SP's Land Forces Issue 2 - 2017

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In This Issue Page 3

illustration: Anoop Kamath

Cyber War — Where Are We?

China’s cyber warfare strategy focuses on controlling the information systems of the adversary during critical periods of confrontation and this is how China plans to negate superior US technology and obtain advantage in the physical battlefield.

Lt General P.C. Katoch (Retd) Page 5 Assault Weapons – More Lethal The modern assault rifle is an appropriate example of an ‘assault weapon’ as defined originally but currently with new technologies the assault weapon such as an assault rifle has become far more lethal than what was imagined earlier.

Lt General V.K. Kapoor (Retd) Page 6 CPEC – China’s Sinew for ‘Great Power’ Status China has unambiguously signalled in recent times that it wants to block India’s rise; not only has she been unrelenting in thwarting India at successive international forums, she supports Pakistan’s anti-India jihad.

Lt General P.C. Katoch (Retd) Page 7 Armed Forces Special Powers Act in J&K The AFSPA was carefully drafted in 1958 to equip the forces with legal powers to respond swiftly and without encumbrance in counter-insurgency situations. The AFSPA was extended to J&K in 1990, where even the CrPC is not applicable.

Death by a Thousand Clicks: Online Terrorism

Lt General V.K. Kapoor (Retd) Page 9 IDEF Turkey to Showcase Cutting-edge Technology Over the years, it has been growing in stature and size and this time it has attracted nearly 600 exhibitors from across the world.

R. Chandrakanth

 Lt General (Dr) Rajesh Pant (Retd)

Plus Army Commanders’ Conference: Need to Push Modernisation and Inclusive HR Policies

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SP’s Correspondent News in Brief

At an average about 4,00,000 cyber attacks take place daily over the Internet, which originate from either cyber criminals, hacktivists, terrorists or government agencies

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n March 2017, the Indian antiterrorist force (ATF) raided a house in Lucknow and killed Saifullah, head of an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) sleeper cell. Surprisingly, the terrorist had never ventured out of the country but was radicalised through the Internet.

Bangladeshi authorities were astonished to find that the terrorists involved in the Holey Artisan Bakery attack in Dhaka were not radicalised in madrasas but were Internet savvy and educated in top schools of the nation.

Three sisters aged 15, 16 and 17 went missing from their home in Denver, Colorado, United States. On investigation the police discovered that they had received step by step instructions through the Internet on how to provide direct support to ISIS. Fortunately the three were apprehended in Germany while they were boarding a flight to Syria.

The International Law Commission of the United Nations defines ‘Terrorism’ as the use of intentionally indiscriminate violence as a means to create terror or fear, in order to achieve a political, religious or ideological aim.

While all these years it was felt that violence can only be created through physical means, the cyber attack which crippled the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran shook the world out of its stupor. And presently a growing trend in the cyber domain pertains to the misuse of the Internet in promoting this dark world of terrorism. At an average about 4,00,000 cyber attacks take place daily over the Internet, which originate from either cyber criminals, hacktivists, terrorists or government agencies.

While cyber criminals cater for almost 98 per cent of these attacks, the issue of concern is the methodical manner in which

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In the recent past we have seen a number of warnings issued

by China voicing her annoyance on the Dalai Lama’s visit to Tawang in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. On April 5, China gave a stiff warning that it would take “necessary measures” to defend its territorial sovereignty after India allowed the Dalai Lama to visit Tawang and other disputed parts of Arunachal Pradesh.

They said this was a move that could cause “serious damage” to the bilateral ties. Simultaneously China also lodged a protest with India’s Ambassador in Beijing, Vijay Gokhale, over the Dalai Lama’s visit.

The historical fact is that full statehood was granted to Arunachal Pradesh on February 20, 1987 when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister and it became the 25th State of the Union of India. Area-wise, Arunachal Pradesh is the largest state of the NE region of India.

Since 1962 Indo-China war, China considers Arunachal Pradesh as ‘disputed territory’ and leaves no opportunity to lay its claim on the land. India, in the past, had cancelled the permission to the Buddhist leader to visit Arunachal Pradesh. But this time the Modi Government allowed the Dalai Lama to travel to Arunachal Pradesh, especially Tawang Monastery considered important for the Buddhists.

Chinese objections regarding the Dalai Lama’s Arunachal

Pradesh visit seem to be the result of an apprehension on the impact on the people of Tibet.

China had forcibly occupied Tibet since 1959 and the Dalai Lama had taken refuge in India with his followers. But there have been movements going on to free Tibet from the Chinese slavery and hence the apprehension and sensitivity of China.

India and China have been negotiating to resolve the border dispute for more than 20 years but an agreement is yet to be reached. The dispute covers the 3,488-km line of actual control (LAC). China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of south Tibet. The region of Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh was also the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama, further complicating China’s ongoing conflict over Tibet.

From the above actions and reactions it is obvious that the Dalai Lama’s Tawang visit among other places in Arunachal has rattled China. The intensity of China’s reaction this time is indeed surprising considering that it has been deliberately dragging its feet in resolving the border dispute along the line of actual control (LAC) and has not even exchanged maps to clarify their perception of the LAC. The strident notes emerging from the state-controlled media in China have been the centre point of many debates and discussions in India and some of the reasons attributed to the strong Chinese reaction to the Dalai Lama’s visit this time are: l The emergence of a nationalistic right-wing government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi which seems to be getting politically stronger by the day especially after BJP’s win in the Uttar Pradesh state elections. Under Modi the nation is bound to become stronger in all respects and thus perhaps have a more dominating

terrorists are using the Internet for radicalisation, recruitment and in some extreme cases even terrorist activities.

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Recruitment and Radicalisation The sophistication with which online literature is being created for radicalisation by terrorist organisations clearly outshines the counter propaganda being done by the government. Take a look at the ePublication called Dabiq which is published by the Islamic State. Dabiq is a town in northern Syria; there exists a tradition that this will be the site of a final battle between the forces of Islam and the forces of ‘Rome’, which ISIS interprets to mean the forces of Christianity and/or America, where they will achieve final victory. Dabiq is an online magazine used by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) for propaganda and recruitment. It was first published in July 2014 in a number of different languages including English. Dabiq itself states that the magazine is for the purposes of unitarianism, truth-seeking, migration, holy war and community.

The battle of online publications is a battle of ideas between the radicals and the moderates, and how convincingly their views are presented. It also depends on

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presence in the region which is worrying China. l The unpredictability of President Donald Trump’s China policy and its impact on One China policy with respect to Taiwan and Tibet. l The perceived political closeness that may develop between India and the US under the Trump’s regime. l The sensitivity of China towards Tibet and the impact that the high profile visit of the Dalai Lama, covered by the international media, may have on the people of Tibet who have been subjugated by China.

Case of Kulbhushan Jadhav Another issue which has made headlines recently, is the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav former Commander of the Indian Navy who has been arrested by Pakistan from Balochistan province, as declared by them, on March 25, 2016, and on April 10, 2017, the Pakistan’s army said that Jadhav was convicted by a military tribunal for espionage and sabotage and sentenced to death. A statement by the Pakistani military’s publicity wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said Jadhav was declared guilty of waging war against the country and has accused him of being an officer of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s external spy agency.

Pakistan Army had also released a “confessional video” of Jadhav who is purportedly heard saying that he was serving the Indian Navy. In the video, Jadhav allegedly says he arrived in Iran in 2003 and started a small business in Chahbahar.

India, on the other hand, maintains that he is a businessman who was abducted from Iran and falsely implicated as a spy to discredit India.

Indian Parliament has shown

the number of publications being put out on the Internet. As of now, if Daesh puts out 10 videos, there is only one counter from the side of the government. Hence the chances of hitting a terrorism inspiring video are today better, and one has to acknowledge that these terrorist organisations have been able to market their literature better on the Internet. In fact even the quality of their publications is very impressive and it appears that they are employing

While cyber criminals cater for almost 98 per cent of these attacks, the issue of concern is the methodical manner in which terrorists are using the Internet for radicalisation, recruitment and in some extreme cases even terrorist activities

a rare solidarity in raising its voice against the manner in which Pakistan has handled the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav. The Government of India has said that if the sentence “is carried out, the government and people of India will regard it as an case of premeditated murder”, it said.

While many discussions and debates have been held in the TV studios regarding India’s options, the one thing that is clear is that most analysts feel that India under Prime Minister Modi cannot be trifled with and it is quite possible that if the death sentence of Jadhav is carried out, the consequences for Pakistan will be severe.

Stone-pelting in Kashmir A rather unique situation facing the country is the restlessness of the youth in the Kashmir valley. Stone-pelting has become a way of life in the valley where the youth take to pelting stones at the security forces, without any provocation. The recent case of Farooq Ahmed Dar tied to a jeep went viral in the social media and many objected to the tactics adopted by the Army.

The critics sitting in Delhi have no other work except to pick up an issue which would give them some TV coverage. This includes some from our veteran community and most of us are genuinely ashamed of these people. What is perturbing is shouting match which ensues and our veterans are at the forefront not realising the distasteful spectacle being exhibited.

The incident pertains to the mob of stone-pelters who had gathered at the police booth at Budgam which was attacked on April 9. The mob was throwing stones at the Indo-Tibet Border Police (ITBP) and Jammu and Kashmir Police to prevent voters from casting their votes. The ITBP personnel on duty realised

the services of highly creative and professional cadres. This is also a silent and safe form of support to the terrorist ideology.

Imagine an old teacher who wishes to contribute towards such an organisation — well what better than write instigating literature being published online by someone else or help create a YouTube video in which the impact is made in the first few seconds. This is how unsuspecting, pliable and fallible young persons are being recruited around the world.

To promote terrorism, Pakistan has created about 17,000 fake social media websites in order to influence youth in Kashmir as well as other young minds. Some web service providers like Cloudflare and Limestone are also being used by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) as a means of providing training workshops and also for recruiting youth.

Ransomware The technique of Ransomware is another creation of the devilish minds lurking in the dark and deep web. The method is simple — first send a malware to the target which would encrypt his important files or the entire desktop or my data, etc. Then ask for the ransom which is linked to a timer and

that they would not be able to get out alive and called for Army help. When the 17-strong Army Quick Reaction Team (QRT) arrived, they too realised they were outnumbered. The commander of the QRT decided it would be bad to open fire and escalate tensions, despite the fact that rescuing the men inside was important. He caught the alleged stone-pelter Dar, tied him on to the jeep and drove past the mob of 900, saving the ITBP and J&K Police personnel and his own boys.

Having spent 40 years of service in the Army and having fought two wars (1965 and 1971), and enough experience behind me in handling tricky situations, I think this was the most thoughtful action by the officer in command of the QRT who should be rewarded for his quick thinking and his presence of mind.

We are all aware that the level of violence has gone up exponentially since China’s strategic lodgement in Gilgit-Baltistan. It is not a coincidence that Chinese flags have surfaced in Kashmir Valley. Connect the dots of Chinese support to Naga and ULFA insurgencies and you can realise what is systematically creeping upon us.

This issue carries articles on Armed Forces Special Powers Act; Cyber Terrorism and China Pakistan Economic Corridor among others.

Lt General V.K. Kapoor (Retd)

down counter to exert pressure on the target that if he does not comply then his files will be deleted. The selection of target is also done carefully to extract the maximum mileage, and one can visualise the pressure if the target files are the research data of a scientist or the financial data compiled over a number of years. In cases related to terrorism, the terrorist can now demand an action that may be directly linked to an act of terrorism. For example, the terrorist may force the target to dial a number from his mobile which may trigger an explosive device. Or the terrorist could force someone with security clearance to commit an act inside a high security zone. In fact Ransomware has taken a new twist now with the attacker demanding that the target sends an e-mail with his malware attachment to at least two other people. Now a good cyber hygiene has told us not to open e-mails from unknown persons, but if a person is known to you then we will definitely open his e-mail and voila — now the attacker has doubled his target numbers!

Violent Acts Various stories abound the Internet on hard Continued on page 4...

>> cyber security

Cyber War — Where Are We? China’s cyber warfare strategy focuses on controlling the information systems of the adversary during critical periods of confrontation and this is how China plans to negate superior US technology and obtain advantage in the physical battlefield illustration: Anoop Kamath

 Lt General P.C. Katoch (Retd)

C

yber attacks in India have been on the rise over the years, particularly against government sites and Indian missions abroad despite several layers of security measures in place to protect against intrusions. In one instance, according to the Toronto-based Munk Centre of International Studies, GhostNet — a Chinese network — had infiltrated networks of the Indian Government as well as of the Dalai Lama.

Not that this is not happening world over, absolute cyber security being misnomer.

The hot news has been Russia hacking the US presidential elections in Donald Trump’s favour, including exposing some 60,000 e-mails of the Hillary Clinton campaign that were later released by WikiLeaks showing Hillary in poor light.

In India, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Ministry of Exteranal Affairs, (MEA), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), atomic installations,

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>> cyber security / LEAD story and military websites suffer hacking attacks periodically. Last year, as many as 32 lakh debit cards belonging to various Indian banks were compromised resulting in the loss of `1.3 crore, with one report indicating malware infected ATM of Yes Bank.

Then, ‘Virtual Terrorism’ is a gigantic problem facing India; examples being discovery in 2014 of Mehdi Masroor Biswas, ISIS tweeter “@ShamiWitness” operating past several years, a former NSA stating more than 100 individuals involved in Mehdi like activities, and a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe showing tech savvy Indian Mujahideen (IM) cadres use proxy servers (in US, Nepal, Canada, Pakistan, Netherlands, India) and complex code to chat with e-mail accounts that disappear if not accessed in 24 hours, encrypted files and complicated code language.

We also face a situation where China is a cyber superpower adept in refined skills to undertake, cyber espionage and sabotage, and Pakistan is increasingly a beneficiary of China’s cyber warfare capabilities because of the expanding China-Pakistan antiIndia nexus. China’s cyber warfare strategy focuses on controlling the information systems of the adversary during critical periods of confrontation and this is how China plans to negate superior US technology and obtain advantage in the physical battlefield.

Therefore, in event of an Indo-Pak conflict, China is likely to assist Pakistan attack Indian command and control and other networks. Additionally, the Islamic State and Al Qaeda are refocusing to South Asia which increases the danger of cyber attacks.

How the enemy is using social networks to destabilise regions is visible in J&K, rioting in Assam in recent past, plus the radicalisation and misinformation campaign pan India.

Moreover, Digital India is increasingly networking the country including critical infrastructure like transportation networks, power grids and financial institutions through online integration, with more and more official data stored online. Requisite

In our case, not only is the military kept away from the cyber warfare programme, little progress has been made with respect of the Naresh Chandra Committee recommendation of 2012 for establishing a cyber command in the military levels of cyber security apparently could not be catered for in the Digital India project because the costs would have gone up exponentially. This gives the opportunity to our enemies, radicals and terrorists to undertake cyber attacks. What could perhaps be done is to execute Digital India with adequate cyber security in phased manner rather than race for a deadline to complete ‘Digital India’ by 2019 and then start worrying about cyber security.

Cyber war is a vital ingredient of hybrid warfare that is ongoing globally and what we have been facing past decades. Hence, focus must be maintained on this noncontact strategic asset. In India, cyberspace is being looked after primarily by the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) operating under Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW). The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), set up in 2004 under the Department of Information Technology (IT), is the nodal agency for responding to computer security incidents. In addition, the National Critical Information Infrastructure Centre (NCIIC) carved out CERT in 2013 is to

protect assets in critical sectors like energy, banking, defence, telecom, transportation, etc. The NSA is to oversee a publicprivate partnership to set up a cyber security architecture. Logically, this would also be on the lines of the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), a non-governmental initiative launched in 2014 with Israeli assistance to confront the growing threat from extremist ideology; seeking to refute social media messaging, and compile world’s biggest database of extremist networks.

Though a non-governmental organisation, it works with governments exploiting the Internet to mobilise social media to counter extremist ideology by exposing the threat of extremists and mounting a global counter narrative. India needs similar public-private partnership to tackle this mammoth problem. It may be recalled that Zakir Naik would have continued to preach hatred without Bangladesh pointing out to us Naik’s radical activities that came to light post the terrorist attack on a Dhaka café. Of late, India’s young hackers have also come of age. They have reportedly been successfully accessing Pakistani governmental networks. As per one media report, even the network of the US Embassy in Islamabad was snooped into and an old US road map for South Asia was retrieved, albeit US naturally denied its existence. So, the basic capability is very much there, but what is needed is harnessing the youth talent, a well-thought out road map and most importantly its implementation; often in India everyone knows what is to be done but where we lack is the execution part.

Already, many institutions in India are running courses in hacking. We need to invest heavily in IT protection, least we become easy targets for adversaries, terrorists and criminals. In addition to the National Critical Information Infrastructure Centre, we could also establish the following: one, National Coordination Centre for Information Sharing and Analysis — to define the meta data and data standards for infor-

mation sharing between the NCIP, the intelligence agencies and the public and private sector industry. This may be a part of NSC/ NTRO, and National IT Product Security Test Centre (NIPSTC) to operate and maintain a National Evaluation and Certification Scheme for IT security. But hacking and protection of own critical infrastructure and networks is not cyber warfare is all about.

It must have the essential proactive element. It is for this reason that the cyber warfare programmes of both the US and China are led by the US Military and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). In fact the PLA has gone a step further and combined intelligence, technical reconnaissance, electronic warfare, cyber warfare and space warfare under the newly constituted Strategic Support Force of the PLA, which has tremendous operational advantage. In our case, not only is the military kept away from the cyber warfare programme, little progress has been made with respect to the Naresh Chandra Committee recommendation of 2012 for establishing a cyber command in the military. We must have an offensive cyber warfare policy and undertake systematic capacity building against adversaries including: one, stop them from accessing and using our critical information, systems and services; two, stealthily extract information from their networks and computers including vulnerabilities, plans and programmes of cyber attack/war, forethought and prior assessment being vital since it only takes 300 milliseconds for a keystroke to travel halfway around the world; three, penetrate their networks undetected and stealthy insertion of dormant codes, to be activated at opportune time for thwarting cyber attack(s); four, manipulate and doctor radio transmissions; five, destroy their computer networks, if and when necessary; six, manipulate their perceptions by speeding up ongoing research in mind control sciences. SP The writer is former Director General of Information Systems, Indian Army

Death by a Thousand Clicks: ... continued from page 2 illustration: Anoop Kamath

attacks due to software. This issue gained importance from the famous Stuxnet attack which crippled the Iranian nuclear facility. The Shamoon virus was stated as its counter attack. Since then there have been innumerable cases of violent acts through the Internet platform. There are reports of attacks on the pacemakers of persons, often fatal. This scenario is bound to get grimmer with the possibilities of planes, drones and driverless cars being e-jacked. And if one tries to visualise the 50 billion devices being connected in the Internet of Things era by 2020, the consequences are potentially disastrous!

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Countermeasures As international outrage grows against terrorism related sites, the major players such as Google and Facebook have taken up a serious campaign with the help of the public to stop the uploading of ‘objectionable’ material on the Internet.

The police are also active in tackling online radicalisation and many extremist websites are removed by agencies such as the British Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU). The availability of this type of material on the Internet is being reduced all the time and with large increases in referrals from the public, more and more sites will be taken down in the future. The Internet provides a discreet opportunity for extremists to target young, vulnerable individuals within their own homes which means the work of such agencies is crucially important in the fight against terrorism. During an average week,

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the CTIRU is removing over 1,000 pieces of content that breach terrorism legislation. Approximately 800 of these are Syria and Iraq related and have been posted on multiple platforms. In the last 12 months, around 38,889 Internet takedowns were undertaken by the CTIRU reducing extremist material available on the Internet. That is over 1,00,000 since the unit was set up in 2010. Much of this has been achieved by forming working relationships with key social media outlets.

Conclusion On February 18, 2017, at the Munich Security Conference, Vice President Mike Pence highlighted the growing importance of cyber security and terrorism. A few days earlier the Global RSA Cyber Security Conference in the United States witnessed growing concerns on the issue of cyber security, estimated to become a $3-trillion business by 2020. Similar concerns were raised during The Raisina Dialogues held in India during January 2017. Stakeholders are today demanding a Digital United Nations which can issue laws and regulations to bring some method to the madness sweeping the cyber world. The time to act was yesterday, and as India recently took the Paris Initiative for solar energy, can it take the lead in this cyber security initiative also? For the safety of its own Digital India at least. SP The writer is former Commandant of Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE)

Photograph: Trijicon

>> technology

Assault Weapons – More Lethal The modern assault rifle is an appropriate example of an ‘assault weapon’ as defined originally but currently with new technologies the assault weapon such as an assault rifle has become far more lethal than what was imagined earlier  Lt General V.K. Kapoor (Retd)

A

ssault weapon is a term which originated in the United States to define some types of firearms. The definition varies among regulating jurisdictions, but usually includes semi-automatic firearms with a detachable magazine and a pistol grip, and sometimes other features such as a flash suppressor or barrel shroud. Some firearms are specified by name. At the time that the nowdefunct Federal Assault Weapons Ban passed in 1994, the US Justice Department said, “In general, assault weapons are semiautomatic firearms with a large magazine of ammunition that were designed and configured for rapid fire and combat use.” The name assault rifle seems to have also evolved from this term. This refers to military rifles that can fire in automatic and/or burst mode.

Common attributes of assault weapons as accepted in various legislations in the United States include:  Semi-automatic firearm (now capable of firing in an automatic mode) and capable of accepting a detachable magazine  Folding or telescoping (collapsible) stock, which reduces the overall length of the firearm.  A pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon  Bayonet lug, which allows the mounting of a bayonet  Threaded barrel, which can accept devices such as a flash suppressor, suppressor, compensator or muzzle brake.  Grenade launcher  Barrel shroud, which prevents burning of shooter’s arm or hand as a safety device.  Night firing aids such as NVDs or thermal imaging devices.

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The modern assault rifle is an appropriate example of an ‘assault weapon’ as defined originally but currently with new technologies the assault weapon such as an assault rifle has become far more lethal than what was imagined earlier. Some of the new technologies in use in assault weapons such as assault rifles are briefly given in the succeeding paragraphs.

accuracy issue. If you have a shorter weapon, it should help you move through tight spaces that much easier. The question that arises is, can the person shoot more accurately with it?

And can they shoot more quickly?

Accuracy is dependent upon other factors as well. While training certainly has an important role to play, so do design and optical technologies.

Bullpup Design and Accuracy

Material Used

The accuracy of a weapon is dependent on the length of the barrel among other factors.

When you go to a bullpup design (developed in 1950s), because you move the magazine behind the pistol grip, you can move the chamber of the barrel back where the magazine is. The overall length of the rifle is shorter, however the length of the barrel can remain long for accuracy purposes. So the bullpup layout attempts to address the mobility versus

Dr Franklin Wong of Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) says: “The bullet has to achieve a certain stability as it leaves the barrel so that it flies straight,” he explained. “Shooting a bullet is sort of like an internal combustion engine. There’s a big explosion with a flow of hot gases. Every time you shoot a round it’s like hitting the barrel Continued on page 10...

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>> south asia

CPEC – China’s Sinew for ‘Great Power’ Status China has unambiguously signalled in recent times that it wants to block India’s rise; not only has she been unrelenting in thwarting India at successive international forums, she supports Pakistan’s anti-India jihad MAP: CPEC

 Lt General P. C. Katoch (Retd)

I

n her quest for ‘Great Power’ status, China wants a China-centric Asia and a multipolar world. It is already going full hog in inducing gravitational pull in Asian states to align with Chinese national interests. If North Korea, Laos and Cambodia are under Chinese influence in Asia-Pacific, in South Asia it is Pakistan and Sri Lanka, even as China is exerting similar pressures on Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Maldives. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is undergoing major modernisation and getting equipped with high-tech weaponry coupled with rapid capacity building in cyberspace, space, nuclear and force projection. She has begun to display military will and capability to contain, coerce and discipline any rival.

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China-Pak Economic Corridor The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is 3,000-km-long running along alignment Kashgar-Khunjerab-Gilgit-Islamabad-Balochistan-Gwadar, replete with rail and road links, pipelines, industrial parks and special economic zones (SEZ). There are some 100 tunnels along the CPEC. These are in addition to tunnels purportedly for hydel projects being dug by the Chinese. The rigged elections in Gilgit-Baltistan during 2016 and continuing Pakistani genocide in Balochistan have aggravated instability in these regions. There are reports of alternative alignments for the CPEC being looked into but going West in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) is equally dangerous if it goes close to FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas). Factually, Pakistan signed its own death warrant by ushering Wahabism, which peaked under Zia-ul-Haq and fundamentalist Islam continues to gradually devour Pakistan. While China announced an investment of $46 billion in the CPEC, Pakistan has been trumpeting this will create 7,00,000 jobs in Pakistan. But whether these tall claims of 7,00,000 jobs are all for Pakistanis and what jobs these will be is unclear because as per ground reports of the Chinese projects underway in PoK, locals are not permitted to come in their close vicinity.

The best part of the $46 billion investment is that China appears to have taken Pakistan for a royal ride. It is also possible that Pakistani hierarchy was bought over considering their past record of having bought over a former UN General Assembly President.

More significantly, a cost benefit analysis of the $46 billion CPEC reveals that the Chinese Government is investing only $11 billion for construction of roads and rail links.

Pakistan is required to pay 80 per cent of this investment to China, so in actual term this Chinese investment will only be to the extent of 20 per cent. At the moment the terms of repayment are not publicised but if China is charging interest and in case of default repayment, China is capable of extracting all $11 billion repayment back from Pakistan, if not more. The worst part for Pakistan is that bulk of the construction force and labourers are coming from China despite Pakistan footing 80 per cent or more of costs. Pakistani army is to provide security for the CPEC, for which

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Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif unveiling the plaque of CEPC pilot project at Gwadar in 2016

naturally Pakistan bears all costs. The balance $35 billion investment is to be borne by Chinese private companies are to construct of coal-based power plants. Here too China has scored because coal for these plants will come from China under pretext of less ash environment pollution, not using cheaper coal available in Pakistan. On top of this, Pakistani consumers of these coal-based power plants will have to pay 27 per cent extra costs for the electricity they purchase.

Operationalisation of CPEC On November 13, 2016, the under development China-Pakistan Economic Corridor became operational in the sense that the first convoy of trucks laden with Chinese goods traversing the CPEC’s 3,000-km journey from Kashgar in China arrived at Gwadar and was further seen off in a Chinese ship from Gwadar to Middle East and Africa. Pakistan’s top civilian and military leaders were reportedly present at Gwadar to see off the Chinese ship.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif stated that Pakistan will provide best possible security to foreign investors to enable them to use Gwadar for international trade. There is no denying that Chinese infrastructure development is very fast, be it the railway to Lhasa, rail line to Hariatan on Afghanistan-Uzbekistan border (inaugurated on September 7, 2016), One Border, One Road (OBOR), communications in Tibet, multiple gas and oil pipelines, or the CPEC. Gwadar port has been developed in record time by a Chinese company with China bearing the complete cost for its development; gratis to Pakistan. The road link from Karachi to Gwadar too was developed speedily. No Pakistani can enter Gwadar Port (guarded

by PLA) without valid ID card. Pakistan is responsible for the security of the CPEC with all costs to be borne by Pakistan. Pakistan has raised additional forces for specifically guarding the CPEC, with major portion of this special security force deployed in Balochistan.

itself is obsessed about strategic depth.

Moreover, the CPEC is running through Gilgit-Baltistan that is afflicted with public dissatisfaction and shifting it west is not possible because of the highly volatile FATA region. But most of the CPEC can’t avoid Baluchistan where insurgency simmers because of Pakistani genocide. While the CPEC can become subject to terror attacks, China-Pakistan are providing depth to the CPEC indirectly by projecting more terror into India and Afghanistan through subconventional operations. China has deep links with Taliban, Pakistan has hold on both Taliban through the Haqqani network, ISIS in Af-Pak is the creation of Pakistan, and most importantly all Pakistani proxies also are Chinese proxies. That is why with the strategic though covert lodgement of PLA in PoK and Pakistan, terror attacks in Afghanistan and violence in J&K including ceasefire violations by Pakistan have shot up exponentially.

Pakistani objective of carving out more Afghan territory as strategic depth (implying more influence at subconventional level) is in sync with China’s strategic designs.

Pakistan’s growing hostility towards India suits China similarly.

China’s Strategic Agenda

Implications for India

As per analysts, economically it is 11 times cheaper to transport the same goods by sea even to and from China than through the CPEC, even though the sea journey is longer.

Of course, the CPEC is significant alterative to the Malacca Dilemma of China should the Strait of Malacca get choked. The question here is whether the Malacca Dilemma is created by China on purpose and hyped for the consumption of the Chinese people? If China’s intentions are ‘peaceful’ as bandied perpetually and the world is for freedom of navigation and global commons, under what circumstances would the Strait of Malacca, and even Sunda Straits, be blocked for Chinese commercial ships and navy, and for what duration? Besides, how the blocking of these straits, especially the Strait of Malacca will adversely impact international trade of most countries of the world is another issue. A closer examination would indicate that such eventuality is highly unlikely, even with the Indian Ocean becoming the centre of gravity of future conflict, given the lethality and reach of modern era weaponry.

The CPEC running close to the line of control (LoC) and India-Pak international border has strategic implications for India. The lodgement of PLA in PoK and tunneling for deployment of strategic weapons are developments that impinge on security of the region, as does the Chinese naval deployment in Gwadar. The Chinese objective is quite clear — box India within South Asia.

Both China and Pakistan have been calling for India to join the CPEC, which actually is a trap. India should never join the CPEC because: one, it does not give land access to India to Afghanistan and Central Asia through Pakistan, which India has always wanted; two, it may increase India-China trade but with the existing bilateral imbalance heavily in favour of China (according to information provided in Parliament, it stood at close to $45 billion in 2015-16 with India’s exports amounting to only around $8 billion), it would result in increased imbalance manifold.

Highway of Terror History is replete with China’s obsession for creating ‘depth’ to whatever she considers vital for her in strategic terms. Immediately, on ousting the Kuomintang regime, Mao Zedong announced, “Tibet is the palm of China and Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and NEFA are its fingers”. Tibet was annexed by China also because it comprises 26 per cent land of China, is the heartland, and is the water tower. Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia were captured to give buffer to the mainland. China captured 38,000 sq km of the state of J&K to give adequate depth to its Western Highway. Going by the same analogy, what would be the Chinese strategy for providing ‘depth’ to the CPEC running north-south through Pakistan which

Conclusion China’s excessive trumpeting of the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) for ‘developing the regions’ through which OBOR passes belies the fact that it has little money in her kitty for such massive projects, what with her outstanding debt, interests repayment and state of global market. But at the same time, some 800 Chinese companies are ready to invest and provide employment to millions of Chinese waiting in the wings — all at the cost the country hosting OBOR. However, if the strategic US-China competition on water is being played out in the South China Sea (SCS), on land this could well unfold in the Af-Pak region at the subconventional level. Indian policy makers need to work in close concert with US, Afghanistan and other strategic partners in order to secure own national interests. SP

>> internal security illustration: Anoop Kamath

Armed Forces Special Powers Act in J&K The AFSPA was carefully drafted in 1958 to equip the forces with legal powers to respond swiftly and without encumbrance in counter-insurgency situations.

The AFSPA was extended to J&K in 1990, where even the CrPC is not applicable  Lt General V.K. Kapoor (Retd)

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he debate on the removal/ retention of armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from certain districts of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has once again taken the centre stage. Political parties in J&K have traditionally come to power on positions of sympathy. Both Omar Abdullah’s National Conference and Mehbooba Mufti’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have always projected themselves as representing Kashmiri interests to the Centre. Both blamed an obdurate Centre for their failure to remove AFSPA from the state. While Omar Abdullah found himself backing off from his promises, pushed from revoking AFSPA altogether to removing it from a few areas to not at all, the PDP, which had always made the repeal of AFSPA an article of faith, found itself meeting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) halfway to form a state government in 2015. In the “Agenda for Alliance” signed off by the two parties, it cautiously agreed to “examine the need for denotifying disturbed areas”.

What is AFSPA and Why was it Enacted AFSPA was enacted in 1958 to bring under control what the Government of India considered disturbed areas. It was first implemented in Manipur and Assam in 1958, following the Naga movement. The Central Government empowered the Governors of the states and administrators of union territories to take a call whether the areas of that particular state or union territory is disturbed or not.

The armed forces were meant to fight external aggression. Internal employment was meant to be only in exceptional circumstances. Thus, they were not equipped with any powers — like the police forces are — for internal situations. The AFSPA was carefully drafted in 1958 to equip the forces with legal powers to respond swiftly and without encumbrance in counter-insurgency situations. The AFSPA was extended to J&K in 1990, where even the CrPC is not applicable. J&K has the Ranbir Penal Code wherein, unprotected by an alternative legislation, Army personnel could be arrested for virtually any perceived excesses. Soldiers would be literally forced to confine themselves to the barracks!

In the case of AFSPA (Manipur and Assam) 1958, the Government of India used Article 355 of the Constitution to confer power in the hands of Governors. “Keeping in view the duty of the Union under Article 355 of the Constitution, inter alia, to protect every State against internal disturbance, it is considered desirable that the Central Government should also have power to declare areas as ‘disturbed’, to enable its armed forces to exercise the special powers”. Later the Armed Forces (Assam and Manipur) Special Powers

Act, 1958 were substituted by the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, getting the acronym of AFSPA, 1958.

Jammu and Kashmir Disturbed Areas Act The Jammu and Kashmir Disturbed Areas Act, which extended legal immunities to the state police in notified areas, had lapsed in 1998. And the last time the J&K Government had notified disturbed areas under AFSPA was 2005, which meant a six-month review was long overdue. But the legalities are blurred in practice anyway. For instance, the J&K AFSPA stipulates that the power to declare areas disturbed lies with the Centre or the State Governor. But officials in the Union Home Ministry claim the Centre had only notified a few areas and the state government had spread the scope of the law across J&K. So it was in the state administration’s power to withdraw it from these districts, they said.

enjoys more encompassing powers relating to arrest, search, summoning of witnesses, and preventive detention. Similarly the Central Police Forces function under the State 3:44 PM Director General of Police and have the same 3:44 PM powers and protection as the State Police whereas the Army is in “Aid to Civil Authorities”, including riots and agitation. They can Police and the Army only act on the written orders of a civil magThey are simultaneously engaged in similar istrate. In fact, this illustrates the difficulty in or related roles. If you compare the powers of anti-terrorist operations. Can you imagine the police under the CrPC vis-à-vis the Army Continued on page 8... under the AFSPA, it’s evident the police

AFSPA, one needs to study the circumstances prevailing in J&K and the need for the Act. The AFSPA can be revoked by the Governor of J&K or by the Central Government at25/10/16 the recAllisson Creative 2.pdf 1 ommendation ofCreative the J&K2.pdf cabinet. this to Allisson 1 For 25/10/16 occur the Chief Minister has to win the confidence of her entire cabinet.

Winning Hearts and Minds The quibbling over legalities and the blame games cover up for a worrying displacement.

In spite of the government’s protestations, armed forces are no longer used merely in aid of civil power. In many areas of J&K, the army has become the face of the state.

Sadbhavana project of the Army has taken on economic and developmental roles that should have been reserved for governments, laying roads, starting schools, doling out scholarships, providing employment and skills training. Many of these schemes were aimed at “winning hearts and minds”, making the Army more people friendly. Even senior Generals have protested, however, that the task of reaching out to hostile groups and disaffected sections of the population lies with politicians. Yet it is common knowledge that the GOC Corps in Srinagar is in touch with the civilian government and its ministers.

This becomes more pronounced because the home-grown militants are often known to the political hierarchies of all political parties and the political leaders with their local contacts are some of the best sources of information.

Over the years, the civilian leadership has ceded space to men in uniform and slowly lost legitimacy in Kashmir. It is a tall order, then, to expect this leadership to cut down on powers and immunities granted to the armed forces.

Moreover the militancy graph has waxed and waned over the years and at no time has the political leadership expressed its desire to take over the reins of the government completely and send the Army back to the barracks. The truth is that in the current situation normal governance is not feasible and the political parties are aware of this fact even though from time to time they do make media statements regarding the removal of AFSPA. However to acquire a proper understanding of the C

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25/10/16 4:10 PM

2/2017 SP’s Land Forces

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>> conference / internal security

Army Commanders’ Conference: Need to Push Modernisation and Inclusive HR Policies Photograph: Indian Army

 SP’s correspondent

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he biannual Army Commanders’ Conference came to an end recently with the closing remarks of General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Army Staff. The Army Commanders’ Conference had commenced earlier this month in April 2017. Army Commanders’ Conference is an important event in the planning and execution process of the Indian Army. To ensure due diligence, decisions are taken through a collegiate system comprising the Army Commanders and other senior officers who deliberate upon the prevailing security scenario, strategic and actionable issues to ensure effective combat edge of the Indian Army.

General Bipin Rawat, in his addresses emphasised that all systems were working well and complimented those who are working on the ground. He observed that the Indian Army continues to hold a strong image and a professional reputation. He exhorted all ranks to endeavour to further strengthen the same. The Chief of Army Staff impressed upon the need to work in a collaborative manner for maintaining combat effectiveness of the Army. He expressed his confidence at the way the Army has been adapting itself to the dynamic internal and external operational environment.

He added that there is a need for sustained and holistic modernisation of the Army

The Biannual Army Commanders’ Conference in progress in New Delhi

wherein combat and manoeuvre arms, Air Defence and Aviation are on high priority. The Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshall B.S. Dhanoa and Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba also addressed the conference emphasising on evolving a joint operational philosophy.

At the conference, it was decided to give heft to the modernisation plan of the Army.

A comprehensive plan to speed up land acquisition for infrastructure development

has been decided to be addressed through the state governments. During the deliberations, a session was dedicated to discussion with the Ministry of Defence to evolve a more wholesome action plan on administrative and modernisation issues. Also, important issues having HR policy ramifications were discussed. There is an impetus to evolve a more pragmatic HR plan. The core values of Army though haven’t changed; rapid societal changes and discernible

impact of socio-economic aspirations on Army were a focus area of the Conference.

The Army, unlike most government departments, has a highly pyramidal structure, which results in over 50 per cent personnel not being promoted despite being highly competent thus necessitating optimum utilisation of this pool of competent personnel. The Conference deliberated measures to enhance transparency and inclusiveness leading to greater equability. The proposals to make Short Service Officers entry scheme more popular, streamlining the intake pattern, employment of Women Officers and grant of Honorary ranks to Junior Commissioned Officers and NonCommissioned Officers were also discussed with positive road maps.

The Army Chief, during the course of the deliberations, highlighted the need for a more participative form of policy formulation. Concerned branches of the Army HQ have accordingly been directed to interact with wide cross-section of offices, branches, and personnel.

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley also addressed the Army Commanders’ Conference and complemented the senior military hierarchy saying: “Whenever the challenges multiply or their nature changes, Indian Army has always outperformed itself.” He stated that modernisation of defence equipment is the topmost priority for the government. SP

Armed Forces Special Powers ... continued from page 7 soldiers waiting for the magistrate’s written permission to open fire while terrorists strike and disappear?

Major General G.D. Bakshi (Retd) writes in an article in the Times of India on November 18, 2011: “The scale of militarisation of the current internal conflicts is not generally understood. In J&K alone, the Indian Army has since 1990 recovered over 80,000 AK series rifles; over 1,300 machine guns; over 2,000 rocket launchers; some 63,000 hand grenades and 7 million rounds of ammunition.”

www.spslandforces.com

Impact of Withdrawing the AFSPA The situations in J&K or the North East are in no way a consequence of the AFSPA, which is merely an instrument that helps the Army keep a lid on conflicts born from socio-political and economic causes. The withdrawal of the Act from Manipur saw the return of terrorists, and the state has become virtually ungovernable. Withdrawal of the AFSPA from J&K, as is being demanded from time to time, will bring all military operations to a dead halt and any hurry on our part to dismantle the apparatus which has brought near normalcy to the state is fraught with danger. Moreover if it is withdrawn from certain areas of J&K, those areas will become the stronghold of the terrorists because the Army will not be able to operate without the protection enabled by the AFSPA. Some senior political leaders have contended that the Army does not operate in Srinagar but this is incorrect. Each morning the Army and a few companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) sanitise the strategic roads through the city for the logistic convoys of the Army to move to Kargil and Ladakh for

8

SP’s Land Forces 2/2017

the critical winter-stocking tasks. The road and an area of nearly 3 sq km on either side has to be sanitised. The airfield in Srinagar has to be sanitised to ensure that no surfaceto-air missiles (SAMs) or remotely-propelled grenades (RPGs) are fired at the aircraft.

Srinagar is the hub of all political activity in J&K and crucial intelligence, even about line of control (LoC) crossings, is gathered in these urban centres. Premature removal of the act from these areas would be highly counterproductive. Once removed, AFSPA cannot, in practice, be reimposed in a hurry.

The AFSPA is enforced only in exceptional circumstances. So the only occasion to modify, dilute or withdraw the Army’s powers can be when you agree that such circumstances have ceased to exist. Wholly or partially withdrawing AFSPA is rightly a political call, but the consequences must be understood. Like in Manipur, such areas would turn into terrorist havens and politicians, so vociferously calling for withdrawing the act, would find themselves totally impotent!

no powers to destroy the terror camps deep inside unless the nation decides to strike well beyond the borders and is prepared to go to war. Surgical strikes in September 2016 jolted Pakistan and their Army as it showed the change strategy on part of India. However, neither country wants a war at this time and hence even surgical strikes just across the LoC can have limited gains at best.

If on the other hand the situation in Jammu and Kashmir is seen as an internal conflict then in any case military intervention can never be the solution to internal conflicts.

Imposition of the AFSPA can only be a means to achieving a measure of stability after which the political leadership needs to get its act together. But sadly, opportunities have repeatedly been squandered. J&K and the North East are essentially political and bureaucratic failures — the gentlemen who sit behind desks in protected rooms are the ones to blame. Unfortunately, they have all become conveniently accustomed to govern through military force.

State-sponsored Proxy War by the Neighbour

Sanctions to Prosecute Army Personnel in Human Rights Violations

Many argue that despite the act being in force for years the situation remains unchanged.

To that the Army rightly points out that in J&K, the jihadi terror camps are located in the neighbourhood and a state-sponsored proxy war is being waged by our neighbour. The entire terror infrastructure is intact and this fact drove Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar to say on February 14, 2017, that Pakistan needs to shut down “terrorism factory” and there is now international concern about it.

The military can at best prevent the situation from getting out of control but has

In J&K, barring a few, the majority of the complaints have been duly dealt with.

Moreover, in a large number of instances the complaints were proved to be false and fabricated. The Army is obviously not very good at managing public perception. But the one thing they can be proud of is that in the Army never allows a rogue to exist amongst their ranks, and act ruthlessly the moment one is noticed. However, one cannot deny that some cases may have gone unnoticed or unproven. The Army will need to be even more vigilant in this regard.

Impact of Dilution or Removal of AFSPA The Army is of the opinion that they have to act whenever ordered. But what this will lead to is rendering it as ineffective or inefficient as police forces. It is a choice the politicians must make because no soldier in his right senses would be willing to take the necessary risks unless he was protected. After all, these men are called upon to engage highly motivated, battle-hardened terrorists.

Amendments to the Act The Justice Jivan Reddy Commission has gone into precisely this, and has made its recommendations. The report was submitted to the government in June 2005. But our feeling is that this legislation has stood the test of time. We must understand that things are much worse now than when AFSPA was legislated. Dilution is not recommended, if anything, the act must be revisited to see how it can be strengthened to meet emerging challenges, perhaps also including means to deal with the rogues. The Army would be only too happy to be kept aloof from these operations which they call “dirty operations”. It is a fact that most state police forces have been literally emasculated by politicians, and the nation has no other option but to fall back on using the only apolitical force there is.

Conclusion India has already experienced the era of the early 1990s when the Soviets had just left Afghanistan, and a large number of trained and unemployed terrorists were diverted to J&K. There is no gain-saying that it won’t happen this time due to withdrawal of US /NATO forces from Afghanistan. Constant vigil is the need of the hour. SP

>> curtain raiser

IDEF Turkey to Showcase Cutting-edge Technology Over the years, it has been growing in stature and size and this time it has attracted nearly 600 exhibitors from across the world Photographs: IDEF

Turkmenistan Key Importer

 R. Chandrakanth

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Turkmenistan was Turkey’s single largest weapons buyer over the past five years. The report said that Turkmenistan mainly bought ships from Turkey with some purchases of armoured vehicles as well. “The Turkish defence industry provides a wide range of products and services from advanced satellite systems to boots. Investment in the sector has increased product variety, thanks to which new export items are being added to subproduct groups. With the advantage of such a broad portfolio, Turkey has a distinct advantage of entering new markets soon.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) lists Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest standing army, as the world’s 16th largest arms exporter in terms of sales. The country’s arms imports total $2 billion to $2.5 billion per year. As recently as 15 years ago, Turkey spent much more on such imports.

A comprehensive drive to expand the local defence industry since the early 2000s has led to a significant reduction in money spent on foreign-made weapons and equipment.

ince 1993, Istanbul, Turkey, has been hosting the International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF), as a biennial event, attracting major defence players to a location which is of strategic significance. The IDEF which is held under the management and responsibility of Turkish Armed Forces Foundation (TAFF) is the place for cuttingedge vehicles, equipment and systems that are produced in the fields of defence, security, maritime, aviation and aerospace. IDEF 2017 will be held between May 9-12, 2017, in Istanbul, the city which is the centre of history, culture, industry and trade at the crossroads of Europe and Asia continents.

Nearly 600 Exhibitors Over the years, it has been growing in stature and size and this time it has attracted nearly 600 exhibitors from across the world.

Thanks to IDEF, the technological developments in these sectors are reaching out to the world which is increasingly looking at significant international defence cooperation and promotion platforms in the world.

The 13th edition of the International Defence Industry Fair is being held under the auspices of the presidency of the Republic of Turkey, hosted by Turkish Ministry of National Defence, under the management and responsibility of Turkish Armed Forces Foundation and organised by TÜYAP Fairs and Exhibitions Organization Inc. The Turkish Minister of National Defence and the President of TAFF, Fikri ISIK said: “I would like to state that, as the Ministry of National Defence, we will be very pleased to host the companies from defence, security, naval, aviation and aerospace industries sectors, right along with the official delegations of the friendly and allied countries in our country at IDEF 2017 Fair, which is a very important event to create international cooperation opportunities, and we will continue to give every kind of support for the success of IDEF Fair.”

For this year’s event, representatives of 156 countries, 353 official delegations and several senior officials of the armed forces of many countries are participating. There are major delegations from the United States, Germany, Russia, France, United Kingdom, Italy and many other European nations. India is not on the exhibitor list while Pakistan is.

The meeting between delegations and exhibitors will be organised this year again and the organisers have already lined up nearly 50 meetings between exhibitors and procurement and decision-making authorities attending the event.

Array of Products and Solutions The Turkish exhibition will be showcasing latest technologies to do with land, naval and aviation. Exhibits such as aerospace vehicles and all related sensors and army systems; ballistic armour solutions and from smallest calibre to biggest; remote platforms and their sensors; related logistic support services; all kinds of electronic systems and its components; rockets and missile systems and air defence solutions from land-

Turkey Look at Exports

IDEF is biggest defence industry fair in Eurasian region and one of the top five in the world with an increasing trend in terms of the number of participating countries, delegations and companies

to-land, from land-to-air, from air-to-air and from air-to-land; all kinds of electronic warfare solutions integrated or stand-alone; training and simulation solutions towards all kind of platforms and systems; cyber defence; self-defence solutions and military medicine equipments.

The General Manager of TAFF, Orhan Akbas, said that the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation (TAFF), founded in 1987, has 30 companies, six of which are the leading

Turkey is the seventh biggest arms trader country in the world It was sixth between 1950 and 2015, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)

companies of Turkish defence and aerospace industry and more than 50 per cent of their shares belong to TAFF. In the beginning, the purpose of IDEF Fairs was to promote national defence industry. However, in a short time, IDEF Fairs became an important international promotion, marketing and cooperation platform of defence, security, naval, aviation and aerospace fields and ranked to fifth biggest defence industry fair in the world in terms of numbers of exhibitors and delegations participating in the fair.

Turkey is the seventh biggest arms trader country in the world. It was sixth between 1950 and 2015, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), one of the most influential think tanks in the world about the topics of conflict, armament, and peace keeping. According to the SIPRI’s data, Turkey is not in the top 10 countries that import arms in the world in 2016 alone. When the time scale is extended, however, Turkey is the seventh arms importer country in the world within the period of 2010 and 2015. In the period between 2010 and 2015, Turkey’s armament expenditures are close to $5.41 billion.

In a recent ceremony in Istanbul marking the start of construction on Turkey’s first assault ship, the TGA Anadou, Erdogan said, “Our reliance on [defence imports] has decreased to about 40 per cent from 80 per cent in 2002. Our target is to bring this down to zero by 2023 when Turkey celebrates the centenary of the republic.

We’ll not only be meeting our own needs, but we’ll also become the main supplier of friendly and brotherly countries.”

Turkish defence companies have teamed up with Italian counterparts to produce assault helicopters and with Spanish counterparts for cargo planes and the assault ship, and talks on air defence systems are underway with US and European firms. The Turkish defence sector has already put a domestically produced warship to sea and is preparing to put a main battle tank in the field. A domestically produced infantry assault rifle and a drone have been tested successfully and are being showcased at international fairs.

Figures place the United States at the top of the Turkish defence companies’ client list, with the Americans paying $30 out of every $100 the industry earns from exports. Turkish defence exports to the United States amount to $500 million a year, while such Turkish imports from the United States stand at about $1.5 billion.

Hence, Ankara can hardly be satisfied with the current state of trade. The picture is more or less the same vis-á-vis other Western countries, including Britain, Germany, France and Spain, from which Turkey buys more than it sells. According to 2015 figures, Western allies bought more than half of Turkey’s defence exports, while supplying all its imports in the sector, states Ufuk Sani, writer in Turkey Pulse.

In the light of this IDEF becomes the biggest defence industry fair in Eurasian region and one of the top five in the world with an increasing trend in terms of the number of participating countries, delegations and companies. SP

2/2017 SP’s Land Forces

9

>> technology

The Trijicon RMR™ might be the best upgrade you’ll ever make to your handgun!

 SP’s correspondent

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handgun is designed to be fast, durable and extremely reliable…and so should its sighting system! Reflex-style sights provide lightning fast both-eyesopen target acquisition in any situation.

The Trijicon RMR™ (Ruggedized Miniature Reflex) weighs a mere 1.2 ounces and provides a bright illuminated aiming point for instant target acquisition without the potential focusing issues associated with open sights. Best of all, the RMR is parallax-free, meaning simple “point and shoot” operation.

Eliminate Fuzzy Iron Sights As we age, open sights tend to get a little fuzzy. Iron sights require the shooter to acquire a sight picture that involves a clear view of the rear sight, front sight and ultimately, the target. This takes time and that’s something you don’t have when your handgun is called to action. The RMR eliminates the focus issues by allowing the shooter to simply place the illuminated aiming point on the target, while maintaining total awareness with both eyes open.

Extended Range Capability Handguns are designed to be short-range defensive weapons, but certain situations can

require aimed shooting at longer than normal distances. Traditional iron sights tend to obscure or “cover up” targets at extended ranges making precision shots very unreliable. The Trijicon RMR allows the shooter to place the illuminated dot on target without losing target identity and shot placement.

Rugged Performance

craft-grade aluminum chassis and tested to military standards, so they can handle the recoil of even the largest caliber. The RMR aiming dot is precise and visible in any light.

Audible click adjustments quickly zero to point of impact, and its CR2032 lithium battery lasts up to two years in the LED version, and up to four years in the Adjustable LED model at mid-setting. SP

Trijicon RMRs have been proven on the most demanding environments on Earth by U.S. Special Operations to law enforcement officers, and hunters of dangerous game.

Available in three models—the Adjustable LED, Dual-Illuminated (battery-free) and LED—all RMR units are housed in an air-

For more information on Trijicon’s RMR optic, mounting options and the complete array of Brilliant Aiming Solutions for the hunting, shooting, military and law enforcement markets, contact Trijicon, Inc at (248) 960-7700 or visit Trijicon.com.

ters battle-a carbine). F90’s bullpup design and open architecture allow it to be configured for a wide range of mission profiles. The rifle has an overall length of 700mm and a weight of 3.25 kg. It is equipped with a 407mm long fixed and lighter barrel. It is provided with cold hammer forged chrome lined barrels in all configurations for improved barrel life and precision. An enhanced grenade launcher quadrant sight delivers rapid target acquisition and fast reaction times. It is compatible with night vision goggles and can support operations during low-light/ night conditions.

M16A2/A4 Assault Rifle. The M16 series assault rifles are weapons of choice of the US Armed Forces, and are chambered for NATO 5.56 x 45mm ammunition. More than eight million M16 rifles have been sold to 15 NATO states and over 80 countries. The M16 variants are in service with the US Army, Navy and Marine Corps, the latest among them is the M16A4 which was inducted during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The shortened version of the M16A2, M4 Carbine supplements the M16 that is in use with most of the US Army combat units. The M16A4 weighs 3.26 kg and integrates a removable carrying handle and rail mounting for installing optical sights and other auxiliary devices. The rifle has a rate of fire of 700 to 950 rounds and effective range of 600 metres.

Russian AK-12. The Russian Army is inducting modified version of new Kalashnikov AK-12 assault rifle along with several other small arms into operational service.

An upgraded variant of the Russian Army’s Soviet-era 5.45mm calibre AK-74 Kalashnikov series, AK-12 is capable of firing foreign-standard barrel-mounted grenades in three different modes, including single shot, three-shot burst and automatic fire. Rolled out by its manufacturer, Izhmash

in January 2012, the rifle retains almost all the AK-74’s features and overall layout, with enhanced technology and features a folding stock, height-adjustable heelpiece, as well as Picatinny rails to support attachment of optical and night-sights, grenade launchers, target indicators and other special equipment. Configurable for cartridges varying from 5.45mm x 39mm to 7.62mm x 51mm Nato standard, the rifle is also designed to serve as a basic platform for development of AK-12U carbine, PPK-12 submachine gun, SVK-12 sniper rifle, RPK-12 light machine gun and several other export versions.

QBZ-95. The QBZ-95/Type-95 is the standard issue assault rifle of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and is also exported to Cambodia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Sudan. It is chambered for a Chinese made DBP87 5.8 x 42mm rounds.

The QBZ-95 is a gas operated, automatic rifle incorporating bullpup design. It is fed by 30 round magazine and can fire 650 rounds per minute to an effective range of 600 metres.

The rifle features hooded front sight post and rear sight base, while its rail mounting points allow the mounting of optical or night vision scopes. It can be mounted with an underbarrel grenade launcher or a bayonet.

G3A3 Automatic Rifle. The G3A3 automatic rifle, derived from Heckler & Koch G3, is produced by Pakistan Ordnance Factories for the Pakistan Army. The modern rifle is chambered for 7.62x51mm NATO standard rounds. The rifle fires ammunition in semi automatic and fully automatic modes and can be fed through 20-round box magazine. The rifle weighs 4.4 kg and can be mounted with fixed hooded front post and adjustable rotary rear sight. The cyclic rate of fire of the G3A3 is 500 to 600 rounds per minute and the effective range is 400 metres. SP

Assault Weapons ... continued from page 5 with a hammer with each explosion. That’s where inaccuracies come in…..It’s very hard to predict where your bullets are going to go if your barrel, due to material used and the mechanical design, is always changing where it’s deflecting. One of the goals for our weapon studies is to understand what materials and mechanical designs give consistent barrel dynamics,” he concluded.

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Combat Sights Combat sights allow shooters to compensate if the barrel deflection behaviour remains consistent, in addition to allowing the user to more quickly identify and engage targets.

These sights fall into one of two categories: direct optics and electro-optics.

While direct optic sights can improve reaction time in daytime conditions by providing clear, bright images, electro-optical models may have even greater potential. Dr Wong explains: “Once you have a digital image, this is where you can bring in visible and thermal cameras with image processing and then have algorithms that will help, for example, fuse the images from the visible and thermal cameras or automatically detect threats. And then once, for example, an algorithm has detected a threat, it will present that information along with a fused image in some form to the soldier on a micro display. So we see that there are potential gains to be made in the reduction of time needed to detect, recognize and identify threats with this technology.”

Night Vision It is vital requirement for the modern battlefield where operations will be fought by day as well as by night. The two types of night sights available are basically the Night Vision Devices (NVDs) which are based on image intensification principle and the thermal imaging sight.

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An NVD, also known as a night optical/ observation device (NOD), is an optoelectronic device that allows images to be produced in levels of light approaching total darkness. The image produced is typically monochrome, e.g. shades of green. NVDs are most often used by the military and law enforcement agencies, but are available to civilian users. The term usually refers to a complete unit, including an image intensifier tube, a protective and generally water-resistant housing, and some type of mounting system. An NVD may have an IR illuminator, making it an active as opposed to passive night vision device.

Thermal rifle scopes offer the flexibility of daytime and night time use, but they also deliver in weather conditions when other optical devices simply fail. Fog is one such example. Like all other thermal imaging devices, thermal riflescopes read off thermal signatures of all objects and present the user with an image showing a gradient map of the heat signatures. Today there are 2 in 1 thermal units, designed to be used as either scanning monoculars or front riflescope attachments.

Some Modern Assault Rifles In order to understand the attributes of assault weapons let us take the example of some modern assault rifles.

F90 Assault Rifle. The F90 which is a lightweight assault rifle manufactured by Thales Australia to provide soldiers with increased firepower in the battlefield. The new generation F90 is an evolution of the Austeyr F88 assault rifle, which is operational in more than 30 countries, including Australia and New Zealand. The rifle has five variants, namely F90, F90(G) (grenade launcher variant), F90M (Marksman variant with a longer barrel), F90M(G) and F90CQB (close quar-

>> News in Brief Joint Doctrine Indian Armed Forces – 2017 released

to Raytheon Australia later in the year.

Kongsberg will be a major sub-contractor in the air defence system programme.

Raytheon will also investigate using Thales Australia’s ‘Hawkei’, a protected mobility vehicle, as a potential platform for the system’s missile launchers.

IAI receives $1.6 Billion contract to deliver MRSAM to Indian Army

Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) and Chief of the Naval Staff released a revised version of Joint Doctrine Indian Armed Forces - 2017 in the presence of Chief of the Army Staff, Chief of the Air Staff and Offg Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman COSC. “Jointness and Integration” in the Armed Forces is the order of the day like any other facet of life and therefore release of this Doctrine could not have come at a more opportune time.

The Joint Doctrine Indian Armed Forces will serve as a cornerstone document for application of Military Power in a synergized manner leading to enhanced efficiency, optimum utilization of resources and financial savings. It will also establish a broad framework of concepts and principles to understand our approach to Joint Planning and conduct of operations across all the domains of conflict ie land, air, sea, space and cyberspace, In addition, the Doctrine will also serve as a reference document for all the three Services to plan integrated operations.

Australia to invest $1.5 billion in short-range ground-based AD system

The Australian Government will invest up to A$2 billion ($1.5bn) to develop a new shortrange ground-based air defence system for the country’s army. The ground-based air defence capability will be developed using Kongsberg’s national advanced surface-toair missile system (NASAMS), which has ability to integrate with networks and a variety of sensors and weapons. The NASAMSbased capability will be delivered to the Australian Army through a single supplier limited tender process to Raytheon Australia, which will serve as the prime system integrator for the programme. A single supplier limited request for tender will be issued

>> Show Calendar 9–12 May IDEF’17 (International Defence Industry Fair) Tüyap Fair and Convention Centers, Istanbul, Turkey www.idef.com.tr/en 24–25 May Homeland Security 2017 FICCI, New Delhi http://ficci.in/events-page. asp?evid=23196 16–18 May ITEC Ahoy, Rotterdam, Netherlands www.itec.co.uk 6–8 June ISDEF Tel Aviv Convention Center, Tel Aviv, Israel www.isdefexpo.com

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has received a contract worth more than $1.6 billion to deliver advanced medium-range surface-to-air missiles (MRSAM) to the Indian Army. The air and missile defence system was co-developed by IAI and India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in collaboration with Rafael and IAI/Elta. The MRSAM is equipped with an advanced phased-array radar, command and control, mobile launchers and missiles with advanced RF seekers. With an ability to provide protection against a variety of aerial threats, the system is currently in service with the Indian Air Force, Indian Navy and Israel Defense Forces.

In addition, IAI will supply more LRSAM air and missile defence systems for India’s first aircraft carrier. The company successfully tested the MRSAM air and missile defence system from the Indian test range in 2016. Three flight tests were conducted in total to evaluate all components of the weapon system, IAI stated. The tests involved firing MRSAM missiles from a land-based mobile launcher, which successfully hit a target simulating enemy threats.

AFV Contract for ST Kinetics The Singapore Ministry of Defence has placed an order with ST Kinetics, a unit of Singapore Technologies Engineering (ST Electronics), for next-generation armoured fighting vehicles (AFV). ST Kinetics will produce and supply an undisclosed number of AFVs along with integrated logistics support including training, spare parts and documentation as part of the contract.

Scheduled to be delivered beginning 2019, the vehicles are intended to replace Ultra M113 AFVs of the Singapore Army.

Raytheon tests new electric gun for Phalanx close-in weapon system Raytheon has successfully tested a new electric gun for the Phalanx close-in weapon system for the first time. The new electric gun design is intended to replace Phalanx’s pneumatic motor, compressor and storage tanks, reducing the system’s weight by 180 lb. This upgrade to Phalanx allows soldiers and sailors to fire at varying rates, using less ammunition. Live-firing was conducted to ensure the electric gun can operate despite the heavy vibrations that occur when Phalanx is fired. This Raytheon-funded test is part of a series of ‘tech refresh’ projects for Phalanx, according to the company.

Phalanx is a rapid-fire, computer-controlled radar and 20mm gun system that is said to automatically acquire, track and destroy anti-ship missiles and other close-in air and surface threats. The land-based Phalanx weapon system forms a part of the US Army’s counter-rocket, artillery and mortar systems that are used to detect and destroy incoming rounds in the air before they hit their ground targets. Radar-guided gun systems also helps provide early warning of attacks, Raytheon stated. The Block 1B version of the system adds control stations that allow operators to visually track and identify targets before engagement, according to the company. More than 890 systems have been built and deployed in navies worldwide.

Indian Army Chief Visits Nepal and Bangladesh General Bipin Rawat, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) visited Nepal and Bangladesh from March 28 to April 2, 2017, on his first foreign visit after assuming office. COAS visited

important military installations and meeting high ranking dignitaries including the Prime Minister, Defence Minister and the Chief of Army Staff. The delegation also visited Nepalese Army Mountain Warfare School at Jomsom and the Pension Paying office at Pokhra where the COAS addressed the Indian Army ex-servicemen of Nepalese origin.

Nepal visit was followed by a visit to Bangladesh, where COAS met the President, the Prime Minister and the Chief of Army Staff of Bangladesh Army. The delegation also visited headquarters of an Infantry Division and Armoured Corps Centre at Bogra. This visit helped strengthen mutual trust with immediate neighbourhood particularly in the field of defence cooperation.

Indo-Mongolian joint exercise: Nomadic Elephant

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Jayant Baranwal Editor Lt General V.K. Kapoor (Retd) Senior Editorial Contributor Lt General P.C. Katoch (Retd) Senior Technical Group Editor Lt General Naresh Chand (Retd) Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd) Assistant Group Editor R. Chandrakanth Contributors India General V.P. Malik (Retd), Lt General Vijay Oberoi (Retd), Lt General R.S. Nagra (Retd), Lt General S.R.R. Aiyengar (Retd), Major General Ashok Mehta (Retd), Major General G.K. Nischol (Retd), Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (Retd), Brigadier S. Mishra (Retd), Rohit Sharma Chairman & Managing Director Jayant Baranwal Executive Vice President (Planning & Business Development) Rohit Goel Administration Bharti Sharma Asst-Admin, HR & Infra Pooja Tehlani

The 12th iteration of Indo-Mongolian joint military exercise Nomadic Elephant was held at Vairengte from April 5 to 18, 2017.

Mongolian Army is represented by nine officers and 36 soldiers of the elite 084 Special Forces Task Battalion while Indian Army is represented by a contingent comprising of three officers, four JCOs and 39 soldiers of the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles.

Nomadic Elephant is aimed at training the troops in counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations under the United Nations mandate. The joint training will also lay emphasis on conducting operations by a joint subunit, comprising of troops from both the armies, in adverse operational conditions aimed at enhancing the interoperability between the two armies.

Indo-Nepal joint exercise Surya Kiran concludes

Creative Director Anoop Kamath Design Vimlesh Kumar Yadav, Sonu Singh Bisht Research Assistant: Graphics Survi Massey Sales & Marketing Director Sales & Marketing: Neetu Dhulia General Manager Sales: Rajeev Chugh SP’s Website Sr. Web Developer: Shailendra P. Ashish Web Developer: Ugrashen Vishwakarma Published bimonthly by Jayant Baranwal on behalf of SP Guide Publications Pvt Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, photocopying, recording, electronic, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publishers.

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Indo-Nepal Joint Military Training was held at Pithoragarh from March 7 to 20, 2017.

Ekta Shakti Battalion of the Punjab Regiment of Indian Army and Durga Bahsh Battalion of Nepalese Army participated in the joint exercise named Surya Kiran-XI, which was the 11th iteration aimed at training troops in counter-insurgency operations and enhancing defence cooperation and military relations between the two countries. It provided an ideal platform for the personnel of the two armies to share their experiences.

The training culminated with 48 hours outdoor exercise in which troops of both contingents carried out a cordon and search operation in a mock village. SP

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