Sanjha Morcha

Be aggressive at LoC, troops told Commanders asked to ‘respond well’ to ceasefire violations by Pak

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 16

In what is turning out to be a ‘tense period’ along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan, the Army and BSF have been told to be keep retaliating to all firing originating from Pakistani posts across the LoC.“Be aggressive” is the message to formation commanders on ground who have been told to respond to all ceasefire violations from across the border. The decision of time of strike is left to the local units while the nature of weapons has been small arms and mortars.An assessment at the South Block says matters could escalate as the Pakistani army is set to get a new chief who could take the same aggressive posture as the outgoing General Raheel Sharif, who retires at the end of this month. So far, matters are limited to the LoC, which is the main route of infiltration of terrorists. Thankfully, till now the two-sides have not started using artillery — seen as the first sign of escalation from military angle. Four days ago, Pakistan admitted that seven of its troops had been killed in Indian Army’s fire and the neighbouring nation promised “retaliation”.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Sporadic firing across the LoC and the IB are routine over the past five years, but since the September 29 surgical strikes carried out by the Army to hit at terror camps in PoK, things have heated up. Not only have the number of ceasefire violations gone up, the intensity and periodicity is up several notches. Today mid-level officers in the Director General of Military Operations of either side conducted their weekly hotline conference. Expectedly, the escalated firing activity was discussed, a source said. At present, the weapons being used are mortars (both 81 MM and 120 MM), light machine guns, medium machine guns and sniper weapons like Dragnov rifles.  Military-held posts of either country are bang on the LoC on both sides —some times less than 20 metres away. A forward post can typically have just 10 soldiers and if it comes under fire, the rest of the battalion can only direct fire at other posts of Pakistan, which increases firing intensity. An increased number of cross-LOC fire-assaults is also due to modern surveillance equipment like night vision and thermal imagers. This leaves coordinated firing as the most viable military reply across the LoC or even the IB.

Pakistan military exercise near India border

  • Islamabad: Pakistan is conducting a military exercise in a strategically located area bordering India, with PM Nawaz Sharif and the army chief reviewing the readiness of the army and the air force to deal with any situation amid growing tension with India. The manoeuvres are taking place near the border close to Bahawalpur town in Punjab province. Officials said the Prime Minister is the chief guest at the exercise. Army chief General Raheel Sharif will also witness the exercise. pti
  • 369 casesof ceasefire violation by Pakistan till Oct 2016; 253 in 2015
  • 210 casesof these were along Jammu and Kashmir and rest in Rajasthan
  • 105 ultrasinfiltrated into Jammu and Kashmir in first nine months of 2016
  • Info provided in Rajya Sabha by MoS for Home Hansraj Ahir

Rustom-II drone completes maiden test flight

Rustom-II drone completes maiden test flight
The UAV weighs 2 tonne. — Photo courtesy: Facebook page of DRDO

New Delhi, November 16 Rustom-II, India’s indigenously developed long-endurance combat-capable drone, on Wednesday successfully completed its maiden-flight, giving a boost to India’s development programme for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV).The DRDO successfully carried out the maiden-flight of TAPAS 201 (RUSTOM–II), a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV. It has an endurance of 24 hours and can conduct surveillance and reconnaissance missions for the country’s armed forces.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)The UAV can also be used as an unmanned armed combat vehicle on the lines of the US’ Predator drone.The test flight took place from Aeronautical Test Range (ATR), Chitradurga, 250 km from Bangalore, which is a newly developed flight test range for the testing of UAVs and manned aircraft.

The flight accomplished the main objectives of proving the flying platform, such as take-off, bank, level flight and landing among others, a statement by the Defence Ministry said.TAPAS 201 has been designed and developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), the Bangalore-based lab of DRDO with HAL-BEL as the production partners.The UAV weighing 2 tonne was put into air by a dedicated team of young scientists of DRDO. It was piloted (external and internal) by the pilots from the armed forces.It is also the first R&D prototype UAV which has undergone certification and qualification for the first flight from the Centre for Military Airworthiness & Certification (CEMILAC) and Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA).TAPAS 201, a multi-mission UAV is being developed to carry out Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) roles for the three armed forces with an endurance of 24 hours.It is capable to carry different combinations of payloads like Medium Range Electro Optic (MREO), Long Range Electro Optic (LREO), Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), Electronic Intelligence (ELINT), Communication Intelligence (COMINT) and Situational Awareness Payloads (SAP) to perform missions during day and night.Many critical systems such as airframe, landing gear, flight control and avionics sub-systems are being developed in India with the collaboration of private industries.Rustom-II will undergo further trials for validating the design parameters, before going for User Validation Trials. — PTI