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Reorganizing Army – An Option or Need for Indian Army?

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Reorganizing Army - An Option or Need for Indian Army?
Reorganizing Army - An Option or Need for Indian Army?

The expansion of the Indian army is considered as a necessary step to level the ongoing heated situations between India and neighboring nations. The scarcity of 9000 officers and about 30,000 soldiers in Indian army has to be filled up and the efficiency need to be increased in order to deter the two emerging threats in the neighboring territories (Pakistan and China). The replication of problems due to unbalanced circumstances between both the nations has led India to take some steps to expand its force.

The concept of integrated theatre command has been in news from the last few months and seems to be a great move toward combining the efforts of all sections of the armed forces to bring out the best match of respective command. The concept of theatre command lies in the comprehensive joint amalgamation of Army, Navy and Air Force in one command. Here, the resources of all three services were put together to make a joint integrated approach to a task.

The move by India to raise such command came after Chinese Army was restructured last year in order to refresh the efficiency of its army. India is not the first nation to propose such command. U.S. and other nations also possess such commands. Apart from the raising of the Theatre commands, the restructuring is also a crucial aspect of it. The main benefit of a Theatre command is to act over a multiple strategic fronts by one command rather than dealing with it by all respective commands individually.

Another stroke by India Army came from the step to raise Strike corps (17 corps). The approval to raise mountain strike corps in 2013 was judged as a significant step to boost the defense of India. But as the time passed, it seemed to be hard to raise the corps with about 90,000 soldiers. The cost of raising the corps was estimated to around 64,000 thousand crores and marked to be raised by 2020-2021. As per the sources, the fund shorted Army is raising the corps with the War Wastage Reserves. As on march this year, only 90 of the 250 headquarters have been established. The Headquarter suggested for the corps is Panagarh, West Bengal.

Refreshing the basic knowledge of aspirants, Army commands in India are as follows:-

Northern command – Udhampur

Southern command – Pune

Eastern command – Kolkata

Western command – Chandigarh

South western command – Jaipur

Central command – Lucknow

Training command – Shimla

Along with the above measures and steps to bring up the defense scale, Indian National Defense University (INDU) was proposed to be established in Binola, Gurgaon (Haryana). The aim of establishing it is to increase the leadership quality of officers and enhancing defense related research and promoting defense management and defense technologies.

Conclusion – The increased manpower in the army is the need of the hour as the tensions along the borders is escalating day by day. China is reported to be planning a cut down of about 3 lakh soldiers by 2017. While India has to think over expanding and arming the soldiers and providing required equipment and facilities to them. Reorganizing armed forces can be a good idea as it will refresh and bring out the joint approach of all the three forces to work over a specific problem and sort it out.

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Retired Indian Army Soldier Commits Suicide Over One Rank One Pension (OROP)

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A 65-year-old retired Armyman from Haryana allegedly killed himself in the capital on Tuesday. He had planned to hand a petition to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar later in the day on the government’s One Rank One Pension or OROP scheme.

Subedar Ram Kishen Grewal allegedly had poison on the lawns behind Jawahar Bhawan, a government building in the heart of Delhi that houses the Ministry of External Affairs, on Tuesday afternoon. He was rushed to a hospital nearby but had died.

The retired subedar from Bhiwani in Haryana had served in the Indian Army for over 30 years. In his petition to Mr Parrikar, Subedar Grewal complained that he had still not received the increased pension promised to him by the government under the OROP scheme it implemented last year.

Sources in Mr Parrikar’s office said they had received no request from the Army veteran for an appointment with the minister.

The police said the ex-serviceman was in Delhi with three other people, who said they had no idea that he was contemplating suicide.cwosd8gukae5dm9
Subedar Grewal’s family said he called up his youngest son after consuming sulphide tablets. “He called us and said he is committing suicide as the government has failed to fulfil their demands related to OROP,” Subedar Grewal’s son, Ram Kishan Grewal told news agency ANI.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal attacked the centre over the incident. “Both farmers and soldiers are committing suicide in Modi Raj. That means the Prime Minister is lying that OROP has been implemented. Why would Ram Kishan ji have committed suicide if OROP was being implemented?” Mr Kejriwal said.

The ex-serviceman had joined protests at Jantar Mantar, Delhi’s designated site for protests, to demand changes in OROP. Protesters say four of their primary conditions have not been met by the government.

One Rank One Pension, a longstanding demand of ex-servicemen, grants retired armed forces personnel pension parity with officers and jawans of the same rank who are retiring now.

14 Points To Know About The Latest-In-Development Barak-8 Missile

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Barak-8 Missile

India and Israel jointly developed most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile (LR-SAM) Barak-8. It was successfully test fired off the Odisha coast late this September. The test firing of Barak-8 missile will open doors for much more such missiles to join the Indian arsenal.

With this test firing, it seems that the test firing of Barak-8 is a frequent process as of now. Earlier, this year Barak-8 was successfully test-fired twice on 30th June and once on July 1. Here is all you need to know about this most technologically advanced missile:

Barak-8 Missile

  1. Barak-8 (Lightning-8 in Hebrew) is a long-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile, developed jointly by Israel and India.
  2. The missile was successfully launched from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) launch pad at Chandipur in Balasore district of Odisha.
  3. The advanced missile has been designed and developed by the DRDO and Israel Aerospace Industries and Israel’s Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure.
  4. It is 4.5-meter long and weighs around 3 tons can carry a payload of 70 kilograms. It has a speed of Mach 2.
  5. It has the capacity to identify and neutralize various forms of aerial threats such as rockets, UAVs, planes, helicopters in a single flight.
  6. Barak-8 missile’s most technologically advanced aspect is its ability to intercept missiles aimed at sea-bound vessels.
  7. The system includes a Multi-Functional Surveillance and Threat Alert Radar for detection, tracking and guidance of the missile.
  8. These missiles would be inducted in all the three services after trials were completed.
  9. Many Indian industries like BEL, L&T, BDL, and TATA group of companies besides other private industries have contributed to the development of a number of subsystems which have been put into use in this flight test.
  10. The Long-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LR-SAM) has the ability to hit targets within radii of 70 km to 90 km.
  11. It is designed to defend against any airborne threat, apart from aircraft and helicopters, and can also intercept supersonic aircraft and missiles.
  12. The radar system provides 360-degree coverage and the missile can take down an incoming missile as close as 500 meters away from a ship.
  13. Each Barak system, which includes missile container, radar, computers, and installation, costs about $24 million.
  14. President Pranab Mukherjee congratulated the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the successful launch.

All You Need To Know About The Recently Commissioned INS Tihayu

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INS Tihayu

The Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC), INS TIHAYU, built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE), Kolkata was handed over to the Indian Navy on 30 Aug 2016.

The warship was handed over by Rear Admiral (Retd) AK Verma, Chairman & Managing Director, GRSE to the Commanding Officer of the ship Cdr. Ajay Kashov, at a ceremony held in GRSE. Rear Admiral SR Sarma, Chief Staff Officer (Technical) of Eastern Naval Command carried out the final inspection of the ship prior to acceptance by the Navy.

Here is all you need to know about recently commissioned INS Tihayu:

INS Tihayu

  • INS Tihayu is named after an island in the Andaman.
  • Tihayu is fitted with three water jet propulsion systems powered by marine diesel engines generating 2720 KW of power.
  • This Follow-on WJFAC ship is a further improved version of Fast Attack Crafts earlier built by GRSE for Indian Navy.
  • The ship has an efficient hull form developed by the in-house Design Centre of GRSE and proved by extensive model testing to achieve speeds in excess of 35 knots.
  • This warship measuring 48 X 7.5 M with a displacement of around 315 Tons, has an endurance of around 2000 nautical miles at 12-14 knots speed.
  • It also has modern habitability conditions with accommodation for 29 personnel.
  • It is also fitted with CRN-91 indigenous 30mm Gun, to provide Artillery fire support during attack missions.

The GRSE had built and delivered 10 WJFACs to the Indian Navy during 2009 to 2011 which are proving well in service. In light of this, the Navy had ordered four more WJFACs. The Tihayu is the second of these four WJFACs. The first — INS Tarmugli — was commissioned into Indian Navy on May 23, 2016.

India Seals S-400 Triumf ‘Anti-Stealth’ Air Defense Deal With Russia

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S-400 Triumf

The Indo-Russian relationship is best known for its defence deals. Russia has been a long-time partner of India since its independence and continues to do so with new and game-changing arm acquisition deals. In these lines, India is going to ink a ₹39,000 crore deal for five new-generation Russian S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems.

This system has the capability to destroy incoming hostile aircraft, stealth fighters, missiles and drones at ranges of up to 400-km, hence its name.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin headed for India to attend the BRICS Summit in Goa, the S-400 deal was inked over the weekend.

S-400 Triumf

It is not a secret that some of the country’s most important installations, such as nuclear plants, dams, power plants, oil refineries and ammunition depots will be at risk from enemy aircraft in the event of a war. But with the S-400, these important installations can be saved from enemy attack.

The S-400 is a unique system that incorporates four types of missiles. Carried on mobile launchers, these missiles engage targets at the four ranges – 120 km, 200 km, 250 km and 380 km.

All the four are equipped with different capabilities and can fly at supersonic and hypersonic speeds.

The missiles can also engage multiple targets and can track them using mobile phased array radar creating a layered defence, and simultaneously engaging 36 targets.

The S-400 is the latest of a long range of highly successful air defence systems that have been the biggest threat to western aircraft across the world as the S-400 surface-to-air missile system can “radar lock and shoot down” stealth fifth-generation fighters like the American F-35 jets making its stealth capabilities useless.

The system is designed to counter a variety of threats from hypersonic cruise missiles to UAVs, airborne early warning aircraft, stealth fighters and even precision-guided munitions.

This procurement comes over a year after China sealed a $3 billion deal with Russia for an acquisition of six S-400 batteries.

India’s procurement of the S-400 Triumf system is in progress.

The first five units to be bought is expected to cost $ 6.1 billion, the most expensive air defence system ever bought by India. Deliveries of the S-400 are not expected before 2019-20 as Russian lines currently are churning out systems for their own requirements. Besides, the production line is booked at least until the end of 2018 due to the Chinese order for 6 systems worth $ 3 billion.

The S-400 Triumfs are manufactured by Russian Almaz-Antey and has been in Russian service since 2007.

 

India Inducts INS Arihant, Completing Its Nuclear Triad

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INS Arihant

India recently commissions INS Arihant, completing its nuclear triad and entering the club of handful of countries like Russia, China and France that possess nuclear-powered submarines – SSBNs or Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear.

INS Arihant was formally commissioned by Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba in August 2016. However, it was kept secret owing to strategic significance.

India is now close to operationalising the Nuclear triad which means India’s capability to launch nukes from land, air and sea.

Here’s something about INS Arihant:

INS Arihant

  1. INS Arihant is the first of three SSBNs (nuclear-powered submarines with long-range nuclear ballistic missiles) being constructed under Navy’s secretive ATV (advanced technology vessel) programme launched decades ago.
  2. INS Arihant will be equipped with missiles of ranges 750 km and 3500 km
  3. The vessel will be armed with the K-15 missiles, which can carry nuclear warheads to a range of 750 kilometres, and with K4 missile, which has a longer range of 3,500 km.
  4. Arihant has four vertical launch tubes and can either carry 12 K-15 missiles or four larger K-4 missiles and weighs around 6,000 tonnes.
  5. Russia has helped scientists at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in making the reactor fit into the 10-metre-wide hull of the submarines.
  6. India will enter the club of countries like Russia, China, France that possess nuclear-powered submarines
  7. The construction of the second submarine of its class, INS Aridhaman, is also almost complete now, with its delivery slated for 2018.

Why India Planning Bulk Induction Of Aircraft?

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Why India Planning Bulk Induction Of Aircraft?
Why India Planning Bulk Induction Of Aircraft?

With the spurt in the technology governed warfare, the possession of latest technology is the need of the hour. The Indian government is working hard to bring the aircraft count in IAF to the minimum required level. But the problem is not just about the adding more aircraft in the Indian Air Force. The need to replace the aging aircraft is also an issue to be handled. The Indian Air Force is going through the tough times due to the shortage of aircraft and the reduction in the number of aircraft in Rafale deal from 126 to 36, after the deal was revised. Following this, the Indian government has taken a bold step to boost the IAF by inducting bulk count of aircraft.

What is the Proposal?

The Indian government has put its proposal to buy 200 aircraft with the condition that the aircraft will be manufactured in India with a local manufacturing firm. The opinion of manufacturing of aircraft in India is to raise the indigenous manufacturing and reducing the import dependency over foreign defense giants. The government officials have said that they have written to many aircraft manufacturers to manufacture single engine aircraft in India with Transfer of Technology. The move will be a turning point in the modernization of Indian Air Force.

The deal that would range about 300 aircraft would cost about Rs. 87,000 cr making it to be the biggest defense deal in the Indian history. The deal will be accelerated as fast as the soviet aged places will be phased out.

What is the need of Bulk Buying?

The Indian Air Force it planning to replace planes of soviet era aircraft from its force. IAF is planning to replace all the old age aircraft from the indigenously made or foreign procured aircraft. The current proposal also aims at bringing new technology. The Rafale deal that was initially proposed to buy 126 aircraft got limited to 36 planes. Talking about Tejas, a small fraction of Tejas has been delivered till now, due to manufacturing delays. India is currently going through a shortage of squadrons and as per the official sources, India is not in the condition of having a two front war with close neighbors Pakistan and China.

A Step Taken in the Past

The Rafale deal with France and the introduction of Tejas aircraft were the steps that were moved to increase the strength of squadron of the IAF and phasing out of the aging aircraft in the Indian Air Force. FGFA and AMCA projects have also been raised by the Indian government to bring new and enhanced technology into the IAF.

Conclusion – Previous efforts of India to raise the manufacturing in India attracted Lockheed martin to put a manufacturing unit of F-16 in India for making aircraft for India and for also for exporting them. SAAB of Sweden has also shown its interest in putting up a manufacturing unit and developing aviation industry in India. Some other top private aircraft manufacturers are expected to approach India for establishing manufacturing unit in India. The government is putting tough efforts to raise the aircraft level and deal will be a beneficial in all ways.

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6 Key Points About Mitra Shakti 2016: Indo-Lankan Join Exercise

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mitra shakti 2016

The fourth edition of the India-Sri Lanka Joint Military Exercise MITRA SHAKTI 2016 is being conducted at Sinha Regimental Centre in Ambepussa, Sri Lanka from 24 October to 06 November 2016.

Here are 6 Key Take-Away Points Of Mitra-Shakti 2016:

mitra shakti 2016

  1. “Mitra Shakti” series of bilateral exercises is one of the major bilateral defence cooperation initiatives between India and Sri Lanka since 2013.
  2. The main focus of this edition of the joint exercise is to enhance inter-operability while carrying out Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorism operations under the United Nations Mandate.
  3. A comprehensive training programme spanning fourteen days has been drawn up for the purpose from October 24 to November 6, 2016.
  4. The Indian Army contingent had reached Sri Lanka on October 23 and is represented by a platoon from the RAJPUTANA RIFLES Regiment and the Sri Lankan Army will be represented by a platoon from the Sinha Regiment.
  5. In the initial two stages, both armies would get familiar with the respective methodology of such operations, each other’s arms and equipment and the command and control systems. It will then graduate towards tactical understanding to enhance interoperability while carrying out Counter Insurgency (CI)/Counter Terrorism (CT) operations.
  6. In the initial two stages, both armies would get familiar with the respective methodology of such operations, each other’s arms and equipment and the command and control systems. It will then graduate towards tactical understanding to enhance interoperability while carrying out Counter Insurgency (CI)/Counter Terrorism (CT) operations.

Previous exercise with the Sri Lankan Army was successfully conducted in the month of September 2015 at Pune in India.

Surya Kiran 10: The Indo-Nepal Joint Military Exercise Commences

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surya kiran 10

The Surya Kiran series of Exercises are being conducted annually, alternatively in Nepal and India. Notably in the series of military training exercises undertaken by India with various countries, Surya Kiran series with Nepal is the largest in terms of troop’s participation. Last year’s edition of Surya Kiran was held in Pithoragarh in India.

Here are the 7 key points of this edition of Surya Kiran as reported by PIB:

surya kiran 10

  1. The Indo-Nepal Joint Military Exercise Surya Kiran-X commenced at Army Battle School, Saljhandi, Nepal.
  2. It is the tenth in the series of such exercise between the two nations and is scheduled from 31 October to 13 November 16.
  3. Indian Army is represented by the elite Kumaon Regt, while Jabar Jung Battalion of Nepal Army is participating in this edition of the joint exercise on behalf of Nepal Army.
  4. The aim of this exercise is to conduct battalion level joint training with emphasis on Counter Terrorism in mountainous terrain. Aspects of Disaster Management have also been included in the exercise.
  5. The two weeks military exercise seeks to boost defence ties between India and Nepal.
  6. It is an ideal platform for the contingent of both nations to share their experience and gain mutually.
  7. The Joint Battalion Level Exercise will enhance defence co-operation and relations between the two nations.

The Exercise will be yet another step towards taking traditional friendship between the two nations to greater heights.

Meet The Real Men Who Make PARA Commandos

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There has been a debate lately on people claiming who provides training to the special forces, which is one of the deadliest strike forces on Earth. There are few people claiming to be the instructors of the so called “Elite Forces” and so on, but here is the video which will clear your doubts.

Meet the brave men who make PARA commandos, not to forget, these men are PARA commandos themselves.

To crack the AFSB and SSB interview, we recommend you to get “Let’s Crack SSB Interview” book from Amazon.

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