NEW DELHI: Ahead of their induction, Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots have started training to operate the CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters, an official said on Tuesday.

Currently, four pilots and four flight engineers have been training on Chinook choppers at Delaware in the US since Monday.

The chopper is set to be inducted into the IAF soon and is expected to give a boost to IAF operations as the heavy-lift chopper can carry arms and ammunition as well as close to 300 troo ..

http://

Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 17

Brig Kuldip Singh Chandpuri, decorated with the Maha Vir Chakra for gallantry in the 1971 Indo-Pak war and a well-known city resident, passed away at a local hospital on Saturday morning after battling cancer.

Survived by wife and three sons, the war hero would have turned 78 on November 22. His mortal remains will be consigned to the flames with full military honours on Monday after close family members return from abroad.

Brig Chandpuri was awarded the nation’s second highest gallantry award for his role at Laungewala, a remote outpost in the deserts of Jaisalmer, where a relatively small group of Indian soldiers held off a massive Pakistani attack through the night in the early days of the 1971 war.

A huge picture of Indian soldiers dancing atop a captured Pakistani tank to celebrate their victory dominates the living room of his residence here.

“We were given a choice to stay put and defend the position or go in for a tactical retreat. We chose to stay put and fight,” Brig Chandpuri, once told this reporter.

The first attack by Pakistani troops at night was stalled through anti-tank weapons. Reserve fuel drums kept atop tanks were exploded, throwing enough light for our gunners positioned on high ground, while their own smoke blinded their troops.

“Though we were outnumbered and surrounded, Pakistani infantry was unable to advance. We held them till dawn when the IAF came in,” he added.

When the operation ended, 22 Pakistani tanks had been destroyed.

The citation for his award reads: “Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri was commanding a company battalion of the Punjab Regiment occupying a defended locality in the Rajasthan Sector. On December 5, 1971, in the early hours of the morning the enemy launched a massive attack on this locality with infantry and tanks. Major Chandpuri exhibited dynamic leadership in holding his command intact and steadfast. Showing exceptional courage and determination, he inspired his men moving from bunker to bunker, encouraging them in beating back the enemy till reinforcements arrived. In this heroic defence, he inflicted heavy casualities on the enemy and forced them to retreat leaving behind 12 tanks. In this action, Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri displayed conspicuous gallantry, inspiring leadership and exceptional devotion to duty in keeping with the highest traditions of the Indian Army.”

Chandpuri passed out from the Officers’ Training Academy, Chennai, in 1963 and was commissioned into the 23rd Battalion of the Punjab Regiment. He took part in the 1965 war in the western sector and, thereafter, served in the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) at Gaza in Egypt for about a year. He also served twice as an instructor at the Infantry School, Mhow.

The Battle of Laungewala, one of the Army’s most celebrated campaigns that was considered a turning point in the 1971 war, was later immortalised by the award winning Bollywood film ‘Border’, produced by JP Dutta in 1997, with Sunny Deol playing the character of Chandpuri.

A third-generation soldier, Brig Chandpuri was born in 1940 at Montgomery in the Punjab region of undivided India. His family then moved to their native village, Chandpur Rurki in Balachaur, and he passed out from Government College, Hoshiarpur, in 1962 before joining the Army.

A teetotaller and a vegetarian with an amiable personality, he was highly active in social life, pursuing the cause of soldiers and dealing with welfare and civic issues of the locals. Besides actively participating in regimental affairs, he was also on the board of The War Decorated India, an association of gallantry awardees.

Brig Chandpuri was also nominated as a councillor in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation.

Lt General Asim Munir has also served as the commander of the Force Command Northern Areas. He was conferred Hilal-i-Imtiaz in March 2018.

Lt General Mukhtar assumed the office of the ISI director general in December, 2016.

Jammu, November 13

The Army has procured special anti-mine boots for troops deployed along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir with the twin aims of facilitating domination of the landmine-infested forward areas and hot pursuit of terrorists if necessary, a top Army officer said.

As part of the counter-infiltration grid, the soldiers have to get into forward areas for domination and at times even undertake hot pursuit of the terrorists and subversive elements, General Officer Commanding of Jammu-based, 16 Corps, Lt Gen Paramjit Singh said in an interview.

“We have purchased equipment such as anti-mine boots and deep search metal detectors out of the special funds to facilitate these operations and at the same time ensure the safety of our soldiers,” he said. He said the forward areas along the LoC under 16 Corps — a length of nearly 250 km of rugged terrain and dense bushes — had inherent landmine dangers but all preparations, including safety precautions, had been taken for carrying out the operations. He was replying to a question about activation of landmines near the anti-infiltration obstacle system and subsequent casualties in which a Lt Colonel and a jawan were injured on October 28. Referring to recent incidents of two soldiers, including an officer, getting injured in anti-personnel mine blasts, the General said in both cases they had stepped on drifted mines. “Fortunately, they were wearing anti-mine boots, which limited the damage to their feet and the limbs were saved,” he added. — PTI

The Indian Army HQ claimed in a paper that the reforms proposed by Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat would usher in a ‘revolution in military affairs’.

New Delhi: Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat’s proposals for radical reforms that restructure the soldiery are facing opposition from within the force, sources at the Army headquarters have told ThePrint.

At least two of seven Indian Army commanders have “expressed reservations” on cadre and force restructuring that aim to bring down manpower and eliminate structures such as a division in peace stations.

An Army commanders’ conference that began here Tuesday will be discussing the issues. General Rawat has scheduled Sunday, 14 October, the concluding day of the meeting, to brainstorm four studies on the reforms.

Also read: Indian Army reforms: Cutting administrative flab or needless downsizing?

“As part of the conclave, commanders and directorates at the Army headquarters will in a collegiate deliberate on important studies that have been ordered to meet future challenges,” said an official statement from the Army.

“There are four studies examining operational and optimisational issues of the Army and the headquarters as also human resources management aspects,” said the official statement.

“We are in the middle of a churn,” said one officer involved in the studies, “There is an academic debate that is on. It is okay to differ so long as you don’t throw a spanner in the works.”

Equivalent in rank to the vice-chief, Army commanders have full authority over their areas of responsibility. Any reform proposal, or any command from the headquarters, must have their full participation to be executed.

The seven Army commanders now are Lt General Manoj Mukund Naravane (East), Lt General Ranbir Singh (North), Lt General Surinder Singh (West), Lt General Cherish Mathson (South West), Lt General Satinder Kumar Saini (South), Lt General Pattacheruvanda C. Thimayya (Army Training Command) and Lt General Abhay Krishna (Central). The vice-chief is Lt General Devraj Anbu.

‘Less tail, more teeth’ 

In August, the Army headquarters circulated papers summarising the proposed reforms, saying they aimed to cut the ‘teeth-to-tail ratio’. In the statement on the conference, it added that the studies to be discussed “aim to improve the teeth-to-tail ratio, with the purpose of strengthening the structures within the Army to make it combat ready for the future”.

The teeth-to-tail ratio is the number of support personnel required to sustain units of combat soldiers. The lower the number of support personnel — the “tail” — the more the resources available to make the combat soldiers – the “teeth” – more efficient.

The Army headquarters claimed in a paper that the proposed reforms, which included an effort to restructure the cadre for the first time in 35 years, would usher in a “revolution in Indian military affairs”.

Among the most debated issues within the force that is also expected to dominate discussions at the commanders’ conference is the proposal to eliminate divisions and create “integrated brigades” or battle groups that report directly to corps headquarters.

A corps is the largest field formation in the Indian Army. Usually, a corps has about three divisions, a division has three brigades, and a brigade has three battalions. The numbers vary depending on the operational area.

Also read: Indian Army chief wants to revolutionise the military — by cutting manpower

Currently, a corps is commanded by a Lt General, a division by a Major General, a brigade by a Brigadier. This hierarchy could change if the proposal for integrated battle groups (IBG) is implemented. An IBG would be headed by a Major General, according to one proposal. This could make the rank of Brigadier redundant. Each IBG would have four to five battalions.

The Army commanders’ conference is held twice a year. The October conference also includes promotion boards that select officers for the senior ranks of Brigadier, Major General and Lt General.

Pathankot, November 12

Army chief Bipin Rawat on Monday said while the government’s policy was that those triggering terrorism in Kashmir should be neutralised, the Army’s focus was to ensure that the Kashmiri youths do not join militancy.

The Army chief said infiltration was going on from across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

“The government has a clear cut policy that it will not allow terrorists to create violence. Anybody who creates violence will be neutralised,” he told reporters here.

Rawat, who was on a two-day visit to Pathankot, presided over a conclave of disabled soldiers here.

“Our focus is terrorists in the valley. The basic aim of the Army is to ensure that young boys do not join militancy,” he said.

Rawat said the Army’s aim was that it approached the youth’s family and told them that they could ask the youth to surrender as it was still giving them a chance.

“Then if the people still do not behave and continue with violence, then the alternative left (with us) is to neutralise them,” the Army chief said.

Asked whether India is following a tit-for-tat policy towards Pakistan, which was resulting in many casualties, Rawat said the policy keeps on changing.

“See we have to keep changing the policy…We have keep doing something different. It has to be reviewed so that we keep ahead of adversary,” he said, adding that it had to be more than a tit-for-tat policy.

He said what the Indian Army was doing along the LoC was not being put into public domain and they were doing more than Pakistan.

“We do not want blow our trumpet unnecessarily. Whenever they do something, it is given a befitting reply. Whenever they are doing something, it is a reaction. They don’t take initiative. They know we are strong and we can take strong action,” he said.

The Army chief said Pakistan kept sending terrorists to cause damage and ultimately it led to violence against the people.

“Kashmiris are our people. We have to look after them,” he said, adding Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions were part of the country and violence would not be allowed there.

On sniping, Rawat said it was a regular affair and there was nothing new in it.

“Pakistan have got snipers and India also has snipers. It is subject to exposure of any soldier. Our drills should be good and we have to ensure that we do not give them any opportunity to snipe at us,” he said.

On former chief minister Omar Abdullah and Kashmiri politicians advocating for dialogue instead of muscular policy, Rawat said the government had a clear policy that it would not allow terrorist to create violence. He said it had already initiated dialogue through an interlocutor with the people.

“The government has tasked an interlocutor to speak to the people in valley. Dineshwar Sharma is saying that he is open to everybody and those interested in talking to him can come up and speak to him,” he added.

“I don’t understand who is saying talks are not going on. Sharma is the government’s interlocutor. If the people are not listening to him, what can he do,” he asked.

He said they were holding indirect talks to see if they could approach stakeholders.

“What makes us think that necessary action by the government is not being taken to bring people into mainstream”, Rawat questioned. He said infiltration attempts were being made from across the border but the Army was out to foil them. – PTI

The artillery has always been a battle winning factor. It possesses the ability to strike deep with great accuracy and cause maximum damage to even well-constructed shelters and bunkers. This was evident in Kargil when it pulverised enemy bunkers on hill tops, making the task of assaulting infantry easier. However, Indian artillery for long, lacked equipment with increased calibre and range thus reducing its ability to shape the battlefield and cause large scale destruction.

Other than the Bofors inducted in 1984, it possessed the 130 mm guns inducted in the 1960’s and 70’s and the 105 mm, home developed and manufactured field guns of the 1980’s. The 130 lacked the ability to fire in mountains and the 105 lacked range. Both guns fired limited type of shells with lesser level of fragmentation. The Bofors scandal was the basic reason behind restricting modernisation of the artillery.

The ghost of the Bofors was visible to AK Anthony behind every door all through his tenure as the defence minister in the Manmohan Singh government. He was so spooked that he cancelled ‘Request for Proposals’ soon after they were issued and on one occasion even ongoing trials. Every time anyone mentioned kickbacks, procurement deals were scrapped. The biggest loser all through his tenure was the artillery, which post the acquisition of Bofors, remained way behind in desired capabilities.

The calibre implies the length of the barrel, which is one of the factors to determine the maximum range of the equipment. Finally, after a gap of 30 years, the artillery is now being modernised. In a ceremony this week in Deolali, the home of the gunners, in the presence of the defence minister and the army chief, the artillery will induct two new guns.

The guns being inducted are the K9 Vajra and the M777. Both are of 155 mm, with the Vajra being a tracked self-propelled gun and the M777 a light weight howitzer which can be carried underslung by a helicopter. Both guns can fire upto a range of 30 kms. The quantity being inducted are 100 of the Vajra and 145 of the M777. The Vajra is 52 calibre, while the M777 is 39.

The Vajra is a variant of the South Korean K9 Thunder and is being manufactured by L and T defence. 10 guns were bought from South Korea and the balance are being manufactured in the company’s plant near Pune. Twenty-five M777 guns would be imported in fly-away condition and the balance 120 would be manufactured by Mahindra Defence.

The Vajra is destined for the plains and deserts and would form part of the strike corps. Being self-propelled they would operate alongside armoured formations and provide much needed firepower. For a long time, these formations lacked requisite firepower with matching mobility. There were attempts at mix and match including mounting the 130 mm barrel on an Arjun tank chassis, but all these had limited success.

The M777 is ideal for the mountains where with its light weight, better manoeuvrability and helicopter-portability, it can be deployed faster and far more forward enhancing the engagement range. Thus, they would enhance firepower in a region where spread of deployment restricts fire support to troops holding ground in the defensive role.

There are other modernisation programmes in the pipeline for the artillery. Last week, ordnance factories were given a contract for upgrading 300 vintage 130mm guns to 155 mm/ 45 calibre. These would then equip 15 artillery regiments. This upgrading is to be completed by 2022. The upgradation involved changing the barrel, adding new sighting and loading systems, enabling better accuracy and enhanced rate of fire.

The upgrading costs 70 lakhs per gun and is one-fifth the cost of a new piece. Once upgraded, the range of the gun would increase from its present 29 Kms to 39 Kms. Its lethality would also increase by 300% as the new shell would have 8 kg of TNT as compared to 3.4 earlier. These would be employed in the plains and desert sectors.

Simultaneously trials are on for the Dhanush artillery guns, the Indian version of the Bofors, based on the transfer of technology from the original manufacturer, AB Bofors. These are also 155 mm/ 45 calibre. In case the trials are successful and there are no major shortcomings, firm orders would be placed for 300 Guns.

In addition, the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) is also in the process of different phases of trials. This is another 155 mm/ 52 Calibre gun system being developed jointly by the DRDO in collaboration with the private sector. The private concerns involved are Bharat Forge, Tata power strategic engineering division and Mahindra defence naval systems. The gun during its earlier trials had set a world record of 48.074 Kms for a gun of its calibre. This has recently been surpassed by a new weapon system being developed in the US. An initial order for 40 is expected.

The latest to commence trials is the Mounted Gun System, developed by the Gun Carriage Factory, Jabalpur. It was first displayed at the Defexpo in Chennai in April. The system is also 155mm/ 52 calibre, mounted on a multi-wheeled truck and can be deployed and prepared for firing much faster. It has a range of 40 Kms.

How many of the coming gun systems would the artillery purchase is yet to be confirmed. If not in service within the country, these could always be exported enhancing India’s military exports.

The artillery, which for decades was languishing behind in firepower and capability, is now witnessing a boom. All the guns now either under trials, procurement or development come under the ‘make in India’ or ‘made in India’ category. Opening doors to the private sector has witnessed a change in the artillery profile and could also be similar for all other equipment.

Pushing the DRDO into a corner compelled them to seek collaboration with the private sector for better technology. It has succeeded, though pitfalls and failures have occurred during the trials. These would be rectified, and the artillery would obtain new guns, which it had been seeking for decades.

Long range missiles would remain under the strategic command. This could alter response to ceasefire violations by Pakistan. With longer ranges and integrated target acquisition capabilities, the ability to target Pakistani posts, bases and terrorist camps in greater depth would exist. With better ammunition, possessing higher fragmentation, the damage would also be far more devastating.

Finally, the battle winning arm would now come of age and be able to change the nature and quantum of support to the assaulting forces. It would also change the force ratio along the LoC and cause more damage to Pakistan if it attempts any misadventures. The induction of these guns would also compel Pakistan to go into an arms race, which it can ill afford.