ARMY Chief Gen Manoj Pande has stated that a plan to right-size the Army has been submitted to the Ministry of Defence (MoD). ‘We have a plan to optimise our strength by 2027. We will achieve optimisation by 1 lakh troops,’ he said in the run-up to Army Day, which falls on January 15. The roadmap includes optimising or even phasing out British-era units that are now considered redundant. General Pande has mentioned, for instance, the right-sizing of animal transport units, which are being replaced by drones and all-terrain vehicles. The move is also part of the ongoing efforts to decolonise the Indian military. In its year-end review (2023), the MoD had said: ‘Given the global trends and rightsizing initiatives, the Indian Army is attempting to make the Short Service Commission more attractive.’ It seems that greater emphasis is being laid on quality than quantity.
Force restructuring, rationalising and reorganising are a must to optimise manpower. The proposed creation of integrated triservice commands also envisages such interventions to make the defence forces self-reliant and future-ready. Finding the right ‘teeth to tail’ ratio is a big challenge, considering the existing heavy deployment of troops along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh. Indian soldiers have been maintaining a ‘very high state’ of operational preparedness along the borders with China and Pakistan.
The right-sizing exercise has to be undertaken cautiously and pragmatically so that there is no compromise on national security. A clear distinction has to be made between what is expendable and what is not. The primary consideration should be to create a leaner and meaner military which can deal more effectively with the enemy. Making tweaks mainly for the sake of reducing expenditure is not advisable. The long-delayed integration of triservices should also be prioritised to make the forces better prepared for contemporary as well as future warfare.
Army convoy comes under terrorist fire in Poonch, no casualty
An Army convoy in Krishna Ghati sector close to Line of Control (LoC) came under fire on Friday evening. Soldiers did not retaliate due to the presence of villagers in the vicinity. There was no loss of life in the incident, the Army informed.
Search operation in progress
At around 6 pm on Friday, a security forces convoy was fired upon by suspected terrorists from a jungle near Krishna Ghati-Poonch sector. No casualties to own troops. Joint search operations by Indian Army and JKP are in progress. Official statement
The incident comes 22 days after a similar ambush in Dera ki Gali in Suranote area of the district on December 21 in which an Army gypsy and a truck were fired upon by ultras from different directions killing four soldiers.
Sources informed that at least two bullets were fired from a hilltop on a vehicle of a senior Army officer at Dara Dullian area who was travelling on Mendhar-Poonch road. The area is not very far from the LoC with Pakistan.
Units of Army and Special Operations Group (SOG) immediately cordoned off the area where the incident took place and a search operation was launched inside the forest area. However due to the dark, the search operation was not aggressive.
Checkpoints were installed at most of the roads in the area. However, the terrorists had fired from the forest area and escaped from the site.
White Knight Corps of Army, in an official statement, said, “At around 6 pm today, a security forces convoy of vehicles was fired upon by suspected terrorists from a jungle near Krishna Ghati-Poonch sector. No casualties to own troops. Joint search operations by Indian Army and JKP are on”.
Sources informed that the area where the incident took place has forest as well as some homes of locals in the vicinity. The terrain is tough and has thick vegetation. Sources in Army intelligence said that that it cannot be denied that the group involved in the ambush on December 21 might be behind this attack.
Northern Command in a post on X stated, “A firing incident near Krishna Ghati, Poonch sector, on convoy of security forces. Alert troops followed drills and procedures and withheld fire due to the presence of villagers.”
Missing with 29 persons on board since 2016, Indian Air Force’s AN-32 wreckage found
More than seven years after an Indian Air Force (IAF) plane went missing with 29 persons on board over the Bay of Bengal, its wreckage has been located at a depth of 3.4 km under the sea.
More than seven years after an Indian Air Force (IAF) plane went missing with 29 persons on board over the Bay of Bengal, its wreckage has been located at a depth of 3.4 km under the sea.
The wreckage of the crashed AN-32 transport plane, bearing tail No. K-2743, was located 310 km east of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, a statement of the Ministry of Defence said on Friday.
Located At depth of 3.4 km in Bay of Bengal
On July 22, 2016, IAF plane lost contact after take-off; was on way from Chennai to Port Blair
Wreckage couldn’t be traced despite search op; National Institute of Ocean Technology recently launched an underwater vehicle
Using multi-beam SONAR & high-resolution images, wreckage was found at a depth of 3,400 metres in Bay of Bengal, 300 km off Chennai
The Soviet-manufactured plane had taken off around 8.30 am from the Tambaram Air Force Station in Chennai on July 22, 2016. It last contacted the Chennai Air Traffic Controller at 8.46 am, 16 minutes after the take-off.
It was scheduled to land around 11 am at Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Soon after the crash, a search and rescue operation was launched using aircraft and ships, but none of the 29 persons on board or the wreckage could be found.
The IAF today said the National Institute of Ocean Technology, which functions under the aegis of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, had recently deployed an autonomous underwater vehicle with deep-sea exploration capability.
The last known location of the missing AN-32 was used and the search was conducted at a depth of 3,400 metres using multiple payloads, including a multi-beam sound navigation and ranging (SONAR), synthetic aperture SONAR and high-resolution photography.
“The search images were scrutinised and found to be in conformity with an AN-32 aircraft. This discovery at the probable crash site, with no other recorded history of any other missing aircraft report in the same area, points to the wreckage as possibly belonging to the crashed IAF AN-32 (K-2743),” the MoD said.
Among the 29 persons on board were four IAF officers, including the two pilots and a navigator of the missing plane. The plane had six crew, including the three officers. A fourth officer was among the passengers. Also on board were 10 IAF personnel, two people from the Indian Army and nine from the Navy, among them eight from the civilian staff of the force. A staff member of the Defence Services Corps and one from the Indian Coast Guard were also among those on board.
The spirit lives on: Celebrating 75 years of NDA’s inception and legacy
President Droupadi Murmu at the Passing Out Parade of the National Defence Academy’s 145th Course in November last year. For the first time, a marching contingent of women cadets, in the third term of their training, took part in the parade. ANI
Lt Gen Vinayak Patankar (Retd)
At a New Year’s party a few days back, with just minutes to bid farewell to 2023, the noisy disco music switched to the serene and nostalgic ‘Auld Lang Syne’. That haunting tune always takes me and every alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA) back to the final slow-march to the quarter-deck in a grand finale of the Passing Out Parade.
The NDA is extremely well organised not only for all training activities, but also about the lifestyle the cadets are expected to follow on how to conduct themselves. Ministry of defence
Nestled in the Sahyadri hills, abutting the Khadakvasla lake and in the shadow of the Sinhagad fort, the NDA is an institution that is truly unique. It has the distinction of being the first in the world to conduct combined military and academic training of cadets who would be future officers in our Army, Navy or Air Force.
After leaving the heavy traffic of Pune city behind and getting on the picturesque NDA road, there is a rising sense of anticipation. As one reaches the top of the last hill to the ‘first-view’ point, the vista is truly impressive. The distinctive brick-red dome of the main building, called the Sudan block, the well laid out campus, tree-lined avenues and large swathes of wooded slopes of the surrounding hills are spectacular.
On January 16, 1949, training of 190 cadets of the three Services commenced in what was first called Inter Services Wing and later changed to Joint Services Wing. After it moved to its new campus at Khadakvasla, it finally established itself as the National Defence Academy. Though some things in its routine and training methods changed with time and according to necessities, the ethos and standards it had set for itself didn’t; if anything, they have only grown higher. It has been rightly called the ‘cradle of military leadership’.
It has been a splendid journey since then and on January 16, 2024, the NDA will complete 75 years as a premier institute. It is in this temple of military leadership that every NDA cadet spends three memorable years.
The NDA is extremely well organised not only for every training activity, but also for the lifestyle the cadets are expected to follow on how to conduct themselves. To emphasise jointness, terminologies used are also taken from the three Services. Cadets are housed in ‘squadrons’, each with a strength of 100-120 persons, distributed equally in three ‘divisions’, and every cadet occupies a ‘cabin’.
The Cadets’ Mess is not just a place where food is served three times a day but is, in fact, an institution. Strict protocol, table etiquette and dress code are required to be followed by all. The officers-to-be thus are equally at ease at formal banquets or sharing food with their troops in later years.
It was on July 12, 1961, when on a soggy, rainy morning that we, the fresh-faced young lads of the 26th Course, arrived at Khadakvasla to join the NDA. A more fateful event awaited us. First the heavy incessant rain caused the earthen dam upstream at Panshet to break. The tsunamic torrents hurtling down from there breached the Khadakvasla dam next. That prompted us to give ourselves the moniker of ‘The Dambusters’!
The ‘Dambusters’ were quickly made to conform to the lifestyle of the Academy. The ‘makeover’ began with a visit to the barber shop where in under three minutes, we were given a ‘crew-cut’. Next, we were packed off to collect our individual ‘kit’. It included clothing and footwear for every activity, ranging from physical training (PT), horse riding, drill and classroom to formal mess dresses. Several other dresses included ‘walking out’ and ‘mufti’. Then there were heavy boots for drill and field training, canvas shoes for games, formal ‘Oxfords’ for everything else and ‘putties’ for riding. Large and small haversacks and ‘web’ equipment completed the inventory.
Each morning at 5:45 am, the entire ‘community’ of the squadron would be shaken out of their beds by the full-throated shouts from a freshman cadet assigned the duty of announcing ‘reveille’. The next 45 minutes would see cadets bustling about — in and out of the bathrooms in their dressing gowns, grabbing a mug of tea, after carrying one for a senior, and also getting ready in the ‘rig’ of the day. That done, they would rush to the ‘muster fall-in’. It was never enough to be on time, one had to be dressed impeccably. Strict discipline was evident everywhere. Cadets always had to move in ‘squads’ of a minimum of four cadets — whether marching or riding bicycles!
Normally, the first two or three periods would comprise outdoor activities — PT, drill or riding. Each of those made us sweaty and mucky if you took a tumble either as part of PT or if you mounted a nasty horse. We would ride our bicycles as fast as possible to get at least 30 minutes to shower, dress, and march to the Mess to grab breakfast because one had to be in time for the classes all in less than an hour.
After a strenuous workout, a hot shower and full stomach, when one sat in a comfortable classroom, the most natural consequence was dozing off! Apart from being in time for maths, science and humanities classes, the big challenge used to be to stay awake. Academics were always given high priority with no concession given to being a good sportsman, rider or gymnast; we always felt that it was so unfair!
As if the normal maths, science and humanities were not enough, there were workshop and engineering drawing classes. The workshop exposure included smithy, carpentry, casting and welding. Those of us who had ‘two left hands’ absolutely hated those classes. From the tyranny of the heavy subjects, the welcome relief would be the Hindi or foreign language classes or even the occasional bonanza of a self-study period.
The excruciating schedule had its periodic relief. The three-year stint at the NDA was divided into six terms of six months each. As each term ended, every cadet moved one rung up the ladder of seniority as long as he passed in all subjects. Then there would be a welcome break when one went back to be with family and friends in ‘civvies’. To keep track of how long the next break was, cadets used to follow a clock called DLTGH — Days Left To Go Home. You could find a small innocuous mention of that score in a corner of the blackboard in classrooms — a sort of truthful jungle telephone!
Even during each term, there were other avenues of relief. Visitors would come on Sundays. Among them, girls dressed in their Sunday best were always a sight for sore eyes! Some adventurous cadets would offer to be their local guides, hoping to get lucky and find a girlfriend to visit Pune on ‘liberty’. We were permitted two ‘liberties’ a month — commonly understood as an out pass! Cadets on liberty were always conspicuous in their blue blazers emblazoned with the impressive NDA crest on the pocket and the signature crew-cut.
The ‘sick bay’ was where cadets went for treatment for minor injuries and when indisposed. An ‘Attend C’ medical slip meant that one was exempted from attending any outdoor or indoor classes. It amounted to a virtual licence to relax in one’s cabin; naturally, everyone aspired to get one of those at least once during the three years. During our third term, it was not sheer coincidence that the sickness rate spiked when a young lady doctor was posted to the sick bay!
A solemn occasion etched in memory is the farewell accorded to the then Deputy Commandant, Brig Hoshiar Singh. In October 1962, he was sent away post-haste to fight the Chinese aggression. His parting words still ring in my ears. In the farewell speech, he said that he was happy to go because, as a soldier, the battlefield is where he belonged. The brave officer never returned.
At the end of it all, whenever we reminisce over our days at the NDA, there is a longing and a deep sense of gratitude. The Academy gave us many times more than the sweat and toil it imposed on us. We were soft clay when we entered but were forged into hard-as-nails, motivated young men in those formative years. More than anything else, it developed in us a ‘can-do’ attitude and confidence. It raised the ordinary to the above average and the high average ones to exceptional. All that showed and continues to show in the performance of ex-NDA officers in the three Services not only during peace and war, but also in the field of science and technology, arts, sports and various adventure activities.
The annals of Independent India’s military history are replete with accounts of outstanding leadership, heroism, valour and sacrifice of NDA alumni who continue to live by the NDA motto of ‘Service Before Self’.
As the National Defence Academy celebrates its 75 glorious years, all past and present alumni would silently rededicate themselves to serving the nation, which comes first, always and every time.
— The writer served as GOC, 15 Corps
United States, British militaries launch massive retaliatory strike against Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen
The US and British militaries bombed more than a dozen sites used by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen on Thursday, in a massive retaliatory strike using warship and submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets, US officials said.
The military targets included logistical hubs, air defence systems and weapons storage and launching locations, they said.
President Joe Biden said the strikes were meant to demonstrate that the US and its allies “will not tolerate” the militant group’s ceaseless attacks on the Red Sea. And he said the US and its allies only made the move after attempts at diplomatic negotiations and careful deliberation.
“These strikes are in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea — including the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time in history,” Biden said in a statement.
“These attacks have endangered US personnel, civilian mariners and our partners, jeopardised trade and threatened freedom of navigation.”
Associated Press journalists in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, heard four explosions early on Friday local time but saw no sign of warplanes. Two residents of Hodieda, Amin Ali Saleh and Hani Ahmed, said they heard five strong explosions hitting the western port area of the city, which lies on the Red Sea and is the largest port city controlled by the Houthis. Explosions also were heard by residents of Taiz, a southwestern city near the Red Sea.
The strikes marked the first US military response to what has been a persistent campaign of drone and missile attacks on commercial ships since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. And the coordinated military assault comes just a week after the White House and a host of partner nations issued a final warning to the Houthis to cease the attacks or face potential military action. The officials confirmed the strikes on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations. Members of Congress were briefed earlier on Thursday on the strike plans.
The warning appeared to have had at least some short-lived impact, as attacks stopped for several days. On Tuesday, however, the Houthi rebels fired their largest-ever barrage of drones and missiles targeting shipping in the Red Sea, with US and British ships and American fighter jets responding by shooting down 18 drones, two cruise missiles and an anti-ship missile. And on Thursday, the Houthis fired an anti-ship ballistic missile into the Gulf of Aden, which was seen by a commercial ship but did not hit the ship.
In a separate statement, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the Royal Air Force carried out targeted strikes against military facilities used by the Houthis.
Noting the militants have carried out a series of dangerous attacks on shipping, he added, “This cannot stand. He said the UK took “limited, necessary and proportionate action in self-defence, alongside the United States with non-operational support from the Netherlands, Canada and Bahrain against targets tied to these attacks, to degrade Houthi military capabilities and protect global shipping”.
The rebels, who have carried out 27 attacks involving dozens of drones and missiles just since November 19, said on Thursday that any attack by American forces on its sites in Yemen would spark a fierce military response.
“The response to any American attack will not only be at the level of the operation that was recently carried out with more than 24 drones and several missiles,” said Abdel Malek al-Houthi, the group’s supreme leader, during an hour-long speech. “It will be greater than that.”
The Houthis say their assaults are aimed at stopping Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But their targets increasingly have little or no connection to Israel and imperil a crucial trade route linking Asia and the Middle East with Europe.
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted a successful flight-test of the New Generation Akash (AKASH-NG) air-defence missile from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur off the coast of Odisha on Friday.
The AKASH-NG is a state-of-the-art missile system capable of intercepting high speed, agile aerial threats.
“The successful flight test has paved the way for user trials,” the Ministry of Defence said on Friday.
‘User trials’ means the missile and AKASH-NG system have moved to second stage as the forces would conduct its trials at their level. The Indian Air Force already has inducted the Akash Missile system. The AKASH-NG is an upgrade of that.
The flight-test was conducted against a high-speed unmanned aerial target at a very low altitude. During the flight-test, the target was successfully intercepted by the missile and destroyed. It has validated the functioning of the complete weapon system consisting of the missile with indigenously developed radio frequency seeker, launcher, multi-function radar and command, control and communication system.
The system performance was also validated through the data captured by a number of radars, telemetry and electro optical tracking system deployed by the ITR. The flight-test was witnessed by senior officials from the DRDO, IAF, Bharat Dynamics Limited and Bharat Electronics Limited.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has complimented the DRDO, IAF, public sector undertakings and the industry for the flight-test.
Key associate of Pakistan-based terrorist Harvinder Rinda arrested; was supplying arms to associates of terror outfit to carry out crimes in Punjab
A key operative of Pakistan-based terrorist Harvinder Rinda, who was supplying weapons to associates of a terror outfit to carry out “sensational crimes” in Punjab, has been arrested, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said on Friday.
A Chinese pistol and eight live cartridges were recovered from him, the DGP said.
“In a major breakthrough, #AGTF (anti-gangster task force), Punjab in a joint operation with the central agencies has arrested Kailash Khichan, a key operative of #Pak based terrorist Harvinder Singh @ Rinda & #USA based Harpreet Singh @ Happy Passia,” Yadav posted on X.
“Preliminary interrogation has revealed that the accused Khichan, on the directions of terrorist Rinda, was supplying weapons to the associates of terrorist outfit Babbar Khalistan International (BKI) to carry out sensational crimes in the State,” he added.
