<] ^] f[ ] 100.00 > H IN February-March Volume No R ` (India-based Buyer Only) j 2012 9 1 g [m g[ TH =n k mj IS ]f gf ]e E lk A ] D f\ f IT J] aY lH IO ^] k g N j A da[ ]f fl a] [] ] k % jf K Yd H h] K jg [a ][ [] Yd mj \m Af alq j k] ]k jl SP’s AN SP GUIDE PUBLICATION Towards a safer India. 20112011 40TH ISSUEI 20122012 Editor-in-ChiefEdiitor-in-Chief JayantJJayant BaranwalBaarannwwal WWW.SPSLANDFORCES.NET ROUNDUP IN THIS ISSUE The ONLY journal in Asia dedicated to Land Forces PAGE 4 >> COVER STORY Wide-ranging Vehicles for Diverse Roles Armour in Future Conflicts PHOTOGRAPH : PIB Currently, the Indian Army is looking for multi- purpose vehicles (MPVs), light bullet proof vehicles (Lt BPVs), light strike vehicles (LSVs) for the infantry battalions for its various roles in external and internal security duties and reconnaissance vehicles for the armoured and mechanised units and NBC units Lt General (Retd) V.K. Kapoor PAGE 8 Indian Army Modernisation – An Introspection The facade of the yearly refined DPP over the years has done little to accelerate mod - ernisation. The gap between the Indian Army and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is widening alarmingly in favour of the latter. Lt General (Retd) P.C. Katoch PAGE 10 Indigenous Strategic and Tactical Missiles T-72 (FWMP) passes through the Rajpath during the 60th Republic Day parade AFVs will endure the changes in the nature of future wars. However, they must not be seen in isolation as stand-alone weapon systems, but as part of an all The Agni missile programme is a family of arms group enabling and sustaining decisive manoeuvre and high intensity MRBM to ICBM ballistic missile systems battle at close quarters through superior survivability against precision attacks developed by DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. and dumb munitions. Lt General (Retd) Naresh Chand n LT GENERAL (RETD) V.K. KAPOOR Nature of Future Wars many officers. they are of the opinion that PAGE 12 analysis of current and past conflicts, conventional wars of the past are unlikely to Social Networking and Cyber Threats n order to examine the effective - emerging technologies, geostrategic environ - be fought due to the changed nature of Cyber crime has shifted from simple scams ness and employment of armour in ment and the emerging challenges indicate future conflicts. However, most of the mili - including phishing, spoofing, worms and future conflicts, it will be prudent in the various trends in future wars. While the tary analysts differ on this issue. they feel viruses to more sophisticated attacks shut - first instance to understand the basic details of evaluation and appraisal differ in that the geopolitical and geostrategic envi - ting down network servers and cloud-based characteristics of an armoured fighting their content and quality, some shared con - ronment in South asia or even in the larger Ivehicle (aFV). the characteristics which clusions with regard to the future trends region which is termed as Southern asia (the systems affecting companies and individu - aFVs give to ground forces enable the latter emerge quite clearly. the main conclusion is arc extending clockwise from north africa, als. Social networking sites are fertile to conduct decisive manoeuvre as well as that major state to state wars will be a rarity West asia and South east asia to the indian grounds for breeding cyber crime. direct high intensity offensive action in order and low intensity conflict will prevail. thus ocean) are such that limited conventional Lt General (Retd) P.C. Katoch to surprise, paralyse and dislocate an enemy. many professionals in the armed forces all conflicts cannot be ruled out. they point in open terrain (plains and deserts), armour over the world feel that the days of large- towards the Kargil War in 1999 and the mil - predominant combat forces are employed to scale armour employment are over because itary standoff between india and Pakistan in PLUS lead the advance of offensive formations, to of the focus on low intensity operations. in 2001-02, after the attack on indian Parlia - Right hand Drive HMMWV 6 cut off enemy lines of communication or to india, due to the heightened employment of ment on december 13, 2001. occupy key terrain in enemy held area in the indian army in counter-insurgency and india in fact is facing a dual Interview: William Blair, President, 7 order to dislocate the enemy and destroy him other low-intensity operations in the past challenge/threat, in the western theatre Raytheon India at a time and place of own choosing. two decades or so, similar beliefs are held by from Pakistan and in the eastern theatre News in Brief 14 1/2012 SP’s LAND FORCES 1 >> COVER STORY PHOTOGRAPHS : US Army, Krauss Maffei Wegmann from China and these challenges/threats can - xxxxxxx to achieve it and the armour constitutes the not be ignored because of the dubious con - physical means and is indispensable in the duct of both adversaries and the obvious land battle. collusion between them. Survivability : another important by- the fallacy of the belief that conven - product of these characteristics is its “sur - tional conflicts are unlikely has also been vivability”, both on nuclear and non-nuclear amply highlighted in israeli conflict against battlefields. there is currently no other the Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006. david e. weapon system which can match the surviv - Johnson of rand Corporation took stock of ability of an aFV. However, a new battlefield the israeli response to the war in Lebanon, environment is emerging due to the advent in 2006, in a new monograph, military of stand-off, multi-spectral sensors with real Capabilities for Hybrid War: insights from time communications that give situational the israel defense Forces in Lebanon and awareness so that targets can be acquired, Gaza. He has written that the israeli defence prioritised and destroyed, by day or by night, forces (idF) had such difficulties with the in all weathers, throughout the battlefield, organised and well-trained Hezbollah forces with stand-off weapon systems firing preci - in part, because in the preceding years, the sion attack munitions. this threat will idF focused so much of its training on coun - extend throughout the area of operations. tering the irregular threat presented by Hence it is being pointed out by analysts that Hamas in Gaza. the idF focused roughly 75 indirect and stand-off engagements from per cent of training on “low-intensity con - aircraft, unmanned combat aerial vehicles flict” and only 25 per cent on combined (UCaVs) and long-range artillery can relieve arms and manoeuvre—a decision that had armour from the role of destroying enemy grave consequences in the valleys of south - M1A2 Abrams tank firing; combat elements at close quarters. more - ern Lebanon. this resulted in the israeli (below) KMW Leopard1 over, due to the high threat posed by the army’s lack of coordination in joint com - above systems, armoured forces may find it bined arms fire and manoeuvre. the idF difficult to close in with their intended objec - failed to properly integrate its air, ground, tives without neutralising the opponents and fires assets when encountering organ - deep attack systems. in this regard, the effec - ised Hezbollah units. after these, the idF tiveness of the US air power in destroying reversed its training ratio to focus more on iraqi armour that manoeuvred during a combined arms tactics, while scaling back sandstorm in order to meet the coalition on irregular skills. forces is often cited. as the coalition forces in view of the foregoing, there is a need closed in on Baghdad, iraq’s medina, Bagh - to discuss and debate the issue of employ - dad and Hammurabi divisions, counting on ment of armour in the future, in general the cover provided by the sandstorm, reposi - terms, in the indian context, so as to enable tioned them to meet the coalition forces. professionals to appreciate the future of JStarS and long-range UaVs detected the armour which could also result in some use - movement and guided B-1 and fighter- ful deductions regarding the design features bombers to intercept them. Using ir target - of future tanks. ing devices that could penetrate the clouds of sand, the aircraft inflicted severe damage Geographical Realities on iraqi armour. Will the aFV be able to sur - Fortunately, most of the senior hierarchy in vive such an environment in the future? this india’s armed forces is more pragmatic in question is bothering military professionals this regard keeping in mind our likely adver - and military analysts. saries, Pakistan and China, their equipment this dilemma in itself is not new. the pattern, and the geographical realities of the experience of employing armour in an area subcontinent. our borders with our two riddled with manportable anti-tank guided major adversaries comprise of varying ter - missiles was first endured during the Yom rain patterns. in the western theatre against Kippur War in 1973 and influenced military Pakistan, we have glaciated terrain in doctrines all over the world. But because in Siachen area, mountainous terrain in integrated theatre plan so that larger forces essential. it is here that a truly integrated essence it was an omni-dimensional threat, it Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, plains in comprising more than one strike corps can theatre would be very useful. the success in posed no significant problem. it was coun - Punjab and semi-desert and desert terrain in be employed synchronously from one the - this battle will depend upon the synergy and tered by a combination of technology [use of rajasthan.