Possible Indian Military Scenarios - XII

[Shankar]

VAYU SENA BHAVAN –DELHI -2145 HRS

The chief of air staff was an out and out gunship pilot having flown the Mi 24/35 in the early years and then in charge of developing a suitable tactics and contingency plans for their use in any future conflict he naturally was entrusted with the responsibility of detailing out actual mission . It was for him to decide how and where the newly inducted apaches and LCH were to be used and in what quantity and their weapon mix, their ingress and egress routing and ofcourse fixed wing fighter cover./His main worry today was the MANPAD s or shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles likely to be present in the terror camp about to be attacked . He opened the confidential folder searched out by one of assistants and an idea began to take shape.

“Two weeks of air strikes, with low-flying C-130 aircraft and helicopters being increasingly used, without the loss of any aircraft or helicopter in Afghan territory, indicates that, at least till now, the US has had total control of the skies and that likely threats from the Stinger missiles with the Taliban had been over-stated.
As this writer had been pointing out in the past in the context of discussions over likely threats from Stinger missiles in Jammu & Kashmir, during the Afghan War of the 1980s, the CIA and the US Central Command were liberal in the issue of the missiles to the Afghan Mujahideen through the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), but stingy in the issue of replacement batteries.
While the ISI and the Mujahideen were given a reserve stock of Stingers, the reserve stocks of the replacement batteries were kept under the control of the US Central Command, with replacements being issued only after the expiry of the life of a battery in exchange for the discarded battery. This precaution was taken to prevent the possibility of future threats from these missiles to US and other aircraft once the Afghan war against the USSR was over.
These batteries have a life-period of about two to three years. The Stingers presently with the Taliban were issued to the Afghan Mujahideen around 1988 and the life-period of their batteries must have expired in the early 1990s, at the latest. Unless the Taliban had been able to extend their life-period or had procured replacement batteries from elsewhere, which is unlikely, it would not be able to make effective use of the Stingers.
The greater threat to the US aircraft and helicopters is from the Soviet missiles issued to the Najibullah Government by Moscow. The KGB, the intelligence agency of the USSR, and its Armed Forces did not follow the same precautions as the US and were liberal in the issue of reserve stocks of replacement batteries. These missiles and the reserve stocks of batteries were captured by the Mujahideen when the Najibullah Government collapsed in 1992 and then by the Taliban from the Mujahideen when it captured Kabul in September,1996.
The life-periods of the Soviet reserve batteries might have also expired by the late 1990s, but the Taliban should have had no difficulty in getting latest replacements, either through capture from the Northern Alliance or from the smugglers' market in the Central Asian Republics (CARs).
In the first openly admitted ground operation on the night of October 19/20, over 100 specially equipped personnel, most of them from the Army's 75th Rangers Regiment, were para-dropped at two places in Southern Afghanistan from C-130 aircraft, which flew them from the US Aircraft Carrier Kitty Hawk off the Makran Coast of Balochistan.
After they had been on the ground for a few hours, they were picked up by MH-60 Blackhawk helicopters. It is not clear whether these helicopters flew them direct to Kitty Hawk or they were first taken to Pakistan's Dalbandin Air Force base 20 miles from the Afghan border and then transported back to the aircraft carrier from there on C-130 aircraft.
Pakistan continues to assert that it has given to the US only logistics/emergency facilities and that the hit and run raid was not mounted from Pakistani territory. The emergency facilities required by the US consist of emergency landing facilities for crippled aircraft/helicopters and communications/take-off/landing facilities for helicopters sent on rescue missions to pick up US personnel shot down in Afghan territory. Such helicopter-borne rescue missions would also require fighter aircraft for escort and communications/radar infrastructure.
The US has, therefore, stationed an unspecified number of helicopters and fighter planes at the PAF bases at Jacobabad in Sindh and at Pasni and Dalbandin in Balochistan along with the rescue teams, medical personnel and back-up logistics personnel, all numbering around 2,000. State of the art communications and radar equipment has also been flown from the US Central Command and installed at these bases. This equipment is presently under the control of US personnel, but if and when the "war" is over, much of it may be handed over to Pakistan. US personnel have taken over complete responsibility for the security of these air bases, with the Pakistanis playing only a peripheral support role.
On the night of the first ground operation,in addition to copter activity, which was natural, there was also considerable C-130 activity at Pasni and Dalbandin, thereby giving rise to the possibility that contrary to Pakistani claims, the US Rangers and others were helicoptered to these air bases from Afghan territory after the ground operation was over and then flown to their aircraft carrier by C-130 planes.
There were two mishaps at Dalandin involving an MH-60 Blackhawk copter and a C-130 plane. The copter crashed while coming in to land and the C-130 veered off the runway after landing from the aircraft carrier. While the copter crash killed two US personnel on board , the C-130 incident killed at least two, and possibly five, Pakistani ground personnel when they were hit by the plane before it was brought under control by the pilot.
It is not clear whether these two mishaps were separate or connected. According to some reports, the mishap occurred when the copter while coming in to land had an impact with the C-130 as it was moving along the runway. “
For any man portable anti air craft missile to be operational it has to have a power source ,it has to have a good thermal signature to lock in and finally it will need someone to stand up track the slow flying aircraft at low altitude and take the shot . Break up the chain and you have a safe environment for the friendly aircraft to operate . The plan he had in mind he was sure will work but he needed some time for it to work and time was a luxury he could hardly afford on this day .

[nits]

Shankar,
Love your writing - the detail provides great realistic context ...

Suggest if you can differentiate the style of Story and details\background... May be you can have details in Italics etc...

[member_23147]

Interesting piece of News today

http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-new ... 66158.aspx

[Shankar]

INDIAN AIR FORCE STATION –BARELLY – HAWK SQUADRON – 14 X SU30 MKI MK3

Group captain Trilok sing looked back at the long line of flankers slowing coming out of parking apron behind him –the full squadron in fact and all armed with a single Brahmos missile in central pylon and full load of air to air weapons including extended ammo box for the Gsh 30- 1 cannon . He was one of the few pilots in air force who was not awe stuck with sukhois –why –simply because he has flown much faster and much higher than any flanker pilot can ever dream of . He was a fox bat pilot . All his missions were classified s all his flghts were over heavily defended enemy air space and all his flights were successful - and he still being alive is the proof any one needed that he is one of the best of the best combat pilots in the world .

Once the Mig 25 S were de commissioned and started adorning the museums and air bases around the country he opted for retraining in to Su-30 mki and the transition took almost one year .Then he was posted back to his original home base as the Hawks were relocated there from lohegaon . His intimate knowledge of line of actual control and aksai chin territory will be instrumental in the mission slowly taking shape.
The flight profile called for a roundabout approach to Srinagar /Leh via Pokhran . They will do a dummy weapon release test over the firing range in pairs and then dive deep and low off radar testing the limits of the air frame to its limit ,fly across rocky valleys and over mountain streams and split up to base in between Srinagar and Leh .

Two IL-76 will carry the reserve ammo and spare engines that may be required should an intense engagement become un avoidable. While Singh was not yet privy to the full details of the mission of which his squadron will be a part but using his not so limited intelligence could always guess it may mostly involve both close air support and stand off land attack mission of a high value target . Engaging PLAAF aircraft well that is obvious isn’t it ?

Tanker and AWAC support will be available .

Bareilly Airport (Hindi: बरेली एयरपोर्ट, Urdu: بریلی ہوائی اڈا) also known as Bareilly Air Force Station or Trishul Air Base (IATA: VIBY), is a military airbase and public airport serving the city of Bareilly, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The air force station is one of the largest airbases of the Indian Air Force (IAF). It is part of Central Air Command. It has a squadron of State of the art fighters, the Sukhois and the helicopter squadrons. The Trishul air-base in Bareilly had Foxbats capable of flying up to 100,000 feet.

The underground hangar it possesses is considered to be one of the largest in Asia. Bareilly has a major settlement of the Indian Army's regimental headquarter of Jat Regiment. Bareilly also has the regional headquarters of Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Border Security Force too.

According to the epic Mahābhārata, Bareilly region (Panchala) is said to be birth place of Draupadi, who was also referred to as 'Panchali' (one from the kingdom of Panchāla) by kṛṣṇā (Lord krishna). When Yudhisthira becomes the king of Hastinapura at the end of the Mahābhārata, Draupadi becomes his queen. The folklore says that Gautama Buddha had once visited the ancient fortress city of Ahicchattra in Bareilly. In the 12th Century, the kingdom was under the rule of different clans of Kshatriya Rajputs . With the Islamic Invasion the region became a part of the Delhi Sultanate before getting absorbed in the emerging Mughal Empire. The foundation of the modern City of Bareilly was laid by Mukrand Rai in 1657. Later the region became the capitol of Rohilkhand region before getting handed over to Nawab Vazir of Awadh and then to East India Company (transferred to the British India) and later becoming an integral part of India. The region has, also, acted as a mint for a major part of its history.
This fast-growing city is also known as Bans-Bareilly (Bansaldev & Baraldev). Though Bareilly is also a production center for cane (Bans) furniture, but it is just a coincidence. The name Bans Bareilly is not derived from its big bans (bamboo) market.It derived after the name of two prince named Bansaldev & Baraldev King Jagat Singh Kathehriya. Bareilly is also famous by the names of "Nath Nagri". The name Nath Nagri is derived out the presence of a lot of Lord Shiva Temples (Bhole Nath Temples) including Alakha Nath, Trivati Nath, Madhi Nath, Dhopeshwar Nath temples, Bankhandi Nath and Pasupati Nath. It is also famous for Ala Hazrat Imam Ahmed Raza Khan Fazil-e-Barelvi's Dargah all over the world.
Bareilly is located in the northern portions of Uttar Pradesh state, right on the border with the newly created state of Uttaranchal. Bareilly had been the location for the Air Force Base established under Central Air Command in the mid 60s. It had always housed the most secretive of the aircraft of the IAF - starting with the Sukhoi-7s, the EW Squadron with MiG-21Ms and Canberras and finally the No.102 Squadron Trisonics, flying the MiG-25Rs.

[Ghatotkacha]

Shankar,
Love your writing - the detail provides great realistic context ...

Suggest if you can differentiate the style of Story and details\background... May be you can have details in Italics etc...

I think Shankar is just playing cautious. I remember, once before when Shankar wrote how an Indian Akula captain kills three Chinese Kilo subs. Ignorant to capabilities of Akula, people made fun that Akula captain is Rajni Kant (Indian version of Chuck Norris).

Having said that, Shankar as hpatel and nits pointed out it might be good idea to somehow differentiate the details/background with different text style or color. So that if one is under time crunch (as I am sometimes) to read the story , and want to read details later, they can easily do that.

Please continue the great writing.

[chaanakya]

Small nitpick onlee

Bans - बांस -does not mean cane, it means bamboo. Cane is called बेंत - beint - in Hindi.

[Shankar]

AQ CAMP 4850 –AKSAI CHIN – ADJOINING POK BORDER ON LAC –

Abassi zardari liked his food and everyday his staff would try prepare at least one elaborate meat dish spiced with dry fruits and spices as done in his home country Egypt, coked over slow fire . This was always a problem in windy aksai chin but then the boss needed to be kept in good humor always ,as he poured over future plans to paralyses top Indian leadership by selective killing.

Abassi was in foul mood today .The new batch of recruits from Kashmir was taking too long to understand the technical complexities of remote detonation and c-4 .Most of them where simply terrified of the high energy material and rest too brazen and careless .He had 15 more days to shape them up and send them over to the Indian capital on the eve of independence day to carry out a string of diversionary serial blasts in the capital as the Indian prime minister was giving the speech from Red fort . The real mission was of course much different. Three members of his core team all experts in small arms and explosive was scheduled to fly into Delhi in few days and position themselves for spectacular attack on the public assembled to celebrate the Independence Day in ramparts of Red Fort. And then one of them will detach and do the un thinkable as the chaos make and effective security much less effective and fool proof.

The compound was was guarded 24x7 with four different groups carrying shoulder fired anti-air craft missiles, three corners of the triangular compound had within high boundary wall was located three SA-6 launchers taking command from a small underground window less room . For rapid escape a set of six 4WD jeep were placed at strategic locations around the camp.
Inside the low concrete structure Yemeni and Egyptian guards equipped with AK 74 /AKM s were always on patrol. The protective boundary wall was almost 12 ft high topped with razor sharp barbed wires and fitted with both motion sensors and CCTV monitored inside the compound by a small group of dedicated Jihadis ,

The abbotabad mission has taught Abasi many things foremost of which is the Americans were totally unpredictable so he made his shift from Waziristan to Aksai chin expecting the Americans not to pursue him into Chinese territory. At the same time he deliberately toned down attack against NATO forces when US withdrawal was imminent .He knew India will take over the US role in Afghanistan sooner than later. So in his plans creating chaos in Indian capital was highest priority.He also assumed India will not dare enter china territory and risk a full scale war with the dragon . He also believed the presence of local PLA garrison few km from his camp would serve as a strong deterrence to any adventurous minded indian plan to come in “hot pursuit”.

He was right and wrong. He did not have any idea the force level being readied right now against him, He also mistook India’s double speak international forums as a sign of weakness. And he did not know about Indian armed forces true capability in undertaking counter terrorism missions because they have never been discussed.

[Shankar]

SOME WHERE IN WESTERN SECTOR -300 KM FROM POKHRAN WEAPON TESTING RANGE –BARELLY – HAWK SQUADRON – ALPHA GROUP-4 X SU30 MKI MK3


NEW DELHI, June 20 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian-Indian BrahMos Aerospace joint venture has finished the development of the airborne version of an advanced supersonic missile, the company's managing director has said.
Established in 1998, BrahMos Aerospace designs, produces, and markets supersonic missiles, whose sea-based and land-based versions have been successfully tested and put into service with the Indian Army and Navy.
"For the airborne version...we had to reduce the mass of the missile and to ensure aerodynamic stability after its separation from the aircraft. The air-launched platform has its own initial speed during the launch of the missile, so we have reduced the size of the booster. Now the missile is ready," Sivathanu Pillai told RIA Novosti in an exclusive interview.
The BrahMos missile has a range of 180 miles (290 kms) and can carry a conventional warhead of up to 660 pounds. It can hit surface targets while flying at an altitude as low as 10 meters (30 feet) and at a speed of Mach 2.8, which is about three times faster than the U.S.-made subsonic Tomahawk cruise missile.

The official said the Indian Air Force had chosen SU-30 MKI Flanker-H multirole fighter as a trial platform for the missile.
"We have a schedule for flight trials, but progress has slowed down, as Russia's Sukhoi Design Bureau has its own priority for fifth generation aircraft," Pillai said.
India is planning to produce at least 140 Su-30MKI fighters by 2014 under a Russian license with full technology transfer.
Experts estimate that India might purchase up to 1,000 BrahMos missiles for its Armed Forces in the next decade, and export 2,000 to third countries during the same period.


Group captain Trilok singh remembered very well those tense days and nights since most of Brahmos launcheswere carried out at night .A flight of three Su 30 mki s would take off from Barelly and follow a confusing route to the firing range at Pokhran .While officially the range of world’s fastest cruise missile have always been declared s 290 km the real range was closer to 750 km There were several problems during test firing of land attack version if Brahmos at Pokhran . To start with the range capability had to be guarded at all cost so the missiles would be programmed to launch at near stall speed of the heavy aircraft and then programmed to fly in a helical route before homing in on the radar reflecting target markers. Pune being a busy civilian airport as well none of the missile carrying flankers never did take off from Lohegaon .
To reduce weight the booster section of the missile was almost snipped off and at 2367 kgs weight it could be accommodated either on the central pylon or on the innermost wing pylons , But during trails it was found that big missiles once loaded on inner wing pylons created several aero dynamic problems like much higher take off speed ,significant decrease in turn and roll rate and also very high landing speed -so it was finally decided to restrict the load to one missile per aircraft and that was the configuration the first weapon was tested in the winters of 2011 .

Missile release would throw up its own set of control difficulties for the onboard computer. During the first few releases the computer tended to pitch down the aircraft immediately after weapon release creating a hazardous situation where the nose of the aircraft was pointing directly at the just ignited missile starting its initial climb out. The software on both the missile and aircraft was modified to take care of this problem. The missile ignition was delayed by 2. 5 seconds to increase vertical separation and commanded to turn at right angles to aircraft flight path till booster burn out is complete and then reacquire the originally programmed strike vector .As for the aircraft the flight computer was reprogrammed to make the aircraft make a 180 degree turn from weapon release point followed by a max rate climb for 10 seconds before returning to programmed flight path and provide mid-course guidance to the missile. Also the weapon release profile was modified substantially from level flight release to something similar to release profile of a gravity nuclear weapon classic “lop toss “method

[Singha]

penguin india has published a novel "the terrorist" about two young men who head different directions in life - one becomes a LET elite, one becomes a SF officer in delhi....india hits some LET camp in aksai chin while they respond by planning a big attack in delhi august15. the book seems to contain detailed encounters in urban scenarios in delhi...
scenario enthusiasts might want to check out.
http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/en/content/terrorist

[Shankar]

what a co incidence - never heard of the book before but looks like others have the same idea too -

[nits]

penguin india has published a novel "the terrorist" about two young men who head different directions in life - one becomes a LET elite, one becomes a SF officer in delhi....india hits some LET camp in aksai chin while they respond by planning a big attack in delhi august15. the book seems to contain detailed encounters in urban scenarios in delhi...
scenario enthusiasts might want to check out.
http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/en/content/terrorist

I completed reading the book last week; its really nice and provides a thriller read... go for it

[Shankar]

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) garrison and armed police stationed in Tibet are pillars of social stability in the region and a fresh force to Tibetan economy, a senior official said in Lhasa on Saturday.
Raidi, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, made the remarks on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the founding of Tibet Autonomous Region, which falls on Sept. 1.
"The garrison and armed police have been helping the local people a lot in promoting education, science and technology, medical treatment and in major project construction and disaster relief," said Raidi, who worked in Tibet for dozens of years.
The troops helped build the first highway, first power station,first school and first factory in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, which was backward and in a serfdom society 40 years ago.
The troops have been making noticeable contributions to safeguarding China's southwest border, upholding the country's unification and building up the highland, Raidi said, adding their contributions will be recorded in the history of Tibet.
Raidi is deputy head of a delegation of the Chinese central authorities, which is in Lhasa to attend celebrations for the region's 40th founding anniversary.


SNAPPER FLIGHT –C-130 J X1 -2200 HRS- 40 KM FROM LEH –

As she flew over the mountains outward towards the river Ambika mentally went over the standard pre landing check list for high altitude landing

at 25nm from destination airport
during descend (vvi 500-800ft/min) ias 220kts => set flaps 10%
continue approaching

on final 12-15 nm @ias 180kts ==> set flaps 50%
wait until ias 165kts ==> gear down (locked and checked) Air cond - no press
(cabin altitude must set on descend passing 10,000ft
value = destination airport elevation)

Follow PAPI lights
control ias 140kts until 800ft set flaps 100%
*at flaps 100% ias =120kts

100ft flare (touchdown speed 95-100kts)
don't forget to calculate landing fuel weight
(RTAF c-130H landing fuel 13,000-15,000lbs)

And then she scanned the multi-function display as well as the head up display as throttled down to 1800 knots and set flaps 50 percent , the four massive turbo props responded immediately and the buffeting increased as she started losing altitude –switch off RNP enable and she took full manual control and started slow banking dive towards the runway
-leh tower – snapper flight – request permission to land
-snapper flight – we have you on ILS – you are cleared to land – be advised wind at 15 knots from south west – runway lights activated –over
-cleared to land – snapper flight –coming in now –
Speed down to 170 knots -landing gear down locked and checked – a touch of air brakes – indicated air speed 140 knots –altitude 1000 -900-800 ft –set flaps 100% -indiacted air speed 130-120 knots – crossing runway threshold –altitude 100 ft –landing fuel weight checked at 14500 lbs – flare out – cut engine –altitude 60-40 20 -10 touch down and the heavy bird settled down cool and comfy –time to bring the nose wheel down – reverse prop pitch – strong touch on radar to counter the cross wind align on center line –speed 90 knots – light touch on brake – 80-60 – full pressure on brake –speed 30-20-10 knots – turn to port and into sole taxi way .

China has created world class infrastructure on the Tibetan plateau in terms of highways, rail links, airports, logistic installations and oil pipelines which have civilian as well as military usage, allowing China to settle its Han majority population into these sparsely populated areas, project power in Central and South Asia, and make sustained efforts to integrate these alien areas. These unprecedented infrastructure developments have significantly multiplied the war waging capabilities of China, including against India. The over-reaching Chinese military, security and economic ambitions have ensured the transformation of once buffer state of Tibet into another Chinese province where infrastructure clearly exceeds the current demographic and security requirements. From these massive infrastructure developments in Tibet and the neighbouring regions, which have been objectively documented in this article, it is evident that China now intends to pursue its strategic interests on its western borders.
“If a gun is introduced in Act I, it will be used in Act III.” - Anton Chekhov
China's People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) conducted a first-of-its-kind live-fire air attack drill on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, state media reported on Thursday.
The PLAAF's J-10 fighters conducted ground attack training in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), testing its capabilities at the 3,500-metre-high plateau amid freezing temperatures, the PLA Daily reported.
This was the second live-fire drill in recent months, following a major operation in October that comprised the air force and armour and artillery units, according to the official Global Times. The newspaper said the J-10's activities on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which is under the Chengdu military region, have been “relatively frequent in the past months”.
While the reports did not give the reason for the exercises, Indian analysts have pointed out that the Chengdu military region and the PLAAF in Tibet are primarily tasked with defending the disputed border with India.
Bai Wei, former deputy chief editor of Aviation World Monthly, told the Global Times that the J-10 was designed “as an air superiority fighter, focusing on air combat and interception capability” but with modern sensors “can also perform well in ground attack roles”.
The drills would help deal with the particular obstacles posed by the plateau such as low oxygen density, which makes it harder to ignite aircraft engines, and shorter runways.
“These reports indicate that China is [strengthening] its conventional deterrents,” said Srikanth Kondapalli, an expert on the Chinese military at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
“They basically want to convey to India or other neighbouring countries that they are preparing in high altitude [conditions].”
The two recent drills, he noted, were likely a response to India announcing its deployment of Sukhoi 30 aircraft. Since then “both sides have been ratcheting up” and displaying their capabilities.
“Advertising it in the popular media is one way of communicating to other side: We are also doing something.” “India is doing something similar, whether through the Agni-V test or the Su-30 deployments.”

[Shankar]

VAYU SENA BHAVAN – 2210 HRS

The Chief of air staff was worried man. He knew the high value search and destroy operation of a terrorist base inside aksai chin can have serious ramifications and may even lead to limited high intensity conflict in the region . His objective was to make the operation quick and clean-giving the PLAAF minimum time to respond or the situation can turn very dirty.
In front of him the navy and army chief was quite too. Each checking out the contingency plans should something go wrong. The basic infiltration plan called for
-insertion of an army special forces team across the lake in mini submersibles and set up on ground intel capability near the terrorist camp real time basis. This team will include elements of marine commando force too . Signal from Leh indicated they have already reached Leh and should be on their way in a few hours.
- air defense suppression with LCH squadron and anti-armor support if required shall be provided by the newly inducted apaches
- snatch and grab operation by a modified flight of LCH once the perimeter was secure
- Su-30 will provide all air cover and may join in close air support role also if situation turns nasty during extraction phase
- over all mission command and control will be provided by a PHALCON AWAC flying out of Agra . No air to air refueling mission was envisaged but a pair of IL-78 will be on 5 min alert At Srinagar
- Back up army groups with weapon locating radars and light howitzers will be on standby in Indian side of line of actual control and will provide fire support if required .

The Lanzhou Military Region is one of seven military regions in the People's Republic of China. It directs all military and armed police forces in Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, and Shaanxi. The Ali area of northwest Tibet also falls under this Region. It is headquartered in Lanzhou in Gansu Province. It is bordered to the south by the Chengdu Military Region, and to the north by Mongolia, the Altai Republic, which is a political subdivision of the Russian Federation, and Kazakhstan.
In 2006 the International Institute for Strategic Studies attributes the Region with an estimated 220,000 personnel, a single armored division, two motorized infantry divisions, one artillery division, one armored, two motorized infantry, one artillery, one anti-aircraft brigades plus a single anti-tank regiment. However, due to on-going reorganization and reductions virtually all figures for numbers of Chinese military formations should be taken as indicative only.
The Region includes two Group Armies (the 21st at Baoji and the 47th at Lintong) plus two Armed Police Units (the 7th and 63rd). Known smaller formations include the 12th Armored Division ('84701 Unit') at Jiuquan, Gansu. The region also includes the Xinjiang Military District, unusual among PRC military districts in that it contains a significant number of combat troops (the 4th Infantry Division, 6th Infantry Division, 8th Infantry Division, and, apparently, the 11th Highland Motorized Infantry Division reportedly either at Urumqi or in the Karakoram Mountains
there are command posts at Xi'an and Urumqi. 6th Fighter Division
o 16th Air Regiment (Yinchuan) (Su-27)
o 18th Air Regiment (Lintao) (J-7)
o Air Regiment (Jiuquan) (J-7, JJ-7A) - the Lanzhou MR Training Base was formed from 46th Div. In April 2012 this Regiment was re-subordinated to 6th Division.
• 36th Bomber Division
o 107th Air Regiment (Lintong) (H-6H)
o 108th Air Regiment (Wugong) (H-6E/F, H-6M)
• Urumqi Base
o 111th Brigade (Korla-Xinhiang) (J-11s) - 111th Regiment, 37th Fighter Division became a brigade in 2012, according to Scramble.nl/cn.htm.
o Brigade (Urumqi-South) (JH-7) - ex 110th Air Regiment, 37th Division.
o Brigade (Malan/Uxxaktal) (JJ-7A) - until 1988 the Regiment operated as 16th Division based at Ertaizi, after which it was transformed into Shenyang Military Region Training Base. JJ-7A aircraft were declared operational in July 2011. April 2012 the Regiment changed into a Brigade and got subordinated to Urumqi Base and moved to Malan.
o Brigade (Changji) (J-8F, JJ-7A) - the Regiment used J5 and later J6 until 2002 when J8Hs arrived. These were replaced by J8F in 2006. In 2008 the Regiment moved from Kuerla, north of the city. In 2012 37th Div/109th Reg turned into a Brigade.
• 5th Flying Academy
o 1st Regiment, 5th Flying Academy (Hami)
o 2nd Regiment, 5th Flying Academy (Zhangye SE)
o 3rd Regiment, 5th Flying Academy (Wuwei)

[Shankar]

MARCOS TEAM 6 – IAF STATION AGRA -2330 hrs

Commander Ranjit saxena relaxed against the air frame of IL-76 with his team of 20 marine commandoes as the takeoff clearance was awaited. Their job was tricky – to penetrate the mostly Chinese controlled high altitude lake and establish a bridge head on the other side quietly then create help more heavily armed army paras to penetrate again very quietly and then proceed to target bravo and do the needful .While the paras will be responsible for perimeter security the real snatch and grab of high value target will be his teams responsibility and naturally they will be the cutting edge of the sword in this mission.
It was time for another weapon check


Glock 17 9mm Semi-automatic pistol- 10 nos
SIG P226 9mm Semi-automatic pistol-10 nos

.Uzi 9mm Sub-machine gun- 10 nos
.HK MP5 9mm Sub-machine gun-20 nos
.AKM Assault rifle and it's variants
.AK-103 Assault Rifle- 20 nos
Heckler & Koch MSG90 Semi-automatic sniper rifle- 6 nos

.Cross Bow With Cyanide Tipped Arrow- 4 nos
.IMI Negev Light machine gun- 4 nos
.PK General purpose machine gun- 3 nos
.AGS-17 Automatic grenade launchers
.RCL Mk III 84mm Recoilless rifle- 4 nos

.9K38 Igla MANPADS- 4 set

Mini submersible – model 34NX - 4 NOS( underwater scooters developed by DRDO )

The engine roar change and the giant transporter started moving out of the parking ramp. Ranjit leaned back on the hard metal seat and scanned one last time all equipment amoom and their tools of trade were secure in nylon webbing and tightly fastened. It will be a nearly 3 hour flight and they will be in Leh by early morning.

[manish.rastogi]

Shankarji the story is going great. One thing, I wouldn't mind waiting for a few days but please most 2-3 posts at a time.

[Shankar]

AQ CAMP 4850 –AKSAI CHIN – ADJOINING POK BORDER ON LAC – 0500HRS DAY 1

Abassi zardari yawned out of his hard mattress into ice cold stone floor .The sun was yet to rise and the cold dry mountain air on his face felt invigorating .He looked at the radar repeaters and the alarm status board .The screen was clear and the alarm indicators were all on green . Outside his heavily armed personal body guards were already around the wood fire heating up a fresh kettle of tea. The smell of marijuana hung thick in air and he made it a point to find out who amongst his guards were getting too much in to weed . No better he would make an exemplary punishment out of the weed smoking ,that will re enforce absolute discipline and also relieve the bore dom

Abassi missed his land the big and majestic Nile river and the green wheat fields, the aroma of freshly baked naans and the spicy kebabs ,the crowded markets of Cairo and his army life with all the comforts and discipline but that was his past . Today he was scheduled to give a final explosive safety and use check to the large group of mujaheedeens on way to Delhi .Thier numbers were unusally large almost 60 and he hoped at least one of the four groups will be able to penetrate the tight security cordon around Indian national capital and achieve the glorious objective .

The steamy cup of raw tea came in and also some freshly baked spiced naan which would make his breakfast .As he washed his hand and face quickly the icy water almost took his skin off. In the distance the sun was slowly coming up behind the ragged peaks heralding the onset of another day .

[Shankar]

Aksu Wensu Air Base 41°15′43″N 80°17′34″E- Lanzhou Military Region- 0615 HRS –DAY 1

Colonel Chang Zong was not a happy man . Almost at the end of his carreer and now in charge of a god forsaken air base in the out of lime light eastern borders ,he did not expect anything to happen to him or his flagging carrier any time soon . Outside his pre-fabricated command hut cum air traffic control – the long line of Su 27s stretched out along the runway under plastic snow sheds . The heavy snowing have clogged up the only runway and now the lone snow blower was fighting aloosin g battle to clear the snow and allow the morning combat air patrol to take off . Outside his driver was valiantly trying to get his diesel jeep started but from the sound of it not much success on that front too.His orderly came in with official mail print outs and some confidential intel briefing in sealed envelopes. The morning paper had the news of India’s agni 6 ICBM test success on front page and world reaction to it.

He made a mental note of calling up the damned Egyptian terrorist leader later in the morning and tell him to leave Chinese territory forthwith .He never could understand why higher up in Beijing allowed such a presence in the disputed aksai chin region. But then he was just a lowly soldier and his was not to reason why.

First of the Su-27 S started her engines and then the second they will be on patrol for all of 3 hrs and back base by breakfast time .The second patrol will only take off after lunch that is 1300 hrs . Though the flankers were superb warbirds but also were fuel guzzlers and he had to manage what he had for next 7 days till the next aviation fule shipment was due by train .

[Shankar]

AIR FORCE STATION LEH – 0700 HRS

Colonel Joshi strapped himself to the seat and behind him the motely convoy of gypsies and Tatras stretched out .The journey to line of actual control will take approximately 6 hrs and so they should be in base camp by 1300 hrs . The journey plan called for some hot breakfast on the way at Karu cross changla pass at 1130 – and reach Pong gong lake 1300 hrs .

Joshi nodded to the young para commando acting as lead driver in this part of the journey and the convoy started on the winding wonderfully scenic road to Pong gong lake. The mood was upbeat but restrained .Everyone was checking and rechecking the personal weapons. The Tatras carried the advanced light helicopter and the super boat.

A lone IL-76 took off over head with a thunderous roar. Unknown to any one the second back up group of marine commandoes have just been drooped .They will undergo 24 hrs of accelerated acclimatization and will be part of the mission too in a different kind of way. Their identity and location will always remain a secret except to very few.

As they came out of air base Joshi could not but help look at the long line of flanker squadron being refueled and pushed to ops ready position . He frowned and then realized the importance of his teams mission and the risks it carried if any thing went wrong . He bent down and opened the map case as the gypsy took first of the many sharp hair pin turns towards Pong Gong lake.

[Shankar]

AQ CAMP 4850 –AKSAI CHIN – ADJOINING POK BORDER ON LAC – 0100HRS DAY-INERACTIVE MOTIVATIONAL VIDEO TRAINING SESSION

Abassi zardari looked at the motely group of would be Muja heeds who have just finished a 10 mile run on the hard cold rocks of aksai chin training ground . He knew his time was running out and the Chinese for so long tolerant of their presence wants him out in view of growing trade relations with India . He also knew Indian security forces were ready on the other side of line of actual control,waiting to trap and kill them as they attempted the cross over to Ladakh .Unlike POK there was no tree cover in aksai chin so he had to push in his group under cover of darkness and clouds –and he had to do it in next few days .

The soldiers were a dirty green grainy blurr.They moved towards the house with assault rifles raised like hunters stalking an elusive prey. All of them had a bulbous night vision device attached to their helmets .One of them stealthily peeped inside the house what he saw made him relax surely something not military and he signaled others waiting at a distance .The video cut to probing thermal torches inside house .The rooms were being searched and ransacked .Men were quickly rounded up their hands tied down with plastic hand cuffs .The women cowered in a corner room as a single soldier with his rifle kept guard .The women started wailing a last ditch effort to save their husbands and brothers .The American soldiers were now forcing the men to lie flat on their stomach as the rest of the team made for upstairs rooms .”the infidels has no sanctity of Muslim homes “said the authoritative voice over “they treat our women with utter disrespect- like thieves they creep up under cover of darkness “.some muffled shots rang out upstairs and then the thump thump of many heavy helicopters filled the screen. A body draped in plastic body bag was loaded onto the lead chopper like a bag of garbage and few women were pushed in also quickly and the un usual looking choppers with ducted tail rotors started lifting off one by one and vanished into darkness .

The video panned out and then a series of still frames appeared –of a man standing naked with arms spread, a man on leash like a dog by a huge American lady soldier .The authoritative voice of the narrator came on again” the infidel imprisoning pious Muslims in prisons and humiliate them where as they are the ones who are real criminals ,looting the world for oil and force on us their dirty way of living “.Another still appeared that of a young school girl barely out of teens “ Reshma was only 14 when the infidels took her forcibly on the streets of Kabul repeatedly and then shot her point blank” A short video of many veiled women wailing over a small corpse .The video cut off again and a new one came in planes striking the large twin towers and the dramatic crash in dust cloud .”We shall avenge and we shall prevail “came in the narrator voice again.

The lights came on and Abassi checked the faces. They were flush with anger and excitement .They were almost ready. A few more sessions like this and few technical sessions and this group will follow his advice to the limits of endurance and beyond. They will be the next batch of martyrs in the never ending struggle for religious sanctity and land of true believers.

[Shankar]

PONG GONG LAKE CAMP –LADAK-LINE OF ACTUAL CONTROL – 1300 HRS –DAY 1

Colonel JoshI jumped out of the Gypsy and scanned the horizon the deep blue lake ,the sky has cleared up and the reflection of the snowcapped peaks on the blue waters was simply out of the world .As the soldiers got busy unloading the weapons and other special equipment ,Joshi decided after lunch they should go for a forced re acclimatization trek in the frigidly beautiful locale. That will also give him some time to study the terrain and decide on best point of crossing, where to set up the sat link terminal and most importantly asses the PLA preparedness along the lake.

Colonel joshi idol was Major Kumar and he was Joshis personal weapons Guru .When Kumar died a par of Joshi died too .Now he had just one specific object in life –avenge the terrorists who were responsible for his mentors death many years back .

Special Forces soldiers are grouped into 12-man Operational Detachment Alpha teams or ODA’s. In this manner they are organized for unconventional warfare, the only unit in the military specifically designed to fight the type of counter-insurgency operations that India finds itself in today. Because of their task organization and inherent decentralization, each ODA has it’s own attitude, it’s own culture, and it’s own way of getting things done. While each team has it’s own SOP’s in place, don’t expect a high level of standardization here. ODA’s have to remain flexible and versatile, shifting gears from one deployment to the next, one mission to the next, and adapting to each new situation as it presents itself. Special Forces men work in the gray; they are influencers and enablers who build relationships with their host nation counterpart’s years before wars begin. Rather than chase glory, they are often content to hang in the background and let the indigenous soldiers they trained take the credit. This is really the bread and butter of Special Forces, but these types of missions don’t make the headlines. They are subtle, and difficult to explain in the soundbytes that are found on TV news channels. As the battlefield becomes even more complex and conflicts are increasingly waged by non-state actors such as terrorist organizations, the only military unit organized for unconventional warfare, Special Forces, will be at the tip of the spear always .

Major Sudhir Kumar, 9 Parachute (Special Forces), SM plus Bar to SM, was commissioned into the 3rd Jat Regiment on 11 June 1988. A valiant warrior, Major Sudhir Kumar spent eight years fighting militants in the Kashmir Valley, and prior to that was posted to Sri Lanka as part of the IPKF. In Sri Lanka, he learnt & excelled in the art of fighting guerrillas in jungle terrain. He subsequently joined the Parachute (Special Forces) to become an accomplished sky diver. He was an expert in radio communication, use of explosives and was an ace marksman in all weapons of war. He held the coveted appointment of Instructor at the Indian Military Academy (IMA) and was sent for an intelligence course to the United States. He went on to top the course and was rewarded with a certificate by the Governor of Alabama, making him the Honorary Colonel of the Alabama Army.

Major Sudhir Kumar was Aide-de-Camp (Security) to the Chief of Army Staff, General Ved Prakash Malik, from December 1997 to June 1999. He left this assignment, to join his unit, to fight the Pakistani intruders at Kargil and performed exceptionally during the conflict. On 29 August, Major Sudhir Kumar Walia with a squad of five commandos was on a "Search and Destroy" mission in the dense jungle of "Hafruda Forest" in Kupwara district, J&K. The squad suddenly chanced upon a well camouflaged hide out having twenty terrorists. Maj Sudhir Kumar surged ahead of his squad and taking advantage of the element of surprise, neutralised the sentries and single handedly killed four militants. In spite of the grave injuries during this gallant action, which were to prove fatal, the brave officer kept directing his men with his radio set and ultimately ensured that the terrorists were eliminated. This gallant officer went beyond the call of duty and in the highest tradition of the Army sacrificed his life for the country, for which he was awarded the highest peace time gallantry award of ASHOK CHAKRA posthumously.

[jamwal]

Now it's getting interesting

[Shankar]

MARCOS TEAM 6 – ON WAY TO PONG GONG LAKE POINT X-RAY -1800 HRS DAY 1

Commander Ranjit saxena eased out of the army transporter just as dusk was setting in with long shadows of mountain peaks in the lake . He took out his night vision telescope grade 3 and set it up in the lee of a large rocky over hand. In the eerie world of low light electronically enhanced imagery the shape of the Chinese fast patrol boat squadron could easily be recognized. There were 12 of them . 6 with aluminum hull and had anti-aircraft gun mounted on deck .The other 6 were smaller with fiber glass hull and twin out board motor. His job was to “engineer “ a batch failure because of salt water ingress into fuel tanks of the boats exactly 48 hours from now . For that he and his team of divers will have to penetrate the the PLA base defense, use the chemicals and methods perfected in some obscure DRDO lab in Hyderabad and come out unseen unheard. He will trigger the chemical charges only when told to do so by airing of a particular Hindi movie song , by vivid bharati day after tomorrow just before the Chinese do a full strength lake sanitation operation .

They planned entering the frigid salt water lake after midnight and before dawn . Unknown to many this unique high altitude lake contain salt water a result of geological up heave which pushed Himalaya out of ocean millions of years ago . According his buoyancy compensator and gas tanks were all they normal use in under water demolition operation except that this time the demolition will be far less spectacular and most likely not even register to on lookers .

when Navy entered the Vietnam War in 1960, when the UDTs delivered a small watercraft far up the Mekong River into Laos. In 1961, Naval advisers started training the South Vietnamese UDT. These men were called the Liên Đoàn Người Nhái (LDNN), roughly translated as the "soldiers that fight under the sea."

The UDT also carried out hydro-graphic surveys in South Vietnam's coastal waters.

Later, the UDTs supported the Amphibious Ready Groups operating on South Vietnam's rivers. UDTs manned riverine patrol craft and went ashore to demolish obstacles and enemy bunkers. These Detachments operated throughout South Vietnam, from the Mekong Delta (Sea Float), The Parrot Beak and French canal AO's through I Corp and the Song Cui Dai Estuary south of Danang.
In the mid-1950s, the Navy saw how the UDT's mission had expanded to a broad range of "unconventional warfare", but also that this clashed with the UDT's traditional focus on swimming and diving operations. It was therefore decided to create a new type of unit that would build on the UDT's elite qualities and water-borne expertise, but would add land combat skills, including parachute training and guerrilla/counterinsurgency operations.

These new teams would eventually replace the UDTs. The new force was the United States Navy SEALs. (SEAL for their ability to operate by "Sea-Air-Land".) However, implementation of this program lagged.
Then President John F. Kennedy took office. Kennedy recognized the need for unconventional warfare, and supported the use of special operations forces against guerrilla activity. The Navy moved to establish its role in special operations. In January 1962, SEAL Team One was commissioned. The SEALs expanded their numbers and roles through the 1960s and 1970s.
Seal team Six came to world wide attention during killing of Osama in a daring overnight operation few kms from a Pakistani military cantonment and within a tightly defended air space .

[Shankar]

INDIAN AIR FORCE STATION NYOMA-LADAKH – 2000 HRS-DAY 1

Squadron leader Namita Sinha was new to this war bird AH 64D but strangely she liked it more than the Mi 24s she was used to flying till a year back . Today her training mission called for a night sortie to the Pong gon lake, give the army guys a rude jolt to tell them politely to stay more alert and then back to base with 3 of her team mates. It will be an ultra-low level ingress at altitude over ground restricted to less than 75 ft and air speed close to maximum of 120 Knots.In the process she will also know how alert are the Chinese to a low level insertion and what is their low altitude ground to air defense radar operating frequency range. She will depend on her auto pilot, digital map stored in the memory of her flight computer and latest weather condition reported by Indian weather satellites few hours back. And she planned flying “auto “all the way in and out. A feat not dared often by most of her male colleagues too and that too at night.

There would be no navigation lights and no radio communication .IFF transponder will be switched on only 3 minutes to “target “ so as not to panic the defenders too much . That is all the warning they will get which practically meant if she could penetrate the defenses 3 minutes out the “enemy “ is toast with her 16 hell fire missile and 76 Hydra rockets slung under not to talk of the 1250 cannon rounds for her nose mounted gun.


AH-64 aviators use the Integrated Helmet and Display Sighting System (IHADSS). The IHADSS helmet, at the time of its development, was lighter in weight and provided improved impact protection over the then-current SPH-4 series helmet. The IHADSS was the only helmet approved for the AH-64 and has been in use for over 20 years. A unique feature of the IHADSS helmet is that it serves as a platform for a Helmet Mounted Display (HMD). The HMD provides pilotage and fire control imagery and flight symbology. In order to view the HMD imagery, the helmet/HMD must be fitted such that the exit pupil of the HMD is properly aligned with the aviator's eye each time it is donned. This makes the fit and stability of the IHADSS helmet critical considerations. Achieving a proper fit of the IHADSS helmet is complicated by its intricate system of straps and pads. A proper, customized, repeatable fit is required in order to maintain the exit pupil position and optimize the resulting full Field of View (FOV). Fitting of the IHADSS helmet typically takes several hours to complete. This fitting process must be repeated every time aviators are transferred to a new duty station, as they cannot take the IHADSS helmet with them. It is part of the AH-64 aircraft system and is unit property. The Apache has four articulating weapons pylons, two on either side of the aircraft, on which weapons or external fuel tanks can be mounted. The aircraft has a Laser Range Finder/Designator (LRF/D). This is used to designate for the HELLFIRE missile system as well as provide range to target information for the fire control computer's calculations of ballistic solutions.
Threat identification through the FLIR system is extremely difficult. Although the AH-64 crew can easily find the heat signature of a vehicle, it may not be able to determine friend or foe. Forward looking infrared detects the difference in the emission of heat in objects. On a hot day, the ground may reflect or emit more heat than the suspected target. In this case, the environment will be "hot" and the target will be "cool". As the air cools at night, the target may lose or emit heat at a lower rate than the surrounding environment. At some point the emission of heat from both the target and the surrounding environment may be equal. This is IR crossover and makes target acquisition/detection difficult to impossible. IR crossover occurs most often when the environment is wet. This is because the water in the air creates a buffer in the emissivity of objects. This limitation is present in all systems that use FLIR for target acquisition.
Low cloud ceilings may not allow the HELLFIRE seeker enough time to lock onto its target or may cause it to break lock after acquisition. At extended ranges, the pilot may have to consider the ceiling to allow time for the seeker to steer the weapon onto the target. Pilot night vision sensor cannot detect wires or other small obstacles.

[Ghatotkacha]

Shankar Bhai, where are you?
Looks like someone have been reading your scenarios

http://bharat-rakshak.com/NEWS/newsrf.php?newsid=19235
"Army closer to getting attack helicopters, as India eyes China threat"

[Shankar]

INDIAN AIR FORCE STATION NYOMA-LADAKH – 2015 HRS-DAY 1 – NIGHT OWL FLIGHT -2XAH64D

Namita tightened the 5 point harness which strapped the dark and sleek killing machine to her back.As the auxiliary power unit came up to speed IMU s aligned and the GPS quickly acquired 5 satellites. A quick demonstration was given of the engine and systems status symbology on the MFDs, as well as BIT operation. Once the computers finished waggling the control actuators, Namita started the #1 engine and demonstrated on the display the symbology changes as he spooled the engine up to the redline. Once the #2 engine was started and the rotor up to speed she lifted off and headed out to our planned station to the unmarked valley near pong gong lake. Cockpit noise levels were remarkably low for a helo.

The aircraft accelerated smoothly as she deftly dipped the nose and eased up on power in a tight turning shallow climb and then quickly leveling off .it was time to check up the HOTAS controls .basic tactical situation display which was routed to left display while TADS data was fed to right display.

It was time to check out the long bow radar and namita executed the first active beam sweep while still flying below valley tip .Then Namita applied a bit of collective and powered up the twin engines just a notch to get another sweep over the ridge lines before dipping back into the valley.

She reduced air speed to 105 knots as the clearance between the rotors and surrounding mountain walls was just above minima and strong cross winds were present . though planned as radar off mission she decided to go on intermittent sweeps to keep her tactical picture current and aircraft safe . The beam becomes active only when she would depress the rocker switch. The software prioritised the top two targets (a pair of mating snow leopards) with a diamond box over the first and triangle box over the second target, the boxes appearing almost immediately. The software automatically cued the MMWI Hellfires on the wing pylon to these targets. Namita mentally lifted the finger guard and squeezed off the first round. "Missile away" and could visualize watched the countdown on the right hand display. The software reprioritised targets upon trigger depression, and marked the soon to be dead target with an X. In a tactical situation a gunner could loose off his weapons very quickly, without having to even worry about selection - all is performed by the software.
But of course it was all in mind – she was a wild life lover and would gladly use her hell fires on any poacher any day if allowed thought Namita as she rushed low over the valley towards the Ponggong lake .


The AH-64 was the outcome of the US Army's Advanced Attack Helicopter (AAH) program of the mid seventies, which saw the Hughes AH-64A chosen to replace the then incumbent AH-1 Cobra variants as the US Army's primary attack helicopter. The Cobra, a development of the UH-1 Huey airframe, was limited in survivability, load carrying ability, sensor capability and weapons capability, tied to the wire guided TOW missile system and optical LOS tracking guidance.

The baseline AH-64A was revolutionary in its day, combining a very rugged yet high performance airframe, with substantial survivability features incorporated from the outset. Survivability comprises avoiding detection, and if detected and engaged, jamming the threat, if hit surviving the damage, and if shot down, walking away from the wreck.

Acoustic signature was reduced against the AH-1 by using four bladed main and tail rotors, and inlet shrouds. The heat signature was significantly reduced by using a multiply ducted internally angled exhaust heat suppressor, designed to mix cold air into the exhaust and shield the turbine face. The arrangement is designed to further facilitate mixing of the cooled exhaust flow with rotor downwash.
Grease filled gearboxes designed for substantial ballistic tolerance to 14.5 mm and 23 mm fire, twin T700 engines with sufficient reserve power to limp home on one powerplant, a tailshaft designed to absorb hits and if cut by fire, not to chop the tail off, extensive use of composite armour to absorb low calibre fire, shrapnel and spall, seat shock absorbers and structural design to absorb extremely high sink rates, a dual redundant 3000 psi hydraulic system and a host of other less evident design features provided the AH-64A with unprecedented damage tolerance.

Unique aerodynamic and structural features included a Hughes patented fixed rotor mast, with a coaxial drive shaft, a single piece horizontal stabiliser driven by the flight controls for optimal fuselage angle and visibility over a range of flight regimes, a offset X tail rotor design to provide minimal tip vortex interference, hydraulically actuated weapon pylons to automatically provide the best station angle relative to the airframe for weapon launches.

The weapon system of the AH-64A was also revolutionary in its day, freeing the helicopter from the tether of the wire guided TOW missile. The primary weapon of the new Apache was the semiactive laser homing AGM-114A Hellfire missile, designed to destroy AFVs up to the MBT, using its shaped charge warhead. Up to 16 rounds could be carried on four wing pylons. The weapon was targeted using the very new Martin Marietta AAQ-11 Target Acquisition and Designation System (TADS), a nose mounted and helmet steered turret combining a thermal imager, direct magnification telescope, a television camera and a laser rangefinder/designator. The pilot was provided with a helmet steered thermal imager. Both pilot and gunner were provided with the IHADSS collimated helmet mounted CRT projectors, designed to deliver raster scan camera imagery and calligraphic flight, weapon aiming and systems symbology directly into the right eye.

The AH-64A was developed with the primary objective of providing an all weather day and night capable tank killing machine, to stop massive Warsaw Pact armoured offensives in the European theatre dead in their tracks, no pun intended. The combination of head steered weapon system and pilot night vision equipment provided an unprecedented ability to operate in Nap Of the Earth (NOE) flight at night.

The CONOPS for the AH-64A was stealth by terrain masking, whereby the helicopters would hide behind terrain and approach their target, upon which they would pop up in hover above the terrain, only as high as required to detect, acquire and track their intended targets with the TADS system and engage them with salvoes of Hellfire missiles. Footage from the Desert Storm campaign showed classical examples of this tactic, with an AH-64 gunner firing off a sequence of Hellfires, seconds apart, then "walking" his laser from target to target as the missiles impacted.

While tank and motorised infantry killing was the AH-64A's primary role, other capabilities were extant in the basic design. Suppressive fire support could be provided using up to four pods totalling 76 folding fin 2.75 inch rockets, and a ventral head steered M230 30 mm Hughes Chain Gun was available for self defence against other helicopters and SPAAGs, while also providing the ability to kill dismounted infantry, their supporting IFVs and APCs, and other soft skinned vehicles such as trucks and mobile command vehicles.

In the almost quarter century since the AH-64A was conceived, the threat evolved accordingly. The baseline SPAAG of the day, the ZSU-23-4P, was superceded by designs with pulse Doppler clutter rejecting radars. Importantly, the shoulder launched SAM evolved from the cheap and nasty "shoot up the tailpipe" SA-7, to modern all aspect two colour seeker designs built to reject background and flares. Laser guided MANPADS have also proliferated, while laser rangefinders are now ubiquitous. MBTs can now shoot anti-helicopter fragmentation rounds, and most IFVs and APCs have rapid fire cannon. Thermal imaging sights are now commonplace on armour, and even a two bit helicopter may have NVGs onboard.

The attack helicopter is today the "capital vehicle" of the land battle, having displaced the MBT into the niche role of close in mop up of dug in forces and heavy emplacements. This in turn has produced a situation where the value of the attack helicopter as a target easily justifies the launch of an expensive area defence Doppler radar guided SAM to kill it.

The threat of the laser guided Hellfire spawned a new generation of battlefield smoke generators, dispensing clouds of infrared opaque particles. While these can often be penetrated by a thermal imager, they can often in sufficient concentration scatter the 1.066 micron band designator laser beam to the point of being unusable.

The evolving environment saw the AH-64A progressively upgraded with the APR-39 Radar Warning Receiver, the ALQ-136 defensive jammer, the ALQ-144 infrared jammer and more recently, the AVR-2 laser warning receiver. In effect the AH-64A sprouted all of the avionic refinements of a mid seventies fighter aircraft.

The 1991 Gulf campaign highlighted the strengths and the weaknesses of the AH-64A and its systems. The aircraft performed superbly in its primary tank killing role, and proved to be an exceptional tool for killing battlefield air defences. Of major importance was the famous radar killing sortie, in which a section of Apaches led by a USAF Pave Low III special operations helicopter penetrated undetected inside the Iraqi air defence perimeter and killed a key radar installation in the opening minutes of the air battle.

Despite these successes, inclement weather, sand clouds and fog complicated operations by degrading thermal imager and laser performance. Long range night sorties under such conditions produced a very high workload for AH-64 crews, reducing their combat potential when contact was made with the enemy. Another problem found was situational awareness and early target acquisition, since the AH-64A would have to "unmask" in hover and sweep the battlefield with its thermal imager to locate targets. Even in wide FOV the TADS is a narrow FOV sensor, designed primary for acquiring targets and delivering weapons, in a "set piece" scenario. Long exposure times for target acquisition increase the odds of being sighted and engaged.
Boeing, who acquired McDonnell Douglas (who earlier acquired Hughes Helicopters), set out to achieve this level of capability and survivability by a far reaching redesign of the Apaches weapon system.

The core of the baseline D model weapon system is a highly integrated digital package, building upon the Mil-Std-1553B bussing technology of established "federated" architectures, but providing significant interlinking of onboard systems via software. Modern commercial 32-bit processors are employed.

Experience from the F-15E crew station design was applied by engineers with prior involvement in that project, to provide a glass cockpit and "HOTAS" control interface in the new digital "MANPRINT" cockpit.

The D model Apache is to other attack helicopters what the F/A-18A was to other fighters in 1978 - a wholly digital system which hides the vehicle and system complexities under a clean, synthetic interface provided by software.

While the crew now see a revised cockpit with HOTAS controls, a pair of colour LCD menu driven displays and keypad, the capabilities hidden within the system run much deeper. All aircraft vital functions are monitored by software with extensive BIT support embedded. A dual RLG INS/GPS navigation system, supplemented by Doppler nav for accurate velocities, provides for extremely accurate navigation. An enhanced autopilot with attitude, altitude and position hold in hover takes the effort out of NOE "masked" hover behind covering terrain.

The Improved Data Modem (IDM) is employed to datalink threat and target information between AH-64D in a unit, or to allow uplinking or downlinking of such data to other aircraft. A JSTARS, satellite, UAV or manned SAR/GMTI recce asset can provide the AH-64D with target sets via the IDM, or upload recce from the Apache.

The datalinking facility is seamlessly integrated into the software, allowing the pilot or gunner to use mouselike screen click and drag operations to "segment" a target set and with a click of a button pass the targets to another AH-64D.

Software provides the ability to fuse data from the aircraft's sensors, and to fuse offboard and onboard sources. Any weapon can be targeted by any sensor, and sensors may be slaved to other sensors.

The weapon system is vastly more flexible than that in the AH-64A via the provision of Mil-Std-1760 "smart" digital station adaptors for all six wing stations. Any 1760 capable munition can be accommodated via a clearance test and software modification.

Two Army ARC-201 FM radios are carried, and a ARC-164 Have Quick II frequency hopper is fitted, together with a ARC-186 VHF-AM radio. All may be accessed through the IDM under software control, to provide transparent digital access to other assets.

This is baseline AH-64D Apache weapon system, common to all aircraft and the configuration for 3/4 of US Army deliveries, and all Netherlands deliveries.

An optional fit to this baseline configuration is the Longbow weapon system, comprising the Northrop-Grumman (previously Westinghouse) AN/APG-78 Longbow mast mounted Fire Control Radar (FCR), and a Lockheed-Martin AN/APR-48 Radar Frequency Interferometer (RFI) package, both designed for all weather operation through precipitation and battlefield obscurants. The Longbow weapon system supports the AGM-114L active radar guided missile, operating in the same millimetric band as the radar.

The Longbow radar is a very low peak power, millimetric band system, with extremely low sidelobes by virtue of a very large relative antenna size. The low emitted power, extremely narrow pencil beam mainlobe, and undisclosed LPI modulation features provide a system with a range of the order of 10 km in clear conditions, which is near to undetectable by established RWR technology. Only a highly sensitive channelised ESM receiver with a high gain antenna and low noise receivers can reliably detect such a signal, under optimal antenna pointing conditions. The choice of millimetric band means that atmospheric water vapour and oxygen resonance losses rapidly soak up the signal, which is also out of the frequency band coverage of most RWRs. The radar will track up to 128 targets and prioritise the top 16.

The radar employs both real beam mapping and Moving Target Indicator (MTI) techniques, to provide the automatic detection, tracking and non-cooperative identification of surface targets, with a secondary capability against low flying aircraft. Target identification algorithms in the radar's software look at the shape of possible targets, and their Doppler signatures, to identify aircraft, helicopters, SPAAGs, SAM systems, tanks, AFVs, trucks and other wheeled vehicles. The capability exists to identify stationary targets through radar transparent camouflage netting and foliage. Real beam video and synthetic imagery can be displayed.

The RFI is a multiple baseline, single plane wideband interferometer, with 360 degree coverage and increased resolution forward coverage, using a cluster of cavity backed spiral antennas mounted beneath the radar package. With significantly better detection range than the APR-39 and pointing accuracy better than a degree of arc, the RFI is essentially a compact ESM style passive targeting receiver which can precisely measure bearing to an emitter. This allows it to detect and engage a battlefield radar, SPAAG or SAM system typically from outside the threat's detection envelope, tracking the mainlobe or lower antenna sidelobes.

The MilliMetric Wave Imaging (MMWI) L model Hellfire has inertial midcourse guidance, and uses its MMWI radar seeker to detect, acquire and home in on a targeted threat. The weapon can be fired LOBL off the rail, or for maximum range fired LOAL, with the launch aircraft masked behind terrain, flying out under inertial guidance to a preprogrammed footprint where the target is acquired.

The Longbow weapon system is mounted on the rigid mast, and installation requires no avionic or software changes to the baseline D system. Once cables are hooked in and the computers booted, they detect the presence of the Longbow package and configure it into the weapon system.

The highly integrated system provides fusion of radar, RFI, TADS and offboard targeting data into a single Tactical Situation Display format on one of the cockpit displays. The ability to slave sensors in an arbitrary manner, using HOTAS controls, allows the TADS visual ident of radar tracks, radar ident of RFI tracks, TADS visual ident of RFI tracks, or radar or RFI ident of camouflaged or obscured visual tracks. The radar can detect targets which cannot be seen behind radar transparent camouflage or foliage, noting that radar opaque camouflage nets effective against centimetric band fighter radars may not be very opaque in the millimetric band. Targets are automatically prioritised, with anti-air assets being accorded the highest priority, followed by armour and soft skinned vehicles.

The mast mounted radar and RFI allow the Apache Longbow to remain masked behind terrain, only exposing the rotodome and RFI to detect targets. MMWI Hellfires can then be fired from a concealed location, with the pylon angles automatically adjusted by software to clear the rotor and terrain. An opponent will see the missiles pop up over the horizon and dive down to hit. Since the weapons are fire and forget, ie fully autonomous, once they are launched the helo can immediately move away to avoid "counter-battery" fire.

The provision of a highly automated weapon system with basic sensor fusion is unique at this time to the Apache Longbow, and provides clearly unprecedented lethality in comparison with helicopters using only thermal imaging sights and laser guided missiles. Such systems are limited to engaging one target at a time, unlike the Apache Longbow which can engage many targets concurrently.

The Apache Longbow's capability however extends further, since the IDM datalinking allows an Apache Longbow to hand off targets to non radar equipped AH-64D Apaches. In effect it becomes the notional equivalent of an AEW platform vectoring shooters on to targets. The US Army CONOPS is for a section of baseline AH-64Ds to be led by one or more Longbow equipped aircraft, which will provide wide area situational coverage of the battlefield for the remaining aircraft. The Longbow is the "hunter-killer" and the baseline AH-64Ds the "killers" in the "hunter-killer" package.

This does not preclude the operation of sections wholly equipped with Longbow, or not equipped with Longbow. All aircraft can be fitted with the system, and all crews are trained to use it. The MMWI Hellfire can be carried by all aircraft, although it is most effective when supported by the Longbow.

A textbook "ambush" scenario would see a Apache Longbow led AH-64D section move into position masked by terrain and coordinating via datalink. The lead ship would then raise its Longbow system to detect targets, and then drop back under cover, while the lead gunner distributes the targets via "drag and drop" to the other aircraft in the group, to avoid multiple targeting. At that point, all aircraft can salvo launch their MMWI Hellfires and back out into a new position, while the missiles attack the targets. The software "remembers" the coordinates of attacked targets and flags these on the screen with an X to avoid redundant reattack and wasting of rounds.

[Shankar]

MARCOS TEAM 6 – PONG GONG LAKE POINT X-RAY -2100 HRS DAY 1

Commander Ranjit saxena started the tedious process of kitting up for a deep cold water dive .None of his team have ever dived in freezing water before and they were depending on detailed e mail advise from USN SEAL pal on the subject.

Cold Water Diving Requires Additional Weight:
Divers use thicker, more buoyant wetsuits (or drysuits) in cold water, which requires the use of more weight. This is obvious, and most cold water dive centers will assist divers in selecting the appropriate amount of weight for thick exposure protection.
However, there is an additional aspect of cold water diving that a diver should consider before deciding on the amount of weight to carry on his first few cold water dives. Until a diver gains experience in cold water, the initial surprise of cold water on his face may make normal breath control difficult. In my case, I was not able to exhale fully at the surface to begin my descent as I normally would, and I has to grab an extra few pounds from the captain to descend. An experienced cold water diver my size would need eighteen pounds of weight. I needed twenty pounds on my first few dives because I couldn't get the air completely out of my lungs.
2. Gearing Up for Cold Water Diving:
Plan ahead. Once a diver is wearing his gloves, it becomes very difficult to make small adjustments such as tucking mask skirt under the hood. On my first dive, I looked like a bit of an idiot when I put on all my gear but my mask, hobbled over to the entry platform, and then had to ask the divemaster to tuck my mask skirt into my hood because I waited to put my mask on until the last moment and couldn't get the skirt under the hood with my gloves on. This sort of humiliation would have been avoidable if I had simply planned ahead.
3. Be Prepared for the Initial Cold Water Shock:
Divers transitioning to cold water diver should be prepared for the short initial, shock of entering cold water. For the first few moments in the cold water, a diver may feel that he cannot breathe easily. This is a physiological reaction known as the Mammalian Diving Reflex, and it is perfectly normal when a person's head is submerged in cold water. It will pass. I managed my reaction to the cold by floating on the surface with my face in the water until I could control my breathing and felt comfortable. After about twenty seconds I felt great, and was ready to start my dive.
4. If a Diver Feels Cold, His Air Consumption Rate Will Increase:
When a diver's body becomes cold, he will burn more calories to keep warm. He will use more oxygen and his breathing rate will increase. If the diver becomes very cold, he will shiver and his air consumption will increase more from the extra work of shivering. Thicker wetsuits and drysuits, as well as the extra weight necessary to compensate for this thicker exposure protection, will increase a diver's drag, and thus his air consumption rate. I used a thick wetsuit for my dives, a noticed an increase in my air consumption rate as I became chilled near the end of the dives. What is the solution to this problem? Wear proper exposure protection. I would have done better to use a drysuit or to end the dive once I became chilled.
5. Use Regulators Appropriate for Cold Water:
Most dive shops servicing cold water diving destinations rent or sell regulators appropriate for cold water diving. It is vital to use a regulator approved for cold water diving, as the first stage of a a non-cold water regulator may “freeze” due to normal cooling from gas expansion combined with chilly water, causing a free flow. Divers should also be sure to review standard protocols to avoid causing a regulator free flow, even when diving with cold water regulators. The divemaster on our boat recommend that the divers avoid purging the regulator or inflating the BCD while inhaling. These actions cause increased demand on the regulator first stage and may trigger a free flow. Also review the procedure for handling a regulator free flow.
6. Mask Clearing in Cold Water – Be Prepared:
Most divers find that the shock of cold water on the face makes exhaling to clear a mask difficult in cold water. This reaction can be overcome with practice, but divers must experience the cold water shock a few times before they learn clear their masks easily. It's not fun, but practicing mask clearing in cold water is essential to being safe on cold water dives. The first time I cleared my mask in cold water, I was taking a drysuit certification course and the instructor had all the students practice clearing their masks in about 3 feet of very cold water. We all thought this was ridiculous given our level of experience until we tried it. About half the class panicked and stood up. After two or three attempts, however, we became accustomed to sensation of cold water on out faces, and could clear our masks easily.



It took almost two hours of hard labor for the 6 member MARCOS team to get ready and reach dark lake shore .Another 30 minutes to manhandle the two high powered battery operated underwater scooters specially silenced for special forces operation . Each member was carrying a twin pack of specially developed hydrocarbon based gel which when injected into the fuel like of PLA patrol boats will sharply increase the viscosity of the fuel and make the fuel injection pumps useless. Each MARCOS member will be responsible for neutralizing two boats ,there being 12 fast patrol boats in the lake and all of which were tied to a wooden jetty on the other side approximately 16.45 km from this point .
Despite all warning Ranjit still could not believe the shock of his first contact with freezing water ,even within his dry suite and five layers of insulating clothing . The feeling was like being rapidly choked and exhaling was a painful exercise .Slowly however his training took over and he slid into the depths to catch hold of the under water scooter handle bar controls . The other team did same and soon they were curring through icy waters of the lake at close to 30 km /hr at a depth close to 65 ft from bottom surface .Visibility was practically zero as the icy water rushed past their mouth piece and only the glowing buttons of GPS mounted on handle bar confirmed they were right on their way .The auto pilot on the underwater scooter guided them flawless through a series of s curves at varying depths towards the target destination .

[manish.rastogi]

Getting to the meat now!!!

[jamwal]

Wullar lake in Kashmir gets very cold too. MARCOS will have quite a bit of experience of operating in cold waters

[Shankar]

INDIAN AIR FORCE STATION NYOMA-LADAKH – 1900 hrs-DAY 1

Wing commander Anil Bakshi finished his nth check of the aircrafts that would be going to take part in the snatch of dreaded terrorist leader either later same night or tomorrow night . He and his alpha team will be on cock pit alert from 0000 hrs tomorrow .They will be carrying in the 24 member special forces team from army into and out of the terrorist camp Zeta 20 .
4 light combat helicopters will make the penetration over the lake at less than 75 ft preferably less than 50 ft on the shore farthest away from the PLA camp and patrol boat base .Neutralizing the boats which were all equipped with short range surface to air missiles and twin barrel anti air craft guns was however not his responsibility . As he knew a dedicated team of marine commandoes will take of that problem and then signal opening of a penetration window of 4 hours maximum.
Long range air cover will be provided by Su-30 flying combat air patrol out of Leh .While they were not expected to cross the line of actual control ,it was expected their long range BVR missiles will be enough to take care of any aerial or ground to air threat should situation turn nasty .

The weapon load for this mission shall be mainly a mix of anti-radiation missiles and anti-tank missiles with extra-large ammunition load for nose gun . Each chopper will also carry a pair of heat seeking R-74 missiles for close in protection .

The troop carriers will be Mi 17 V -3 nos two plus one reserve ,they will close follow the light combat helicopters once the target are is secured . A pair of AH-64D s will be in station over the lake to join in should PLA intervene with heavy armor known to be present in the area of suppression of enemy air defense in the target area and do a rear guard action after the snatch and flight.

The failure of the Russian built Mi-35 to perform satisfactorily in the high altitude battle zones of Kargil highlighted the requirement of an attack helicopter tailor made for such operations. This new helicopter had, among its primary requirements, an extremely high service ceiling] In 2006, HAL announced its plans to build the LCH. Funds for the design and development of the LCH to meet the requirements of the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force were sanctioned in October 2006. The current design of the helicopter implements a service ceiling of 6,500m.
The LCH is a derivative of the HAL Dhruv, which was inducted into the Indian armed forces. Using a successful and proven helicopter as the base platform is expected to conserve the project costs for the LCH, which is pegged at 8.76 billion (US$174.8 million).] The Indian Air Force is to acquire 65 LCHs and Indian Army is to acquire 114 LCHs.

The LCH was expected to be ready for the Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) by December 2010 with the Final Operational Clearance (FOC) in 2011. However, the revised timeframes hold that the 5.5-tonne LCH should be ready for induction into IAF by 2012-2013. The first prototype of LCH completed its first ground run on 4 February 2010.[5] HAL has a firm order to deliver 65 LCH to the IAF and 114 to the Army.[ HAL has performed the maiden flight of its indigenously designed and developed LCH on 29 March 2010. The first LCH Technology Demonstrator (TD-1) flew a 20 minute flight from HAL's Helicopter Complex, Bangalore. It carried out low speed, low altitude checks on the systems on-board. The crew reported that the performance of the helicopter and systems were satisfactory.
Second LCH prototype (TD-2) improved upon TD-1 by incorporating substantial weight reductions. Ashok Nayak, chairman of HAL stated that it has exceeded the human and payload requirements mandated by IAF for development. TD-2 is the first attack helicopter in the woThe third test flight of the LCH was successfully made on 23 May 2010 and it fulfilled the desired parameters and also paves the way for further testing with weapons. The second prototype, which has been weaponized with more sub-systems was unveiled at Aero India 2011 in February 2011. Light Combat Helicopter TD-2 achieved its first flight on 28 June 2011.[13] Over 20 test flights have been conducted to check various flight parameters. Two more prototypes are under construction to speed up its induction into the Indian Air Force in 2012]
The LCH begin the trials on 1st July 2012, at sea level near Chennai, where calibration of the LCH's air speed measurement system and and the stress on various components of the platform will be measured.[14] The third prototype of the LCH is about to be delivered and is expected to be different from the LCH-1 and LCH-2. The third prototype is said to be significantly lighter than its predecessors since the current prototypes are very heavy as compared to the world's best attack helicopters.
rld to get a "digital" camouflage.


AQ CAMP 4850 –AKSAI CHIN – ADJOINING POK BORDER ON LAC – 2000 HTS –DAY 1

Abassi zardari finished his evening patrol of camps defenses .The two member portable missile carrying teams equipped with Pakistan made Anza and stinger missiles were all in position and alert, the 4 member team manning the anti-aircraft guns were also in position though he had to brutally kick one of them found smoking weed on duty..His own personal body guard detail was as expected sharp and alert and was responsible for his residential quarter. The group of terrorists earmarked for terror strike on Delhi were sleeping like pigs after days hard training and they should be ready to leave in a day of two.

It was time to retire to his private quarter and his wives – a small privilege of leadership thought Abassi as he smiled softly behind his beard and started walking back towards his own quarters located in the center of the large walled courtyard. It was a small double stories house built of rock and cement with double door at ground level entry .The ground floor was for his personal body guards , a committed group of 36 highly trained ,highly paid ex Egyptian special forces who have joined the movement along with him . Any 18 of them were always in residence and no one was allowed to pass over them to his personal rooms .Upstairs was his small living cum dining room, his bed room and a dormitory for other women and wives opening out to a barricaded stone terrace .

[Ghatotkacha]

Awesome!
Keep it coming Shankar.

[vivek_ahuja]

In anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the 1962 war, I have written a few different historical articles to be published in magazines in India and electronically as well. Here I am sharing one of those articles with you today. More to follow later.

Regards

-Vivek

[vivek_ahuja]

A PATRIOTIC VOLUNTEER’S JOURNEY THROUGH THE HIMALAYAS

Mr. Chari and Vivek Ahuja


Prologue

This is one of those snippets of history that happens to cross one’s path every now and then. Even the genesis of this short article has been curious in its simplicity. It made me wonder about the thousands of other pieces of history that get lost every time we avoid taking the effort to put it down in stone…

I was in Bangalore in January of 2009, visiting my mother. It was this cloudy morning and a dullish atmosphere persisted with chance of rain in the air. I was talking with a couple of old family friends which included a retired civil servant by name of Mr. Chari. He is an extremely dignified person with a somewhat contradictory simplistic mindset. He is not one to openly share his experiences. At least, not until it his heart inspires him to.

It was at this time that I was aggressively pursuing research into the Sino-Indian border dispute and the conflict that arose with China in 1962 in which we were overwhelmingly defeated: about the only time that has happened in independent India’s history. When Mr. Chari looked over my notes and research papers on the war with China, he seemed to be visibly shaken as he remembered his past. He sat down and said to me with a smile: “There is more history here than in those second-hand papers” and pointed to his head. I was genuinely surprised and said to him: “Did you serve during the war?” The answer was spoken in a very steady voice: “Yes. And though I never got the chance to fire the rifle at the Chinese soldiers, I was involved with saving our own. Not in one war but two!”

That was the moment I was intrigued: could it be that having read research articles from across the globe on the 1962 war, I had somehow managed to miss out the most personal aspects of the war right across from where I sat? In the blur of a moment I put down my papers and sat down with a clean sheet of paper and asked him to describe to me his experience in the Himalayas. It took him some time to recollect all of his memories from forty-seven years ago and then he seemed to be lost in his thoughts as he spoke. Much of what follows are paraphrased statements made by Mr. Chari that I took down that afternoon on a scribble pad. If the language sounds conversational, it’s because it was meant to be that way!

To the more casual reader, let me attempt to put the timeline in perspective.

The early days of the nasty war with China in the Himalayan mountains in October-November of 1962 were a momentous time for all Indians. Hearing on the radio of battles lost, the rout of the Indian Army units and the advance of Chinese forces headed for the plains of Assam wore down the morale of a nation. And the growing panic and desperation in the air in a country fearing it had lost its northeastern states to the enemy seemed to have one of two effects on the average citizen in the rest of India. The first was desperation and helplessness. The second, however, was resolve…

And it is here that Chari’s story has a proper beginning. The following is his personal account of his actions in the winter of 1962-1963…


The Journey Begins (1962-1963)

It was February of 1963. The nation had just been defeated by China in the Himalayan Mountains. The gunfire had stopped echoing within the snowy mountains of Laddakh but the situation was still tense. With Indian forces defeated, the Chinese held the strategic advantage over a demoralized nation struggling to come to terms with the events of the past few months.

During those months of war, and especially in early November, 1962, there was a call from the government seeking contributions of various kinds like woolen clothes, mufflers, sweaters etc. for the soldiers stationed at high altitude areas. The government was making repeated requests over the radio seeking the support from the public to help the Army fight a war in a region that was not known to the world until very recently.

There were countless speeches from the leaders asking the youth from every family to form voluntary groups and try to collect funds for the defense forces. The country was under threat and the defense budget was not sufficient.

A lot of public support was needed to improve the morale of soldiers. People in every village formed voluntary groups and started collections from individuals and institutions to send to the soldiers. As the war went on, there came more and more demands including calls to join the armed forces as national needs increased for young people to help save the dignity and honor of their country...

It was a small village in Andhra Pradesh, where some young boys recently graduated from high school, heard this call to arms from their beloved motherland. They were young, enthusiastic and supremely patriotic. And they took this call to arms very seriously. They asked amongst themselves as they heard the broadcasts: instead of collecting donations, why could they not offer themselves to the nation and do whatever little they could on the battlefield?

There was one boy in this group by the name of Chari. He was from a very orthodox Brahmin family who knew nothing about the country or its armed forces. This was of course not coincidental. In those early years after independence, traditional Brahmin families often held the view that their community was not one destined to be martial in any way. That theirs was the way of knowledge and hence if one was to serve the country, it would have to be in that capacity. But desperate times called for desperate measures and Chari could not help but gravitate to the patriotic call to arms as he and his colleagues made up their minds that fateful morning.

When they reported to the nearest army recruiting center, they were immediately put through medical exams to determine their worthiness as soldiers. Chari, his colleague V. S. Joshi and a few others were fortunate enough to be found physically and medically fit and were enrolled into the Army as a combatant. Since he had some background with medical services he volunteered for this branch of the services and accordingly was put into basic training.

While in training, the war went on and the services of the soldiers were needed at the front. The climate in the high altitude mountains where the forces were fighting was treacherous in the winter with temperature often going into negative numbers. These young soldiers had been trained via a crash training course by the Army and were ready for deployment when the echo of the gunfire in the mountains began to die down. As a result, these recruits were given the option of posting areas while the Army determined where they could be used to maximum advantage.

Many among Chari’s group opted for service in the plains of northern India either against the Pakistan border or in staging areas in Assam. It was here that a unique rendezvous with destiny took place for Chari. As a young boy he had often been to Hyderabad to see the Indian Air Force aircraft fly out of its training airbases there. He was enthralled by military aircraft and wanted to fly in them. But lacking the required resources and education, the Air Force was out of the question for this young soldier. However, he heard from one of the recruiting officers that the only way to get to Laddakh at the time was via transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to Leh and beyond. He was also enthusiastic about fighting for his country, as most young boys his age were at the time. So he made up his mind and reported to his squad NCO that he would prefer any posting of whatever unit as long as the unit was deployed in Laddakh. He was determined to get to fly and fight!

Of course, his family did not take this very well. They told him in no uncertain terms: “You are taking yourself into death’s mouth!” But Chari and his colleagues were determined to go. He replied back saying: “Death is inevitable to everyone and when and where it comes is not in the hands of anybody!” And yet, in the back of his mind, he also knew that it was the mere thought of flying in an IAF aircraft that he was putting his life at risk. But there it was: a decision reached. A stand made.
And into the hands of fate…



Into the Himalayas: Leh (1963)

Of course, destiny had other motives for Chari and his close friend Joshi. Their deployments to Laddakh took much longer than expected and it wasn’t until the end of the year until he was told to report to the 56TH Medical Battalion at Leh. Joshi was posted to Kargil and both friends realized that the time to go their separate ways had arrived. But not just yet! Both men were going to the same theater, but would face different enemies. Joshi would stand opposite the Pakistani soldiers while Chari was destined to reach the Line of Actual Control (LAC) opposite Chinese soldiers in Laddakh. But both had to travel from Hyderabad together, and much of their journey was the same.

They left Hyderabad by train and reached Delhi. From there the trains took them to Chandigarh and were accommodated in a transit camp there before being airlifted to Leh. Joshi was airlifted to Srinagar from Chandigarh and he left his friend behind at the transit camp in Chandigarh. It was at the camp that Chari waited for hours that turned into days, days that turned into weeks as he was told that the weather over Leh did not permit flying. So he and hundreds of other soldiers waited in the cold, damp transit camps with their equipment waiting for the weather over Laddakh to improve. He could see the IAF transport aircraft flying every day from Chandigarh and he longed to be in the air. But he had to wait.

Finally, two weeks after he was told to wait at the transit camps, the weather over Leh cleared enough to allow the IAF to resume airlift operations. Chari was told to report to the airfield and was delighted to learn that he would get his long awaited flight to the frontlines on board an IAF AN-12 transport aircraft from the No. 44 Squadron “The Himalayan Geese”. The journey over the Himalayas and the snow covered peaks jutting above the clouds into the bright sunny skies above is something he has not forgotten. He sat on the floor of the aircraft inside the cargo holding area along with dozens of other soldiers. There were no seats inside the cavernous interior of the aircraft and the IAF loadmasters told the Army soldiers to hold on to each other for support. The soldiers in the middle held on to the soldiers next to them and so on until the soldiers at the side held firmly on to the cold metallic frame of the aircraft. There were no seatbelts at the time.

Chari could feel the relative warmth of Chandigarh give way to the ever increasing cold of the Laddakh region as the aircraft began making its descent into Leh, which is at an altitude of 10,000 feet above sea level. As the aircraft descended below the partial clouds above Leh, the soldiers held on to each other until the aircraft finally touched down on the rough runway at Leh. In those days Leh had a comparatively primitive runway compared to today’s standards. And that runway was being heavily used every day!

As the AN-12 shuddered and its wheels rested firmly on the rocky gravel of Laddakh, Chari felt a sense of foreboding. He had finally entered the battlefield after a year of training and waiting. The year was 1964.

Upon arrival at the airfield, he immediately proceeded via tuck convoy to report to the Headquarters of the 56TH Medical Battalion, close to the Corps HQ. The unit commanding officer was Lt-Col Cheema. He was immediately assigned as a medic and given movement orders. He was to head to Thoise and report to the 56TH Battalion’s Advanced Dressing Unit/Advanced Medical Centre being led at the time by Captain Kalra. He was told to find a place to stay that night and then report to a transit camp while the paperwork caught up with them. The next day he got on board an Army truck heading from the airfield at Leh to the transit camp to the east.
He remembers vividly that it was a Shaktiman Lorry in which he found himself as it made its way from the airfield. From the back of the truck along with the other soldiers, he could see the snow and rocks that epitomize the Laddakh region during winter. I young man from Hyderabad, he had only heard of the Himalayas in his school books. He could not imagine the scale of the mountains he now saw around him.

When he reached the transit camp, he was assigned a squad and told to wait while his orders to move to Thoise came through. It was not unusual in those days to be caught in such transit camps given the mass mobilization in Laddakh that was taking place. The Army was struggling to find a place to base so many new soldiers entering the frontal areas opposite the Chinese border. The choke point was the supplies and logistics: no roads existed and so every item of need had to be airlifted to the frontal areas. At the same time the Army Engineers were working day and night to extend the roads to all those forward locations and even from Leh to the rest of India. Until that happened, soldiers such as Chari could only be sent forward in small groups as the supply situation improved.

As it turned out, Chari was to stay at the transit camp in Leh for about four months before being deployed to Thoise. During this time he saw and heard about the war with China that was very fresh in the minds of the soldiers and commanders who had survived the battles. He heard about the ultimate sacrifices made by so many of his brother in arms during those fateful days a year and a half before. He heard about the legends and the Heros of those battles. He also heard about the cowardice of a few and the incompetence of many. By and large the handling of the 1962 war had been severely bungled by the Indian High Command as well as the politicians. And soldiers like Chari heard from their NCOs and other veterans about the sacrifices made by the common soldiers. This was something entirely different from what he had heard on the radios while in Hyderabad. His view of the Indian Leaders in Delhi changed substantially during this time.

He also endured, like so many others alongside him, the horrible climatic conditions and the poor state of the Army logistics in the Himalayas during winter in those years. Temperatures would go down to -23 Degrees Celsius and winds would often accompany the cold, hammering away at the tents pitched in the transit camps. The harsh conditions suffered by the soldiers during that time is hard to listen to, and much harder to put down on paper. Day to day activities was a challenge. Brushing their teeth or take a bath was considered a luxury. There were very few natural hot springs around where hot water could be obtained. And by the time it reached the soldiers, it would often become cold again. There was not enough kerosene around to burn for heating water. What little amount existed was saved for heating food. The food available was in tinned form and was condensed. There were no fresh food items to be found.

In a sad yet perverse way, Chari and the others found that because of the harsh cold climates, they had no appetite for food whatsoever. They wouldn’t feel hungry and those who could eat something found that they couldn’t digest any of it. The only item that they could consume was tea or other hot drinks to keep themselves warm. They were told that food was not the exceptional requirement but rather to keep their body warm by drinking these hot drinks. But to the credit of all soldiers such as Chari and Joshi, freezing on the frontlines of the Himalayan borders of India and thousands of kilometers away from their families, their morale and enthusiasm barely dropped. In Chari’s own words: “Life was very difficult but thrilling!”


Life at Thoise (1964-65)

It was after four months at Leh that Chari was finally told to report to Thoise. His journey was strange considering that Thoise was close to Leh. However, he was put on an AN-12 leaving Leh for Chandigarh. From there he took the train to Pathankot and then flown from there to Thoise on an HS-748 Avro transport aircraft. For a young man wanting to fly more than anything in the world, Chari could not have asked for more! When the HS-748 finally touched down on the gravel of Thoise, Chari found himself surrounded by towering mountains even higher than the ones around Leh. A place where sunlight existed for but a few hours a day and where the aircraft flying out from the valley could only fly along the valley for fear of hitting the jutting peaks on either side. He reported to the First Aid station near Thoise airfield and was to remain posted there for the next three years!

During Chari’s first year at Thoise, he found conditions to be roughly the same as those at Leh. Due to the extremely cold winter conditions during the winter of 1964-1965, Chari and the other soldiers could hardly sleep because of the freezing temperatures. They had no beds and had to place eight to ten blankets on the freezing ground below them by pooling the individual blankets from the soldiers together. There were no rooms either. They slept in makeshift bunkers with sandbags for walls and wooden planks for roofs. Their few personal belongings lined the sides of the bunkers. Stacks of tins and bottles were arranged inside their only shelter from the extreme cold outside. The bunkers were created by the Military Engineers (MES) by digging holes and surrounding them with sandbags. There were no lamps and only kerosene jerkins to heat up the interiors. There were a few bukhari heaters as well.

During the daytime, there was no place to sit and eat. There was no real furniture. What furniture there existed was re-purposed packing material from cargo crates brought in by the IAF aircraft to Thoise. Soldiers were not allowed to bring their steel luggage boxes when they deployed so they only had “pittu” bags. One of the few unique items to reach the soldiers around this time was the aid supplies sent by the United States during the 1962 war. Chari and the other soldiers were assigned US made nylon socks, sweaters, gloves and overcoats. The few treasured “luxury” items to reach the soldiers were the US fur sleeping bags, cream to protect lips from the cold and sunglasses to protect from the bright sunlight that penetrated the valley during summer days.

Despite these new supplies, nothing could protect soldiers such as Chari from the high altitude illnesses, frostbites on toes and fingers and other ailments. Chari found himself a medic healing soldiers struck down not by the enemy, but by Mother Nature. And there was no cure for frostbites.

Being from Hyderabad, Chari also struggled to associate himself with this hostile, desolate terrain. There were no trees at such high altitudes. No greenery and rarified oxygen that caused frequent breathlessness even for minor duties. Their hot water bottles would turn to ice in under ten minutes. Bathing was difficult and restricted to one time in ten days. Sunlight existed for only a few hours a day and only during the afternoon hours. By four or five in the afternoon the temperature would again start to reach freezing levels. There was no civilian life to speak of at Thoise, barring a few local Laddakh villages and Tibetan refugees escaping the Chinese genocidal activities in Tibet. Only soldiers from the Indian army and airmen from the Air Force were present at Thoise. Even the local villagers depended on the Army for food and supplies during the winter months of the year.

During this time, Chari found himself under the command of Major Mehra, who was the Section Infantry Commander (2IC) of the Partapur sector at Thoise. There was detachment of EME and ASC personnel as well.

The resupply operations for Thoise were an interesting example of the way things were done in those days. Chari, ever the aviation enthusiast, would take every opportunity to go observe the aerial resupply operations being conducted by the IAF. A few aircraft types could and would land at Thoise, but there was also a Drop Zone (DZ) for dropping supplies via parachutes from the air. The IAF had apparently delegated operations so that their Fairchild C-119 ‘Packet’ aircraft would land at Thoise and bring in medicines and AN-12s would bring in everything else, including mailbags. This latter item was the one single piece of item dear to all soldiers at Thoise, Chari included. They learnt to identify the noise of the AN-12s and would anxiously wait for the mailbags being dropped either by parachute or in case the aircraft could land at the airstrip, by hand directly to the soldiers. These daily C-119 flights were very often delayed by bad weather and many times Chari and the others would get mail sent to them by their families months ago via the Army Postal Office at Leh.

Kerosene was brought in barrels to Thoise. They would be airdropped with one barrel per parachute. Goats were also dropped by parachute for meat. Sometimes the IAF used American supplied parachutes that were made of silk. The problem was that with that material and the cold temperatures, one small hole in the parachute and the whole load was lost. At one time, an entire load of seventy barrels was lost when a sudden wind caused it to hit the sides of the nearby jagged slopes. Goats dropped in this fashion would often break their legs and would have to be killed to save them the pain in the harsh cold climates.

Other operations had more to do with medical evacuations. The IAF had deployed Mi-4 helicopters to Thoise and Leh during this time and were used extensively in Laddakh for medical evacuations. The procedure was for the Battlaion ambulance assistant to go with any patients evacuated from Thoise on the helicopter and then return during the next possible flight back from Leh after overseeing the evacuation of the wounded soldier to the plains on board an IAF aircraft.


War clouds once again (1965)

When the war clouds started gathering during July and August of 1965 and Pakistan started getting aggressive along the border with India, the 56TH Medical Battalion supported the forward deployment of troops to the Line of Control and Chari was posted as well.

Before and during the war, United Nations Observer (UNO) aircraft would fly over the LOC and these aircraft were regularly spotted by the Indian soldiers with whom Chari was deployed. It was also during this time that daily passwords were issued to unit members such as medics and messengers who were expected to move between unit positions frequently. This was akin to the Flash-Thunder system from World War II and was mainly used at night.

Despite this, there was a lot of confusion during hours of total darkness at the LOC. Fortunately there were no friendly fire incidents during the 1965 war in the 56TH Medical Battalion sector of operations.


The struggles continue (1966-68)

The day to day harshness of the soldier’s existence can be highlighted by a sordid incident that happened in 1966. Chari and the others were notified at the First Aid station at Thoise one day that an airman assigned to the Air Force Detachment at Thoise had attempted to cross a thick frozen stream in a jeep carrying supplied to the airfield when a weak section of the ice had given way and the jeep overturned into the icy water. The airman screamed and drowned into the icy waters.

During another incident in early 1968, Chari was awaiting a flight from Leh back to Chandigarh for a long overdue vacation from the frontlines near Thoise. He was stationed in a transit camp along with soldiers and officers from other Battalions who were also heading back when he was notified that an aircraft had gone missing in the mountains. This aircraft, an AN-12 from the No. 25 Squadron, had crashed into the Rohtang pass killing 92 passengers and the crew on board.


Chari and a colleague at Thoise standing next to a written-off C-119 sometime in 1966-67

The Journey Home (1968)

It was only in mid-1968 that the government decided to release volunteers from the 1962 emergency draft if they had justifiable grounds for doing so. Chari was told that he was being discharged from the Army now that the size of the army had grown to meet the nation’s requirements. He was finally released in August of 1968 and left Thoise for the last time. He flew in his final IAF flight on board a C-119 to Pathankot. From there he took the train to Hyderabad via New Delhi.

Finally his journey to the Himalayas had come to an end after six long years and after two full wars. It took him some time to readjust to the more relaxed life of a civilian in Hyderabad after spending so many years in the desolate snow-capped mountains. In 2009 he had retired from the civil services and now resides in Bangalore, fifty years after his decision to fight for his country.

To this day I am unsure of what prompted him to speak about his experiences as a volunteer soldier for his country so many years ago. But one thing is certain: that in doing so, he has helped the rest of us come that one step closer to identifying the suffering that these soldiers braved through for the independence of this country. I hope this country never forgets their sacrifices…

-Vivek

[jamwal]

Nice to read your work again Ahuja sahib.

According to some Spiti locals, an expedition had found remains of an old military aircraft a few years back. But the area they talked about is 80-100 km away from Rohtang. I don't claim accuracy about location or dates as it was just a tale told during idle chit-chat.

[vivek_ahuja]

According to some Spiti locals, an expedition had found remains of an old military aircraft a few years back. But the area they talked about is 80-100 km away from Rohtang. I don't claim accuracy about location or dates as it was just a tale told during idle chit-chat.

You are correct in your statements. The aircraft lost was a 25 Squadron AN-12 in February of 1968. The wreckage was only found in 2005 IIRC.

[Gurneesh]

Vivek sir,

For God's sake, please finish your earlier scenario. The Rhino Arjuns must have reached the Russian border by now....

[Yagnasri]

where is Veveks novel??? I thought it was in advanced stage of publication. Already published?

[Ankit Desai]

^ Like @ Gurneesh's post.

-Ankit

[Ajit.C]

Vivekbhai, when can we have the balance of your scenario. Its been ages since the last update.

[vila]

^
He is never going to finish it. First time also he left halfway.

[vivek_ahuja]

^
He is never going to finish it. First time also he left halfway.

Nice.

That said, those of the BR community who know me personally know that I am spread thin till end of November because of personal reasons. Bala-vignesh and a couple of other ardent BR colleagues are attempting to take my completed draft of the scenario and convert it into something that can be printed like an e-book or something. Worst case, I am going to put the PDF here on BR as a free download for all. But my own time on BR is restricted till November.

-Vivek