Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 12

As the Army beefs up its mechanised forces in high-altitude areas to meet the emerging security challenges, the troops are combating a peculiar logistical problem.

The availability and suitability of extreme cold climate (ECC) clothing for crews of armoured fighting vehicles operating in the freezing heights of Ladakh is an issue the Army is trying to sort out.

The present type of ECC clothing for troops deployed in areas that experience sub-zero temperatures is bulky and cumbersome, making it unsuitable for use in the close confines of tanks and infantry combat vehicles, sources said.

The Army has been highlighting the need for overalls or dungarees suitable for use in extreme climatic conditions by combat troops as well as technicians and support staff, without compromising their efficiency.

“In the Indian context, mechanised warfare has traditionally been associated with the plains, barring a few exceptions like the use of tanks at Zoji La in 1948 and Chuchul in 1962. There was no provision for ECC clothing for armoured crews,” an officer said.

“The case has been taken up for scaling armoured crew specific ECC clothing and accessories for armoured and mechanised infantry units in high-altitude areas. The Army Design Bureau has also been roped in to help improve the existing items or create new designs and specifications with the help of the industry,” he added.

The Army began deploying an armoured brigade, comprising three regiments of 45 tanks each, in Ladakh in phases from 2014. Prior to this, there was an ad hoc mechanised force of a few T-72 tanks and BMP-II infantry combat vehicles near Leh.

The Army’s perspective plans call for an armoured brigade each in the northern and eastern sectors along with three additional mechanised infantry battalions outfitted for high-altitude operations..

China, on the other hand, is reported to have deployed an armoured division and two motorised infantry divisions in the Lanzhou Military Region opposite Ladakh and two armoured brigades and four motorised infantry divisions in the Chengdu Military Region opposite Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. A division has three brigades.

The Army is also engaged in improving the design and quality of ECC clothing issued to all other troops in high-altitude areas to make it lightweight, modular and waterproof, without restricting mobility and ease of operating equipment.