Pune: The Indian Army is not yet ready to have women in combat roles, Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat said on Friday. The Army chief, however, said there are several other fields where the Army is thinking of inducting women, such as information and psychological warfare.

“We are not yet ready for that (women in combat roles) as facilities have to be created… Women also need to be prepared for that kind of hardships,” he said.

“It is not easy. Let us not compare ourselves with Western nations, which are more open,” Gen Rawat told reporters on the sidelines of the Passing Out Parade of the 135th course at the National Defence Academy in Pune.

“Yes, we may be more open in our big cities, but our Army personnel are not coming from big cities only. They are coming from rural areas too, where the inter-mingling, which is expected, is still not there,” he said.

“They are already there in education and law, so the other field we have identified for them is information warfare and psychological warfare. We are also considering the accounting field where women can be inducted,” he said.

“Women officers are being inducted into all the three services. But what we have to decide is whether some of them can be given permanent commissions,” Gen Rawat said.

General Bipin Rawat, the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), is reported to have initiated four major studies for the transformation of the Indian army into a “more agile fighting force” to face current and emerging threats and challenges. Apparently, the endeavour would be to transform the present army into a force that can deter war while being simultaneously ready to fight and win on future battlefields. All armed forces conduct such exercises periodically to evaluate the efficacy of their force structures, the effectiveness of their weapons systems and equipment and the adequacy of their logistics support chains and infrastructure for future wars.

The overall aim of transformation should be to enhance combat effectiveness by an order of magnitude. Recommendations for the future force should be made in the light of likely changes in the strategic environment, new developments in weapons technologies and ancillary defence equipment and the budgetary support likely to be provided by the government. The restructuring being undertaken by the nation’s military adversaries would also influence the recommendations that are eventually presented to the government by Army HQ.

Besides changes in the strategic environment, it must be noted that the character of conflict is constantly changing and evolving. From state versus state conventional conflict — mainly for territorial gains — the pendulum is gradually swinging towards sub-conventional conflict between states and disaffected non-State actors. In the prevailing era of strategic uncertainty, future threats and challenges are becoming increasingly more difficult to predict. Blurring the distinction between the states of war and peace, non-military means are being increasingly employed to achieve political and strategic goals in the “hybrid” conflicts of the 21st century.

Consequently, the force transformation trend line among modern armies is to move from threat-based forces that were designed to meet known threats to capability-based forces that provide a set of capabilities to deal with a range of unexpected situations. The combat capabilities that these forces must develop are carefully defined. Similarly, training regimes are being reconfigured to train officers and other ranks for certainty and to educate them to face uncertainty.

In India’s case, the unresolved territorial disputes with China and Pakistan are likely to remain the primary source of future conflict. Given the collusion between China and Pakistan in the nuclear warhead, ballistic missile and military hardware fields and their “all-weather” strategic partnership, India has to remain prepared to fight a two-front war. Deterrence can only be achieved by developing the capability to launch offensive operations deep into the adversary’s territory. As India’s territorial disputes are mainly in the high Himalayan mountains where deep manoeuvre is not possible, the army must upgrade its firepower capabilities very substantially if the stipulated military aims are to be achieved. Similarly, the ability to launch vertical envelopment operations will be a major asset in the mountains.

India’s increasing responsibilities as a net provider of security in the Indo-Pacific region will require the creation of tri-Service capabilities for military intervention singly or in conjunction with its strategic partners. While India would prefer that such interventions be launched under the United Nations flag, it is likely to join a coalition of the willing if its vital national interests are threatened and the UN Security Council fails to reach a consensus on the need to intervene.

Advanced armies such as those of the United Stated and its allies have graduated to launching “effects-based” operations in a “networked-centric” battlefield environment. These capabilities are highly capital intensive as they are based on secure, state-of-the-art command and control systems with adequate redundancy, accurate ground, air and space-based reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition (RSTA) systems and failsafe precision guided strike munitions. In view of perennial budgetary constraints, the Indian army will need to carefully assess as to which of the field formations must be armed with these sophisticated force multiplier capabilities; for example, the Strike Corps which are designed to launch offensive operations.

The army’s manpower-intensive deployment on the northern borders can be reduced to a large extent by employing modern RSTA resources backed by readily available reserves. New vulnerabilities are appearing on the horizon with alarming regularity. Cyber security is posing a huge challenge and nation States are finding it difficult to cope with the increasingly sophisticated hacking techniques being employed by State and non-State actors and rogue individuals. This is one field in which India’s famed expertise in developing software can be exploited to advantage.

“Non-contact” warfare techniques are gaining currency. For example, measures designed to harm a country’s economic stability — such as the circulation of fake currency — are adding to the challenges to be overcome by security planners. While decades-old insurgencies in the north-eastern states are gradually coming under control, the emergence of new internal security challenges like being called upon to deal with left wing extremism (Maoist terrorism) cannot be ruled out. Hence, the army must continually sharpen its counter-insurgency skills and capabilities.

The process of transformation must also review the suitability of military doctrines such as Cold Start and the usefulness of present organisational structures during future wars so as to enable the Army HQ to make appropriate changes. The army’s human resources development (HRD) policies, particularly the adequacy of current training regimes, must also be re-evaluated. The likely impact of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), killer robots, unmanned or autonomous combat vehicles and the opportunities provided by the exploitation of “big data” must be diligently studied.

The process of transformation for future wars has only just begun with the convening of four study groups by the COAS. It must be an evolutionary process with course corrections being made periodically as experience is gained during the implementation stage. To succeed, the transformation process must have the full support of the political leadership and the bureaucracy.

Six militants were killed on Friday in a gun battle with security forces in south Kashmir’s Bijbehera area after the Indian Army and state police launched an operation, officials said.

“We have recovered war-like stores from encounter site,” army spokesperson Rajesh Kalia said.

The operation is still in progress, according to officials.

Officials said they had information that six or seven militants were hiding at Seikpora village and when search and cordon operation began in early hours it turned into an operation.

On Tuesday, four militants were killed in neighbouring Shopian district in a similar operation

Dehradun, November 6

Army chief Bipin Rawat on Tuesday visited Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) troopers in Uttarakhand’s Nelang border and offered them Diwali greetings. He reached Nelang on the Indo-China border at 8.30 am in a chopper and spent more than two hours with the troopers.

Uttarakhand shares a 345-km border with China of which 122 km falls in Uttarkashi district. The border is guarded by the ITBP which has nine posts, most of which are located some 12,000-17,000 ft from the ground level. The current temperature here is sub-zero.

He also took briefing of the situation and later left for Harshil where he was accorded a grand reception.  Bipin Rawat also visited the Gangotri shrine where he went by road. The Army chief is scheduled to spend the night at the Harshil Army guest house after which he will leave for the state capital on Wednesday.  —  IANS

China’s first homemade aircraft carrier left her home port of Dalian for her third sea trial on Oct. 28, 2018. The Type 001A flattop could commission into frontline service as early as 2019, according to the U.S. Defense Department — growing Beijing’s carrier force to two and giving China the world’s second-biggest flattop fleet.

The new trial will test the vessel’s weapons system, control system and communications system, Wang Yunfei, a retired Chinese navy officer, told Global Times .

The 55,000-ton carrier, which Beijing reportedly will name Shandong, is a modified version of Liaoning, China’s first flattop. Liaoning is the ex-Varyag, which the Soviet Union built in the 1980s but never commissioned.

China acquired the incomplete vessel in 1998. Liaoning commissioned into the Chinese fleet in 2012. Carrying J-15 fighters and helicopters, Liaoning deployed to the western Pacific in April 2018 for her first realistic war game.

Shandong, if that indeed is the new carrier’s name, shares Liaoning’s layout and limitations. Lacking catapults, she launches planes by way of a bow-mounted ramp. That arrangement places hard limits on how heavy Liaoning’s aircraft can be — and how much weaponry and fuel they can carry.

The U.S. Navy’s own carriers use steam catapults to launch aircraft weighing as much as 50 tons. By contrast, Lianong’s ramp layout probably limits aircraft to a maximum weight of 30 tons, a former Chinese navy source revealed . A J-15 weighs nearly 20 tons empty. Fuel accounts for most of the available 10-ton payload on most missions, limiting the fighter’s weapons loadout to just a few small missiles.

But future carriers could be better as China’s decades-long investment in naval aviation begins to pay off. “Observers speculate China may eventually field a force of four to six aircraft carriers, meaning Liaoning, the Type 001A carrier and two to four additional carriers,” Ronald O’Rourke, a naval expert with the U.S. Congressional Research Service, reported in August 2018 .

The United States is the biggest carrier operator, with 10 large flattops in service. France, the United Kingdom, India and Russia each possess one carrier. Several navies operate amphibious assault ships that can support fixed-wing aircraft.

A third Chinese carrier that’s under construction in Shanghai reportedly features catapults. “China’s next generation of carriers will probably have greater endurance and be capable of launching more varied types of fixed-wing aircraft, including [electronic warfare], early-warning and [anti-submarine warfare] aircraft,” the U.S. Defense Department explained in the 2018 edition of its annual report on Chinese military power .

With more and better flattops — and new aircraft to fly from them — China could greatly extend its influence across the Pacific and Indian Oceans. “By 2020, carrier-based aircraft will be able to support fleet operations in a limited air-defense role,” Jesse Karotkin, the Office of Naval Intelligence’s top China analyst, said in 2014.

“These improvements would increase the striking power of a potential carrier battle group in safeguarding China’s interests in areas beyond its immediate periphery,” the Pentagon explained in its 2018 China report.

Saurabh Madan Mithu, the Congress councillor’s son who organised the event in Amritsar, claimed he had warned the crowd “7-10 times” to not stand on the tracks.

Saurabh Madan Mithu released a video saying that he was being framed by “some people”.

AMRITSAR: Saurabh Madan Mithu, the Amritsar councillor’s son who organised the Dussehra event that ended with the death of 61 spectators on a railway track on Friday, has released a video message saying he was being unfairly targeted for the tragedy. The local strongman, who went into hiding on the night of the incident, said that he had taken all the necessary permissions but “some people” were trying to frame him.

“It’s an extremely tragic incident, I am deeply pained by it. I arranged the Dussehra celebration to bring everyone together. I had taken all the permissions… spared no effort. Had spoken to police, (municipal) corporation, fire brigade,” he said in a video in Punjabi.

“We organised it on a ground not on the tracks… But some people were standing there and the train came out of nowhere. It was an act of God. What is my fault in this? Some officers and people have a personal vendetta against me… we made 7 to 10 announcements saying ‘please don’t stand on the tracks’. With folded hands, I request you not to do this,” Mr Mithu added.

At least 61 people were killed and hundreds injured when a train ran over people watching a Dussehra event on Friday in Amritsar.

His claim of issuing multiple warnings, however, seemed to contradict a video from the evening of the accident where one of the organisers bragged to the chief guest, Congress leader and former lawmaker Navjot Kaur Sidhu, that the crowd there was so enthusiastic to see her that they would stand on the nearby railway tracks and not budge even if hundreds of trains pass by.

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“Madam, look here, these people don’t care about standing on tracks. Over 5,000 people are (standing) on (railway tracks) lines for you and even if 500 trains pass by, they will not move,” the man was heard saying.

Mr Mithu and his mother, a Congress Councillor, remain missing three days after the incident. Irked by their absence, a group of people threw stones at their residence on Saturday afternoon — breaking several windows. Police brought them under control and placed the neighbourhood under guard. Earlier in the day, protesters clashed with the police demanding the arrest of those responsible.

COMMENT

Although the Punjab police have registered a first information report in connection with the tragedy, they did not name anybody in the document on the grounds that the accused were yet to be identified.

Mumbai, October 17

The Navy’s submarine rescue capabilities have got a boost with the successful maiden trials of its newly inducted deep submergence rescue vehicle (DSRV), the Navy has said.

The Western Naval Command here conducted the trials of the DSRV, which also set a record for “deepest submergence by a manned vessel” in the Indian waters, the Navy said in an official release issued on Tuesday night.

The DSRV, operated by a crew of three, could rescue 14 personnel from a disabled submarine at one time, it said.

“On October 15, the DSRV carried out under-water mating with a bottomed submarine at a depth of over 300 feet and transferred personnel from the submarine to the rescue vehicle,” the release said.

These trials had proven the DSRV’s ability to undertake rescue operations from disabled submarines at sea and provided the Indian Navy with a “critical capability”, it said.

“During the trials, the DSRV also dived successfully up to 666 metres. This is a record for deepest submergence by a ‘manned vessel’ in the Indian waters,” the release said.

The DSRV crew also carried out ROV (remotely operated vehicle) operations at a depth of over 750 metres and side scan sonar operations at over 650 metres, which are all “firsts” for the Navy, it said.

Once the trials were completed, it would put the navy into a small league of world navies that had an integral submarine rescue capability, the release added. PTI