July 2: The Indian Army plans to get combat air
assets, in the face of stiff opposition from the Indian Air Force (IAF), got a
boost on Monday as the Army Chief General Bikram Singh’s demand to build a ‘mini’
air force got an approval from Defence Minister AK Antony.
In his first review meeting with the Defence Minister the
General pushed for his force’s case to enhance its air combat capability, procurement
of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and improving the airlift capability in the
Northeastern region was high on agenda.
According to sources, General Singh’s demand for attack
helicopters and holding of UAVs received a positive response from the Ministry
of Defence in the meeting that reviewed the next two years of acquisition for
the 1.13 million-strong Army.
The Defence Minister asked the Army to bring about “organisation”
changes to expedite acquisition and prioritize its requirements.
As per plans the Indian Army envisages to have a squadron
each of attack/armed, reconnaissance and tactical battle-support helicopters
for each of its 13 Corps and the three strike corps headquartered at Mathura,
Ambala and Bhopal will get more air assets. In fact, the Army is scheduled to
get its first attack helicopter developed domestically Rudra soon. Rudra will
be armed with 20mm turrent guns, 70 mm rockets, air-to-air missiles and
anti-tank guided missiles.
Along with this the Army has plans to have at least five
fixed wings aircraft for each of its operational commands.
The IAF has been opposing the Army’s demand for air assets of
its own. At the root of the bitter wrangling is the IAF’s contention that air
assets being capital intensive are ‘scarce resources’ and it should be sole
repository of these as it has the operational expertise for rapid deployment.
But the Army contended that the IAF does not fully understand its strategies
and concepts like “close air support”. It asserts that while the IAF can
continue with the large role of defending the airspace of the country, the Army
should be given freedom to do tactical roles like supporting role in battle.
Bulwarking against
rising China
In the first review meeting the Defence Minister and the
General also discussed acquisition of the Indian Army for the next two years
keeping China in focus. Both reviewed the
“force accretion” and “infrastructure building” in the North-eastern region
along the Indo-China border.
The Army Chief appraised Antony about the Army’s plan to
increase troop deployment and enhancing the “airlift capability” in the region.
The lack of airlift capability has resulted
in delay in major construction projects in the area. Majority of road-projects
are running behind schedule.
With no integration between the various defence agencies , there will be one more syncronisation needed, after all a single enemy with 2 forces fighting it without knowing each other ould benefit the single enemy!
ReplyDeletePerhaps Retd Chief Tipnis should be thanked for this..after all when the Kargil scenario erupted, He the Then Chief wanted to play it safe and said' He will wait for the Army chief to come back from his trip to take a decision"' to respond to the attacks on India by the enemy...
Such statements from the chiefs only show that they acknowledge their own incompetence to make decisions required from the top!
Its!! beter!! we have!! singel!! unified comanding Officer in charge of!! 3 forces bellow!! president!! rather!! 1 officer each from #3 forces!! and make a office!! that would!! be above present top rank of any tri force!! it will help india!! vission less nehure Did!! division of!! army navy and!! airforce!! but!! we need to have vision!! or get ready!! to kill our self!! befor enemies arive
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