Indian Army News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

[VinodTK]

Indian Army progressing Rs 6,800 crore indigenous shoulder-fired missile projects for China, Pakistan borders

The Indian Army is progressing two cases worth over Rs 6,800 crore for developing Very Short Range Air Defence Systems indigenously amid shortages in the inventory of shoulder-fired missiles to tackle aerial threats on borders with China and Pakistan. The Army plans to develop and procure over 500 launchers and around 3000 missiles from indigenous routes.

At the same time, the Indian Army along with the other stakeholders is looking at the possibility of an old tender scrapped earlier in which the Russian Igla-S was selected in view of the delays for finding replacement for the old Igla-1M missiles.
Defence Ministry officials said the current VSHORAD missiles in the inventory of the Indian Army and Indian Air Force are all with lR homing guidance systems and the Igla 1M VSHORAD missile system was inducted in 1989 and was planned for de-induction in 2013.
"At present, there is a Rs 4800 crore project in which a public sector unit headquartered in Hyderabad and a private sector Pune-based firm have been engaged for developing a laser beam riding VSHORADS which would be used by the forces to protect the borders to provide protection from enemy drones, fighter aircraft and choppers," defence forces' officials told news agency ANI.
The project would be for developing 200 launchers and 1200 missiles for supplying to the Indian Army and Air Force and the lead in the project is the Indian Army which is the biggest user of these missiles, they said.

Of the 1200 missiles planned to be inducted in the project, it is likely to get 700 while the remaining would be for the IAF.

The two firms have to produce the prototype of the system under the Indian Designed, Developed and Manufactured clause of the Defence Acquisition Procedure, they said. However, industry sources informed that the progress made in this programme has not been very encouraging. Another programme that is being progressed is the Design and Development project being carried out by the DRDO for making an infra-red homing-based VSHORADS.

The DRDO is working with two of its Development cum Production Partners Adani Defence and I-Comm for producing Laser Beam Riding VSHORADS.
The DRDO has tested the system based on a tripod and they are now expected to miniaturise the system for making it a shoulder-fired weapon system, the officials said.

In the meanwhile, the Indian Army and the Air Force used the Emergency Procurement powers to buy around 96 launchers of the Russian Igla of which 48 have already arrived as part of the first tranche of the orders given in EP-1 while 48 are expected to be delivered in near future.

In this meanwhile, there is also a suggestion to revive the contract which was scrapped almost over five years ago in which the Russian side had emerged as the lowest bidder with its Igla-S system on offer.

The stakeholders in the project are expected to meet soon to find out ways of carrying out the project under 'Make in India'.
The project scrapped by the Defence Ministry was expected to be worth around Rs 4,800 crore.
The importance and the versatility of"VSHORAD missiles have been regularly proved in battle including the recent Russia-Ukraine conflict, Defence Ministry officials stated.
The Indian forces have been progressing the cases for replacing their old VSHORADS system.

[Rakesh]

https://x.com/ANI/status/1782990019331752279 ---> Army Chief, General Manoj Pande says, "Indian Army indigenous procurement including light vehicles and bullet proof jackets. Night fighting capability of Indian troops is being enhanced through night vision devices and communication systems are also being improved. Emergency procurement powers given by government over four tranches has helped us to modernise ourselves with contracts worth Rs 18,000 crores signed under it. These equipment are now being used on the border."

https://x.com/livefist/status/1782995500846940294 ---> Probably the greatest unintended indictment of India’s defence procurement procedure.

https://x.com/gautamgandhi44/status/1783024503641321565 ---> Indian armed forces: emergency purchase powers = import weapons.

[srai]

^^^
Never fails to amaze how many “emergency” the IA/IAF seem to be in. Imagine if there was an actual war!

[VinodTK]

[Rakesh]

Goan family’s rare milestone in Indian Army
https://www.thegoan.net/goa-news/goan-f ... 12721.html
25 April 2024

Lt Mario Fernandes is a third generation and fifth member in his family to have served the army.

THE FAUJI FERNANDES FAMILY: [From L to R] Major Shawn Fernandes, Lieutenant Mario Fernandes, Captain Sunita Fernandes and Colonel Robin Fernandes

[Prem Kumar]

^^^
Never fails to amaze how many “emergency” the IA/IAF seem to be in. Imagine if there was an actual war!

Everything is an emergency because nothing is planned

Now, with Modi sarkar breathing down their necks, "emergency procurements" have become a feeder-system for the Armed Forces to trial work-in-progress foreign systems (jet-packs, crystal maze 2.0 etc), so that these can be formally inducted in large numbers later and re-labeled as "Atmanirbhar"

Gen Pande gave a talk recently about how we can become strong only via a domestic MIC. Maybe he can lead by example by ordering some homegrown artillery guns first!

[ramana]

Lessons form Russo-Ukraine War for India

https://www.businessinsider.com/india-d ... ght-2024-4

As India boosts defense spending amid tensions with China and Pakistan, it is closely studying the Ukraine conflict for clues to the future of warfare and how to thwart its neighbors.

Some lessons that Indian experts have already drawn: India needs lots of artillery, drones and cyberwarfare capabilities.

Comparing Ukraine to India is tricky. Ukraine faces one major enemy — Russia — while India must contend with its old enemy Pakistan to the west, and an increasingly powerful China on its northwest frontier. The Russo-Ukraine war is mostly being fought over an Eastern European landscape of plains and forest, with a moderately good road network suitable for mechanized warfare. India must prepare for combat in a variety of terrain and climate conditions, including desert, jungle and some of the tallest mountains on Earth.

India is also trying to modernize and standardize equipment for its armed forces, which comprise about 1.5 million personnel armed with a potpourri of equipment from several nations, as well as indigenous Indian gear. Until recent years, Russia supplied many weapons such as tanks and jets, but India is increasingly acquiring arms from Western nations, including American howitzers, French jet fighters, and Israeli drones.

The Indian Army's artillery, for example, includes more than 3,000 weapons and multiple rocket launchers, including Russian, American, Swedish and South Korean designs. Indian observers believe Ukraine shows the importance of having plentiful and modern artillery. Artillery has arguably become the decisive combat arm in that war, with Russian firing 10,000 shells per day and advancing, while a munitions shortage has limited Ukraine to around 2,000 shells per day. This deluge of firepower has forced both armies to dig in, and turned the conflict into trench warfare.
"Looking at the demonstration of artillery fire in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, two lessons are available to the Indian Army," wrote Amrita Jash, an assistant professor at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education, in a report for the Observer Research Foundation, an Indian think tank. "First, that firepower can be a 'battle-winning factor,' and second, that the time between acquiring the target to shooting has drastically reduced: where it once took five to 10 minutes, it now takes only a minute or two."

{ Link: https://www.orfonline.org/public/upload ... 114645.pdf }

Indeed, India already planning to modernize its artillery arsenal, including switching to 155-mm howitzers — the standard NATO caliber — and developing longer-range shells and rockets.

The air war over Ukraine has proven to be a surprise, especially given Russian superiority in numbers of aircraft and technology. Anti-aircraft missiles have deterred the air forces of both sides from venturing into enemy airspace, with Russian aircraft limited to firing stand-off missiles at Ukrainian cities rather than providing air support for its ground troops. Drones have become the stars and workhorses of the air war, with both sides deploying — and losing — drones in the hundreds of thousands.

There are lessons here for Indian airpower, according to Arjun Subramaniam, a retired Indian Air Force air vice marshal who helped write the ORF report. India must prepare for "gaining control of the air in limited time and space conditions in a short, high-intensity limited conflict as well as in a longer, protracted conflict." The Air Force must also ensure that its plans are synchronized with ground and naval forces. India should also continue to focus on suppressing enemy air defenses, "particularly against an adversary that is more interested in denying rather than controlling the airspace."

Not surprisingly, Subramaniam wants the Indian military to increase drone development and production. But he is also concerned about the possibility of a mass drone attack on India. "Of greater importance is the need to rapidly develop counter-drone capabilities that would be essential in responding to large-scale surprise attacks and retain effective second-strike capabilities," he wrote.

Cyberwarfare has also emerged in Ukraine as a crucial tool in everything from hacking into military computers and critical infrastructure to purveying propaganda and deepfakes in global media. ORF researcher Shimona Mohan noted "the increasing role of largely civilian organizations like big tech in conflict situations and the deepening interplay of civil-military partnerships around dual-use technologies like AI."

Mohan recommends that India invest in cyberwarfare, as other nations are doing. "However, if this is not feasible for socio-political or economic reasons, it should be a priority for countries to ensure that their strategic geopolitical allies are formidable tech powers—for instance in this war, Ukraine received much support from its more tech-savvy partners like the US and private tech companies."

Two years ago ACM VRC had found no roles for drones in IAF!!!

[Prem Kumar]

Wow!

Another canard that was considered "accepted wisdom" was that the wars of the 21st century would be sharp & intense, lasting a few weeks

What a load of crock, considering what we see in Ukraine!

Our AF leadership, sorry to say, have zero strategic sense or ability to plan. They regurgitate what they see in brochures or get spoken about in think-tanks. They also live in a make-believe world that suits their limitations: the short, sharp war suits their inability/unwillingness to stock up for an extended conflict, which would in turn mean building up our own MIC

[hgupta]

Wow!

Another canard that was considered "accepted wisdom" was that the wars of the 21st century would be sharp & intense, lasting a few weeks

What a load of crock, considering what we see in Ukraine!

Our AF leadership, sorry to say, have zero strategic sense or ability to plan. They regurgitate what they see in brochures or get spoken about in think-tanks. They also live in a make-believe world that suits their limitations: the short, sharp war suits their inability/unwillingness to stock up for an extended conflict, which would in turn mean building up our own MIC

To be fair, all of India’s wars post independence lasted no more than several months. The longest war was the Kargil War which was largely confined to several mountain peaks in western Kashmir, not a theater wide conflict.

[Rakesh]

We are not doing protracted, year long wars. It is just not economically feasible.

Skirmishes are a different story, as we are seeing in the on-going eyeball-to-eyeball stand-off between India and China.

All of China's military build up & capability points to one strategy ---> a rapid offensive with all their resources into the effort, before their enemy has a chance to recover and respond. This is what are building up for Taiwan and even against India.

[Manish_P]

^ and what if the opponent (we) refuses to co-operate and makes it clear that it is (we are) ready for a protracted war

[Rakesh]

Are we ready for any war? We are doing piecemeal purchases of phoren maal and hoping that will deter the enemy

[Manish_P]

...We are doing piecemeal purchases of phoren maal and hoping that will deter the enemy

True. Maybe that is based on our assumption that the enemy is/are not ready for a protracted war - as it is not feasible for them too. So Catch 22?

[Rakesh]

...We are doing piecemeal purchases of phoren maal and hoping that will deter the enemy

True. Maybe that is based on our assumption that the enemy is/are not ready for a protracted war - as it is not feasible for them too. So Catch 22?

But they are certainly capable of prevailing in a short, intense conflict. What are we doing about that, apart from buying piecemeal phoren maal?

[Manish_P]

But they are certainly capable of prevailing in a short, intense conflict. What are we doing about that, apart from buying piecemeal phoren maal?

Some of us are trying to convince ourselves (and others) that since the nature of our enemies has not changed, their targets, tools, tactics etc would also have not changed. Hence what worked for us in the past will work again.

Just today I saw a Twitter post by a senior IN person (retired) who questioned the logic, capability and cost effectiveness of the newly tested missile borne torpedo system

Their numbers and influence will lessen in due course... I mean retirements/sidelining.

The file of today, who will become the rank of tomorrow, will hopefully usher in big changes.