Discussion on Indian Special Forces

vishal · Post by **vishal** » 17 May 2009 10:28

Prem Kumar wrote: This is the first time I am hearing about "Headlines Today": does anyone know more about them or this author?
http://headlinestoday.intoday.in/index. ... ntid=41725

Headlines Today is a TV news channel owned and operated by the India Today group.

mmasand · Post by **mmasand** » 22 May 2009 16:46

ParGha wrote:How do you stop a speeding truck-bomb plunging towards an election rally? Or even a regular car-bomb? Sh!t, it need not be an election rally at all... Indians love to crowd around incidents, so any small incident can be "created" and an attack synchronized on the gathered crowds. A .50 HMG is the surest engine-block penetrator. Any large gathering in India would warrant a perimeter security armed with light anti-material weapons.

Investment in a larger number of RF Jammer mounted vehicles which can neutralise IED's and anything that operates on a frequency or emits radio waves.Currently SPG uses Tata Safaris in the PM's motorcade equipped with mobile jammers and GPS signal jammers,however these vehicles must be armored as once could eliminate these prior to a IED.

rkhanna · Post by **rkhanna** » 27 May 2009 14:54

Dont know if this has been Posted here before. Times Now news clip on Indo-US SF Training in Mizoram.

[url]ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPp-e8ZVCW0[/url]

Gaur · Post by **Gaur** » 27 May 2009 15:02

^^ Your link does not work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPp-e8ZVCW0
This should fix it.

rkhanna · Post by **rkhanna** » 27 May 2009 15:54

Lol thank you

sum · Post by **sum** » 31 May 2009 14:16

Might be bit OT but here goes:

Am reading the book Delta Force by its founder, Col. Charlie A. Beckwith. However, as autobiographies go, the man comes across as Mr.Perfect in all regards. Could the SF gurus enlighten me as to what was the actual impression about Col.Beckwith in the special forces community and was he actually as super duper as he claims to be? ( Q is because ST-6 founder also blows his own trumpet but he was actually quite hated and as even suspended for financial irregularities etc).

rkhanna · Post by **rkhanna** » 31 May 2009 15:22

Am reading the book Delta Force by its founder, Col. Charlie A. Beckwith. However, as autobiographies go, the man comes across as Mr.Perfect in all regards. Could the SF gurus enlighten me as to what was the actual impression about Col.Beckwith in the special forces community and was he actually as super duper as he claims to be? ( Q is because ST-6 founder also blows his own trumpet but he was actually quite hated and as even suspended for financial irregularities etc).

Beckwith is/was considered the father of US SOF. i.e He served a stint with SAS then created Delta Force which has one of best reputations in the SOF community. Even SAS troopers will agree to that. Do not know of the Mr. Perfect tag but he gave the Americans a capability that was always missing. The Green Berets today are considered a tier2 SF unit and were not well regarded in terms of other western SF units. IMO you will NEVER see a bad word spoken about Beckwith.

Amongst other things he was one of the few SF Commanders who always went into the field and led his troops from the front. From and Ex Ranger guy i know the loyalty commanded by him was almost unparralled in the US military post the turmoil of Vietman. The Botched Iran rescue op was his personal "Fall from grace" after which he retired.

WRT Marchinko. Yes alot of people hate him. Yes he has even served time for "financial irregularities" and yes he blows his own trumpet. but that arrogance does come with the territory and he earned it the hardway. a UDT and Seal in Vietnam then commander SEAL T-2 , Flankowner/founder of DevGru and Red Cell. Give credit where its due. When i was in Tokyo i eventually grew up alongside alot of US Mil personels kids and got to interact with alot of them. Recon Marines , Seals etc. I read Marchinkos books in in grade school and would often quiz them as and when i got the chance. While like you say the reaction was mixed there was one common opinion. Marchinko is one of the toughest sobs there ever was in the Seals.

Another thing hatred towards marchinko really materialized around Red Cell. He really made a LOT of people look bad specially admirals and people in power. He also poached alot of Seals from other units into RedCell and later into his private community which didnt go downwell and he openly critized Naval SF HQ for not supporting him enough and letting him out to dry.

As for Financial Irregularities. The basis of the allegations (from his point of view) comes from when DevGru was setup. Naval Command dedicated their budgets to Seal Teams and not DevGru (ST-6). Marchinko saw his unit as better than the seals and wanted the very best equipment he could have and instead got all the handme downs and crap. So he stole/fudged accounts from SEAL books and other places to get the funding he wanted for his Unit. He was actually letoff with a reprimand when it was found out becase DevGru performed so well. Later as RedCell he embarrased certain Admirals by assaulting naval compounds and showing the lack of security they had including nuclear installations. These admirals later resurfaced those charges against him and he spent time in jail and was later letoff.

If you have read Dennis Chalkers SEAL memoirs you get a more sedate opinion of Marchinko and it is enlightening.

Marchinko and Beckwith are both Legends in the US SOF community . They both started an era of American SOF excellence and they were both completely opposite personalities.

sum · Post by **sum** » 31 May 2009 19:24

Thanks a lot for the info, RKhanna-ji...Seems like the col deserves all the applause he gets. Also, he does seem to have a HUUUGE regard for the SAS as per his memoirs.

If you have read Dennis Chalkers SEAL memoirs you get a more sedate opinion of Marchinko and it is enlightening.

Is there a online version floating around since doubt that i could lay my hands on this in Desh?

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 31 May 2009 20:36

sum wrote:Thanks a lot for the info, RKhanna-ji...Seems like the col deserves all the applause he gets. Also, he does seem to have a HUUUGE regard for the SAS as per his memoirs.

If you have read Dennis Chalkers SEAL memoirs you get a more sedate opinion of Marchinko and it is enlightening.
Is there a online version floating around since doubt that i could lay my hands on this in Desh?

please check PM.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 31 May 2009 21:41

the 'rogue warrior' while mentioning that devgru practised extensively with all close allies (like SBS), expressed a special kinship for the marine component of the KSK. I believe the GSG9 which comes under interior ministry also draws some people from KSK after they resign their army commisions.

except for Yindia pretty much ever major CT unit out there goes for a small and lethal unit that is separated from all others and given the freedom to do it as they want.

imho we should form a JSOC and bring all training of army sf, garuds, SAG, marcos into one regimental center to x-train and improve synergies and efficiencies, plus get away from the sheer size of the SRG.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 01 Jun 2009 00:45

rkhanna wrote:The Green Berets today are considered a tier2 SF unit and were not well regarded in terms of other western SF units.

That statement is 400% incorrect. The Green Berets have a different set of responsibilities and deployment scenarios as compared to Beckwith's Delta. Delta were and are direct action units - they go in, do their whiz bang, get out. Green Berets are more for behind the lines ops and long range stuff which last for long periods of time - this has been their mandate ever since they were formed pre-Vietnam. They are also responsible for training, organizing indig. forces - that is why the 1st troops into Afghanistan were Green Berets embedded with NA forces who trained 'em, organized 'em and impressed 'em with GPS and Laser guided fireworks pounding the Talibunnies. You will see this pattern of their deployment in Vietnam, S. America, during Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the current GOAT in Afghanistan.

One thing which US military now has in spades is a clear coherent doctrine of where and when to deploy which SF units and a unified SF command. India still has a long way to go in terms of organization and will for deploying SF correctly, both militarily and politically.

IMO you will NEVER see a bad word spoken about Beckwith.

Actually the view is that Beckwith was a honest good man but not a man who could inspire people with leadership. There was actually plenty of bad words spoken about him, some of which well-deserved. One infamous incident was when he addressed his troops after the failure of Eagle Claw and openly accused them of cowardice and for screwing up what he saw as his personal moment of glory! A lot of success re. Delta's organization and leadership actually should be credited to his subordinates like Dick Meadows who were truly the "quiet professionals".

The Botched Iran rescue op was his personal "Fall from grace" after which he retired.

Beckwith was hung out to dry by the very same Generals who sanctioned the Eagle Claw operation. In short, he was the "fall guy".

Another thing hatred towards marchinko really materialized around Red Cell. He really made a LOT of people look bad specially admirals and people in power. He also poached alot of Seals from other units into RedCell and later into his private community which didnt go downwell and he openly critized Naval SF HQ for not supporting him enough and letting him out to dry.

Marcinko was also like Beckwith (brusque, no patience with red tape cutting authorities etc.) but he was a much better leader and a shrewd people person who knew which wheels to grease. He knew how to command loyalty and how to lead groups of men into battle....in comparison Beckwith was a loner - great as an individual, not so great as a leader of special men. Marcinko has a lot of experience in SF but from public records of his claims, they are not really that extensive, if you compare it with some of the Indian SF operators who have served everywhere from SL, North east, Kashmir to Kargil.

Marchinko and Beckwith are both Legends in the US SOF community . They both started an era of American SOF excellence and they were both completely opposite personalities.

Both were similar in some ways and different in others....cannot say they were opposite personalities.

Dennis Chalker invented the Chalker sling which is used by Indian SF also.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 01 Jun 2009 00:48

Singha wrote:the 'rogue warrior' while mentioning that devgru practised extensively with all close allies (like SBS), expressed a special kinship for the marine component of the KSK. I believe the GSG9 which comes under interior ministry also draws some people from KSK after they resign their army commisions.

Actually in several interviews he mentioned special kinship with the GSG9 and having conducted exercises on oil rigs with Ricky Wegener's troops.

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 01 Jun 2009 07:01

Back in March this year, there was a news item in HT about setting up Army's anti-terror Force by March-end.
Did anyone follow up on this and was this special force ever set up?

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 01 Jun 2009 08:30

anupmisra wrote:Back in March this year, there was a news item in HT about setting up Army's anti-terror Force by March-end.
Did anyone follow up on this and was this special force ever set up?

These were existing units from Para Cdos iirc. And with reporting like this, who has any hope for our DDM. Our DDM truly excels in the art of copy-paste and thorough lack of knowledge for anything defence-related

The concept of Special Forces was mooted after the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai.

sum · Post by **sum** » 01 Jun 2009 09:12

Roughly, which units of ours will match up in responsibilities/capabilities to the American units. Are my assignments correct?

Green Berets = Parts of NSG 51 SAG and Para SF(??)
Rangers = ??
Airborne divs = ??
SEALS = MARCOS
Delta = SG
SF (Army) = Para SF, SFF (As Singha-sir says, this could be nothing but Rangers+Green Berets+SFOD)
FACs/AF Special Forces(353d Special Operations Group, 352d Special Operations Group, 1st Special Operations Wing etc)= GARUD
SOAR= ARC(??)

Edit: SG=Special Group.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 01 Jun 2009 09:45

rangers & airborne divs - parachute regiment

what is SG ?

what is US army (SF)? - I thought green berets, marine force recon & rangers were basically their army sf. with df and seals tasked with the most difficult and secretive missions.

our first SOAR will be the C-130J-mki when delivered.

Sriman · Post by **Sriman** » 01 Jun 2009 10:25

Here's my understanding of Amreeki SF structure:

Army:
1st SFOD-D or 'Delta'
Green Berets
Rangers

Navy:
SEALs
DEVGRU
EOD
SWCC

Marines:
Force Recon

Airforce:
Special Operations Wing

Technically Green Beret is US Army SF comparable to our para SF. Delta and DEVGRU are called special mission units i think.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 01 Jun 2009 10:58

There is no bijection b/w US and Indian Special Forces. For example, there is no equivalent in US for SFF and their SG component. One can argue that CIA paramilitary can be equivalent to these but unlike SFF which is a uniformed force, CIA paramilitary is not.

To the list add under USAF, Pararescue jumpers (PJs) - in fact, they have an India history too (check out the wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pararescue_jumpers ).

ARC is not equivalent to SOAR. ARC is RAW's own air wing whereas SOAR is part of US military command. Hopefully with the induction of C-130Js (and maybe some helos later on) we will have such a unit. Right now for all SF tasks one depends on IAF units though I am not sure if some train closely with SF for SHBOs and the like.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 01 Jun 2009 13:03

I think its likely we will buy some MH47 chinooks shortly to supplement the C130Js. and maybe some of the ardigen engined Dhruvs will form the mountain component of it.

Chinooks have the advantage of having a capacious hold to bring back prisoners if some 'leadership compound' or chipanda patrol were raided.

KiranM · Post by **KiranM** » 01 Jun 2009 13:07

Very long back there was a dissection of US SF/ SOF by folks (myself included) on this very thread. Guess Ahuja and JCage Sirs were right on the cyclic nature of discussions.

Anyways, my 2 naya paisas on comparison between US and Indian SF/ SOF on roles.

1) US Army Rangers (serves as special light infantry for high tempo raids behind enemy lines) and US Airborne (conventional ops behind enemy lines) - IA Independent Parachute Brigade

2) US Green Berets (unconventional/ guerilla warfare, Deep/ strategic recon), Marine Force Recon (long range recon) - IA Para SF and SFF

3) Marine Force Recon (short range ops) - IA Gathak platoons (they have the potential to carve a unique role of their own, freeing SF for deeper ops)

4) USAF Combat Airmen (Air Base quick reaction security, search and rescue of downed pilots, combat weathermen, etc) - IAF Garuds (have not completely evolved into equivalent roles yet. But envisaged to do so.)

5) USN Seals (roles a mix of those mentioned in 2 and 6) - IN Marcos

6) USSOCOM JSOC - Direct Action, Counter Terrorism and Hostage Rescue
a) Delta Forces - IA Special Group
b) USN Seals DevGru - IN Marcos Quick Reaction Team

7) Special operations Aviation Regiment and other aviation assets - no dedicated assets yet for India

FBI HRT - Indian NSG (however, role is beyond that of HR, also includes counter insurgency. Similar to Israeli Yamam)

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 01 Jun 2009 18:48

I think with suitable drogue refueling kit the C130J ma be able to refuel MH47 Chinooks if for example a longish flight like chennai to car nicobar were needed. have seen photos of MH53 being similarly fueled.

KiranM · Post by **KiranM** » 01 Jun 2009 20:36

Raja Bose wrote: One thing which US military now has in spades is a clear coherent doctrine of where and when to deploy which SF units and a unified SF command. India still has a long way to go in terms of organization and will for deploying SF correctly, both militarily and politically.

IMHO, India has not yet diversified into complete SF capability. Hence, we see no such doctrine. For example, Indian SF have not engaged in protracted unconventional/ guerilla warfare (Barring SFF in 1971 may be). From what I see, we have capabilities primarily tuned towards Direct Action and short duration raids.

And for each role, the units need not be completely different. For example, Para SF & Marcos can correspond to Green Berets & Seals (except DevGru). While hand picked SF personnel forming IA SG and Marcos QRT can correspond to Delta and DevGru.
Periodic rotation between main SF units and SG/ QRT can be maintained. Heck, SG and QRT can form a joint unit for Direct Action.

Regards,
Kiran

satya · Post by **satya** » 02 Jun 2009 01:30

Why are we comparing apples & oranges ? Indian defense & internal security requirements are different than US ones so type of SF structure & types of SF troops we need will be completely different from US ones . We will start on a wrong footing if we start with any units comparable to ones US already has type of question . Need to go see what are the conditions we have on ground and what are our operational requirements .

kaangeya · Post by **kaangeya** » 02 Jun 2009 04:25

SF are simply a means to an end, so why are we putting the cart before the horse? Quite a bit of so called "modern thinking" on SF dates back to WW2. Conditions don't always change being contingent upon an interplay of factors. The thoughtful application of certain methods works - as did the Tangail airdrop - the only successful post-WW2 use of para capability with all conditions coming together - air superiority, advancing front, superior knowledge of the territory, being some of them. Given India's super-rich experience of unconventional ops, there is a very realistic understanding of the limits of SF. for instance the Indian military has no illusions about the capability of small teams and has never fallen for the fictitious mystique surrounding this method.

A better way to evaluate our SF resources would be to identify the many different offensive and defensive situations we are faced with, and benchmark our resources with what others have.

KiranM · Post by **KiranM** » 02 Jun 2009 22:01

Prevalent conditions in India should not dictate the capabilities of our SF, IMHO. Today's condition can change tomorrow. But it takes some time to build relevant capability.

Few of us were trying to compare existing capabilities more than Units per se.

KiranM · Post by **KiranM** » 02 Jun 2009 22:11

kaangeya wrote:Given India's super-rich experience of unconventional ops, there is a very realistic understanding of the limits of SF.

Specific example Sir? The only one I am aware of are the Mukti Bahini related ops in 1971 war.

sum · Post by **sum** » 02 Jun 2009 22:33

Rahul M wrote: Is there a online version floating around since doubt that i could lay my hands on this in Desh?
please check PM.

Thanks a ton, Rahul saar.....

Am wolfing through the book currently....amazing that caught hold of both the SEAL and Delta book in the same week!!!

Now if only there was a insider Indian account of our SF soldiers....

kaangeya · Post by **kaangeya** » 03 Jun 2009 03:43

[quote] [i]KiranM[/i]
Specific example Sir? The only one I am aware of are the Mukti Bahini related ops in 1971 war.[/quote]

You've got a lot of catching up to do. Spend a few months reading through BR.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 03 Jun 2009 04:28

sum wrote:
Rahul M wrote: Is there a online version floating around since doubt that i could lay my hands on this in Desh?
please check PM.
Thanks a ton, Rahul saar.....

Am wolfing through the book currently....amazing that caught hold of both the SEAL and Delta book in the same week!!!

Now if only there was a insider Indian account of our SF soldiers....

The only one which describes modern IA SF ops is Killer Instinct by Maj. Gen. OP Sabharwal. It is a good read esp. for some hitherto undocumented small unit actions of Indian Para SF. Unfortunately quite a few pages are 'wasted' describing well known Western SF ops.

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 03 Jun 2009 17:46

Unfortunately Sabharwals book is only partial to his unit!!

Other SF get left out -

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 04 Jun 2009 00:26

^^^^ True...quite true but still tales of 9 Para SF are better than tales of no Para SF!

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 04 Jun 2009 01:52

True but he should advertise the book differently. it is advertised as a book about Indian SF - should be 9 SF onleee.

He was sheepish when 1 SF and 21 SF guys told him that !!

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 04 Jun 2009 02:05

Actually the organization of topics in his book leaves a lot to be desired. He covers everything from the Entebbe raid to Sudhir Kumar's last op. It would probably be more preferable (and I communicated that) to have a smaller book with Indian SF focus (in his case 9 Para Cdo focus).

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 04 Jun 2009 02:16

Raja - i suspect that sabharwal's editor told him to add contextual material about western forces in order to fill out the void of the average reader - who knows nothing of special forces, but might have heard about a few catchy western phrases. editor's will often drastically change the contents!

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 04 Jun 2009 03:41

The book's editing was atrocious to put it charitably with numerous spelling mistakes (and iirc some wrong names etc. too). OPS did a good job w.r.t. little interesting bits of trivia about his own unit but the other parts of the book are not quite up to the mark - those parts might well have been written by a product of one of our fine DDM training schools.

Nikhil T · Post by **Nikhil T** » 21 Jun 2009 11:12

Special Army units proposed to fight urban terror

NEW DELHI: Setting up of specialised Army units to deal with urban terrorism has been proposed after an assessment of the lessons learned during the operations against terrorists who struck in Mumbai on November 26.

An official assessment of the operations carried out by the Army's Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa area headquarters candidly admits that its basic training and equipment does not give it the ability for anti-terrorist operations.

Therefore, specialised units should be set up for the purpose. Such units should be capable of being deployed in any part of the country in short notice, the assessment report said.

"Basic training and equipment does not equip the Army for anti-terrorist operations. Specialised units to deal with urban terrorists and capable of being deployed anywhere in India at short notice needs to be considered," the excerpts from the report recommended.

Maharashtra Chief Secretary had, within an hour-and-half of the terror attacks in Mumbai on November 26 last year, called up the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Army requesting assistance in the operations.

The Army had deployed 13 columns comprising 21 officers, 43 junior commissioned officers and 729 jawans (nearly a battalion strength) from Mumbai, Pune and Nasik units and Bomb Disposal Squads in the three-day operation.

Among the lessons learned from the Mumbai anti-terror operations was the urgent need to equip all infantry battalions located in Metros and important cities with specialised weapons and equipment, the Army report said.

"It was necessary to ensure that trained and equipped capability is available at short notice. Infantry battalions located in important cities need to be equipped with special equipment like stun guns, grenades, close quarter battle weapons, hands-free communication equipment and bullet-proof jackets," it added.

On the operations carried out at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Leopold Cafe, Hotel Taj, Hotel Trident Oberoi and Nariman House, the Army said, it had on viewing television coverage of the terror attacks, anticipated its deployment and initiated action for possible aid by keeping five columns of troops on stand by.

Army columns from 2 Grenadiers and 131 Air Defence Regiment were deployed at various locations in a short span of time, as they were in station, the report, circulated to all its formations for percolating information, said.

Additional troops from Pune and Nasik were mobilised to augment the resources in Mumbai. All units moved self-contained in terms of operations and administrative requirements.

Terrible idea, IMO. Its the Central Paramilitary force's duty to fight urban terror. Let the NSG handle this or ITBP/CRPF's units in remote areas. Let's keep the Army for what it is - fighting wars. I hope they don't set up a Army SF unit (like 9 Para ). Urban terror requires full Standard Operating Procedures like liaison with the State and Central Govts for permissions, setting up mission control centres at the incident place and liaison with the intelligence to gather more information. Its bad enough Army had to spare units at Bangalore.

Vinito · Post by **Vinito** » 22 Jun 2009 20:11

keizer wrote:For our special forces we need to get:

KRISS .45 sub machine, the best in the world

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEex2UChBtw

AA-12 shotgun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnrizaO- ... re=related

XM-307
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPvjSYtr ... re=related

Firescout UAV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQvI4YWv ... re=related

Magpul Masada 5.56/7.62 capable assault rifle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJhPMIVgF6c

M-110 sniper rifle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3qQB4b4Pgo

CheyTac M200 Sniper System
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpRHdjBj ... re=related

Beowulf .50 Cal modified M-4 can be used on our exisisting arsenal of M-4s just need a conversion kit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CrUARlm ... re=related

LWRC M-6 5.56/6.8mm capable
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVHLvtAr ... re=related

All these cool tools will help our soldier fight better.

arent most of these weapons still undergoing testing...although they are shown in the "Future Weapon" series I dont think most of the have yet been adopted by the Army in large quantities, except for their special forces unit

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 28 Jun 2009 16:16

X-post.

A small article on COBRA from the newspaper bangla statesman.

NOTE : The article is a bit high on rhetoric(not that I'm complaining) and there are some obvious factual mistakes (e.g H&K MP5 is referred to as MP3. Wonder if the force members meant MP5 A3 and the journalist shortened it.) and expansion of CIJWS is wrong. What is commendable however is that the journalist has interviewed a few COBRA members and has some nice information but keeping in mind his limited knowledge of security affairs I've modified wherever I felt appropriate.

Keuter thekeo khipro COBRA (COBRA is quicker than the cobra)

Tarun Ghosh

The garb consists of olive coloured trousers and T-shirts of the same colour. The small backpack contains emergency medicines, water dry food, anti-venom ampules and syringe, not to mention six different types of knives. ( ) An automatic pistol adorns the waist. The weapon of choice is the Heckler and Koch MP5, the other hand cradles a Dragunov rifle.{INSAS and AK-47 are also mentioned as options elsewhere. Accompanying picture shows a jawan with an AK} Everyone's age is between 18 and 24, their movements are as quick as a snake strike, eyes are always darting around, taking in the situation. They speak less and depend on sign language for the most part. This is the first time this force has been deployed in WB's lalgarh.
They are the COBRA.

The T-shirts have raised questions have been raised in some quarters. The answer lies in their short history. The decision to raise this advanced force was taken by the Central Govt in August 2008. The force was created out of CRPF's youngest, most motivated and most competent jawans. Their training period is of 2 years. Since their training is still incomplete the uniform hasn't been decided upon yet. Hence the olive casuals.

COBRA would eventually consist of 10 battalions totaling around 10,000 men. Currently the battalions have been raised with the very low strength of 40-45 as against the normal 900 for a single battalion. Training is going on at two places -- koraput and variengte CIJWS. {I thought the second was in chattisgarh. It might be that the initial members would do a course at CIJWS}
COBRA members are being taught jungle survival and emphasis is being given on living off the land in jungle environment.
They prefer eliminating enemies by hand or with knife, a bullet can alert the others.
All of them are sharp shooters {a bit skeptical about this} They are taught to fire accurately from 300 meters. In stead of the familiar bulls eye, they use coconuts adorned with a red dot which are hung from trees and the coconuts are given a firm push. The dense forests in which such training is conducted adds to the difficulty of hitting the red dot on the oscillating coconuts ! Of the two years, around 8 months is expended in creating a "perfect sharp-shooter" out of the jawans.

The currently deployed force in lalgarh has only 3 months worth of training. But a CoBRA member claims that any of their member would do better than an Army jawan in shooting.

There are some thoughts in army quarters {the word used is sena-bahini but I'm not sure the author means the army} of using this force as an advance platoon, they would eliminate nearby enemies and inform the larger forces back home of the enemies' position.
Not only in jungles COBRA will also be deployed in hilly terrain, the training site for that hasn't yet been decided upon.

In lalgarh, the police are outsiders while the maoists know the place like the back of their hand. Coupled with the coming rainy season, the area could become a death trap for the joint forces. This is why this specially trained force has been brought in even before their training has been completed. The CRPF officials initially opposed this but finally agreed to send in the COBRA as a covering force for the joint forces.
The two battalions of COBRA are currently spearheading efforts to gain control of the maoist dominated areas. If the maoists attempt to break the cordon into the "free-zone", the first resistance would come from the COBRA, CRPF forms the second line of defence.

Currently there are no plans for any major offensive operation. Unless attacked, the forces would advance in small steps, gain control of the villages and send in relief and supplies for the residents. This is a time consuming process but will hopefully keep loss of life at a minimum.

RayC · Post by **RayC** » 28 Jun 2009 19:02

mmasand wrote:
ParGha wrote:How do you stop a speeding truck-bomb plunging towards an election rally? Or even a regular car-bomb? Sh!t, it need not be an election rally at all... Indians love to crowd around incidents, so any small incident can be "created" and an attack synchronized on the gathered crowds. A .50 HMG is the surest engine-block penetrator. Any large gathering in India would warrant a perimeter security armed with light anti-material weapons.
Investment in a larger number of RF Jammer mounted vehicles which can neutralise IED's and anything that operates on a frequency or emits radio waves.Currently SPG uses Tata Safaris in the PM's motorcade equipped with mobile jammers and GPS signal jammers,however these vehicles must be armored as once could eliminate these prior to a IED.

Even so, one could have a normal IED and one that is activated manually.

These are laid in tandem in Kashmir and is of great use to the terrorists!

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 28 Jun 2009 20:03

Rahul

thanks

Picture of the COBRAS would be nice