Monthly Archives: August 2018

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New Delhi: The 70-year-old Naval aviation, which started as a fledgling Fleet Requirement Unit with ten amphibian Sealand aircraft in 1953, is set to be awarded the President’s Colour, the highest honour bestowed on a military unit in recognition of its exceptional service to the nation.

Incidentally, the Indian Navy was the first amongst the three Services to be awarded the President’s Colour on 27 May 1951 by the then President of India Dr Rajendra Prasad.https://e428dbf707006b0b2696166e1cd5713d.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

While the Navy is often associated with the ships, the aviation wing has emerged as an integral part of the naval operations, both defensive and offensive in nature. 

“For supremacy or control of the Indian Ocean, naval aviation is very important,” former Navy chief Admiral Prakash (retd) told ThePrint.

The retired officer, who is one of the four Navy chiefs to come from the flying branch, a list that also includes current chief Admiral Karambir Singh, says that while post World War II, many countries could not afford naval aviation, India along with the major powers focussed on it.

“There is no doubt that the Navy is all about the ships. However, helicopters have merged as an integral part of a surface vessel in the last 30 years or so,” Admiral Prakash said. “The first defence of a surface ship is its on board helicopter. The helicopters these days are equipped with missiles, depth chargers and torpedoes which counter the threat.”

He further explained that while a ship can detect a submarine at a range of 3-4 miles, a submarine can detect a surface vessel from about 20-30 miles. However, a naval aviation aircraft can detect both from much further distances.

The former chief explained that air power is very important and hence an aircraft carrier is able to dominate 300-350 miles around it because it is equipped with fighter aircraft. 

“There is the sea-borne aviation that includes the fighters and the helicopters. Then there is the land -borne naval aviation that includes the P8I aircraft which has huge reach and is used for both surveillance and anti-submarine operations,” he added. 

History of Indian Naval Aviation 

The Indian Naval Aviation came into being with acquisition of the first Sealand aircraft, an amphibious plane, on 13 January 1951. The formal birth of Naval Aviation was the Commissioning of the INS Garuda, a Naval Air Station at Kochi, on 11 May 1953.

The first Sealand (IN101) joined the Fleet Requirement Unit, which later became the first Indian Naval Air Squadron, INAS 550, on 17 June 1959 with 10 Sealand, 10 Firefly and three HT-2 aircraft.

India’s first aircraft carrier INS Vikrant was commissioned in 1961, with her integral squadrons of British Sea Hawk Jets, French Alize ASW aircraft and French Alouette III helicopters.

Induction of INS Viraat along with legendary Sea Harriers in the mid-1980s brought new strength to the carrier operations of the Navy. Now the MiG 29Ks on the INS Vikramaditya lead the way for India’s carrier operations.

The Indian Naval Aviation at present has nine air stations and three naval air enclaves along the Indian coastline and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. 

It now is a force with more than 250 aircraft comprising carrier-borne fighters like the MiG 29K, maritime reconnaissance aircraft, helicopters and remotely piloted aircraft (RPA).

Over the years, different kinds of rotary wing platforms, including the Alouette, the S-55, Seaking 42A and 42B, the Kamovs, indigenous Advanced Light Helicopter and the latest in the line, the MH60R – have been inducted.

Maritime reconnaissance (MR) operations of the navy also grew from the 1970s with the induction of the Super-Constellation from the Indian Air Force in 1976, the IL-38 in 1977 and the TU 142 M in 1989. The Dornier 228 was inducted in 1991 and Boeing P 8I aircraft in 2013. 

Incidentally, Naval Aviators have been decorated with one Mahavir Chakra, six Vir Chakras, one Kirti Chakra, seven Shaurya Chakras, one YudhSeva Medal and a large number of Nao Sena Medals (gallantry) over the years.

(Edited by Arun Prashanth)

Also read: Army, Navy, IAF sign deals for swarm, kamikaze drones amid govt push for new tech warfare

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New Delhi: Nudged by the Supreme Court, the Centre has decided to induct women under the permanent commission scheme through the National Defence Academy (NDA).

Appearing before a bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhatti said the decision was taken late Tuesday after consulting with the three service chiefs.

However, she requested the court to order a status quo for the exams being held this November, which will screen applicants for the forthcoming academic year, as the government needs time to implement its decision which will require infrastructural changes.

Appreciating the government’s move, the bench asked Bhatti to put the developments in the form of an affidavit, which, it added, should also outline the future plan.

Also read: SC cleared way for permanent commission but women must measure up for their armed forces role

‘We step in only when nothing happens’

The top court is hearing a PIL by advocate Kush Kalra, who has sought that the NDA open its doors to women aspiring to join the armed forces. The NDA is one of the two modes for direct entry to the armed forces and the exam is held by the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC).

On 18 August, as an interim measure, the Supreme Court had permitted women candidates to take the entrance exam for National Defence Academy (NDA) that was initially scheduled for 5 September but was pushed to November.

In its prima facie view, the bench had noted NDA’s admission policy is “based on gender discrimination”.

“We direct the respondent to take a constructive view of the matter in view of the judgment of this court (in the matter related to permanent commission for women in the army),” the bench said.

On Wednesday, Bhatti, at the outset informed the bench about the new policy decision. She said the idea was always in the thought process but at the seeding stage. Once implemented, it would be an instrumental, path-breaking and generational reform, she added.

In response, the bench said if Bhatti was instructed properly before the last hearing, then the court would have refrained from issuing any instructions.

“It is not a happy situation when we (courts) have to step in. We periodically nudge the authorities and step in only when nothing happens,” the court said.

Armed forces, it added, is a respected institution, but “on gender equality front, they have to do more”.

Justice Kaul further said the court was not averse to giving some time to implement the policy decision, but wanted the government to put it on record before the court.

As a judge of the Delhi High Court, it was Justice Kaul who had authored the path-breaking judgment directing the government to grant permanent commission to women officers who joined the Army as short-service commission officers. His judgment was challenged in the Supreme Court, which was finally upheld in February 2020.

(Edited by Manasa Mohan)

Also read: Women in combat roles: India can romanticise it but here’s why we are not ready yet

Former Short Service Commission officers address mediapersons in Chandigarh on Wednesday. Manoj Mahajan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 8

Former Short Service Commission (SSC) officers today reiterated their demand for grant of pro-rata pension as well as facilities for medical treatment on similar lines as are being given to regular defence service officers.

Speaking to mediapersons here today, several released SSC officers said they had met the Defence Minister as well as the Chief of Army Staff several times in this regard, but even after many years their efforts had gone in vain.

The SSC officers said the provision of medical treatment in military hospitals was arbitrarily withdrawn in 2009. Though the Chandigarh Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal directed the Ministry of Defence in 2010 to restore the facilities, the order has been challenged before the Supreme Court, where it is still pending.

Demanding that the status of ex-servicemen be granted to released SSC officers, they said they also lost out other benefits such as reservation for their wards in admission to educational institutes and resettlement schemes.

They averred that If this discrimination continues, it may have an adverse impact on talented youth getting attracted to SSC, which is the need of the hour to cover up a big shortage of officers in Armed Forces.

Jallianwala Bagh

Renovation of the historic Jallianwala Bagh has residents and the Centre in the cross hairs. Tribune correspondent PK Jaiswar and lensman Sunil Kumar give a glimpse of the renovated memorial where reportedly 1,000 persons were martyred and 1,200 left injured on the day of Baisakhi in 1919

Historians allege that the original character of a memorial built in memory of the martyrs of the ghastly massacre has been massively tampered with.

Earlier, too, renovation of the Jallianwala Bagh had sparked protests. A decade ago, an open air theatre was developed and light and sound show was started, which featured a voiceover of Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan.

Also read: 

Jallianwala Bagh: Facelift has erased massacre memories, say historians

‘Insult to martyrs’, Rahul Gandhi slams govt’s Jallianwala Bagh memorial revamp

Looks nice: Punjab CM contradicts Rahul Gandhi on Jallianwala remake

People from different walks of life had gathered to protest against the arrest of Dr Saifudin Kitchlew and Dr Satyapal, who were agitating against the Rowlatt Act, at the Jallianwala Bagh on the day of Baisakhi on April 13, 1919.

Dozens of troops led by Brigadier General Reginald Edward Harry Dyer mercilessly had gunned down the protesters by blocking the only entry and exit point of the Jallianwala Bagh.

Following renovation of one-and-a-half years, the Jallianwala Bagh was virtually thrown open on August 28 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is also a Chairman of the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Trust. Four new galleries have come up, besides a salvation ground.

Also read: Martyrs’ memorabilia to be kept at Jallianwala Bagh

Place for Haqqani group in scheme of things worrisome

The all-male Cabinet features UN-designated terrorist Sirajuddin Haqqani, who has a $10-million US bounty on his head, as the interior minister. File photo

The Taliban’s moderate façade has crumbled overnight with their announcement of a hardline interim government in Afghanistan. The all-male Cabinet features UN-designated terrorist Sirajuddin Haqqani, who has a $10-million US bounty on his head, as the interior minister. Sirajuddin is the son of warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, who founded the Haqqani Network (HQN) — an insurgent group based in North Waziristan, Pakistan. Sirajuddin’s uncle Khalil Haqqani has been appointed as the acting minister for refugees. In 2012, the US had designated the HQN as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation because of its links with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda and its role in attacks on US military personnel and civilians as well as on western interests in Afghanistan. The HQN also figures on the UN sanctions list under Resolution 1267, wherein it is described as a group ‘responsible for suicide attacks and targeted assassinations as well as kidnappings in Kabul and other provinces of Afghanistan’. With their patronage of this entity, the Taliban have cocked a snook not only at the US but also at the international community.

The HQN’s ties with the Pakistani security establishment are an open secret. The group is counted among the major proxies that are backed by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the Af-Pak region. Sirajuddin’s elevation has clearly revealed Pakistan’s influence on the Taliban’s decision-making. The government formation has ruffled many feathers in America, with the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative caucus in the US House of Representatives, calling it ‘a government of terrorists, by the terrorists, and for the terrorists.’

The developments make it imperative for India to up the ante against Pakistan’s interference in Afghanistan and engage more cautiously with the unreliable Taliban. The upcoming summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Tajikistan offers New Delhi an opportunity to call out Islamabad for its machinations that threaten to destabilise the entire region.

Anas Haqqani, youngest son of the founder of the anti-India Haqqani network, Jalaludin Haqqani, stated that Kashmir was beyond its jurisdiction. But the Taliban spokesperson, Suhail Shaheen, said they have the right to raise their voice for Muslims in Kashmir. Will Pakistan allow good relations to materialise between India and the Taliban as such a development would increase the Taliban’s strategic autonomy?

NEW THREAT: The danger of surplus Taliban cadre trying to infiltrate into J&K will be a challenge for security forces. Reuters

Maj Gen Ashok K Mehta (retd)

Military Commentator

AN old story about hordes of surplus Taliban invading J&K which periodically repeats itself is moving full circle. This time though, the government has issued an alert, warning all states and Central armed paramilitary forces that armed terrorists from Afghanistan could attempt to aggressively infiltrate into India, especially J&K. Threats to Kashmir oscillate, either due to adverse developments in Afghanistan or a steep dip in India-Pakistan relations. In 1996, when the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was first established, fears of such a contingency were re-kindled when insurgency in J&K was on the boil. But the Army commanders were confident of combating fresh incursions. The terrorist population then had peaked at 3,500, compared to less than 200 insurgents active today. India has nearly 75 years’ experience in battling cross-border terrorism in J&K, making it the longest active insurgency of our times.

Fast forward to August 15, 2021: No one honestly forecast the catastrophic collapse of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) because as late as in June, the ANSF fought and won multiple battles, losing 157 soldiers. The 3333 and 4444 Special Force units trained and created by the British SAS were feared by the Taliban. So, the ANSF was not defeated but reasons other than military prowess were responsible for its melting. With the Panjshir resistance over-powered, the Taliban territorial control of Afghanistan is complete unlike in 1996. Now, hundreds if not thousands of Taliban will become surplus to Pakistan’s Afghanistan project: acquisition of strategic depth in the west, neutralising the second front and transferring military assets to the east, ending collusion between R&AW and Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security, and reviving the Kashmir Intifada.

What do the Taliban leaders, severely divided about power-sharing and who consider Pakistan as their second home, say about India? They are equivocal: some are saying they want friendly relations with India and would like it to complete the pending projects. They are prepared to forget that India helped the old regime of Ashraf Ghani and gave shelter to some of them, but they do not want India to play any military role, suggesting that any assistance to the residual Resistance Forces will not go unpunished.

In a surprising turn of events, Anas Haqqani, youngest son of the founder of the anti-India Haqqani network, Jalaludin Haqqani, told a news channel that Kashmir was beyond its jurisdiction. But Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said they had the right to raise their voice for Muslims in Kashmir. Most major attacks against the Indian assets in Afghanistan have been executed by the Haqqanis, who were described by former US Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, as a veritable arm of the ISI. Some Taliban statements are in sync with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s (also called Taliban Khan) who has described the Taliban victory as breaking the shackles of slavery. He has used a similar language to incite revolt in Kashmir. Neelam Irshad Sheikh, a leader from Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party, has even said she hoped the Taliban will help us in Kashmir. Will Pakistan allow good relations to materialise between India and the Taliban as such a development would increase the Taliban’s strategic autonomy? India must be wary of the Taliban’s mixed signalling.

Verify and trust and be guided by deeds, not words, should be the Indian mantra for now. GoC, 15 Corps, in Kashmir valley, Lt Gen DP Pandey said last month after the fall of Kabul that India has no problem dealing with the new threat emanating from the surplus in Afghanistan. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, in his lectures last month at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, and to a public gathering in Chandigarh, has said that India was re-wiring its Afghanistan policy. Like several of Pandey’s predecessors (they change in 14 months now), he is quoting the party line without elaborating the new threat. On its surface, Kashmir has been pacified: terrorists reduced to less than 200 from a high of 3,500 insurgents in 2001. But the horrors of lockdown post-revocation of Article 370 coupled with the trauma of Covid-19 have emotionally and physically pulverised the people. In the absence of a political process, the Kashmiri awam is also alienated and anguished. They call the reading down of Article 370 as a betrayal of Kashmir. Mark the word ‘betrayal’!

China and Pakistan have created a potential two-front situation with Kashmir as an add-on. More likely, if there is a concerted cross-LoC assault — replicating the 1965 Operation Gibraltar or its abridged version, the new threat will be driven by skilled and an experienced Taliban, adept in suicide missions and fortified with American weapons, though bereft of the Afghanistan level of motivation. The Taliban are known to have employed multiple human bombers, a deadly technique also used by the ISIS. According to the Long War Journal, the Afghanistan-Pakistan area holds the world record in suicide bombings using innovative techniques. Though no numbers are given, it is estimated that upwards of 1,000 suicide missions have been carried out. The Indian security forces have dealt with explosives-laden car bombs, the latest at Pulwama, or the less potent, improvised explosive device (IED) or fidayeen, but never a terrorist wired as a human bomber. Add to this, the crucial factor of local support, which in 1965 was absent, will be decisive.

It took Israel five years (2005-2010) to end the Intifada II and III (spearheaded by human bombers) through human intelligence to intercept and defuse the bomber before he could reach his target. Are our security forces prepared for this ultimate terrorist challenge? 

Had reward on his head for ‘killing’ 18 soldiers

Niki Sumi, the self-styled military adviser of NSCN-K. PTI file

New Delhi, September 8

The Centre on Wednesday signed a ceasefire pact with a faction of the Naga insurgent group NSCN led by Niki Sumi, against whom the NIA had announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for allegedly killing 18 Indian soldiers in Manipur in 2015.

The peace pact will come into effect from September 8 for a year and more than 200 cadres of this group have surrendered with 83 weapons. A Home Ministry statement said the agreement was a significant step in the Naga peace process and in making the Northeast insurgency-free.

“In fulfilling the vision of PM Modi of an ‘insurgency-free and prosperous North East,’ under the guidance of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the Government of India has entered into a ceasefire agreement with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (K) Niki Group,” it read. — PTI

For first time, transport aircraft will be made in India by private firm

Photo for representational purpose only. File photo

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 8

The Cabinet Committee on Security on Wednesday approved the procurement of 56 military transport aircraft from European manufacturer Airbus at a cost of nearly Rs 21,000 crore ($2.8 billion).

The C-295MW plane is a transport aircraft of 5-10 tonne capacity with contemporary technology that will replace the ageing Avro aircraft of the Indian Air Force. The aircraft has a rear ramp door for quick reaction and para-dropping of troops and cargo.

Will replace IAF’s Avro

• All 56 aircraft to be installed with indigenous electronic warfare suite
• Will have 5-10 tonne capacity with contemporary technology

Tata-Airbus project

• 16 planes in flyaway condition to be delivered by Airbus in 48 months
• 40 to be made in India by Tata Consortium within 10 years

Sixteen of the aircraft will be delivered in a flyaway condition from the Airbus unit in Spain within 48 months of signing of the contract. The remaining 40 will be manufactured in India by Tata Consortium within 10 years of signing of the contract.

This is the first project of its kind in which a military aircraft will be manufactured in India by a private company. All 56 aircraft will be installed with indigenous electronic warfare suite.

A large number of parts, sub-assemblies and major component assemblies of aero structure are scheduled to be manufactured in India. The programme will act as a catalyst in employment generation in the aerospace ecosystem of the country and is expected to generate 600 highly skilled jobs directly, over 3,000 indirect jobs and an additional 3,000 medium skill employment opportunities with more than 42.5 lakh man hours of work within the aerospace and defence sector of India, the Ministry of Defence claimed.

Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria. Twitter/IAF

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 8

Indigenously developed critical technologies will be vital in tackling threats from the northern borders of India, said Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on Wednesday.

“The introduction of asymmetric technological capabilities into the air force remains a challenge, looking at our northern neighbours — China — we have to have niche capabilities and niche technologies which must be built in-house by our industry for reasons of security,” he said.

Plan to procure 350 aircraft in 2 decades

• The IAF is looking at buying 350 fixed wing aircraft from local industry over next two decades
• These include 83 Tejas fighter jets made by Hindustan Aeronautics

“Whatever new surprises we can spring in the next conflict will be critical. This is a challenge and we should start looking at this challenge straight away,” said the IAF Chief, while speaking at a conference organised by the Society for Indian Defence Manufacturers and the Centre for Air Power Studies.

He said the success of the Light Combat Aircraft (LAC) had redefined the core of aviation technology. “The IAF has about 16 types of parts that have been 3D-printed, which will go for air worthiness,” he said.

New Delhi, September 9

India’s Paralympians presented Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an autographed stole on Thursday during a breakfast hosted by him to felicitate the contingent at his residence here.

The Indian para-athletes returned from Tokyo on the back of a sensational campaign that saw them win an unparalleled 19 medals, including five gold, eight silver and six bronze.

This was the country’s best-eveParalympics campaign as it finished 24th in the overall tally.

The PM was presented with a white stole signed by all the medal winners, which he was seen wearing around his neck.

Modi, who has been the first to congratulate the para-athletes on call after their medal winning feats, was seen talking to shuttlers Suhas Yathiraj, the District Magistrate of Noida, who won a silver, gold medallist Krishna Nagar (badminton) and young Palak Kohli (badminton).

Indian shuttlers bagged four medals including two gold, in para badminton, which made its debut in the Paralympics.

 Shooters Avani Lekhara and Singhraj Adana, who both won two medals each in the Tokyo Games, also chatted with the PM.

Lekhara, who was paralysed waist down after being involved in an accident, had scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic gold before adding a bronze to her kitty.

The 39-year-old Adana, who is afflicted with polio, clinched a silver and a bronze.

The PM also interacted with veteran javelin thrower Davendra Jhajharia and high jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu, who won gold medals in 2016 Rio Games. The duo finished on podium again, this time with silver medals.

Also, present were table tennis player Bhavina Patel, who won a silver, and bronze medallist recurve archer Harvinder Singh. PT