we move from primarily being an army of foot soldiers to the mechanized, the strategies automatically adhere to an offensive pattern due to swiftness of maneuver. Offensiveness has nothing to do how angry the soldier or planners are at a personal level. The fact that we could take 6,00,000 soldiers into mechanized vehicles into Pakistan within one week, is inherently offensive. The fact that we can airlift 80,000 paratroopers within a few hours is even more offensive strategy.

On an institutional level, our offensive capabilities have gone up, it's a different thing that we don't hear planners making angry statements so we feel that we are defensive. A lot has changed after the debacle at operation Prahar. Mobilization time has improved, % of mechanized and airlifted troops has gone up, we are even moving towards being more network centric and our own Battlefield Management System is being made by Indian companies right now.

Tata, BEL consortia get Rs 40k-crore 'battlefield management system'

Link : http://www.business-standard.com/ar...lefield-management-system-115022601469_1.html

As to the airforce, I think the solution is to split their assets and mandate among other branches of the military. Create a separate space command and to handle all exo-atmospheric flights like long range bombers, drones etc. Take ground strike fighters like Jaguar from the airforce and hand them over to Army, plus hand over Mig 29 to Naval air arm instead of the airforce having all the planes. The airforce should have only one role : air superiority missions. Rest all roles should be divided among other branches. In this complex war environment it is unacceptable for our army and navy to wait for the airforce to provide air cover. During kargil, our army fought without close air support because the airforce was busy with other roles. This is bound to happen, and to avoid it, the army must have its own air assets so they become a self sufficient force who can carry out operations without being stagnated by the airforce.

The airforce behaves like they are answerable to none. When they were asked about the repeated crashes, they happily blamed 'poor Russian equipment', when Russia heard this, they got pissed and offered to provide evidence that their equipment is fine and even said that young pilots of IAF behave like cowboys. Only after than the IAF got a nice dose of humility.

You can read that article here : http://www.firstpost.com/india/russ...-for-sukhoi-crash-not-technology-1840007.html

http://articles.economictimes.india...39450_1_indian-pilots-indian-air-force-sukhoi

We need to start asking difficult questions to airforce. They are in no position to shame the nation into a guilt trap to buy more expensive planes in the name of air defence. We have to invest in anti-aircraft defense missile batteries which cost millions as opposed to spending billions on shiny European aircraft. We have cruise missiles to do the role of precision strikes. There is no need for a bloated airforce. Maintain a small but potent airforce whose role is limited to air superiority, and nothing else.

Things are improving, have faith, don't fall for airforce alarmism. They have single handedly destroyed the nation's dreams of having an indigenous fighter plane, TWICE. First victim was HAL Marut, and now they are trying to kill Tejas project.

 

[Screambowl]

I disagree. Actually, all armies follow this path as and when the economy of their country grows : Infantry (large number of cannon fodder troops) > Mechanized Army (relatively smaller number of troops) > Air Mobile Army (even lesser troops). The lethality and offensiveness goes up with each stage. India is at the second stage right now, America is at the final stage. As an when we move from primarily being an army of foot soldiers to the mechanized, the strategies automatically adhere to an offensive pattern due to swiftness of maneuver. Offensiveness has nothing to do how angry the soldier or planners are at a personal level. The fact that we could take 6,00,000 soldiers into mechanized vehicles into Pakistan within one week, is inherently offensive. The fact that we can airlift 80,000 paratroopers within a few hours is even more offensive strategy.

On an institutional level, our offensive capabilities have gone up, it's a different thing that we don't hear planners making angry statements so we feel that we are defensive. A lot has changed after the debacle at operation Prahar. Mobilization time has improved, % of mechanized and airlifted troops has gone up, we are even moving towards being more network centric and our own Battlefield Management System is being made by Indian companies right now.

Tata, BEL consortia get Rs 40k-crore 'battlefield management system'

Link : http://www.business-standard.com/ar...lefield-management-system-115022601469_1.html

As to the airforce, I think the solution is to split their assets and mandate among other branches of the military. Create a separate space command and to handle all exo-atmospheric flights like long range bombers, drones etc. Take ground strike fighters like Jaguar from the airforce and hand them over to Army, plus hand over Mig 29 to Naval air arm instead of the airforce having all the planes. The airforce should have only one role : air superiority missions. Rest all roles should be divided among other branches. In this complex war environment it is unacceptable for our army and navy to wait for the airforce to provide air cover. During kargil, our army fought without close air support because the airforce was busy with other roles. This is bound to happen, and to avoid it, the army must have its own air assets so they become a self sufficient force who can carry out operations without being stagnated by the airforce.

The airforce behaves like they are answerable to none. When they were asked about the repeated crashes, they happily blamed 'poor Russian equipment', when Russia heard this, they got pissed and offered to provide evidence that their equipment is fine and even said that young pilots of IAF behave like cowboys. Only after than the IAF got a nice dose of humility.

You can read that article here : http://www.firstpost.com/india/russ...-for-sukhoi-crash-not-technology-1840007.html

http://articles.economictimes.india...39450_1_indian-pilots-indian-air-force-sukhoi

We need to start asking difficult questions to airforce. They are in no position to shame the nation into a guilt trap to buy more expensive planes in the name of air defence. We have to invest in anti-aircraft defense missile batteries which cost millions as opposed to spending billions on shiny European aircraft. We have cruise missiles to do the role of precision strikes. There is no need for a bloated airforce. Maintain a small but potent airforce whose role is limited to air superiority, and nothing else.

Things are improving, have faith, don't fall for airforce alarmism. They have single handedly destroyed the nation's dreams of having an indigenous fighter plane, TWICE. First victim was HAL Marut, and now they are trying to kill Tejas project.

I have not included army in this. Army is doing good job, only orders to them are weak. The Airforce is the culprit I am talking about. They have become too much bureaucratic in nature. They are demotivated soldiers which have not seen any action after 1999. Too much in news for their politics and not action.

They should either prove their metal or keep quiet and must not interfere in policies. Even in Kargil, their two aircrafts were brought down by Pakis. I mean, wtf? Of course I am not questioning their bravery but training.

Too much time these people are spending on politics and bureaucracy.

 

[Tony HMG]

India should NOT engage in blind killing of civilians. There is nothing to be gained from it.
If India goes after State actors or military targets, then its is absolutely fine.[/QUOT

This

It's not something new to Indian strategic culture. We are friends with USA while being friends with Russia as well, we are friends with Iran, but we are also friends with Israel, we are friends with Israel but we also officially support the Palestine cause, we are friends with Vietnam, but we are also friends with Cambodia, we are friends with Syria but we are also friends with Turkey, we are friends with Britain but we are also friends with Argentina.

Only India could manage such a feat. We are awesome.

Jai Hind.

This is utter shit. USA is not our friend. They are a Pakistan ally. Wake up. Only Russia is our only friend, rest are all for the money.We are not awesome in terms of our international policy and security matters, we are considered a useless and soft pussy country.

 

[salute]

.................................................................................................................

 

[Navneet Kundu]

Too much time these people are spending on politics and bureaucracy.

Agree with you on that. In fact during Kargil, it was the younger officers of a lower rank who came up with all the out-of-the box bombing strategies when Laser guided bomb were denied to us. The people of higher rank showed no ingenuity. For them, the definition of performance is owning shiny toys.

It reminds of the song "Mumbai ki na Dilli walon ki, Pinky hai paise walon ki. Paisa phek, tamasha dekh"

Our airforce behaves that way. "If you want something from me, throw more money at me otherwise I will throw tantrums"

 

[Sakal Gharelu Ustad]

They should either prove their metal or keep quiet and must not interfere in policies. Even in Kargil, their two aircrafts were brought down by Pakis. I mean, wtf? Of course I am not questioning their bravery but training.

Too much time these people are spending on politics and bureaucracy.

Do you have any clue what you are talking? Why were those planes brought down on first few days and not in the rest of the operations?

I do not want to derail the thread. But read about- how army forced Airforce to enter when IAF was reluctant to conduct close bombing operations due to anti-aircraft weapons with the NLI? Army had to agree and once IAF came with changed plans, they did much more damage.

 

[Navneet Kundu]

This

This is utter shit. USA is not our friend. They are a Pakistan ally. Wake up. Only Russia is our only friend, rest are all for the money.We are not awesome in terms of our international policy and security matters, we are considered a useless and soft pussy country.

When I say we are friends with USA, I mean it in the colloquial sense meaning we have a working relationship with both USA and Russia. In international relations, a friend is a person who hasn't killed you yet. Don't worry about my views, if you go through my previous messages on all the threads, you will realize that I am under no delusion about American hostility towards India but the context of this message was different. The US pressurizes all their 'allies' to sever ties with Russia, we didn't fall for that pressure, that is what I meant by 'being friends with both'.

As to Russia being a friend, we need to come out of our guilt trap of Russian help during 1971. Remember how they have blackmailed us for critical tech, delayed deliveries, randomly jacked up prices? Yup, that's the new Russia. They are talking about selling increasingly sophisticated weapons to Pakistan. Wake up and smell the coffee, this is not 1971 anymore. We HAVE to maintain an operational relationship with everyone and squeeze the best deal for ourselves. That's what I mean by 'being friends'.

 

[Navneet Kundu]

But read about- how army forced Airforce to enter when IAF was reluctant to conduct close bombing operations due to anti-aircraft weapons with the NLI?

I believe they were downed by a shoulder fired MANPAD? the airforce countered this by removing the helicopters and bringing in the jets and flying them beyond the range of MANPADS. Sure, they did, but what is your point? Whose mistake is it that there was no intel on the presence of MANPADS? was the army to blame? How is it that there was no aerial recon of the area by the airforce or by our space assets?

This politics of inter-services blame game is the very reason that ground attack type roles must be given to a separate air-arm of the army, instead of calling the airforce which refuses to be held accountable for anything. Plus ringing in the airforce could even blow the cover of the operation if it is intercepted. If the army is given their own air assets, they become a self contained unit and no information needs to be shared with other branches.