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ISBN 81 7062 177 1 ISSN 0970-2512 Apr-Jun 2014, Vol. 29 (2) INDIAN DEFENCE Contents REVIEW FOREMOST SINCE 1986 FROM THE EDITOR ‡ THE FAKE MILITARY COUP 3 ‡ MINISTER, MY MINISTER! DEFENCES ARE DOWN! 4 ‡ TALIBAN SET TO TAKE OVER PAKISTAN 6 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW COMMENT ‡ LESSONS FROM THE HENDERSON BROOKS REPORT EDITOR Lt Gen JS Bajwa 9 Bharat Verma LET PRIVATE AEROSPACE MANUFACTURING FLOURISH ASSOCIATE EDITOR Gp Capt Joseph Noronha 15 Priya Tyagi

Col Danvir Singh ARTILLERY MODERNISATION Special Correspondent 24 EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS

Claude Arpi ROLE OF C-17 GLOBEMASTER III Author and a Senior Journalist Air Marshal Dhiraj Kukreja 31 Lt Gen JS Bajwa IS THE IAF EQUIPPED FOR A TWO-FRONT WAR? Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee Gp Capt AK Sachdev 36 Brig Amar Cheema AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE NEWS Lt Gen Prakash Katoch Priya Tyagi 44 Gp Capt Balakrishna Menon EMPLOYING SPECIAL FORCES: A Response to Popular Fallacies Air Marshal Narayan Menon Saikat Datta 60 Prakash Nanda Senior Foreign Policy Analyst THE CULTURE BAGGAGE OF INDIAN MILITARY PHILOSOPHY Lt Gen SC Sardeshpande 63 Vice Admiral Rajeshwer Nath

Vice Adm BS Randhawa EMPLOYMENT OF HELICOPTERS IN COUNTER INSURGENCY ROLES Former Chief of Material and Controller of Warship Gp Capt B Menon 66 Production and Acquisition, Indian Navy

Amitabha Roychowdhury FORCE PROJECTION AND RAPID DEPLOYMENT FORCES Associate Editor, Press Trust of India Need for Reassessment Ramananda Sengupta Brig Deepak Sinha 73 Foreign and Strategic Affairs Analyst TIERED BORDER DEFENCE AGAINST CHINA Kanwal Sibal Special Correspondent 77 Former Foreign Secretary of India

Vice Admiral Anup Singh WHY NOT HAVE ‘TECHNICAL SUPPORT DIVISION’ AT THE ARMY CORPS LEVEL? Col JK Achuthan 82

INTERNAL SECURITY: The Maoist Dimension Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee 88

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2 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 FROM THE EDITOR

rime Minister Manmohan Singh should order Pinvestigations by a retired Supreme Court Judge into the fake military coup propagated by former Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma maligning and belittling the Indian Army.

It is becoming obvious that the babus in MoD, who are unable to deliver modern weapon platforms efficiently to the military, are hell bent on lowering the image of the The Fake Military Coup Indian Army, which in turn is demoralizing the troops and acts as a disincentive for the young to serve their country.

This amounts to grave anti-India activity, weakening the sinews of the nation. With the political leadership clearly stating that there was no coup attempt, babu Shashi Kant Sharma and others need to be investigated and taken to task for creating a false alarm.

It is imperative that we visit the contours of the military coup executed by General Musharraf in Pakistan on 12 October 1999. All militaries particularly the Army are highly trained to conduct ruthless operations against their adversary. The speed and precision of movement with the weapons they wield make them formidable and unstoppable.

When the military coup took place in With the political leadership Pakistan, the Army under directions from Lt clearly stating that there was Gen Usmani, seized the air control tower to no coup attempt, babu Shashi enable Musharraf to land, troops took over control of the state-run television, put the Kant Sharma and others need prime minister Nawaz Sharif under house to be investigated and taken to arrest by encircling his residence, took over task for creating a false alarm. control of international airports and snapped the international phone lines. Thus, neutralizing the political leadership at one go and ensuring that the bureaucracy towed the line of the Pakistan Army.

When armies move, whether in operational area or in civil areas, they have studied all aspects of the situation, readied adequate firepower to neutralize dissent, and thought out the end game well in advance.

All military coups will have similar patterns, no matter which army conducts it.

Compare the above with the picture painted by former Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma, falsely implicating that the political leadership at the highest level was jittery. If the Indian Army was executing a ‘coup’, then the Shashi Kant Sharmas’ of this world would not have the luxury of inviting the former DGMO Lt Gen AK Chaudhary late at night to find out, bataiye‘ kya ho raha hai’ (tell me what is happening?), because in a coup mode the Indian Army and not the bureaucrat would be calling the shots. The former Army Chief Gen VK Singh would not be going to the Supreme Court for redressal of the age controversy. Instead he would be at the helm of affairs and conducting the operations personally to takeover New Delhi.

The movement of a mechanized infantry unit without ammunition from Hissar and a paratroopers detachment from Agra late at night on January 16, 2012 were conducting normal routine exercises unrelated to each other. In a huge army, there is continuous training of local units, FROM THE EDITOR

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 3 which are neither projected to the DGMO or to the Army HQs. Also,every Brigade Commander upwards independently is authorized to mobilize his formation within an hour 24x7 and they don’t need permissions for war mobilization.

At the same time, there are always sufficient well-trained and armed troops available in the capital to take over a small city like New Delhi. It really does not require extra troops from outside with two permanent infantry brigades, one artillery brigade, engineers and signal regiments that are stationed in the Capital. In fact, when a new Army Chief takes over, his battle hardened ...India has a federal structure infantry battalion or one of the battalions from where all the state capitals his regiment serve in the Capital as a personal will be required to be honour: a battle hardened infantry battalion by itself is a very lethal force that can create simultaneously brought under mayhem. Furthermore, since this picture was the Indian Army’s control. painted by babu Sharma on 16 January 2012, This is not so in Pakistan a huge contingent of Indian Army had already moved into New Delhi for the 26 January where only Islamabad has to Republic Day parade. Hence, no extra troops be taken over. were required in any case. Therefore, it is obvious that this great army is not in the business of military coups despite the wherewithal permanently at its disposal at New Delhi!

This was a false alarm purposely created to malign the Indian Army as the Army Chief and the Ministry of Defence were at loggerheads due to the General’s demand to rectify incorrect entry of his date of birth. Further, if the coup was actually taking place, the former Defence Secretary would not have had the luxury of leaking the information to a newspaper to create panic – he would have been effectively neutralised well in time because this is how a professional army executes its tasks. Despite the impediments created by politicians and bureaucrats in terms of paucity of young human resources and necessary equipment, the Indian Army remains extraordinarily professional in its approach of securing the nation’s borders.

The idea of a military coup, therefore, is preposterous and unthinkable in India!

A military coup is simply not feasible otherwise also as India has a federal structure where all the state capitals will be required to be simultaneously brought under the Indian Army’s control. This is not so in Pakistan where only Islamabad has to be taken over.

The continuous and gross neglect of the Indian Army and insulting behavior of the civil administration towards the military is, therefore, a matter of shame. It is time that the Army Chief asserts his dignity to restore the honour of this great army by demanding of the Prime Minister to institute an inquiry into the former Defence Secretary’s obnoxious behavior of creating the false alarm and heaping insults. The guilty must be taken to task.

This will help to quell the rising frustrations and anger within the rank and file of the Indian military.

Minister, My Minister! Defences Are Down!

n the past seven years Defence Minister AK Antony’s incompetence has ensured that India’s Imilitary capability rapidly shrinks. Primarily, the tax-payer spends money on appointing the defence minister to make certain that India’s armed forces receive incremental modernisation and sufficient military capabilities FROM THE EDITOR

4 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 to safeguard the territorial integrity of the Union as well as to defend her increasing strategic interests.

In addition, he is solely responsible for the upkeep of the well-being and morale of the forces. However, Antony, possibly the longest serving defence minister, belied expectations and instead created a huge obstacle course in modernisation of the armed forces and permitted maligning of the Indian Army by his defence secretary at various stages. Antony, the most ‘honest’ defence minister will probably be remembered for the unprecedented number of scams that happened during his tenure and nothing more. For all the professed honesty that Antony touted on taking over, should have made him clean up the rampant existing corruption in defence public sector units and ministry of defence. Under his leadership it appears that the primary national objective is not to add military capabilities to ensure the nation’s security but Antony, the most ‘honest’ to find ways to guarantee maximum kickbacks. defence minister will probably Frankly, nobody involved in the decision- be remembered for the making process is really concerned about the unprecedented number of Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft being inducted on time to shore up the rapidly scams that happened during declining firepower of the Indian Air Force; or his tenure and nothing more. about the Indian Navy receiving submarines in time; or with the tremendous collateral damage the nation suffers on its borders with Pakistan because the infantry is ill-equipped. Despite similar levels of corruption, China never overlooks the primary objective of building military muscle. Frankly, no other country does except India. The Defence Procurement Procedure document created by Antony and the babus of the MoD has become a huge obstacle course in procurement, which is difficult to fulfill by foreign vendors. The defence minister is stuck in the trivial and frivolous with a clerical mindset merely to prove his so-called ‘honesty’ overlooking the primary aim of adding sufficient military muscle and firepower to the defence services. The result is that the Air Force has stated that it is unable to successfully tackle the emerging China-Pakistan two-front threat. The non-replacement of dwindling and ancient submarine fleet of the Indian Navy has not only left a gaping hole in underwater warfare, but is also taking toll of officers and sailors lives in peacetime. Imagine the large casualties that will occur during war. In the army, the artillery lies empty, ground air defence does not exist, the 333 infantry battalions have not been modernised and lack mobility and sufficient firepower. Unfortunately, the officers and the men of the militaryare not only deeply anguished, but also very angry. Antony is unable to control the babus in the MoD and the result is unbridled corruption inside the ministry. It is amazing that top classified documents of the air force found their way from MoD to an American agent via middleman Abhishek Verma. The American partner sent the documents back after differences occurred between him and Verma to the MoD. The MoD certified that these were highly classified documents. FROM THE EDITOR

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 5 Till date the honest defence minister has not investigated, or concluded and taken to tasks the babus who are responsible for the leakage. It appears that these documents are available for a consideration in MoD. The bribe takers are Indians sitting in seats of power. They are never taken to task, but the foreign vendor who is forced to part with his money is automatically blacklisted on mere hearsay, thereby derailing the military preparedness of the nation.

…the air force has The defence minister appears to be passing his time at the cost of the tax-payer and as such is heavily stated that it is unable dependent on the bureaucracy. The bureaucracy in to successfully tackle turn is running riot by fighting cases in courts against the emerging China- its own military. It is overlooking all rulings in favour of the military by the Armed Forces Tribunal. Pakistan two-front threat. The former defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma refused to settle legitimate ‘pay and pension’ demands of the veterans despite losing the case in every court. Today, he stands in contempt of court in the Supreme Court.

Further, despite stating that there was no attempt at a military coup, Antony has not ordered a retired Supreme Court judge to investigate the ‘fake military coup’ that Shashi Kant Sharma tried to create, to malign the Indian Army. Responsibilities need to be fixed as to why the MoD was hell bent on demoralising its own army.

Admiral D K Joshi, a highly upright officer with integrity, resigned as naval chief in protest because of the third rate equipment being supplied by the ministry, which was taking lives of officers and men during peace time.

This was in the best tradition of the military where the chief could not safeguard lives of his men and was totally disgusted with the defence minister’s incompetence in resolving the problems that the navy is facing.

The head that should have rolled was AK Antony for the mess he has created.

Taliban Set to Take Over Pakistan

n the near future, Taliban and Taliban like groups will impose Afghanistan type Taliban regime Ion Pakistan. The civil war raging inside Pakistan in search of elusive ‘purity’ of philosophy is rapidly shrinking the space held by civil society. After expelling other religious minorities from Pakistan, the Islamic fundamentalists are determined to eliminate Ahmadiyas, cause heavy destruction of Shias and now, the Ismailis. Anybody who does not conform to the extreme Wahabi Sunni philosophy will be eliminated from the political canvas.

The elected civil government is in no position to take on thejihad factory which the Pakistan Army too is losing the war against. In fact, the Pakistan Army is so heavily infiltrated by Islamic fundamentalists that it stands fairly neutralised internally. In the coming years, it will be unable to dominate and maintain Pakistan’s territorial integrity unless it joins hands with Taliban and evolves into a Talibanised Army.

Two trends are discernible inside Pakistan — first, as the Western Forces withdraw from Afghanistan, Taliban style militias will hold sway causing destruction of the elected government FROM THE EDITOR

6 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 and the democratic institutions. Second, to maintain unity and focus within the differentjihadi groups, attacks on India will be enhanced and enlarged.

The jihad factory considers India as the next prize to be won to impose regressive laws such as the Sharia and Taliban style government. The dangerous divisive vote-bank politics within India in the last decade has created adequate groups of ‘sleeper cells’ and sufficient pockets of influence which are highly Talibanised in In times to come, Sharif will their thinking. need assistance not only from The ‘soft target’ India appears to be ripe the international community to become the largest sanctuary of the jihad factory in Asia in times to come. but from India as well.

Some of the politicians and the policy makers in India are unable to look beyond and visualise the dangers lurking in its vicinity. Many in India, out of their so-called ‘liberal’ philosophy, maintain that Pakistan or Afghanistan for that matter have a right to live and practice their beliefs, which includes imposition of extreme philosophies. While one respects the rights of the people to run their house with their beliefs even if they are regressive and out of sync with the twenty-first century, the same ‘liberals’ forget that the Islamic fundamentalists are an expanding force based on a ‘spoke and hub’ principle.

They will export their philosophy ruthlessly to undermine India’s multicultural space and values. Thejihad factory will expand, export terrorism and occupy sufficient destructive space inside the nation. India must gear up to grapple with the subversion that is creeping in.

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29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 7 At the initial stage, the Taliban game plan is based on the following: First, eliminate all opposition consisting of minorities or different sects of Islam.

Second, with the withdrawal of Western forces, capture large territories to re-impose old Taliban regime inside Afghanistan. Imagine the havoc a Taliban-like regime from Afghanistan to Pakistan can cause in our neighbourhood.

Third, pretend talks and negotiations with The dangerous divisive vote- the elected government in Islamabad while at the same time undermine the democratic bank politics within India in institutions, and the Pakistan Army. The Pakistan the last decade has created Army had to raise a special protection force of adequate groups of ‘sleeper 25,000 personnel to guard its nuclear arsenal lest cells’ and suf¿cient pockets they fall into the hands of Taliban. of inÀuence which are highly In the subsequent phase, the Taliban strategy will be to ensure the take over of entire Talibanised in their thinking. Afghanistan and Pakistan; to maintain unity between differing groups; to avoid inter-gang rivalry, task adequate groups to create mayhem inside India to unhook Kashmir thereby providing external focus to the jihadis. The aim will be to begin the unraveling of India, and maintain unity between different groups of the jihad factory at the same time. The activation of Masood Azhar group is in this direction.

Similarly, export Taliban-like forces into resource rich Central Asia and put Russia under pressure.

The Nawaz Sharif government is likely to sink unless it joins hands and accepts harsh conditions being imposed by Taliban in Pakistan. In times to come, Sharif will need assistance not only from the international community but from India as well. New Delhi still is in deep slumber oblivious to the fact that to safeguard its own interests, it will have to gear up to assist Pakistan in the near future.

BHARAT VERMA FROM THE EDITOR

8 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW COMMENT

Lessons from the Henderson Brooks Report Lt Gen JS Bajwa

The Government’s ‘White Paper’ relating to India-China Boundary issue, published between 1951 and 1960, clearly indicated the adversarial bilateral relations between India and China. The increasingly acrimonious exchanges on the boundary question indicated that it could precipitate matters and result in armed clashes. The incident in Longju on August 25, 1959 and Kongka Pass on October 21, 1959 were pointers to the determination and political will of China to stake her claims even at the cost of a war. This should have been the turning point for India; she should have begun preparing for an armed showdown to secure her territorial integrity. Raising of additional Infantry and Artillery units and formation Head Quarters, raising RI+HDGTXDUWHUV,9&RUSVDXJPHQWLQJWKHWUDQVSRUWÁHHWLQGXFWLQJDGGLWLRQDOKHOLFRSWHUVDQG transport aircraft, constructing roads, and redeploying forces to meet possible contingencies should have been commenced in right earnest then. Such preparation was mandatory to support a strategic decision of the magnitude as was emerging.

“Nobody is driven into war by ignorance, and no one who thinks he will gain anything from it is deterred by fear…….when there is mutual fear men think twice before they make aggressions upon another” —Hermocrates as attributed by Thucydides

FTER FIFTY YEARS THE HENDERSON Secretary and the Prime Minister’s Office Brooks – Bhagat Singh Report (herein (PMO). After all, the MoD or the Cabinet Aafter referred to as Report) has wormed Secretary’s office would have had the secretarial its way into the public domain through a foreign responsibility at all meetings at the highest level source. It is intriguing that a copy of the Report of government decision making. The cover up was accessed by a foreign journalist who was by the Government of India (GOI) includes the evidently treated to a ‘personal’ copy of a highly arena where the National Security Strategy was classified document. It may be asked whether formulated and the decision to firstly, draw firm the copy with Maxwell was a draft copy or one lines depicting the International Boundary with of the final copies. How was it accounted for? China was taken and secondly, the decision Our desperate desire to please the ‘white man’ to establish posts as far up to our then stated is so very clear from this episode. International Boundary was taken.

As has always been stated by the Army, this It is intended to study the military lessons that Report was ordered by the Chief of Army Staff emerge at various levels from the War. At the to record the events of the 1962 War as they same time, the aim is to assess how these have been incorporated in the military operations unfolded and analyse the details of the course planning process in the current scenario to of tactical level of operations to draw relevant increase the level of preparedness against lessons. Unfortunately, the Government of the any misadventure by the Chinese People’s day did not think it necessary to order a similar Liberation Army (PLA). inquiry into the decision making process Lt Gen JS Bajwa, which involved the Ministries of Defence Strategic Decision Making Process former Chief of Staff, Eastern Command (MoD), External Affairs (MEA), Home Affairs The Government’s ‘White Paper’ relating and Director General (MHA), Intelligence Bureau (IB), Cabinet to India-China Boundary issue, published Infantry. INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW COMMENT

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 9 between 1951 and 1960, clearly indicated the intelligence. At the field level, the Subsidiary adversarial relations between India and China. IB (SIB) operated in the border areas and was The increasingly acrimonious exchanges on reporting back directly to Delhi. In the 1950s, the boundary question indicated that it could the pent-up anger of the Tibetans with regard precipitate matters and result in armed clashes. to Chinese occupation of their country could The incident in Longju on August 25, 1959 and have easily been exploited to cultivate sources Kongka Pass on October 21, 1959, were pointers providing HUMINT. We also could have to the determination and political will of China exploited the knowledge of the locals from areas to stake her claims even at the cost of a war. This opposite Tawang who had escaped Chinese should have been the turning point for India; persecutions, to interfere with the build-up she should have begun preparing of the PLA. However, this was not done since India should have for an armed showdown to Nehru had recognised Tibet as being an integral begun preparing for secure her territorial integrity. part of China and his political stance of non- an armed showdown Raising of additional Infantry interference in the affairs of another country and Artillery units and clearly ruled out such an option. to secure her formation Headquarters, raising territorial integrity... of Headquarters IV Corps, In the present context, the Research & augmenting the transport fleet, Analysis Wing (R&AW) is responsible for inducting additional helicopters and transport gathering foreign intelligence, the IB for aircraft, constructing roads, and redeploying Counter Intelligence, the State CID for criminal forces to meet possible contingencies should Intelligence within the State and Military have been commenced in right earnest then. Intelligence exclusively for intelligence for Such preparation was mandatory to support military consumption. With the Indo Tibetan a strategic decision of the magnitude as was Border Police also now deployed all along emerging. Probably Nehru’s domineering the Northern border they would have also persona suppressed any urge for dissent or established their own network for their task of disagreement and therefore, his was always the policing the border. last word to become ‘policy’. In these far-flung areas, a quaint situation In the current systemic context, due to India’s manifests in that with limited number of basic security stance of ‘restraint’, the armed persons operating as an intelligence source forces are kept out of the decision making it is often the case where the same source process. Though the Cabinet Committee on works for two or more agencies. He judiciously Security (CCS) is briefed, as and when required, manipulates the information into bits as by the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) or the exclusive ‘bytes’ to his controller. With these Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC), inputs ‘serious’ intelligence assessments decisions pertaining to military matters are are generated by each intelligence agency taken without the presence of the COAS or which, in turn, form the basis for formulating COSC. As noted from the Report, it appears national security strategy. Often, the source that the Army was only given instructions for is compromised and allowed to operate only undertaking specific operations including even if he provides the other side information tactical objectives as identified in the meetings too; such double agents are a reality. Thus, it at the highest level. Unfortunately, the system is is axiomatic that all information is counter prevalent even today under the guise of ‘civilian checked and verified. Induction of technology control’ of the Services. On the Chinese side, the in through ‘spy’ satellites, monitoring electronic PLA had a key presence in formulating Chinese and cyber communications and deployment strategy then and has a fairly prominent role in of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are now decision making even today. being co-opted to verify the HUMINT as also Intelligence and Surveillance confirming inputs garnered through other technological means. The IB was the sole intelligence agency providing the Government all types of foreign The creation of a Multi Agency Centre (MAC) INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW COMMENT

10 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 has been a positive step in the direction of Terrorist (CI/CT) operations there are times intelligence sharing and to identify aspects when the HQ has to reach out direct to the that requires further inputs as also to optimise Division or even Brigade HQ to get inputs on an effort. This has created a more robust format of incident which is being flashed on the ticker of a intelligence assessment. However, technology 24x7 news channel. Improved communications needs to be further exploited to compensate for and availability of mobile phones with high the lack of HUMINT sources in the India-China levels of penetration to even remote areas have context. led to an unhealthy trend in the form of ‘paid Military Planning Process news’ by all and sundry. The military reporting chain is being short-circuited to respond As understood from the Report, the Army to ‘Breaking News’ flashing on TV sets. The was not briefed of the political objective to Army has to report authentically with every be achieved by military means. Instead, they aspect needing to be verified. While the News were merely given tactical objectives to be Channels do not shoulder any captured by the forces available. At no point such responsibility, the Army is The Report brings out does the Report mention of the Army asking for pushed into breaking norms of additional resources outside the services, for numerous occasions functioning. There, in my view, example, projecting a case for requisitioning civil where command is this questionable trend of aviation resources for move of men and material. placing TV sets in offices which channels were Furthermore, while tactical objectives were are be beaming news round being specified by Army HQ, commensurate blatantly bypassed... the clock. Military Intelligence, resources were not made available even when certain sections of the Military Operations XXXIII Corps was asking for it. Similarly, Directorates may require them but not every dates for commencement of operations were office in the Service HQs. This trend must be arbitrarily set. It is rumoured that the date for reversed and curtailed expeditiously. attack to recapture Walong was fixed such that its successful capture would be announced as a gift Network Centric Warfare, propounded to the beleaguered Prime Minister (PM) on his as the future form of warfare, is a brazen birthday to lighten the prevailing gloom in the technologically enabled form of bypassing environment. It speaks volumes of the attitude of channels in the command and control chain. the some senior Commanders of that time who It makes no sense for a soldier deployed in a were trying to reach out to the political masters. section post getting information of the ‘goings The trend can be attributed directly as a fallout on’ in the neighbouring Brigade defended of the favours received by Lt. General B.M Kaul area. It makes the Section, Platoon, Company due his intimate connections with the PM and and even Battalion Commander irrelevant in Defence Minister. the orchestration of the lowest level tactical battle. A tactical engagement is not about The Report brings out numerous occasions physical casualties and capture of ground but of where command channels were blatantly defeating the enemy in his mind. Contrary to our bypassed. Often Army HQ completely sidelined thinking, the Chinese have always emphasized HQ Eastern Command and passed orders on deception, subterfuge, cunning and guise in directly to IV Corps. Similarly, it is noted the their war-fighting techniques. It thus needs to Army Commander Eastern Command and be appreciated that every target appearing on a the Corps Commander also bypassed Division conventional battlefield is not to be eliminated. HQ and even Brigade HQ in passing orders. Tactical acumen, deception, cunning, training, All limits were crossed when the IV Corps leadership and tactical operational plan - all Commander spoke directly with the PM and have a bearing on the outcome of a tactical the Defence Minister. India’s China war became battle. The Army’s Battlefield Information private social ‘drawing room’ affair between the System (BIS) is all set to severely disrupt this. PM, the Defence Minister and Lt. General Kaul. The Battalion, Company, Platoon and Section Ostensibly, in Counter Insurgency/Counter Commanders will be forced only to react to INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW COMMENT

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 11 situations as being played out by the enemy of a sub-unit built around a clearly identified instead of executing a pre-prepared operational command and control hierarchy catering plan. It replicates the situation similar to the for a leadership element, communications, one prevailing in 1962. We need to harness equipment and administrative support. technology to suit our existing organisations, Execution of Operational Plans procedures and terrain rather than blindly Plans were made off large-scale inch maps. induct technology for the sake of technology. Remoteness of the areas and the level of The “shooter to sensor” concept has its origins cartography existing in the 1930s-1940s when in CT operations undertaken by the US in the maps were prepared made them inherently Afghanistan. In the Iraq War, even the resource- inaccurate. Adequate time was not made rich US Forces could not wallow in the luxury available to battalions and formations to of “shooter to sensor” across the board for all familiarise themselves with the ground where forces. In a conventional war, India cannot ever they were to undertake defensive operations. muster such resources as would be required for Interestingly, the Report has, at a number executing such an impractical concept by any of places, mentioned of action by Chinese stretch of imagination. outflanking the defences held by Indian troops. The malady of breaking up coherent units It is indeed an indication of the familiarity with and sub-units is a fallout of interference from the terrain in the area of operations, level of higher HQ in the tactical operations arena. training, cohesion of the units and the level of In any Infantry battalion communications available with the PLA that In every operation, the today no Commander can enabled them to operate cross-country deep Report highlights the confidently claim to deploy inside enemy territory with alacrity and ease. a coherent section which has How did they get such detailed inputs of the paucity of availability trained together and has a terrain? Had they been carrying out physical of reserves... well-identified leadership. A reconnaissance all the while that India was similar situation exists with complacently insisting that the “Chinese will regard to platoons too. Trying to implement a not react”? This is intriguing and noteworthy. ‘buddy’ system remains an exercise on paper Since there were no roads the field, artillery only. Colonial practices such as residential and mortars which had very limited range guards for Commanders aggravate the problem. per force had to be deployed well forward This form must change and the task of providing to be in a position to provide defensive fire guards for non-combat functions must be support. Mules and air drop of mortars and entrusted to Defence Security Corps. Howitzers were resorted to. As a matter of Similarly, the Corps of Military Police interest, a Howitzer of one of the units dropped (CMP) has been created for a specific role. at Hathungla was retrieved recently a few However, ad hoc Garrison Military Police years ago after a detailed search. Dropping (GMP) is mustered as a local arrangement to a weapon with crew is only the beginning of augment the strength of the CMP. However, the problem. Mortar/Howitzer tubes without this results in CMP becoming the managers ammunition are mere worthless junk of metal. of the GMP who are doing their task. The GMP For meaningful fire support, ammunition for is mustered by pooling in manpower from any operations requires a constant stream garrison units which is highly detrimental to flowing forward. The limited range of these the structured cohesion of the sub-units of the mortars/Howitzers made the concentration battalion/regiment from where the manpower of fire from a number of fire units, as is the is mustered. The practice in the Army has practice, non-existent. Similarly, due to these always been to deploy coherent sub-units for limitations, the weapons could not undertake any task unlike the police or para-military any counter bombardment to neutralise enemy forces where employment is specified by artillery. Thus, the PLA artillery was targeting physical numbers. The system followed by the Indian troops in their hastily prepared defences Army is basically to retain the cohesiveness without interference. INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW COMMENT

12 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 Of late, there has been much hype on the In every operation, the Report highlights the possible induction of Ultra Light Howitzers paucity of availability of reserves. Mountains (ULH) of 155mm calibre from USA. To exploit are suited for defensive operations due to the the light weight of this weapon which gives attackers’ express need for opening an axis for it the ability of being carried under slung a maintenance to progress operations in depth. medium-lift helicopter; deployment areas for Well-prepared, stocked and defended localities the guns need to be prepared in peacetime. can hold out numerous enemy attacks that Arrangements have to be made to stock will severely constrain the momentum and ammunition in secure, hardened bunkers/ progress of any attacker’s plans. The enemy, in caves dug into mountain sides, particularly, his preparation for an attack will seek maximum in areas where the road is not likely to reach information of the defender’s deployment and in the next half decade/decade. Gun positions location of his automatic and support weapons. can be prepared at additional locations with The layout of a defended locality can be ammunition dumped ab initio to cater for obtained by patrols and military appreciation, contingencies of side-stepping the ULH to though actual position on ground of sub-units, areas so prepared without being handicapped his automatic weapons and support weapons for want of ammunition and need to divert may be concealed and measures for limited utility helicopter resources during the battle. deception undertaken. Uncommitted reserves, To do so would entail purchase of larger however, can create a decision dilemma for the quantities of ammunition than in normal enemy, since he will not know the strength and circumstances. location of the force. Considering the nature of LESSONS FROM THE HENDERSON BROOKS REPORT LESSONS FROM

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 13 the terrain and the high altitude of the tactical base a plan on such support which is available battle areas, pre-locating reserves well forward, based on priorities dictated by another service duly acclimatised, was an essential aspect of the compels the Army to make plans from within operational planning but was not done by the its own resources. As a result air assets are not formations. Knowing the difficulties imposed fully exploited. Dedicated air resources for along our Northern borders, in a future war, operations can only be planned for when assets allocating uncommitted reserves to Brigades, such as attack helicopters, armed helicopters, Divisions and Corps as reserves, ab initio, utility helicopters are under the command of the maybe a more pragmatic option that will be Army. It is a moot point as to why the Air Force need to be actively considered vis-a-vis holding needs to control all flying assets in the air space a strategic reserve in the form of the Mountain from the ‘nap-of-the-earth to outer space’. Army Strike Corps (refer to IDR Oct-Dec 2013). Aviation ought to control all air assets over the Tactical Battle Area. Air Support Comprehensive National Power From the Report, it appears that in meetings at the Government level, where the Chief As the scope of the Report did not include of the Army Staff was invited to attend, the commenting on the planning process at the Air Chief and Naval Chief higher levels, future conflicts and wars will The Report, unwittingly, were not invited. This require all elements of national power to be employed at appropriate stages. At the political has given the Nation reflects the level of strategic thinking and planning at level, the CCS and at the bureaucratic level, the an opportunity to the highest echelons of the National Security Adviser and Cabinet Secretary introspect... Government. The potential will need to be organised so as to orchestrate of the three services to the deployment of various elements of power further the interest of the country was not to synergise their potential with the sole aim to comprehended. The coordination of effort secure national interests. between the Army and the Air Force at the The act of the then Government in not Eastern Command HQ level also seems to maintaining any minutes of meetings was to be just marginal. In the high level meetings, escape accountability. The decision making of the Command HQ, the Indian Air Force process in the Government is as it is because (IAF) was represented by ‘an officer’ whose it is an elaborate enactment choreographed rank or appointment has not been specified. to defuse accountability and responsibility. Consequently, his contribution could only be The Opposition in Parliament, too, failed limited to indicating availability of serviceable abysmally in forcing the issue of augmenting assets and the ‘meteorological’ forecast of the strength of the Armed Forces and ensuring the next 24 hours. The incident where the that they were suitably equipped in order to be Eastern Army Commander was left stranded prepared for a military conflict. As a result, the at Tawang by IAF pilots when the helicopters PM had to shoulder all responsibility for errors took off without him is militarily ridiculous. The of commission and omission of others. pilots acted as though they were the staff of a The Report, unwittingly, has given the Nation commercial airline and not a combat force in a an opportunity to introspect. No scapegoats at live battle situation. this juncture will redeem what, we as a Nation, Close air support, communication flight collectively lost. Simply drawing lessons from support and casualty evacuation are essential these failures without rancour or recrimination ingredients of tactical operational planning. To will enable us to emerge wiser and stronger. INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW COMMENT

14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 Let Private Aerospace Manufacturing Flourish Gp Capt Joseph Noronha

Clearly the aerospace needs of India, civilian as well as defence, are growing. The public sector which has so far been tasked to meet these needs has failed to deliver. What’s more, as aerospace production becomes more complex, the public sector is likely to fall even further behind in the race. Vested interests have long fostered the myth that private sector companies are less likely to uphold the national interest than the PSUs. The private aerospace industry has been kept in a stranglehold and not allowed to realise its potential. Isn’t it strange that reputed ÀUPVOLNH7DWD%LUODDQG0 0KDYHEHHQJLYHQWKHFROGVKRXOGHUEHFDXVH+$/LVVXSSRVHGO\ more trustworthy when it comes to defence matters? Yet Boeing is a reliable partner in America’s defence, Airbus in Europe’s and Embraer in Brazil’s. The government must realise that both public and private sectors are national assets; both are necessary to achieve self-reliance in the shortest possible time.

S AEROSPACE MANUFACTURING THE grabs emerging opportunities with both hands. next sunrise sector of the Indian economy? And while businesses will naturally seek IThe signs are promising. Years of robust mainly civilian openings, at least to begin with, economic growth (notwithstanding the current aerospace manufacturing cannot be neatly slowdown) coupled with increasing demand for divided into military and civilian. The continuing aviation services from the country’s teeming liberalisation of defence procurement, together millions mean that a massive expansion of with huge offset requirements, makes the aerospace activities is probably imminent. manufacture of military aerospace components Airbus Executive Vice President of Strategy and and equipment particularly attractive. However, Marketing Kiran Rao says, “India has one of the many hurdles remain to be crossed. world’s greatest aviation growth potentials” and The Sad State of Indian Aerospace is a “strategically important market.” His words are not just marketing hype. A joint report by the To begin with, the country’s aerospace global consultancy KPMG and the Federation knowledge base is still small. Hardly any of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry universities offer degrees in aviation technology. (FICCI) published in March 2014 states, “India India’s leading industrial houses such as Tata has the potential to become the third largest Sons, Mahindra & Mahindra, Reliance Industries aviation market by 2020 and the largest by 2030.” and Larsen & Toubro might so easily have become Tier 1 suppliers of integrated aerospace Several factors also favour the development assemblies - like Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy of a vibrant domestic aerospace manufacturing Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, sector. India has a well-educated, highly- both of which are closely associated with global motivated and talented workforce and rising aerospace giants. Yet only a handful of private prowess in Information Technology (IT). businesses have ventured into aerospace And it has a strong and growing low-cost manufacturing. Over the last five or six years, for manufacturing base. According to analysts, the instance, a few Tata companies and Mahindra country offers cost advantages of between 15 & Mahindra’s aerospace division have been and 25 per cent in manufacturing. acquiring competence in producing parts like Till now aerospace demand has been the aircraft fuselage and tail section, besides Group Capt Joseph overwhelmingly met by imports but it is only aeronautics design, aerospace technology and Noronha, former a question of time before the Indian industry electronics. While M&M owns an Australia- MiG-21 pilot. LET PRIVATE AEROSPACE MANUFACTURING FLOURISH MANUFACTURING AEROSPACE PRIVATE LET

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 15 Sikorsky S-92 helicopter

based aerospace company that produces small services merely to meet their offset obligations. civil aircraft, Hyderabad-based Tata Advanced Defending the Indefensible Systems has a joint venture with Sikorsky India’s aerospace manufacturing sector is Aircraft Corporation to manufacture Sikorsky highly fragmented. Various public and private S-92 helicopter cabins and other airframe sector organisations are blissfully unaware components in India. of what the others are doing. For instance, However, such items are the easiest part of the the activities of the Defence Research & aerospace production chain; other components Development Organisation (DRDO) and such as engines and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) are Despite the stated intention flight avionics are far confined to the defence sector while National of the government to more complex. Despite Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) and a few civilian the stated intention companies are mainly limited to the civil sector integrate private parties of the government and are probably ignorant of the progress in aerospace, its policies to integrate private being made in defence aerospace. This results actually favour the public parties in aerospace, its in wasteful duplication of effort. On the other policies actually favour hand, the world’s largest aerospace entities sector... the public sector. The such as Airbus, Boeing and Embraer are active private sector on the whole is a peripheral player, in civilian as well as military aerospace, sharing restricted to low-tech items and components. the capabilities and knowledge of their various divisions and synergising their efforts thus India still has to import most of the raw yielding benefits to all. materials necessary for aerospace manufacturing and lacks adequate capability in new material In 2001, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) technologies. Partnerships with leading realised that defence production could not international aerospace entities can help Indian meet the country’s needs so long as all its eggs companies acquire competence in cutting-edge were in the public sector’s basket. Defence technologies like the production of composites. production was deregulated and ostensibly However, the short-sighted government policy thrown open to private companies. But on on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limits the ground little has changed regarding many overseas Original Equipment Manufacturers critical defence items and practically nothing (OEMs) to just 26 per cent stake in domestic when it comes to aerospace. Besides being aerospace manufacturing. Even critical sectors cold-shouldered for most aerospace deals, such as telecom and banking have much the private sector faces a disadvantageous higher limits. This naturally makes the OEMs taxation regime that lowers its competitiveness unwilling to partner Indian companies in vis-à-vis public sector and foreign companies. advanced aerospace manufacturing. The OEMs For instance, an overseas company executing are content to order some low-tech items and a defence supply contract enjoys various LET PRIVATE AEROSPACE MANUFACTURING FLOURISH MANUFACTURING AEROSPACE PRIVATE LET

16 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 Tejas Light Combat Aircraft tax concessions. But an Indian private sector continues to get bulk orders, ostensibly manufacturer producing the same item may under Transfer of Technology terms. There end up paying more than 30 per cent extra tax. appears to be lack of commitment to authentic indigenisation involving the private sector. The much-hyped self-reliance in defence aerospace remains a distant dream. One Due to these shortcomings, and despite reason is that licensed production or assembly the best of intentions, defence aerospace is often passed off as indigenisation. Another manufacturing has not really taken off. Overall is that equipment purchased from Indian defence imports are inching upwards towards suppliers used to be reckoned as indigenous, 75 per cent, instead of falling towards the even if it contained 80 to 90 per cent foreign desired 30 per cent and most critical aerospace components. The indigenous content of the items have to be imported. Many believe that Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), for instance, HAL is at least partly responsible for this state is just about 60 per cent. However, with the of affairs. Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2013 HAL’s Mixed Report Card now in force, import content in the products Since Independence, state-owned behemoth supplied by sub-vendors does not reckon HAL has been practically synonymous with towards indigenous production. This is an Indian aerospace. It has 19 Production Units important step to make organisations like HAL and ten Research & Design more accountable and committed to genuine Centres at eight locations HAL thrives primarily indigenisation. across the country. It has due to its monopoly and Finally, infrastructure and government an impressive product support - both essential ingredients of success track record - 15 types of government patronage, - are sorely lacking. Neither is there clear aircraft manufactured with rather than any inherent government backing for private aerospace inhouse R&D and 14 types excellence... manufacturing nor policy direction. Recipients produced under licence of most transfer of technology deals are mainly for the Indian Air Force (IAF), its largest invariably Defence Public Sector Undertakings customer. It has built up comprehensive skills (DPSU), even though a private concern may in design, manufacture and overhaul of fighters, be more competent to absorb and employ trainers, helicopters, transport aircraft, engines, the technology. All major deals are signed avionics and system equipment. It also delivers directly with foreign producers and the public life-cycle and product support services. LET PRIVATE AEROSPACE MANUFACTURING FLOURISH MANUFACTURING AEROSPACE PRIVATE LET

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 17 However, to say that HAL is unable to meet industry more efficient but HAL has never faced the needs of the IAF is an understatement. serious competition. In fact, it appears reluctant Practically every IAF project it undertakes is to compete with the private sector. subject to massive cost and time overruns and Licensed production, that HAL hankers after, unmet operational requirements. Moreover, stifles original thinking and innovative design since it is under the rigid control of generalist skill. It also hugely increases costs. For instance, bureaucrats, who are more a Sukhoi 30MKI fighter comes for about $55 The much-hyped self- interested in meeting short- million if imported from Russia. However, the reliance in defence term targets than in fostering design competence and price of the same aircraft when assembled by aerospace remains a technological growth, it has HAL soars to $68 million. As a result, HAL has distant dream... not succeeded in providing neither been able to build a genuine expertise leadership and momentum to base nor the technological infrastructure Indian aerospace. The exclusion of commercial necessary to design and produce advanced expertise keeps it perpetually behind the combat aircraft. times. This partly explains why India, despite To cap it all, though HAL is embroiled in its impressive advances in space exploration, the development and production of many telecom, and IT and software services, has made different types of military aircraft, it wants very little progress in aerospace manufacturing. more. Its fighter production facilities are fully HAL thrives primarily due to its monopoly committed to the Su-30MKI and the Tejas LCA, and government patronage, rather than any so much so that satisfactory product support inherent excellence. It is happy with being for the Su-30MKI fleet is reportedly lacking. indispensable. A sense of complacency is HAL is also in various stages of manufacture or generated by a plethora of captive orders development of the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer from the defence forces. While its domestic (AJT), the Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter sales are steadily increasing, exports - a more (ALH), the Rudra Light Combat Helicopter accurate measure of competence - are few and (LCH), the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) and far between. Competition serves to make any the Dornier-228 light transport plane. Many

Sukhoi Su-30MKI

Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer Aircraft ALH Dhruv LET PRIVATE AEROSPACE MANUFACTURING FLOURISH MANUFACTURING AEROSPACE PRIVATE LET

18 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14

HAL-LCH HAL-LUH

Dornier 228 NG

of these projects are experiencing significant and nominate an Indian Production Agency delays. Yet HAL is angling for another slice (IPA). While 16 aircraft will be bought off-the- of the defence aerospace pie - the Avro shelf from the selected vendor, 40 must be replacement project. produced in India. The Request for Proposal Replace in Time to Save Nine (RFP) was sent to eight foreign manufacturers - Airbus Military (Spain), Alenia Aermacchi In industry circles, the HS-748 Avro (Italy), Boeing and Lockheed Martin (United replacement deal is emerging as a test case States), Antonov (Ukraine), Ilyushin (Russia) of the government’s sincerity about involving and Embraer (Brazil). the private sector in defence aerospace manufacturing. The twin-turboprop Avros However, an objection was later raised on with a payload capacity of 5.1 tonnes the grounds that the PSUs (read HAL) were Structural were acquired from Britain’s Hawker supposedly being denied an opportunity to discrimination Siddeley from 1964 onwards and submit their own proposals. This flew in the against the private later produced under licence by face of the fact that HAL is heavily overloaded HAL. About 56 aircraft remain with existing commitments. Besides, since the sector needs to in service, well past their useful idea is to encourage the private sector to make be addressed life. They are in urgent need of a beginning in the aerospace industry, the without delay... replacement in order to pre-empt Avro replacement deal seems tailor-made for emerging flight safety issues. A the purpose. It is a typical entry-level project, global tender valued at about $2.5 neither strategic nor requiring advanced billion for the supply of 56 new aircraft was technology. Chandrajit Banerjee, Director issued in May 2013. These aircraft are to be General, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) bought from a foreign OEM who must tie up has warned that revisiting the programme at this with one or more Indian private sector partners advanced stage will not only stall the project but LET PRIVATE AEROSPACE MANUFACTURING FLOURISH MANUFACTURING AEROSPACE PRIVATE LET

20 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 Avro HS748 also discourage private industry from investing Synergising efforts is imperative to overcome in future defence projects. The deadline having the hurdles on the road to the indigenisation been twice extended any decision now awaits of defence aerospace manufacturing. HAL has the new government. excellent infrastructure and manufacturing Time to Go Private facilities and a highly experienced personnel base. The private sector Clearly the aerospace needs of India, civilian can contribute advanced No country today as well as defence, are growing. The public technology, financial sector which has so far been tasked to meet dreams of manufacturing management and marketing these needs has failed to deliver. What’s more, as skills. Quality assurance is aerospace assemblies aerospace production becomes more complex, another critical area where all by itself... the public sector is likely to fall even further it is better paced to deliver. behind in the race. And the Public - Private Partnership (PPP) Vested interests have long fostered the myth model of joint ventures can leverage the that private sector companies are less likely potential of both sectors. to uphold the national interest than the PSUs. However, as the Avro replacement deal The private aerospace industry has been kept highlights, private enterprise is unlikely to in a stranglehold and not allowed to realise be attracted by small piecemeal contracts. its potential. Isn’t it strange that reputed firms Huge investments are needed to set up a new like Tata, Birla and M&M have been given the indigenous production line, train workers, cold shoulder because HAL is supposedly more and establish supply chains, and the proposed trustworthy when it comes to defence matters? order of 56 aircraft seems insufficient to reap Yet Boeing is a reliable partner in America’s the benefits of economies of scale. Unless the defence, Airbus in Europe’s and Embraer in government makes a long-term commitment Brazil’s. The government must realise that both and provides some assurance of follow-on public and private sectors are national assets; orders, what rational entrepreneur would be both are necessary to achieve self-reliance in willing to invest in an expensive venture of this the shortest possible time. kind?

While structural discrimination against the Indian aerospace firms are already strongly private sector needs to be addressed without competitive albeit at the lower end of the value delay, the purpose is not served by junking HAL. chain in offering quality products at reduced LET PRIVATE AEROSPACE MANUFACTURING FLOURISH MANUFACTURING AEROSPACE PRIVATE LET

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 21 cost. However, HAL’s 2,400 suppliers, for may be some years away from being able to instance, are all of Tier 3 category. They need to undertake complete assembly and systems be encouraged to move up the value chain and integration of a medium transport aircraft like become Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers. Aerospace the Avro. However, it needs to make a start. And and defence Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are foreign collaboration is the quickest and best a promising way to achieve this. SEZs save time way to energise the sector. and expense by accommodating many vendors Globalisation and liberalisation have created in close proximity where they a network of interdependence across the global Aerospace products can interact and synergise aerospace scene that is mutually beneficial. their efforts to set up a are highly engineered Joint ventures with foreign corporations can and all production precision engineering and manufacturing ecosystem. help the domestic aerospace industry in rapidly processes must be Their nearness also helps to building aerospace knowledge and introducing meticulously certi¿ed... save time and money that state-of-the-art manufacturing processes, would otherwise be wasted thus catalysing growth. However, the lurking in moving materials and components from suspicion of the ‘foreign hand’ needs to be one place to another. The SEZ site can be overcome first. strategically chosen to make use of low cost For Indian private aerospace manufacturing of land, infrastructure, power and water. Raw to flourish, the FDI limit needs to be raised materials development capability also needs to to at least 74 per cent. Chronic opponents be gradually built up in the close vicinity. of FDI will immediately object, “What about Take the Outstretched Foreign indigenous industry? What about security Hand in this sensitive sector?” Truth be told, the Aerospace is a highly specialised industry domestic aerospace industry is in no position with only a handful of global players. Analysts to achieve modern production standards believe that India’s private aerospace industry without foreign investment, expertise and

Dassault Rafale LET PRIVATE AEROSPACE MANUFACTURING FLOURISH MANUFACTURING AEROSPACE PRIVATE LET

22 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 high-end technologies. Security concerns can are used by industry, especially the private be rationally addressed by including necessary sector, to acquire innovative aeronautical clauses in the initial licence - including the right technologies and gain expertise in the vital to take over a facility if the terms and conditions areas of aerospace design, development, and are breached. Actually when it comes to precision manufacturing. This would satisfy assurance of uninterrupted supply, especially the primary aim of the Guidelines “to foster in an emergency, indigenous production under development of internationally competitive licence is far superior to pure imports. enterprises”.

If properly leveraged, the government’s Finally, it goes without saying that aerospace Defence Offset Guidelines can also provide products are highly engineered and all major impetus to the private aerospace production processes must be meticulously manufacturing sector. In November 2013, certified. From the smallest screw Air Marshal P.P Reddy, Director General to the largest integrated assembly, Aerospace is a (Inspection & Safety) disclosed that the service each part needs to be traceable and highly specialised is likely to procure equipment and platforms everything must precisely meet industry with worth $150 billion over the next 15 years. specifications and stringent quality Since the Guidelines specify that any foreign controls. Otherwise safety could only a handful of defence contract valued at Rs 3,000 million easily be compromised. That is global players... or more will entail an offset obligation of why no country today dreams of between 30 and 50 per cent, the total value manufacturing aerospace assemblies all by of offsets accruing can only be imagined. For itself. Even the world’s leading conglomerates instance, the deal with Dassault Aviation to such as Airbus and Boeing source components acquire 126 Rafale Medium Multi-role Combat and sub-assemblies from several countries. Aircraft (MMRCA) may generate $10 billion They find it cheaper, faster and more efficient through offsets. Offset obligations can be met to obtain items from locations that have either through direct purchase, investment or specialised in their production and in rigid technology transfer. The government needs quality control. Why should India’s private to ensure that they are not frittered away but aerospace industry be any different?

India Under Fire

Essays on National Security India Under FireIndia Bharat Verma

From aggressive, devious neighbours to well-armed internal insurgents, the list of those taking aim at our nation is long. Our morally bankrupt political system and blinkered bureaucracy only compounds the mess. As the editor of Indian Defence Review, Bharat Verma lives by a simple philosophy:

‘Don’t give me a list of problems, give me solutions.’ Bharat Verma Solutions are what he offers in this sequel to Fault Lines, a compilation of his writings since then. From ways to counter China’s imperial ambitions, to why a splintered Pakistan is in India’s interest.

LANCER Why we need to develop not just cutting edge defence industries but also have an offensive orientation against those gunning for our democracy. Because at the end of the day, national interest is supreme. In this riveting series of columns, Verma takes a 360 degree look at the strategic and military challenges facing India today, and suggests ways and means to overcome them. LANCER ISBN: 978-1-940988-06-1, Hardbound, PP 152 ‡ Avialable as an eBook www.lancerpublishers.com LET PRIVATE AEROSPACE MANUFACTURING FLOURISH MANUFACTURING AEROSPACE PRIVATE LET

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 23 Artillery Modernisation Special Correspondent

Artillery modernisation in India implies the largest modernisation of this arm and needs to be given as much, if not more, importance commensurate with the manoeuvre arms it supports. The relevance is more in the Indian context because of the mountainous terrain where it needs to support infantry operations plus in counter insurgency and counter terrorist operations. 8QTXHVWLRQDEO\DUWLOOHU\XQLWVZLOOFRQWLQXHWREHXVHGWRVXSSRUWWKHLQIDQWU\WRWKHEHQHÀWRI all. It is precisely in these sorts of operation that the new precision of artillery will become more telling and relevant. India has a long way to go in modernising its artillery. Presently, the artillery modernisation plan appears to be stymied. There is an urgent need to provide it an impetus considering the enhanced threat posed to us along a two and a half front.

HE IMPORTANCE OF ARTILLERY IN process of procuring and developing gun battle needs no emphasis. What the systems, ammunition (including propellants Tartillery can achieve in contact battle and fuzes), support systems and networking has been highlighted in the two world wars and systems in terms of software and hardware more recently, nearer home during the Kargil which incorporate state-of-the-art technology. conflict where 100 Bofors guns broke the back Ironically, though Transfer of Technology of well-entrenched Pakistani forces on high (ToT) for the Bofors gun had taken place mountain peaks. But the latter also highlighted right at the beginning, the indigenous version woes of the crying need for modernisation of our is being developed now after a gap of two artillery. Fortunately, India had imported 400 decades. pieces of this excellent gun before the firm was Concept of Firepower banned. Despite the Rs 60 crore Bofors scam Although artillery was reportedly used in the and the freeze on spare parts, India’s holdings Battle of Plassey (1757) and the Regiment traces could be cannibalised to give the enemy a its origins to the Bombay Artillery formed in bloody nose. 1827, artillery has actually traversed through No worthwhile modernisation has taken two centuries of evolution. In recent times, a place since then though the artillery is in the distinct shift in concept of application from neutralisation to degradation and destruction has taken place. This shift has come about with the enhanced capability of the artillery in terms of reach, delivery of larger calibre and more lethal munitions, enhanced precision system as also greater battlefield transparency. With these enhancements, the artillery is able to strike deep with precision and thus has the capability to degrade and destroy targets effectively. The reach of the artillery is now clearly beyond the Bofors ARTILLERY MODERNISATION ARTILLERY

24 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 Exhibitor registration and information: Mr. Jocelyn de VIREL [email protected] - tel.: + 33 (0)1 56 59 15 05 www.euronaval.fr tactical battlefield, well into the operational there are some 200 cannibalised Bofors guns in depth with enhanced precision and lethality. the kitty. The modernisation plan has factored Transformation Vision in the latest technological developments and is aligned towards the acquisition of modern The vision for transformation of the artillery equipment. To say that there have been includes modernisation of all guns for contact slippages in procurement would actually be battle, rockets and missiles for degradation an understatement but efforts are on to meet and engagement of targets in operational the revised timelines. Besides modernisation depth, enhanced target through procurement of state-of-the-art The vision for acquisition and battlefield weapon systems, the army is also working transformation of transparency through on bolstering its inventory control through the artillery includes introduction of cutting edge ground, aerial and indigenous development of gun systems and modernisation of all space-based sensors and munitions, aimed at opening up multiple guns for contact battle… integrated and synergised avenues for intake of modern equipment. utilisation of firepower One hundred and eighty pieces of 130mm/39- and Surveillance And Target Acquisition calibre M-46 Russian guns have been upgraded (SATA) through automated systems – Artillery to 155mm/45-calibre by Soltam of Israel. The Command, Control and Communication Army had successfully tried and selected BAE System (ACCCS), Battlefield Surveillance Systems M-777 ultra light artillery guns from System (BSS) and Battlefield Management the US more than a year ago, including the System (BMS). ‘maintainability evaluation trial’ on behest of Procurements the MoD but procurement has been delayed Hardly any artillery guns have been procured over an anonymous letter alleging bribes. since 1980s. The stock of Bofors guns has This is a malady that time and again has also dwindled from the 400 imported to set back procurements by not only months below 200. Presently, the artillery inventory is and years. Many a time it has resulted in the grossly inadequate, both in terms of quantity cancellation of a deal with the present Defence and quality. The Russian 122mm D30 towed Minister’s penchant to cancel deals at the drop Howitzer has gone obsolete already. The of a hat rather than permit the much-needed 105mm Indian Field Gun (IFG) of 17-km range modernisation and punish those against whom has been operational for the past 30 years and the charge of bribery has been levelled and

M-46 Field Gun ARTILLERY MODERNISATION ARTILLERY

26 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 M777 Howitzer proved. The practice in foreign countries is not requisite artillery coinciding with the progress blacklisting but punishing individuals involved of its raising. and imposing severe financial penalties The Indigenous mm Gun on the company so that acquisitions and As mentioned above, the Transfer modernisation of the armed forces does not of Technology of the Bofors was available suffer. with the OFB. However, the Bofors was not Incidentally, with the planned shutdown of indigenised with the OFB blaming the army the M777 facility of BAE Systems in the near for not forwarding such a demand, which future and the stalemate in India, the deal may by itself does not stand to logic as numerous be off altogether. This may have been at the developments have been done in the past by behest of OFB-DRDO in light of development the DRDO and OFB without prior reference of the indigenous 155mm gun but cancellation to the armed forces. However, of the M777 deal would imply setting back reportedly the technology was Presently, the artillery modernisation plans of the artillery by yet being utilised for the production inventory is grossly another few years. of spare barrels, breech block inadequate, both in and certain other critical parts Additionally during 2012, tenders had been of the gun. The technology was terms of quantity and floated for 1,580 towed guns of 155mm/52- also utilised for production of calibre, 100 tracked guns of 155mm/52-calibre quality… ammunition. With a view to and 180 wheeled and Self Propelled guns of open an alternative avenue for procurement 155mm/52-calibre but the deal for procurement of the 155mm gun system, OFB has, in recent of 180x155mm/52-calibre wheeled Self times, been given the opportunity to develop the Propelled (SP) guns was also cancelled after gun indigenously in keeping with the long term completion of trials though the wheeled Self- aim of achieving self-reliance. The private sector Propelled gun is ideally suited for the plains is being extensively urged to source components and the semi-desert terrain. The only significant and sub-systems for this. The initial trials had advancement in gun acquisition has been the caused barrel bursts during firing but improved upgrade of 180 pieces of 130mm/39-calibre M46 metallurgy should help get over the problem. In Russian guns to 155mm/45-calibre (enhancing the long term, it should be possible to meet the the range from 26 to 39 kms) by Soltam of Israel. 155mm gun requirements indigenously. The plan to upgrade 480 of these guns again was halted with Soltam getting blacklisted Surveillance and Target after upgrading 180 pieces. The Mountain Acquisition Strike Corps, approved and to be raised over The purpose of all surveillance is to direct the next seven years, would need fielding of enemy assets for subsequent destruction. ARTILLERY MODERNISATION ARTILLERY

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 27 target acquisition, direction of own artillery fire, target designation and post strike damage assessment across the frontage and depth of the tactical, operational and strategic areas of operations. UAVs have immense potential for operations in conventional as well as counter insurgency/counter terrorist operations, plus in disaster management roles. The stand-off capabilities of UCAVs to undertake surgical strikes in depth are immense. UCAVs are very much on the artillery’s wishlist and should materialise in the near future, depending upon Various Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Pictured are (front to back, left to right) the budget and priorities accorded. RQ-11A Raven, Evolution, Dragon Eye, NASA FLIC, Arcturus T-15, Skylark, Tern, RQ-2B Pioneer and Neptune Information Systems The ACCCS was the first information system to have been introduced into the Indian Army and it has been a landmark achievement for the artillery in its quest for network centricity. The system has greatly enhanced the artillery’s capability to deliver highly accurate and responsive firepower. Fielding of the equipment has brought forth many challenges which are being addressed quite successfully. Some of these challenges relate to the types of X-45A UCAV communication equipment being used, as also integration of with other networks. At Sensors, therefore, must have total synergy the moment, innovative methods are being with the associate firepower vectors. This is the used to address these challenges since their essence of all firepower employment philosophy. eventual resolution lies in final fielding of the The aim is to shorten the OODA loop so as to Tactical Communication System (TCS) and overtake the enemy’s OODA cycle. The thought other components of army’s Tactical Command, of bifurcating surveillance from firepower Control and Communication (TAC C3I) system, assets is indeed misplaced and would place particularly the BSS, Battlefield Management any army at a disadvantage in future wars. In System (BMS) and the Command Information the fields of surveillance and target acquisition, and Decision Support System (CIDSS) all of which will take considerable time. Most of the In keeping with the long the artillery already has UAVs, BFSR and the ‘new generation’ guns available worldwide term aim of achieving self- LORROS. Additionally, are equipped with integrated fire control and reliance the private sector plans exist to acquire communications systems which enable them to function as autonomous units. All the new is being extensively urged sensors for persistent aerial surveillance. The generation guns which are under procurement to source components and artillery is also looking or being developed too are envisaged to have sub-systems… for upgrades in existing these capabilities. This, however, does not take equipment to include away the capability to also control them at the the electronic theodolite, inertial navigation battery level, which is required and provides system, sound ranging systems and lighter inherent flexibility to the system. Weapon Locating Radar (WLR) system. Artillery Divisions The army’s artillery philosophy includes The Indian Army has successfully employed having a credible capability of various UAV the concept of Artillery Divisions, formations to systems to ensure battlefield transparency, support Strike Corps operations. In vogue for ARTILLERY MODERNISATION ARTILLERY

28 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 the past few years, this concept has been highly developed in advanced armies, MRSI impact successful. It has provided a flexible, responsive capability, potential for larger rockets to have and effective organisation at theatre level to greater range and payload (more than that of plan, coordinate, employ and exploit firepower conventional artillery) and the to optimise effectiveness. The concept has been potential to engage air targets. However, in the a force multiplier, adding a new dimension On the other hand, what can be pursuit of self- to the concept of employment of artillery, considered as negatives in the reliance it would be rockets, missiles and long range guns with a case of MLRS are easily detectable variety of ammunition including precision contour trails once rockets are prudent not to rely guided ammunition grouped in the Artillery fired, expensive munitions, time solely on the OFB… Division. It has also provided the capability to consuming reloads, back blasts, concentrate firepower for the conduct of tactical high technology involved has more chances of degradation operations as well as fire support to system failure and relatively limited range of the formations as part of the overall theatre plan. munitions are compared to artillery. Gun versus Rockets The artillery and rocket systems have two The gun versus rocket debate has been very different purposes on the contemporary ongoing in all armies including in India battlefield. The MLRS is slightly more versatile albeit there is very little difference between since it has the future potential for engaging air the effectiveness of rockets and conventional targets, even incoming munitions and a larger artillery. Conventional artillery like the Multiple rocket can have more range and impact than Rocket Launching System (MLRS) too has a shell as there is a limit to the effective area acquired a fair amount of mobility. Both are of an artillery shell. The rocket is, therefore, a capable of finding a suitable firing point, setting up quickly, releasing an accurate and concentrated payload over a period of time and then dispersing from the area before being detected and hit with counter-fire.

At the same time, armies are considering the two systems side-by-side looking at the advantages and disadvantages of both. Advantages of artillery guns are cheap ammunition, the ability to use GPS rounds for accuracy, faster reloads, high rate of fire, ability to sustain fire over long periods, Multiple MLRS Firing a Basic M26 Rocket Round Simultaneous Impact (MRSI) capability and a large variety of ammunition and calibre available. At the same time, issues with the artillery guns are long barrel needed restricting movement, heavy weight of barrel and breach given the need for pressure containment, high recoil that must be absorbed and the tone of blast can easily be detected by counter bombardment devices.

In case of the MLRS, the plus points are high first hit probability, large projectile with large explosive force than an artillery shell, quick initial deployment; quick getaway, potential to ‘fire’ rockets as UAVs fitted with camera to locate and then destroy target – as being Brahmos ARTILLERY MODERNISATION ARTILLERY

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29 munitions and allied equipment. We are in the process of procuring and developing gun systems, ammunition including propellant and fuzes, support systems and networking resources in terms of software and hardware which incorporate state-of-the-art technology. Indigenous efforts should be able to provide modern surveillance equipment, UAVs and communication equipment. There has been progress with regards to the acquisition and indigenous production of surveillance and Smerch 300mm Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher target acquisition equipment (UAVs and gun locating radars), rocket artillery (Smerch, Pinaka) and missiles (BrahMos) but these are only in limited numbers and nowhere near the envisaged requirement.

At present, laser designated precision ammunition is held by our artillery. There are plans to induct more precision ammunition like sensor fuzzed munitions, terminally guided munitions and trajectory correctable munitions - acquisition of which will depend upon the pace of procurement. However, in the pursuit of self-reliance it would be prudent not to rely solely on the OFB. Simultaneously, we must speedily form Joint Ventures (JVs) between India and foreign firms that have been dealing

Pinaka with gun systems development or have the potential to do so.

useful multi-role platform, capable not only of Artillery modernisation is a major programme ground bombardment but also hitting aerial in the Indian Army and needs to be given as targets and incoming munitions. At the same much importance if not more in comparison time, artillery is far better in providing sustained with the manoeuvre arms it supports. The fire on a ground target, and particularly when relevance is more in the Indian context because used in larger numbers field guns can have of the mountainous terrain where it needs to a devastating impact with their fire deflating support infantry operations plus in counter the enemy’s resources. Given the recent insurgency and counter terrorist operations. technological leaps with regards to aiming Unquestionably, artillery units will continue to devices and self-propelled artillery vehicles, be used to support the infantry to the benefit the accuracy of artillery does not really require of all. It is precisely in these sorts of operation very expensive rounds. Both systems clearly that the new precision of artillery will become have advantages and disadvantages. Like any more telling and relevant. India has a long way weapons system they must be deployed for the to go in modernising its artillery. Presently, tasks most suited to them. the artillery modernisation plan appears to be The Future stymied. There is an urgent need to provide it an Much of the developments in artillery impetus considering the enhanced threat posed technology the world over are related to to us along a two and a half front. ARTILLERY MODERNISATION ARTILLERY

30 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 C-17 Globemaster III

Role of C-17 Globemaster III Air Marshal Dhiraj Kukreja

The C-17 has transformed the IAF from a tactical to a strategic force. The acquisition of the C-17 Globemaster III, a truly strategic airlift aircraft, duly supported by the C-130J, can rapidly airlift and sustain sizeable forces across the region and even beyond. In addition to commitments in the region or other parts of the world, the requirement for the movement of a large body of security forces - military, para-military and police within the country for deployment on short notice, is also likely to increase. With its emerging status and new responsibilities associated with it, to ensure peace and stability in the region and globally, if called for, the nation is well HTXLSSHGZLWKWKH&ÁHHWWREHFDSDEOHRIVZLIWUHVSRQVHDQGSRZHUSURMHFWLRQWRVDIHJXDUG national security interests.

HE AMERICAN STARS AND STRIPES Ever since the mid-1980s, the transport fleet have eclipsed the Russian bear in the of the Indian Air Force (IAF) has primarily TIndian Air Force’s transport fleet with comprised of 17 IL-76 aircraft, the strategic the acquisition of the C-17 Globemaster III airlifter, and 100-odd of the workhorse, AN-32. and the earlier acquisition of the C-130J Super With the induction of the C-17 and the C-130 Hercules. The deal for ten C-17 aircraft worth aircraft, the IAF has finally been able to shrug over $4.1 billion was finalised in 2009-2010 and off its dependence on Russia, as the requirement aircraft delivery has commenced, with the last for today is for technologically better, easier to aircraft to fly in by the end of 2014. The IAF has maintain and a larger number of aircraft due Air Marshal Dhiraj plans to order six more aircraft bringing the total to the constantly evolving strategic scenario Kukreja, former Air Officer Commanding to 16, which would make it the largest operator around India. Just two pilots and one other in Chief of Training of the fleet after the USAF. crewmember can operate the C-17 Globemaster Command ROLE OF C-17 GLOBEMASTER III

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 31 IL-76

III, whereas the comparatively smaller IL-76 III too, carries the name of its two ‘ancestors’, needs a crew of six. In load-carrying capacity namely the Douglas C-74 Globemaster and too, the comparison is in favour of the former, the Douglas C-124 Globemaster II. The C-17 is as it can carry a maximum payload of 74 tonnes a large military transport aircraft developed for against the capacity of 43 tonnes of the IL-76, the USAF from the 1980s to 1990s by McDonnell thus substantially enhancing the overall airlift Douglas. Boeing, which merged with McDonnell capability. At its maximum all-up weight, the Douglas in the 1990s, continues to manufacture C-17 can take-off from airstrips as short as the aircraft for export, following the end of 7,000 feet (2,134m), covering 2,420 nautical deliveries to USAF. The aircraft, designed for miles without refuelling, thus providing the IAF strategic airlift missions, transporting troops transcontinental range, and land at an airfield of and cargo over large distance to all corners of just 3,000 feet (914m). With in-flight refuelling, the world, also performs certain additional roles the range becomes considerably higher. that include tactical airlift, medical evacuation and airdrop missions. The first C-17 entered The fleet of C-17, which is regarded as the service in July 1993, over two decades ago; yet it most advanced military transport aircraft in the world today, is ideally suited continues to be the most advanced and capable Long term planning not only for power projection in strategic airlift aircraft in the world. has always been any part of the world but also for The C-17 is a high-wing, four-engine, T-tailed the forte of the IAF... humanitarian assistance, disaster jet aircraft with commendable performance. relief operations and emergency With dimensions of 53m in length, a wingspan evacuation of citizens from areas in turmoil of 52m and a tail height of 17m, the aircraft is in foreign lands. Given India’s aspirations large and heavy. Yet it has the manoeuvrability to be a superpower, the IAF understood the of a light aircraft, made possible by advanced requirement to enhance its fleet of strategic aeronautic design features. The secret of the airlift aircraft on its inventory and successfully aircraft’s impressive performance, both on the convinced the political decision-makers to ground and in the air, is its four, fully reversible acquire the C-17. Pratt and Whitney engines, each producing C- Globemaster III - History 18,343 kg (40,440 lb) thrust. The thrust reversers As is a popular tradition of the Americans that direct the flow of air upward and forward, to for a male offspring to bear the name of his avoid ingestion of debris, can reverse the aircraft father and grandfather, the C-17 Globemaster up a two per cent slope. ROLE OF C-17 GLOBEMASTER III

32 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 AN-32

Lesson in Air Power component of air power in Operations Other With so much being talked about the C-17 Than War (OOTW). It is extremely important aircraft providing enhanced strategic airlift to possess such a potential for an immediate capability to the IAF, it is apt to take a brief airlift to respond in times of natural calamities, lesson in air power. The importance of airlift or terrorist attacks; such a quick response as a core competency has varied from time may achieve strategic effects of its own. The to time. Today, however, there is no doubting importance of airlift is further accentuated the essential need to possess adequate airlift with the current trend of nations to be involved capability, resident within an air force, to ensure in operations away from their own mainland that an overall responsiveness is available because of redefined security perceptions at all times; this responsiveness is perhaps initiated by rapidly changing geo-political more important to the land forces at the scenarios. commencement of operations. From a purely Airlift, thus, is the capability to bring the theoretical perspective, airlift is one of the key land and other support forces to the front, modes to provide the force with the capability at a speed better than any other of concurrent access for parallel operations, mode. The speed of response and The C-17 is a high- into a theatre, and subsequent sustainment enhanced reach have to be tailored movements. wing, four-engine, to ensure adequate persistence as T-tailed jet aircraft One of the most important functions of airlift a built-in feature; persistence will in a developing tactical situation is its synergy be affected by the availability of with commendable with Special Operations, which cannot be heavy lift resources for follow-on performance... successfully completed without adroit airlift actions, which in turn affect the capabilities that can be brought to bear upon power projection capabilities. Depending upon the adversary, in a reliable and steady manner. the circumstances, such airlift would have to be At the tactical level, airlift provides the Special tactical or strategic, hence the need to possess Forces with increased speed of response heavy airlift capabilities is highlighted. thereby largely controlling the overall pace of The C- in the Indian Context the operations. The existing Indian security environment Airlift capability, whether fixed wing or has evolved over the years and is a blend of its rotary wing, tactical or strategic, is an important history, geography, culture, politics, amongst ROLE OF C-17 GLOBEMASTER III

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 33 C-130J Super Hercules

other issues. The new millennium has redefined also to influence statecraft. The speedy aerial India’s strategic boundaries with its emergence reinforcement of forces in Srinagar in 1947- as a regional power (notwithstanding the 1948, the evacuation of King Tribhuvan of Nepal present day economic and political crisis facing in 1950 and his subsequent restoration to the the country). While India does not have any throne leading to the Indo-Nepal Friendship extra-territorial aspirations and continues to Treaty, are two of the early examples just after believe in peaceful co-existence, it is vital that gaining independence. In more recent times, it possesses a powerful instrument of national the air landed operations in Maldives, the power, capable of deterring any adversary and airlift of Indian citizens from Kuwait and Iraq, maintaining peace and growth. the disaster relief operations post-Tsunami in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Maldives and The Doctrine of the IAF that is in vogue Sri Lanka and the relief material provided to today was revised in 2012 and adopts an USA after Hurricane Katrina show the diverse all-encompassing approach range of operations and trans-continental reach towards the security paradigm The Àeet of C-17, of the IAF. which is regarded as that surrounds the nation today, to ensure optimal The C-17 fleet in the IAF will greatly enhance the most advanced utilisation of air power assets the military airlift capabilities and facilitate military transport to achieve national security power projection to distant parts of the world. aircraft in the world objectives. The vision, as stated Operating from air bases in diverse terrain in the Doctrine is for the IAF, regions – from the Himalayan air bases at today, is ideally suited “to acquire strategic reach elevations of above 10,000 feet, to sea-level for power projection... and capabilities across the bases in the islands, the aircraft is proving its spectrum of conflict that serves mettle by regularly flying missions to places the ends of military diplomacy, nation building such as Port Blair, Leh and Thoise in India and to and enable force projection within India’s foreign deployments in Tajikistan and Rwanda. strategic area of influence”. The ability of the aircraft to operate from short, austere airfields would be crucial when it comes Long term planning has always been the to providing humanitarian assistance in times forte of the IAF. It has displayed foresight in of natural disasters or emergency evacuation of anticipating the national security needs and has Indian citizens abroad. built its capabilities accordingly. IAF capabilities have been not only to project military force but The strategic role of the C-17 is augmented ROLE OF C-17 GLOBEMASTER III

34 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 with the availability of the C-130J Super Hercules is particularly applicable in the Indian context aircraft inducted just before the C-17 fleet in the where overall strategic airlift assets have IAF. Although the acquisition of the C-130 was generally been minimal unlike some other primarily for Special Operations, it is also being nations with significant airlift resources. utilised in the strategic role. The recent landing The expected growth of the Indian economy at Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) in Ladakh and earlier in the coming years notwithstanding the landings at Advanced Landing Grounds (ALG) slowdown of the last couple of years means that in the Arunachal sector are a shot in the arm of the strategic airlift capability of the nation. the capability to project power is necessary; the C-17 has transformed the IAF from a Conclusion tactical to a strategic force. The strategic impact of the use of air power The acquisition of the C-17 The strategic role of revolves around two main issues, namely, the Globemaster III, a truly the C-17 is augmented ability to deliver concentrated firepower at a strategic airlift aircraft, duly with the availability selected point in depth or delivering combat supported by the C-130J, can troops at the decisive point. While the former rapidly airlift and sustain of the C-130J Super role is accomplished by combat aircraft, it is the sizeable forces across the Hercules aircraft... strategic transport aircraft such as the C-17 that region and even beyond. deliver combat troops across large distances In addition to commitments in the region or overcoming the traditional friction that land other parts of the world, the requirement for forces, and to some extent the naval forces, have the movement of a large body of security forces to contend with. - military, para-military and police within To make a distinction between strategic the country for deployment on short notice, and tactical can be a matter of perspective is also likely to increase. With its emerging and assessment. What may be tactical to the status and new responsibilities associated with USA may be strategic in Indian perception it, to ensure peace and stability in the region yet there are commonalities in matters and globally, if called for, the nation is well pertaining to tactical and strategic airlift equipped with the C-17 fleet, to be capable capabilities. Aircraft development has ushered of swift response and power projection to in major improvements in airlift capacity; this safeguard national security interests. ROLE OF C-17 GLOBEMASTER III

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 35 Is the IAF Equipped for a Two-Front War? Gp Capt AK Sachdev

SU-30 MK-I

During the past decade, India’s defence preparedness has steadily and inexorably deteriorated despite constant clamour by the defence forces for modernisation and upgradation to meet DVVLJQHGUROHVDQGWDVNV0HDQZKLOH3DNLVWDQ·VDQWL,QGLDVWDQFHDQG&KLQHVHDJJUHVVLYHDFWLRQV DQGLWHUDWLRQVKDYHQHLWKHUKHOSHGWRSXVKDZD\WKHWUHSLGDWLRQRISRVVLEOHPLOLWDU\FRQÁDJUDWLRQ with either one individually, nor done anything to liquidate the possibility of a two-front war. A combined and collusive threat from China and Pakistan would overstretch the Indian military machinery and, given the inordinately delayed modernisation in certain domains, could well be a recipe for an ignominious debacle reminiscent of the 1962 India-China War.

N THE PAST FIVE YEARS OR SO, THE by the defence forces for modernisation and challenge of being militarily engaged by upgradation to meet assigned roles and tasks. IChina and Pakistan simultaneously has Meanwhile, Pakistan’s anti-India stance and exercised government and public attention Chinese aggressive actions and iterations have visibly. On the other hand, since long, the three neither helped to push away the trepidation of Services have always considered a ‘two-front possible military conflagration with either one war’ not just a possibility but highly probable. individually, nor done anything to liquidate the In February this year, the Indian Air Force possibility of a two-front war. A combined and (IAF) told a Parliamentary panel what the latter collusive threat from China and Pakistan would probably knew anyway - that it would be difficult overstretch the Indian military machinery and, for the IAF to manage a ‘two-front war’ although given the inordinately delayed modernisation it had plans for doing so. As expected, the media in certain domains, could well be a recipe played up this iteration by the IAF as ‘dropping a for an ignominious debacle reminiscent of bomb’ and ‘an alarming admission’. No follower the 1962 India-China War. The distended of military affairs is surprised though. aerial battlefield encompassing the Western, During the past decade, India’s defence Northern and Eastern perimeters of our Gp Capt AK Sachdev, is a former IDSA preparedness has steadily and inexorably extensive borders, and the air defence of our Research Fellow. deteriorated despite the persistent clamour vast territorial expanse could burden the IAF IS THE IAF EQUIPPED FOR A TWO-FRONT WAR? TWO-FRONT A THE IAF EQUIPPED FOR IS

36 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 to a spine shattering level. In addressing the multi-role aircraft. The PAF plans to acquire a issue of preparedness of the IAF for a two front total of 250 to replace its Mirage IIIs and F-7s; war, it is important at the outset to study the some of these would be Block 2 aircraft with 4.5 contending air forces. generation features while some more would Pakistan Air Force (PAF) be Block 3 (entry into service 2016) which are expected to have fifth generation characteristics. The PAF is a professional service with pride The PAF is also said to have in its past and current capabilities. It believes placed an order for 36 Chinese China has ordered that in 1965 and 1971, it came out superior to the IAF. It has a good exposure to modern J-10 (4.5 generation) aircraft. The 70 IL-76 transport aircraft and tactics through its relations with J-10 is expected to be inducted aircraft and 30 IL-78 as the FC-20, an advanced PAF- the West, especially the US. After the Pressler air-to-air refuellers… Amendment, the US placed sanctions and an specific variant of the Chengdu arms embargo on Pakistan, forcing it to look J-10. These aircraft are expected towards Europe and China. The latter has been a to be delivered by 2015 and, according to willing supplier of aircraft and equipment to the some reports, the FC-20 fleet may eventually PAF which currently has 22 combat squadrons be increased to 150 fighters. In addition, PAF comprising about 465 combat aircraft (around is on the lookout for surplus F-16s from air 50 JF-17s, 75 F-16s, 75 Mirage IIIs, 80 Mirage Vs forces using them and has recently acquired and 185 F-7s). a squadron worth from Jordan. Thus, as far as combat aircraft are concerned, the PAF may be The JF-17 is a Chinese design (co-produced expected to be not far behind the leading edge in Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, Kamra in of technology in the next five years or so. Pakistan, and Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group, China) and is claimed to be a fourth generation, To keep up with the IAF, the PAF is also in

J-10

JF-17 F-16 IS THE IAF EQUIPPED FOR A TWO-FRONT WAR? TWO-FRONT A THE IAF EQUIPPED FOR IS

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 37 Y-8

SAAB-2000 An AIM-120 AMRAAM

the process of acquiring Beyond Visual Range media expressing a hope that PAF would attain Air-to-Air Missiles (BVR AAM) for its fighter superiority over the IAF in the hazy future. fleet. This is a lethal capability represented by Peoples’ Liberation Army Air the American AIM 120-C Advanced Medium Force (PLAAF) Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) to arm The PLAAF, officially formed in 1949, the F-16C. Another BVR AAM, remained insignificant for the first three the Chinese PL-12 is expected At the beginning of decades of its existence. Deng Xiaoping’s Four to arm the JF-17 in the future. 2000, the PLAAF Modernisations strategy in 1978 brought in The PAF is also acquiring four had more than 3,500 defence modernisation and set the PLAAF on Airborne Early Warning (AEW) a path to turn into a modernised air force with combat aircraft… platforms - Swedish SAAB-2000 a strategic role and reach, capable of projection aircraft equipped with the of air power through classic offensive missions. ERIEYE phased array radar. In addition, it is Currently, the PLAAF has a total strength of acquiring four Y-8 AEW platforms from China. 398,000 personnel and is organised into an These acquisitions will enhance the PAF’s air air command each in the seven Military Area surveillance envelope, enable combat aircraft to Commands (MACs) located at Shenyang, operate more effectively in both defensive and Beijing, Lanzhou, Jinan, Nanjing, Guangzhou offensive missions against India and improve and Chengdu. survivability of ground-based air defence network (based on the Crotale missile system). Recent development of several airfields in Tibet and adjoining Lanzhou and Chengdu It may be mentioned here that one can MACs are of special concern to India. In come across sporadic writing in Pakistani addition, it commands one airborne corps IS THE IAF EQUIPPED FOR A TWO-FRONT WAR? TWO-FRONT A THE IAF EQUIPPED FOR IS

38 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 (representing strategic airlift). To meet JF-17 in interceptor role and the J-20/J-31 as perceived strategic offensive and defensive stealth multi-role types. operational needs, the PLAAF is strengthening The J-20, based on the F-22 Raptor, first the development of a combat force structure flew in January 2011 while the J-31, China’s that focuses on reconnaissance and early second modern aircraft based on the F-35, warning, air strike, air and missile defence, and was flight tested in October strategic projection. It is concentrating on new 2012.The J-20 and the J-31, The IAF aims to generation fighters and ground-to-air missiles and radar systems, improving its early warning talked of as fifth generation achieve an effective capability, command and communications aircraft, are expected to join strength of 42 the PLAAF between 2017 and networks, and raising its strategic early warning, squadrons by 2022… strategic deterrence and long distance air strike the end of this decade. The capabilities. extent of second generation characteristics that these aircraft actually At the beginning of 2000, the PLAAF had more emerge with is yet to be seen as Chinese than 3,500 combat aircraft; most were J-6/J-7 technological levels in the power plant and types (equivalent of MiG 19/21 respectively). leading edge stealth technology appear to be Thereafter, it got Su-27 SK/UBK, Su-30 MKK far behind the US. and Su-30 MKK2 aircraft from Russia which were a quantum jump over the earlier holdings. The power plant problem has partly been From 2002 onwards, China produced J-10s solved through buying more Su-35 from Russia. and J-11s, which could be classified as fourth Deliveries of 24 Su-35s and an unknown generation aircraft. It is now on a focused number of spare engines are expected to start course to have an essentially fourth generation in 2015, while the J-20 is slated to be operational air force with the J-10/J-11 in air superiority in 2017. Some experts feel that the J-20 would roles complementing the Su-27/Su-30 fleet, finally be powered by the Su-35 engine (117S

J-7

Su-27 MiG-21 IS THE IAF EQUIPPED FOR A TWO-FRONT WAR? TWO-FRONT A THE IAF EQUIPPED FOR IS

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 39 the PLAAF, China has ordered 70 IL-76 transport aircraft and 30 IL-78 air-to-air refuellers. In addition, China continues to upgrade its H-6 bomber fleet (originally adapted from the late 1950s Soviet Tu-16 design) with a new variant that possesses greater range and is armed with a long-range cruise missile. China has converted some of its old H-6 bombers (essentially Russian Tu-16s) to the air-to-air refuelling role for many of its indigenous aircraft, increasing their combat range. China is also developing an AWACS capability on the IL-76 airframe while the Y-8 is being modified for Airborne Early Warning (AEW) and Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) roles. China’s aviation industry is developing a large transport aircraft (referred F-22 Raptor to as the Y-20) to supplement China’s small fleet of strategic airlift assets, which currently consists of a limited number of Russian-made IL-76 aircraft.

Ongoing development of long range Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), including the BZK-005, and Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAV) will provide capability to conduct long-range reconnaissance and strike operations. In the area of air defence Shenyang J-31 capabilities, the PLAAF is focussing on long range systems designed against aircraft and cruise missiles. Currently, it holds the Russian S 400 Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) system (400 km range) and is indigenously working on the domestic HQ-9 SAM (200 km plus range).

Thus, the PLAAF would be a large force containing technologically advanced aircraft and equipment and with a formidable offensive and defensive capability. The overall PLAAF threat needs to be seen in the context of gradual H-6 bombers militarisation of Tibet and the building of infrastructure there. The rail head at Lhasa, connecting it to Xining (the capital of Qinghai engine, a derivative of the Russian AL31 which province) over a distance of 1,956km is of is the engine on one of the J-20 prototypes). If immense strategic importance and a major that be the case, the J-20 would be a formidable threat to Indian defence. There are now 14 aircraft. Meanwhile, current holding of PLAAF is airfields in Tibet which can support operations about 1,265 (around 200 J-10 variants, 125 J-11s, in the Himalayan region. Their significance 40 Su-27s, 180 J-8s, 370 J-7s, 70 JH-7s, 100 Su- to any PLAAF operations against India is self- 30s, 120 Q-51 ground attack aircraft and 60 H-6 evident. Air-to-air refuelling capabilities have bombers) . Thus, the combat aircraft strength is added further potency to PLAAF capabilities. nearly double that of the IAF. Needless to say, hostilities with just China In keeping with the strategic perceptions of alone would be a major challenge for the IAF IS THE IAF EQUIPPED FOR A TWO-FRONT WAR? TWO-FRONT A THE IAF EQUIPPED FOR IS

40 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 IL-78 BZK-005

HQ-9 SAM and when supplemented by a simultaneous than three decades and is perhaps still a few Pakistani aggressive action, the resultant two- years shy of operationalisation in the IAF. Even front war could be a major test of the IAF’s when it does get its operational clearance, it is confidence in itself as a professional force. unlikely to be greeted by the IAF with amiable IAF Readiness cordiality. The Medium Multi Role Combat The IAF’s answer to the So how does the IAF stand in comparison? Aircraft (MMRCA) deal During the 1960s, the IAF was authorised to two-front war conundrum is taking its own time and build up to a 64 squadron force, including incredibly, could not be currently appears to be ten transport squadrons and a heavy bomber signed during the FY 2013- the Su-30… squadron. Subsequently, the figure was pruned 2014 as funds ran out. The down to 45 squadrons. However, it actually was current strength of combat aircraft is around able to build up to just 39.5 squadrons and is 650. The IAF fervently awaits the signing of the currently at a 34 squadron level. The gradual 126 aircraft MMRCA deal. descent to this number has been an agonising tribulation for the IAF with the MiG-21 valiantly Hoping to overcome almost a decade of continuing to fight on beyond its constructive neglect, the IAF aims to achieve an effective years. Indigenous production of the Indian Light strength of 42 squadrons by 2022. This is Combat Aircraft Tejas has already taken more expected to be done with the ongoing induction IS THE IAF EQUIPPED FOR A TWO-FRONT WAR? TWO-FRONT A THE IAF EQUIPPED FOR IS

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 41 C-130J Super Hercules

of 272 Su-30s, future plans for induction of would be required to support friendly land 126 MMRCA Rafale as soon as the deal can be forces is much smaller than India’s. This factor signed and the Tejas LCA whenever the Indian could be seen as a disadvantage for the IAF as defence industry can get its act together and the it would have to spread its resources thinly as T-50, the fifth generation fighter being jointly compared to the PAF. developed by Indian and Russia. Twelve C-130J However, if the PAF and the IAF were to be Super Hercules and ten C-17 Globemasters are compared as adversaries, the IAF still enjoys expected to provide strategic airlift capability. The IAF has a fairly good integrated air defence significant advantages over the PAF. It has set up and has been making larger numbers of high performance aircraft, The Indian Strategic all endeavours to become a operates more BVR-capable platforms; its Forces Command (SFC) strategic air force. Speaking aircraft deploy better on-board sensors and electronic warfare systems and its pilots are has also asked for 40 at an IAF base recently, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, more proficient in advanced air combat tactics nuclear capable strike Chief of Air Staff said, - especially operations in a BVR environment. aircraft for the IAF… “The IAF is on a trajectory The IAF possesses superior combat support of modernisation and is aircraft, better infrastructure and a continually transforming into a strategic aerospace power improving integrated air defence network. with full spectrum capability.” So how well is However, the IAF’s steadily falling numbers the IAF equipped to deal with a two-front war? could become critical in the event of a large- scale or protracted war with Pakistan. A Two Front War The above appraisals of the two neighbouring With the PLAAF, the numbers game is air forces are not comprehensive inasmuch reversed as it has an overwhelming superiority as they do not catalogue their total assets and in numbers of combat aircraft. China’s use aircraft exhaustively. However, it is evident of its military on the ground in the ‘disputed that each one is a force that cannot be ignored territories’ to remind India of its territorial or derided. Despite the fact that the combat agenda is a continual irritant. It is not difficult strength of PAF is only about two-thirds of to envisage a scenario wherein manned and the IAF’s, its aircraft are not very inferior to unmanned flights over Indian territory would the latter’s, and its pilots well-motivated and supplement the transgressions on the ground. competent. Moreover, the territorial expanse When that does happen, India’s political will is which is to be defended and over which PAF likely to come under trial as there appears to be IS THE IAF EQUIPPED FOR A TWO-FRONT WAR? TWO-FRONT A THE IAF EQUIPPED FOR IS

42 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 no decisive rules of engagement laid down for Conclusion such contingencies. The gradual militarisation As can be seen, the PLAAF would be a of Tibet and the build up of infrastructure formidable opponent while the PAF, although on there is another area of concern for India. The a lesser level, would still be a tough antagonist. PLAAF’s air-to-air refuelling capabilities render The probability of complicity between China operational ranges threatening and menacing and Pakistan is very high. There is also the for India. possibility that Pakistan jumps in just to exploit a situation arising out of hostilities between The IAF’s answer to the two-front war China and India. After all, Pakistan has still not conundrum currently appears to be the Su-30, a stopped thinking and talking about the 1971 truly air dominance fighter permitting multiple War. Should the two engage India militarily offensive missions due to its speed, firepower, at the same time, the IAF would indeed be manoeuvrability and extended range. The Su- inadequate to the roles and tasks assigned to it. 30 gave a good account of itself in Exercise Live Wire last year; one of the major aims of the The Su-30, discussed earlier, needs to be exercise was practicing the IAF’s capability for supplemented by the MMRCA at the earliest. a two-front war. As part of the exercise, Su-30s Even if the inordinately flew 1,800-km long missions taking off from an delayed deal was to be Political and bureaucratic airfield in Assam in the East and flying to the signed today, it is only the obstructionism is the Western front with air-to-air refuelling en route. first 18 aircraft that come With such extended ranges possible, the IAF off the manufacturer’s ‘third front’ that the has the choice to build or develop air bases all assembly line. The rest defence forces have around the country (as opposed to the earlier will have to be assembled been constantly ¿ghting ones close to the border with Pakistan). Thus, we in India in a facility yet to now have Su-30s located at Thanjavur (South), be set up. The first Indian against… Chhabua (North East) and Pune (West). There aircraft may take a year is the issue of numbers though; the planned to emerge and the total figure of 126 may take strength of 272 will still be far short of the three to five years. The Tejas, despite the hype number of aircraft with similar capabilities that raised about its Initial Operational Clearance in China can deploy. December, is still far from operationalisation. In any case, it cannot compare with the Su-30 Another worrying factor is the poor or the MMRCA or with the frontline Chinese serviceability of the Su-30 fleet in recent aircraft pitted against the IAF. months. With 12 hard points for armament, the Su-30 can also carry the air launched BrahMos The apathy of the Ministry of Defence and cruise missile which may be expected to be used indeed, the government, towards the needs against strategic targets such as dams, power of the defence services to be equipped and stations and industrial clusters. The Indian prepared to meet the mandate given to them is a Strategic Forces Command (SFC) has also asked cause of concern today. Tomorrow, it could lead for 40 nuclear capable strike aircraft for the IAF to humiliation at the hands of our neighbours. (their command and control is not in the public This political and bureaucratic obstructionism domain yet). In all probability, this task will is the ‘third front’ that the defence forces have devolve upon the Su-30 fleet. Clearly, these two been constantly fighting against during the roles of the Su-30 render it the keystone of the last decade and more; if the IAF fails to touch two-front war. However, by itself, the Su-30 may the sky with glory in a possible two-front war, not be an adequate deterrent or war winner in military historians would undoubtedly ascribe a two-front war scenario. its ignominy to this third front. IS THE IAF EQUIPPED FOR A TWO-FRONT WAR? TWO-FRONT A THE IAF EQUIPPED FOR IS

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 43 F-35 Lightning II Aerospace and Defence News Priya Tyagi

MILITARY AVIATION F- Lightning II for South Korea S PART OF ITS FX FIGHTER JET ACQUISITION PROGRAMME, SOUTH KOREA HAS taken a decision to procure the F-35 Lightning II fifth generation combat aircraft built by ALockheed Martin Corporation. After Israel and Japan, Korea is the third country to procure the F-35 through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme of the government of the United States of America. As per the defence procurement agency of South Korea, contract for the stealth fighter aircraft is to be concluded later this year, reportedly in the third quarter. Deliveries however, are scheduled to commence in 2018. “This decision strengthens and extends our long-standing security partnership while enhancing regional stability across the greater Asia Pacific theatre,” said Orlando Carvalho, Aeronautics Executive Vice-President, Lockheed Martin. Airbus A- Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) for Singapore The Republic of Singapore Air Force has opted to acquire six Airbus A-330 MRTT flight refuelling aircraft under a new contract with the European aerospace major Airbus Defence and Space. The announcement was made during the Singapore Air Show in March 2014. Singapore is the sixth nation to select the Airbus A-330 MRTT, the others Priya Tyagi being Australia, Saudi Arabia, the United A330 MRTT Refuelling F-18 AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE AEROSPACE NEWS

44 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 Arab Emirates and the UK. India is also processing a case for the acquisition of six such platforms for its Air Force and the contract is expected to be awarded in the current financial year. A variant of the commercial Airbus A-330, a total of 17 A-330 MRTT aircraft are currently in service around the world. India to Provide Helicopters to Afghanistan As per the Indian Minister of External Affairs, Salman Khurshid, India as agreed to provide helicopters to war-torn Afghanistan in the near future. Apparently, this decision of the Government of India comes in response to a request from the President of Afghanistan for the supply of lethal weapons. Salman Khurshid added, “I think this decision is consistent with our approach towards building capacity and providing training to Afghan forces.” However, the number or type of helicopters to be provided to Afghanistan was not spelt out. “We have also External Affairs Minister Shri Salman Khurshid calls on President of been giving them some logistical support and we Afghanistan HE Mr Hamid Karzai hopefully will be able to upgrade and refurbish their fleet of transport aircraft,” said the Minister of External Affairs. With Afghanistan set for Presidential elections ahead of the withdrawal of US troops, India extended its full support for a reconciliation process involving people of the war-torn country. “India will also continue to assist the Afghan National Security Forces, which will play an important role in this year of political and security transition”, said Salman Khurshid while he was in Kandahar. Six C-J Super Hercules for the Indian Air Force The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) of the Government of India has granted approval for C-130J a $1.2 billion contract for the acquisition of six C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft through the Foreign Military Sales programme of the US Government. The first aircraft is slated for delivery by 2016. The aircraft will be configured for special mission operations as part of the Eastern Air Command and will be based out of Panagarh in West Bengal. This fleet will augment the Special Operations capability of the five such aircraft based in Hindon near Delhi delivered by Lockheed Martin as part of contract concluded in 2008. These six aircraft will cater to requirements in Andaman and Nicobar Islands as well as in the North East region of the country. The contract includes ixs spare Rolls-Royce AE2100-D3 engines, eight Bae Systems AN/ALR-56M advanced radar warning receivers and AN/ALE-47 counter-measures dispensing systems, eight ATK AN/AAR-47 missile warning systems, eight AAQ-22 Star SAFIRE III Special Ops suites by FLIR Systems, eight Rockwell Collins ARC-210 radios and 3,200 flare cartridges. Air Defence Missiles from MBDA for the IAF The IAF is close to inking a deal with Europeanmissile company MBDA for 384 ASRAAM imaging infrared homing Air-to-Air Missile as the new close combat missile for the Jaguar replacing the now obsolete Matra Magic R550. The ASRAAM was chosen by the IAF some time ago against the Rafael AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE AEROSPACE NEWS

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 45 MBDA ASRAAM

Advanced Systems Python-5 of Israel; the latter had been separately selected as the secondary close combat heat seeking missile for the LCA Tejas. The ASRAAM was demonstrated to the IAF at an RAF facility, UK in 2011 in the intended over-wing pylon configuration. The ASRAAM has a proven ability to be launched upwards to significant altitude and crucial for the Jaguar fighter bomber, since its mission profile largely necessitates flying at low altitudes. MBDA is understood to have won the competition also because it became apparent that integrating the Python-5, a heavier missile, would have required modifications that the IAF was not prepared to commit time to. A contract for the ASRAAM is expected to be signed within this financial year. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for India With the Indian Cabinet Committee on Security clearing a deal for 15 additional IAI-Malat Heron-I Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), the MoD is likely to sign a contract with Israel soon, making India the largest operator of the type. With over 40 already in service with the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy, and the Army looking to contract an unspecified number of longer-range variants of the Heron in the future, the numbers are on a steady upswing and not without reason. With the 40-odd airframes already in service undergoing endurance and sensor upgrade, the Heron-I, having proven to be a deeply useful tri-service platform, has enmeshed well with Indian backbone technologies across the spectrum. IAI-Malat

IAI Heron AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE AEROSPACE NEWS

46 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 will, at Defexpo 2014, also pitch the long-range Heron TP drone for possible consideration as a loitering platform for extended border airborne surveillance and patrolling in the Northern and Western sectors. The Army currently operates Searcher Mk 2 drones but is on the lookout for higher performance systems given the increasing demands on unmanned surveillance. More AWACS for the Indian Air Force The Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS) at Bangalore has opened a global competition to supply six aircraft that will be suitably modified as part of the competition to support the AWACS role.

This programme will run parallel to the ongoing AEW&C programme of DRDO’s based on the Embraer ERJ 145 Business Jet. The Indian Air Force currently operates three Il-76-based PHALCON AWACS jets from Agra, with talks in progress for two more identical systems. The DRDO’s last tryst with a conventional AWACS system ended in tragedy when the modified HS748 Avro based test aircraft crashed in Southern India in January 1999 killing eight scientists and crew onboard. The accident shelved the programme indefinitely, resurfacing many years later first as the DRDO- Embraer platform, and now the new proposed AWACS. DRDO will be looking to draw interest from vendors include Boeing, Saab, Airbus, UAC, Bombardier and Dassault Aviation.

The DRDO hasn’t specified the aircraft type it requires but stated it requires vendors to design, structurally modify, certify and supply six aircraft platforms for the AWACS role. In addition, the winning vendor will be required to design and manufacture the AWACS ten-metre antenna dome, attachment (pylon) structure and dome installation. Cooperation between Air Forces of Japan and India During Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent visit to India, both countries agreed to boost security ties in the face of China’s growing assertiveness. This move is significant especially after China declared an air- defence identification zone in a disputed East China Sea area that overlaps with Japan’s zone and includes uninhabited islands that have been claimed by both DRDO AEW&CS aboard an Embraer EMB-145 at Aero India 2013

The Defence Minister, Shri AK Antony and the Defence Minister of Japan, Mr Itsunori Onodera AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE AEROSPACE NEWS

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 47 nations. China’s move has been viewed as an attempt to unjustly infringe on the freedom of flight over the high seas by her and neighbouring states like Japan have been unnerved by this.

Both Japan and India, which have territorial disputes with China, are increasing ties as tensions escalate in Northeast Asia. Prior to the visit, Japan and India moved to expand ties and introduce exchange programmes between the Air Forces of Japan and India when the Japanese Minister of Defence Itsunori Onodera and his Indian counterpart AK Antony discussed the issue of dialogue between air force officials from the two sides. Predator Demonstrates Electronic Attack Capabilities General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) and Northrop Grumman demonstrated the Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper Unmanned Aircraft System’s (UAS) electronic attack capability during a US Marine Corps training course. The demonstration evaluated the capability of a UAS to conduct electronic warfare missions alongside other unmanned aircraft, according to GA ASI. During the demonstration, two Predators were operated, one with Northrop’s Pandora Electronic Warfare (EW) system, and a GA ASI-owned Predator with a jamming pod. Northrop Grumman’s payload was successfully integrated with the Predator B avionics and the command and control architecture. “Our collaboration with the Marine Corps and Northrop Grumman demonstrates the operational flexibility of the Predator B from being primarily a counter-insurgency aircraft to a platform that can address a broader spectrum of operational requirements,” said Frank W. Pace, President - Aircraft Systems, GA ASI. Boeing KC-A Readies for Predator B Testing Boeing has begun assembling the fourth and final KC-46A flight-testing aircraft, the manufacturer’s next-generation aerial refuelling tanker replacement for the current fleet of KC- 135 with the US Air Force. As per Boeing, the aircraft, a commercial derivative of the Boeing 767, will complete its first flight without the aerial refuelling systems in the near future. That flight will be followed by the first flight of the fully equipped test aircraft in early 2015. “All four test aircraft are moving through production to support our transition to ground and flight testing later this year,” said Maureen Dougherty, Boeing Vice-President and KC-46 Tanker Programme Manager. First delivery to the US Air Force is Boeing KC-46A scheduled for early 2016. USAF B- Bomber Contract for Boeing As per an announcement by the Pentagon, Boeing has been selected for the award of the $750 million five-year contract for work on the US Air Force fleet of B-1 bombers. The contract includes integrated engineering services such as computer network support, technical analysis, flight safety analysis, and potential enhancement work, according to the US Department of Defense digest of major contracts. Also included in the contract are four one-year options and a one-year base period. AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE AEROSPACE NEWS

48 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 SAR Helicopters from AgustaWestland AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, has been awarded a contract for 16 AW101 helicopters as also support and training, valued at approximately €1.15 billion, to meet the Norwegian All Weather SAR Helicopter (NAWSARH) requirement. The contract also includes an option for six more aircraft. The AW101 emerged once again as the best solution to meet the stringent requirements stipulated by the SAR Helicopter Anders Anundsen, Minister of Justice Selection Committee. The AW101 benefits from and Public Security, and Daniele Romiti, CEO of AgustaWestland three-engine safety, a full ice protection system for flight in known icing conditions, long range and endurance, a proven 30-minute “run dry” gearbox as well as multiple redundancy features in the avionic and mission systems. Aircraft deliveries to the Royal Norwegian Air Force will commence in 2017 and continue through to 2020. The aircraft will be assembled at AgustaWestland’s Yeovil facility in the UK. The aircraft will be equipped with an advanced SAR equipment package including a multi-panel AESA surveillance radar system from Selex ES that provides 360° coverage, SAR Helicopter four-axis digital Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS), two rescue hoists, searchlight, electro- optical device and a fully integrated avionics and mission system. Marketing of Combat Jets Emerging countries in need of modernising their weaponry are rushing to buy state-of-the- art fighter jets, sparking a fierce marketing battle among the global aerospace majors. French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian hinted that India and the Persian Gulf nations will MBDA’s ASRAAM firing from Typhoon pick French fighters soon. BAE Systems also announced that the Eurofighter Typhoon combat jet was no longer being considered for adoption as the next-generation fighter by the United Arab Emirates. The UAE plans to buy 60 new fighters to replace its ageing fleet, a deal estimated to be worth as much as $10 billion. The French Rafale and America’s Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet remain in the running.

Meanwhile, Brazil said that it will grant Sweden’s Saab exclusive negotiating rights as it works to select its next-generation fighter. The Saab JAS 39 Gripen is now the front-runner in this race. Brazil plans to replace 36 fighters by 2023 at a total cost of $4.5 billion. French FA-18F Super Hornet AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE AEROSPACE NEWS

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 49 President Francois Hollande visited Brazil to pitch the Dassault Rafale fighter. In response to Brazil’s decision last week, Dassault pointed out that the Gripen uses many parts from other countries, especially the US. In fact, the F/A-18 had been seen as the leading candidate in that race. M- Trainer Aircraft from Alenia Aermacchi In March this year, at its plant in Venegono Superiore in Italy, Alenia Aermacchi rolled out the first M-346 advanced trainer aircraft out for the Israeli Air and Space Force. The M-346, a derivative of the Yak-130, is equipped with fully digital flight controls and avionics designed to provide lead-in training for Israeli fighter pilots. The Israeli Ministry of Defence (IMOD) is looking to use the M-346 to replace its fleet of TA-4 Skyhawk trainer aircraft. Poland recently became the fourth customer for the M-346, following Italy, Singapore and Israel. First delivery to the IMOD is expected in the middle of this year. Currently, the M-346 is in service with both the Air Forces of Italy and Singapore. EADS Re-christened With the dawn of the New Year, EADS has been rechristened as the Airbus Group which will have under it Airbus, Airbus Defence and Space (earlier Airbus Military) and Airbus Helicopters (earlier Eurocopter). Airbus will focus on the commercial aircraft business and Airbus Defence and Space will integrate its Cassidian, Astrium and Airbus Military segments of business, while Airbus Helicopters will deal with the rotary wing regime. Announced in July 2013, the decision to rebrand was received mixed reaction from the rotorcraft industry. Eurocopter was widely considered as a global brand with no adverse connotations as a result of the reference to Europe.

The rebranding was perhaps more relevant to the defense side of the Airbus Group’s business. The legal name will also be changed by 2015 from Airbus Group NV to Airbus Group SE (Societas Europaea). It is not clear as yet as to how the renaming of Eurocopter will affect the future of the “EC” helicopter designations of current Eurocopter variants, for example, whether an EC135 will become an AH135. China’s Bomber Can Nuke US Bases: Chinese State Media As per a report, Chinese state media is once M-346 Trainer Aircraft from Alenia Aermacchi again claiming Beijing’s military prowess,

China’s H-6K strategic bomber AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE AEROSPACE NEWS

50 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 emphasising the fact that China’s new H-6K strategic bomber can attack US military bases in South Korea as well as the Japanese mainland using long range nuclear cruise missiles.

With a range of between 1,500 and 2,000 km, the CJ-10 meets the requirements of the PLAAF to possess the capability to launch strategic missile attacks against US military facilities and those of its allies in the Western Pacific,” states the report. The article also lauds the fact that the H-6K can target the Japanese mainland without even leaving Chinese airspace, in addition to Russian cities in the Far East, all major cities in India, as well as Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines, “in a potential war against Southeast Asian neighbours over territories in the South China Sea.” This is just the latest example of aggressive and bellicose rhetoric emerging out of China.

LAND SYSTEMS India’s Prithvi-II Missile Tested Successfully End March 2014, India successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable Prithvi-II Surface-to-Surface missile from a military base in Odisha. The indigenously-developed ballistic missile with a maximum range of 350 km was fired from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Balasore district about 230 km from Bhubaneswar. “It was a perfect launch. It met all mission objectives,” test range Director M.V.K.V Prasad told IANS.

Prithvi is India’s first indigenously-built ballistic missile. It is one of the five missiles being developed under the country’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. The battlefield missile, with flight duration of 483 seconds and a peak altitude of 43.5 km, can carry a 500-kg warhead. The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Indian Army conducted the test as part of a regular training exercise. The missile has features to deceive anti-ballistic missiles and uses an advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring capabilities and reaches its target within a few metres of accuracy. It has a higher lethal effect compared to equivalent missiles in the world. Scientists say the accuracy has already been demonstrated in the past in the development flight trials. US to Downsize its Military As per reports in the media, the US plans to shrink the size of its military to its smallest force since pre-World War II level. The proposal outlined by Chuck Hagel and several Pentagon officials, would be aimed at reducing defense spending in the face of government austerity measures, after a pledge by President Barack Obama to end US involvement in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The plan would leave the military capable of defeating any enemy but too small for long foreign occupations and would involve greater risk if US forces were asked to carry out two large-scale military actions simultaneously, the paper cited quoting Pentagon officials. Over all, Hagel’s proposal, the officials said, is designed to allow the American military to fulfil President Obama’s national security directives - to defend American territory and the nation’s interests overseas and to deter aggression and to win decisively if again ordered to war. Hagel’s plan would most significantly eshaper America’s land forces active-duty soldiers as well as those in the National Guard and Reserve. Prithvi-II AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE AEROSPACE NEWS

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 51 Iron Dome radar One of Israel’s Iron Dome batteries, which will work in tandem with the Iron Beam laser system

Laser-Based Weapons to Join Israel’s Missile Defense System Intercepting and destroying projectiles in mid-air is costly business. Rockets like the Qassams and Katyushas fired into Israel by Hezbollah and Hamas cost around $1,000 each. The counter- missiles that the Iron Dome, Israel’s rocket defense system, uses to destroy incoming rockets are far more expensive at about $40,000 each. This disparity and the accompanying prioritisation of what gets defended, means the Iron Dome ignores anything smaller than rockets and artillery shells.

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, the Israeli defense manufacturer that made the Iron Dome system, has a cheaper solution: lasers. Dubbed ‘Iron Beam’, Rafael unveiled the new laser defense system at the Singapore Air Show, a major technology exposition held in mid-February. A more comprehensive demonstration of the technology is planned for the Eurosatory defense technology exposition this June. Iron Beam will not replace the Iron Dome; lasers work best by locking onto a target and burning through it as it moves, and rockets are currently faster than lasers at downing incoming attacks. Instead, Iron Beam is likely work in a similar fashion as its US counterparts, by tracking drones, mortar shells and other slower projectiles. Indigenously Produced Artillery Three major Indian gun programmes were on display at the DefExpo, with two of them at an advanced stage of procurement. The most immediate of these is the development of a 155-millimetre (mm), 45 calibre gun by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), based on the design and manufacturing technology provided by Swedish Bofors in the late 1980s. This technology has been used as a springboard by the OFB for upgrading the original 39-calibre Bofors gun into a far more powerful and versatile 45 calibre gun that can engage targets more than 38 km away, compared to the 27-km range of the original Bofors gun. The OFB says Gun Carriage Factory, Jabalpur, is establishing production for 18 guns a year in 2015 and doubling that capacity in 2016. Defence ministry sources said the initial order for 114 guns could be enhanced to 414 guns if the gun realises the promise it is currently showing. India to Develop Smaller Missile As per a top official of Brahmos Indigenously made ‘Dhanush’ 155mm 45 calibre towed howitzer at Aerospace, India plans to develop Defexpo 2014 a smaller missile with advance AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE AEROSPACE NEWS

52 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) Vehicles technologies under the Vision 2050 Programme. The proposed missile with advanced technology would be smaller in size and low weight but would have better capability. The second programme would focus on increasing the speed of the missiles. “In supersonic missiles, we have taken leadership across the globe. Now we want to be a leader in hypersonic missiles”, said Brahmos Aerospace CEO and Managing Director A. Sivathanu Pillai. Elaborating, he said the concept was, “with minimum power, we can make maximum damage to enemy. That is the new concept which we are working on.” US Defence Equipment in Afghanistan: Post Withdrawal The United States has stated that it is considering transfer of its leftover military hardware from Afghanistan to Pakistan post- withdrawal. Washington has rejected concerns that this may alter strategic dynamics of the region. The statement came amid a political firestorm in Afghanistan over reports that the US had planned to transfer some of its excess equipment to Pakistan. The US Embassy contradicted an earlier statement by the International Security Assistance Force that the US-led forces in Afghanistan were not in the process of transferring any military equipment, including Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) Vehicles from Afghanistan to Pakistan.

Defence Secretary Lt. General (Retd.) Asif Yasin Malik also claimed that Pakistan would be receiving some of the leftover military hardware from the US once its forces leave Afghanistan. The Washington Post had earlier reported that discussions between American and Pakistani officials have been going on for months about the disposal of military hardware that the US does not want to pay to ship home. Pakistan is particularly interested in the US army’s MRAP vehicles, which the Pentagon officials say will have limited strategic value after the withdrawal of US forces.

NAVAL SYSTEMS New Anti-ship Missile from Lockheed Martin A US military research program to develop an advanced anti-ship missile to replace the ageing Harpoon is nearing the end of its demonstration phase and the programme to develop and deploy the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) should switch over to the US Navy by early 2016. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced plans to award a two-year $175 million follow-on contract to Lockheed Martin Corporation which has been developing LRASM for the last five years.

The DARPA LRASM contract is in response to a gap in Navy anti-ship missile technology identified AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE AEROSPACE NEWS

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 53 Lockheed Martin successfully launched the first LRASM Boosted Test Vehicle from a MK 41 VLS launcher at White Sands Missile Range

in 2008. The standard Navy anti-ship missile is the sub-sonic Harpoon which has been in the inventory since 1977. The new anti-ship missile is being designed to be launched from the Mk 41 Vertical Launch System on Navy surface warships, as well as from the US Air Force B-1B Lancer supersonic bomber and from the Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet carrier-based fighter-bomber. Submarine-launched versions are under consideration. Sea-faring Cargo Drones from Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce has floated a new shipping concept that could bring the world of international cargo into the modern age of sea-faring drones. What Rolls-Royce has proposed are massive, self- piloting cargo vessels capable of being driven remotely either individually or in groups. With the new ships on the water, a single captain could be responsible for dozens of 12,000-foot barges. Hundreds of these hulking drones could be piloted from a single control centre, with no risk of danger to their land-based captains. Rolls-Royce is not the only one to propagate this concept as the EU has recently committed $4.8 million for the study of unmanned maritime navigation. The study will conclude in 2015 and will report on how safe and reliable such a system might be. However, some groups have their reservations and have expressed concerns regarding the safety of drone cargo fleets. India-China Navies to Exercise Jointly At the end of the sixth Defence Dialogue held in New Delhi recently, a statement issued end February 2014 by the Chinese Ministry of Defence stated that China and India will organise a joint training for their navies apart from holding the fourth edition of joint military exercise this year. With improving relations, the two countries are exploring the possibility of having joint exercises between the air forces and the navies, besides the armies which have held three exercises so far and agreed to hold the fourth one in India this year. “The two armed forces agreed to strengthen their high- level strategic communication, continue defence cooperation, and push forward military ties to a new high,” said Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun.

The announcement regarding training jointly by thetwo navies however, came as a surprise for Indian officials who said that while the issue was discussed during the two-day meeting between Defence Secretary R.K Mathur and Deputy Chief of the People’s Liberation Army Wang Guanzhong, they were not aware of any understanding in this regard. AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE AEROSPACE NEWS

54 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 J-15 fighter on Liaoning aircraft carrier

China to Build Aircraft Carriers Indigenously As per a report in the South China Morning Post, the PLA Navy has begun work on the country’s second aircraft carrier and has plans to build a total of four. The PLAN unveiled its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning in 2011, having acquired the vessel from Ukraine over a decade ago and refurbished locally. In 2012, the Chinese successfully completed the first landing of a combat aircraft, a J-15, on the Liaoning.

China has since then incorporated the carrier into her overall military strategy. “If China had only one aircraft carrier, it would not conform to China’s status as a world power, or to the demands imposed by the length of the coastline. Considering China’s ocean environment, two aircraft carriers are not enough to safeguard marine interests. If China has three aircraft carriers, they can maintain a sustained combat capability - maintenance, safeguarding and patrol respectively,” Chinese military expert Du Wenlong told the Chinese state media arm, the People’s Daily. As per the US Naval Institute, a four-carrier navy would allow the Chinese to keep at least one carrier on patrol at all time. Japan’s Interest in Indo-US Naval War-games Japan is desirous of being a part of the joint naval exercise that India and the US hold every year. It is understood that on account of Chinese objections, Japan, a close ally of the US has so far been kept out of the joint exercise for six years. The US apparently does not have any objections over Tokyo’s participation in the war games and the two countries are awaiting approval from the Indian side. The Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera made it clear that the proposed tri- lateral Malabar-series exercise was not aimed against any specific country and was important for the security of sea lanes in the region.

Malabar-series exercises are held between India and the US but in 2007, Japan and Australia had also taken part in it outside the Indian Ocean near the coast of Okinawa in Japan. China was apparently not happy over the event and is understood to have sought explanation from the AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE AEROSPACE NEWS

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 55 Dornier Do 228 maritime surveillance aircraft Air Cushion Vehicles (Hovercraft)

participant countries about it. After objections by China, India decided against making the war- game multi-lateral and since then, it has been kept as a bilateral affair between the navies of India and the US. Assets with the Indian Coast Guard As per the plans made public recently, the Indian Coast Guard will possess an impressive fleet of 200 ships and 100 aircraft by 2020. “We have been and will continue inducting new ships, vessels and aircraft into our inventory,” Coast Guard Regional Commander (Northeast) and Inspector General K.C Pande told reporters during the concluding session of a coastal security awareness campaign. “We are steadily progressing in the right direction,” he said, adding that orders had been placed for more than 100 ships and aircraft. The current inventory has over 100 ships and boats, 14 Air Cushion Vehicles (ACVs) and over 60 aircraft including the Dornier Do 228 maritime surveillance aircraft. US Navy’s Triton UAS for Big-Time Surveillance Northrop Grumman and the US Navy have completed the ninth flight trial of the Triton Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), an improvement upon its predecessor in the Air Force, the Global Hawk. With its 130-foot wingspan equal to that of a Boeing 757 airliner, the Triton will provide high-altitude, real-time Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) from a sensor suite that supplies a 360-degree view at a radius of over 2,000 nautical miles, allowing monitoring from higher and farther away than any of its competitors. It will be able to support missions up to 24 hours.

Under an initial contract of $1.16 billion in 2008, the US Navy has ordered 68 of the MQ-4C Triton drones with expected delivery in 2017, as opposed to the initially anticipated date of December 2015. Thus far, Triton has completed flights up to 9.4 hours at altitudes of 50,000 feet.

Triton Unmanned Aircraft System AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE NEWS AEROSPACE

56 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 Nano-satellites

NUCLEAR AND SPACE Fighters to Launch Nano-satellites Large size rockets are overkill for small satellites and as such are not the preferred option as these turn out to be far too expensive. Several aerospace companies are now working on air-launch systems for satellite payloads that invariably of low weight and small size. Boeing is exploring concepts for something similar for very small satellites referred to as nano-satellites. The company is to modify an F-15 Eagle to hoist a rocket up to launch altitude. This program is called Airborne Launch Assist Space Access or ALASA for short. The concept has been around for a few years, but now Boeing has been selected to build an operational prototype launch system. The idea is that using an aircraft to launch the satellite will substantially increase the affordability and versatility of space access for small payloads, reducing launch costs to around $1 million for a 100-pound payload to low Earth orbit. Boeing is to design the system and conduct test launches within the next 11 months, Threat from Debris in Space As per the European Space Agency, debris in space emanating from man-made objects is about to reach levels such that future space missions could become impossible. Scientists believe that on account of the debris, swathes of space will become inaccessible. “If the current launch rate continues, then collisions will soon be 25 times higher than now. This would make space flight in low Earth orbits almost impossible,” ESA stated. “There are already 17,000 trackable objects larger than a coffee cup, which threaten working missions with catastrophic collision.”

When asked as to how long it will take for the debris to render space unusable, researchers say there are already certain orbits used for communication and military satellites that could become unusable within a decade or two. The worst affected are 800-965 km polar orbits because these already contain many of the 5,000 or so satellites launched since the space age began. To tackle the problem, the space agency is designing a hunter-killer space probe to track down and destroy defunct satellites and halt the growth of the burgeoning cloud. ESA said removing between five AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE AEROSPACE NEWS

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 57 MOM Joining of two Segments of PSLV-C25

and ten large satellites from space each year would be enough to stop the debris cloud growing. India’s Mars Mission India’s ambitious maiden inter-planetary voyage Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), launched in November last year, has covered over 21 million kilometres and is expected to reach the Red Planet’s orbit on September 24, 2014.

The MOM probe was travelling with a helio-centric velocity of 29 km per second and radio signals sent from ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) ground station near Bangalore takes 142 seconds to reach the spacecraft and return, ISRO said. “MOM team switched ‘ON’ and checked all the five scientific instruments onboard the MOM in February 2014. The health parameters of all these instruments are normal,” ISRO said. The agency has performed six orbit raising manoeuvres around the Earth following the launch of the mission on November 05 last year from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. If India succeeds in sending its mission to Mars’ orbit, it would become only the sixth in the world after the US, Russia, Europe, Japan and China to have achieved this feat. India, Russia Deal for Two KNPP Reactors India and Russia have held wide-ranging talks on nuclear, space, energy and economic cooperation and agreed to finalise the long-pending deal for the third and fourth reactors of Kudankulam power plant soon. Chairing the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission (IRIGC) meeting here, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin deliberated on a range of issues to further enhance cooperation in key areas. Sources said the progress made in Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) was assessed by both sides. It was hoped that by April-May, the nuclear power plant will achieve full capacity.

Russia is opposed to the project coming under the ambit of the Nuclear Civil Liability Law of India and wants it to be covered under the inter-governmental agreement on the issue. The first unit of KNPP started generating power from last year. India has tried to assuage Russian concerns AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE AEROSPACE NEWS

58 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 by making proposals on the liability limiting it to suppliers default in cases of equipment failure in the event of an accident. ISRO’s Mission to the Sun As per the Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), K Radhakrishnan, his organisation has lined up over a dozen missions, including its first probe on the Sun. Though the mission to probe the Sun was already on the cards, the agency now has a clear picture of its plan and has put a timeframe within which it hoped to undertake it. Nicknamed ‘Aditya’, the proposed mission to the Sun had been planned between 2017 and 2020. Apart from ‘Aditya’, space habitat studies were also being planned in these three years. Before that, ISRO would focus on ASTROSAT, a project aimed at design, development, fabrication and launch of an astronomical observatory for studies of cosmic sources and Chandrayaan II between 2014 and 2017. Growing Nuclear Arsenal of Pakistan Given the rapid increase of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, a former CIA analyst suspects the country has a commitment to provide a nuclear bomb to Saudi Arabia. “One of the great unknowns is whether they (Saudi Arabia) have already got a deal with the Pakistanis for a bomb. That is one of the mysteries of the contemporary Middle East and South Asia,” said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst who is currently with the Brookings Institute, an eminent American think-tank.

“Why does Pakistan have the fastest growing nuclear arsenal in the world? Why are they producing more bombs than the Indians by double or triple? Is there some external partner who they have a commitment to?” he asked at a panel discussion on Obama administration’s foreign policy organised by the Brookings Institute. Riedel said Saudi Arabia is deeply disappointed with President Artist’s impression of Aditya-1 Barack Obama. “In the beginning, they were very optimistic like everyone else about Obama. But the Saudis are disillusioned and this has been demonstrated in their refusal to take their seat in the UN Security Council.” India-US Civil Nuclear Deal The much-awaited India-US Energy Dialoguehas failed to push the stalled civil nuclear deal forward, even as the US urged India to align its nuclear liability law with the international convention on the issue. However, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, co- chairing the dialogue from the Indian side, said the hurdles to the successful implementation of the civil nuclear agreement had to be removed within the framework of existing laws.

Senior officials involved in the talks said that India’s nuclear liability law was based on the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage and, therefore, it had the option of not ratifying the international liability regime set come into effect later this year. A major difference between the international liability regime and India’s liability law is the issue of whether the plant operator is allowed legal recourse against a supplier; the Indian law allows this. Second, Indian law also allows the operator legal recourse if the supplier causes damage intentionally. AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE AEROSPACE NEWS

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 59 EMPLOYING SPECIAL FORCES A Response to Popular Fallacies Saikat Datta

In his article on ‘Special Operations Forces: Understanding the Dynamics of Change’ (refer IDR -DQ0DU·9RO %ULJDGLHU'HHSDN6LQKD 5HWG PDNHVDQH[FHOOHQWFDVHIRUVHWWLQJXSD XQLIRUPHG6SHFLDO2SHUDWLRQV&RPPDQG 62&20 :KLOHWKLVLVDQLGHDZKRVHWLPHKDVFRPH Brigadier Sinha’s article suffers from two major factual inaccuracies that lead to wrong conclusions. It is perhaps necessary to address those inaccuracies and also correct a few misconceptions that KDYHDJUHDWEHDULQJRQWKHIXWXUHDQGHIÀFDF\RI6SHFLDO)RUFHV 6) LQ,QGLD

N HIS ARTICLE ON ‘SPECIAL OPERATIONS Lebanon as reprisal attacks. Brigadier Sinha’s Forces: Understanding the Dynamics incorrect assumption also misses out on the Iof Change’ (refer IDR Jan-Mar ’14 Vol. role of SF at sea, which is also governed by the 29.1) Brigadier Deepak Sinha (Retd.) makes United Nations Convention on the Law of the an excellent case for setting up a uniformed Sea (UNCLOS) and poses a separate set of legal Special Operations Command (SOCOM). While and jurisdictional challenges. However, several this is an idea whose time has come, Brigadier nations such as South Korea, the US and the Sinha’s article suffers from two major factual UK have launched Special Operations from inaccuracies that lead to wrong conclusions. It is sea without seeking any tacit approval from the perhaps necessary to address those inaccuracies target nations. and also correct a few misconceptions that have Interestingly, Brigadier Sinha also argues that a great bearing on the future and efficacy of a distinction needs to be drawn between Special Special Forces (SF) in India. Operations and covert missions. According In his article Brigadier Sinha argues that the to him, “covert missions that require credible SF of various Western democracies such as the deniability and total non-attributability (sic) US and the UK are deployed, “with the tacit have been undertaken; the responsibility for their approval of the state” they are operating in. This conduct has rested with the national intelligence is, in fact, incorrect. It is only partly true the US agencies.” This again is an inaccurate assessment, and British SF have operated in some countries as the available literature on Special Forces and on a range of missions with the ‘tacit approval’ Special Operations clearly establishes. During of the target countries. But there is a large body the Cold War, British SAS troops would be of Special Operations conducted by the SFs of regularly inserted into East Germany for covert not only the US, but also of countries such as missions. These would be cleared by the Director, Israel and South Korea which are done without Special Forces and they would primarily be the tacit approval of the targeted/host country. inserted into East Germany for surveillance and reconnaissance missions that were primarily In the raid carried out by the Israeli SF, aimed at gathering intelligence or conducting the Sayeret Matkal on July 04, 1976, was not extraction missions of high value defectors. with any tacit approval of Uganda, the target This would be just some of the broad range of Saikat Datta is the nation which had housed Jewish hostages missions conducted by the SF and would remain National Security after a hijacked Air France fight was diverted deniable, if detected. In fact, it is interesting to Affairs Editor, The Hindustan Times and there. Similarly, the aftermath of the massacre note that an essential part of the SAS training is to co-author of the book, of Israeli Olympic participants in the Summer conduct evade and escape training capsules for India’s Special Forces - Olympics held in Munich, Germany in 1972 The History and Future their troops to ensure that their missions remain of India’s SF. led to a series of covert raids by Israeli SF in deniable even if they are captured. EMPLOYING SPECIAL FORCES EMPLOYING SPECIAL

60 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 The role that the US SF played in the Second OOAC operations. Troops need to be mobile Gulf War is also of great importance. They and easily deployable but are also required to be conducted key missions to hunt for Scud overwhelming in their response. This is a crucial missiles long before the war commenced. Under factor to achieve the aims of OOAC objectives. the command of General Stanley McChrystal, Imagine a scenario where a dedicated SOCOM is the US SF also undertook several covert missions burdened with managing such large operations as he sought to amalgamate the intelligence when their charter is to exactly the opposite. and Special Forces elements into a single, Perhaps a part of the demand to include OOAC dedicated task force. This was the hallmark of troops into a SOCOM stems from a historical the initial days of Operation Enduring Freedom blunder that has dominated India’s SF. In 1967, when US SF went into Afghanistan to establish when the first para-commando units were being partnerships with the Northern Alliance and formed, parachuting was considered a key skill set up air strikes. Once again, these were for these troops. Naturally, with scarce resources covert operations and completely deniable till at hand, the para-commandos were made a part hostilities began formally. Similarly, Israel has of the Parachute Regiment, which carried out a series of covert missions in its housed the facilities required It is high time that neighbourhood that were aimed to be deniable to impart these skills en masse. India’s Special and were only known once the success of the However, the nature of warfare Forces get the place missions became apparent. has undergone a dramatic change. As warfare becomes that they deserve… Therefore, to merely use the deniability factor more network-centric along with of a covert mission to draw a distinction between Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) and the Special Forces and other troops working emergence of state-sponsored terrorism, the under the command of national intelligence need for dedicated SF has emerged as a key agencies, is not only a fallacious argument, the and decisive factor in a nation’s Comprehensive conclusions drawn therefore, are also patently National Power (CNP) strategy. wrong. It is also to be noted that when covert operations require military intervention, or In 1987, the Brigadier Nico Bahri Committee intervention by military personnel, then it will with Colonel Sukhi Mann (later Brigadier) always be SF that are called upon to do so albeit and Colonel R.K Nanavatty (later Lt. General under a different command structure. The key to and Northern Army Commander) did the such missions is capability and efficacy, rather first comprehensive study of India’s SF and than the nature of the role or the command its capabilities. A key recommendation that structure. emerged out of the Committee was to establish a separate Special Forces Regiment, recognising The third argument that Brigadier Sinha puts the history of the US SOCOM and the British SF. forth is to add the conventional airborne troops to the proposed Special Operations Command. Here, it is important to note the final key If this were to happen, then India would be the factual error that the author bases his faulty first to make such a folly. Not only would this be assumptions on. He states that parachute and a mistake, it would also be a deliberate attempt airborne elements work in support of the SF to erase India’s recent military history. The during operations. This may be partially true but author rightly argues that airborne troops are such situations are extremely rare and go against meant primarily for Out Of Area Contingencies the nature of Special Operations. Intrinsically, (OOAC). But the OOAC needs conventional the SF undertakes missions that are covert structures to achieve their missions. When India and perhaps, remain deniable. To introduce intervened in the Maldives in Operation Cactus, conventional troops like paratroopers in aid of all conventional units were pressed into service. SF would, therefore, defeat the very need for These included large elements of the Indian Air covert capabilities, secrecy and deniability. Force (IAF) and the Indian Navy (IN). Second, it is important to note that by their very It is critical to understand the nature of nature, parachute regiments are conventional EMPLOYING SPECIAL FORCES EMPLOYING SPECIAL

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 61 troops with a different means of delivery. In as normal infantry in support of SF when short, they are no different from the mechanised required for a particular mission. On the whole, troops who use Armoured Personnel Carriers for they are also known to conduct their operations, mobility and tactics but are essentially infantry. depending on the requirements of the military This is a key element that commanders on ground. Finally, the British SAS When covert operations needs to be recognised has always maintained its separate identity as require military dispassionately and keeping a Regiment and its role has been separate from in view how militaries have the British airborne forces. No airborne forces intervention then it will developed across the world. report to the Director, Special Forces, UK and always be SF that are An attempt to re-invent in the US, the airborne troops do not report called upon to do so... the wheel in India, due to into SOCOM. reasons other than strategic, It is high time that India’s Special Forces get would be foolhardy and would defeat the very the place that they deserve, not only because purpose of having a SF capability. they need that, but more so because India’s It would also be factually incorrect to equate strategic aspirations and immediate needs the Rangers, who are a part of SOCOM, with require it. Delaying this any further will imperil India’s parachute battalions. The Rangers do not India’s capability to deal with a rapidly changing necessarily have parachuting skills and operate and challenging environment. EMPLOYING SPECIAL FORCES EMPLOYING SPECIAL

62 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 The Culture Baggage of Indian Military Philosophy Lt Gen SC Sardeshpande

The Gandhian philosophy of ahimsa has affected the Indian attitude towards war and use of force. Nehruvian distrust of India’s armed forces and military leadership has coloured the dispensation national defence and the armed forces get. Historical, intellectual, cultural and administrative neglect of the need for national defence cause deep concern. The people and their elected representatives have indifference to and inadequate knowledge of defence matters, their imperatives, demands and consequences. Bhutto said, “We will eat grass, but produce an atomic weapon”. This awareness and determination does not sink in our Indian thought. Indian attitude resonates to its cultural ethos – waiting for something to happen, somewhere, somehow, some time and somebody to take care, without designing things.

S A CIVILIZATION, OVER THE PAST Indians have never gone out of the national several thousand years, India has (natural) boundaries to resist intrusion or Abeen a nation of an inward-looking, undertake retaliation. Within the territorial self-satisfying, complacent people, happy with confines all our actions against the opponents God’s liberal largesse and enjoying his boon have been reactive, never proactive. And again, through muscle flexing and resorting to use within the nation there have been alliances, of force as a noble, glorious, seasonal sport friendships and helping hands among rulers among our own kings and clans. Proving one’s and dynasties (Chanakya’s teaching) but at superior strength and prowess, establishing national level there have been none. In fact, one’s fame and power, feeding one’s ego and many of our kings sought help from and primacy were all that went into war-waging invited outsiders to fight their and notional territorial expansion. These were battles. We learnt but little The USA has its coined into such grandiose expressions such from the waves after waves of as Chakradhipati and Samrat. Absence of a predominant inÀuence invaders and intruders, their sense of integrated nationhood in the sub- social solidarity, superior in a very large part of continent apart, the geographical confines methods of warfare, advanced the world through its of chains of mountains and expanses of sea, weaponry and organisational which created a carapace of natural protection, money and muscle… skills. We lost out to the resulted in a mental make-up of a delusional invader’s cavalry even as we so diligently world of one’s own, keeping away the thought, flaunted our elephantry. Why did we lose interest and venture of looking out, going out our cavalry spirit? Cavalry spirit is not merely of the carapace. Curiously though, trade and mounted excellence; it is aggressive spirit, commerce, religion and moral flow ventured out amply to the West, North and South-east mobile mind, flexible opportunism and riding benignly, unhindered, without any trace of the storm. Up to the twelfth century at least use of force. Military thought, conquest, use of in South India the horse as a mount in our force and even an offensive element of defence, temple sculptures is an exception; it is amply creation of buffer zones outside the territorial depicted as drawing chariot (chariotry) but confines (aggressive depth in defence?) and never as cavalry. The stirrup was absent till the such reactive - proactive thoughts and usage thirteenth century advent of the Khiljis. The have bypassed our history, thought and military same situation applies to paintings and a few heritage. historical writings of the period. THE CULTURE BAGGAGE OF INDIAN MILITARY PHILOSOPHY BAGGAGE OF INDIAN MILITARY THE CULTURE

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 63 Kings and countries expanded their territory, against foreign invaders. (They) have never secured them and entered into alliances to pursued military conquest outside the extended protect their lands and people. The British periphery of the subcontinent.” And Stephen brought Tibet, Burma, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan Cohen states, “India is uniquely unassertive and Iran under their influence to secure India towards others.” as the jewel in their crown. Post World War II, Awareness, ethos, philosophy and attitude the USSR grabbed Czechoslovakia, Hungary, find place in doctrine, approach and resolve. Poland, East Germany and Central Asian Our military doctrine (cold start) appears to Republics (though subsequently it lost them). tackle the superficial layer of the present and The Chinese have added Tibet, Sinkiang, parts not the deeper and more relevant issues of of Mongolia, Manchuria and our history, attitude, ethos and philosophy. now the East and South China The Chinese have In fact, we have apparently a wishful, if also a Sea islands. The USA has added Tibet, Sinkiang, transplanted philosophy of war, or use of force its predominant influence to put it in better words. parts of Mongolia, in a very large part of the Manchuria and now world through its money and War aims at deterring the opponent, the East and South muscle. India, on the other containing his depredation, and evicting hand, has lost Pakistan, Sri him from our soil. It needs wherewithal China Sea islands… Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, (armed forces, weaponry, warlike material), Bhutan, Tibet, Afghanistan infrastructure (for movement, quartering, and Myanmar. Today, tiny island nations such as stocking, maintenance and deployment) and Maldives, Seychelles and Mauritius are shooting determination and will to use the armed force away from it. to the hilt. Determination and will are the most important factors at each of the stages. And it is The Gandhian philosophy of ahimsa has history, attitude, philosophy and ethos which affected the Indian attitude towards war and help develop that will and determination. This use of force. Nehruvian distrust of India’s armed is where we stumble, the stumbling blocks being forces and military leadership has coloured the credibility and national military philosophy. dispensation national defence and the armed forces get. Historical, intellectual, cultural Today, after over six decades of freedom, and administrative neglect of the need for there is talk of raising a Strike Corps against national defence cause deep concern. The Chinese threat in Arunachal. China has, in people and their elected representatives have the process of deterring India, containing indifference to and inadequate knowledge of its defence efforts and throwing it out of defence matters, their imperatives, demands their territory (as they claim it), built up its and consequences. Bhutto said, “We will eat wherewithal, infrastructure and displayed grass, but produce an atomic weapon”. This beyond doubt, its will and determination to awareness and determination does not sink in use military force all along its border with our Indian thought. Indian attitude resonates India and in partnership with Pakistan. The to its cultural ethos - waiting for something to new (Communist) regime in China has shed happen, somewhere, somehow, some time and the erstwhile Chinese despondent, decaying somebody to take care, without designing things. shell and changed its-total stance attitude, and ethos into resurgent aggressive and ruthless In summary, we continue to be neglectful mood, challenging the whole world in justifying of national defence, armed forces and war and asserting its historical role as the Middle preparedness. Our historical, ethical, military Kingdom, the fulcrum of the world. Obviously experience has no awareness or precedent it is ready to pay a price. Determination to of crossing our borders, of counter offensive, assert itself and readiness to pay the price are proactive actions and aggressive intent, in its salient contents of its will. It is against such the context of defending our nation. Author an opponent that Indian response is pitched. Pawan Varma says, “Historically, Indians have a mediocre record of defending themselves Tardiness, uncertainty, indifferent THE CULTURE BAGGAGE OF INDIAN MILITARY PHILOSOPHY BAGGAGE OF INDIAN MILITARY THE CULTURE

64 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 determination and weak will are all contributors noble constitution, secularism, equality, did to the low credence of what the government away with blind faith, realised the implications causes media to report, as a serious student of of nationhood, banished (at least on paper) our defence matters sees them. Will this Strike casteism. In short, we chose a new life system, Corps prove to be a deterrent? When, in what a suiting thought system, a collateral politico manner, to what extent? Is the infrastructure social system. We have now to give up our ready to sustain the employment, deployment erstwhile neglectful attitude towards national and maintenance of such defensive and defence, change our philosophy of looking at offensive troop levels? How is the nearly two and practicing military necessities, develop new week acclimatisation period being tackled calls on our own sense of responsibility towards in terms of mobilisation time factor? Are national defence, come out of our self-imposed the troops going to be barracked in high restrictive defence shell, cultivate an effective altitude all the year round in order to reduce share of aggressive, assertive acclimatisation period? What is the financial determination and will towards Historically, Indians implication of such quartering arrangement? defending our lands and change have a mediocre Won’t building of infrastructure, including our military doctrines accordingly. the proposed Misamari-Tawang rail line Without nurturing ourselves, our record of defending (IMR, Nov. 2013) in the difficult and restrictive intellect and our attitude in that themselves against mountainous terrain give an indication of likely direction the raising of Strike foreign invaders… area of counter strike and help China to thwart Corps and employing it will be that or contain it? Is India’s science and technology much less credible and fruitful. There has to be geared up and competent to sustain troops at a radical change in our thinking, philosophy, such altitude? Where are the targets for hurting culture and tradition. National defence and the Chinese in the Tibetan wilderness? How use of force demand these changes, demand is the strike being supported and sustained suitably evolved doctrines, mindset, strategic, by a weak and weakening air force with its behavioural development and strong will. fleet depleting regularly? While hundreds of If we do not change and amend our past such questions raise their shaking heads, the mindset and adopt new thinking like the Prime Minister tells the Generals that there is Chinese have done long ago then the Strike likely to be a cut in defence expenditure! What Corps will at best act as a deterrent of sorts credibility is this to the tom-tommed Strike for some time, and will, in all likelihood, get Corps? Are we really serious about our defence involved in containing ingress like any defensive arrangements? component, with little scope for offensive In any case the projected plans indicate a employment. Raising and employing the Strike timeframe of two decades. By then the Chinese, Corps has little meaning if the Indian Air Force God forbid, may decide to occupy Tawang-Sela complement too does not add to its strength and sit tight there. Then what? As it is they are and develop an ability to inflict unacceptable not trying another Foot Hills sojourn. They will destruction on the opponent. only undertake border incursions, skirmishes And how is the Strike Corps going to contend and occupation of certain newsy features like with the repeated border skirmishes the Sino- Nathula, Tawang, Chushul, DBO, for instance. Pak partnership has established as a military Even as prickly will be places like Sumdorong, strategy, a seemingly new genre of war in the LumIa, Kibithoo, Barahoti, Demchok. So sub-continent? The glee and euphoria over the then, how is this offensive-defensive strategy Strike Corps drives us back into our cultural envisaged in the raising of the Mountain Strike heritage of self congratulating and feeling easy Corps going to function, in what time frame, and comfortable that we have done a great job with what objectives and tasks? to find the right answer to stymie the enemy. On August 15, 1947, India became a free The enemy is unlikely to be impressed. So is any nation; free not only from foreign masters but serious student of the conflict that is threatening also from many of its own chains. We chose a to engulf us. THE CULTURE BAGGAGE OF INDIAN MILITARY PHILOSOPHY BAGGAGE OF INDIAN MILITARY THE CULTURE

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 65 Employment of Helicopters in Counter Insurgency Roles Gp Capt B Menon

([SHUWVHVWLPDWHWKDWDERXWGLIIHUHQWLQVXUJHQFLHVDUHDFWLYHDURXQGWKHZRUOG0DOD\D)UHQFK Indochina, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, South Africa, Algeria, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, WKH&RQJR6\ULD/HEDQRQ,UDT/LE\DWKH%DONDQV;LQMLDQJ0\DQPDU3KLOLSSLQHV7KDLODQG DQG&KHFKQ\DKDYHDOOVHHQWKHXVHRIÀ[HGDQGURWDU\ZLQJDLUFUDIWLQRSHUDWLRQVDJDLQVW insurgents in the past. Usage was limited in most cases because of the shortage of helicopters in the inventories of most military and para military forces barring perhaps the US and the Soviets, and not because their unique capabilities were not apparent.

NSURGENCIES HAVE BEEN IN specifically, over the population of that area. existence since the beginning of history Once this is done, the insurgents become the Iand are as old as human conflict. They de facto state. This is achieved by subverting are, in essence, movements organised to the authority of the state by political and mass overthrow a constituted government through agitations, destroying the infrastructure and subversion and armed conflict. All available then blaming the state for the lack of it, using options including psychological, political and armed action to ‘liberate’ both the area and the religious are used to alienate the population population and then assume the full functions from the state. The degree of organisation and and powers of the failed state. Provoking the an established leadership cadre with a proper state to use excessive force which results in command hierarchy is what distinguishes damage and casualties to non combatants, is a insurgents from armed mobs. method effectively used by all insurgents.

At the start of all insurgencies, there has been Counter insurgency operations aim to a marked asymmetry of military power as well as degrade the military capabilities of insurgents resources, between the state and the insurgents. and either eliminate or win over their cadres In several cases, this asymmetry continued to with minimum destruction of infrastructure exist right up to the overthrow of the state with and loss of life in areas of operation. Military the functioning of the state being undermined action is extremely selective. Unfortunately from within. the training, ethos and equipment of regular Conventional Warfare and Counter military forces as well as the thought processes Insurgency of military commanders often run counter The aim of military forces engaged in a to these tenets with disastrous results. Use of conventional conflict is to destroy the military weaponry has to be decided upon not with their capabilities of the opponent or to gain control of effectiveness against opposing forces alone but territory, or both. Enemy forces, infrastructure, after considering the far reaching ramifications communication links, economic and industrial of their use against what are, more often than assets and even the leadership as well as non- not, one’s own people. combatants become targets. Maximum use This difference is why counter insurgency of available force is done to achieve a speedy operations differ from conventional military victory while minimising damage to own assets operations. The military aspect is possibly the and population. least important and is limited to facilitate the Group Captain B Menon, former fighter The aim of the insurgents is to dismantle other organs of the state to restore normalcy. In pilot, IAF the control of the state over an area and more conventional warfare, destruction of opposing EMPLOYMENT OF HELICOPTERS IN COUNTER INSURGENCY ROLES OF HELICOPTERS IN COUNTER INSURGENCY EMPLOYMENT

66 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 regular forces and boots on the ground in enemy and 1960s, reconnaissance and surveillance, territory result in military victory. Whether it will troop insertion and extraction, resupply and guarantee achievement of all the aims for which Casualty Evacuation (Casevac) and hot pursuit the war started, is another story. It is clear that of insurgents by heli-borne troops were the weaponry alone cannot prevail. At home, our main roles. A few air-to-ground strike missions experience in the border areas of Jammu and providing fire support to ground forces were Kashmir, in the North East and in our heartland also flown. All these were generally daytime are also pointers to this. operations due to the limited capabilities of History of Helicopters in helicopters at that time. Counter Insurgency Operations In Vietnam, about 12,000 helicopters were Experts estimate that about 80 different deployed in total and gave unprecedented insurgencies are active around the world. air mobility to the US and South Vietnamese Malaya, French Indochina, Kenya, Zimbabwe, military forces. Helicopters Indonesia, South Africa, Algeria, Vietnam, specially modified for the air- A recent development Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, the Congo, Syria, to-ground combat role began has been the use of Lebanon, Iraq, Libya, the Balkans, Xinjiang, to be used. Night operations Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Chechnya using helicopters became UAVs integrated with have all seen the use of fixed and rotary wing feasible. Losses were also huge, helicopters… aircraft in operations against insurgents in the amounting to over 5,000. It is past. Usage was limited in most cases because another matter that despite employment of the of the shortage of helicopters in the inventories most modern and complex weaponry, wrong of most military and para military forces barring strategic assessments resulted in defeat in the perhaps the US and the Soviets, and not because end, once again proving that strategy prevails their unique capabilities were not apparent. over tactics all the time.

In Malaya, Indo-China, Kenya, Zimbabwe, The Soviets inducted dedicated combat Indonesia South Africa and Algeria in the 1950s helicopters (Mi-24) into counter insurgency in EMPLOYMENT OF HELICOPTERS IN COUNTER INSURGENCY ROLES OF HELICOPTERS IN COUNTER INSURGENCY EMPLOYMENT

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 67 Afghanistan in 1980 and they proved to be the all insurgencies and bigger conflicts such most reliable form of fire support to ground as in Vietnam and Afghanistan. There is an forces in that difficult terrain. Operating with assessment that ready availability of helicopters the Mi-8 armed troop transport helicopter, in both Vietnam and Afghanistan, led to they provided vital mobility and firepower. The increase in impatience and aggressiveness in Afghan insurgents regarded the Mi-24 as their their use by military commanders in the counter biggest threat, a back-handed compliment to its insurgency environment which calls for time- lethality. This led to the US Central Intelligence consuming patience and avoidance of excessive Agency (CIA) supplying Stinger man-portable force. This is one aspect we have to be careful Surface to Air Missiles (SAMs) to the insurgents. about when using not only helicopters but Some reports indicate that after initial increase also other highly lethal weaponry in counter in losses to Stingers, their effectiveness against insurgency scenarios. helicopters, especially gunships, had waned. Usage Of Helicopters However defensive measures degraded weapon Helicopters have important roles in counter delivery accuracies and insurgency operations in areas of intelligence Indian Air Force increased collateral acquisition, surveillance and reconnaissance, commanders have damage, further alienating Casevac, logistics resupply, transportation the population. Overall, the opposed using offensive of combatants and non combatants, troop attack helicopter proved to induction and extraction and in air-to-ground air power against our be very effective in counter strike plus psychological operations such as own people… insurgency operations in voice and radio broadcasts and leaflet dropping. Afghanistan. Helicopter It is safe to assume that local insurgents will losses between 1979 and 1989 were close to not have sophisticated air defence with early 350, more than half of which were before the warning and acquisition radars, SAMs other advent of the Stingers. One option available than a few man portable systems and air assets. to insurgents is to neutralise this threat by ground attacks on the helicopter bases. This Advantages has been tried with some success in almost The ability to operate from unprepared EMPLOYMENT OF HELICOPTERS IN COUNTER INSURGENCY ROLES OF HELICOPTERS IN COUNTER INSURGENCY EMPLOYMENT

68 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 surfaces without being dependent on sizable loiter times when compared to helicopters. They infrastructure such as runways is unique can even be controlled from helicopters directly to rotary wing aircraft. This enables them or with the helicopter providing a data link to to be located close to areas of interest and extend the range of the ground station. They reduces reaction time despite having slower can free up scarce helicopter assets by taking speeds. Helicopters have the ability to fly slow over the above roles. They are also lethal in air- and low and to hover during surveillance, to-ground strike roles as insurgents in a lot of reconnaissance, psychological operations and countries are discovering. for re-supply, troop induction and extraction, Disadvantages Casevac and for accurate delivery of firepower By their very nature, helicopters are complex especially when using unguided munitions. and aerodynamically unstable platforms as Hover capabilities permit trained troops to exit compared to fixed wing aircraft. Their ability to by rappelling, eliminating the danger of land tackle extreme conditions mines in Landing Zones being triggered by the of weather is generally Effective command and weight of the helicopter resting on the ground. less than that of fixed wing control plus coordination The ability to loiter for extended periods of aircraft. Performance are aspects that are at time over areas of interest is an advantage over degradation with altitude fast jet fixed wing aircraft. Helicopters have the (especially in the high and times de¿cient in our option to provide air mobility to ground forces hot conditions prevalent joint operations… to a degree unmatched by fixed wing aircraft. in the mountains) is more A recent development has been the use of rapid than with fixed wing aircraft. Speeds Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) integrated and altitudes are lower than that of fixed wing with helicopters. The former are ideally suited aircraft, putting them at risk against ground for reconnaissance, surveillance and for real fire to a greater degree. Lower speeds result in time data collection because of their longer increased response times unless they are based endurance, generally higher speeds and greater close to areas of operations. This increases the EMPLOYMENT OF HELICOPTERS IN COUNTER INSURGENCY ROLES OF HELICOPTERS IN COUNTER INSURGENCY EMPLOYMENT

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 69 vulnerability of bases to attack by ground forces in an offensive role in the North East briefly especially in counter insurgency scenarios in the early 1960s and extensively in logistics where forces are operating deep in areas where support roles from then onwards. Indian forces the control of the state is tenuous. Because of used both Mi-8 transport and Mi-25 attack their very design, rotors and power transmission helicopters in counter insurgency operations in systems are exposed and extremely vulnerable Sri Lanka and in support of UN ‘peacekeeping’ to damage from light and medium automatic missions in Africa. weapons. Unlike fixed wing aircraft, such As of now, we have been using very limited damage is often catastrophic. Although their numbers of medium transport helicopters in ability to land vertically and hover are assets, the support, reconnaissance, surveillance, air they are extremely vulnerable during these mobility and Casevac roles. Numbers are few, phases. Due to limitations in for example 12,000 ground para military forces In an ideal world, we weight carrying capability, being supported by just eight IAF helicopters would have state-of- fitting heavy armour on aircraft in Central India. The decision to increase the in general and helicopters the-art helicopters numbers to 14 is touted as a great effort! These in particular is usually not have been augmented by UAVs for surveillance and Precision Guided a workable idea. Providing and reconnaissance. The sensor packages in Munitions in huge protection against small calibre the UAVs are reportedly having difficulties automatic weapons up to 23mm numbers… in picking up insurgents under forest cover. for crew members, fuel tanks Although real time data generation is possible, and some critical areas has been done in certain the complaint is that the data reaches the types, especially gunships. Simple weapons ground para military commander late. We have like Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) with a habit of degrading our capabilities, inhouse shaped charge warheads have proved to be itself because of turf wars! lethal even against armoured gunships like the Mi 25/35. These weapons are readily available IAF helicopters are armed for retaliatory to even poorly equipped insurgents. Existing fire with light automatic weapons only. Indian armour on gunships does not provide sufficient Air Force commanders have opposed using protection. As of now evading them is the only offensive air power against our own people. effective defence if helicopters have to operate We had done that with fixed wing fighters in within their lethal envelopes. However due to the mid 1960s in the North East and like almost short ranges, time available to evade is limited. all countries realised that except in very high Such a crude use-and-throw weapon operated intensity operations bordering on civil war or by someone with very little training but high full armed conflict, such options are counter- on motivation can neutralise a sophisticated productive. The call for use of helicopters system. Medium calibre machine guns are also in fire support roles is possibly born out of a serious threat. political desperation to try anything and without appreciating the limitations and dangers of Vulnerabilities to ground weapons have offensive use of air power in counter insurgency forced helicopters to fly higher outside the operations. kill envelopes of these weapons or to operate by night when the ground defenders have Insurgents will love to destroy an IAF problems of target acquisition. Both these helicopter and capture the crew not because it tactics degrade weapons delivery accuracy significantly degrades the capabilities of one of especially when using unguided weapons. This the largest air forces in the world (which it does brings up the problem of collateral damage not), but because it acts as a morale booster which may be acceptable to some extent in an for their cadres and a propaganda tool for their all out war, but is totally counter-productive in perceived fight against ‘an oppressive state’. It counter insurgency situations. also helps in attracting recruits and garnering The Indian Scenario both national and international sympathy. In the past we have used fixed wing aircraft An area of contention between the IAF and EMPLOYMENT OF HELICOPTERS IN COUNTER INSURGENCY ROLES OF HELICOPTERS IN COUNTER INSURGENCY EMPLOYMENT

70 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 para military forces has been the sanitising r
Lack of heli-lift and real time surveillance and securing of drop zones for helicopters. The availability has been a reason for troops former wants neutralisation of insurgents in the getting trapped in insurgent ambushes. area whereas the latter contends that the need For Special Operations such as targeting to induct ground forces into hostile areas is r
the leadership elements, specially because the areas have insurgent activity in the equipped helicopters and Special Forces first place. A ground force which finds it difficult from military assets could be used. to clear road lines of communication along a five-metre wide road for, say, ten kilometres r
Better helicopter or UAV mounted sensors because almost all the ambushes have been with all weather capabilities are needed of security forces moving along roads because to fully exploit these sensor capabilities they lack the mobility, terrain knowledge and at and these missions could be done by Air times the infantry skills to move cross-country Force assets. unlike the insurgents – can find it difficult to say Increased numbers of less sophisticated the least to sanitise areas of around two by two r
medium altitude UAVs for routine kilometres surrounding a helicopter Landing reconnaissance and surveillance. These Zone. Saturating the area with suppressive fire will free up more helicopter assets for from the air as is done in war zones leads to other tasks. collateral damage and further alienation. Some helicopters for Communications, Beset with all these constraints of low r
UAV control and command post roles. intensity insurgency operations, the best use of These could be standard cargo helicopters helicopters in our context of relatively low and communication kits. medium intensity insurgencies is as follows: We should increase helicopter assets in r
Enhancing mobility of ground forces by support roles rather than go overboard and reducing their dependence on road links. use gunship firepower as r
Logistics re-supply. a substitute for boots on The history of the ground in the present Reconnaissance and surveillance to insurgencies shows that r
state of insurgency. If monitor areas of interest on a real time insurgency is allowed to military domination alone basis. This is where UAV integration works. escalate into a civil war like cannot win this war… r
Provide airborne command and conflict, the very survival communication links based on of the state will dictate the use of all available helicopters. However the idea of ground resources without constraints. We would then forces at platoon levels being controlled have already lost the counter insurgency war. from the air by the brass sitting in the Effective command and control plus relative safety of helicopters proved coordination are aspects that are at times disastrous in Vietnam and we need not deficient in our joint operations, both military re-invent the wheel. and civil. Specialised training and area r
Timely Casevac. This is a potent morale familiarisation of crew and troops is required booster also. to fully exploit the potential of helicopters. Commanders with a pure law and order These roles require the following measures: maintenance background and no concept of r
A substantial increase in numbers of counter insurgency and ignorant of application troop transport and cargo helicopters of air power cannot be successful in conducting with simple and not sophisticated night counter insurgency operations involving operations capability. elements of air power. r
Troops need training in helicopter Using helicopters crewed by pilots who are operations. not trained in operating in militarily hostile EMPLOYMENT OF HELICOPTERS IN COUNTER INSURGENCY ROLES OF HELICOPTERS IN COUNTER INSURGENCY EMPLOYMENT

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 71 environments risks lives and mission success. resources. Raising the numbers of helicopters Involvement of the military in internal security from eight to 14 is at best a token gesture. In duties itself is an admission of failure of the an ideal world, we would have state–of-the-art state apparatus but has become commonplace helicopters and Precision Guided Munitions now. Equipment constraints with an ageing in huge numbers. In such an ideal world, we helicopter fleet and replacements mired in would not have neglected the root causes of controversies means that the services will not insurgencies and allowed them to fester for willingly allocate scarce assets for counter decades to start with! insurgency. Past record has proved that only ground Laying down priorities is imperative in our forces operating with restraint can overcome case. The dangers posed by insurgency have insurgency. All other weapons systems can at to be weighed against the military threat from best support these troops and not supplant hostile neighbors, some of them involved in them. The history of insurgencies shows that supporting the insurgencies themselves. This military domination alone cannot win this war. has to be done at the highest political levels There is truth in the axiom that ‘those who forget and thereafter decisions taken on allocation of history are condemned to repeat it’. EMPLOYMENT OF HELICOPTERS IN COUNTER INSURGENCY ROLES OF HELICOPTERS IN COUNTER INSURGENCY EMPLOYMENT

72 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 FORCE PROJECTION AND RAPID DEPLOYMENT FORCES Need for Reassessment

Brig Deepak Sinha

As India’s regional and global aspirations grow with its increasing economic clout, it will be forced to build up its capacity to project power in its national interest to ensure that the region is not destabilised by outside elements that may be inimical to it. The establishment of an effective and responsive RDF towards this end is inescapable. To be able to do so requires that India take a long hard look at its requirements and reassess its capabilities. It needs to quickly put in place structures that will ensure that its RDF is able to provide what is required of it so that in the words of Rahul Gandhi, “We stop being scared about how the world will impact us, and we step out and worry about how we will impact the world.”1

LL SKILLED PROFESSIONALS, BE As Dr. Ladlow puts it, “Military power projection they cardiac surgeons, car mechanics has been divided into nine different aspects Aor carpenters, always have their own based on the political goals being sought and personalised tool kits from which they can the level of force employed. Four of these choose the appropriate instrument with which relate to the employment of ‘soft’ military to successfully complete their task. Similarly, power (securing sea lanes of communication, “our national security system is the toolbox with non-combatant evacuation operations, which we navigate through an ever-changing humanitarian relief and peacekeeping), and international environment: It turns our overall five are primarily concerned with “hard” capabilities into active assets, protects us military power (showing the flag, compellence/ against the threats of an anarchic international deterrence, punishment, armed intervention, system and makes it possible to exploit its and conquest).”4 2 opportunities.” From within this toolbox, RDF Capabilities and Tasking nation states aspiring to be regarded as regional While it would appear to be a no brainer or global powers, fully understand the necessity that RDF capability required to meet the hard for an effective strategic force projection military power options would be established capability in time critical contingencies. This based on the logical and reasonable view that will provide them the requisite muscle when such a capability needs to be developed based other diplomatic initiatives aimed at protecting on what would be considered to be the nation’s national interests are not as effective as they area of interest, the contingencies that it may need to be. This inescapable and essential be required to tackle and the threat perception requirement is best met by a suitably organised that would need to be neutralised. However, and capable Rapid Deployment Forces (RDF). invariably, this is not the case and such a So what exactly does force projection imply? capability tends to be established based on The US Department of Defense defines power legacy structures and assets already available Brig Deepak Sinha is a second generation projection as being, “the ability of a nation to with some minor alterations or some additional para trooper and apply all or some of its elements of national capabilities being incorporated. This results in author of “Beyond power - political, economic, informational, or two major flaws with consequences that are the Bayonet: Indian Special Operations military - to rapidly and effectively deploy and fairly easy to visualise. Firstly, it implies that Forces in the 21st sustain forces in and from multiple dispersed we have a force that is looking for a mission Century.” He is currently a consultant locations to respond to crises, to contribute to that it can accomplish and not the other way with the Observer deterrence, and to enhance regional stability.”3 around which means there will be situations Research Foundation. FORCE PROJECTION AND RAPID DEPLOYMENT FORCES AND RAPID DEPLOYMENT FORCE PROJECTION

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 73 in which intervention is not a viable option and provide a firm base for follow-up forces because the capability available cannot meet and logistic echelons. In addition they may the requirement. Secondly, RDF tasking tends also be required to provide asset protection to be treated not as the primary responsibility or recovery and undertake direct action but as just another contingency that may arise missions to neutralise elements inimical to our resulting in the existing command and control national interest. These forces are limited by the hierarchy being neither attuned nor flexible quantum and type of equipment and personnel enough to be able to respond as required. and logistics that they can carry or be supplied Unfortunately, this is the case in our context as with based on available air assets, the prevailing well and needs corrective action at the earliest. air defence environment and the ground tactical situation. All these factors including distance Before focusing on our RDF requirements, of the target area directly impact their mission available capabilities and actions that require profile and threat neutralisation capabilities. to be initiated to make them an effective tool The heavier follow on forces are based on of national security it would be worthwhile infantry and supporting arms and services to understand how the RDF is organised and units suitably modified, equipped and trained tasked. These forces are for either employment in the amphibious role Our ability to inÀuence not homogeneous units or for air movement. These are normally based but a Task Force consisting events within the Indian on a standard Infantry or Mechanised Division of a variety of specialised Ocean littoral region or Brigade group. units with specific should be considered operational capabilities and In 1990, for example, after the invasion of satisfactory… mission profiles that are Kuwait by Iraq, rapid deployment by the US complementary and are to Saudi Arabia was carried out sequentially utilised in a variety of combinations depending with the first troops to arrive being a Brigade of on the strategic and tactical requirement. Their the 82nd Airborne which got there in less than synchronised and synergistic operational three days after the decision to go was made. employment is aimed at ensuring successful Within a week, the combat elements of a full mission termination. Primarily, these forces division were on the ground, complete with consist of units that act as ‘tripwire’ elements air-landed light armor. In three weeks, combat- capable of immediate response to developing loaded M1 tanks of the Army’s 24th Mechanised situations within a nation’s area of interest. Division began rolling out of fast sea-lift ships These are followed by ‘heavier forces’ that are at Dhahran. And in two months the entire XVIII transported into a safe zone within the area of Airborne Corps, to include an airborne, an air interest by air, sea or surface transport where assault and a mechanised infantry division, they reorganise themselves for deployment as plus Corps troops and a Special Forces group, required. There may, however, be situations were on the ground.5 Whether the US capability where they may be required to establish continues to be maintained is a moot point as themselves against opposition to be able there have been some public pronouncements to proceed with their mission. It is for one in recent months that go on to suggest that contingency within such a scenario that there some of this transportation capacity, especially is a necessity to have amphibious capabilities in terms of Fast Sea Lift ships, had been greatly as well. degraded.

The tripwire elements tend to be lightly RDF in the Indian Context equipped airborne units capable of speedy What then should be our consideration mobilisation and deployment at the target area with regard to the RDF capabilities we need within a matter of hours. As first responders, to maintain? We do need to keep in mind that their primary mission is to provide boots that a substantial portion of our trade, especially can stabilise the developing situation on the energy requirements, are wholly dependent ground, real time accurate intelligence and on Sea Lines of Communication (SLOC) and assessment of the prevailing ground situation our core business interests along with Indian FORCE PROJECTION AND RAPID DEPLOYMENT FORCES AND RAPID DEPLOYMENT FORCE PROJECTION

74 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 communities have been rapidly growing As regards the ‘heavy element’ of the RDF, the globally. Ideally, our areas of interest and option exists to have a suitably tailored infantry areas of influence should coincide which division along with utility and helicopter assets would require us to effectively intervene nominated and trained for the role. Another wherever our national interests are at stake. option could be to have one armour heavy This however, is impractical, given our military, independent Mechanised Brigade and one economic and developmental constraints as independent Infantry Brigade group organised also our influence on the global stage. Thus, and trained for an amphibious role nominated in practical terms, our ability to influence as a part of the RDF. The latter option would events within the Indian Ocean littoral region require maintenance of a permanent tri-services and our immediate neighbourhood should be controlling headquarters that could assume considered satisfactory. In addition, the ability control over an expeditionary force, if required. to work as a part of a Multi-national Force, Our Sri Lanka experience whether under UN flag or otherwise, also needs during OP Pawan does It is likely that economic to be maintained to meet contingencies such as clearly point to such a strength, rather than providing support to Indian Peacekeepers as requirement. In addition, was required in Sierra Leone during OP Khukri. this force must also be able military prowess, will For example, keeping in view the forthcoming to support own operations be the real measure of withdrawal of the US and NATO forces from in other contingencies state power… Afghanistan, contingencies that may require in conventional war and intervention within the Central Asian Region disaster management contingencies in any in conjunction with other affected states in the sector within the country including the island area needs to be given serious consideration territories. This could also include internal and capacities developed accordingly. stabilisation operations. In view of their being required to operate in high altitude areas there Thus, in our context, we need to ensure will be a requirement for some elements to be that we have air assets capable of covering pre- located in high altitude areas to ensure approximately 4,000 km with standard payloads that they are fully acclimatised for operations without refueling, apart from being capable of at short notice. carrying out mid-air refueling. With regard to the Airborne Task Force (ABTF), keeping in view In terms of availability of assets, especially likely tasks and expected threats a mechanised within the IAF and the IN it is fortuitous that and anti-tank heavy parachute battalion group earlier perspective plans have ensured that with its standard components of artillery, required air assets to be able to drop two combat engineers, communications, air ABTFs simultaneously is presently available defence and logistic elements would meet the or will be so by end of 2014 with the induction requirement. In addition inclusion of a Special of additional C130s and C-17s. The ability of Forces Team will further enhance flexibility. This the IN to move up to one infantry Brigade with air assault element must be based on the new a regiment worth of armour for amphibious generation of recently acquired air assets, the operations has been in place for some time and C-17s and the C-130s. In some scenarios, this is likely to be enhanced within the decade with force will not have the ability to sustain itself and the induction of additional indigenous Landing hold the firm base it establishes, in all likelihood Platform Docks (LPD)6 and Landing Ship an airfield, for longer than 12 to 18 hours. The Tanks (LST)7. As regards the army capability ability to launch a follow up ABTF along with while amphibious and airborne capability a Brigade level controlling headquarter within are already in place there is an urgent need 12 hours thus becomes essential. This implies to reassess the organisational and equipment that keeping in view routine administrative and profile of these units. For example, in respect training commitments an airborne Brigade of of the Parachute Brigade, there is an urgent three battalions along with one Special Forces need for a Path Finder and Intelligence and battalion must form part of the RDF. Surveillance component being added. The FORCE PROJECTION AND RAPID DEPLOYMENT FORCES AND RAPID DEPLOYMENT FORCE PROJECTION

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 75 parachute battalions need to shed the BMPs and directly impact the stability of the region. A replace them with wheeled All-Terrain Vehicles rising and more nationalistic China, growing (ATV) such as Land Rovers which should be Islamic fundamentalism along with the gradual able to mount the next generation of Anti-Tank shift in economic power to the Asia-Pacific Guided Missiles, 0.50 Calibre Heavy Machine region only add to the problems that policy Guns and Air Defence Launchers. The artillery planners in the region need to deal with. While needs 105mm or 155mm Light Guns while it is likely that economic strength, rather than the engineer component military prowess, will be the real measure The most urgent and also requires an additional of state power, especially in the increasingly important issue that increment to be able to get integrated world that we live in, military force occupied airfields functional. will undoubtedly continue to play an important needs to be faced role in ensuring nations are able to maintain an would be with regard to However, the most urgent autonomous foreign policy. and important issue that over-all command and needs to be faced would As India’s regional and global aspirations control structures… be with regard to over-all grow with its increasing economic clout, it will command and control be forced to build up its capacity to project structures. To ensure a responsive and effective power in its national interest to ensure that the region is not destabilised by outside elements deployment there is little choice but to adopt that may be inimical to it. The establishment one of the controlling options suggested earlier. of an effective and responsive RDF towards Ideally, the RDF should function either under this end is inescapable. To be able to do so the special Operations Command that is likely requires that India take a long hard look at its to be established at some future date or function requirements and reassess its capabilities. It directly under the Chief of Defence Staff as and needs to quickly put in place structures that when established. will ensure that its RDF is able to provide what Conclusion is required of it so that in the words of Rahul We live in extremely difficult and testing Gandhi, “We stop being scared about how the times. Our neighbourhood confronts some of world will impact us, and we step out and worry the most challenging and complex issues that about how we will impact the world.”8

Notes 1 Op Cit; Walter C Ladwig III. become a Conventional Great Power? Asian Survey Vol 50 Issue 6, Nov 2010 ;pp 1162-1182 2 Bliddal, Henrik; Reforming Military Command Arrangements: The Case of the Rapid 5 Robert Killebrew; Deployment: The Army Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force; http://www. and American Strategy: An Analysis; December StrategicStudiesInstitute.army.mil/; 2011 9, 2013 3 US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Joint Publication 1–02: 6 Defense News, 12 Dec 2013; http://www. Department of Defense Dictionary of Military defensenews.com/article/20131212/ and Associated Terms (Washington, D.C.: U.S. DEFREG03/312120012/India-Construct-4-LPDs Government Printing Office, 2009), Capability, May 2009; http://www.warfaresims. 4 WALTER C. LADWIG III; India and Military com/p=647 Power Projection: Will the Land of Gandhi 8 Op Cit; Walter C Ladwig III. FORCE PROJECTION AND RAPID DEPLOYMENT FORCES AND RAPID DEPLOYMENT FORCE PROJECTION

76 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 Tiered Border Defence Against China Special Correspondent

2QEDODQFHWKHSURVSHFWVRI6LQR,QGLDQFRQÁLFWUHPDLQ:KDWDSSHDUVFHUWDLQLVWKDW&KLQD·V DJJUHVVLYHVWDQFHDQGWKHLQLWLDWLRQRIFRQÁLFWZLOOEHDLPHGDWXQGHUPLQLQJ,QGLD·VVWDWXVDV a regional power. If India fails to respond adequately, she will be projected as a ‘Soft State’ susceptible to coercion. Simultaneously, the Chinese aim would be to keep India embroiled in ÀJKWLQJLQWHUQDOUHJLRQDOFRQÁLFWV,QGRLQJVR&KLQDPD\EHH[SHFWHGWRYLUWXDOO\DEURJDWH DQ\DJUHHPHQWVVXFKDV%RUGHU3HDFHDQG7UDQTXLOLW\$JUHHPHQWDQG&RQÀGHQFH%XLOGLQJ 0HDVXUHVDQG%'&$OHDGLQJWRLQFUHPHQWDOEXLOGXSDQGFRQÁLFW

DECADE AGO THE US DEPARTMENT of the Army. This facilitates smuggling of of Defense (DoD) and the global narcotics, fake currency, goods and even illegal Astrategic community had warned immigration with indicators that some of these that China would begin flexing muscles 2010 activities are institutionalised. Chinese goods onwards and that India should settle the border are being smuggled into India also through disputes with China before this; but little the India-Myanmar border. Not only is the was done to even plug gaps in our defences. ULFA hierarchy located at Ruli on Chinese soil Improvement of border infrastructure has not but China is also pumping in weapons and really taken off despite colossal Chinese military communication equipment through the Kachen upgrades in the Tibet Autonomous Region rebels in Myanmar to the PLA in Manipur and (TAR) including nuclear missile deployments onwards to the Maoists in India. Deployment and massive exercises by the People’s Liberation of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in Army Air Force (PLAAF) and Chinese Airborne sensitive areas of Ladakh without placing Corps in proximity to the Line of Actual Control them under the command of the local Army (LAC). Chinese aggression has been on the rise, formation is a folly that has been capitalised by nibbling away at Indian territory consistently. the Chinese who have made deep intrusions The gap between the capabilities of the PLA and without qualms. the Indian military has been widening. There is Border Infrastructure a need to take stock and rapidly institute a tiered Despite the Border Road Organisation border defence against China to safeguard our (BRO) being directly under the MoD, border territorial integrity and meet the challenges of infrastructure has been severely neglected. In the mounting threat. February 2014, NDTV reported that out of the Current Scenario: Border 26 border roads sanctioned in recent years, only Defence one has been completed. China, on the other With unity of command having been hand, has developed excellent infrastructure compromised, our border defence has been that permits quick mobilisation and vehicular woefully inadequate. Reportedly, some 400 movement. This includes construction of a sq.km. of territory has been lost in Ladakh over ten-kilometre road in Pangong Tso area. In and above the Aksai Chin. Responsibility of 1970, at Nathu La, the Chinese could ply a five- border defence is divided between the Ministry tonne vehicle vis-à-vis a one-tonne vehicle of of Defence (MoD) and the Ministry of Home ours. Today, over four decades later, the status Affairs (MHA), with the Central Armed Police remains the same. Lack of development of Force (CAPF) deployed in sensitive areas border infrastructure on the Indian side is the without placing them under the command main reason why the Chinese could intrude TIERED BORDER DEFENCE AGAINST CHINA AGAINST TIERED BORDER DEFENCE

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 77 freely and our security forces are unable to react Myanmar tri-juncture area; China is also effectively and in time. staking claims to the Tatu Bowl, loss of which Intrusions would enable the Chinese to easily roll down the plains. POK is already a strategic objective Similar is the story with our poor response to of China that provides her access to the warm Chinese intrusions. Criticism and shame had to waters of the Indian Ocean, to Afghanistan and be faced in wake of deep intrusions such as the the CARs. one at Raki Nala in Depsang during April 2013 when even the MEA admitted that the intrusion Prospects of Conflict was five to seven kilometres beyond the line of Much has been talked of about the possibilities Chinese claim. It is a wonder how a 1.2 million of future Sino-Indian conflict from the Chinese strong army could permit 20 Chinese soldiers gameplan to place India in the vice-like grip of to sit 19 km deep inside Indian territory for 25 a python to gobble up what the former wants, days. Ironically, Chinese troops had reportedly active defence to short swift offensive even intruded into the same area on earlier occasions using tactical nuclear weapons to force India albeit this time the media got wise. to surrender territory, acupuncture warfare and the like. China’s ‘active defence’ doctrine Such intrusions have been occurring at is a transformation from Mao’s large scale many places along the LAC despite the 1993 people’s land-centric war to high intensity, short India-China Agreement on Maintenance of duration localised war under informationised Peace and Tranquility Along conditions. In this context, the chances of the Line of Actual Control in China’s focus in the conflict remain. Indian Ocean Region the India-China Border Areas, Agreement on Confidence Despite the progressing economic relations, (IOR) remains a Building Measures in the China’s focus in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) cause for concern… Military Field Along the Line remains a cause for concern. China has been of Actual Control in the India- making every possible effort to find her way China Border Areas, 2005 Protocol on Modalities to the Indian Ocean through Myanmar and for the Implementation of Confidence Building Pakistan along the land routes. Her strategic Measures in the Military Field Along the Line interests clash with the US and her allies in the of Actual Control in India-China Border Areas, Asia-Pacific; China desperately needs another and the 2012 Agreement on Establishment of oceanic front and a strong India is hardly to a Working Mechanism for Consultation and her liking. Besides, for Chinese Carrier Battle Coordination on India-China Border Affairs. Groups (CBGs) to operate effectively in the IOR, China needs land-based air and missile Now, even after signing the China-drafted support. This is one reason why China is Border Defence Cooperation Agreement deploying missiles in the Gilgit-Baltistan area of (BDCA) in 2013, the Chinese intruded into Pakistan and developing or planning to develop Depsang and Chumar on December 19 and ports in countries such as Myanmar, Thailand, 20. Then, in the first week of January 2014, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Maldives, Sri Lanka and intrusions took place in the Takdip area where Seychelles in the IOR. incursions had been spotted in December 2013 as well. Now, China has proposed a Code Not only has China colluded with Pakistan of Conduct to be introduced along the border. on a conventional and nuclear front but also in Obviously China wants to play at signing the sub-conventional field by waging a collusive agreement after agreement without changing asymmetric war against India including through her aggressive stance. Chinese occupation of irregular forces and proxies. With China’s the Depsang plains in conjunction with her aggression on the rise, the collusive China- presence in Gilgit-Baltisatn would threaten Pakistan threat has multiplied exponentially India’s deployments in Siachen and sever the with both countries following a policy of approach to Karakoram Pass. India has also ambiguity, denial and deceit, what with repeated lost substantial territory in the India-China- Chinese intrusions, claim to entire Arunachal TIERED BORDER DEFENCE AGAINST CHINA AGAINST TIERED BORDER DEFENCE

78 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 Pradesh as “South Tibet” and now demanding What we should be ready for is the opening of a Code of Conduct for forward troops, indicating multiple fronts as it has occurred before. Land- the futility of the recently signed Border Defence based enveloping actions of yesteryears will Cooperation Agreement (BDCA). be replaced by vertical envelopment through helicopter-based RRF. Physical activation of the On balance, the prospects of Sino-Indian LAC will be preceded by full spectrum satellite conflict remain. What appears certain is that surveillance, cyber attacks on the military, non- China’s aggressive stance and the initiation of military networks and critical infrastructure, conflict will be aimed at undermining India’s laser and plasma attacks. Conflict may be status as a regional power. If India fails to respond simultaneous at the operational, strategic and adequately, she will be projected as a ‘Soft State’ tactical levels that maybe intense but short with susceptible to coercion. Simultaneously, the the use of PGMs to maximum effect. Chinese aim would be to keep India embroiled in fighting internal/regional conflicts. In Defence Against China doing so, China maybe expected to virtually To advocate a tiered defence against China is abrogate any agreements such as Border Peace no surprise as tiered defence is probably most and Tranquility Agreement and Confidence effective against anything. In World War I, even Building Measures and BDCA leading to the Maginot Line had obstacles incremental build up and conflict. thrown in ahead besides artillery In the prevailing Should the US get more involved in the barrages to stop the advancing environment of Middle East or in new and likely hotspots such enemy. The term ‘offensive global conÀict, the as Ukraine and the CAR, Chinese adventurism defence’ has been in vogue since in India can be expected to escalate. The US long. Besides the most simplistic ¿rst tier of defence may have announced the Asia Pivot in recent explanation could well be that must necessarily be months but China already has in place a one cannot defend one’s house deep inside enemy globally deployable military force with nuclear/ by simply barricading it, and non-nuclear allies/proxies in North Korea, that there must be elements backyard… Pakistan, Iran, Libya, Sudan and Syria as a outside to patrol the streets. The countermeasure even if one discounts China second issue is that of employing asymmetric not resorting to the employment of large scale approaches particularly in cyberspace and nuclear force. employing proxies in the sub-conventional segment of the conflict spectrum. The simple fact is that, if and when it suits her national interests, China will not hesitate to take It is well known the PLA has invested in border physical action against India such as opening villages, making inroads through smugglers, multiple land routes to the Indian Ocean to cater agents and Special Forces personnel besides to her long term energy requirements. This is using its soldiers in the garb of civilians in likely even while China’s power projection in development projects in countries surrounding the IOR remains constrained in the absence India particularly Pakistan, Nepal and Myanmar of credible air cover till aircraft carrier groups in proximity of the LAC. What is important in with accompanying airpower can be deployed. planning the tiered defence against China is to For the time being, her power projection in the carefully develop each tier taking into account IOR will, in all likelihood, be under the guise Chinese concepts and attack methodology, of what may be termed as ‘military operations realities of warfare in the twenty-first century other than war’. and optimising advancements in technology to help buttress defence. Some Western strategists even feel that to shock India into territorial concessions, the Significantly, China flight tested its new PLA may consider a savage campaign including hypersonic vehicle in January 2014, which limited nuclear exchange. Although crossing the travels at a velocity at least five times faster nuclear rubicon may be unlikely, we certainly than sound. China favours a pre-emptive cannot rule out the possibility altogether. strike as an option to break the enemy will to TIERED BORDER DEFENCE AGAINST CHINA AGAINST TIERED BORDER DEFENCE

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 79 fight with damaging strikes, increasing ground not present a weak front anywhere along the operations simultaneously. We need to bridge LAC. There should be unity of command with such asymmetries. everything placed under the command of the First Tier Army. Sensitive areas such as Depsang and Chumar in Eastern Ladakh should be held In the prevailing environment of global by Ladakh Scouts who are the ‘sons of the conflict, the first tier of defence must necessarily soil’ rather than the ITBP. Similarly, the same be deep inside enemy backyard; application pattern should follow along the rest of the LAC of asymmetric approaches in reverse of what in Himachal, Sikkim, Arunachal and Meghalaya. China has been waging against us for many years, which China terms as ‘unrestricted Existing levels of Scouts units in these regions warfare’. Chinese concept of unrestricted need to reviewed considering the role they have warfare does not just span the use of proxies but in conflict across the LAC and subsequently is based on the three main pillars of the Military fighting the enemy inside own territory cutting (atomic, conventional, bio-chemical, ecological, off the thrust lines, should such a need arise. space, guerilla and terrorist warfare), Trans The first tier must have continuous trans- Military (diplomatic, network, intelligence, border surveillance in place. This must consist psychological, tactical, smuggling, drug and of satellite cover, UAVs, MAVs and Unattended virtual warfare) and the Non-Military (financial, Ground Sensors (UGS). Comprehensive trade, resources, economic aid, regulatory, battlefield transparency must be in place sanctions, media and ideological warfare). integrating space, areal and ground equipment such as LOROS, BFSR, HHTIs, UGS, Surveillance Divorcing conventional defence from these cameras and NVDs. forms of ongoing warfare would be foolish. Our first tier of defence as a country against China Modern electronic surveillance involves should, therefore, be aimed at detection of movement, and is largely based Reportedly, some 400 not only negating her aggressive on seismic, acoustic, inductive sensors, and sq km of territory has moves in each of these infrared sensors - all of which should be segments but also optimising optimised. Considering the length of the been lost in Ladakh such moves in India’s favour. unsettled border, construction of a border over and above the As far as sub-conventional fence akin to the Indo-Pak border is not Aksai Chin… conflict is concerned, China feasible. However, it would be prudent to cater has numerous faultlines and for the laying of obstacles, mines and IEDs on her buffer provinces of Xinjiang and Tibet are imminence of hostilities but fire or aerially lay on the boil. While China, in conjunction with mines on axes of enemy advance, as required. Pakistan, has been using her advanced sub- The forces deployed along the LAC (as also conventional potential against India, the latter subsequent tiers and offensive reserves) need has been relying on rather ineffective diplomacy to be provisioned with the wherewithal for and conventional force. Basing a policy against information dominance and assurance, ability sub-conventional threats on idealism as a to paralyse the enemy’s C4I2 infrastructure, stand-alone factor only provides an inward stand-off weapons to pre-empt enemy attack, looking policy which is more expensive in the adequate mix of DEW, PGMs and ASATs, long run and adversely affects our national ability to disrupt enemy logistics/sustenance security and development. In coping with and mix of hard and soft kill options. Fielding asymmetric threats, establishment of offensive of the Battlefield Surveillance System (BSS) cyber warfare, space warfare and electro- and Battlefield Management System (BMS) magnetic capability including Directed Energy must be expedited. Development of border Weapons are vital as well. infrastructure needs to be fine-tuned to cater Second Tier for all types of day or night movement. The second tier of defence would be at the Third Tier LAC itself. India needs to ensure that she does This essentially comprises the second TIERED BORDER DEFENCE AGAINST CHINA AGAINST TIERED BORDER DEFENCE

80 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 layer of units and sub-units in support of the region. A second Mountain Strike Corps needs troops deployed along the LAC. There would to be deployed to cater to Chinese claims to so- be requirement of scouts, home guards, civil called “South Tibet” for appropriate response defence forces operating in the gaps in addition when required. to extensive network of army patrols. Obstacles Conclusion can be laid ab initio or as required along the China is fast emulating Nazi Germany; assessed and actual thrust lines of the enemy. her actions indicating her belief that she has Areas that the PLA could possibly use for third achieved the level of CNP to extract whatever dimension aerial envelopment (between the territorial gains she wants second and third tiers and behind the third from her neighbours without tier) would need to be identified and measures There is no reason challenging the US or daring it instituted to negate their use; obstacles, fire to intervene despite its declining to be overawed by plans and earmarking of reserves. economic strength. The 12 per China’s economic Mountain Strike Corps cent hike in China’s defence and military might… Mountain-based operations are time budget points towards rising consuming and more significantly, manpower aggression. There is no reason to be overawed intensive. In addition to the aerospace by China’s economic and military might but our dimension, land-based conflict should be forward infrastructure development needs to expected more in areas conducive to the be undertaken on critical operational priority deployment of mechanised forces; examples to ensure rapid mobilisation and switching of being Eastern Ladakh, North Sikkim and forces. In addition, we must strive to remove Chumbi Valley. Offensive operations essentially the asymmetry vis-à-vis China in aerospace, require uncommitted troops. To this end, cyber and electro-magnetic domains as well as there is a definite need to deploy an exclusive in rapid aerial deployments. The vital deterrent Mountain Strike Corps in Ladakh considering to irregular warfare must be established on the collusive China-Pakistan threat including priority. There is no reason that we cannot take China’s strategic designs in the POK-Ladakh on future challenges. TIERED BORDER DEFENCE AGAINST CHINA AGAINST TIERED BORDER DEFENCE

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 81 Why not have ‘Technical Support Division’ at the Army Corps Level? Col JK Achuthan

The essence of successful conventional defensive battle is in maintaining elasticity and cohesion; thereafter debilitating the enemy’s combat power to the danger zone of exhaustion and over- reach, then in launching own counter-offensive after minimum pause or by use of the ‘indirect DSSURDFK·RIIHQVLYHVWUDWDJHPWRWRSSOHXQKLQJHWKHHQHP\·VEDODQFHDQGPDNHKLPUHHOEDFN and end up with the destruction of his main force and irrecoverable loss of his territory. This is where the infusion of TSD at the Corps level will make a great difference in our calculations. The TSD does not have active Combat Formations under it yet it plays the role of a force multiplier by effectively employing Tactical Reserves and deciding the right timing and objective for such Counter Strike. Its main aim and battle effort is to look deep into enemy territory and discern correctly his pattern of operations almost to a predictable certainty.

“Neng su sheng ze su sheng, bu Neng su sheng The importance of accurate intelligence and ze huan sheng” (Win quickly if possible; if not timely analysis is both tactical and strategic at Win with delay!) the Corps formation level, which is the cutting —Mao’s Directive to Marshall Peng Dehuai edge of actual battle anticipation and direction. before giving the ‘Go Ahead’ to launch the PLA At this crucial level, one cannot afford to make Forces against General Douglas MacArthur’s the mistake of relying purely on inputs received Command in Korea during October 1950) from the national level as these have to be T IS AN AGE OLD TRUTH THAT actually corroborated at the ground level in the successful military operations are always context of actual threats faced or tasks assigned. ‘Intelligence Driven.’ When we analyse the I In January 1951, after the successful taking success, effectiveness and minimum number of Seoul and reaching the 37th Parallel, when of casualties suffered by the present day US pressurised to resume the offensive by Kim Army, or the Israel Defence Forces, or the Il Sung and his Soviet Adviser, Marshall Peng British Army when committed in war – they Dehuai had the courage to send this telegram to all have given prime importance to thorough Chairman Mao, “I am the Commander in Chief intelligence domination of the battlefield. here. Please tell Comrade Stalin”. The Marshall, Coming closer home, the PLA does the same a successful veteran of the Chinese Civil War in both the offensive and defensive, with the and the Sino Japanese War, was apprehensive of difference that it always insists on gaining its another Inchon type amphibious landing at the laid down objective irrespective of the number rear of his successful armies. The lesson learnt is of casualties. Unfortunately, the Indian Army that there is no point stating at the end of the war appears to have lost sight of this axiom of war. that “Intelligence was lacking”, as an excuse for Only a part of the blame can be attributed to poor performance or lack of success. Intelligence the Ministry of Defence bureaucracy, which is is one commodity that has to be generated at the by nature, ‘reactive’ and tacitly surrenders the Army Corps level both before war and during ‘initiative’ to our enemies. A bigger share of the operations, to avoid being surprised and to blame should come on to the Army’s own think- optimise the effectiveness of one’s battle plans. tanks and policy formulation groups, as they have not dwelt adequately on increasing force Structure of Intelligence Gathering effectiveness without having necessarily to go in and Analysis at Army Corps Level for force expansion, a costly affair in our context. At a Corps headquarters, the capacity to WHY NOT HAVE ‘TECHNICAL SUPPORT DIVISION’ AT THE ARMY CORPS LEVEL? ARMY THE AT DIVISION’ SUPPORT ‘TECHNICAL HAVE NOT WHY

82 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 look deep into enemy territory round the clock protection of the jugular logistics axes of the up to a depth of 200 km should be considered combat divisions so that there is no need to look sacrosanct. This will permit any ‘holding’ type back thereby placing the Corps Commander in role be performed with deploying only 33 an advantageous position as far as ‘reading’ of per cent of combat resources thus freeing the the battlefield is concerned. balance of combat potential for flexible and Therefore, the temptation to convert it into offensive responses. Having such a capability an administrative support/Combat Reserve in today’s times will essentially entail: Division should be resisted. Specifically, the r
Shadow enemy operations planning TSD should not have the following Units/ group. formations placed under it for command and control. These should be assigned to a Sub- r
Enemy targets - acquisition and Area HQ which will become a Logistics Support prioritisation group. Division in wartime: r
Live feed all weather day and night satellite imagery and air photo analysis group. r
Corps Second Line Transport Units. r
Joint air strikes planning group and close r
Corps Animal Transport Units. air support provisioning unit. r
Corps Electronics and Mechanical r
Humint analysis, open source data analysis, Engineer Units. interpretation and interrogation group. r
Corps Ordnance Units. r
All weather Remotely Piloted Vehicles r
Corps Medical Units. (RPV) aerial surveillance sub-unit. r
Corps Supply Units. r
Airborne Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) surveillance sub-unit. r
Corps Engineer Units. r
Aerial reconnaissance and insertion r
Corps Signal Units. stealth aviation sub-unit. The TSD should have a trimmed staff and r
NBCW protection and reaction sub-unit. HQ organisation. It should be essentially function oriented so that the Intelligence Special Operations executive, r
Corps Commander does not Intelligence is one reconnaissance and guidance sub-unit. commit scarce operational commodity that has r
Deception warfare and captured enemy resources based solely on ‘hunch’ to be generated at equipment holding and re-use unit. considerations or find himself always in a reactive frame of the Army Corps level r
Cross border intelligence, sabotage and mind, as had unfortunately counter-infiltration SCOUTS units/recce both before war and happened to the Indian Army regiments. during operations... in the 1962 War and in the 1965 r
Communications intelligence monitoring and 1971 Chamb debacles. Even unit (Static & Mobile). our executed ‘strike’ operations in the West r
Electronic warfare unit (Mobile). were poor examples of achievable goals with the available resources. The concept of JSTARS- r
Corps counter bombardment unit. supported offensive operations of the US Army r
Corps rear area security air defence units is worth emulation, with local modifications. (Mobile). Having TSD for our Army Corps will enable smooth implementation of the Air Land Battle The Technical Support Division (TSD) rolling offensive doctrine in the plains. should basically be a lean formation designed to ensure Intelligence Driven Operations - in In 1999, India allowed itself to be caught order to minimise own casualties, enable by ‘surprise’ in Kargil, even after this textbook quick metamorphosis of fixed deployments for plan had been openly discussed in the first effective redeployed offensive/defensive roles, chapter of Ravi Rikhye’s classic book ‘The Fourth WHY NOT HAVE ‘TECHNICAL SUPPORT DIVISION’ AT THE ARMY CORPS LEVEL? ARMY THE AT DIVISION’ SUPPORT ‘TECHNICAL HAVE NOT WHY

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 83 Round’ a decade earlier! The next such major In striking contrast, even officers at the regional shock to happen could be the unilateral rank of Major and Lt Col with 10 to 15 years diversion of the waters of the Yarlung Tsangpo service work as Project Management Heads to Qinghai Province, before this River begins its in the Pentagon in the US system and squeeze descent from the Tibetan Plateau. The Chinese the best out of America’s private sector in have already made the area of Eastern Xizang terms of meeting time deadlines, integration a ‘no go’ area for foreigners by declaring it as a of system with systems, innovative product National Park. Our look deep capability is going advancements and cost competitiveness, so to get tested here if we have to save ourselves as to capture the global arms market. The from a fait accompli. time has come for us to trim our DRDO and Lack of Domain Specialisation in OFB/Defence PSUs, and adopt the US style our Army competitive bid system for project funding and The Indian Army has allowed itself to go into hardware manufacturing involving our private such a mental decline that it has become an sector on equal terms, so that our defence antediluvian monster wallowing in intellectual exports exceed our imports. poverty and lacking The role and focus of the Army’s Military The Army has come to domain specialists. This Secretary branch should shift from primarily lack farsightedness, daring is organic complacency doing selections for higher ranks to genuine at its best. If we allow spirit at higher levels, R&D HRD promotion. After an officer completes six other governmental years of service, he should be streamlined for and applications oriented manifestations to do any of the following domain specialisations for entrepreneurship... the thinking for us, the which he has shown aptitude, and thereafter, consequences would he should be earmarked for two tenures in that be paid by us with blood and honour, for the field before completion of 20 years of service: years wasted. We are a mighty force when seen from the outside but are needlessly r
Affiliation to a particular army Corps zone. allowing ourselves to be outwitted by cunning, r
Learning a particular foreign language determined and intelligent foes. which will be of use in that Corps zone. The Army has come to lack farsightedness, Affiliation with a particular R&D daring spirit at higher levels, R&D and r
establishment/Defence Production Unit. applications oriented entrepreneurship; it is now characterised by a standard textbook r
Affiliation with a particular mass approach and SOP mania for all situations. communication/propaganda set up. Thus, it is often caught on the back foot by technological developments; changes in r
Affiliation with a particular national the international, regional and the country’s intelligence agency/investigative agency. domestic power plays; management and r
Affiliation with a particular CSIR Laboratory cost driven compulsions; and meeting the /National Institute of Excellence. demands of modern public opinion and national aspirations. Today, it does not have a r
Affiliation with a particular defence think- say in the Army related project management tank in India or abroad. aspects of each of the DRDO laboratories which r
Repeated foreign assignments to a are truly national assets as they enjoy unlimited particular country. funding and delegated sanctioning powers even more than the IAS bureaucracy, all in the r
Specialisation in particular management name of ‘defence’. The trial wings of each arm fields as applicable to the Army. of the service are so rich in experience but this r
Country studies specialisation. gets wasted as there are no co-located R&D workshops and pilot Project Manufacturing r
Defence budget and finance management, Establishments under the Army’s control. exports and imports of warlike equipment. WHY NOT HAVE ‘TECHNICAL SUPPORT DIVISION’ AT THE ARMY CORPS LEVEL? ARMY THE AT DIVISION’ SUPPORT ‘TECHNICAL HAVE NOT WHY

84 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 r
Sourcing for particular types of weapons, influence the subsequent stages of a battle after equipment and ordnance in the world the enemy has achieved a penetration or even market and working in similar products break-in. Alternatively, these same resources development establishments in India. should become available for limited offensive actions or carrying out large scale spoiling The open minded thinking and emphasis attack actions. Only by having one-third on gaining ‘domain knowledge’ will liberate troops in reserve can a higher commander the stress-induced mindset of the majority of achieve tactical balance and flexible response. gifted and intelligent officers of our Army, so Today, we find that the Indian Army’s senior that they aspire to be greater than mere career commanders are frittering away resources minded automatons. They will have to prove while in a defensive their worth and create reputations by publishing posture by pushing articles and papers thereby contributing to The Army’s dependence everything available product development in the most productive forward - be it in the on RAW and its phase of their careers, when they are still driven plains, mountains predecessor IB for external by sincerity of purpose to make a mark. In this or even the deserts endeavour, we have a lot to learn from the Navy military intelligence has because they want to who have the best of domain specialists in the cater for every enemy proved to be its Achilles’ Indian Armed Forces at present. contingency ab initio. heel during war... In order to improve technology absorption So on the defender’s and technical excellence in our combat arms side there is always a shortage of troops, and units, there is the need to consider posting inadvertently the best possible scenario is Engineers/Signals/Electronics and Mechanical created for the attacker. Corps officers to combat units after they have A deep study of the reverses suffered in the put in eight years of service for a full tenure 1962 India-China War and the battles of Chamb- of two and a half years. This ‘criteria posting’ Jaurian in 1965 and the 1971 War with Pakistan should be made compulsory for holding clearly reveal that the major cause of defeat was selection grade command appointment in their non-adherence to this fundamental maxim of respective Corps. offensive defence which, as per the attacker’s The glaring aspect of lack of linguistics calculation, predictably led to escalation into capability training should be addressed by panic situations and loss of morale on our side. putting selected Staff College Course qualified When will the Army learn the perils of adopting officers through a full time foreign language the ‘defeatist’ Forward Policy, even after the Diploma course within three years of their shameful experience of 1962? It is agreeable doing the Staff Course. These officers are the when a politician utters the words that not an best lot that the Army system can produce, and inch of Indian territory will be allowed to be they should be equipped with international occupied by our enemies, as this is meant for level sets of skills especially of the languages public consumption and boosting the morale spoken by our adversaries and collaborators. of the general public; but if a senior general Only then can their vistas get broadened and repeats these words, it will make Clausewitz their employability for Foreign Postings become laugh in his grave. worthwhile. They will be able to contribute The essence of successful conventional inputs into the Army system which are not run defensive battle is in maintaining elasticity and of the mill type. cohesion; thereafter debilitating the enemy’s ‘Theory’ of Optimisation of combat power to the danger zone of exhaustion Resources available in an Army and over-reach, then in launching own counter- Corps Zone offensive after minimum pause or by use of In a defensive Corps zone, at least one-third the ‘indirect approach’ offensive stratagem to of the resources available at combat unit and topple/unhinge the enemy’s balance and make above should be held back as Reserves to him reel back, and end up with the destruction WHY NOT HAVE ‘TECHNICAL SUPPORT DIVISION’ AT THE ARMY CORPS LEVEL? ARMY THE AT DIVISION’ SUPPORT ‘TECHNICAL HAVE NOT WHY

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 85 of his main force and irrecoverable loss of his saying. The Army’s dependence on RAW and its territory. In the Korean War, China committed predecessor IB for external military intelligence 320,000 troops in two Army groups but could has proved to be its Achilles’ heel during only achieve a stalemate whereas by committing war. That is the way the Indian system works. a mere 30,000 troops mainly under 46 Corps, Therefore, let us learn at least from experience to they were able to gain victory over us in 1962, insulate our dependence on inputs for military without losing a single Chinese soldier as decision making from such national channels, Prisoner of War. which should only be seen as a complementary or even as sweetened pills. The military advice to This is where the infusion of TSD at the the political leadership should be of prognostic Corps level will make a great difference in our nature and not of ‘reactive’ nature, as is the case calculations. The TSD does not have active at present. This requires careful orchestration Combat Formations under it yet it of the Army’s inherent capabilities and internal The Army needs plays the role of a force multiplier strengths. In the pre-Independence times, the by effectively employing Tactical to concentrate on Commander-in-Charge of the Indian Army had Reserves and deciding the right extensive intelligence gathering and analysis modernising its timing and objective for such assets both to inform the Viceroy’s Council as internal processes Counter Strike. Its main aim well as to the UK War Department separately. and battle effort is to look deep to world standards... If we have not built up on this legacy, we have into enemy territory and discern nobody else to blame, especially if we do not correctly his pattern of operations almost to a succeed in operations. predictable certainty. This is the finesse the US Army has achieved and demonstrated during In today’s circumstances, there is the urgent the last 15 years at Army Corps level force need to create the new post of a Principal groupings, and the Israeli Defence Force and Staff Officer to the Chief called Operational British Army at lesser force levels. Technical Support General (OTSG). He should have the following Heads of Army In a conventional threat scenario, the US HQs Departments reporting to him, in order Army does not have to earmark a large size to strengthen coordination of war support force for a defensive role and almost 80 per capability enhancement in Technical and cent of its combat power in a Corps zone is Specialised fields:- regenerated for offensive action, thanks to the high expertise and calibre of its TSD resources r
Director General Military Intelligence. to orchestrate the re-forming of combat power. r
Director General Signal Intelligence. This is the secret of the ‘thought process’ behind the seemingly unstoppable US war r
Director General Electronics and machine. Imagine the transformation that will Mechanical Engineers. come to the Indian Army over the next four to r
Director General Army Air Defence. six years, if by having a full-fledged TSD, the difference between Holding Corps and Strike r
Director General Weapons and Equipment. Corps gets blurred due to our exploiting fully r
Director General Army Trials and R&D the ‘Inflexibility-Time lag’ syndrome suffered Establishments and Central Workshops. by the enemy. The role play would be like that of a large Hermit Crab approaching a lurking r
Director General Military Training. Giant Squid. The OTSG should be leading the Army’s Cohesive Approach at Army war efforts during peacetime in order to get HQs for Offensive Capabilities a clear picture of the enemy’s intentions, Technical Support short-term plans and long term strategy. He He who depends on himself and constantly should be mandated to formulate the required develops his strength will never have to bite counter strategy for consideration of the Army’s the dust when the crunch comes, goes an old decision making body. He should be the leading WHY NOT HAVE ‘TECHNICAL SUPPORT DIVISION’ AT THE ARMY CORPS LEVEL? ARMY THE AT DIVISION’ SUPPORT ‘TECHNICAL HAVE NOT WHY

86 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 interface of the Army with the DRDO, MoD very well entrenched as they can continue bureaucracy, Foreign Policy establishment, to control all expenditures in our name. For defence hardware production department and this change in outlook to fructify, the Army civilian intelligence establishments. This sort needs to concentrate on modernising its of constant interactions, if it leads to better internal processes to world standards, and understanding and working relationships, gain expertise and ‘lead managers’ in not would help the Army to get superior dividends only its own spheres but also in all supporting which would benefit the Operations Branch by spheres of work within the MoD. This is giving it ‘lead time’ and better resources. essential for gearing up for effective responses Conclusion to contingencies and to develop assured war The tendency to create more bureaucratic winning capability. structures at different Army levels should be Let us do an annual ‘Planning Exercise’ avoided, in the holistic effort to multiply the in January on how to fight the wars in our Army’s flexibility and operational response at regional context five years hence. This the cutting edge - which is the Army Corps level. would throw up relevant This should meet the needs of the period of and feasible challenges to The tendency to create ‘apparent peace’, period ‘prior to hostilities’ and work upon with achievable more bureaucratic period of ‘active operations’. The Indian Army urgency. Converting should further introspect and metamorphosize defensive assets to dual use structures at different to be ready to fight future wars under modern offensive capabilities is the Army levels should be conditions’, with the caveat of not increasing essence of the principle of avoided... manpower strength. The Revolution in Military war of economy of effort. Affairs which has happened in the militaries This requires new thinking to develop our of the First World in the last twenty years also capabilities, so as to assure a Corps Commander has ramifications in our sub-continent in the credible battlefield transparency, to enable present context; we should not be caught ‘risk taking’ ventures to be undertaken napping. with high guarantee of success. The Corps Instead of blindly going for more and more commanders should be involved in the annual costly imported platforms, the Army needs to planning exercise in January at the Army HQs wrest the responsibility for its own modernisation level. The military machines created by Shivaji from the MoD civilian manifestations, who, and Aurangzeb and their underlying thinking though not being stakeholders are nevertheless should serve as ready historical guidelines.

References 1. History of Self Defence Counterattack Operations 3. War in High Himalayas – The Indian Army in on the Sino Indian Borders – Jiang Siyi and Li Hui Crisis, 1962 – Maj Gen DK Palit (C Hurst & Co (Beijing Military Sciences Press, 1994). Ltd, London, 1991). 2. Chinese Warfighting – The PLA Experience 4. Chamb Battles: Recollections of Pakistani since 1949 – Mark Ryan, David Finkelstein and Commanders – Internet. Michael McDevitt (KW Publishers Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, 2010). WHY NOT HAVE ‘TECHNICAL SUPPORT DIVISION’ AT THE ARMY CORPS LEVEL? ARMY THE AT DIVISION’ SUPPORT ‘TECHNICAL HAVE NOT WHY

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 87 INTERNAL SECURITY The Maoist Dimension Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee

7KH0DRLVWUHEHOOLRQLVDSKHQRPHQRQDQDGYHUVHRQHRIFRXUVHLQZKLFKEDQGVRIDUPHG ORFDOLQKDELWDQWVOHGE\ÀUHEUDQG¶DUHDFRPPDQGHUV·DVVXPHDUROHWKDWVKRXOGWUXO\OLHZLWKLQ the constitutional mandate of the state. The role of the third element of this phenomenon, the far-ensconced communist ideologues, is limited to legitimising the rebellion with a political, if rabid, cause for the rebels to indulge in societal mayhem. The rhetoric of installing a ‘people’s government’ over the country through armed revolution apart, their interim objective is to impose their ‘system’ over such territories where the state administration has nothing more than a notional SUHVHQFH,QWKLVWKH0DRLVWVKDYHVXFFHHGHGLQHVWDEOLVKLQJDIDLUGHJUHHRIFRQWUROPDLQO\ over economic activities in areas remote, sparsely inhabited and undeveloped but endowed with mineral and forest wealth; the void of state administration makes it relatively simple to do so.

A Persistent Query An Adverse Phenomenon NE IS OFTEN CONFRONTED WITH The Maoist rebellion is a phenomenon, the query, “How can the Maoist an adverse one of course, in which bands Oproblem be solved? After all, we have of armed local inhabitants, led by firebrand done so much to control it and yet nothing ‘area commanders’, assume a role that should seems to work!” This question is rooted to a truly lie within the constitutional mandate of perception among the policy makers that there the state. The role of the third element of this is a popular demand to stamp out the Maoist phenomenon, the far-ensconced communist rebellion, and that it is possible to achieve that ideologues, is limited to legitimising the end in a matter of few years through application rebellion with a political, if rabid, cause for of some formulae. the rebels to indulge in societal mayhem. The rhetoric of installing a ‘people’s government’ As with all simplistic questions, this one too is over the country through armed revolution difficult to answer. Indeed, the simplicity of the apart, their interim objective is to impose query itself betrays a superfluous understanding their ‘system’ over such territories where the of the fundamental characteristics of the Maoist state administration has nothing more than rebellion. Resultantly, notions of certain a notional presence. In this, the Maoists have ‘formulae’ that would supposedly bring remedy succeeded in establishing a fair degree of in quick time are entertained. Factually, to control, mainly over economic activities in areas chart a course towards ultimate relief from this remote, sparsely inhabited and undeveloped violent rebellion, policy makers have to de-link but endowed with mineral and forest wealth; it from their election cycle and appreciate the the void of state administration makes it conditionalities and complexities that overarch relatively simple to do so. the gamut of the problem. Therefore, in our quest to find the appropriate answer to the query, it Of course, the Maoists neither possess is proposed to discuss two propositions. First, the constitutional authority duly acquired that the Maoist rebellion is a ‘phenomenon’ through sanctified means nor are they bound which may not be ‘defeated’ in the true sense by constitutionally farmed rules. They do not Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee, former of that expression; second, the goal should be suffer accountability to the people and enforce Chief of Staff, Central to ‘address’ this phenomenon in a manner as their arbitrary diktats by the barrel of gun. The Command & former phenomenon, therefore, is unconstitutional and Commandant OTA to ease it into irrelevancy and subsume it over Chennai. time within a benevolent, fair realm. anti-state. No doubt, the Maoists are outlaws; INTERNAL SECURITY: THE MAOIST DIMENSION

88 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 if the nationhood is to be preserved, they must being implemented by unconstitutional not be permitted to challenge state power and methods. Obviously, these steps have allowed have their way. Maoists to earn the people’s support.

However, the narrative cannot be separated On another plane, the Maoists have, with from its context. In the past, these remote areas pretended seriousness, ‘ordered’ activation of had been administered more as a exception the few health centres and schools there are, than as a rule. The situation changed with asking the paramedics and teachers to either the commencement of industrial ventures in attend to duty or pay absence fees. They have also the early part of the twentieth century, when undertaken to ‘monitor’ government projects these mineral-rich areas turned into pivots particularly where the money bag is fat. Under of economic development. Thereafter, what their threat, various schemes little administration the state undertook to of employment guarantee, The Maoists are perform, it was with the purpose of brokering rural roads, mother-child outlaws; they must natural resources rather than elevating the local care (Aanganwadi) and mid- not be permitted to tribal and neo-tribal inhabitants’ lives. Even in day meal are spared from the post-Independence period, the polity has comprehensive loot; the challenge state power shown little interest in local affairs due to the Maoists partaking a share in and have their way… short voter lists, while the state functionaries the misappropriation that have brazenly ridden roughshod over the remains mandatory yet to keep the systemic simple, voiceless folk, divesting them of their wheel lubricated. Even on this plane, people traditional land rights and snatching away what are inclined to prefer the rebel’s arrogance little forestry they possessed. With accelerating and greed to crass unscrupulousness of industrialisation over the past fifty years, as state-functionaries, contractors and mining more and more areas went under mining, conglomerates. mass displacement of the people rent their society; living as a tribal and neo-tribal became Resultantly, people living in Maoist- a curse. As alienation gained ground, the ever- influenced areas do not view Maoist control tormented rural folk, who had been consigned as an aberration; neither do they long to be to ‘exist’ in the feudal societies, found a common released from their rebellious clutch. To the cause and joined in to provide impetus to the locals, Maoists are their youngsters who live rebellion. among them, observing the same culture, not adding to but solving some of their difficulties Maoists have taken advantage of that long particularly in securing better income from trail of systemic atrocities. They have occupied their trade and safety from official harassment. a vacuum that the state had perpetually left Conversely, the State is represented just by out of its administration. Furthermore, they occasional visitations of the police, patwaris have assumed the responsibility of protecting and prospectors. The State’s other public service the people’s concerns, a mandate which the departments have never made appearance state had failed to fulfil while penetrating these in any case – earlier because of the State areas just to gather natural resources. Notably employee’s propensity to avoid work, and therefore, Maoists have not really usurped but presently on the excuse of Maoist threat. occupied vacant systemic space to assume Furthermore, whenever the State functionaries an unattended role - that of arbitrators of the did appear, they made a nuisance of themselves people’s concerns such as fair wages, land – labour unpaid, hospitality forced upon, bribes alienation, displacement and compensation demanded, chicken eaten, women harassed. and relief from highhandedness of revenue Obviously, people are least bothered by the and police officials. Besides, Maoists have Maoist’s unconstitutional acts – extortion and implemented their own version of equitable murder of persons they do not relate to. land distribution, irrigation rights and fair trade of nature’s produce in areas under their control In summation, the rebellion is a phenomenon – a case of constitutionally ordained missions that has engulfed entire societies in the affected INTERNAL SECURITY: THE MAOIST DIMENSION

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 89 areas. Thus, there are rebels everywhere – the by the state but are yet far away from displacing uniform clad People’s Liberation Guerrilla the state authority where it exists. There is, Army (PLGA) in the jungles, the armed militia therefore, no imminent threat of collapse of in remote settlements, couriers, levy collectors the state. and informants in villages and towns, and There seems to be little of serious concern profiteering traders all over, right up to the amongst the public leaders and of course, capital. Then there is the multitude of farmers, the public themselves, regarding an early students, teachers, state-employees, business deliverance from the Maoist clutch. No one houses, contractors and politicians who in particular seems to be highly disturbed by are, in some manner or the other, linked to it. Villagers continue to live as they did before the rebellion either to fill their pocket or to maybe a deal better under Maoist protection. stimulate their ambitions. Among the plethora The state-functionaries, under the threat of of ‘rebels’ of different shades whom will the state Maoist ‘punishment’, spend a better part of triumph over? How will it control in quick time the allocations, after institutionalised graft an omnipresent phenomenon that has been is satiated, on development works. Traders, wantonly permitted to gather momentum over transporters, contractors and miners continue two decades? to thrive while paying ‘levy’ to the rebels which Addressing the Phenomenon comes cheaper than the bribes they had to pass There is concurrence that the Maoist rebellion onto various government functionaries and is anti-state and that it must be addressed with local dons. In fact, the situation permits the alacrity. The point to note is that traders and transporters to fix exorbitant rates, Maoists have taken the goal should not be set at contractors to violate contractual stipulations and miners to denude areas many times more advantage of a long defeating or destroying the Maoist rebellion if one does not intend to than the allotted blocks. Many unemployed trail of systemic tear the society apart. Therefore, have found sources of income through a atrocities… there are certain considerations gigantic industry of illegal mining, theft of explosives, gun running, rebel logistics and to factor into the State’s strategy to information network. Some entrepreneurs deal with the rebellion. This is a call of rationality have ventured into tailoring, printing, supply that has the best chance of diluting, and then of bottled water, batteries and medicines for liquidating the rebellion over time. One may the rebels. Politicians depend on the rebels to evaluate these considerations: garner votes and yet go unaccountable on the The Maoists do not seek secession nor are pretext of Maoist threat. Even top industrialists their demands, formally at least, any different and ‘class enemies’ of the communists continue from what the constitution guarantees to the to thrive in ‘Maoist-affected’ areas by their Indian citizens. Yes, they wish to change the offerings of fiscal inducements. At worst, if one system of governance, not by democratic does land up on the wrong side of the Maoists, means but by the unconstitutional use of relief can always be bought in exchange of a violence. That makes them anti-nationals ‘reasonable’ consideration – after a good deal albeit politically oriented ones with substantial of friendly haggling. There is acquiescence all ideological following. In dealing with this kind around! Yes, among those who should seek of movement, the state has to be extremely deliverance, there appears to be no pressing circumspect with regard to inevitability of state need to decimate the Maoists, propensity of high-handedness, adversarial propaganda, official lip service notwithstanding. social polarisation and international scrutiny. A pressing need to be rid of the Maoists Barring occasional forays to attack the emanates from the centrality of mineral state administration, Maoist activities are extraction in national development. Therefore, so far confined to those areas where state the Central and State governments, goaded by administration has never existed. Truly, the economic and industrial demands, have had Maoists have taken control of the vacuums left to take up the cudgels to displace the rebels INTERNAL SECURITY: THE MAOIST DIMENSION

90 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 from resource-rich areas where the latter’s writ administrative and judicial measures to that prevails. The governments propose to do so by end. However, it would be a long haul yet. the much publicised strategy of ‘clear-hold- The immediate challenge is to find adequate develop’. It is in their violent opposition to that police forces to clear and control a landmass effort of the state that the Maoists come across that covers one-fifth of the country, particularly as a real threat to the nation. To implement that when the locals are wont to excuse themselves strategy, therefore, the state has to find adequate from offering support. Clearly, the armed forces to ‘clear’ Maoist-affected areas, then to counter-measures would be progressed by the ‘hold’ these areas against return of the rebels Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) under the and finally build-up the capacity to design and overall coordination of the execute appropriate development schemes. state police. But there are The Maoists do not Obviously, the state does not have that kind of just eighty-odd battalions wherewithal; neither can it gear up in quick- seek secession nor of various police forces time. But while capacity build-up may yet be deployed in an area so vast. are their demands any achieved, the main hurdle will still remain in The strength is expected different from what the the irascibilities of the state-apparatus which, to be raised to 102 in next as discussed, have caused the rebellion to break constitution guarantees three years, whereas even by out in the first place. To be subsumed, therefore, conservative estimates, 150 to the Indian citizens… the phenomenon requires to be addressed with are needed. That would take forbearance, in all sincerity, over a sustained in three to four years to build-up while imposing period and by all stakeholders. serious fiscal burden on the State. Even then, it After it is neutralised, the issue of substitution would be tough to control the fluid spread of of the Maoist’s control, also needs to be the rebellion over areas so vast and difficult. addressed. The method and time-frame in which Resolution of these contradictions is, therefore, the state would expand its governance over the a challenge. vast remote lands needs to be considered. It is Similarly, the civic part of the counter- important to see that no scope is left for other measures would pose herculean challenges to predators in the garb of political netas and the state institutions. Even if funds are raised for societal mai-baaps to walk in and carry on their the purpose, the State would have to create the exploitative trade, and so cause the germination requisite establishments to plan and execute of another uprising. the range and spread of needed development The above discussion validates the works. Furthermore, the culture of opportunism proposition that the Maoist rebellion offers no and callousness that prevails in the State scope for a quick defeat; it needs to be single- departments would have to be purified before mindedly addressed over a period for it to be an egalitarian socio-economic transformation rendered irrelevant and finally merged into the may be envisioned. That is unlikely to happen national mainstream. anytime soon. Challenges to Surmount An Awakening In the overall context, effective counter- Recently, policy makers seem to have got Maoist measures would be contingent upon over their dithering afflictions in countering extension of effective governance to fill up the rebellion. Towards this end, four the vacuums left so far and following up with concurrent measures are articulated - security, amelioration of people’s ire. In that, the baggage development, entitlement, and governance. of corruption and political opportunism at the Focus has been directed at developmental cost of just governance has to be jettisoned capacity building in the State governments. before the rebellious stranglehold can be 106 affected districts have been earmarked for weakened. Thanks to popular disenchantment security and development; work in 30 of these with the Maoist whip, that tide of perception districts has commenced. seems to be rising. There is fruition of legislative, Under the security-related initiatives, steps INTERNAL SECURITY: THE MAOIST DIMENSION

29.2-Apr/Jun ‘14 INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW 91 have been taken to strengthen the police forces The State has woken up to the sense of under three centrally funded schemes, with entitlement among the local citizenry. Thus the states pitching in to the extent possible have been legislated the ‘Forest Rights Act’, – namely, the ‘Security Related Expenditure’, activation of Schedule V of the Constitution, ‘Special Infrastructure Scheme’ and ‘Scheme extension of ‘Panchayati Raj Act’, the ‘Land for Construction of Fortified Police Stations’. Acquisition Act’ and recently, the ‘Food Affected states are proceeding with recruitment Security Act’. The judiciary too has been to fill up existing vacancies in the police active in protecting the local interests in ranks. Besides, each state has been asked to matters of land alienation and human rights. raise up to four special counter-insurgency These are landmark initiatives that would police battalions. This process is dilute the Maoist cause when implemented The immediate required to be protected against in the right spirit. The fourth element of the challenge is to ¿nd abuse and tuned to the capacity strategy, governance, too has received boost adequate police to absorb expansion. Progress to turn it from a neo-colonial to a democratic is, therefore, gradual. States realm. ‘Good governance’ is a byword, forces to clear and have also organised counter- even if its translation to practical terms control a landmass insurgency training of their police remains contingent to a profound cultural forces under the aegis of the reorientation. that covers one-¿fth army. However, establishment of the country… of counter-insurgency schools in Finally, there are as many as four committees all states is yet make the desired to review these initiatives - the Home Minister’s headway mainly because internal bickering and ‘Standing Committee of Chief Ministers’, Home land issues while some ad hoc training units Secretary’s ‘Review Group’, the ‘Task Force’ perform that role. of Special Secretary (Internal Security) and Secretary, Planning Commission’s ‘Empowered On the development front, councils Group of Officers’. composed of the Collector, Police Chief, Forest A Tide Favourable Officer and a citizen’s representative have been formed in the affected districts to plan and A rebellion, to be seen as distinct from monitor various projects. These projects are terrorism or downright nihilism, has to centrally funded under the ‘Backward Region remain within certain bounds of probity Grant’, ‘National Rural Employment Guarantee even when engaged in acts contrary to social Scheme’, ‘Grameen Sadak Yojna’, ‘National and legal norms. Contrarily, as the pressure Rural Health Mission’, ‘Grameen Vidyutikaran on their activities mounts, the Maoist rebels Yojna’, and ‘Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan - Ashram are increasingly indulging in extortion and School’. Besides, there is the ‘Integrated Action barbarism, proving themselves no better than Plan’ that is specifically dedicated to the those anti-people elements that they wish to improvement of living conditions in 82 rebellion eliminate. At some juncture, when the common affected districts. Finally, to improve the state man feels tormented, this could spell the administration’s access to Maoist affected Maoist doom. If managed effectively, such a areas, a ‘Road Development Plan’, providing situation would allow the State to find its feet for compensation to contractors working in in winning the people’s endorsement. Indeed, such areas, has been dedicated to 34 districts. in most instances the world over, successful However, as discussed earlier, these initiatives suppression of rebellion has been occasioned would take time to fructify, and even more by high-handedness of rebels that drove the time to gain the people’s faith in the State common people to join the State in countering administration – the caveat of continuous and it. The Indian state would be wise to seize that concerted thrust being the key. imminent opportunity. INTERNAL SECURITY: THE MAOIST DIMENSION

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