Indian Army : Updates & Discussions

Battle groups to boost force: Army Chief

Posted: Jan 04, 2020, 06:55 AM (IST)
By Ajay Banerjee
1578766683287.png

‘Need to be resolute, not aggressive with China’

  • Meeting a group of journalists, the Army Chief said, “with China we have to be firm in our resolve. We don’t have to be aggressive”
  • On nuclear weapons, he literally called the bluff of the neighbour. He said the nuclear weapons had been good deterrence, but their role ends with that only
  • On Balakot airstrike, he said it signalled that terrorist camps and infrastructure could be taken out anywhere

The Army’s review of its cadre — to decide on strength of officers, pace of promotions and level of ranks — is linked to the outcome of the Integrated Battle Groups (IBGs) which has been proposed to the government, the newly appointed Army Chief Gen MM Naravane told The Tribune on Friday evening.

The last cadre review was conducted in 1984. The recommendations of the Ajai Vikram Singh Committee for reducing age profile of commanding officers by two years following the Kargil war in 1999 had resulted in an increase in higher designations. The Second Administrative Reforms Commission had also suggested periodic review of the cadre.

“A committee is looking into cadre review, but its outcome will depend on the IBGs,” said the Army Chief, adding that the approval for the integrated groups was awaited. “After the approval, it would take two years to set up an IBG,” the Army Chief said.

The IBG is the biggest restructuring of the Army’s offensive capabilities since the ‘Cold Start doctrine’ was drafted after the Operation Parakaram in 2001. It will involve integration of existing elements of infantry, tank regiments, artillery, UAVs, engineers and signals.

The IBG is expected to bring a significant operational change in the Army. The Army has carried out two field tests — one under 9 Corps in the Pathankot sector and the other in the Northeast using the mountain strike corps.

On the issue of the opening avenues for soldiers, General Naravane said training was being given to young jawans who wanted to appear for test to become officers. “We will not lower the selection standard, but are providing them Services Selection Board-level education to take the test and have more opportunities. There is an age limit,” he said.

On being asked if any changes were being considered in policies for grading officers, the Army Chief said, “Every evaluation system has to work. We are keeping an eye on sudden increase or decrease of grading by the seniors.”

On taxing pensions of disabled soldiers, the General said “The matter is with the Ministry of Defence.”

Battle groups to boost force: Army Chief
 
Integrated Battle Groups Concept Being Given Shape In 17 Corps: Army Commander

Thursday, January 16, 2020
Arjun_Main_Battle_Tank_MBT_3.jpg


"To meet the current challenges in the northern borders, we are organising ourselves in the form of integrated battle groups," Lt Gen Chauhan, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command said. "What we are looking at is the organisation of formations which are more deployable, more employable and more capable to perform the tasks," he said

KOLKATA: The concept of Integrated Battle Groups (IBG) is being given shape in the newly-raised 17 Corps to meet the current challenges in the northern borders, Eastern Command chief Lt Gen Anil Chauhan said on Wednesday.

He said the Army has done a few exercises to validate the concept of IBGs as to what should be the organisation and structure of it, which the 17 Corps, the country's first Mountain Strike Corps, performed.

The 17 Corps carried out 'Him-Vijay', a mega exercise at a height of around 15,000 ft in Arunachal Pradesh in October last year.

"To meet the current challenges in the northern borders, we are organising ourselves in the form of integrated battle groups," Lieutenant General Chauhan, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command, told reporters.

"What we are looking at is the organisation of formations which are more deployable, more employable and more capable to perform the tasks," he said.

Chauhan said that the Indian Army structures are more a legacy of the British Army and they were probably organised to fight in the longest kind of wars in distant lands.

To meet the present day challenges and take care of India's Geo-Strategic needs, the first reorganisation was carried out in the 1980s when the infantry division, which contains combat and logistic support elements, was reorganised into a rapid division, that included some portions of mechanised infantry.

Following a status quo thereafter, the Army has again embarked upon reorganising its formations, he said after a solemn wreath laying ceremony on Army Day at the Eastern Command headquarter, Fort William, here.

"We are looking at 17 Corps primarily in the initial phases, we have done some exercises to validate this concept of IBGs - what should be the organisation, structure and that has been done," he said.

Chauhan said that as far as the operational situation is concerned, the northern border has remained quiet last year due to the Wuhan summit of April, 2018 and the Chennai summit in October, 2019.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first informal summit in Wuhan to exchange views on issues of bilateral and global importance and reviewed developments in India-China relations from the strategic and long-term perspective.

They held their second informal summit in Chennai where they exchanged views on outstanding issues, including on the boundary question.

"Peace is being maintained without compromising our legitimate claims or position at the Line of Actual Control (LAC)," the Eastern Command chief said.

India shares nearly 4,000-km-long border with China in the north.

Troops of India and China were locked in a 73-day standoff in Doklam from June 16, 2017 after the Indian side stopped building of a road in the area by the Chinese Army. The face-off ended on August 28.

Integrated battle groups concept being given shape in 17 Corps: Army commander
 
Army stocking up munitions for 40-day war

Rajat Pandit | TNN | Updated: Jan 27, 2020, 11:35 IST
1580127241143.png

Army is slowly stocking up ammunition for 40-day war. Representative Image.

NEW DELHI: The 13-lakh strong Army is now slowly but steadily building its ammunition stocks ranging from rockets and missiles to high-caliber tank and artillery shells to ensure it can comfortably fight a full-blown war for over 10 days, with the eventual aim to have adequate stockpiles in place to last 40 days.

Defence ministry sources say all the different types of ammunition for the Army will be built up to “10(I) levels”, which mean adequate stocks to undertake 10 days of “intensive” full-spectrum fighting, by 2022-2023, as per the latest assessment.

This, of course, does not mean the Army is not operationally ready for war as of now. “It is, especially on the western front. But ammunition reserves have to be built keeping both Pakistan and China in mind,” said a source.

The “earlier huge deficiencies” in several types of “critical” ammunition have already been “substantially plugged”, with more supplies in the pipeline under the 24 contracts (19 with foreign arms companies) worth Rs 12,890 crore inked for the Army.

“The next target will be to gradually achieve 40(I) levels after some major rationalisation because not all types of ammunition are needed in such large numbers. Holding large reserves is neither economically nor logistically feasible,” said the source.

The MoD is also in the process of contracting the domestic private sector to manufacture with foreign collaboration eight different types of tank, artillery and infantry ammunition worth around Rs 1,700 crore per year for a decade from 2022-2023 onwards.

Over the last several years, at least since 2012, TOI has repeatedly reported the Army was fast running out of ammunition, with tanks and air defence units, artillery batteries and infantry soldiers all facing the crunch under the hugely depleted war wastage reserves (WWR). Successive parliamentary and CAG reports have also underscored the critical operational deficiency.

But it took the Uri terror attack in September 2016 for the government to swing into action and delegate financial powers to the Army, Navy and IAF for “emergency and critical 10(I) contracts” after finding that the armed forces simply did not have enough ammunition stocks for a prolonged full-fledged war.

Since then, contracts worth over Rs 24,000 crore for ammunition, spares, engines and other reserves have been inked for the three Services. The Army, for instance, is getting Smerch rockets, Konkurs anti-tank guided missiles, 125mm APFSDS (armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot) ammunition for its T-90S and T-72 tanks and other ammunition under the 19 contracts inked mainly with Russian and some other foreign companies.

The defence ministry is also working to improve the functioning and quality control of the 41 factories under the state-owned Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), which supplies around 90 of the total 163 types of ammunition used by the Army.

This came after the Army sounded the alarm about the unacceptably high number of accidents taking place due to the defective quality of ammunition being supplied for tanks, artillery, air defence and other guns by the OFB as well as the huge slippages in supply, as was reported by TOI in May last year.

Just last month, the CAG had again slammed the OFB for compromising operational military readiness by failing to meet “a significant quantity” of the Army’s requirements as well as supplying defective fuses leading to multiple accidents.

The Army, on its part, wants accountability to be fixed on those responsible for faulty quality checks and defective ammunition, which are leading to frequent accidents during firings of 105mm Indian field guns, 105mm light field guns, 130mm MA1 medium guns, 40mm L-70 air defence guns as well as the main guns of the T-72, T-90 and Arjun main-battle tanks.

Army stocking up munitions for 40-day war | India News - Times of India
 
‘Tel Aviv completes Spike missiles supply to New Delhi’

ANI, Feb 05 2020.
1580959597371.png


Israel completed the supply of the Spike Long Range (LR) Anti Tank guided missiles (AGTM) to India within three months of the order, Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems’ India Head, Eli Hefets, said on Wednesday. India had placed an order for the missiles post-Balakot operations to strengthen its capabilities vis-a-vis Pakistan and has also started deploying them on the line of Control with Pakistan.

“We have completed the supply of the Spike-LR anti-tank guided missiles under the fast track procedure where the systems had to be delivered within three months of the order,” Eli Hefets, India Head of Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, told ANI. Over 200 of the Spike missiles and their launchers have been procured from Israel by the Indian Army to meet its emergency requirements. The missiles which are supposed to be mainly used for anti-tank operations can also be used for destroying hardened shelters or bunkers which may be hiding terrorists.

Spike LR ATGM system is a man-portable 4th Generation system which can engage targets in both FireForget and Fire, Observe and Update mode, thus enhancing the operational flexibility and crew survivability.

Israel, Germany, Spain are among the other users of the 4th Generation Spike LR ATGM system. As per available inputs in open source, China has developed a 3rd Generation ATGM System while Pakistan does not have such a capability yet.

The Spike missiles were acquired by the Indian Army through the emergency procurement route after the Balakot aerial strikes against the Pakistan-based terrorist groups.

The missiles from Israel have been procured as a stop-gap arrangement till the time the DRDO-developed Man-Portable Anti Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM) gets ready for induction into the service.

Tel Aviv completes Spike missiles supply to New Delhi: Rafael India head
 
We should have signed the deal with Israelis for the bigger order and then simultaneously developed our own atgm's. The work being done by bdl is too slow. And the government hasn't even made any noises regarding the signing of the deal for the Indian atgm's
 
There is no need for trials, army will take it, they are just doing formalities to show that they did trials and it passed all parameters. It's imported maal they will take it. If it is built at home then they will raise questions.
Saashtaang gurujan. Yahaan mile, oopar nahin milna!!
 
Indian Army’s plan to allow private contractors for workshops faces resistance

Officials who are opposed to the move have claimed that it could increase the cost and that private companies in India didn’t have the skills to carry out this work. The model will also deplete the army’s capabilities built over years to overhauling military equipment.

By Shaurya Karanbir Gurung, ET Bureau | Updated: Mar 04, 2020, 12.29 PM IST
1583557721610.png

The eight base workshops established during World War II in different states are meant to keep the army operationally ready at all times.

NEW DELHI: A project to bring in private firms to operate the Indian Army’s workshops is facing resistance from its officials.

Under the proposed Government-Owned Contractor-Operated (GOCO) model, private contractors were to operate the army’s base workshops that repair and overhaul equipment from guns and vehicles to tanks and helicopters.

Officials who are opposed to the move have claimed that it could increase the cost and that private companies in India didn’t have the skills to carry out this work. The model will also deplete the army’s capabilities built over years to overhaul equipment, they have said.

The matter has been raised with the army top brass against the implementation of the GOCO model, officials said, adding that it needs to be reviewed.

Those supporting the model, however, say privatisation was important. They army then doesn’t have to run workshops in remote areas and this is a way of reducing administrative flab, they said.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, which in January was selected as a consultant and attract private players for the project, has submitted a report to the army, officials said.

The army and the defence ministry didn’t respond until press time Tuesday to emails seeking comment. PwC said it didn’t want to comment.

The eight base workshops established during World War II in different states are meant to keep the army operationally ready at all times. The proposed GOCO model would allow the contractors to use army’s infrastructure and manpower to carry out repair and overhaul work. Under it, the contractor would be responsible for the daily operations of the workshops, sourcing of spares and meeting targets, while the ownership of the workshops would remain with the army.

Private firms are pushing for bringing in their own manpower, citing requirements of a younger and technically more qualified workforce, said an official. “Nobody in the country can do what the army personnel at the workshops can do. They can strip a tank to the bare minimum for overhauling it, right to the nuts and bolts. We have the experience, which the private sector does not,” the official added. Officials also fear private operators to poach serving officers to manage the facilities.

PwC has given several examples of countries like the US operating similar models with high-tech infrastructure and suggested that these could be replicated here as well, officials said. PwC also gave examples of assembly lines run by Indian private companies and suggested that the workshops could be revamped on similar lines. However, army officials told the consultancy firm that it wouldn’t be possible to have a similar setup like the US because of the limited budget and that there was no requirement of establishing additional infrastructure, as the existing machinery was enough to meet the requirements.

During interactions with the army, private players had pushed for changing the infrastructure at the workshops, the officials said. “If the GOCO model is implemented, the private contractors will replace all infrastructure. The cost of the additional infrastructure will be added to the annual production cost. It will be a costly affair,” one of them said.

The GOCO model is based on the recommendations of a committee headed by Lt Gen (Retd) DB Shekatkar to enhance combat capability of the army and reduce defence expenditure. When it was mooted, it was decided that private firms will not have to invest in land, infrastructure, machinery and manpower.

A question being raised from within the army is whether private firms were capable of providing critical spares for equipment such as tanks. A reason why the GOCO model is being implemented is because questions had been raised about the army’s capability to timely repair and overhaul its equipment. Officials said while the army was capable of meeting targets, the delay was caused by the Heavy Vehicle Factory of the Ordnance Factory Board in Avadi, Tamil Nadu, not providing adequate spares on time.

The Ordnance Factory Board didn’t respond to an email seeing comment until press time Tuesday.

Officials also said private companies were interested only in the workshops that handled major equipment such as tanks, because the revenue generation opportunity was more. “An overhaul cost of a tank is Rs 8-9 crore,” an official said.

Indian Army’s plan to allow private contractors for workshops faces resistance - The Economic Times
 
I will request everyone to go through this twitter post timeline

I have previously on numerous occasions mentioned chronic corruption in army top hierarchy , mentioned how TSD was destroyed by a corrupt ex chief of Indian defence intelligence agency ( DIA ) . imagine the horror .

How a serving asstt DGMO ( director general military operations ) ( it was either asstt DGMO or DGMO, will confirm later ) was passing secrets to isi and was fortunately caught red handed. DGMO office is the brains of Indian army , so imagine lakhs of of our troops being put at risk. Our troops would have been slaughtered in the event of a war.


Also Kunal kamra MC from India Today, father an ex general did his best to surrender Siachen to por........ in cahoots with Congress untill a serving general from northern command threatened to go public

And this is not the end there are many so called " coterie " of generals who for selfish interests risks the security of the nation. They delay indigenous equipment procurement , leak misinformation on indigenous systems to presstitides. One such powerful coterie is in armoured core. Hint why arjun trials was sabotaged .

Even after retirement such generals use their status to become presstitudes for hire to Indian and foreign media such for money , pus*ey and black labels.

In out country politicians are worst in corruption but they come for 5 years and are under scrutiny . But the generals and bureaucrats they are literally untouchable and are equally corrupt and more dangerous



By the way note the info from Wikileaks which say shekhar coupta MC is the front man for a foreign intelligence agency.
 

@Falcon

How many posts are vulnerable enough to need this system, if you can tell us? At the very least are we talking about dozens or hundreds?

My estimate is, if we consider there's a post every 300m along the 740Km long LoC, then we are talking about at least 2500 posts. And with just 10% being vulnerable, we are talking about 250 AK-630Ms, without counting reserves. The contract could go into billions of dollars worth.
Indian Army’s plan to allow private contractors for workshops faces resistance

Officials who are opposed to the move have claimed that it could increase the cost and that private companies in India didn’t have the skills to carry out this work. The model will also deplete the army’s capabilities built over years to overhauling military equipment.

By Shaurya Karanbir Gurung, ET Bureau | Updated: Mar 04, 2020, 12.29 PM IST
View attachment 14540
The eight base workshops established during World War II in different states are meant to keep the army operationally ready at all times.

NEW DELHI: A project to bring in private firms to operate the Indian Army’s workshops is facing resistance from its officials.

Under the proposed Government-Owned Contractor-Operated (GOCO) model, private contractors were to operate the army’s base workshops that repair and overhaul equipment from guns and vehicles to tanks and helicopters.

Officials who are opposed to the move have claimed that it could increase the cost and that private companies in India didn’t have the skills to carry out this work. The model will also deplete the army’s capabilities built over years to overhaul equipment, they have said.

The matter has been raised with the army top brass against the implementation of the GOCO model, officials said, adding that it needs to be reviewed.

Those supporting the model, however, say privatisation was important. They army then doesn’t have to run workshops in remote areas and this is a way of reducing administrative flab, they said.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, which in January was selected as a consultant and attract private players for the project, has submitted a report to the army, officials said.

The army and the defence ministry didn’t respond until press time Tuesday to emails seeking comment. PwC said it didn’t want to comment.

The eight base workshops established during World War II in different states are meant to keep the army operationally ready at all times. The proposed GOCO model would allow the contractors to use army’s infrastructure and manpower to carry out repair and overhaul work. Under it, the contractor would be responsible for the daily operations of the workshops, sourcing of spares and meeting targets, while the ownership of the workshops would remain with the army.

Private firms are pushing for bringing in their own manpower, citing requirements of a younger and technically more qualified workforce, said an official. “Nobody in the country can do what the army personnel at the workshops can do. They can strip a tank to the bare minimum for overhauling it, right to the nuts and bolts. We have the experience, which the private sector does not,” the official added. Officials also fear private operators to poach serving officers to manage the facilities.

PwC has given several examples of countries like the US operating similar models with high-tech infrastructure and suggested that these could be replicated here as well, officials said. PwC also gave examples of assembly lines run by Indian private companies and suggested that the workshops could be revamped on similar lines. However, army officials told the consultancy firm that it wouldn’t be possible to have a similar setup like the US because of the limited budget and that there was no requirement of establishing additional infrastructure, as the existing machinery was enough to meet the requirements.

During interactions with the army, private players had pushed for changing the infrastructure at the workshops, the officials said. “If the GOCO model is implemented, the private contractors will replace all infrastructure. The cost of the additional infrastructure will be added to the annual production cost. It will be a costly affair,” one of them said.

The GOCO model is based on the recommendations of a committee headed by Lt Gen (Retd) DB Shekatkar to enhance combat capability of the army and reduce defence expenditure. When it was mooted, it was decided that private firms will not have to invest in land, infrastructure, machinery and manpower.

A question being raised from within the army is whether private firms were capable of providing critical spares for equipment such as tanks. A reason why the GOCO model is being implemented is because questions had been raised about the army’s capability to timely repair and overhaul its equipment. Officials said while the army was capable of meeting targets, the delay was caused by the Heavy Vehicle Factory of the Ordnance Factory Board in Avadi, Tamil Nadu, not providing adequate spares on time.

The Ordnance Factory Board didn’t respond to an email seeing comment until press time Tuesday.

Officials also said private companies were interested only in the workshops that handled major equipment such as tanks, because the revenue generation opportunity was more. “An overhaul cost of a tank is Rs 8-9 crore,” an official said.

Indian Army’s plan to allow private contractors for workshops faces resistance - The Economic Times

More like, it will bring an end to corruption if the private sector enters this sector. That's why some of these people do not want them in.

Overhauling a tank is easy-peasy for the private sector. What the army took decades to learn, the private sector will do it in 1 year.