Line of Actual Control (LAC) : India & Tibet Border Updates

Depends on how you define "winning". In a single front war, for me, that would be walking into Beijing, or at least pushing the PLA out of Tibet. For someone else, it would be as much as taking back what we define as national borders. For some others, it would be a successful defence of our current positions.

In the first three cases, we are woefully inadequate. In the last, we can do that, possibly more than that.

In a two-front war, we can't defend adequately against China, while we are busy defeating Pakistan. So we can fight a two-front war, but whether we win it or not is up to a lot many factors that we are not privy too, including Ravi.
I think a very simple explanation is in order. Our winning a 2 front war as of now would comprise holding our own against both adversaries. As usual, you had to complicate it posing innumerable scenarios which both you, me & everyone else here realises is futile.


But the problem is he has decided we can't even take on Pakistan, let alone both, because he's decided the PA have parity with the IA. So the way he concludes his PoV is the problem. He's made it a straight-on numbers game, which is not what modern warfare is about.

We can take on Pakistan & us dictating terms to Pakistan as in 1971 are 2 different issues. FYI - we were fighting a defensive war against west Pakistan in 1971.

His WW1 analogy cannot be applied here. WW2 alone proves him wrong, since the Germans moved their troops to take away Poland, then moved West to defeat France and then moved East again to walk right up to Moscow. And modern warfare brings in new options that the Germans did not have in the 40s.

Was Poland equivalent to the Wehrmacht? Wasn't Poland also invaded by the USSR simultaneously? Aren't you aware of the Molotov Ribbentrop pact? Are you even aware of what you're talking of?


The capability to hit moving targets from standoff distances was introduced only this decade.

Read About dive bombing tactics.

I thought we were discussing moving targets.Suddenly you subtly change it to stand off munitions. This is precisely how you keep arguing your points shifting goal posts every time you realise in retrospect you've goofed up.

You have this tendency to conflate facts & conjectures , keep shifting goal posts & indulge in one upmanship. That's the reason why not many people engage you for the entire discussion goes into circular arguments & becomes a drag.

That's where the difference lies. The Pakistanis are unable to compete with us at the LoC itself.
Competing on the LoC & us retaking PoK are 2 different scenarios especially in a 2 front war where whether we can do so in a single front scenario is itself doubtful. While I'm of the opinion we can, I just happen to disagree with the kind of timeframe being mentioned here by Falcon. I believe he said less than 2 weeks.

He's dimissed the IAF, puts the PA on the same footing as the IA by only using numbers (no actual consideration to technology or logistics) and then hypothesises that it will take weeks or months to do something that a modern army does in hours or days. He's talking from the perspective of the 70s and the 80s, and all his arguments are built around those days, during the time when networking and precision weapons didn't exist. Using credentials as a crutch is useless when half our capabilities are simply dismissed.

Have you even read his book? What exactly are you referring to?

However I don't disagree entirely with what he's actually said in his book. That we need certain amount of numbers to get the job done and that we need a bigger defence budget. But I don't agree with what he's decided on where we need to spend the money on. For example, he focuses more on getting the infantry numbers up, whereas I'd prefer a greater focus on modernising our existing infantry instead. The Chinese, Americans, Russians, everybody are doing exactly the opposite of what Ravi wants done.
The other nations aren't facing a 2 front war with 2 N armed neighbors both of whom are existential threats & one of which has successfully tied us down in an LIC.

Ask @Falcon if you prefer.

Already have.He's of the same opinion with minor differences of opinion. All of which he's posted here


Such arguments are useless. You've made this argument because you can't support his views due to your own lack of understanding of what he's said. Since you lack arguments, you've resorted to ad-hominems, which is your typical MO.
So, we are expected to lay greater stock on a random upstart in a blog as opposed to a veteran commentator with credentials to boot, well respected by armed forces personnel both serving & retired on the matter. I can see why're you chickening out from confronting him.

He himself points out that his book is beyond the purview of logistics, something you have missed entirely. And that's where he defeats his own argument. He doesn't explain how we are going to support a 72-division force, how Pakistan supports a 25-division force or how the Chinese support a 12-division force. If he breaks down the logistics needed, he will come up with new numbers on his own.

I didn't see any such claim in his book. Which book are you referring to?


My argument is the army knows more than him. And they have chosen an orbat suitable for the job. I don't know how this simple train of thought escaped you.

Again, ask @Falcon. Not Ravi Rikhye.
I highly doubt whatever their PoV, they'd be candid about it in public. That's why we have informed commentators analyse it as opposed random upstarts with half baked knowledge & twice the" I know it all" attitude.
 
That's what he is saying. Doesn't Pakistan have A2G weapons, artillery, tactics, training & technology ?

Not enough since the 70s.

Why wouldn't China fund them to squeeze & trap us on Western Front ?

They can. But they haven't done a lot there. They can easily provide $10B in military aid every year and help them completely overmatch Indian spending. But if they do that, we may very well decide to take out Pakistan permanently, and that goes against their interest.

Ravi Rikhye proposes increasing our defence budget to 6% of the GDP, which is basically 40% of our total govt spending. That's a little less than $200B a year. It's definitely doable, but comes at a severe cost to our economy. So if the Chinese do end up funding the PA, then we can raise our defence budget to an extent that allows us to permanently deal with Pakistan a few years down the line. Post which the entire brunt of our economic and military weight will then focus on China exclusively, something the Chinese have no desire of facing.

Chinese funding will also open up Pandora's box, where Japan and US will start funding the militaries of Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia, which will destabilise the entirety of Southeast Asia. Everything that's said or done when it comes to foreign policy has repercussions. Read post 6484, diplomacy is not a gentleman's game.
 
Does India have chemical weapons ? Incase we are on the defensive, no harm in using them. Nuclear becomes too obvious but chemical weapons are borderline and effective.
Also what about napalm ? Are we suitably stocked.?
Reason for this is that the Chinese understand a good beating. They have kept the peace with the west because of the trauma of the 20th century at their hands. India needs to dish out the same to the bat eaters.
No quarters should be given.
 

Now that's how you talk to a bully.
I am liking this transformation.
We just have to keep pushing.
Before the winter takes its toll, we have to ensure we have the advantage over the Chinese in the area in terms of area we control and recover the land lost to salami slicing - where possible.

Flurry of such articles in MSM suggests that we are baiting China to attack us and Chinese are running out of time before winter comes. So either China mounts an offensive or retreat because current situation has put their assets directly under IA watch.
 
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Anyone can explain how come 5 height got captured without firing a single bullet. We are talking about minimum 300 PLA troops just step back. Any idea. And so close to the base PLA camp. Even 50 PLA soldier could have hold position against 500 of IA and can call for reinforcement from PLA camp in less than 1 hour.
 
Anyone can explain how come 5 height got captured without firing a single bullet. We are talking about minimum 300 PLA troops just step back. Any idea. And so close to the base PLA camp. Even 50 PLA soldier could have hold position against 500 of IA and can call for reinforcement from PLA camp in less than 1 hour.
Preemtive action and no use of the word "dislodge" should answer it.
 
There are a few weeks to proper winters. Lets see what China does. My guess is they will make their final move just before the onset of Winter.

Having said that, there was a reason both sides did not occupy the peaks previously. Holding them in winters will be a challenge.
 
I think a very simple explanation is in order. Our winning a 2 front war as of now would comprise holding our own against both adversaries. As usual, you had to complicate it posing innumerable scenarios which both you, me & everyone else here realises is futile.

Not at all. We are not playing the defensive game in a 2 front war. Our objective is to decimate the PA and then move our forces towards China. Once we have our forces moved towards China, whether we play defence or go on the offensive is up to the situation at hand.

We can take on Pakistan & us dictating terms to Pakistan as in 1971 are 2 different issues. FYI - we were fighting a defensive war against west Pakistan in 1971.

Read the above. Our plan was to take out East Pak, and then go on the offensive against the West.

Funnily even Ravi says this, but you seem to have dismissed it.

Read About dive bombing tactics.

The minute you said that you failed to understand the topic.

I thought we were discussing moving targets.Suddenly you subtly change it to stand off munitions. This is precisely how you keep arguing your points shifting goal posts every time you realise in retrospect you've goofed up.

The very topic was about killing enemies from beyond their ability to react. That's where precision weapons come into the picture.

The way you have taken it to mean, air forces had the capability to hit moving targets since WW1. No precision weapons involved here. Just spray and pray with a machine gun.

Today it's about taking out enemies long before their defences come into play. Take the Rafale for example. It comes with the Hammer, it has the ability to kill a moving target long before ground defences can even pick up the Rafale. Your example of dive bombing is no different from what could be done with a helicopter during the Vietnam War, and obviously not my point, since it was a very normal capability. The fighter jets during the Battle of Longewala also hit moving targets using 2nd generation technology. So it's obvious I'm not talking about this.

You do dive bombing today, right over your enemy, then you won't stop diving.

You have this tendency to conflate facts & conjectures , keep shifting goal posts & indulge in one upmanship. That's the reason why not many people engage you for the entire discussion goes into circular arguments & becomes a drag.

Not at all. Don't confuse your ignorance by pretending I'm making things up.

This is exactly what I said: Today A2G weapons and even artillery can hit moving targets.

Any reasonable person would have understood I am referring to modern precision weapons with standoff capability. And anyone who's had a history of reading my posts with me parrotting my points constantly knows I am referring to precision weapons, since I have never stopped discussing precision weapons every chance I get. So it's you who's incorrectly assuming things on your own. Don't pin this on me.

Competing on the LoC & us retaking PoK are 2 different scenarios especially in a 2 front war where whether we can do so in a single front scenario is itself doubtful. While I'm of the opinion we can, I just happen to disagree with the kind of timeframe being mentioned here by Falcon. I believe he said less than 2 weeks.

What he said is what the army believes, so does the air force. You are free to disagree with the army and air force.

Have you even read his book? What exactly are you referring to?

I am referring to how Ravi believes the numbers are necessary since he believes the air force is not going to do its part.

As for his unrealistic timeframe, read his twitter post you posted again and then read what you think Falcon posted.

The other nations aren't facing a 2 front war with 2 N armed neighbors both of whom are existential threats & one of which has successfully tied us down in an LIC.

Yeah...... I doubt you have the ability to relate what you said here with what I've said.

Already have.He's of the same opinion with minor differences of opinion. All of which he's posted here

It that so? Really? Ask again.

Ravi thinks we need months to defeat Pak, while Falcon says we need a week or two. So that's a minor difference of opinion, eh?

So, we are expected to lay greater stock on a random upstart in a blog as opposed to a veteran commentator with credentials to boot, well respected by armed forces personnel both serving & retired on the matter. I can see why're you chickening out from confronting him.

What's there to confront about? He himself says he's not paid too much attention to logistics.

And he's also suggested he's not considered the air force to be of significant use either. He's basically even dismissed the air force's role in CAS, by saying the air force won't support the army's offensive in any major way. He literally made only 1 minor attempt to create an orbat for CAS and then said the IAF won't do it anyway, so he won't bother with it.

He basically puts up China-Pak orbat in numbers, and then puts up a massive 72-division requirement for the IA to defeat both forces. His work is indeed impressive, but it's not a real world analysis, probably why it was even allowed to be published. IIRC he claims we need 40-50 divisions against Pakistan and 20+ divisions against China. And the way he did it is by calculating the length of the front and then putting up a division for every 40Km or so for the Pakistan front. And then creating a massive reserve force to follow up on the work of the frontline forces.

His entire premise is the IA has to fight alone, hence it needs such numbers. Who on earth can agree to such an analysis? The entire army is of the opinion that their entire division to brigade reorganisation will fail without air force support. Completely in antithesis to what Ravi claims.

I didn't see any such claim in his book. Which book are you referring to?


There's no real mention of logistics anywhere in the book. In fact, I read his book to understand what his views were on logistics. But it was literally a zero there. All he talks about is by giving some examples of roads and rail and some general numbers. Not even worth a paragraph. Hence no analysis of logistics at all.

I highly doubt whatever their PoV, they'd be candid about it in public. That's why we have informed commentators analyse it as opposed random upstarts with half baked knowledge & twice the" I know it all" attitude.

LOL!!! The existing orbat of the army versus a civilian analyst who himself claims readers should take his book with a pinch of salt.

His entire book is based on the assumption that the army is wrong and he is right. Hence why he himself doesn't agree with the army's assessment. So... :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
 
Anyone can explain how come 5 height got captured without firing a single bullet. We are talking about minimum 300 PLA troops just step back. Any idea. And so close to the base PLA camp. Even 50 PLA soldier could have hold position against 500 of IA and can call for reinforcement from PLA camp in less than 1 hour.

The heights were unoccupied. So I figure the Chinese were attempting to make their way towards the south bank of Pangong Tso that's on their side of the LAC. This position would have allowed them to see across the lake towards the Finger areas in the north. But by taking over Helmet and Black Top, we basically took control of the road that goes to the south bank, since the mountains overlook the road, which must have forced the Chinese back since the position became untenable.

@Falcon @vstol Jockey
 
Glad that it has been proven on the ground and wasn't mere lip service.

The real litmus test will be what we do on our west, once the problem in the east has stabilised. At least certain people must have been experiencing chronic insomnia the last few days.


Well, west may try to do the master's bidding. I am looking at a possible Chinese action, if at all, around three places - HP-Western Utaarakhand, Chumbi Valley-Dokalam and Arunachal Pradesh.

My musing lead me to concentrate on the Sugar Sector primarily because they can always prod the Pakistanis to move into the Chicken Neck area, where we have, traditionally, found ourselves up the proverbial creek. The pressure can be tremendous if both achieve initial breakthroughs and successes.

Of course, I will ignore the fact that Sugar Sector is a Hornet's nest for the PLA. Reasons are not for publication.
 
He is still in the pre-information age. WW1 was in a completely different time. Tactics, training and technology were completely different.

And then, he's decided to neglect the capabilities of the IAF entirely. Today A2G weapons and even artillery can hit moving targets.

Finally he's not considered logistics, which is quite surprising. And the fact that the supply chain can also be bombed, like what happened during Kargil.


I doubt it is even him who is writing.

He never writes anything seriously .... there is a certain style to his writing.

You would know if you had followed his blog orbat.com and different iterations of it ... :)