New Mahindra “LIGHT STRIKE VEHICLE” For special force


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Defence Land systems India has developed four-seater Light Strike Vehicle with their Global partner HDT Global USA. Designed and Developed for the special forces of Indian Army. It is to be deployed during the special surgical strike operations in a hostile environment.

The vehicle has a multi fuel 3.2 lit. 215 hp diesel engine, six speed automatic transmission and 4×4 transfer case fitted inside a custom designed rugged space frame chassis. It is capable of climbing over 30 degree gradient, 300 mm vertical obstacle, 45 degree side slope, crossing through 500 mm water and achieving over 120 Kmph speed.

The HDT Storm can drive on and drive off the aircraft without shoring. It can be fielded by low velocity aerial delivery airdrop or Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS) systems. It is fitted with a weapon system with 360° field of fire.

The LSV has a length of 4.9m, width of 2.03m and a height of 1.68m, while the wheel track is 2.02m. The vehicle has a curb weight of 1,960kg and gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 3,651kg. Storm can carry up to three litters and has a towing capacity of 3,855.5kg. The vehicle is equipped with a rollover protection system (ROP) to offer superior safety for the personnel.


New Mahindra "LIGHT STRIKE VEHICLE" For special force - Indian Defence News
 
Special Group aka 4 Vikas forms the elite Tier 1 Unit of Indian Armed Force which comes under foreign intelligence agency of India : RAW . Formed in 1977 by Maj Gen Vijay Kumar Sharma of 9 Para SF he commanded 4 VIKAS & 268 Inf Bde and was GOC 12 RAPID. He was Comdt, PRTC and served as IG Trg at HQ NSG, New Delhi.

Special Group was involved discreetly in every Theater of War India was involved in. They were first involved in Operation Sundown where they were tasked to abduct militant leader Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale from Guru Nanak Niwas, near Darbar Sahib Amritsar. The plans of Operation Sundown were finalized in December 1983 but it was withdrawn in April 1984 about two month before Operation Blue Star, in which Indian Army invaded Darbar Sahib Amritsar in June 1984 which again saw Special Group involved in it along with 1 Para SF of Indian Army.

Special Group also were part of Indian Peacekeeping Force in Sri Lanka where they did not gain much success. After the bloody IPKF days , both Special Group and IA's Para SF were involved in Counter-Insurgency and Anti-Terrorism Operations in Kashmir where foreign militants from Pakistan , Central Asia and even Chechen were involved.

Most of the Special Group Operations have been kept under wraps primarily due to the elite status of the unit and high-risk operations they do and are capable of. Special Group have been sighted in Kashmir during CI/CT Ops most probably for high-risk operations and others.
Special Group are a true "Special Operations Force" ( SOF ) built for Anti-Hijacking and Room Intervention Operations . Para SF or MARCOS on other hand are "Special Forces" which tend to be versatile in different types of operations ranging from jungle warfare , desert warfare to mountain warfare entrusted with different Para SF units.

Equivalent to CIA Special Activities Division aka SAD they are the India's finest fighters adept for clandestine operations and given the Tier 1 Status they are touted the "Rich Kids" of Cabinet Secretariat and are free to procure any weapons from the International Market not available with other units quite freely and are answerable only to the Cabinet Secretariat.

Some of the weapons they use are AKMS , Tavor , M4 Carbine , Steyr AUG , FN SCAR , FN P90 , Jerincho 941 as Side Arm and others.
In 2011 , when US Navy SEAL Team 6 killed Osama Bin Laden in Operation Neptune Spear , questions were aksed if any Indian unit are capable of such a secretive and deep strike operation in a hostile nation. Special Group might be such a unit which can undertake such an operation given the resources available to them and the capabilities they possess.
1st Pic : SG Operative in Kashmir

2nd Pic : Old School SG Operatives

3rd Pic : Maj Gen Vijay Kumar Sharma

Rest pics are of SG Operatives

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Credits : Indian Defence-Debate & Facts
 
Colt 9mm SMG with EOTech Holographic sight in service with OCTOPUS cdo of Andhra Pradesh

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Colt 9mm was developed around 1980s to supplement 9 x 19mm SMGs in various SWAT forces in the US,mostly H&K MP-5.
Colt Designers were overlooking compactness of 9mm parabellum in lieu of versatiliy of 5.56 x 45mm. Thus,when they finally realised even in era of automatic carbines,9 x 19mm still has a chance in law enforcement forces.they started developing a new 9mm SMG predominantly based on M16.

The main reason behind choosing M16 as base platform was mainly because of requirement - A large chunk of SWAT Commandos and other law enforcement staff in police forces there consisted of ex-military guys and combat veterans who had seen actual combat in many places
so having a gun that is ergonomically similar to their service rifle M16 would drastically cut training times on a new weapon.

Designers at colt, initially developed an Open Bolt Gun in M16 Shell with two safeties. One being conventional safety at fire selector,and other was Grip Safety,quite an Uzi type,to be honest.

This Open Bolt 9mm variant also took modified Uzi mags (since they were straight compared to curved magazines on MP-5,putting them on modified mag well won't be much difficult.Though early mags for MP-5 were straight as well,but ultimately they chose Uzi mags).

They faced some severe issues in very first variant of the gun such as Ejection on this one was quite violent and early variant SMG didn't have a case deflector. Recoil was comparatively violent,hence controllability issues and so.

That simple 'jugaad' of putting a Uzi mag on gun by a simple magazine insert 'adapter' thingy didn't perform so well and some jams occured.
They learned their lessons from this early prototype and realised a dedicated receiver and bolt carrier was needed for such gun.
In later variant,they prefered a closed bolt gun. Plus,they removed 9mm bolt and simplified Bolt Carrier to make it a complete blowback type design and instead of magazine insert,they designed a special lower receiver with its own unique trigger group (to rectify firing pin breaking issues) and removed that grip safety since it was creating stoppages.
This later version proved quite good SMG and these variant was adopted in many law enforcement agencies as well as military forces as 'Colt 9mm SMG'.




Some Plus of this gun :

+Accuracy was quite excellent
+Very Similar ergonomics to M16,so commonality in training
+Sights were also quite similar to M16
+Since this SMG was of simple blowback type closed bolt gun,reliability on this design was quite superior to other 9mm SMGs

but all things apart,greatest + of this gun was..

This SMG alone was able to fire many different types of 9mm Ammos without much issues. Operator can fire both normal,subsonic or low pressure cartridges and +P (High Pressurised) - all these major type of rounds in same gun.
Compared to MP-5 this 9MM SMG is quite superior gun,but still MP-5s are predominant in this caliber group because of their early inception and quite prolific numbers it is too hard to avoid the MP-5.

Colt still sells these 9mm SMGs,and current gen ones are modernised with P-Rails and other features. ^^Wish we had procured these 9MM SMGs instead of beretta MX4 storm with BSF ( though we tested it in trials and it supposedly failed ).
 
Know your Special Forces - Badges
Para Wings : This badge indicates that the operative is qualified to be Para-Dropped . This badge is earned after completion of Para Basic Course at Agra . This badge is sported above the name plate on right chest pocket.
ATGM Badge : This badge indicates that the operator is qualified to fire Anti-Tank Guided Missiles. This badge is earned after completion of Battalion Support Weapon Course. This qualifies the operator to destroy Tanks , Armoured Vehicles and Bunkers using Guided Weapons.
Combat Diver Badge : This badge signifies that the operative can undertake underwater operations in full combat load equipped with weapons and accessories which can help him undertake such operations. Through this the operator can undertake combat diving and perform variety of missions like demolitions , hydrographic survey , reconnaissance , and infiltration . It is earned at the Diving School, Kochi.
NSG-SAG Badge : The 'Trident with Wings' Badge indicate that the operative is from the Special Action Group of National Security Guard , the elite federal unit to conduct anti hijack operations, rescue operations and to provide tough support to the Central Para Military forces. The badge is earned after basic training at NSG Manesar which extends for 90 days where drop-out rates are high and probation is tough.
Balidan Badge : This badge indicates that the operative is from Indian Army elite Special Forces unit : Para SF. Only a select few from 1.3 million strong Indian Army get the chance to wear this coveted badge. The drop out rates are quite high and probation has been remarked to be one of the toughest in the world.

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Indian Special Forces Operators ( Special Group and Para SF probably ) going towards an encounter site. They are here armed with :
A. Instant Armor TAC III+ Level 3+ ballistic shield
B. TAR-21 with ITL MARS Red Dot Sight and STAR-21 with Trijicon 4x32 ACOG Scope
C. MKU Mukut Advanced Combat Helmets with clamp visors to mount Night Vision Goggles
D. New Plate Carriers
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Tikka T3x TAC-A1 (Tikka brand is owned & manufactured by Sako in Finland)


Nice rifle. I own a civilian version.

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What caliber is Indian getting? .308 or 6,5 Creedmoor? The 6,5 is better for long range, though a tad light for seal hunting, but outclasses the venerable .308 any day. I'm not sure if the Tikka T3x has the option of a .338 conversion though.