Siachen News & Discussion

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ArjunPandit
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by ArjunPandit »

^^Excellent posts YIP sir, shiv saar has spoilt the noobs so much to look for videos covering google earth..very difficult for everyone to visualize teh geography
Atmavik
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Atmavik »

manjgu wrote:and the lying Pakis make vid's saying Pak Army fighting in Siachen/playing cricket in Siachen, when in reality they cant even peep into the Siachen glacier !! playing cricket in their base camp in Gyari is playing cricket in Siachen !!
whats more troubling is how many indians think that pakis are fighting in siachen when they cannot even peep there
Manish_Sharma
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Manish_Sharma »

So americans want to force Bharatvarsh to vacate Siachin and mms, tyagi, gurmeet kanwal. saran stand with usa alongwith some posters in this forum:

chetak
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by chetak »

manjgu wrote:and the lying Pakis make vid's saying Pak Army fighting in Siachen/playing cricket in Siachen, when in reality they cant even peep into the Siachen glacier !! playing cricket in their base camp in Gyari is playing cricket in Siachen !!
bikram singh and jj singh are not, in the Hindi Idiom “दूध का धुला हुआ”.

Each has his own axe to grind.

at those rarefied levels, they are more politician than general.

this entire l'affaire siachen is black lentils only.

axe grinding after retirement is both a lucrative as well as a recognised power play option that opens international doors.

The only disruptive "joker" (meaning totally unexpected) in the pack was Gen VK Singh, who trumped the financially well set bribe supply chain and see what happened to him. His political rehabilitation by Modi is an acknowledgement that there was a lot of substance in VKS's charges against the previous govt and the cosy, corrupt setup run from the MMS PMO by certain organised gangs exposed during the tatra bribery fiasco.

His attempt to disrupt the order of succession was also swiftly negated and the big guns who came into play to protect this predetermined ecosystem, right up to the SC itself, will give an idea as to who used this ecosystem for "resupply" purposes.

The fact that VKS's legitimate, valid and official birth certificate was used to stop him should give you an indication of how the Indian deep state is so firmly and deeply embedded and entrenched and that corrosive deep state has not even been dented by Modi.
Akshay D
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Akshay D »

Y I Patel wrote: This concludes the geographic description of the are of operations for the Siachen Brigade.
The two neighboring links are the Army post and ALG at Daulet Beg Oldie on the east, and the Turtuk to Batalik area straddling the Shyok and Indus valleys to the south and then west.
Gem of a post YIP sir!! Take a bow.

I have literally spent weeks and months just looking around, zooming in/out at the Chorbat La - Turtuk, Saltoro Ridge and SSN areas. Marked up so many places of interest, roads, what not. But only posts like the two you have made can make coherent sense of it all to folks like me.

This is fascinating stuff and makes you wonder about the enormity of the task handled by the troops stationed there. Cant wait to read the stuff coming up next. :)
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Y I Patel »

Addendum to the last post on Southern Glaciers:

I called the Indian complex of posts to the west of Bahadur Complex and at the top of the Chulung Gorge from the Pakistani side as the Navdeep Complex, after Navdeep Post/Point 5770. This complex has an actual name - it is called the Gulab Complex, and in addition to the Navdeep Post, it has other posts like Saddle and Shatrujit. Some of these posts were held even before 1999, but in early 1999 the Pakistani Army infiltrated into Point 5770 and used that vantage point to then pound Indian defenses in the area and all the way down to Chalunka. This came to light through the high-profile court martial trial of Major Manish Bhatnagar after the Kargil War.

To recap, the Indian defenses in the Siachen Theatre are defined by the Indira Col/Sia La complex overlooking the Baltoro and adjacent glaciers, the Bana/Sonam/Amar complex dominating the Bilafond Glacier and Bilafond La, the Guyong La complex guarding eastward access to the Central Glaciers area, the Bahadur Complex defending the area around NJ9842, and the Gulab Complex denying enemy access to the south and southwest. The line of defenses is a gently curving arc oriented NW-SE until about La Yongma Ri. From about there the defenses are oriented in an E-W direction to Gulab Post. To the southwest of Gulab Post lies Sub-Sector West (controlled from Turtok), and then the newly formed Sub-Sector Hanif extends the defenses westward to Chorbat La.

These complexes are, in the main, defensively oriented and serve two main purposes: (a) deny enemy observation posts that overlook vulnerable lines of communication to the different complexes, and (b) deny enemy access to Indian territory through infiltration routes afforded by the gorges and glaciers. The former is well understood, but the latter is as important if not more so, and deserves far greater recognition than it has so far. An additional important consideration is that actual control is exerted far beyond the ground positions held by the Indian Army, through artillery strikes and small arms fire - this is how holding high ground and having visibility into potential areas of concentration, supply, and infiltration has helped the Indian army dominate the entire theatre of operations. Consequently, by extending the actual positions to hitherto unoccupied dominating points, India can continue to exert control deeper into Pakistani held areas, and if this process is followed and taken to its logical conclusion, control can be exerted without occupation all the way to the Saltoro Valley and the nodal Pakistani bases therein.
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Y I Patel »

These posts will continue for now, but in the long run I want to consolidate all of them into one post with maps and GE image screenshots. If there is interest, I can prepare a document for hosting by Bharat Rakshak - to give this more visibility.
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by manjgu »

+100
Y I Patel
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Y I Patel »

This post covers the area to the south and west of the area of operations (AOR) of the Siachen Brigade, and to describe its linkages to the Siachen area.

The mighty Ladakh Range straddles the Shyok and the Indus valleys in Western Ladakh. The range curves in a northwesterly direction all the way from Demchok in Southeastern Ladakh to the confluence of Shyok and Indus rivers in POK. Several ridgelines and valleys/gorges (called lungpas in this area) run in a N-S orientation towards the two river valleys, and afford access to the heights along the Ladakh Range. The section of this range from Hunder in the east to Hassanabad Chorbat (in POK) in the west abuts the Siachen theatre from the South and South West. The heights in this region exceed 5,500 meters in several key locations, and there are several glaciated areas (although none as extensive as the glaciers of the Siachen region.) Khardung La remains India's principal and most direct land-based access to the Siachen AOR from this range, and from the Pakistani side, the main routes of access are eastwards and southeastwards via the Shyok and Indus River valleys. Additionaly, the state of conflict between India and Pakistan has closed for both parties one other major natural route cutting through this passage through Chorbat La from north (POK) to south (India) that connects the two valleys and serves as an enormously important strategic feature for the entire region. The Shyok Valley curving northwestwards from Turtok, as well as the Indus Valley beyond Batalik are really narrow gorges with steep ranges on either side.

LtGen HS Panang has described this area as second only to the Siachen Glacier in terms of difficulty of deployment. He is technically correct, since for India the major difficulty in the north and central glaciers area of the Siachen theatre is the need to traverse extensive glaciers in order to reach the military outputs. But the Siachen theatre is not homogeneous in its topography, and if we look at the southern glacier area around NJ9842, it is indeed no different from the Ladakh Range described here, or even the glaciated areas near Kaksar and to the west of Dras. Consequently, the military operational imperatives are no different in the Ladakh range than they are in the southern glaciers area of the Siachen theatre. Importantly, given the nature of terrain on the Pakistani controlled side, for them there is virtually no difference in the mode of operations in these two adjacent regions.

India's defenses, to pick up from the previous posts, start at the Gulab Complex to the south and west of Chulung La in the Siachen Theatre. Previously the entire area of operations to the south and west of Siachen was called Sub-Sector West (or Sub-Sector Turtuk,) but a portion of this centered around Turtuk Lungpa was renamed Sub-Sector Haneef after the Kargil War. A sub-sector is typically held by a battalion, but there are reasons to believe that the SSW/SSH area is held by more than a battalion subsequent to 1999.

The region from Turtuk westwards to the Indus River crossing the LOC is held by an entire brigade that was newly deployed during, and stayed on after the Kargil War. The line of defenses are along ridgelines curving towards the SW from Southern Glaciers area, and then westwards along the Ladakh range to the south of Tyakshi and Thang villages which are the westernmost outposts of India in the Shyok Valley.

The geographic description should convey the desolate ruggedness and the inaccessibility of the entire Turtuk-Chorbat La-Batalik theater. The Indian Army leadership, at least, was of the opinion that the rugged terrain would constitute an almost insurmountable natural barrier, especially in the winter months, and could therefore be abandoned every year during that season. This was a significant departure from the BSF's assessment - before the early 1980s, the BSF was responsible for guarding the LOC in this region, and it used to hold posts and patrol the heights of the Ladakh Range throughout the year. When the Indian Army took over responsibility for the border posts north of Zoji La, they discontinued the practice - the BSF, it deserves mention, continued to man its post at Chorbat La throughout the year and this represented a significant obstacle to Pakistani infiltration eastwards of Chorbat La prior to the Kargil war.

With the topography as a frame of reference, it's time to turn to recent military history - the Kargil War, which, by all accounts, was triggered by Pakistani Army infiltrations aimed at eventually driving India out of Siachen Glacier. The Pakistani threat to the Siachen theatre during that war was far more serious than acknowledged by the Indian army, and holds important lessons for the future.

The intrusions prior to the Kargil war were in areas left unoccupied and unpatrolled during the winter months by the Indian Army. The largest area of incursions was, and this is no coincidence, the area between Batalik and Chorbat La. In an interesting and highly instructive parallel, the distance from Turtuk to Batalik is about 90 kilometers, which is the same as the distance from Hunder to Turtuk along the southern flank of the Siachen AOR! As many as two whole battalions of NLI are estimated to have infiltrated 10-plus kilometers into Indian territory over the frontage from north of Batalik to west of Chorbat La, and occupied key heights that overlook a vital road link between the Kashmir Valley and Leh. It took the Indian Army a brigade with 9 battalions (i.e. a division equivalent), and the combined supporting efforts of IAF and Artillery bombardment, to eventually drive out the intruders. All this is well known, but what needs to be appreciated is that this thrust was actually intended as a holding operation, while the main thrust was to have been directed towards Turtuk, Chalunka, and the Southern Glaciers area.

There are indications of how this thrust could have developed in a flurry of reports that came out in the early phases of Operation Vijay. A cache of arms was discovered in the Turtuk area, and police rounded up locals instigated by a Pakistani agent called Ibrahim. The reports claimed that the arms cache was part of a plan to start an armed uprising in the local Balti population to assist in the liberation of a part of the Shyok Valley by the Pakistan Army.

It is also known that Chorbat La was secured early on when the intrusions were discovered and that a unit inducted through Turtuk Lungpa secured Pt 5220 on the ridge towards Chorbat La - hence the subsequent naming of Sub-Sector Haneef after Lt. Haneef ud Din who laid down his life in the action. Significantly, however, his body was not recovered until after the war, indicating that control was regained a lot later than officially claimed by the Indian Army. Another important indication was that no other unit seems to have been inducted into the Batalik Sector through Shyok Valley - in Major Manish Bhatnagar's trial, it came out that reserve units from Siachen were being inducted via Khardung La and Indus Valley! Major Bhatnagar's account is especially telling - he served on the southern Glacier and reported that Pak Army had occupied Pt 5770 but was asked by his Colonel to not submit subsequent reports in writing. The most direct approach from the southern glaciers area where his unit was serving to Chorbat La would be via Turtuk Lungpa, yet his conversations with superiors indicated that the unit was inducted via Khardung La, a much more roundabout route. Finally, there are several accounts of severe shelling of the entire Turtuk-Chalunka area, including accounts shared by locals and recorded by tourists as part of their logs while visiting the area long after the war. The shelling is supposed to have been so bad that civilians were evacuated to Hunder from Chalunka and villages to its west.

Taken together, these indications paint a grim picture - that the Indian Army had lost control over the Shyok Valley in the vital Turtuk-Chalunka area just south of the southern glaciers of the Siachen Theatre, and had significantly underplayed the impact of the intrusions in this area. The situation would have become even worse had the Pakistani Army been able to follow up with a thrust into the Shyok Valley through the infiltrated area or through the badly unbalanced situation around Turtuk itself. Why did it not do so, and could it have succeeded had such a thrust actually taken place by the Pakistani army with possible support from sympathetic locals?

The reason why Pakistan did not follow up with a thrust across the LOC could be attributed to India's political decision to publicly announce that it would not cross the LOC for evicting the intruders. This denied Pakistan the political and diplomatic justification to do so. In that sense, Gen Musharraf probably had a sound military plan for exploiting the success of the intrusions, and was foiled mainly by Indian politicians who did not respond along expected lines.

It is, however, extremely important to underline that we are dealing with hypotheticals in making this set of arguments. The strongest counter argument to all of this would be that it badly underestimates the fury and indeed the capability of Indian Military Forces when faced with such an emergency. So, even if the worst had transpired and the Pakistani Army had actually attacked in force across the LOC, it is very likely that the attack would have been repelled. Nevertheless, the situation was a lot worse than generally recognized, and there was a real possibility that had the conflict expanded across the border and dragged on, Pakistan would have been able to hang on to vital pieces of Indian territory by the onset of winter. If that had come to pass, the heights thus occupied could have been leveraged to further erode Indian defenses in subsequent years.

There are huge misconceptions about mountain warfare in popular imagination that even the live example Kargil war has not been able to dispel. The primary maneuver in mountains is not dramatic thrusts by large mechanized formations, but slow, stealthy infiltration by small, lightly armed units whose primary purpose is to occupy high ground and use it to choke the opponent's lines of communication. Artillery then becomes the weapon of choice, made doubly potent by the vulnerability of logistics in such areas. Military advances are not lightening fast either - they proceed at a lot slower pace, and the effects of successfully capturing high ground are cumulative over time. It is an almost universal trait, especially among military leaders, to claim that certain terrain is unnavigable and therefore not important to defend. But it is equally true that the most successful attacks are ones that achieve strategic surprise by exploiting unexpected axes of advance. This has been true ever since Hannibal crossed the Alps with elephants, and yet every generation of military leaders has to relearn the lesson the hard way. That the area north of NJ9842 was left un-demarcated was a gross oversight, and given the Pakistani obsession with Kashmir, a gap waiting to be exploited. If that was not obvious initially, it should have been be amply so after the Kargil war, when precious lives were wasted due to a massive miscalculation by the leadership of the Indian Army. The point here is not to assign blame - the individuals involved in making that decision and then allowing the state of affairs to continue were otherwise highly dedicated, competent leaders who had served India with great distinction, and had to make a judgement call on prioritizing scarce resources. They can be forgiven for an honest oversight, after all, there is every reason to believe that the lessons of Kargil are now deeply ingrained in the coming generation of India's army leadership in particular. It is, however, inexcusable that many, including retired Indian military leaders and diplomats, continue to repeat the mindless mantra of demilitarizing the region to appease an enemy that is obsessed with recovering not just that region, but the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir.
manjgu
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by manjgu »

YIP... now that we dominate the Pakis in SSH and westwards...why there is no atry/mortar duelling in this area? like its all along LOC in kashmir side?
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by manjgu »

YIP a) but Pakis had already crossed the LOC .. so I didnt quite understand your logic. about why Paki did not thrust across the LOC...the whole intrusion was across the LOC ?? b) the question which comes to my mind ..is why Pakis didnt try to capture Zoji La pass?? c) i believe that Pakis didnt come down into Shyok/Nubra valley ( turtuk etc) was that their advantage gets nullified in the valleys where both forces are almost on similar elevation?
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Y I Patel »

manjgu - by this I mean full scale attack by Pak Army across the LOC, not just infiltrate and hold as they actually conducted.

By the way, another OMG type of news buried in here about CM Mehbooba Mufti's interactions with DM Sitaraman during Sitaraman's recent visit to J&K:

http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/min- ... visit.html

Buried at the end of the article, in the last paragraph, is a cryptic mention of Mehbooba Mufti urging DM to speed up the four laning of Hanuthang Turtuk road. Is this the road leading up to Chorbat La and then down through Turtuk Lungpa? There is a lonely planet mention of such a road being considered, so... :eek: :mrgreen:

On further reflection, I probably need to explain why I am so excited: such a road would be a direct connection from Batalik to Turtuk without going through Khardung La, i.e., most direct route to Turtuk and Chalunka from Kargil Heights and Indus Valley. The road would traverse SSW and SS-Haneef Areas of Responsibility. Wonderment aside, there are a couple of miles of really horrible terrain - maybe a tunnel is secretly being considered?
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by manjgu »

hanuthang is near Kargil...actually on a trek from turtuk to kargil... people from nubra never crossed khardung la if they wanted to go to kargil or kashmir. this road does not lead to chorbat la... this route to Kargil is still in use. but four laning will be quite crazy. If they can connect hanuthang to turtuk then logistics to siachen area becomes much easier IMHO...
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by manjgu »

i remember folks in turtuk telling that they can reach kargil in 2/3 days...IIRC. chorba la will be close to such a road... right.
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Gagan »

YIP,
Different valleys !
Chorbat La (Maj Sonam Wangchuk & the Ladakh scouts) is south of the Hanuthang-Turtuk road. Adjacent to the Batalik Sector

During Kargil, the Pakistani intrusions north & south of this road meant that reaching Turtok to Thang was not possible due to the shelling under vision of the Pakistanis on top. Lt Haneef VrC, lead a patrol to get a better handle on the Pakistani positions stayed back and died while letting his patrolling party escape (hence Sub-sector Haneef)
Last edited by Gagan on 03 Oct 2017 09:34, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Gagan »

Poof !
Last edited by Gagan on 03 Oct 2017 10:09, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Gagan »

Poof! Poof!!
Last edited by Gagan on 03 Oct 2017 10:10, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Gagan »

Y I Patel wrote:http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/min- ... visit.html

Buried at the end of the article, in the last paragraph, is a cryptic mention of Mehbooba Mufti urging DM to speed up the four laning of Hanuthang Turtuk road. Is this the road leading up to Chorbat La and then down through Turtuk Lungpa? There is a lonely planet mention of such a road being considered, so... :eek: :mrgreen:

On further reflection, I probably need to explain why I am so excited: such a road would be a direct connection from Batalik to Turtuk without going through Khardung La, i.e., most direct route to Turtuk and Chalunka from Kargil Heights and Indus Valley. The road would traverse SSW and SS-Haneef Areas of Responsibility. Wonderment aside, there are a couple of miles of really horrible terrain - maybe a tunnel is secretly being considered?
They would have to go via Taksi, or drill a tunnel under it. One can reach Turtuk directly !
deejay
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by deejay »

^^^ There is pass near Turtuk which we were not allowed to cross on our helicopters while flying back or to Thoise. It is approx 5.7 km crossing (same as Khardungla) but I forget the name. I think we can have a road from there though the descent towards Turtuk will be crazy. 04 lane road in that terrain will be an engineering marvel for sure - be it through tunneling or over the mountains.

A lower cost and (IMHO and wishes only) would be to grab some territories like river valleys around and connect the places along the valley floor. How I wish I was allowed to fulfill my wishes. :((
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by shiv »

Y I Patel wrote:These posts will continue for now, but in the long run I want to consolidate all of them into one post with maps and GE image screenshots. If there is interest, I can prepare a document for hosting by Bharat Rakshak - to give this more visibility.
Hmmm tempted to cheat, use YOUR info for a video and use YOUR post as commentary and put you name for 2 milliseconds for credit like I did to Rohit Vats 8) :twisted:
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Gagan »

YIP,
I have all of the peaks marked out and MUCH much more marked out on GE
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Bishwa »

Image

Some years back i had made this map of Siachen for Bharat Rakshak. It is still available in the site.

It was made in conjunction with this article

https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/ARMY/his ... acier.html

This article itself was the result of a lively discussion we had in Bharat Rakshak on Siachen with Brigadier Ray, Col Pawan Nair, Sunil S, YI Patel, Jagan, , Nikhil shah, myself and others actively participating.
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Y I Patel »

shiv wrote:
Y I Patel wrote:These posts will continue for now, but in the long run I want to consolidate all of them into one post with maps and GE image screenshots. If there is interest, I can prepare a document for hosting by Bharat Rakshak - to give this more visibility.
Hmmm tempted to cheat, use YOUR info for a video and use YOUR post as commentary and put you name for 2 milliseconds for credit like I did to Rohit Vats 8) :twisted:
Shiv, by all means! The idea is to get this in front of as many people as possible.

Gagan, do share!

BTW - regarding the Hanuthang-Turtok road, I figure I had a bad bout of irrational exuberance last night. CM Mufti was probably referring to the four laning of the existing Hanuthang-Leh-Turtok road. That would make a lot of military and economic sense, given the linkages of the Hanuthang-Leh road with other vital road links of Ladakh.
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Y I Patel »

^^^ However, it is very interesting to follow some of the lungpas starting from a valley. One thing in particular to look for is BRO's signature loops, which indicate graded roads (even if the road itself may be in atrocious condition.) In several places, going to the highest resolution makes circles with an H pop up in all kinds of fun places.
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by manjgu »

fourlaning of hanuthang-leh-turtok road !!! there is no need... between kargil and leh , a SUV typically travels at 70 to 90 kmph depending on skill of driver... leh- khardungla ( 4 laning is quite quite difficult and not needed)..now traffic moves quite well on this stretch. in nubra some stretches can be 4 laned espicially near thoise...ahead of it ..well. I think this 4 laning news is a gaffe on part of a exebuerant reporter !!
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Gagan »

YIP ji
Please PM me your email
Will send a link
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Aditya_V »

Per Wiki, it says Gyong la was taken in custody in 1989, Pakistani post of Navdeep top was captured in 1999 during Kargil and Pakistani posts west of Chamalik glacier were cleared after thier supply base was destroyed. How far is this true.
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by manjgu »

its chumik glacier i think..not chamalik ??
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Aditya_V »

Sorry
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by ShauryaT »

Aditya_V wrote:Per Wiki, it says Gyong la was taken in custody in 1989, Pakistani post of Navdeep top was captured in 1999 during Kargil and Pakistani posts west of Chamalik glacier were cleared after thier supply base was destroyed. How far is this true.
Gyong la is the lowest of the major passes that crosses the Saltoro to Siachen glacier. Its high ground and peaks have been in Indian control and low ground is with Pakistan. Interestingly the move to Gyong la in 1984 was on foot, while the upper passes were by air drop. The point is air power, both for logistics and battle are the key to a place like Siachen.
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Gagan »

Navdeep top is 5770
Captured in Kargil
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Y I Patel »

Gagan, firstly, no ji please. Hurts my MUTU sensibilities :) . Also, thanks for the offer! I do not currently have PM enabled, and have requested BRF admins for that. Will contact you when I get PM.

I stumbled across an absolute goldmine of Himalaya pictures. First, to the bottom line - the link below is Rajendra Bhaduri's publicly available pictures. He is either himself an IAF or IA helicopter pilot, or has access to photos from someone who is. Below are his Siachen pictures, which I have not ever stumbled across before. No identifying information on the peaks or location or direction in a lot of the pictures, especially the ones with operational details.

https://get.google.com/albumarchive/114 ... source=pwa

In particular, note the following picture of a Cheetah helicopter landing at a post on the glacier. This is the first time I have seen a picture like this, and it gave me goosebumps. Anyone able to guess on where it may be?

Image
https://get.google.com/albumarchive/114 ... dcKR5ykXj_

In the picture above, looks like there are AA guns, a helipad,a helicopter hovering with some underslung load(?), and if I am correct, some post on the feature in the background.

I found this particular library from a German language website by a Gunther Seifert, which has other great images of the Karakorams. The link below takes to the Indian portion, and has an excellent image of Sia La viewed from the air, looking towards the SE:

https://www.himalaya-info.org/Karakorum_flug.html

We should all me combing through the website above for pictures of interest. I already saw several of the Gasherbrum complex viewed southwards, i.e. looking towards India from Shaksgam Valley. Please post any particularly exciting photos here!
shiv
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by shiv »

Y I Patel wrote:
Image
https://get.google.com/albumarchive/114 ... dcKR5ykXj_

In the picture above, looks like there are AA guns, a helipad,a helicopter hovering with some underslung load(?), and if I am correct, some post on the feature in the background.
Saar did you see the Boforj on the side?
Y I Patel
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Y I Patel »

I am speechless. Map to end all maps (atleast for the southern glaciers area)

https://www.himalaya-info.org/images/Im ... 2_3240.jpg

clean map-like overvew of the northern glaciers area, though without AGPL marked out as above:

https://www.himalaya-info.org/images/Im ... n%20SW.jpg
Y I Patel
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Y I Patel »

Well, **** me blind.

Pardon my Urdu, but here, for the first time in my sorry life, I am looking at the real Gateway of India. Sia La, as seen from Convey Saddle. Feast your eyes my friends, because you were lucky enough not to take that route with kaali nazar.

https://www.himalaya-info.org/images/Im ... %20SSO.jpg
Y I Patel
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Y I Patel »

On the supply route to Sia La and Indira Col. Northwards view towards Gasherbrum, flying over Siachen Glacier itself.

https://www.himalaya-info.org/images/Im ... h%20NW.jpg
Y I Patel
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Y I Patel »

Promised land. View towards the southwest from (roughly) Bana Post, down towards Ali Barangsa Camp mentioned in my post. Un-frikkin-believable.

https://www.himalaya-info.org/images/Im ... tscher.jpg

I can die happy now. Did not even have to enroll in the Indian military to see this.
Y I Patel
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Y I Patel »

The photo above is originally from Rajendra Bhaduri, but without any other geographic information. So I strongly suspect that other similar unlabeled photos may be of equally interesting areas - one looks like it could be Convey Saddle from the Indian side (ie looking northwards) but am not sure. Someone more in the know needs to comb through those photos and enlighten us.
Gagan
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Gagan »

shiv wrote:
Y I Patel wrote:
Image
https://get.google.com/albumarchive/114 ... dcKR5ykXj_

In the picture above, looks like there are AA guns, a helipad,a helicopter hovering with some underslung load(?), and if I am correct, some post on the feature in the background.
Saar did you see the Boforj on the side?
105 mm Indian Field Gun
Gagan
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Re: Siachen News & Discussion

Post by Gagan »

Image
Bana top on the left at the tip of the mountain
Sonam post visible at the base of the mountain left-middle, nearly all the way to the top of the valley
(The little white shadow/depression all the way to|| the top (Just follow the last 2 || marks all the way to the top of the pic)
Guys the helipad at sonam post is the world's highest helipad
Getting to sonam is never easy, several precariously situated ladder bridges need to be crossed
Last edited by Gagan on 05 Oct 2017 08:39, edited 1 time in total.
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