Possible Indian Military Scenarios - XII

[k prasad]

Simpleee brilliant onlee Shankarda!!!! love the way its building up...

Now we need Vivek back to take care of the Chinese who've made use of our PoK preoccupation to slither in some more......

[Shankar]

IAF STATION AVANTIPUR -1000 HRS -THUNDER BIRD FLIGHT-4XSU-30 MKI

Newly promoted Wing commander Manoj stood at attention as the base commander outlined the mission profile for surgical strike on Pearl hotel ,Muzzfarbad. The target zone will be roof top restaurant but secondary targets marked on the map also need be taken out if possible. “ collateral damage must be kept at minimum” thundered the air commodore but your and air craft safety is priority one “In simple words as Manoj understood what the air commodore was saying is blast the damn hotel to oblivion and damn the consequences .

Avantipur is an ancient village, situated about 29 km south of Srinagar, in Jammu and Kashmir. It was founded by king Avantivarman, the first ruler of the Utpala dynasty of Kashmir, who reigned here from 855 - 883.
Major point of attraction here are the two ruined Hindu temples, dedicated to Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu. The temple ruins represent some of the finest examples of the exquisite architecture that had existed in this region. The Shiva-Avantishvara is the largest among all temples in Avantipur.
Best time to visit is from April to July.
Avantipur is well-connected to Srinagar by road. Jammu Tawi Railway Station is the nearest railhead. The closest airport is at Srinagar.



Today he will be leading a four aircraft formation escorting the Mirage 2000s only after they enter POK airspace some where North West of Srinagar. His flight have been tasked with the primary responsibility the protection of the mirage and if possible take out some of the nagging Mirages operating out of a near airbase even before the Mirage 2000s enter Pakistan airspace.

In his mind Manoj divided up the assets available with tasks . He and will be armed with air air and air to ground anti radiation missiles ( 4 R 77M2 ,4 R-73 ,ECCM, 2 Krypton for possible strike as terrorists camps or targets of opportunity .Squadron leader Joshi will be responsible for diversionary strike at Muzzfarabad air port housing a squadron of Mirage 3 and a pair of ISI owned gulf stream business jets (as per latest IRS 2 photos) . using TV guided weapons and also provide backup to his team in protecting the Indian Mirages during bomb run .

The aircraft has a TV command guidance system. The air-to-surface missile fits include four anti-radiation missiles, six laser-guided short-range missiles or six short-range anti-surface missiles with television controlled homing.
The aircraft has a stand-off launch range of up to 120km. For long-range anti-surface capability the aircraft is armed with two TV command guided missiles such as the Kh-29 (AS-14 Kedge) with a 317kg penetrating warhead, the Zvezda Kh-31A (AS-17 Krypton) or the Raduga Kh-59M (AS-18 Kazoo).
For anti-surface ship missions the aircraft is armed with a one Raduga 3M80E Moskit supersonic anti-ship missile.
Indian Su-30MKI fighters are to be fitted with the Brahmos cruise missile, jointly developed by India and Russia. Brahmos has a range of 290km and a warhead of up to 350kg.

The weather is expected to be cloudy and he did not envy the Mirage boys who will most likely fly on ground rather than air as they cross into hostile air space . The breakfast was good and felt like another cup of filter coffee before kitting up and into the cockpit.

SKY PEEP FLIGHT-IAF PHALCON – BARIEV A-50 -35000 FT – SOUTH EAST OF SRINAGAR

Like a bird of prey it circled the sky in endless patterns of figure 8 with her escort of four armed to teeth flankers replaced every 4 hrs from near by airbase at Avantipur. Very little she missed ,either side of the border and that included movement of air craft on runway or vehicle convoys on road,she could see as far as Islamabad and Sargodha –nothing could even approach the Indian strike package unnoticed .She has been flying for almost 4 hrs and will be on station for another 8 before her sister from Agra will relieve her .She squinted her eyes as some thing caught her attention and her robotic brain registered the tiny movement in sky .Inside her cavernous belly monitors blinked and people sat quietly monitoring the air traffic ,the mobile conversation, the military conversation both side of border and selected those that are important .The 2 two bank of six monitors identified and tracked each movement and communicated with ground and to space to the constellation of Indian remote sensing and special purpose satellites when some thing needed more attention.
Even before the first Mirage 2000 took off the air space was getting sanitized .

[Shankar]

PEARL CONTINENTAL HOTEL -MUZZFARABAD – POK –DAY 4 -1100 HRA

Zulfikar khan was nervous and he had plenty of reasons to be so. The “local dignitaries” have all arrived on time including a couple of high profile ISI general types who have flow in from Islamabad for today’s meeting. Inside the hotel security was air tight. Half a dozen Toyotas packed with armed Taliban men were strategically located at all the road junctions around the hotel. No strangers were allowed in but he had an employee pass so could go in and physically confirm the identity of the out station visitors.

As he served hot tea (a favorite of the Taliban leadership) he also managed to pick up tit bits of discussion .The strike on Kolkata was planned for next week . The explosives and weapons were already in place .The hit team was expected to join the leaders for lunch on the roof top terrace restaurant at 1 pm local time.

No cell phones were allowed inside the hotel premises except the foreign tourists staying at the hotel. The roof top restaurant was already out of bounds for everyone except special visitors. In the kitchen special lunch menu was being prepared in a celebratory manner and that included legs of lamb and sides of beef roasted rare. Lot of dry fruits and sweet sherbet.

He moved down into the basement to pick up the compact laser designator a “gift” from Indian friends. He pushed it into his much used shoulder bag along with a powerful ground to air Morotola radio transceiver . On his way out if some one checks his bag –Zulfikar knew there will be only one outcome – a very painful death.

Fortunately no one was watching people going out of the hotel ,all the attention being focused on the “VIP” s coming in now and heading straight for the conference room .Zulfikar quietly ambled past the burly AK-47 equipped security guard and walked into the sunlight ,crossed the dirt covered road and entered a double storied ramshackle building just opposite ,about 50 meters away and climbed the rickety stairs to the roof top. There he picked the ground to air radio set and put it on standby .Then he began putting the cells in the laser designator and installed in a tripod –making sure he had a clear line of sight to the roof top restaurant across the road .

Finally he took out his cell phone and dialed a number in Karachi ,let it ring five times and clicked the cell phone off .He hoped the Indian agent will understand the message and manage to pass it on .

Then he began to wait.

KARACHI PORT –PAKISTAN -1115 HRS

Bismilla looked at her expensive mobile and frowned .The caller identification was itself the code and five rings confirmed the target is in place. She waited for a few seconds and then dialed in the unlisted Indian number which connected her to her controller in Delhi

IAF STATION SRINAGAR – 1215 HRS

The base commander opened the FLASH TRAFIC from western air command .It was cryptic and precise.

TOP SECRET –FLASH TRAFIC

OPERATION MOUNTAIN RAT IS A GO – TARGET IN PLACE – STRIKE WINDOW BETWEEN 1315 -1325 HRS – TARGET AREA ROOF TOP RESTURANT –PEARL HOTEL – EXPECT GROUND SUPPORT – CONFIRM ON MISSION LAUNCH –OVER- BLUE ANGEL SENDS, and then a ten digit authentication code WARCS45669- confirming the sender to be air officer commanding western air command.

He picked up the red phone which connected him to the pilots on standby in the hard shelters as well as the air traffic controllers on the tower. Within minutes the ground power carts were seen moving out and one after another the Mirages started their engines , a high pitched whine at first followed by deep throaty roar as the air ignited and created solid pillars of thrust to gently push the sleek aircraft into the taxi way .

The M53-P2 engine powers all the Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft, including the most recent
multirole versions Mirage 2000-5 and Mirage 2000-9. Chosen by 8 air forces on 4 continents,the M53-P2 is appreciated by the pilots for its exceptional handling characteristics due to full authority digital engine control (FADEC)


The six Mirage 2000s taxied in single file to main runway hammer head . In the distance the snowy peaks of Pir panjal glistened in the early sunlight.

Wing commander Dipak Mehta quickly stared his preflight checklist – flaps set 15 degree, engine exhaust temperature normal 643 deg C , turbine inlet temperature normal at 1380 C – hydraulic pressure in master circuit normal 75 bar , fuel consumption normal 0.6 kg/sec at near idle thrust level, air flow normal at 72 kg/hr .

The engine note sounded good and he was ready to go

- cloudy death flight –lead – confirm if ready for mission
The confirmations came in quickly ,all the six mirages were ready for flight and combat
- tower – Charlie delta lead – ready for take off
- copy that Charlie delta lead –stand by
- Charlie delta flight – tower you are cleared for immediate take –fly runway heading to 5000 meters – sky peep will have control of mission –authentication code is zulu delta 4 and 6 repeat zulu delta 4 and 6 –over and good hunting
- Copy tower –charlie delta lead – authentication code zulu delta 4 and 6 –rolling now

Dipak rolled his belly heavy sleek aircraft smoothly into take position .one more look at the digital display and runway alignment check before he pushed the power lever to 100% military power, after 3 seconds as the Mirage picked up speed he went past the reheat regime to the stops .The Snecma sucked in air at a prodigal rate of more than 94 kg/sec and injected raw aviation fuel in the combustion chamber to generate the 21500 pound thrust needed to get the fully loaded bird into air all in a matter of seconds.

But even then the climb out was sluggish as Dipak slapped up the undercarriage and initiated a slow back to port to gain air speed and altitude before crossing the low mountain rages in the distance .Behind him the other 5 air craft took off at an interval of one minutes and formed up on him only when all reached the cruise altitude of 15000 ft.

Dipak came off after burner and was happy to see the fuel consumption rate coming down immediately .Indicated air speed slowly increased to 450 knots as he retracted the flaps to 0 degree cruise setting and leveled out. Down below he could see the jagged peaks of Pir Panjal passing by, the reflected sunlight giving them an un earthly golden glow.The engine compression ration was slightly low at 9.6 ,he hoped it is a temporary instrument glitch and nothing more as he leaned forward to contact the orbiting Phalcon

[Sanku]

Not fair Vivek..... please; pretty please?

[Shankar]

SKY PEEP FLIGHT-IAF PHALCON – BARIEV A-50 -35000 FT – SOUTH EAST OF SRINAGAR-1225 HRS

Group captain Vina checked the overhead master plot. All the 12 monitor consoles were manned and running with a senior supervising officer of wing commander rank supervising the traffic and emerging threat scenario. He Thunderbird flight was approaching line of control from south and the cloudy death flight of mirages have just finished tanking up and approaching the ingress point from north

Today the monitors were configured in a different way . The port bank of six monitors were in charge of controlling strike mission by the Mirage 2000s and the starboard bank of monitors watching and controlling the air battle about to begin including the air defenses suppression by the thunder birds .

So far 4 Mirage 3 could be seen doing CAP over Muzzfarabad . Most of the stationary surface to air missile batteries on Pakistani side was on on/off mode ( a very poor attempt to fool the expected barrage of anti radiation missiles) . Taking them out will be no problem, bigger threat would be the mobile SAM s which will come on only when the static SAM s are taken out.

Vina decided to hold back to two of the sukhois for mobile SAM s and push the first flight of two into taking out the 4 surface to air missile sites directly on the ingress path just before the Mirages cross the line of control ,so ther will be no time for the Pakistanis to being into play the mobile SAM s .

Like always –timing and surprise will be everything, thought Vina as she partitioned her master screen into two to enable her monitor both the SEAD and strike mission simultaneously, adjusted her mike and took over tactical command.

- Thunder bird one and two-sky peep –authentication code -- – standby to receive target data on mud spikes –transmitting now
- Cloudy death lead – passage being cleared – standby for fast ingress – your ingress altitude is 16500 ft – course 253 – keep close –over
- Sky peep – thunder bird –data received garbled –retransmit please
- Stand by thunderbird lead –retransmitting now
- Sky peep – target data received ok –thunder bird lead
- Thunder bird one and two – you are weapons free on designated targets –fire at will –over
- Copy sky peep – weapons free – taking them out now

The sukhois banked into missile firing position .The targets were too far away to visually aquire .The data form phalcon was digested by the sukhois mission computer and it decided the altitude and trajectory of launch along with launch sequence .The two sukhois also “talked” to each other to ensure no effort is duplicated .All this took all of 7 seconds and the “shoot “prompt came up on the pilots HUD .

One after another the long range Russian anti radiation missiles dropped free, ignited tthier tails and dove for the grounds far away. The Pakistani radar operators immediately shut down their equipment to save the equipment as well as their lives. But this old fashioned counter tactics did not work this time .The exact location of the surface to air missile units were already registered in the missiles robotic brain and the sukhois mission computer kept on updating the flight path till one after another the Pakistani surface to air missile batteries went up in balls of fire.

-Thunder bird one and two -throttle back –thunder back three and four standby to take out the mobile launchers – acquiring target info –over
- copy that sky peep –thunder bird three –over
The Pakistanis had no option .Either they power on the reserve mobile radars and loose them too of keep them off and loose control of the air battle about to begin .
They decided to light up and it was bad decision
Blue sweeping cones came up in the Phalcons monitors, giving he frequency, location and range of each of the mobile radars .The massive on board computer processed the data and simplified into a set of simple strike co ordinates, ready for up linking to the sukhoi flight .
-thunder bird three –sky peep –authentication code – stand by for target data
-copy that sky peep- ready to receive data –over
-thunderbird three and four –you are weapons free for designated targets only –fire at will -over
-weapons launched – sky peep –time to impact 56 seconds
- we see that thunderbird –stand by for next instruction came the voice of Vina –cool and unflappable

The next set of anti radiation missiles took out most of the mobile radars ,punching a big hole in pakistans air defense ground environment ,allowing the Mirage 2000 s a narrow window of opportunity to sneak in without being seen
- cloudy death –sky peep – authentication code – passage clear – go –go

The SIX Mirage 2000s banked hard into the pre designated ingress sector, leveled and formed up in a tight diamond formation and then crossed the line of control on full after burner .Muzzafarabad was not very far away.


-

In Apr 00 Russia caused consternation in Pakistan when they detached two Russian Beriev A-50 Mainstay AEW aircraft to operate from an Indian Air Force base, during a lengthy demonstration of AEW capabilities to Indian Air Force personnel. Although both India and Pakistan have long recognized the benefits of operating an AWACS aircraft, cost and more importantly, actual availability always mitigated against either country being the first to actually operate these ‘force-multipliers’. America, aware of how easily an ‘AEW Race’ could be started, always rebuffed any attempt by the countries to purchase either the E-2C Hawkeye or the E-3A Sentry. Russia initially appeared more willing to allow India to upset the military balance in the area by offering them the Beriev A-50 Mainstay. However, the deal fell through, either because Russia was unwilling to agree to the ‘technology transfer’ necessary to allow the IAF to operate and maintain the aircraft or because Russia wanted too high a price for what India perceived as essentially a first generation AEW system and one that was markedly inferior to either An Consequently, on 11 Aug 03 it was something of a surprise when the US State Department announced that it had no objections to the sale of the Phalcon system to India. Following detailed negotiations, on 5 Mar 04 the Indian Ministry of Defence and Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) finally signed a deal worth up to $1.1 billion for the supply of three Phalcon AEW systems installed on Il-76MD Candid aircraft. The US agreeing to the sale of the Phalcon system was a surprise because in the past, other than the sale of one Phalcon equipped 707 to Chile, America has blocked Israeli ambitions to sell the Phalcon system elsewhere – most notably China. As production of the Il-76MD Candid aircraft ceased some time ago, the 3 Indian aircraft are expected to be sourced from the Tashkent factory in Uzbekistan, where a number of surplus incomplete airframes are available for disposal. The airframes will be flown from Tashkent to the Irkut Corporation facility at Irkutsk, where, along with some structural modifications, they will be completed and more powerful Aviadvigatel PS-90A will replace the standard D-30KP-2 turbofans. Then the completed aircraft will be flown to the IAI factory in Israel for the installation of the Phalcon radar system.
The exact specification of the Indian Phalcon system is unknown, but it has certainly been developed considerably from the version sold to Chile in 1994. Whether the Indian Air Force will be supplied with the ‘full-strength’ Phalcon, equipped with phased-array radar, phased-array IFF, ESM/ELINT and CSM/COMINT, which functions as a sophisticated intelligence gathering, as well as AEW aircraft, remains to be seen. The Phalcon system is believed to be capable of tracking up to 60 targets at ranges between 435-500 miles, giving the Indian Air Force the ability to survey large areas of Pakistan from within Indian airspace. Currently, the first aircraft is scheduled to be delivered in Dec 07, followed by the second nine months later and the last aircraft around Apr 09. Israel has also agreed to supply India with high-resolution pictures from its Ofeq-5 photo-reconnaissance satellite of the Kashmir region and the line of control area between India and Pakistan. Finally, in 2003, Israel sold India a number of Aerostat balloons, equipped with phased array radars that are permanently deployed along the border with Pakistan

[Shankar]

double delete

[Shankar]

The induction pf PHALCON system into air defense network did not really go unnoticed in Pakistan and some did comment it as most significant military development in the subcontinent since the nuclear weapons test in 1998.Their own AEW system from Sweden was still some way off and at the moment they did not have anything to challenge the A-50 Phalcon on the Indian skies . In fact they did not even have the exact idea of its detection range or its endurance on station and ofcourse its data link capability to strike/air defense aircraft in the region. .

Inside the air conditioned fuselage the radar controllers sat in comfortable swivel chairs facing the color monitors. While some of the mon itors were configured like standard radar consoles others were quite different. By punching in a few commands the air battle commanders could plost several flight paths and the computer came up with the safest or the fastest route to target and also the “most optimum” Once the mode is selected the computer will generate a flight plan complete with threat matrix, diversionary runways, ingress /egress vectors on a real time basis which could then be uplinked to the strike /defense aircraft either via satellite or directly if they are within range by high speed quadruple encrypted data link.

At this moment the master screen was not very cluttered .The four Mirage 3 s of PAF was clearly shown in red along with their speed, course ,altitude and expected weapon load and pained in traditional red. The Indian mirage 2000s were seen diving for ground with similar vector details along with their relative position with respect to approved and up linked flight plan . The Su-30 s were shown in blue too but now slwing down to allow the Mirage 2000s to allow the Mirage 2000S to enter strike zone first as they gave a 360 degree coverage based on directive from the Phalcon . Soon they will enter hostile airspace and take out the Pakistani Mirages as soon as the Indian mirage 2000s came near the weapon release range hat is about 35-40 km from target over river and start their bomb release climb out


Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) developed its Phalcon system for Israeli defence forces and for export. Airborne Early Warning, Command and Control (AEWC&C) systems play a major role on the modern battlefield by providing real-time intelligence and command and control needed to achieve and maintain air superiority over the combat area and to enable surveillance of borders in peacetime. The world's most advanced AEWC&C system, the PHALCON, was developed and produced by ELTA using Active Phased Array Electronic Scanning Technology rather than a mechanically rotating antenna (rotodome) used by current AWACS systems, giving PHALCON greater operational flexibility and performance by several orders of magnitude. The Phalcon AEW&C aircraft is based on four sensors: phased-array radar, phased-array IFF, ESM/ELINT and CSM/COMINT. A unique fusion technology continuously cross-relates the data gathered by all sensors. When one of the sensors reports a detection, the system automatically initiates an active search of the complementary sensors.
The AWE&C phased array radar replaces the conventional rotodome radar. It is mounted either on the aircraft fuselage or on top of the aircraft inside a stationary dome, providing full 360 coverage. This electronically steered beam radar delivers a tremendous advantage over mechanical rotating antenna, as it supports the tracking a high maneuvering targets. The radar can detect even low flying objects from distances of hundreds of kilometers, day and night, under all weather conditions. Verification beams sent at specific, individual, newly detected targets eliminate false alarms. Moreover, track initiation is achieved in 2 to 4 seconds as compared to 20 to 40 seconds with a rotodome radar
The IFF system employs solid state phased array technology to perform interrogation, decoding, target detection and tracking. A monopulse technique is used to implement azimuth measurement. The IFF data is automatically correlated with the phased array radar.
The ESM/ELINT system receives, analyzes and locates radar signals, covering 360o. It combines high sensitivity with high probability of intercept, and achieves excellent accuracy in bearing measurement. The system uses narrow-band super-heterodyne receivers and wide-band instantaneous frequency measurement (IFM) techniques to provide very high accuracy and probability of intercept of airborne and surface emitters. Very high bearing accuracy for all received signals is achieved through Differential Time of Arrival (DTOA) measurements. The system also collects and analyzes ELINT data.
The PHALCON's CSM/COMINT receives in UHF, VHF and HF, rapidly searching for airborne, ship borne or ground communications signals of interest. Selected radio nets can be monitored for signal activity. A DF capability locates targets. Detected signals can be assigned to monitoring receivers instantaneously. The system makes extensive use of computers to reduce the load on operators.
The aircraft communicates, via its data link, with Air Defense HQ. Data from additional air defense sensors are fused to create a complete spatial picture

[nrshah]

Shankar,

Just one question.

No loss at Indian side. Isnt it making the scenario like Hindi Movies where our Heros live even when hit with many bullets and bombs?

- Nitin

[Chandragupta]

Well, you would'nt show losses just for the sake of being realistic. Till now, I don't think there's been any point in Shankar's scenario where Indian losses would be inevitable.

[aditp]

Well, you would'nt show losses just for the sake of being realistic. Till now, I don't think there's been any point in Shankar's scenario where Indian losses would be inevitable.

Shankar is our very own Tom Clancy

Wonder where's Vivek

[Sudhanshu]

Shankar,

Just one question.

No loss at Indian side. Isnt it making the scenario like Hindi Movies where our Heros live even when hit with many bullets and bombs?

- Nitin

I remember, long before in this thread, when Capt. Ayer of Indian Akula killed three Chinese Kilo sub.. how people started to react... some even term him Rajnikant sort of.

And, how Vivek had hard time explaining. Fortunately at last, it was clear to everyone how it was highly possible.

Hope we will not drag Shanker in same kind of long explaining.

---
Great story Shankar, totally engaging till last word.

[varghese]

Shankar,

Just one question.

No loss at Indian side. Isnt it making the scenario like Hindi Movies where our Heros live even when hit with many bullets and bombs?

- Nitin

I was just waiting for the glass half empty types to pipe up with complaints of "lack of realism". I'm just surprised it took this long! I think Sudanshu is right to remind us of the previous nonsense and I agree with Chandragupta that nothing so far in the scenario makes it a given that there have to be Indian losses.

[nrshah]

I was just waiting for the glass half empty types to pipe up with complaints of "lack of realism". I'm just surprised it took this long! I think Sudanshu is right to remind us of the previous nonsense and I agree with Chandragupta that nothing so far in the scenario makes it a given that there have to be Indian losses.

I am not saying there has to be major losses at Indian side. But my point is that there are not even minor losses.
Howsoever, tech wise we may be sound, better skilled but fact remains you cannot avoid losses.
Even Russia lost a few fighter / bombers when it attacked Georgia which is not a match to PAF
Likewise in Kargil, even when IAF was operating inside LOC, we lost 2 fighters

In this case we are operating deep inside LOC and have avoided losses.

Wiping out your enemy without a single casualty or loss of machinery has to be dream of all of us. I am not secluded from this. It is not half empty types, but at the same time you also cannot undermine your enemy.

- Nitin

[Rajat]

nitin, you are right, of course...

but it is shankar's scenario. let him set it the way he wants to. he has every right to make it as realistic (or not) as he wants. he shouldn't NEED to explain anything to us. he is giving us an awesome read, for FREE. let us be grateful, not critical...

[nrshah]

nitin, you are right, of course...

but it is shankar's scenario. let him set it the way he wants to. he has every right to make it as realistic (or not) as he wants. he shouldn't NEED to explain anything to us. he is giving us an awesome read, for FREE. let us be grateful, not critical...

I agree... Even I am enjoying and am eager to read the next post. I check the forum atleast 10 times a day to check if update is posted.

-Nitin

[Shankar]

The most complete and happy victory is this: to

compel one's enemy to give up his purpose, while

suffering no harm oneself.



--Count Belisarius





To do the greatest damage to our enemy with the

least exposure to ourselves, is a military axiom

lost sight of only by ignorance of the true ends

of victory.



--Dennis Hart Mahan





If a battle can be won without suffering loss,

surely this is the most economical, if not the

most traditional, way of gaining the strategical

object.



--John Frederick Charles Fuller


Indian strategy and tactics in the current series of high intensity local air strikes were based on lessons learned from similar conflicts worldwide -from Kosavo to iraq to Kargil and of course Chechnya . It was also based on a deep understanding of Pakistani airforce itself who unlike the army was not in favor of terrorism sponsered out and planned in the state of Pakistan.This fact came out in the open when satelitte photos showed USAF predators using PAF base in Qyetta to strike a Taliban targets in north west frontier province and all across pak-afgan border..

Pak army and ISI supported terrorism because it helped them achieve some kind of psedo-parity with indian army on ground since a big bulk of our army tied down to counter insurgency duty in Kashmir the army top brass was not in mood for an all out offensive even after 26/11.
Added to that it is the first time IAF used its technology domination and force multipliers and of course the awesome weapon capability of Su-30 mki networked to PHALCON ssytem and supported by in flight refueling capability.

PAF could have surely responded in a more effective way but at a great cost to its aircraft inventory and the exchange ration would have still very much in favor of Indian air force. PAF knew the futility of putting up any serious resistance to IAF on highly localized battle situations and stayed away much of the time except some area or high value target defense missions.

Best part of the scenario is IAF knew the limitations of PAF and used it to its fullest -limiting strikes at known terrorist targets ,trying to minimize collateral damage and keeping the incursion window smallest possible along with use of overwhelming force and toatl surprise to achieve total tactical and strategic area domination -resulting in almost zero loss operation .

But like any war situations may change any time or they may not -for the time being IAF strategy was working well -everyone hoped it stays that way including a bifg part of pakistani establishment

[Shankar]

STRATEGIC PARALYSIS:
AN AIR POWER STRATEGY FOR THE PRESENT
Maj Jason B. Barlow, USAF




THE MILITARY has long sought a quick and economical decision in battle. Leaders of armed forces the world over continue to search for the perfect maneuver, the right terrain, or the ideal weapon that promises victory at the lowest possible cost in terms of blood and treasure. Is modern air power what they are looking for? Precise aerial warfare--although not suited for every conflict--does offer certain distinct advantages over the more traditional forms of war

The Gulf War of 1991--notable for technological achievements and the willingness to use them correctly--marked air power's coming of age

Most military theorists agree that the objective of any military conflict is to change the enemy government's behavior. What is not so clear is the means of effecting such change and the role of air power in this process. Because strategic paralysis calls for attacking or threatening national-level targets that most directly support the enemy's war-making efforts and will to continue the conflict, this strategy holds promise for changing the enemy's behavior at a relatively low cost to both sides. Air power is the primary weapon of this strategy because only it can provide the access, mass, persistence, and simultaneity of attack needed to induce paralysis

The Gulf War was not the first conflict in which the US sought to employ a strategy similar to strategic paralysis. For example, the US began World War II with a doctrine that advocated the daylight precision bombing of Germany's industrialized centers as a way to force Germany into ending the war. But the available airplanes, bombs, and navigational instruments (i.e., the technology) did not measure up.8 Indeed, because accuracy and ordnance were so poor, targets had to be attacked heavily and often. For example, 108 B-17s were required to achieve a 96 percent probability of kill on a power-station switching yard measuring 400' x 500'.9 It comes as no surprise, then, that Air War Plans Division--Plan 1 (AWPD-1) called for 6,860 bombers to destroy only 154 targets. The situation was no better for B-29s in the Pacific, where "only 50% of [the] total aircraft dispatched would successfully attack a given target and . . . only 25% of the bombs dropped (or 12% of the total bombs dispatched) would fall within a 1000 foot radius of the aiming point."10 As one writer observed about war, "You can fire small-calibre rifle bullets indiscriminately into an elephant all day, and he will still be on his feet at night. One aimed shot, however, will knock him to his knees."11 Technology now allows us to take that aimed shot

Target selection lies at the heart of military doctrine and theory. If aiming your effort--as Carl von Clausewitz would say--is important for the ground commander, it is much more so for the air commander because air power is expensive and precious.14 Air power can put an enormous amount of fire on an enemy position, but it is costly and difficult to sustain. Hitting an insignificant target with a bomb that has been flown 3,000 nautical miles is wasteful. Strategic paralysis sensibly assumes that every country has some targets that are more important than others in terms of sustaining the enemy's capability or will to wage war. Because the destruction of these targets or national elements of value (NEV)15 can paralyze the enemy government, one should concentrate one's air power resources exclusively on those targets deally, one should direct air attacks against a vulnerable, vital element of the enemy's national structure, and this element should consist of only a few targets

Another consideration that has a bearing on NEVs is the enemy's proclivity to make rational decisions. One cannot expect to exert much influence on an enemy who places no value on the targets attacked. Thus, in order to avoid wasted effort, the attacker must understand how the enemy values his assets. Air Comdr Jasjit Singh contends that "the aim of strategic air power is [the] destruction, disruption and dislocation of the enemy war-waging machine in its totality so as to . . . increase the costs of waging war to an unacceptable level." In other words, the enemy must value his costs and unacceptable levels in a way that is predictable or understandable.23 A rational enemy will give up only when the costs of continuing the conflict outweigh any potential benefits. Air power's toughest challenge (as Douhet found out) may be in educating future adversaries in the fact that loss of the air means loss of the conflict

Would any country other than the United States be interested in pursuing a strategy of strategic paralysis? First, the strategy should appeal to any country seeking a quicker victory at a relatively lower cost. However, the requisite elements of high technology and aerospace control likely put the strategy beyond the means of all but the most technologically advanced and wealthy countries. Second, the strategy should appeal to any country seeking to minimize civilian and military casualties and to preserve human rights

Indian policy makers used the very basic logic of precision warfare to achieve the goal of eliminating the source of terror -leadership,infrastructure and motivation by selectively taking out the key targets from Karachi to Mangal dam to now Muzzafarabad knowing that Pakistan will and cannot risk its own existence by going for an all out war -just like the USAF drone attacks demonstrated in a different frontier but in the same time period.

[Shankar]

CLOUDY DEATH FLIGHT -6XMIRAGE 2000– POK – 1240 HRS

Wing commander Dipak mehta focused on flying, shutting out all distractions and just focusing on the radar altimeter reading and the undulating terrain ahead . He knew most of the static radars have been taken out but he also knew the mobile radars in the area may spring a nasty surprise any time.He also knew the possibility of stingers in the area but hoped his ingress path will not take over any of them ,even if it does the so called half trained mujahedeen on ground will not have the aim and shoot window required for a kill shot .

The thermals from Warm Mountain made the ride uncomfortable .Though the mirages fly by wire control compensated the sudden updrafts and mild wind shears and maintained course and selected altitude of ------ ft just over the sure kill envelope of stingers and just in the low hit probability of any mobile radar guided missiles. Here the terrain helped .Very soon he will enter the river and follow the river course all the way to Muzzfarabad .

The cockpit was getting hot, even with very efficient air conditioning, though Dipak as he adjusted the temperature setting to 22 degree Celsius and looked out at his wing man.For both of them this will be first combat mission reasonably deep inside enemy territory . In the distance he could see the beautiful Jheelum, snaking down he valleys into the plains below and becoming wider in the process.

-cloudy death lead –eagle peep – reduce altitude to 30 meters as you cross into river –follow river to fort and then change course to 256.4 and start your bomb run- target is 3.67 km from fort repeat 3.67 km from fort –keep this frequency open for update –over

-copy eagle peep – have river in sight- diving for the deck – fort coming up on port – heavy triple A - 7 and 9 o clock –over
- good hunting cloudy death flight – help on the way
- Thunderbird lead –did you read last transmission
- Thunderbird lead –copy last transmission – taking out the triple a batteries on river bank

The two Su -30 mkis banked in sharply,deployed the air brake for a few seconds as they spotted the tale tale sign s of triple A fire along the river bank .There were almost half a dozen radar controlled guns shooting at the low flying mirage 2000s and as they saw one of the Mirages lurched in air and dived for the water disintegrating as it touched the boulders strewn river surface at near supersonic sound. The transmission confirmed the worst fear

-eagle peep –cloudy death lead cloudy death 3 is down –triple air shot from river bank –where are the damned flanker –over

The Indian flankers having now located all the gun positions, came in fast and straight and the Gsh 30 6 six barreled guns opened up in unison ,spraying devastation all around .Within 10 seconds the Pakistani guns on river bank fell silent .

- eagle peep –thunder bird lead – target destroyed –over
- copy that thunderbird – cloudy death start climbing for bomb run now –eagle peep authorizes
- eagle peep –cloudy death lead – starting bombing run –crossing fort now
- eagle peep –thunderbird lead –we see four Mirge 3 type –altitude 7500 meters on intercept course –take them out now
- copy that eagle peep – we have them in sight –taking them out now
- thunder bird two –lead – target 3 o clock high – mirage 3 –intercept now

The two sukhois lit up their tails initiated a turning climb to meet the defender .The Mirage 2000S were already committed on the bomb run and it was no time to go stingy on missiles. First they launched a salvo R-27 s one at each of the incoming mirages followed quickly by another salvo of R-73 s as the Pakistani mirages in adherently came within the heat seekers kill zone trying the escape the radar seekers .

The first Mirage 3 went up as he foolishly tried to lock on the sukhois with his comparatively low power radar. All that happened is in classic head on shot one of the R-27 s smashed right into his cockpit and blew up, the pilot not even knowing he is dead.

The other three mirage 3 s was smarter but only by a limited degree. As they lit their after burner and tried to close in for a sidewinder shot he Indian sukhois got them with perfect off bore sight shot .directed from the helmet mounted sights the R-73 cued on to the Pakistani mirage 3 s and killed them one at a time. The sky turned black with burning aircraft and jet fuel.

-eagle peep –thunder bird lead –spalsh 4 mirage 3s – confirm over
- thunder bird lead –eagle peep –we have four splash on tape –good work – now get out of cloddy death flight egress route –over

.
Dipak mehta leaned forward and pushed the power lever up maximum reheat and also switched on the bomb arming device as he lined up on the target hotel terrace. The radar warning receiver beeped intermittently ,some one trying for a lock on ,Dipak shrugged off the distraction and leveled out at 5000 ft over ground level- the distinctive dome of Pearl hotel he could see now and the head up display showed the targeting pod was receiving enough reflected energy to initiate a weapon release –the shoot prompt came of the head up display as Dipak for the last time nudged the stick to put the cross hairs right on centre of the open terrace and clicked the red knobby fire button- waited as the bomb dropped free and sailed forward in a near perfect parabolic arc hitting the target building and blowing it up from inside out as he banked sharply t starboard and started a rapid climb out and his wing man came for his run .


The full attack run took less than 2 minutes .The 5 2000 kg pave ways essentially razed the whole hotel and its surroundings in to a smoldering ruins and a chain of craters almost 10 meters across. There was no question of survivors

- eagle peep –cloudy death lead –target destroyed –bugging out –over
- cloudy death –eagle peep –we confirm target destroyed – good work – exit through grid sector zulu alpha – escort on stand by –over

The indian mirages formed up once again and the four sukhois formed up on them throwing a protective box all around . As the flight made high speed exit to indian air space no Pakistani aircraft came in to challenge .They have had enough for a day. PAF was not in a mood to loose its precious aircraft for the unwelcome terrorists.

[Nitesh]

They have had enough for a day. PAF was not in a mood to loose its precious aircraft for the unwelcome terrorists.

Shankar da is it true? No way they are strategic assets for them. Why they will be unwelcome.
But good they meet there 72. Amen

[vivek_ahuja]

A small recap before we launch...

-Vivek

[vivek_ahuja]

AIRSPACE OVER SOUTHERN BHUTAN
DAY 4 + 1620 HRS (L)

The first flight of four Mig-27s armed with heavy ground ordinance broke into Bhutanese airspace a full fifteen minutes after the Army HQ forwarded the IMTRAT CAS request to the IAF HQ. The pilots could see the massive snow capped Chomolhari peak to their left as they headed out north. The onboard RWRs were now screeching with warning sounds as the Indian pilots realized that they were being detected by long range radars based in the plains of Tibet. But that could not be helped now. An RBA unit along with Indian advisors was being crushed by the Chinese APC assisted mobile forces in the three lakes region as it was known.

The flight leader’s sharp eyes noted the massive Dochen Tso Lake to the northwest beyond the Chomolhari peak and saw the line of peaks that separated Bhutan from Tibet. They had their location on satellite navigation assistance in their cockpits, but the mark one eyeball was still needed as much as it had been a century ago. Two minutes later they were within visual range of the three lakes just beyond the peaks. They were now flying over the Chumbi valley and the RWRs were screeching madly as the anti-air units of two Chinese Divisions noted the presence of unfriendly aircraft in the blue skies above...

[vivek_ahuja]

AIRSPACE OVER SOUTHERN ARUNACHAL PRADESH
DAY 4 + 1625 HRS (L)

It was above the slight humming noise of the engines outside that the Mission Controller rubbed his eyes as he looked at the screen again. The two groups of Sukhois, one from the indian side and the other from the Chinese, were moving parallel to each other but in opposite directions. The twelve Chinese SU-27s and SU-30s, which the Phalcon radar had detected amongst the group of inbounds a few second ago were moving south towards the Indian Phalcon and were currently above the Subansiri sector of Arunachal Pradesh. The opposing group of 8 Sqn Sukhois were moving northeast and were above the Se-La pass, far to the west and well out of BVR range.

To the east the J-7B threat had been neutralized at heavy cost by the Indian Mig-21s. The last two J-7s that had made a run for home had lost out when their fuel had run out before crossing the Chaukan Pass peaks. Their ejections had been noted on the radar screens aboard the Phalcon and the single Embraer AEW aircraft that were providing the ISR network over the region. Another aircraft, this time an ARC B-707, was mysteriously loitering to the southeast just next to the hills of Kohima in Nagaland on SIGINT duties to investigate the possibility of incoming threats from that direction.

Bhutan had been dragged into the war by now and that had made the other neighbors wary. The Myanmar government was currently trying to play both sides of the fence, and it was only a matter of time before one of the two sides in the conflict decided to take matters into their hands...

[vivek_ahuja]

THE AIRBASE PERIMETER
DAULAT BEG OLDI
LADDAKH
DAY 4 + 1620 HRS (L)

Yet another flight of Jaguars was currently bombarding the Chinese forward units with cluster munitions. But by now the Chinese anti-air vehicles had caught up. With the darkness of the night suddenly beginning to envelop the high mountains, the battle for the Karakoram pass and Daulat Beg Oldi had reached a stalemate. The skies above were being ruled by IAF fighters but they could not go too far north beyond the LAC before taking out the few remaining S-300 systems that remained along with the remaining numbers of SU-27s running interference. Besides that, the attacks by Chinese cruise missiles against Leh and some other high value targets was increasing and proving difficult to stop.

The IAF had employed its entire might to stop the vast convoys of vehicles and tanks that were rolling against the Indian defenders in several sectors in Laddakh. It was an effort that had proven costly and getting costlier by the minute as the vast numbers of Chinese anti-air units began taking their toll on the Indian crews...

Brigadier Adesara looked silently through his binoculars as he saw the rapidly darkening valley lit up with a battery of sparks to the east as yet another few Chinese vehicles fell prey to cluster munitions dropped by an attacking Jaguar. The rumble passed beneath the feet of the Indian soldiers manning the defences around DBO a few seconds later. It was now possible to see the lines of tracers of directed anti-air gunfire that was filling the skies and seemingly increasing by the minute as the Chinese attempted to swat the Jaguars from the skies above as if they were flies distracting them from their main job of surging ahead...

It was therefore a sign of big relief for Brigadier Adesara and Colonel Sudarshan when the first group of four BMP-IIs from the 10TH Mechanized Regiment vanguard rolled over into view to the southwest as they headed towards the shattered remains of the airbase. They were rolling with their headlights off but the hatches still open as the evening yellowish sunlight was still visible on the tips of the Karakoram peaks around the sector.

Then there was a flash of light that caused all Indian soldiers to look east to see the burning debris of an Indian Jaguar hit by Chinese anti-air artillery falling out of the sky and hitting the slopes where it disappeared into a fireball. No parachute was spotted. The other few Jaguars pulled out a few seconds later after completing their attack run.

Adesara thanked the departing Jaguars for their attempts to hold back the Chinese hordes from overrunning his Brigade defensive line. It had bought time at the cost of blood from the Indian pilots and had allowed the Brigade to receive urgent reinforcements. Now the 10TH Mechanized was deploying into the field. If the Chinese tanks made a run for Daulat Beg Oldi during the night, they would pay the price for it...

[k prasad]

They had their location on satellite navigation assistance in their cockpits, but the mark one eyeball was still needed as much as it had been a century ago.

Simply Brilliant Vivek-bhai!!! Keep-em coming!!!

[Nitesh]

Finally vivek is back, Welcome

[vivek_ahuja]

LEH AIRBASE
LADDAKH
DAY 4 + 1630 HRS (L)

The work had to be done quickly. The airbase was still under threat from the almost regular Chinese cruise missile attacks and it only took one shot to make it lethal for a target as large as the IL-76. It was therefore no surprise to W/C Dutt that it had taken so long for his airlift to take place. What had been planned for the morning had taken till evening even as the temperature dropped and only the mountain tips were still illuminated by the fading sunlight. The Chinese are scoring high on that account with their cruise missiles...Dutt thought as he walked down the ramp of the IL-76 onto the cold concrete tarmac of the airfield.

He was watching even as the first of the two LCH helicopters were manhandled out of the belly of the IL-76 by the ground crewmen who were literally pushing the feather-light bird out on the tarmac. The main rotor and tail rotor blades had been removed. Other crewmen were removing the containers holding the equipment and maintenance supplies. Yet others were removing the live weapon rounds and ammunition. The CO of the resident Cheetah helicopter unit, the ‘Siachen Pioneers’, was standing alongside as his men helped the officers of the newly inducted 199HU to get oriented with the base.

Dutt looked around. The base was a scene of hectic acticity, as was to be expected since the region was under total war. Every few seconds Cheetah, ALH and Mi-17s were continuously lifting off the airbase and climbing away to the east despite the impending darkness. All crews had been issued with the NVG helmets by now, but they were in short supply. Every inch of the tarmac on the other side of the airbase was occupied by lines of AN-32s and IL-76s that were flying in rapidly needed supplies and fresh units to join the battle. It was a high tech scene that was strangely also reminiscent of the 62 war, Dutt realized. History repeated itself...

By now the first LCH had already been moved to a cleared section of the tarmac and the ground crewmen along with the HAL supervisors that had come along in the IL-76 flight from Bangalore were busy installing the main rotor blades on the helicopters while others were already refuelling the tanks. All the while the former test pilots from Bangalore who were now operational pilots of 199HU were collaborating with the operational pilots of 114HU over maps lit up by hand held torches alongside the parked LCH.

By the time the base CO and some other senior officers from Western Air HQ were getting off their vehicles nearby to talk to W/C Dutt and the future employment of his gunships, the first two of the six deadly LCHs of 199HU were parked alongside on the tarmac , getting ready for war...

[Rahul M]

vivek, you might want to take the WSI dhruvs into consideration too regarding the PLA armoured thrust, if their payload permits that is.

[k prasad]

One qn, what is the approximate month and year of Vivek's scenario??? I'm suspecting April 2011 or so... plz confirm.

[vivek_ahuja]

THE TIBET-BHUTAN BORDER
FOOTHILLS 16KM SOUTH OF DOCHEN TSO
NORTHEAST OF CHUMBI-VALLEY
BHUTAN
DAY 4 + 1650 HRS (L)

The leading ZBD staggered to a halt after a jarring explosion ripped through its hull. A column of flames burst out of the hatches even as thick black smoke filled the air. The two man RBA team manning the Carl-Gustav launcher dived back under cover after taking the shot just before the ground around their positions churned with impacting cannon rounds from other Chinese vehicles...

The three platoons of ZBDs had stopped advancing a small distance away from the RBA trenches even as two other platoons had bypassed to the north and south of the RBA positions and were continuing to move eastward towards the foothills and the three lake region. They had already destroyed and overrun the RBA Company HQ positions and destroyed what few supporting trucks and jeeps the RBA had behind them. As of now there was nothing to stop the Chinese advance to the east other than scattered sections of Bhutanese soldiers. The only positions holding out were the prepared trench lines where the RBA Lt-Colonel and the IMTRAT Major were trying to organize a holding battle.

To make matters worse, the Chinese mechanized infantry that were advancing along with the ZBDs had now debussed and taken positions alongside their vehicles and were supporting their vehicles with rifle fire. The mortar rounds that were falling around the RBA trenches were only adding to the chaos on the Bhutanese side...

It was the Bhutanese Lt-Colonel who first spotted the Indian aircraft overhead even as the blue skies had by now turned pinkish during the twilight. He shouted above the sounds of the gunfire to the Indian Major who looked up from the sights of his INSAS rifle to see the new sounds entering the air around them...

************************

The four Mig-27s were now in a racetrack pattern as each aircraft dived into the fray. The flight leader was in the first aircraft and he pushed his aircraft into a shallow dive and pulled up just after releasing the first of his iron bombs. The less fancy version of the modern weapons, the iron bombs were nonetheless extremely powerful when aimed properly. The flight leader had aimed for the groups of mortar teams that were supporting the Chinese platoons and the line of bombs from the pylons hit the ground in distinct groups, sending massive thunderclaps through the sector that abruptly silenced the incoming Chinese mortar rounds, much to the cheer of the besieged RBA soldiers below.

Even as the flight leader pulled away from a hailstorm of anti-aircraft artillery fire that followed him up, the next Mig-27 began its dive. This one aimed for one of the ZBD platoon that had bypassed the RBA positions to the south and was racing for the Bhutanese peaks east of the three lakes. These were mobile targets, so the first choice of weapons for this type of target would have been LGBs, but they were not available at the moment. So the next option was the CBUs. The pilot selected his CBUs and released his entire load in selective drops that scattered the deadly shrapnel over the entire sector below. By the time he pulled away, three of the four ZBDs were dead in their tracks...

*************************

But the Chinese Mech.-Inf. Commander was no fool. He knew the reason why the Mig-27s had not attacked the ZBD platoons directly opposite the RBA trenches: they were too close to the RBA positions. He decided to force the issue further even as he directed all ZBDs and their supporting infantry to advance and overrun the RBA positions. If they took prisoners along the way, it would only help his cause at the moment even as he watched the ZBD platoon to the northeast of the three lakes also get mauled by the savage attacks of the remaining two Mig-27s...

The Indian Major saw through the Chinese intentions as he watched the ZBDs emitting smoke from the exhausts and moving forward, their supporting infantry moving behind, taking cover behind their vehicles. There was no choice now. If the RBA Company was to see the next sunrise tomorrow, there was only one option left. He looked over to the Lt-Colonel before picking up the radio next to him...

[karadi]

Simply Awesome! Welcome back!

[Tanaji]

We seem to have run Hari saab off the board.... a pity. Come back...

[parshuram]

I was just waiting for the glass half empty types to pipe up with complaints of "lack of realism". I'm just surprised it took this long! I think Sudanshu is right to remind us of the previous nonsense and I agree with Chandragupta that nothing so far in the scenario makes it a given that there have to be Indian losses.

I am not saying there has to be major losses at Indian side. But my point is that there are not even minor losses.
Howsoever, tech wise we may be sound, better skilled but fact remains you cannot avoid losses.
Even Russia lost a few fighter / bombers when it attacked Georgia which is not a match to PAF
Likewise in Kargil, even when IAF was operating inside LOC, we lost 2 fighters

In this case we are operating deep inside LOC and have avoided losses.

Wiping out your enemy without a single casualty or loss of machinery has to be dream of all of us. I am not secluded from this. It is not half empty types, but at the same time you also cannot undermine your enemy.

- Nitin

well no offense to you pal it is not exactly a dream or miracle .. Israeli 's did wiped out air forces of three countries with in span of six days with with kill ratio of 22:1 in there favor . purely due that fact that they were better trained , planned and committed

kargil did not gave us enough time to react , media and public pressure was immense and govt was to act very very soon .

Shankar da first few posts about this scenario's brilliantly highlight the fact that while diplomatic channels were on for nearly a month or so . India armed forces were not on picnic they did there homework rather professionally and acted as they were supposed to act and indian agencies are monitoring these targets for decades in contrast to kargil where we were caught napping

[Shankar]

Pakistan air force is perhaps the most professional of all its armed forces and never really agreed to the government policy of encouraging terrorism in India operating out of Pakistani soil. It only knew too well the overwhelming superiority of its Indian counterpart unlike the army which did and continue to use the terrorists as a low cost option to keep Indian army tied down in Kashmir. The terrorists knew this too and this was perhaps why many of the PAF bases were attacked on a routine basis while no such thing happened in any Pakistan army cantonments .This was the primary reason why PAF response to Indian surgical strikes were half hear ted at the best and ineffective to a great extent

This was also the main reason why PAF allowed USAF/CIA predators to operate from many of its air bases while the government kept on complaining about the drone attacks in AFPAK region

Militants attack PAF van; 13 killed: Car blast in Peshawar

By Ali Hazrat Bacha

PESHAWAR, Aug 12: Six air force personnel and seven other people were killed when a car bomb exploded near a bridge on the main Peshawar-Kohat Road in the southern part of the city on Tuesday morning.

Included among the dead were a six-year-old girl and two women who were going to a wedding ceremony, two van drivers and two bike riders.

Some of the bodies were badly mutilated and could not be identified. The place presented a gory scene with body parts scattered over a large area.

Local elder Haji Malik Khwaja Mohammad said parts of vehicles and human flesh were found in courtyards of nearby houses.

Fourteen people who were injured were taken to the Lady Reading Hospital and four of them were said to be in a critical condition.

The injured PAF personnel were later taken to Peshawar’s Combined Military Hospital.

An official of the police investigation wing told Dawn that the attack could be a revenge action for the military operation in Swat, Bajaur and other tribal areas.

He said the deployment of paramilitary forces in the outskirts of the city had also angered the militants who had been attacking police almost every night in Matni area near Dara Adamkhel.

Bomb disposal personnel said the explosives used for the blast weighed over 20 kilograms.

The explosion took place when a van carrying PAF personnel was going from the Badbher PAF base to Peshawar.

Police said it was not yet clear whether it was a case of suicide attack or of a bomb detonated by remote control.

The explosion caused a 10-foot long and five-foot wide crater on one side of the bridge and damaged two pick-ups, a motorcycle, an auto rickshaw, two bicycles and two donkey carts.

The blast also shattered windowpanes of nearby houses, hotels and restaurants and shutters of several shops.

The road was closed and traffic was diverted to the bypass.

Local people criticised police and fire brigade for taking about 45 minutes to reach the place.

According to BBC, Taliban spokesman Maulvi Omar claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was in response to military operations against militants in Bajaur. It was the second bomb blast in two days.

The first blast took place in Shaikhabad area of Gulbahar on Aug 11, when a bomb held by a young man exploded in his hands.

Rockets attack on PAF base camp in Peshawar
________________________________________
PESHAWAR: Peshawar police said Sunday morning that some unidentified miscreants fired at least four rockets at Pakistan Air Force base camp abutting Peshawar airport.

According to police, the first rocket hit the domestic camp of PAF base camp, the second fell at canteen and the third rocket blasted in the open ground of the base camp.

Police said the rocket caused harm to the wall of base camp with one man injured.

Police registered the case against the unidentified men.
JangPakistan.com

(notice the accuracy of of rocket fired, an organized militancy)


Feinstein's Blurt Leads to U.S. Confirmation That It Uses Pakistani Air Base
The Senate intelligence committee chairwoman claims to have learned from open sources that the U.S. was operating unmanned drones on a Pakistani air base, something the U.S. had denied -- until her blooper.
FOXNews.com
Thursday, February 19, 2009


Sen. Dianne Feinstein's blurt during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing last week forced the U.S. intelligence and military community to acknowledge on Thursday that the U.S. is targeting Al Qaeda and Taliban operatives using unmanned drones based in Pakistan.
The senator's slip sent reporters into overdrive and led to the discovery of a 2006 picture provided by Google Earth that appears to show Predator drones at Shamsi air base 200 miles southwest of Quetta.
A senior U.S. official confirmed to FOX News that Pakistani leaders -- despite their public protests and denials -- have been giving the U.S. some targets in the tribal areas of their own enemies, and have given the U.S. blanket permission to go after any "Arabs" in those areas because they are assumed to be Al Qaeda operatives.
The Pakistanis themselves are still officially denying the arrangement, a decision predicated on the weak federal government and extreme anti-Americanism in tribal communities, particularly the Federally Administered Tribal Area in the Northwest, where Taliban and Al Qaeda support is strongest.
Feinstein's remarks, which were characterized as "foolish" by U.S. officials, were unusual for the experienced chairwoman of the intelligence panel.
According to intelligence sources, Feinstein's statement, at a hearing on the threat assessment with new Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, appears to be the first time a member of the U.S. government has publicly acknowledged that Predator vehicles are operating from a base inside Pakistan.
"Mr. Holbrooke, in Pakistan, ran into considerable concern about the use of the Predator strikes in the FATA area of Pakistan," Feinstein said to Blair, referring to Richard Holbrooke, President Obama's special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan. "And yet, as I understand it, these are flown out of a Pakistani base."
Feinstein's spokesman suggested at the time that her comment was merely a reference to a March 2008 report in The Washington Post that discussed the use of Pakistani bases as part of the Predator campaign. The article did not attribute the information to U.S. officials.
The Predator campaign, considered the single greatest factor in degrading Al Qaeda's capabilities, is credited with the killing of eight members of the terrorist group's leadership since last summer.
The acknowledgement that the Pakistanis not only are turning a blind eye to U.S. operations in their territory, but also are lending a hand by supplying a staging area could create political problems for the fragile government of President Asif Ali Zardari. The U.S. was permitted to use Shamsi to launch attacks on Al Qaeda in Afghanistan shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the U.S.
Amb. Teresita Schaffer, director of the South Asia program at the Center for International Studies, said Feinstein's slip was definitely not intentional.
"Hell no," Schaffer told FOXNews.com. "I am quite sure that was not a subtle signal by the U.S. government. Senator Feinstein said what she said and I am quite confident the U.S. government did not want [it] to be acknowledged, both because of the usual concerns about operational security ... but secondly, and perhaps even more importantly, it's intensely politically embarrassing to the government of Pakistan."
One counterterrorism official told FOX News that tacit agreement with the Pakistanis would be well understood, even if covert. The U.S. would "deal with the garbage the Pakistanis can't for domestic reasons," while the Pakistanis would blame the U.S. publicly but cooperate behind the scenes.
Despite Pakistan's assistance providing access to the Shamsi base, a U.S. official said Thursday that Islamabad is slow-rolling a series of joint command centers that would allow intelligence and full-motion video from the UAVs to be shared, and which would allow an increase in the speed of the hunt for Al Qaeda and other insurgent leaders.
The model the U.S. is pushing is based on the same system the U.S. set up in Turkey, which is fully functioning and helping Turks share intelligence that allows U.S. unmanned aerial vehicles to strike the PKK -- the Kurdish terror group that has hounded Turkey for nearly 30 years. In so doing, the Turks don't have to send tanks and troops into Iraq.
Pakistanis have been sent to Turkey to observe how it works, but they have been slow to sign on. A joint coordination center with this capability has been built by the U.S. on the Afghan side of the border at the Torkham border crossing in the Khyber Pass, but it is not operational and the Pakistanis are stalling on participating.
Late last month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed concern for civilian casualties resulting from the unmanned drones and said she was talking with Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai about the situation along their border.
But instead of stating U.S. position toward Pakistan, she left wide open where U.S. policy would go next.
"There's little doubt in anyone's mind that the border areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan are a source of instability for Afghanistan, for Pakistan, and far beyond the borders of those two countries. So there will be more to report about our views as to how we're going to proceed in the future," she said.
Schaffer said the best thing the U.S. could do would be to offer economic assistance to Pakistan and its border regions while keeping a low profile, something that the U.S. often finds difficult to do.
"These are things the U.S. will eventually be implementing that minimizes the U.S. visibility and maximizes the Pakistani visibility," she said of upcoming decisions on economic aid.
"We've got a substantial number of troops in Afghanistan. We can't fix Afghanistan without Pakistan being part of the solution," Schaeffer said.
FOX News' Jennifer Griffin and Catherine Herridge contributed to this report.

[Rajat]

well no offense to you pal it is not exactly a dream or miracle .. Israeli 's did wiped out air forces of three countries with in span of six days with with kill ratio of 22:1 in there favor . purely due that fact that they were better trained , planned and committed

kargil did not gave us enough time to react , media and public pressure was immense and govt was to act very very soon .

Shankar da first few posts about this scenario's brilliantly highlight the fact that while diplomatic channels were on for nearly a month or so . India armed forces were not on picnic they did there homework rather professionally and acted as they were supposed to act and indian agencies are monitoring these targets for decades in contrast to kargil where we were caught napping

parshuram, he raised a valid point. in a conflict between pakistan and india, it is highly unlikely that india won't suffer any casualties. too, your own stat (22:1) highlights that israel too lost some of their people. and, let us not forget, that india is not isreal, and pakistan, most certainly isn't egypt/syria/iraq...

however, as i said earlier, it is shankar's scenario. and, he probably has figured out a way for india to avoid casualties so far. lets let him continue.

also, thanks for coming back, vivek! mind BLASTING ( ) scenarios!

[kaangeya]

In the PAF the IAF has a well trained, professional, and thoughtful adversary, anything unlike what Israel faces. If you remember Gp.Capt. Kapil Bhargava's analysis of Israeli tactics in the 1967 war you will not be very impressed with the IsAF. When your adversary and his wingman can't do as much as a combat split or read a scissors, it is like shooting fish in a barrel. And there is nothing a determined and well designed ground defence etwork can't do to make life miserable for the flyboys. Ask USAF/USN Vietnam vets and the IsAF Yom Kippur vets. It took another ten years for the IsAF to beat Syrian ground defences in hte Bekaa Valley. Which is why the classical Soviet/Russian strategist will tell you that air-superiority is a temporary phase in battle, and not worth spending all your resources on, and definitely not an end in itself. And does an AF understand its role, its capabilities and its limitations well? If it does it is hard to beat, it can only be suppressed now and then. The PAF understands this, and so does the IAF. The PLAAF is another matter, and all of us know that. Just as the SWAC takes on the entire PAF with the WAC in reserve, the IAF will need three if not four commands level entities to build up its PLAAF response. Right now the EAC alone can only do so much. The IAF knows this and the MoD knows this.

[vivek_ahuja]

AIRSPACE ABOVE THE TIBET-BHUTAN BORDER
FOOTHILLS 16KM SOUTH OF DOCHEN TSO
NORTHEAST OF CHUMBI-VALLEY
BHUTAN
DAY 4 + 1710 HRS (L)

“You want us to do what?!” the Mig-27 flight leader said incredulously over the R/T even as he banked away sharply after yet another strafing run on the Chinese vehicles, leaving one ZBD staggering and smoking as the dust and gravel settled in his wake.
“You heard me! Bring fire down on right in front of our positions here. We are being overrun!” the IMTRAT Major’s voice came over the sounds of the afterburning engines as the Wing Commander flying the lead Mig-27 pulled back in the air to shuttle altitude and lose the anti air artillery flying all around him. By this time he was already levelled out and racing northwards over the Dochen Tso while conducting a pitch out manoeuvre to make another run.

“You realize what you are doing, don’t you?” the pilot asked yet again. The voice was sober. With less than a hundred yards separating the Chinese soldiers from the friendlies, the attack was extremely risky. The response he got was unexpectedly to the point:

“Yeah, well, we are out of options down here! I have enemy tanks about to roll over us and we are down to throwing stones at them in about a minute! Unless you have a better idea, bring in everything you got on my position. We are in entrenched positions, so use something that won’t penetrate too deep and we might even see the next sunrise. Over and out!” the R/T clicked off.

God help you boys...The Wing Commander said as he finished the pitch out and levelled on the required bearing. He pressed the MFD to select external pylon CBUs from the load-out screen even as he again passed through the small puffs of smoke beginning to erupt around him. By this time the sun was down behind the peaks to the west and so he could see the pillars of tracer lit rounds flying around him with distinct ‘thuds’ ringing in his ears.

On the ground below, the IMTRAT Major and the remaining soldiers of the RBA Company in the trenches were down to firing off their last rounds. The Major fired off his last clip in his INSAS and even as he was searching for the next magazine, he heard saw the light flashing off the wings of the Mig-27 flying directly above followed by a light sparkling distribution of sub-munitions in its wake. A second later the ground shook with explosions above where the Chinese were mere dozens of yards away from the RBA trench lines and a blast of sand, dust and smoke went through the trenches like a wave and the Major was knocked down where he stood by the sheer power of the shockwaves...

[vivek_ahuja]

THE TIBET-BHUTAN BORDER
FOOTHILLS 16KM SOUTH OF DOCHEN TSO
NORTHEAST OF CHUMBI-VALLEY
BHUTAN
DAY 4 + 1715 HRS (L)

By the time the four Mig-27s reengaged afterburners and were streaking away to the south, the massive cloud of smoke and dust was settling near the three lakes region again. The sounds of the gunfire had died down. The sounds of the aircraft engines disappeared. The pillars of tracers filling the skies stopped doing so, and the only sounds present were those left by the furiously raging fires of the Chinese ZBDs burning a distance away from the now silent RBA trenches...

For several minutes thereafter the sector remained silent, the darkness of the night punctuated by the fires around. And then the man made sounds re-emerged. The first Mi-17 to touch down near the trenches again sent another cloud of dust flying in the air. By the time other Mi-17s were flying overhead, the sounds of the Chinese soldiers shouting at each other was more dominant. By the time these soldiers were clearing the bodies of their dead comrades and moving through the silent RBA trenches, with rifles aimed at shoulder level and pointed for any remaining threat, a line of trucks and vehicles were moving beyond to the east towards the three lakes region.

There were minor sectors of resistance for the Chinese along the way, but nothing that wasn’t brushed aside. The bottom line was that this sector was a crucial flank for the Chinese in the Chumbi Valley region. They had been willing to secure it at the cost of pushing a neutral country into war. In both goals they had succeeded. They had paid a very stiff price along the way at the hands of the few defenders that stood between them and their objectives. And they were bitter about it. The sounds of single shots going off within the abandoned trenches as the Chinese soldiers cleared them were ignored by their officers. Unsurprisingly, no prisoners were “seen” alive nor were reported thereafter.

By that time the Chinese flag was fluttering in the stiff winds near the three lakes region even as the Bhutanese Government were already talking to their Indian counterparts on how Bhutan could assist in breaking the massive Chinese aggression that had now reached their borders with ruthless and sudden brutality...

[vivek_ahuja]

AIRSPACE OVER THE INDIAN NORTHEAST
DAY 4 + 1720 HRS (L)

The simultaneous release of sixteen Astra BVRAAMs was tracked by the crews of the eight Indian sukhoi crews over the snow capped peaks of the Se-La even as the last rays of the run disappeared behind a red sky to the west. The missile looped into the sky into a parabola and disappeared over from view. By now the sunlight had vanished to a degree that the Indian crews had lowered their NVGs in anticipation of the coming fight. The Chinese SU-27s had taken their time, but were now spoiling for a fight. But as it was happening, the Indian SU-30s had manoeuvred to the enemy’s five position thanks to a massive manoeuvring exercise by the Phalcon flight controllers and the massive endurance of the Sukhoi, both of which were advantages.

With an eighty degree lateral offset and at extreme range of their own radars, the Chinese pilots had been blind except for their single Tupolev TU-154 “CARELESS” EW support bird that immediately noticed the activation of the Sukhoi radars to the rear of their own fighters. The Chinese response was quick and the flight of SU-27/30s immediately broke formation, dropped chaff all over the skies and dived for the deck while attempting to simultaneously reorient towards the new threat to the rear. A few second later five SU-27s were blown out of the skies above Arunachal Pradesh by the volley of Astras. Obviously not the kind of losses the Indians had hoped to drop on the Chinese after such careful planning. Now missiles were flying everywhere and both sets of fighters were headed for a knife fight in visual range...

“Damn that Tupolev crew!” the Phalcon MC shouted for all to hear inside the cabin of the aircraft as he saw what was happening now. He calmed down and turned towards the radar operators:

“Do we have anything that we can use to take out that damn commie EW support bird?!”

“We have two of the remaining Mig-21s at Chabua reporting ready status, but I am not sure they can range that far north...” one of the junior operators said over from his console.

“They don’t need to be manoeuvrable. We are detecting no other commie fighters other than the ones that are now fully committed to this fight. We have one lumbering support aircraft to the north and that’s it. We have a window open here. All that those Migs need is fuel and two solid BVR rounds and perhaps some EW pods. Let’s get them going on that. Improvise the ops, people. That’s the only way we are going to get through this alive. We don’t have that much time.

This thing will be over within minutes...”

[vivek_ahuja]

CHABUA AIRBASE
EASTERN ASSAM
INDIA
DAY 4 + 1723 HRS

The two concerned Mig-21s were sitting at the Operational Readiness Platform or ORPs at Chabua even as one group of airmen were removing the loaded R-77 rounds from the inner wing pylons while another group were bringing forward the trolley mounted fuel tanks to replace the removed rounds. A third R-77 was removed and was being replaced by an EW pod. All through this the pilots were already strapping into the cockpits assisted by other airmen. It was essentially like a race car pit crew that the people operated. When turnarounds on returning aircraft were the key to operations, no other way could work.

A few minutes later the senior sergeant on the ground visually inspected the new load-out and showed a thumbs-up to the pilots who nodded and immediately spooled up the engines before rolling for takeoff...

[Shankar]

BANGALORE, India (AFP) – India's air force will have its own dedicated satellite by mid-2010, enabling precise strikes against targets like terrorist training camps, Air Chief Marshal Fali Major said Thursday.
"We will have our own satellite functioning by the middle of next year to enhance our surveillance and capability in this turbulent region," Major told reporters at the biennial Aero India international air show in Bangalore.
The satellite would provide images for the Indian Air Force's (IAF) integrated air command and control system being set up this year.
"The command and control system will have sophisticated radars and sensors to enable us to conduct operations with high flexibility," Major said.
Asked what role the IAF would have in the event of an assault against militant training camps, Major stressed the importance of accurate air strikes in support of special forces on the ground.
"In a surgical strike you take your target down in a manner where it is rendered unusable while not affecting surrounding areas at the same time," Major told AFP.
The Indian military's ability to carry out precision strikes has become a topic of much debate in the wake of November's Mumbai attacks.
India says the attacks were carried out by members of a Pakistan-based militant group who had been trained at camps inside Pakistan territory.

India to launch radar imaging satellite

14 October 2005
India will soon join a select club of nations by launching its own radar imaging satellite (RISAT) with an all-weather capability for disaster management, as said by a top space agency official. The Risat would be launched on board the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) from the Satish Dhawan space centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh in 2007, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair told IANS.

"The Risat will be configured with a C-band search and rescue mission capable of five imaging modes and three-to-50 metre spatial resolutions. It will have a 10-224km swath with seven days repeptivity and eight bits quantization," he said.

Though ISRO launched Cartosat-1 in the polar orbit this May with two panchromatic cameras to undertake 2.5 metre resolutions for mapping applications, the remote sensing satellite is not capable of taking pictures if clouds block the earth's view. "With Risat we will be able to take pictures even through clouds and overcome any visibility problem," Nair said on the sidelines of the two-day fifth anniversary celebrations of the international charter on space and major disasters.

When Risat is launched in the polar orbit, India will be part of a few space-faring countries that have similar satellites. For instance, the European Space Agency had launched Envisat in 2002 with 18 instruments to take pictures and collect data on atmosphere, climatic changes, ocean movements and other parameters.

As part of its disaster management system programme, ISRO has started working on providing geographical information system (GIS) data on about 150 districts across the country that are highly prone to cyclones, floods, droughts and other natural calamities.

Satish Dhawan Space Centre. Type: Orbital Launch Site. Operator: India. Country: India. Latitude: 13.73740 deg. Longitude: 80.23510 deg. Minimum Inclination: 44.0 degrees. Maximum Inclination: 47.0 degrees

India's primary space launch center, located on the east coast of the peninsula with a firing sector over the Bay of Bengal. In use from 1971 to present.
The Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, is located at 80 km north of Chennai on the east coast of India. The facilities at SDSC include:
• Mobile Service Tower, Umbilical Tower and Launch Pedestal
• Solid Motor Preparation Facility
• Subsystem Preparation Facility
• Hardware Storage Facility
• Liquid/Cryogenic Propellant Storage and Transfer Facility
• Stage Preparation Facility for Cryogenic Stage
• Automatic Checkout and Control for Propellant Filling
• Safety and Fire Fighting Systems
• Satellite Preparation Facility
• Launch Control Centre and Mission Control Centre
• Precision C-band Radars and S-band Radar for tracking
• Telecommand System
• Intercommunication, CCTV system, Data Links, Range Timing System, Real Time Systems and Specialist Display System, Meteorology and Technical Photography
• TM data receiving stations
A modern Second Launch Pad (SLP) was commissioned in 2005. SLP was to help to increase the frequency of launches from SDSC. The new facility was designed to reduce the occupancy time for the integration and launch.
Sriharikota was known to have been used for at least 358 launches from 1971 to 2008.

Prabhakar Rao –project director needed to go out for a smoke .the tension in the launch command bunker was just too much. Several kms to east the majestic GSLV stood proud on the second launch pad . The filling of cryogenic fuel namely liquid oxygen and hydrogen will start in a matter of minutes ( T-30 min) The liquid oxygen will be filed first from the massive vacuum insulated storage tanks through a large diameter multi layer insulated vacuum jacketed radiation shielded piping followed by liquid hydrogen .Whiffs of white vapor coming out of the cryogenic acceleration block confirmed filling of liquid oxygen has started .

For a change there was no press corps presents for this launch. Nor where there any publicity in the news papers for this was an out and out military satellite weighing close to 6 tons it will be placed in a sun synchronous polar orbit at 600 km altitude. The RIASAT –M will be capable of taking both optical and radar image with a resolution less than one meter day and night 24/7 .The launch schedule was compressed under instructions from prime ministers office immediately after 26/11 attack on Mumbai and 5 moths after that the Edusat-3 payload was taken off and new military satellite put in place
The weather was picture perfect for the launch.A medium breeze at 5 knost blew in from the Bay of Bengal .No advance warning have been issued to fishermen going out to seas . Prabhakar Rao did not think the mission will fail and even if some thing untoward happens chance of rocket debris hitting fishermen is almost next to zero.As he stubbed out his Classic Mild and re entered the command bunker –the overhead countdown clock showed T – 5 minutes .
The CISF commandant issues a terse command and all over the sprawling complex the security machinery went on launch alert .
Prabhakar always wondered why a rocket launch on TV looks so sanitized and clean where as in reality it was truly awesome. The massive acoustic blast and the vibration as the India’s heaviest satellite booster took to skies had to be seen rather felt to be believed. As the GSLV cleared the tower and accelerated upwards a muted cheer went up in the control bunker. On the shore a flock of sea gulls scattered helter skater and fishermen looked up in winder .In less than two minutes the massive rocket was out of sight even in the clear skies and less than 11 minutes after that RIASAT-M was injected into a precise sun synchronous orbit .The solar panels were deployed and started charging up the on board cells immediately. Master command facility at Hasan received the first telemetry signal in a matter of minutes as the satellite crossed Delhi . Over the next 24 hrs the payloads will be switched on and there after high resolution radar as well as optical images will be available to IAF 24/7.
From now on the term surgical strike will acquire a new dimension