Bharat Rakshak

ParGha

The point of the conversion was to cut costs while keeping the same operational capability - not buy more equipment, nor raise more regiments.

ParGha

rohit, please take their "history, lineage, customs" with a pinch of salt. 1. History: Both the regiments of Hyderabad Lancers and the Jodhpur Lancers had mechanized to Humber and Daimler armored cars by 1944. 2. Lineage: The class composition of Hyderabad Lancers had been full Deccani Mus...

ParGha

ks_sachin wrote:And why?

Because the second senior-most parachute battalion in 1947, 2 Madras (Para), reverted to regular infantry role. 3 MLI (Para), 3 Rajput (Para), 6 RajRif (Para) and 1 Kumaon (Para) were next in order of seniority.

ParGha

PRTC is for basic recruit training and administrative elements, and it is in operational readiness of a peace establishment. They will pitch in if things go bad, but it is unrealistic to keep a peace posting under the constant stress of operational readiness - it is unfair to them and their families...

ParGha

Rohit, 17 GUARDS sent ATGM detachments but was not deployed as a unit. Same with 16 Cavalry and Scinde Horse, which had dismounted duties and VHMG detachments during Kargil respectively but weren’t deployed as units.

ParGha

They are gunners (artillery men) who are airborne qualified to jump with their guns. The 50th Para Brigade has one regiment of such field artillery (105mm guns) in Army HQ reserve, and another in field duty. It alternates between 9 and 17 Para Field Artillery. Their role is to provide sustained fire...

ParGha

“India” was an ambiguous concept then — Nepal was little different than any other Indian princely state (Hyderabad, Mysore, J&K, etc), and all were expected to do their feudal duty and contribute troops. In 1950s everyone fully expected India to formally incorporate Nepal as a state, especially ...

ParGha

The article isn't clear in it use of "1 PARA" -- IIRC, it was 1 KUMAON (now 3 PARA) at Poonch. The Punjab Para bttn (now 1 PARA) had been mauled badly in a hasty advance to Mirpur, and had been pulled back for lighter duties. Brigadier Usman had the Maratha Para bttn (now 2 PARA) a little ...

ParGha

To put it in perspective, the Bengal and Madras Native Horse Artillery and Rocket Troops were disbanded as early as the 1830s -- well before the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 (Bombay Army never had a native horse artillery component). After the 1857 Mutiny, even the native field artillery regiments were comp...

ParGha

Avadi HVF was setup in 1961 for strategic depth away from the Chinese bomber range (back then), as were many other defense factories in the South. The strategy was quite simple - low level technology (ex small arms) would be done in North India, medium tech in Central India, and high tech in South I...

ParGha

Indian Armoured Regiments are organized along this basis: Troop >> Squadron >> Regiment. Above that, everything is a combined-arms formation. Only special purpose squadrons (currently only the Presidential Bodyguard Cavalry on operational duties) have a "Patrol" under a Troop; they are usu...

ParGha

@Karan, what LTG Panag discussed is not anything new or secret. It has been in public domain since at least 2004. Not-So-Fun-Fact: One of the first operational missions for Rafale was to fly interpositional patrols between India and Pakistan in 2002, to prevent just such an operation from being exec...

ParGha

Colonial laws required all men with voting powers to own and maintain their muskets for militia service. Most men in the East coast kept standard .75 caliber Brown Bess muskets because it was easier to get bulk resupply from the British Army in case of another French and Indian War. The random calib...

ParGha

Singha, I stand corrected wrt ATGMS: Per rohitvats's excellent study on ATGMs in IA, even infantry battalions in mountain divisions are now reportedly authorized 2x Long Range ATGMs and 2x Short Range ATGM launchers with a normal complement of 8x missiles.

ParGha

Singha, the higher power engines are needed to climb in steep mountain roads. And IA battalions in mountain configuration don’t carry ATGMs. All that said, the most useful and flexible cavalry in the mountains will be UCAVs and helo-gunships. In a Dragoon role, you need ATGM detachments deployable b...

ParGha

Aren't the BMPs' engines and transmissions getting past their 25-year service rating? At some point it will become more cost-effective to just buy newer and more capable IFVs than to play whack-a-mole with failing parts. At the same time, if IFVs are less relevant to India's evolving security condit...

ParGha

The opening for the "rise" was a high-risk gamble -- they basically drew away 30+ Soviet Divisions from European Theater on behalf of the West, and risked losing all of North China (and probably Tibet, if the USSR demanded India to open up a Southern Front) in the process. Opening of the W...

ParGha

Human+ Exoskeleton will probably first appear with the naval divers, whose environment reduces some of the locomotion challenges. In Indian context, if you face another Kargil and the GOI orders you to fight without crossing the borders at locations of your advantage, a heavily armored mountain assa...

ParGha

Not quite ancient or medieval history, but the Brits recently released some home videos of a senior ICS diplomat and his family being escorted through Iran by the secretive Indian Long Range Squadron (ILRS). Its war history states that the ILRS patrolled the Iran-USSR border, but this footage is rea...

ParGha

The first two lot look like soldiers from the dear neighbor, and the last lot look like soldiers from Yemen/UAE -- so it suits their particular job profile well. For general duty, such long hair and beard in a desert full of fine wind-blown sand and scarce water is quite unsuitable. It also really g...

ParGha

Katare, an Infantry Division in India has 14-18K men (19th Division is the biggest, with even more men). Armoured divisions have 12-14K men, but they are still larger than Soviet Tank Divisions of 9-10K men. A “Division” with just 6K men is a Joker Division... in 1999 the Matayan Brigade alone had m...

ParGha

Part of the confusion is probably because people are using a mix of British/Commonwealth and German/American terminology for combined arms units. AFAIK, in India: Company+ Level - Combat Team Battalion+ Level - Combat Group Brigade+ Level - Combat Command Division+ Level - Integrated Battle Group No...

ParGha

ParGha what is your take on who gets what of Sig and Caracal? Does it really matter when the whole effort seems to be about lining someone's bank account? This Sig + Caracal deal works out to a blended rate of about $3,000 USD/rifle -- for comparison, the US Government pays FN to build M4s at about...

ParGha

Smaller purchases of CZ-75s were indeed made for some Armored Corps officers, Central Excise and Delhi Special Branch. One of the best pistols ever made, and Indians got them for <$30 a piece. Same with early AKs for <$80 a pop for the paratroopers. If that is a “scam”, I wonder what we should call ...

ParGha

Tsarkar-ji, if you take out the armor and the main gun, it is a missile carrier - no longer a tank. It too has an important role in th future, but it does not replace a tank.

ParGha

An aircraft flies in and out of the battlefield back to safe and clean hangars, so it can be loaded out with sensitive sensors; a tank is supposed to fight it out in the mud for days on end while getting peppered with small-arms and artillery shrapnel. Too much dependency on fancy electronic sensors...

ParGha

Who spots the targets at 8kms? It is very difficult for the TC to look for targets that far ahead and not lose situational awareness of his 3km—0.8km primary AOR. It may be better to assign that work to a FAO-type role, who orders missile fire or calls in fire from a NAMICA. That also makes a case f...

ParGha

The design process is evolutionary, and no one has done such a drastic pivot -- even the Japanese, with their much more advanced industrial base, shaved off only 6 tons between Type 90 (50T) and Type 10 (44T).

ParGha

“The Beckoning Isle” - one of the most realistic books on Indian special operations I’ve ever read. Col Sapru is very humble and grounded in his narration, while still being proud and respectful of all his men achieved in the general cluster-eff. I’m still trying to figure out if 1st Para Cdo picked...

ParGha

Sachin, I don’t have any experience with the SLR and it is hard to parse the marketing hype from reality. One thing you have to remember is that 7.62x51mm has a strong recoil, and IA is going to be equipping an army of not only the large men from the northwest and the south, but also the 5’2” ~50KG ...

ParGha

SP isn’t the most reliable source, but it resonates with what I have read about T90 and Armatas from many Russian analysts: over complicated, maintenance hogs which decrease unit autonomy at marginal technical advances. IA would have been better off sticking to T72s and upgrading them with better en...

ParGha

ramana, the Russian planes come with Makarovs (9x18mm) as part of standard equipment. Despite what you see in movies, most pilots don’t have enough training to fight it out against even a lightly armed police force. If someone is really feeling Rambo-ish, they can always apply to get an AK74SU (or a...

ParGha

Long stroke or short stroke or DI does not matter. It matters a lot - a long-stroke gas-piston rifle is more tolerant of dirty ammunition, but direct impingement will choke very soon. It is easier to shoot precisely with DI rifles and make them lighter, but you lose the resiliency of the gas-piston...

ParGha

Serious question - is INSAS a bad rifle? It is a good enough design, which is poorly manufactured. To put it in perspective, it is the same fundamental design as the SIG550 series being bought by the NSG (long-stroke gas piston action in 5.56x45mm). It can be simplified and modernized a bit, but th...

ParGha

7.62x51mm battle rifle in full-auto mode? Very few men in the Indian Army outside the giants of the Bodyguard Cavalry and a few other individuals here and there will be able to control a light rifle firing on the happy-switch!

ParGha

ramana wrote:How many Independent Armored brigades?

Six known (2, 3, 6, 14, 16, 23), plus one more reported: https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/ARMY/tod ... oured.html

ParGha

Ramana, light tanks (Stuarts, AMX-13s and PT-76s) were used to devastating effects at Poonch, Zoji La, Chushul and the riverine deltas of Bangladesh. Given that Indian border is mostly mountains, marshes, jungles and fine sand deserts, the light tank regiments will always outnumber the heavy tank re...

ParGha

FICV program, properly planned and executed soon, can also fulfill the light tank requirement with a Main Gun System in a 20-22 ton solution that shares a lot of common parts with the ICV (hopefully tracked and not wheeled). Not to mention the usual ATGM, mortar carrier, command vehicle, ambulances,...

ParGha

Local Kashmiris often surrender, especially if there is a political or IB guarantee of some back room deals. Plenty of Ikhwanis, SPOs and even Territorial Army personnel come from surrendered militants. It is a practical measure.

ParGha

Rakesh, is the AFV being referenced here the wheeled Tata Kestrel or some other tracked IFV? Are they planning on acquiring both, since there are both wheeled and tracked battalions in the Mech Inf Regt (not sure about the Guards)? If so, what is the tracked AFV called?

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