SP's Land Forces June-July 2011

June-July 2011

SP’s

Volume 8 No 3

AN SP GUIDE

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P U B L I C AT I O N

ROUNDUP

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IN THIS ISSUE

T h e O N LY j o u r n a l i n A s i a d e d i c a t e d t o L a n d F o r c e s

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Smart Munitions to Minimise Damage A percentage of Indian armour (tanks) already has the capability of firing missiles from the gun tube apart from conventional munitions. This capability should also be introduced in future ICVs and tanks.

Lt General (Retd) V.K. Kapoor PAGE 7 Meeting Army’s Tactical Requirements Special vehicles are an essential part of the mobility that needs to be addressed.

INTERVIEW

‘I visualise a broader mandate for the Mechanised Forces in the future’

PHOTOGRAPHS: Anoop Kamath/SP Guide Pubns

Lt General (Retd) P.C. Katoch PAGE 9 Modernising the Infantry The apathy of the Defence Ministry in equipment procurement could have disastrous results in the future. We need far greater focus and a firm political will to modernise our military and build the desired military capability for the future.

Lt General (Retd) V.K. Kapoor PAGE 10 Bots the Armoured Warriors Botnets are essentially malicious having turned into big business. In simple terms, it is a network of infected end-hosts (bots) under the command of a botmaster.

Lt General (Retd) P.C. Katoch PAGE 11 India Inducts Agni-III... ...Is a step closer to ICBM Vishal Thapar PAGE 14 A Reality Check India’s Special Forces do not have the same capability as the US forces due to non-availability of high-end technology. But depending upon the distance involved and combat environment up to and on the target, they are capable of carrying out Operation Neptune’s Spear type missions across the border.

General (Retd) V.P. Malik PAGE 18 Thrust Towards Modernisation Officers of all three services and members of the defence industry participated in the seminar on NCW organised by SP Guide Publications and CLAWS recently.

Lt General (Retd) V.K. Kapoor PLUS Vijayee Bhava In the News First / Tecknow News in Brief

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The Mechanised Forces Directorate of the Indian Army has evolved into a fully integrated model and is responsible for all issues with respect to Armoured Corps, Mechanised Infantry and the Brigade of the Guards. In an exclusive interview with Jayant Baranwal, Editor-in-Chief, and Lt General (Retd) V.K. Kapoor, Editor, SP’s Land Forces, Lt General D.S. Siddhu, Director General Mechanised Forces (DGMF), spoke about the plethora of responsibilities of the Directorate.

SP’s Land Forces (SP’s): What is the charter of duties of the DGMF in respect of Armoured Corps and Mechanised Infantry?

Lt General D.S. Siddhu (DGMF): DGMF forms part of the General Staff Branch of the IHQ of MoD (Army) and functions under DCOAS (P&S). Earlier, the Armoured Corps and Mechanised Infantry issues were being dealt with separately. However, since February 2005, the Directorate has evolved into a fully integrated model and is responsible for all issues with respect to Armoured Corps, Mechanised Infantry and the Brigade of the Guards.

In short, the Directorate is responsible for conceiving the vision, formulating and instituting the required policies to realise the

goals set in coordination with various other Directorates. The Directorate has been vested with the responsibility to ensure that the Mechanised Forces are fit in all respects, at all times to fulfill their envisaged operational role across the full spectrum of conflict.

The Directorate is also responsible for a plethora of operational, training, equipment management and man management issues. We strive to ensure optimum exploitation of our combat potential in consonance with the overall politico-military objectives. The Directorate is responsible for formulation of policies, selection of equipment, progressing cases of procurement, induction, exploitation and support to the Mechanised Forces. It includes formulating

and implementing policies on upgradation, modernisation and subsequent discard of in-service equipment.

Our charter also includes formulation of training policies in keeping with the rapidly evolving technology and its subsequent implementation at Armoured Corps Centre and School, Mechanised Infantry Regiment Centre and Guards Regimental Centre. The aspects of man management encompass various aspects of recruitment, improvement of service conditions and their discharge based on our present and future requirements. The Directorate is responsible for ensuring that the professional and personal aspirations of our personnel are effectively met.

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INTERVIEW History is replete with examples of nations being unprepared for the types of wars thrust upon them.

In 1914, Imperial Germany was prepared solely for a swift war of rapid movement. It had to shift gears to learn about siege warfare on a grand scale. In 1941-43, the Russians and the Allied Forces had to learn how to face swift wars of movement at operational and strategic levels. They were prepared for the wrong kind of war. But they were saved by the factor of “time and space”. As World War II progressed, the transformation of the military, sought

by Russia and the Allied Forces, was brought about with the passage of time and ultimately the superiority of resources prevailed. In the Indian context, we were totally unprepared, both mentally and physically, for a war of movement in the mountains and had to face a humiliating defeat in 1962. Currently our most pivotal problem is to predict the future so as to transform our military for future wars.

There is a temptation to treat the contemporary trends in warfare as a signal for a momentous radical shift in the nature of war. Admittedly the “grammar” of war in Clausewitzian terms has changed since the end of the cold war but the importance and primacy of the logic of policy remains paramount. As always, the character of war in any period is shaped and propelled by the political, social, and strategic including technological contexts. It is not merely a change brought about by

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SP’s: In the context of the future threats and challenges, have any new roles been defined for the Armoured Corps and the Mechanised Infantry?

DGMF: The security environment facing our nation is in a state of constant flux. There is a need for close monitoring of the changes taking place within and outside, especially in our close neighbourhood. We are constantly reviewing our military preparedness based on these changes. The Mechanised Forces need to constantly evolve, develop and adapt to the changing “capability cum threat” spectrum, in order to remain ‘operationally relevant’ at all points of time and to maintain the deterrence value.

The Mechanised Forces have a role across all types of terrain and combat scenarios. Our basic role may remain the same, but it has evolved with changes in capability, technology, infrastructure and the equipment held with us. We are constantly reorienting our training, equipment and policies to meet these new challenges.

I visualise a broader mandate for the Mechanised Forces in the future. We are likely to be employed in a broad spectrum of operational scenarios, ranging from operations in amphibious and mountainous terrain to various overseas deployments as part of an UN mandate. In addition, ever growing urbanisation has resulted in the likelihood of being involved in urban warfare and resultant consolidation operations.

SP’s: What are the basic parameters which you consider essential and vital for designing the future MBT of the Indian Army? How is the Army and the Armoured Corps keeping a tab on the work being done by the DRDO in this field? What are the formal arrangements in place to ensure user inputs at all stages of development?

DGMF: Based on the operational requirements, perspective planning and technologies available at present as well as in the future, the basic contours and the roadmap of the futuristic main battle tank (FMBT) have emerged. The preliminary staff qualitative requirement (PSQR) for the FMBT is evolved after taking the views of all the stakeholders. The efforts towards indigenisation/absorption of transfer of technologies (ToT) and the lessons learnt play a major part in development of the FMBT. Right from evolving the PSQR to building of prototypes, followed by limited production, till finally its regular production, mechanisms are being put in place to ensure our country and the armed forces get the best product.

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nuances of military science.

The next issue concerns trend analysis. Even the most intelligent analysis of recent trends cannot offer a reliable guide for the future. Trends in warfare emerge with regional and global political and strategic changes and while they interact with each other and their context, it is their consequences rather than the trends themselves which make the future. Most of the defence planning which is based on the trends identified today is almost certain to rest on shaky foundations. Therefore a nation like ours, with vast and varied parameters of security will have to base its future structures after wider consultations. There is no reason to believe that military analysts of today are more gifted in the field of prophecy than their predecessors. The historical record of tolerably accurate strategic futurology is anything but impressive.

The “realm of uncertainty” is the nature of wars as stated long back by none other than Clausewitz himself. Hence, let us assure ourselves that the transformation we are seeking will produce a military capability which iwill be able to face all types of situations which policy will throw its way.

The rationale points to the conclusions which are both negative and positive in their content.

These are: l The approach to wars and warfare must not be divorced from its political, social and

strategic context.

Defence planners usually produce impressive solutions to problems they prefer to solve but not the problems that wily and intelligent foes might pose. l Trend analysis and strategic futurology is not very helpful in predicting the future which is guided more by the consequences of the trends that we see today rather than the trends themselves. l We must always be prepared for surprises irrespective of how confident we feel about the future. l Based on India’s security parameters, we need to prepare for a wide spectrum of threats and challenges that may be thrust upon us and our genius should reside in utilising the available budget in building a superior military capability through tri-Service synergy and not through exclusive, single service focus.

A Parliamentary Directive to enforce interServices integration is in fact long overdue. l

‘There is a need for close monitoring of the changes taking place within and outside, especially in our close neighbourhood’

The formal arrangements in place to ensure user inputs at all stages of development are as under: l Regular visit by user to the production agency l Regular joint review and audit l Quarterly interaction meets l Customer satisfaction meets We are also looking at much closer interaction with the industry as also contemplating a new model which will be dynamic and allow user participation at all levels of development, integration and trials. These aspects are yet to be finalised.

SP’s: The requirement of a light tank for the Eastern Theatre as also for some sectors of our mountainous regions is a necessity which few can deny. What is the current status of procurement of light tank for the Indian Army?

DGMF: The relevance of armour has expanded from the erstwhile manoeuvre warfare to operations in difficult terrain, amphibious operations and fourth generation warfare. Consequently, a need has been felt to customise our equipment profile to meet the specialised requirement. To that effect, the light tank is being proposed to meet different operational requirements.

Currently, doctrinal and technical issues are being deliberated. Thereafter, the qualitative requirements will be finalised.

SP’s: It seems that the T-90 is planned to be the current main battle tank of the Army. Is the Heavy Vehicle Factory at Avadi geared to handle this responsibility in addition to its other responsibilities? What has been our experience with the indigenous production of this tank?

DGMF: Heavy Vehicle Factory, Avadi is designated by the Department of Defence Procurement (DDP) and Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) as the nodal factory for manufacture of tanks. In the past, HVF produced the Vijayanta and T-72 tanks. In addition, HVF is also in the process of reactivating the assembly line to produce T-72 variants.

The process of licence production of T-90 tanks has been worked out in detail and the training of factory staff and inculcation of skills done by assembling semi-knocked down (SKD) tanks, completely knocked down (CKD) tanks and graduating to indigenous manufacture. Currently, the process of indigenous manufacture has commenced.

SP’s: Has any new equipment been planned for the reconnaissance troops and platoons of armoured regiments and mechanised infantry battalions respectively, to make them more effective?

DGMF: The Indian Army is looking at the procurement of a light armoured vehicle designed to meet the requirements of the reconnaissance troops and platoons. This vehicle will have the required mobility and

Lt General (Retd) V.K. Kapoor

agility over all types of terrain as also survivability. It will be equipped to carry out reconnaissance tasks during day as well as night in all weather conditions. Electronic control displays will integrate all on board systems for ease of management and efficiency.

SP’s: With the ageing T-72 fleet, what is the status of medium repair and base overhaul of these tanks?

DGMF: Tank T-72 was inducted in the Indian Army in 1979. In order to enhance the service life, medium repair and overhaul norms were evolved and implemented.

Under these programmes, the tanks are put through extensive repair and refurbishment at a laid down periodicity. The Army and the MoD is seized of the criticality of these programmes, and in keeping with the requirements, a massive modernisation programme has been recently sanctioned to improve both our capacities and quality of overhaul.

SP’s: How far have we reached in the T-72 upgrade and modernisation programme?

DGMF: The tank T-72 forms the mainstay of the Mechanised Forces currently. A number of modernisation projects and upgrades are under way to enhance its operational efficacy. Our projects focus on night enabling, higher protection levels, better mobility and crew comfort. In addition, secure communications and better NBC capability schemes have also been included. Each of these programmes is at different levels.

SP’s: Russians have made the ICV BMP-3 which has a 100mm 2A70 semi-automatic rifled gun as its main armament and fires and anti-tank guided missile from the same barrel. It also has a 30mm automatic gun. Is the Indian Army planning for a future ICV on this pattern?

DGMF: BMP-3, though a versatile equipment, its physical attributes impinge on its deployment and floatation capability. Indian Army has planned for a futuristic infantry combat vehicle (FICV) to replace the BMP-2 with key operational and performance parameters envisaged in the Indian context. The project is a pioneer in ‘Make-High Tech’ category where for the first time the defence industry has invited participation by private established agencies. The project is in an advance stage for development of a prototype. We are of the view that our operational requirements can be met with a weapon mix of a cannon, machine gun, missile firing capability and automatic grenade launcher.

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T EC H N O LO GY

Smart Munitions to Minimise Damage A percentage of Indian armour (tanks) already has the capability of firing missiles from the gun tube apart from conventional munitions. This capability should also be introduced in future ICVs and tanks. The DRDO should take up a project for precision munitions for small arms which would enable our soldiers to engage enemy snipers hiding in trenches, behind walls or inside buildings.

PHOTOGRAPH: US Army

A soldier aims an XM25 weapon system

decision-makers an option to exert force in circumstances that just two decades ago, they would not have considered possible.”

The capability of launching precision attacks via drones flying overhead has been fully exploited by the US in Afghanistan and Pakistan where Predators (UCAVs) with Hellfire missiles have been employed extensively to get at Taliban and Al-Qaeda leaders who otherwise would have been inaccessible. Thus, decision-makers now have the freedom to use military force in built up areas (cities and towns) in an enemy homeland or in enemy-occupied territory without risking their own troops and without the fear of causing collateral damage. In a strategic sense, this capability can act as a powerful deterrent to an aggressor who thinks that the danger of collateral damage will discourage an attacker in using force in areas where his armed cadres have mingled with the local population. Hence both strategically and tactically, precision munitions give a military enhanced capability to not only destroy the adversary’s vital combat elements, but also impart deterrence to the force which possesses such weapons and munitions.

Air and Space Aspects

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PRECISION-GUIDED MUNITION (PGM) also termed as “smart munition,” is a guided munition intended to precisely hit a specific target, and to minimise collateral damage. It is well known that the damage effects of explosive weapons fall off with distance, thus even modest improvements in accuracy enable a target to be effectively attacked with fewer or smaller bombs. The creation of precision-guided munitions resulted in the renaming of older bombs as “gravity bombs,” “dumb bombs” or “iron bombs.”

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Advantages of PGMs Precision munitions give a decision-maker the confidence of contemplating the use of force in circumstances where collateral damage would be unacceptable or call into question the viability of continued military action and hence may preclude the use of force as an option. Thus precision technologies have been used to design munitions which could be employed to overcome such inhibitions.

In low intensity conflict operations like counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism and even in high intensity conventional conflicts, attitudes towards both own and enemy causalities have changed. This has come about because of negative publicity regarding the use of heavy weaponry which results in a large number of civilian causalities and which has serious implications for public opinion and policy. This is more so in democratic countries where the political leadership is often at pains to explain the necessity of use of force. Moreover, due to availability of excellent communications worldwide, it is

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not possible to hide excesses anywhere, and in a seamless world adverse global opinion can have an adverse impact both internally and externally.

Changed Nature of Warfare Additionally wars and warfare have changed considerably. Andrew Marshall, the former Director of the Office of Net Assessments in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, had stated in the late 1990s that profound changes were occurring in the nature of warfare brought about by the innovative application of new technologies which combined with dramatic changes in military doctrine and operational and organisational concepts, have fundamentally altered the character and conduct of military operations. The use of precision munitions falls within this mould.

It is in this context that Richard P. Hallon in his article “Precision Guided Munitions and the New Era of Warfare” (ASPC Paper No 53) states, “There has been a generalised lack of appreciation of how warfare has changed since the Second World War. On the eve of the Gulf War, for example, critics of proposed military action posited scenarios where tens of thousands of Iraqis would be killed by largely indiscriminate air attacks that would ‘carpet bomb’ population centres, particularly Baghdad. To give viewers some idea of what a ‘modern’ air war might be like, commentators, ironically, ran footage of Berlin and other German cities after Victory in Europe (VE) Day. In fact, of course, coalition leaders had no intention whatsoever of using such a level of force against an opponent, recognising that, given the moral climate of the present day, this use of power simply would not be tolerated by the world community or even the

population of a coalition nation that engaged in such action. But after being briefed on the air campaign plan for the Gulf War, coalition political and military leaders were very comfortable with the notion of using precision weapons in attacks deep in the midst of major cities, once they had been assured that the accuracies claimed for such weapons were realistic and not the stuff of an overenthusiastic trade-show sales briefing. On ‘opening night’ of the Gulf War, for example, Baghdad was struck by two kinds of precision attackers: ship-launched cruise missiles, and airlaunched laser-guided bombs. Later, the extensive use of precision weaponry in the NATO air campaign in Bosnia without (to the author’s knowledge) any collateral losses, affirmed again that this kind of attack offers

Both strategically and tactically, precision munitions give a military enhanced capability to not only destroy the adversary’s vital combat elements, but also impart deterrence to the force which possesses such weapons and munitions

With the advent of precision guided munitions combined with accurate reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition systems and GPS-aided navigation systems; modern technology has given airpower, the capability of destroying targets with single digit CEP and with least amount of collateral damage. Given the wherewithal, these characteristics endow air power with the ability to psychologically and physically imbalance an opponent and achieve strategic aims set by the national leadership with highly selective employment of land forces. The effects are fundamentally greater than before. Air power has become the decisive force in war, allowing air power to shape the battlefield before committal of ground forces. In highintensity combat, the main role of land forces would now be to secure a victory, rather than achieve it.

It is becoming increasingly evident that in the long-term, manned fighters will give way to unmanned combat. The transition from operating UAVs as sensor platform to employing them as weapons carriers is seen by analysts as the logical outcome of the available technologies and the extensive use of Predators mounted with Hellfire missiles in the Af-Pak region proves the efficacy of this concept. The US Air Force has armed its Predator and Global Hawk UAVs with precision weapons. The US Congress has mandated that a third of all US deep-strike aircraft in the future will be unmanned. In the future, manned fighters may be used for only a limited number of roles, whereas stealthy unmanned combat aircraft, together with low-observable long-range stand-off munitions, will lessen the need for manned aircraft to penetrate enemy defences. These factors raise the question of whether and for how long manned aircraft will be needed for the delivery of precisionguided munitions.

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T EC H N O LO GY PHOTOGRAPHS: US Army, Lockheed Martin, USAF

load on an F-16 flying in the Iraq War included a single 2,000-lb JDAM and two 1,000-lb LGBs. With LJDAM, and the new small diameter bomb, these same aircraft can carry more bombs if necessary, and have the option of satellite or laser guidance for each weapon release.

MQ-1 Predator unmanned aircraft, armed with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles

Cannon Launched Guided Projectiles The US Army’s MGM-51 Shillelagh missile can be considered a type of cannon launched guided projectiles (CLGP). Intended for use on the M551 Sheridan light tank, the Shillelagh missile was fired out of the Sheridan’s cannon to provide robust anti-tank capability. The Army’s M712 Copperhead laser-guided artillery round was used in Desert Storm.

Army CLGPs include the M982 Excalibur 155mm artillery shell, the XM395 Precision Guided Mortar Munition, and the XM1156 precision guidance kit to refit existing 155mm shells with precision guidance, as the Air Force’s JDAM programme converts dumb bombs into precision munitions.

Guided Small Arms

lites armed with lasers, as well as electronic jamming devices and viruses that could shut down the flow of information.

Use of PGMs In the development of precision-guided munitions, today’s “smart” or “brilliant” weapons include a host of weapons that range from missiles to individual warheads to defences against enemy smart weapons.

In the US, the Tomahawk cruise missile, guided by the global positioning system (GPS), can reliably hit a target the size of a small room from a thousand kilometres away. The US Army’s second generation tactical missile system is able to destroy battalion-sized formations of moving armoured combat vehicles at ranges of 140 kilometres when it is loaded with the brilliant anti-tank (BAT) sub-munitions. Combat aircraft today can engage targets with the joint direct attack munition from a stand-off range of about 100 kilometres and hit their targets by day or night under any weather conditions.

It is reported that the total quantum of PGMs used by the US Army in Vietnam was just 0.2 per cent of total munitions, the ratio increased to eight per cent in 1991 Gulf War, rose to 35 per cent in Kosovo. In the Afghan and Iraq wars of 2003, 56 per cent of munitions were PGMs. These munitions have also enabled the application of “precision force” that offers the possibility of destroying military targets without substantial “collateral” or civilian damage. The US Air Force has phased out almost all unguided bombs in their inventory. The focus is on acquiring sensor fused weapons (SFW) and joint standoff weapons carrying sub munitions.

The HELLFIRE II missile

Advanced Guidance Concepts

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The GBU-54 is the Air Force’s newest 500-pound precision weapon, equipped with a special targeting system that uses a combination of Global Position System and laser guidance to accurately engage and destroy moving targets

Military experts predict that space will become an actual theatre of military operations. They observe that the coming military revolution will witness the militarisation of space, with warfare occurring in space as well as on land, at sea and in the air. China’s new anti-satellite weapon, a “kinetic kill vehicle”, fired from a medium-range ballistic missile on January 11, 2007, destroyed a Chinese

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weather satellite 865 km above earth. This demonstrated the capability as well as the likely future intentions of China in space operations. Currently, it is felt that space operations could involve everything from protecting military satellites to knocking out enemy space-borne threats and denying adversaries the same opportunities in space. Future threats to satellite systems could include satel-

Responding to after-action reports from pilots who employed laser and/or satellite guided weapons, Boeing has developed a Laser JDAM (LJDAM) to provide both types of guidance in a single kit. Based on the existing JDAM configurations, a laser guidance package is added to a GPS/INS guided weapon to increase the overall accuracy of the weapons. Raytheon has developed the enhanced Paveway family, which adds GPS/INS guidance to their Paveway family of laser-guidance packages. These “hybrid” laser and GPS guided weapons permit the carriage of fewer weapons types, while retaining mission flexibility, because these weapons can be employed equally against moving and fixed targets, or targets of opportunity. For instance, a typical weapons

A rifle capable of firing explosive bullets that can detonate within a metre of a target could let soldiers fire on snipers hiding in trenches, behind walls or inside buildings.

The US Army has developed the XM25 rifle to give its troops an alternative to calling in artillery fire or air strikes when an enemy has taken cover and can’t be targeted by direct fire. The rifle’s gun sight uses a laser rangefinder to calculate the exact distance to the obstruction. The soldier can then add or subtract up to three metres from that distance to enable the bullets to clear the barrier and explode above or beside the target.

Requirements of the Indian Army India will face three types of threats in the future. The traditional variety of threat from Pakistan and China which is likely to be in the form of limited mid/high intensity border wars while the internal threat and the contemporary challenges are likely to take the form of terrorism and insurgencies emanating from traditional adversaries, international terrorist networks, non-state actors, and dissident groups of homegrown variety.

These threats and challenges will have to be confronted on a wide variety of terrain existing on India’s borders ranging from high altitude glacial regions to high mountains, low hills, plains, semi-desert and desert terrain and riverine terrain. Thus the operational requirement of the Army will compel them to design capability-cum-threat based structures and equip them with a wide variety of weapon systems including a relatively larger percentage of PGMs. The artillery needs large quantities of PGMs for more accurate targeting in future battles. PGMs are increasingly gaining currency to accurately destroy critical hard targets quickly as well as to reduce collateral damage. With a larger quantity of PGMs, the employment of artillery itself will undergo a drastic change. Currently, the artillery has limited quantities of the Russian Krasnopol PGM for the Bofors 155 mm howitzer. Among others, the Bofors Bonus PGM is a suitable candidate, subject to successful trials in the deserts and the mountains. The government has accorded acceptance of necessity (AON) for PGMs and some sensor-fuzed munitions.

A percentage of Indian armour (tanks) already has the capability of firing missiles from the gun tube apart from conventional munitions. This capability should also be introduced in future ICVs and tanks. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) should take up a project for precision munitions for small arms which would enable our soldiers to engage enemy snipers hiding in trenches, behind walls or inside buildings.

Precision guided munitions will have to be increasingly employed to improve deterrence, reduce collateral damage, reduce logistic loads and reduce risk to the soldiery.

S P E C I A L I S E D V E H I C L E S <<

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Meeting Army’s Tactical Requirements Considering the threats that India will face in future including terrorism and insurgencies besides conventional war, mobility will be a vital ingredient in capacity building both for defence and homeland security. Special vehicles are an essential part of the mobility that needs to be addressed.

PHOTOGRAPH: US Army

n LT GENERAL (RETD) P.C. KATOCH

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PECIAL VEHICLES MANUFACTURED IN India have largely been in the heavy duty category to meet the requirements that have come up from time to time. These range from dozers, forklifts, cranes, earth moving plant, heavy duty carriers/trailers, power generation vehicles and the like. Similar was the case in the armed forces albeit heavy duty vehicles also modified as communications vehicle/signal centre, Commanders caravans, operations room vehicles, kitchen lorries and in recent years mine/IED proof vehicles with armour plating. Some special vehicles manufactured by Ashok Leyland are as follows: In the light utility category, the light ambulance figured both in the civil and the military. The Indian military has not had a special vehicle in service for effective use at the tactical level in diverse terrain. For tactical level usage, the Army had to resort to ad

Marines in an HMMWV during operations in Afghanistan

hoc modifications of the Nissan Jonga, which has now been phased out. Such modifications ranged from mounting of machine guns, 106mm RCL guns, missile launchers, fitments to carry radio sets and equipment, Commander’s vehicle and modifications for long-range travel including in desert. Special Forces also resorted to modifications of one tonne vehicle that could carry 10 men with full combat loads. Phasing out of the Nissan Jonga brought in the Maruti Gypsy and the Mahindra Jeep into the Army. When compared to the Jonga, the Gypsy and Jeep are less rugged and being more compact can accommodate lesser modifications. Focus of this article is on special vehicles that can meet the tactical level requirements of the Indian security sector.

Humvee Category The high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV or Humvee) is a special vehicle produced by AM General, USA. It has largely supplanted the roles formerly

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>> S P E C I A L I S E D V E H I C L E S PHOTOGRAPHS: US Army, Mahindra

engine (which powers the Rexton)—or a petrol engine (using 4 L GM Vortec engine (which powers the Chevrolet Blazer). An allwheel independent suspension system meets requirement of high mobility. There are plans to have variants using Mahindra’s current line of diesel engines. Axe is expected to cost around `15 lakh.

The LSV by Tata Motors with a 1.2-tonne payload is a single platform to undertake diverse missions like reconnaissance, counter-insurgency operations and even an ambulance. It caters to parameters of mobility, survivability, stealth, lethality, transportability and maintainability to a fair extent. It has an adaptive automatic transmission, 60 per cent grade-ability, 300mm vertical obstacle climbing ability, 45 per cent approach angle, 45 per cent departure angle, 255mm ground clearance. The vehicle can operate in a temperature range of -20 degree to +55 degree celsius and has a maximum speed of 105 kmph.

New mine-resistant, ambush-protected all-terrain vehicle, built specifically for the mountainous terrain

All Terrain Vehicle In the diverse terrain of Indian Army deployments, light vehicles need to negotiate waterlogged areas, marshes, sand dunes including soft areas, mountains and extreme cold or high altitude and forested areas. All terrain vehicles that can traverse such terrain are ideally suited albeit they must meet combat requirements of troop and combat load carriage including weapons and equipment.

There is a requirement of very light variants too that with small signatures for tasks like reconnaissance.

There are plans to use variants of Mahindra’s Axe which is expected to cost around `15 lakh

Air Portability Air portability is an essential military requirement for LSVs as air-portability by both aircraft and medium-lift helicopters increases the reach and lethality of Special Forces and Special Operations Forces. Our Army Special Forces have been authorised helicopter transportable LSVs since year 2001 but these are yet to be provisioned.

Spider LSV developed by Singapore was being examined at one point of time but then a number of firms were put under ban on account of what was rumoured as kickbacks. The Spider LSV is transportable both by fixed wing aircraft and medium-lift helicopter.

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Scope

served by smaller Jeeps such and other light trucks. Primarily used by the US Military, it is also used by numerous other countries and even in civilian adaptations. There are at least 17 variants of the Humvee in service with the US Military. Humvee serves as cargo/troop carriers, automatic weapons platforms, ambulances (four or eight patients), TOW missile carriers, M119 howitzer prime movers, M1097 avenger pedestal mounted stinger platforms, MRQ12 direct air support vehicles, S250 shelter carriers, and other roles. This special vehicle is capable of fording 2.5 ft (76 cm) normally, or 5 ft (1.5 m) with the deep-water fording kits installed. Some of the variants of the Humvee are as follows: Optional equipment includes a winch (2,700 kg capacity) and supplemental armour.

The M1025/M1026 and M1043/M1044 armament carriers provide mounting and firing capabilities for the Mk 19 grenade launcher, the M2 heavy machine gun, the M240G/B machine gun and M249 LMG. The M1114 “up-armoured” Humvee, introduced in 2004, also features a similar weapons mount. In addition, some M1114 and M1116 up-armoured and M1117 armoured security vehicle models feature a common remotely operated weapon station (CROWS), which allows the gunner to operate from inside the vehicle, and/or the

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Boomerang anti-sniper detection system.

Recent improvements have also led to the development of the M1151 model, which is quickly rendering the previous models obsolete. In response to the vulnerability of HMMWVs operating in Iraq, up-armour kits were designed and installed on M998 Humvees. These kits include armoured doors with bullet-resistant glass, side and rear armour plates, and a ballistic windshield which offer greater protection from ballistic

In the diverse terrain of Indian Army deployments, light vehicles need to negotiate waterlogged areas, marshes, sand dunes including soft areas, mountains and extreme cold or high altitude and forested areas

threats and simple IEDs. Humvee are fitted with combat identification panels to reduce the possibility of friendly fire during combat.

Size of the Humvee does not lend itself to air transportation, limits ability for the vehicle to be manhandled out of situations and its width makes passage of two Humvee difficult on narrow roads. The US military is going in for commercial off-the-shelf vehicles as part of the mine resistant ambush protected (MRAP) programme. The long-term replacement for the Humvee is the joint light tactical vehicle. The future tactical truck systems (FTTS) have also been initiated to replace Humvee versions. Vehicles similar to Humvee have been produced by Russia (GAZ-2975 “Tigr”), Venezuela (Tiuna), Japan (Koukidousya), France (Renault Sherpa 2) , Spain (URO VAMTAC), Philippines (MMPV) and Hummer of USA, entire Hummer series being civilian derivatives of the Humvee. In India, Mahindra has come up with the Mahindra Axe and Tata Motors with the light strike vehicle (LSV). Both are under the evaluation of the Army.

Mahindra Axe is being customised to meet Army specifications (both open and hard top versions), as replacement for current Mahindra Jeep derivatives. A version for Special Forces is also being developed. Current Axe variants use either a diesel engine—2.7 L Mercedes derived Sangyong

The scope of special vehicles of the light category is vast, both in the military and the civil sectors. What the military should look for is very light versions for tasks like reconnaissance. Air transportable versions, including transportation by medium-lift helicopters, must be introduced earliest. For other tasks, there should be a single base model with attachments/add on for mounting various weapons, carriage of combat loads, etc. The current practice forcing users to undertake ad hoc operationally required modifications should be done away with. The PMF, CPOs and police units battling insurgency and terrorists too need to be given added mobility through special vehicles of light category. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) could examine the issue holistically and take steps to clear bureaucratic hurdles and delays. The scope in civil sector also is tremendous especially in the tourism sector for desert and jungle safaris, dune buggies for fun and frolic deserts, traversing difficult areas, cross country racing, para-sailing and the like.

Capacity Building Considering the threats that India will face in future including terrorism and insurgencies besides conventional war, mobility will be a vital ingredient in capacity building both for defence and homeland security. A holistic appraisal and an effective roadmap are required to provide this capability to fight elements of our security sector. Special vehicles are an essential part of the mobility that needs to be addressed.

M O D E R N I S AT I O N

<<

Modernising the Infantry The apathy of the Defence Ministry in equipment procurement could have disastrous results in the future.

We need far greater focus and a firm political will to modernise our military and build the desired military capability for the future.

PHOTOGRAPH: SP Guide Pubns

n LT GENERAL (RETD) V.K. KAPOOR The mechanised infantry is now equipped with about 2,000 BMP-1 and BMP-2 ICV Sarath of which over 1,000 have been built in India since 1987

F

UTURE WARS WILL BE highly uncertain; major state to state wars among well armed nations will be rare; low intensity conflict and asymmetric wars will proliferate and technology will play a predominant role in designing the conduct of future wars. The role and employment of infantry in future will also depend on the nature of future wars.

Most nations are investing heavily in new and emerging technologies which they feel will confer distinct advantages over the adversary.

Apart from conventional conflicts where the role of the infantry remains the same i.e. to close in, capture or destroy the enemy and hold ground, it is ideally suited as a vital arm of the Indian Army, for countering insurgencies and terrorism operations, border guarding including maintaining the sanctity of disputed borders, internal security duties, aid to civil authorities including maintenance of law and order in peacetime and peacekeeping operations under the UN Charter.

The modernisation focus of the Indian Army in the Eleventh Defence Plan according to Lt General (Retd) Noble Thamburaj, former Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS), is on “precision firepower, air defence, aviation, future infantry soldier as a system (F-INSAS), infrastructure development, network centricity and achieving battlefield transparency through improved surveillance, night vision and target acquisition…Considering the receding span of technological cycle, right balance has to be maintained between the state-of-the-art, current and obsolescent technologies.”

Modernisation of the Infantry Modernisation of Infantry as indeed the entire modernisation programme of the Indian Army is a continuous and ongoing process. The Indian Army has initiated major modernisation plans, with regard to the infantry, with particular emphasis on improvement of its firepower, mobility, surveillance and night fighting capability. These capabilities are planned to be acquired as per the long-term integrated defence plan and flowing from this the Service wise, five-year perspective plans.

Lt General Jasbir Singh, the former Director General Infantry, has candidly shared his thoughts on a host of important issues affecting the Infantry. He has said, “With rapid advancements in the field of science and technology, the nature of warfare is also changing. Future wars are likely to be short, intense and characterised by greater transparency, increased accuracy and lethality with much higher tempo of activities. In these times, while the Army needs to maintain conventional deterrence, it should also be prepared to face the more probable threat of asymmetric war. The technological advancements that would impact future operations of infantry can be categorised as follows: l Improvement in firepower, both in quantum and accuracy. l Sensors to provide day/night all-weather capability. l Information sharing through networking and information management by automation.

He said that his endeavour was to further enhance the capability of the Infantry soldier and equip him with adequate lethality, protection and situational awareness to

ageing and the replacements need to be found soon.

The Director General Mechanised Infantry during an interview with SP’s Land Forces in March 2011 had said, “Indian Army has planned for a futuristic infantry combat vehicle (FICV) to replace the BMP-2 with key operational and performance parameters envisaged in the Indian context. The project is a pioneer in ‘Make-Hi Tech’ category where for the first time the defence industry has invited participation by private established agencies. The project is in an advance stage of development of a prototype. We are of the view that our operational requirements can be met with a weapon mix of a cannon, machine gun, missile firing capability and an automatic grenade launcher.”

Anti-tank Missiles

meet the challenges of both conventional and the next generation of warfare. He clarified that they were in the process of adopting the technologies towards meeting the operational objectives set out for the infantry.

Sensors

ambulance, armoured dozer and engineer reconnaissance vehicles. Reconnaissance and Support Battalions need better surveillance radars, fire-and-forget ATGMs and effective night fighting capability. The BMP1 and the BMP-2 infantry combat vehicles, which have been the mainstay of the mechanised infantry battalions for long, are now

While 250 Kornet-E anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) with thermal imaging sights, procured some time back have increased the anti-tank capability of infantry battalions, the numbers are not enough compared to the units deployed in the plains, semi-desert and desert terrain where tank threat is palpable. Indian Army is mostly using second generation missiles which have limited value on the modern battlefield. The Army needs Continued on page 15

Battlefield surveillance radars (BFSRs) with practical ranges up to seven to eight km where clear line of sight is available have been inducted along with hand-held thermal imaging devices (HHTIs) with ranges up to 2,000 metres for observation at night and stand-alone infrared, seismic and acoustic sensors with varying capabilities. These have enabled the infantrymen to dominate the line of control (LoC) to bring down the rate of infiltration by terrorists from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Complementary Weapons The newly acquired weapons, which complement these surveillance and observation devices, include 84mm rocket launchers, including some disposable ones, anti-material rifles (AMRs), under-barrel grenade launchers (UBGLs), new generation carbines, bullet proof vehicles, and accurate sniper rifles. However, the numbers acquired and the ammunition stocks are still inadequate and need to be made up more rapidly. The INSAS 5.56mm assault rifles have now been in service for over 10 years, also need replacement. New 5.56mm assault rifles of bull-pup design with an integrated laser range finder and grenade launcher are under development. Efforts are also being made to provide infantry platoons and sections with integrated GPS-based navigation system, secure light-weight walkietalkie radio sets and better protective gear with a helmet that incorporates a built-in head-up display.

Tough automatic transmissions approved for action Key Advantages :

Mechanised Infantry The mechanised infantry is now equipped with about 2,000 BMP-1 and BMP-2 ICV Sarath of which over 1,000 have been built in India since 1987. A new variant is the 81mm carrier mortar tracked vehicle (CMTV) that is based on the chassis of the Sarath ICV and has been indigenously developed to enhance the integral firepower available to mechanised infantry battalions. The other variants include a command post, an

• No clutch plate to get burnt.

• No rollback on mountain grades.

• Faster acceleration for hot pursuit and exiting ambushes.

• Safe, smooth, easy and reliable drive.

• Superior braking with retarder.

• Prognostics for preventive maintainence.

• Very easy for drivers to learn and drive.

ALLISON TRANSMISSION INDIA PVT. LTD., 411 ELEGANCE TOWERS, 8 DISTRICT CENTRE, JASOLA, NEW DELHI-110025, INDIA T. +91 11 4315 5555 F. +91 11 4315 5566 PLANT : A-21, SIPCOT INDUSTRIAL PARK, ORAGADAM, SRIPERUMBUDUR TALUK, KANCHIPURAM DISTRICT- 602105, TAMIL NADU, INDIA. T. +91 44 3718 3718 F. +91 44 3718 3309

ALLISON TRANSMISSION INDIA PVT. LTD., 411 ELEGANCE TOWERS, 8 DISTRICT CENTRE, JASOLA, NEW DELHI-110025, INDIA T. +91 11 4315 5555 F. +91 11 4315 5566

PLANT : A-21, SIPCOT INDUSTRIAL PARK, ORAGADAM, SRIPERUMBUDUR TALUK, KANCHIPURAM DISTRICT- 602105, TAMIL NADU, INDIA. T. +91 44 3718 3718 F. +91 44 3718 3309

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CYBER SECURITY

Bots the Armoured Warriors Botnets are essentially malicious having turned into big business. In simple terms, it is a network of infected end-hosts (bots) under the command of a botmaster.

ILLUSTRATION: www.enisa.europa.eu

n LT GENERAL (RETD) P.C. KATOCH

W

HETHER WE GET INVADED

by Martians or life forms from outer space is speculative, but we are already being invaded by bots and botnets at an alarming rate. As if Sobig, Rbot, SDBot, Phatbot and Agobot with more than 500 variants were not enough, year 2010 saw massive constellations like ‘Rustok’ controlling over a million bots and ones like ‘Cutwail’ and ‘Grum’ too each controlling hundreds of thousands of bots, the common factor being that the rate of growth of these bot constellations is mesmerising. In order to spread their bots to more people and at a faster rate, bots have started to become payloads for worms. As the worms scan the Internet and infect vulnerable machines, these machines would become part of the botnets, exponentially increasing the number of bots at the attacker’s control.

Year 2010 also saw unleashing of the ‘stuxnet’ worm spearheading heightened malicious activity that affected over 6,000 computers in India and reportedly also caused malfunction in INSAT 4B besides affecting some 73,000 computers in countries of South East Asia. We are also witnessing the crusade of expanding Bot Armies of China in line with her strategic ambitions.

Globally, data breaches are costing enormous amounts to individual organisations, the cumulative financial implications in a country being to the tune of perhaps lakhs of crores. In this war of cyberspace, the stakes are so high that national policy formulation for cyber security measures notwithstanding, there is no short cut to all organisations individually focusing on adequate security measures to prevent breaches.

www.spslandforces.net

The Botnet Phenomenon According to Wikipedia, Botnets are essentially a collection of bots (short for robots) under a common command and control structure that run autonomously, typically controlled by one person or a group of people. They are programmes installed on different computers who perform actions for the controller (botmaster). To start with, bots originated only because of the need for automation, used mainly within Internet relay chat (IRC) and instant messaging (IM), and were not malicious in nature. Botnets were conceived for tasks like protecting a channel or deflecting a user away from a channel, plus providing entertainment in the process. However, cyber attackers eventually discovered their value in automating their attacks for controlling scores of computers through infected botnets. Today’s botnets are essentially malicious having turned into big business. Such botnet in simple terms is a network of infected end-hosts (bots) under the command of a botmaster.

Year 1999 saw the advent of the publicly discovered malicious botnets created by TFN in the forms of ‘stacheldraht’ and ‘trinoo’ distributed denial of service (DDoS). Using a proprietary command and control structure, these zombie networks launched DDoS attacks against Yahoo, Microsoft, eBay, etc.

As cyber attackers looked for more and more targets and refined the speed of the attack, they started to move away from methods used for DDoS and hit public places IRC. This then became the attacker’s paradise because an attacker could use a password protected chat room to control their bots and

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keep it out of site from the general public. In the IRC-based botnet, the attackers first infected a computer with his bot using numerous available methods. Thereafter, the bot connected back and logged into a chat room on the IRC C&C server that are typically public IRC servers of the EFNET, Undernet variety. The botmaster, having connected to the channel, can then send commands to the bot on the infected computer and have it perform any number of tasks. Through the IRC server, the attacker keeps increasing his army of bots at incredible speed. Over a period of time, other command and control domains for malicious botnets were added in HTTP and P2P networks like KaZaa. Exploiting known vulnerabilities, social engineering became the main attack zone using spam/phishing, website downloads, instant messaging, etc. Bots became synonymous to worms, essentially being malicious code like worms or spyware that spread in similar ways. A botmaster usually uses the bots in his botnet to spread in a number of different ways scanning other computers for known vulnerabilities and exploit these vulnerabilities to install the bot. Additionally a botnet may send out spam or phishing e-mails or IM messages to try to social engineer a victim into downloading the bot software from a website.

Command and Control The preferred choice of command and control method for botnets is through IRC servers, disadvantages with IRC being usually unencrypted, easy to get into, take over or shut down. Botnets can use either public or private IRC networks, optimising both advantages and disadvantages. Dynamic DNS Services are used frequently with botnets programmed to connect to specific IRC or HTTP servers for command and control.

Using dynamic DNS servers, the botmaster aims the botnet to a dynamic DNS name and changes the location of the command and control server. However, since these servers would usually be a fixed name or IP address, the ISP provider or administrator can easily make changes to prevent the botnets from getting connected.

There are a number of different ways to control bots: l Dynamic DNS services often used l Most common is through IRC (public or private)

l l

l

Bots log into a specific IRC channel Bots are written to accept specific commands and execute them (sometimes from specific users) Disadvantages with IRC

High Stakes The stuxnet worm spearheaded heightened malicious activity in 2010. The volume and sophistication of malicious activity increased substantially in 2010. The stuxnet worm became the first piece of malicious code able to affect physical devices while simultaneously attempting exploits for an unprecedented number of zero-day vulnerabilities. While it is highly unlikely that threats such as stuxnet will become commonplace because of the immense resources required to create it, it does show what a skilled group of highly organised attackers can accomplish. Targeted attacks of this nature along with Hydraq and others, have shown that determined attackers have the ability to infiltrate targets with research and social engineering tactics alone. This matters because recent studies have shown that the average cost per incident of a data breach in the United States was $7.2 million (`32.4 crore), with the largest breach costing one organisation $35.3 million (`159 crore) to resolve. With stakes so high, organisations need to focus their security efforts to prevent breaches. Social networking sites provide companies with a mechanism to market themselves online but can also have serious consequences. Information posted by employees on social networking sites can be used in social engineering tactics as part of

As more users become aware of the threats, and competition among attackers increases, it is likely that more threats will incorporate root kit techniques to thwart security software

targeted attacks. Additionally, these sites also serve as a vector for malicious code infection.

Organisations need to create specific policies for sensitive information, which may inadvertently be posted by employees and at the same time be aware that users visiting these sites from work computers may introduce an avenue of infection into the enterprise network. Home users also need to be aware of these dangers because they are at equal risk from malicious links on these sites.

Attack toolkits continue to lead in webbased attack activity. Their ease of use combined with advanced capabilities make them an attractive investment for attackers. Since exploits for some vulnerabilities will eventually cease to be effective, toolkit authors must incorporate new vulnerabilities to stay competitive in the marketplace. Currently, attackers are targeting certain exploits, such as those for Java vulnerabilities.

However, this could change if their effectiveness diminishes. Toolkit authors are constantly adapting in order to maximise the value of their kits. While the purpose of most malicious code has not changed over the past few years as attackers seek ways to profit from unsuspecting users, the sophistication of these threats has increased as attackers employ more features to evade detection.

These features allow malicious code to remain resident on infected computers, thus allowing attackers to steal more information and giving them more time to use the stolen information before the infections are discovered. As more users become aware of these threats, and competition among attackers increases, it is likely that more threats will incorporate root kit techniques to thwart security software.

Conclusion Currently, mobile threats have been very limited in the number of devices they affect as well as their impact. While these threats are not likely to make significant inroads right away, their impact is likely to increase in the near future. To avoid the threats that currently exist, users should only download applications from regulated marketplaces.

Checking the comments for applications can also indicate if other users have already noticed suspicious activity from installed applications. l One of the most common ways to mount a distributed denial of service attacks is done via networks of zombie computers taking instructions from a central point. l Early net were controlled via proprietary software written by the network owner. l Today they are mostly controlled by an IRC channel. l This makes it easier to control the network and easier for the owner to hide. l Internet Relay Chat l Jarkko Oikarinen; 1988 l Real time Internet Chat (synchronous conferencing) l Designed for group conferencing l Can do private one-to-one messaging l TCP Port 195 but usually run on 6,667 to avoid having to run the server as root. l RFC 1459 also RFCs 2810-2813 l Network is usually arranged in an acyclic graph (tree) l Messages only need go down the required branches l Communications are facilitated via channels l Channels can be global to all servers or local to a single server in the network

MISSILES

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India Inducts Agni-III... ...Is a step closer to ICBM PHOTOGRAPH: SP Guide Pubns

n VISHAL THAPAR

I

NDIA WILL TEST-FIRE its first inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) in December this year. Defence Minister A.K. Antony has put the development of the ICBM, also code-named the Agni-V, on the top of the priority list of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Antony has also directed the DRDO to hurry up the development of a “credible” ballistic missile defence (BMD) system in order to make India’s nuclear weapons doctrine of ‘no first use’ more credible.

In another significant development, India has announced the induction of the Agni-III into the Strategic Forces Command (SFC). The Agni-III ballistic missile has a range in excess of 3,500 km. “The AgniIII has already been inducted into the armed forces. The development process for this missile has been completed and it is now under (serial) production for the armed forces,” DRDO Chief Dr V.K. Saraswat announced on June 3, with the Defence Minister by his side.

The Agni-III extends the reach of India’s nuclear weapons. The strategic artillery units of the SFC are armed with the 750 km range Agni-I and the 2,500 km range Agni-II, besides the short-range Prithvi variants with ranges between 150 km and 350 km.

But what will propel India into the big league of nuclear weapons powers will be the ICBM, besides of course, the capability to fire

ballistic missiles from the Arihant class of nuclear-powered submarines, which is still in the works. While Antony publicly shied away from labelling the Agni-V as an ICBM, this weapon will extend the strike range of India’s ballistic missiles to over 5,000 km, which is widely regarded as the ICBM threshold. For the moment, India will restrict its missile programme to the Agni-V range.

In another significant disclosure, Dr Saraswat revealed plans to develop a new interceptor missile for India’s BMD programme. “Code-named the PDV, it is being developed to intercept an enemy ballistic mis-

sile at a height of 150 km above the surface of the earth,” Dr Saraswat told SP’s Land Forces. This will give India the capability to intercept missiles with a longer range.

India is developing a two-tier BMD system designed to neuteralise enemy ballistic missiles in space. In case the first attempt at interception in space (exo-atmosphere) fails, an endo-atmospheric interceptor would attempt to block an incoming missile closer to the surface of the earth. The exo-atmospheric interceptor which has been successfully tested by the DRDO is the PAD, a Prithvi look-alike with an interception range of 80

km above the surface of the earth. The PDV will double the interception range.

“The PDV will complete Phase-I of India’s BMD programme,” Dr Saraswat informed SP’s Land Forces. “We aim to testfire the PDV interceptor in February-March 2012,” the DRDO Chief disclosed. Another validation test for the earlier PAD version of the interceptor will be held in July-August this year, he said.

In another missile-related development, India has decided to modify the Sukhoi-30 MKI airframe on its own to make it capable of carrying the airborne version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. “The costs of Russian collaboration were prohibitive,” said Dr Sivathanu Pillai, head of the BrahMos project. The hard points on the undercarriage of the Sukhoi have to be strenghtened to lift the 2.5-tonne BrahMos. This requires some design changes. Dr Pillai dislosed that two Sukhoi fighters have been made available for retrofitting the BrahMos. Dr Pillai also revealed that the underwater version of the BrahMos will only be fitted on the next generation of submarines which will be built under Project 75I. The Indian Navy is in the process of finalising the RFP for the second line of submarines to be made after the Scorpene.

Meanwhile, the Indian Army has now its first Brahmos regiment in place. The regiment is reportedly equipped with over 60 missiles, and is deployed in the western sector.

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JOINT EXCERCISE

Vijayee Bhava The exercise was also intended to validate the concept of synergy between the Pivot Corps (Defensive Corps) and the Strike Corps and the options available for increasing the synergy between the two PHOTOGRAPHS: Indian Army

n LT GENERAL (RETD) V.K. KAPOOR

T

HE ELITE STRIKE CORPS of the Indian Army, the Ambala-based 2 Corps (Strike), also referred to as the Kharga Corps, has just completed its summer manoeuvres in the desert region of north Rajasthan. This was the first amongst a series of Western Command routine annual summer exercises in north Rajasthan in the area of Suratgarh and Bikaner. Interestingly, the formation sign of this Corps is Kharga which is the weapon of Goddess Mahakali, the destroyer of all negativities.

The aim of the exercise was to validate the new concepts which have emerged during the transformation studies undertaken by the Indian Army in light of the nature of future wars, organisational innovations, and the new technologies being introduced in the Army. This exercise also gave the Indian Army the opportunity to test its new weapon systems and force multipliers being inducted. This involved the testing and field trials of both hardware and software.

The exercise was also intended to validate the concept of synergy between the Pivot Corps (Defensive Corps) and the Strike Corps and the options available for increasing the synergy between the two.

The exercise practised sustained mass mechanised manoeuvres in a simulated environment by composite battle groups, ably supported by air and complemented by a wide array of weapon systems and enabling operational logistics.

The Indian Army, which is working towards a ‘capability-based approach’, has embarked on a series of transformational initiatives spanning new concepts, organisational structures and absorption of new age technologies, particularly in the fields of precision munitions, advance surveillance systems, space and network-centricity. These were fielded and trial evaluated by nominated test-bed formations and units participating in the exercise. The thrust of the transformational initiative is for the Army to emerge as a modern, lean, agile and enabled force.

While the acquisition of high-tech weaponry and combat support systems is an essential prerequisite for a capability-based approach, honing of human skills to harness technological advancements in military hardware is a never ending challenge. In the conduct of the exercise, combat decisions

L E T T E R

T O

T H E

taken at each level of command were analysed for their ability to synergise the application of state-of-the-art weapon platforms, to achieve optimum results. Such routine exercises with troops are conducted

E D I T O R

www.spslandforces.net

Inception of Army Aviation Dear Sir, I chanced up on the SP’s Land Forces issue which carried the text of an interview with ADG Army Aviation. It was natural to cite the deposition of General J.N. Chaudhary (the then COAS) to the National Aviation Commission in the mid 1960s as the seeding thought for the Army Aviation Corps (AAC). To the best of my recollection, the inception of AAC lay with a DO letter (the first on the subject) by General P.P. Kumaramanlam, to the Raksha Mantri/ Secretary Ministry of Defence (MoD), soon after he assumed office. It was a cogently reasoned, persuasively worded and the first formal statement of its kind.

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SP’s LAND FORCES

during the training cycles of formations.

The interesting part of the exercise was the manoeuvre executed by the armour and mechanised infantry combat groups supported by long-range medium artillery guns

capable of firing precision guided munitions, self-propelled air defence artillery which provides air defence cover to the manoeuvre force, assault engineers for quickly laying assault bridges over a water obstacle and mobile mine clearing equipment to provide mobility through minefields, attack helicopters and close support aircraft. Thus such groupings are formidable forces trained and equipped to destroy enemy’s strategic, operational and tactical reserves.

The T-90 tanks and Arjun tanks, with high velocities of movement, duly supported by mechanised infantry in their BMP2 infantry combat vehicles and other supporting arms, constituted the leading echelons of the battle groups whose aim was to project strike forces in enemy territory thus inviting the enemy to react against them and then destroy the enemy mechanised forces in well orchestrated tank battles. These actions together with other combat drills and procedures involving other specialised elements for various special tasks were exciting to behold.

With air assets set to play a decisive role in future battles, the increased air assets of the Army and the Air Force were employed in an integrated manner in the exercise. Integration with the Indian Air Force in all stages and employment of airborne and heliborne Special Forces was the highlight of the exercise.

The IAF elements involved in the exercise included MiG-29, MiG-21 Bison, Jaguars, IL-76, AN-32, Mi-17 1V, Avro, Chetak and the attack helicopters, MI-25/35.

The 300 paratroopers and 50 despatchers were air dropped from one IL-76 and six AN-32 transport aircraft in stealthy night operations. The IAF employed Mi-17 1V Utility helicopters for special heliborne operations (SHBO), including dropping of Special Forces behind simulated enemy lines.

“Every army fights to win. There is no prize for second place. I believe there is scope for a conventional war without escalating beyond the nuclear threshold,” says Lieutenant General S.R. Ghosh, GOC-in-C, Western Command, Indian Army. Brains over brawn is the new mantra, as the Indian Army is now using high technology gadgetry including unmanned aerial vehicles, satellite feeds and televised updates from the battlefield to plan operations. It is reported that a total of about 400 tanks, 300 aircraft, and 50,000 soldiers took part in the exercise.

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In the normal course, the MoD sought the views of the CAS. Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh’s response was vituperous to say the least, debunking the idea per se, as also its initiator.

The next landmark was the visit of Major General M.L. Chibber, the DMO, in mid-1970 to the US Army establishments.

He returned fire with in idea of AAC and TRADOC (now our ARTRAC). He pushed the cases vigorously with both General T.P. Raina, MVC and General O.P. Malhotra both of whom made presentations to the Defence Minister. Little was achieved as the IAF batted on the pitch laid by their grand old Marshal which apparently was

also the favoured recourse of the MoD, i.e. status quo.

As the COAS designate, General K. Sunderji took a 10 day sabbatical to Panjim and prepared his Vision 2000 statement.

Among other changes/restructuring, they proposed the AAC for the first time in a full bodied form; concept, application in war/peace, equipping, manpower, maintenance and training modules, and ground infrastructure.

More than any other contributing factor to the birth of AAC was a conjunction of lucky stars; a Minister of State (Arun Singh) at the MOD with amiable personality, an open mind with new ideas, quick to see the grain from the chaff and a CAS (Air Chief Marshal D.A. La Fontaine) and CNS Admiral R. Tehaliani (also an aviator) and all of whom had no inhibitions

about the Army being the bigger Service and bludgeoning its point of view. And as they say, the rest is history which can unfortunately be awfully tedious and boring when divorced from personalities who shape policies. Let us give the credit where it is due, especially in the history of the AAC whenever published.

Lt General (Retd) Baljit Singh House -219 Sector 16-A, Chandigarh-160015

Editor’s Note Your remarks are most appropriate and enlightening and will add lustre to our work.

I hope you have not forgotten me. I was your Col GS in HQ 18 Infantry Division.

PHOTOGRAPHS: PIB, DRDO

IN THE NEWS

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Air Cmde (Retd) R. Gopalaswami receiving the award from the Defence Minister

FRENCH DEFENCE MINISTER VISITS INDIA “Buying French military equipment was attractive as it is accompanied by transfer of technology. The French Government gives buyers of military hardware the commitment that equipment and spares will always be available and that it will provide upgrades as technology evolves,” said French Defence Minister Gerard Longuet during his two-day visit to India recently.

Longuet announced that soon the armies of both countries would undertake a joint exercise, namely Exercise Shakti, which would be similar to the bilateral Garuda Exercise between the two air forces and Varuna Exercise between the two navies.

The French Minister’s visit came within a month of India shortlisting Dassault Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon for the medium multi-role combat aircraft programme of the Indian Air Force.

India expressed its concern over the sale of France’s military hardware to Pakistan in the name of fighting terror. Longuet said that his country has sought clarifications from Islamabad. He said that France fully supports India’s bid for a permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council.

GERMAN CHANCELLOR IN INDIA, REVIEWS SECURITY SCENARIO German Chancellor Angela Merkel who arrived in India on May 31 held wide-ranging discussions with Indian leadership including Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

The two countries reviewed the security scenario in Pakistan and Afghanistan and its implications in the region.

Angela Merkel asserted that terrorism had to be fought ‘on all fronts and not selectively’.

Dr Singh responded, “We discussed the developments in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Terrorism is a serious challenge which will have to be fought on all fronts and not selectively.”

After the talks, India and Germany signed four agreements for cooperation in vocational education, medical research, science and technology and nuclear physics.

The Chancellor too is pitching for Indian Air Force acquisition of $10.4 billion (`46,800 crore)worth 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) in which Eurofighter Typhoon has been shortlisted, alongwith France’s Dassault Rafale. Eurofighter is a fournation programme.

DRDO AWARDS ITS SCIENTISTS The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) awards for outstanding contribution in various areas of technology for the year 2010 was given away by Defence Minister A.K. Antony at a function organised on June 2, 2011. There were eleven categories of awards presented to DRDO scientists/teams for their outstanding contributions.

The Silicon trophy for the Best Systems Laboratory of DRDO was awarded to the Research Centre Imarat (Programme AD), Hyderabad for developing a ballistic missile defence system; Titanium trophy went to DL, Jodhpur for contribution in the area of camouflage and low observable technologies for the armed forces. The life time achievement award was conferred on Air Cmde (Retd) R. Gopalaswami, Defence Research and Development Laboratory Hyderabad for the development of liquid rocket engines for missiles.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr V.K. Saraswat, Director General, DRDO said that the award ceremony is an occasion to take stock of DRDO’s progress in key technology domains. “We intend to rejuvenate our efforts in basic research,” he said

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VIEWPOINT

A Reality Check India’s Special Forces do not have the same capability as the US forces due to non-availability of high-end technology. But depending upon the distance involved and combat environment up to and on the target, they are capable of carrying out Operation Neptune’s Spear type missions across the border or for OOACs. PHOTOGRAPH: Indian Army

www.spslandforces.net

n GENERAL (RETD) V.P. MALIK OPERATION NEPTUNE’S SPEAR ENABLED ELIMINATION of Osama bin Laden—the world’s most wanted and hunted terrorist leader—in a Special Forces’ action, will go down in history for strategic as well as operational reasons. It has several lessons on the employment of Special Forces in the emerging security threats related to terrorism, border management, security of offshore assets, and to meet any out of area contingencies (OOACs).

At the strategic level, Operation Neptune’s Spear shows that national security remains the highest priority for the US President, no matter which political party he belongs to. It reflects national determination and perseverance to achieve a national security goal and in this case it was bringing to justice a terrorist leadser who had so brutally assaulted the US 10 years ago on September 11, 2001. And if such a goal demands overlooking ‘sovereignty’ of a friendly or a notso-friendly nation, so be it. As this mission and its cause was so ‘righteous’, no nation except Pakistan has raised any objection on it. The operation has definitely enhanced the US deterrence capability against future misadventure by any terrorist group.

At the operational level, credit should be given to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which on the basis of a Guantanamo interrogation report, was able to build upon it, brick by brick, and get to the target. That the target was being shielded by its own ally would have made that more difficult. In such a mission, human intelligence plays a much greater role than technical intelligence and ensures greater chances of success in the execution of the mission. The CIA has shown exemplary capability and once again proved the importance of human intelligence over technical intelligence.

Like the build-up of intelligence; planning and execution requires capacity building, selection of personnel, extensive training, coordination and rehearsals over target like objectives. The plan must ensure total surprise to be able to deliver high results with minimum resources and signatures. For days, the team has to maintain a ready to launch mode so that minimum time is wasted between political assent and mission execution. Security of the mission is, therefore, critical.

The operation in Abbottabad was conducted by a SEAL Team (the acronym is derived from its capacity to operate at sea, in the air and on land) nominated for the mission two months in advance. The SEALs are US Navy’s principal special operations force; part of the Naval Special Warfare Command and maritime component of the US Special Operations Command. They are trained in a wide variety of missions including counterterrorism, unconventional warfare, foreign internal defence and hostage rescue.

Yet another lesson is about the separation between operational and strategic levels in such operations. While there was always some degree of overlap between these levels, due to ever increasing influence of Information Technology (IT), enhanced mobility, long reaches in targeting and effective command and control, this overlap stands blurred. Continuous intelligence briefing of the US Presi-

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EDITOR’S COMMENTS

‘When the interests of the country are involved, ethics are a burdensome irrelevance’ —Kautilya dent over nine months and the picture of the President monitoring its execution along with his national security team says it all.

Operation Neptune’s Spear has reinforced the need for Special Forces in the emerging security threats in peace and war. In war, they are employed as force multipliers to complement the task performed by conventional forces entailing high risk and high gain missions requiring minimum visibility.

India maintains Special Forces in all three wings of its armed forces—Army Commandos, Marine Commandos (MARCOS) and Air Force Garuds, apart from the Special Action Groups (SAGs), comprising Army personnel on deputation with National Security Guards. While the SAGs have dedicated resources like aircraft and helicopters, state-of-the-art equipment and training facilities, the Special Forces of the armed forces depend mostly on their service resources. These Special Forces are not country specific but mission specific also.

Special Forces of the armed forces can be integrated for any mission. For this purpose, they carry out joint training frequently.

India’s Special Forces do not have the same capability as the US forces due to nonavailability of high-end technology. But depending upon the distance involved and combat environment up to and on the target, they are capable of carrying out Operation Neptune’s Spear type missions across the border or for OOACs. However, there are some problems in their tasking, organisational and equipping priorities.

First and foremost is the inhibition at the decision-making level, usually on the ground(s) of moral and diplomatic propriety, poor understanding of strategic environment, military knowledge and risk appetite.

This attitude at the highest level gets reflected in their employment mostly on tactical missions instead of strategic missions.

We thus fail to exploit their true potential

and remain content with successful counterterror operations hinterland.

Intelligence is the key to Special Forces operations. Employment of Special Forces requires accurate intelligence and continuous surveillance of the target. We need enhanced human and technical intelligence capabilities in our neighbourhood and wherever else required. This takes a long time to build and much less to get eroded. A few years ago, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) had built such a capability but was frittered away on political directions. Intelligence also requires automated decision support system and real time dissemination along with a common operational picture.

In the absence of a Chief of Defense Staff and tri-Service apex organisation like the Special Forces Command, despite frequent joint training, our Special Forces are not optimally integrated. Currently, Army Special Forces face an acute shortage of officers and essential equipment as well.

Finally, in view of the raging debate in some parts of the world over ethical, moral and sovereignty issue, it has to be stated that strategy and diplomacy in international relations are based on the art of the possible and advancement of national interests. The Western world believes that morality in this ethical system is the handmaiden of state policy, dictated by the situation in which we are placed.

Our own Vedic thinking had been that the Chakravarty Raja is free to have his policies limited by strictures and tampered by ethical considerations and sentiments, but not if his intention is to best serve the national interest.

A righteous cause is important, but the method need not be sentimental, or even ethical. Kautilya had said, “When the interests of the country are involved, ethics are a burdensome irrelevance.”

Operation Neptune’s Spear has reinforced the need for Special Forces in the emerging security threats in peace and war

What is most intriguing about the raid by US SEALS in Abbottabad on May 2, 2011, is the unanswered questions that Operation Neptune’s Spear has raised. I have tried to frame these questions so that our readers can analyse the nuances of the operation and appreciate the operational capabilities that are required to undertake operations which involve projecting a force through enemy territory and conducting a deep raid in which secrecy till the completion of operation and safe return of the troops is vital. Thus the following questions should be analysed in the context of the above operations: l How did the helicopters travel about 200 km from Jalalabad to Abbottabad without being detected? l Did these helicopters (Black Hawks) possess advanced stealth features to avoid detection? l Were Pakistani radars switched off or are they incapable of picking up low-flying helicopters flying nap of the earth (NOE)? l Did the US use electronic warfare means to suppress the radar activity, if so it would still have warned the Pakistanis that some activity was taking place to scramble their fighters l If China is the new patron of Pakistan and they have advanced reconnaissance and surveillance satellites, why did they not warn Pakistan regarding the raid? l If reconnaissance and surveillance was being conducted on the ground as well as through satellites, by the CIA for many months prior to the operation, it must have been known that there were no contingent of armed guards protecting Osama bin Laden and whatever protection was being provided was inconsequential. Then why were the raiders so “trigger happy”? l What was the back up and reinforcement plans to extricate the force if it got involved in a fire fight with Pakistan Army elements? l Was Osama bin Laden unprotected because he was being kept in an ISI safe house and no one expected any threat; or were the ISI guards in civil clothes removed that night at the behest of Pakistan Army to facilitate the operation? l Are we to believe that Pakistan Army and the ISI were unaware of the presence of Osama who had been staying there for six long years? l President Barack Obama said Pakistan cooperated in the operation but a day later, top US military officials said they kept the operation a secret from the Pakistanis because they feared a leak. A highly embarrassed Pakistan, meanwhile, said that it was part of the operation and then denied it. Why the contradictions? l Did the secret visit of General Patraeus to Chaklala, a week prior to Operation Neptune’s Spear, have anything to do with the operation?

A military assessment of the answers to these questions would lead us to formulate the type of military and intelligence capabilities and deception plans that India would require to carry out the so-called “hot pursuit” in Pakistan territory. Our political leaders, intelligence chiefs and the bureaucracy are quite ignorant of matters military so let us not expect them to be of much help.

F I R S T / T E C K N O W << F I R S T

PHOTOGRAPH: BAE Systems

force protection. By applying Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems’ substantial domain expertise, the team will develop a net-ready, open architecture system, allowing the warfighter to configure the JLTV platform rapidly and inexpensively for current and future mission needs.

Named Valanx, the JLTV is the most capable and survivable light armoured vehicle in existence. BAE Systems and Navistar engineered the Valanx to create a vehicle with unmatched payload, protection and performance.

The Valanx’s modular plug-and-play design ensures unmatched capability and meets all payload, protection and performance requirements of the JLTV programme. The system will be compatible with current and future network architectures to ensure ease of supply chain process and maximise and maintain the value.

Unmatched Capability BAE adds Northrop to its JLTV team

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orthrop Grumman is now a part of the team building BAE systems joint light tactical vehicle (JLTV). The team comprised BAE Systems, Navistar Defense and Meritor Defense (formerly ArvinMeritor).

Northrop Grumman will serve as the command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) lead, responsible for the integration of command and control hardware and software, computers and communications equipment, sensors and sensor suites for intelligence gathering and

T E C K N O W

First Look It is light, small and can be stored in a standard load-out FirstLook is light, small and can be stored in a standard load-out. Weighing less than 5 lbs (2 kg) and measuring only 10 inch long, this small spy robot is waterproof (up to 3 inch), shockproof (15 inch drops onto concrete), climbs steps, curbs, obstacles and can even turn itself right side up when flipped. Its relatively small size ensures it can get into tight spots to perform observations or investigations. The robot packs four cameras, two-way audio communications, and is controlled by a wrist-mounted touch screen operator control unit (OCU) with a built-in radio. Its batteries last up to six hours of runtime on a typical mission and 10 hours for performing stationary video recording.

PHOTOGRAPH: iRobot

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y year 2012, the iRobot 110 FirstLook will be out in the market. A small, light, throwable robot that provides hasty situational awareness, performs persistent observation, and investigates confined spaces, the iRobot 110 FirstLook is built to serve the military and law enforcement. It is ideal for a range of infantry missions and special operations, including raids and other close-in scenarios.

The iRobot 110 FirstLook will help in getting immediate situational awareness in a wide range of mission environments, maintain a persistent presence for more than six hours, investigate tunnels, ditches, culverts and other hard-to-access places.

Continued from page 9 fourth generation man-portable fire-andforget anti-tank guided missile with tandemcharged high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead to defeat the additional armour being used on the modern tanks.

A Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) project that is well behind schedule is the Nag anti-tank missile system. The antiquated Jonga-mounted SS11 B1 anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system has been replaced in missile battalions

by Milan shoulder-fired ATGMs. However, a vehicle-mounted missile system like the Nag is definitely necessary for reconnaissance and attrition tasks and for establishing antitank screens in open terrain.

Indian Army has initiated major modernisation plans, with regard to the infantry, with particular emphasis on improvement of its firepower, mobility, surveillance and night fighting capability

UAVs The Army’s infantry battalions also need their own mini or micro UAVs like Elbit’s Skylark or Rafael’s Skylite, among others, to partly reduce the extent of patrolling necessary in internal security environment and to improve their surveillance capability in conventional conflict. These UAVs should have a range of about 10 to 15 km, should be light-weight (less than 10 kg), handlaunched, carry a single payload, e.g. a daylight video camera or infrared camera for night operations, and should be inexpensive enough to be dispensable. A mini ground control station should be authorised at battalion HQ for planning and control. Ideally, these should be indigenously designed and developed and locally manufactured.

PGMs for the Infantry Indian Army should also examine the intro-

duction of a rifle capable of firing explosive bullets that can detonate within a metre of a target. This would allow the soldiers to fire on snipers hiding in trenches, behind walls or inside buildings. The US Army has developed the XM25 rifle to give its troops an alternative to calling in artillery fire or air strikes when an enemy has taken cover and can’t be targeted by direct fire.

Future Infantry Soldier as a System Project The Army’s F-INSAS project focuses on enhancing the lethality and survivability of soldiers. It seeks to transform soldiers into fully networked, mobile warriors with a high degree of situational awareness and the ability to operate in all-weather conditions in all types of terrain. Within the Army the F-

INSAS Project is being handled by the Directorate General of Infantry (DGI). The programme envisages equipping infantrymen with light-weight integrated helmets with a ‘head up’ display with a built-in communication system and night vision goggles, handheld computer display, GPS and lethal fire power, including laser-guided weapon systems at appropriate levels. The major facets of this system are lethality, survivability, mobility, sustainability and situational awareness.

Lethality: It is the ability to employ the weapon system to accurately and effectively destroy the enemy by day and night and in all-weather conditions. This component of the system has to be modular, ruggedised and free from stoppages during the course of battle.

Survivability: The soldier should have adequate protection to his vital body parts from any fire or shrapnel and should have the ability to survey the battlefield immediately around and detect and engage the enemy swiftly by day as well night in a wide variety of terrain and weather conditions as prevalent in India.

Mobility: Components of the soldier systems have to be very light, taking full advantage of Nano technology in this field. This will enable suitable ergonomics for the individual infantryman operating in any terrain condition.

Sustainability: The components namely the weapons, equipment and clothing should be ruggidised and should be capable of being operated for long duration in all conflict scenarios, all terrain types, and all weather conditions with minimal changes/

adjustments and reconfigurations.

Situational awareness: Individual soldier needs to be configured with electrooptical situational awareness equipment capable of integration with a network enabled battle management system. The system should have components which will enable the soldier and the commanders at all levels to keep track of their own and enemy situation.

The success of above project will depend upon close cooperation between the scientists, industry and the defence representatives. As per the current indications, the Version 1 of the system will be based on available civilian technologies with suitable adaptation for military use and later in Version 2 further ruggedisation and specifics can be introduced. Based on this overall framework, the Indian Army intends to induct the Version 1 by 1212 and Version 2 by 2020.

Comprehensive Planning Modernisation and capability building involves a comprehensive planning process which considers a large number of factors.

Broadly speaking, it is based on threat perception, technological changes and available resources. Delays occurring currently are due to several reasons. The apathy shown by the Defence Ministry in equipment procurement could have disastrous results in the future, bearing in mind that our adversaries are preparing at a rapid pace. We need a far greater focus and a firm political will to modernise our military and build the desired military capability for the future.

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>> M A R K E T I N G F E AT U R E

Legendary Weapons

AK-104

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HERE ARE JUST A FEW ITEMS OF close combat weapons that can have a claim to global fame. The Kalashnikov assault rifle and RPG7V grenade launcher are among them. They are the choice that all belligerents make notwithstanding assigned missions, set objectives and changing combat situation. Soldiers seek to capture them in combat, even in armies fighting with indigenously made weapons. These weapons are rightfully held in respect by many soldiers and officers worldwide, who see them as symbols of Russian arms reliability, robustness and effectiveness. They have earned such high esteem in combat actions conducted in diverse geographical and climatic conditions, including on highlands, in hot deserts or humid tropics.

www.spslandforces.net

AK-10Xs adhere to the best traditions The AK-47 assault rifle is the most famous and mass-produced small arms brand in history. One can hear hundreds of stories extolling amazing robustness, simplicity and reliability of its design. A soldier is always confident, even in most critical situations, that his AK will not fail him.

It is worthy of noting that during all its life the Kalashnikov assault rifle has been continuously upgraded: the AK-47 was superseded by the AKM model, later appeared the AK-74 and then its modernised AK-74M version.

Today’s heirs to the legendary weapon are the AK assault rifles of the hundredth series - AK-10X. The new family comprises the AK-101 and AK-103 models and small-size AK-102 and AK-104. They all retain the best qualities of their predecessors, and boast new advantages allowing them to meet requirements of modern-time armed conflicts.

Russian armourers have managed to

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decrease muzzle flame volume and shot recoil energy of the new Kalashnikovs.

These assault rifles have increased stability of fire and closer hit pattern in the automatic fire mode.

The hundredth series models boast improved operational reliability and durability thanks to advanced high-strength materials used. The rifles are produced with the application of innovative small arms manufacturing technologies. A good deal of their components is manufactured by precision casting. The butt stock, forearm, hand guard, grip and magazine are made of shockproof glass-nylon black-colour composite (for this reason this AK series is named abroad “black Kalashnikovs”). They also use new anti-corrosive coatings.

Moreover, their unique design allows for creating modifications meeting varying customer requirements. Considering popularity of the Kalashnikov brand on the world market, Russian designers have created modifications of the new series adapted to different calibre cartridges. The AK-101 and AK-102 assault rifles are made to fire with 5.56-mm NATO cartridges, while AK-103 and AK-104 with 7.62-mm Soviet-type 1943 cartridges.

Thanks to component unification all assault rifles of the hundredth series also have high repairability characteristics. The need for adjustment of individual components and units during manufacture is totally excluded.

The Kalashnikov assault rifle has long transformed from a simple firing arm into a versatile combat complex. It can accommodate a wide range of accessories offered by Russian and foreign vendors. For example, the new assault rifles are fitted with a standard attachment rail to mount optical scopes, night sights, and GP-34 underbarrel antipersonnel grenade launchers.

AK-102

AK-101

RPG-7V: a portable close-range artillery weapon The RPG-7 was inducted into service by the Soviet Army in 1961, and it is still in service with some 50 countries all over the world, including Russia. Like the Kalashnikov assault rifles, it has been effectively employed in all modern-time conflicts. Such long service life of the grenade launcher is due not only to its simple and unique design but also to the systematic upgrading and, what’s more important, to new munitions developed with the account of the combat employment experience.

Initially the RPG-7 grenade launcher was designed to fight tanks, but nowadays it is seen as a multi-purpose weapon. Its highly effective munitions allow the upgraded RPG-

7V2 to perform a wide variety of tasks.

Thus, the cumulative jet produced by the PG-7VR tandem antitank rocket grenade easily pierces a 600-mm armour plate at the angle of 60 degrees to normal, after having penetrated modern explosive reactive armour. The OG-7V fragmentation grenade is employed against infantry troops both located in the open and concealed in shelters and buildings. It can also destroy non-armoured materiel. This grenade is especially effective for engaging enemy weapon emplacements when conducting military operations in urban terrain and on industrial sites. The TBG-7V fuel-air explosive grenade, nearly as powerful as a 120-mm artillery shell or mine, allows effective engagement of enemy manpower

M A R K E T I N G F E AT U R E << Unique design allows for creating various modifications

Designer of legendary A.K. Mikhail Kalashnikov and Rosoboronexport Director General Anatoly Isaikin

High repairability characteristics

Adapted to different calibre cartridges

located in fortifications. Besides the RPG-7, the Russian RPG-29 is another world’s only grenade launcher capable of firing thermobaric grenades.

The RPG-7V2 grenade launcher is capable of performing most varied tasks: from destroying enemy heavy armour to suppressing fortified areas and even shooting down helicopters. It can be further upgraded by adopting existing and prospective sights as well as new types of ammunition.

License-made weapons guarantee unique reliability In recent years Russia has been actively opposing unlicensed production of Soviet and Russian-designed weapons. A great part of 100 million units of various Kalashnikov assault rifle modifications are counterfeit.

Unlicensed production is fraught not only with legal and commercial repercussions: for users quality and safety issues are also at serious stake. Practice shows that assault rifles produced without licence as well as non-

RPG-7 grenade launcher

Russian-made samples based on Kalashnikov’s design have notably inferior characteristics and, what is even more important, reliability as compared with the original.

In these circumstances Rosoboronexport offers the most flexible and mutually beneficial cooperation schemes allowing customers to become lawful owners of effective modern weapons. For instance, Russia is ready to hand over to India a licence for production of the new Kalashnikov assault rifles and render its assistance in setting up and mastering

their production. It will allow an access to advanced technologies, and will guarantee high quality and reliability of the weapons produced. It is a logical and economical step for India to take since it is producing a similar weapon – the INSAS assault rifle.

Only licence weapons are meeting highest technical specifications and have tremendous endurance. And it is only weapon designers, in this case – Russia, who can offer modern weapon systems based on best traditions and huge experience.

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SEMINAR

Thrust Towards Modernisation Officers of all three Services and members of the defence industry participated in the seminar on networkcentric warfare organised by SP Guide Publications and Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) recently n LT GENERAL (RETD) V.K. KAPOOR

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ETWORK-CENTRIC WARFARE (NCW) is a concept of operations that generates increased combat power by networking sensors, decision-makers and shooters to achieve shared awareness and synchronised activity. NCW uses information for the benefit of the war-fighters in peace and in war.

The military calls it “situational awareness” which implies awareness regarding terrain including objectives/targets, enemy, and own forces. This information is passed from the sensors deployed on the ground, at sea, in the air and in the space (satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles, aircraft, radars, etc) through broadband digital communication networks to frontline units and the decision-makers in the rear in real/near real time frame thus making the battlefield transparent and reducing response time.

sition from a network aware force to seamless, network enabled, information-age force. He said that military response to NCW was that it translates an information advantage in to a decisive war fighting advantage. NCW is characterised by shared battle space awareness, shared knowledge of commanders intent, self-synchronisation, speed of command and rapid lockout.

The war-fighting advantage exploits behavioural change and new doctrine to enable self-synchronisation, speed of command and increased combat power.

He elaborated that NGN is a packet-based network able to provide telecommunication services and able to make use of multiple broadband, QoS-enabled transport technolo-

sion, availability of alternate media, seamless communications, faster processors, miniaturisation and visual displays.

He explained that NCW is an information superiority-enabled concept that generates increased combat power, by robust networking of sensors, decision-makers and shooters, to achieve shared situational awareness, increased speed of command, higher tempo of operations, focused application of fire and increased survivability, which leads to enhanced mission effectiveness. It involves transforming information superiority into combat power by effectively linking knowledgeable entities in the battle space. Tactical command control, communications and intelligence (Tac C3I) is NCW in

Seminar Details A joint seminar on networkcentric warfare was held on April 21 by SP Guide Publications and Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) at the Indian Army’s Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi.

The audience comprised officers of all three Services

Dr V K Saraswat, Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister, delivering the inaugural address at the seminar

Major General Rajesh Pant, Additional Director General, Information Systems, at the seminar

Lt General P. Mohapatra, Signal Officer-in-Chief delivering the valedictory address

www.spslandforces.net

PHOTOGRAPHS: SP Guide Pubns

Jayant Baranwal, Chairman and Managing Director of SP Guide Publications, giving vote of thanks

Lt General N.B. Singh, Director General, Information Systems addressing the audience at the seminar

a “parallel campaign targeting the full spectrum of the adversary (diplomatic, informational, military and economic (DIME)), with the aim of achieving a predetermined effect”.

The post-lunch session was chaired by Lt General (Retd) V.K. Kapoor, Editor, SP’s Land Forces. In his opening remarks, Kapoor mentioned that NCW advocates and enables integration and “jointmanship” in which the three Services, in the Indian context, are lagging behind despite all their diplomatic eloquence from time to time. The final aim is to achieve strategic (political) objectives of war with the least amount of tactical effort which incidentally is also the essence of “operational art” and NCW enables this, hence we must acquire this capability.

Air Vice Marshal (Retd) D.N. Ganesh stated that network-centric operations extending from the ground up to space renders obsolete the traditional dividing line between strategic and tactical operations, enabling hitherto distinct levels of war to be merged into simultaneous, precise and carefully orchestrated operations aimed at nerve centres of leadership, and command and control at the very outset of hostilities.

Harvinder Rajvant, Vice

and members of the defence industry. The seminar was well received by the audience and interesting discussions ensued at the end of each session with active participation of all the officers.

In the inaugural session, the welcome address was given by Brigadier (Retd) Gurmeet Kanwal, Director, CLAWS, while the keynote address was given by Dr V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister and the vote of thanks was given by Jayant Baranwal, the Editor-in-Chief and Managing Director of SP Guide Publications.

Two technical sessions, pre and post lunch, were as under: a) Session 1: NCW and the Indian Armed Forces: The present status and concerns. b) Session 2: Future prospects and challenges for NCW.

Highlights of the Seminar Dr Saraswat in his keynote address said that NCW was a key enabling concept that underpins the country’s military future joint operations concept. It does not dictate how the military intends to fight but this capability will provide the means for tran-

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gies and in which service-related functions are independent from underlying transportrelated technologies. Military NGN architecture consisted of wireless networking, advanced computing and nano technology, radar sensors and information fusion, and information assurance and networking security. He also explained future generation networks and radio systems.

The pre-lunch session was chaired by Lt General N.B. Singh, Director General Information Systems. In his opening remarks, the General pointed out the advantages of NCW and the challenges posed by it and said that the armed forces were gradually progressing in acquiring this capability.

Major General D.V. Kalra spoke on “Indian Army’s march towards net-centric warfare.”

He focused on the emerging battlefield, the military systems under development and the challenges faced by the Services. He emphasised the impact of technology and highlighted the impact of increased intelligence and surveillance capabilities, enhanced weapon ranges, accuracy lethality of the weapons, proliferation of GIS-GIT, increased volumes and high speeds of data transmis-

the tactical battle area (TBA). He said that information grid provides computing and communication backplane (convergence and information assurance) and sensors and shooters plug into the information grid for situational awareness and engagement.

Hence essence of NCW was in transforming information superiority into combat power by effectively linking knowledgeable entities in the battle space.

Colonel K.P.M. Das speaking on “Convergence of strategic, operational and tactical echelons in C4I2” explained the levels of war.

He said that the levels of war are doctrinal perspectives that clarify the links between strategic objectives and tactical actions. There are no finite limits or boundaries between the levels of war (strategic, operational, and tactical) and the levels of war are not necessarily associated with specific levels of command, size of units, types of equipment, or types of forces or components.

Brigadier L.B. Chand, Deputy Assistant Chief of Operations at the Headquarters of the Integrated Defence Staff, spoke regarding “Tri-Service effects based operations’.

He defined effect based operations (EBO) as

President, CISCO, speaking on “Cyber security: Trust, visibility and resilience” said that the future of work is an activity, not a place.

The workplace is changing. The workplace will be borderless. Workforce flexibility is allowing government employees to do their job at their desk, in a conference room, at a remote site or in the field. The ability to connect workers (and citizens) on the fly improves productivity, collaboration and citizen satisfaction.

He emphasised that no single company can solve the complex challenge presented by the Internet, but the inherent role of the network positions Cisco as a natural partner in developing and executing a successful cyber security strategy.

The seminar concluded with the valedictory address by Lt General P. Mohapatra, the Signals Officer-in-Chief of the Indian Army who is also responsible for designing and executing the defence communications network. His address was interesting and informative as it indicated the communication infrastructure being developed for India’s defence forces so as to enable NCW capabilities in the future.

News in Brief SINGAPOREAN ARMY UNVEILS NEW UGV

various armoured vehicles and an advanced gunnery and tactical simulator. The simulators feature unique capabilities that include a smart scenario generator and high-resolution large training areas for open and urban terrains. The flexibility of the solution allows the trainees to configure the training session to match any combat scenario and can also reconfigure the systems with any combination of turrets.

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Jayant Baranwal Editor Lt General (Retd) V.K. Kapoor

prevent and protect the soldiers and the vehicle from improvised explosive devices and roadside mines threats. The DVH design is a proven technology and is similar to that on mine-resistant, ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles currently used in Afghanistan.

FIRST UKRAINIAN APCS WITH IRAQ

The Singaporean Army has unveiled a new unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), the Rush demonstrator, which is expected to meet the Army’s future operational requirements.

The UGV has been developed by DSO, Singapore’s national defence research and development organisation, to enhance Singapore Armed Forces’ combat capabilities and to defend against potential threats. The Rush demonstrator is designed to perform multiple roles such as forward tactical surveillance; chemical, biological, radiological and explosive defence, combat support and even casualty evacuation.

ELBIT ADVANCED TRAINING SYSTEMS Elbit Systems has been awarded a contract to supply an Asian Army with advanced training systems for its armour and infantry forces. Under the $32.7 million project, the company will provide driving simulators for

>> SHOW CALENDAR 20-22 June Future Artillery India Le Méridien, New Delhi, India www.futureartilleryindia.com 27-29 June Military Vehicles Canada The Ottawa Convention Centre, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada www.militaryvehiclescanada.com 27-29 June Cyber Warfare & Security Summit Washington Marriott Wardman Park, Washington DC Metro Area, USA www.cyberwarfareevent.com/Event.aspx?i d=498286 27-29 June Military Robotics 2011 Millennium Knightsbridge, London, UK www.military-robotics.com/ Event.aspx?id=489906 27-30 June Military Logistics Summit Washington Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, DC, USA www.MilitaryLogisticsSummit.com 6-9 July BRIDEX 2011 (Brunei International Defence Exhibition) Bridex International Conference Centre, Negara Brunei, Darussalam www.bridex2011.com/08venueMain.html 7-9 July SAFE 2011 (5th International Exhibition on Internal and Homeland Security) Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India www.ciionline.org

NOVA DELIVERS PLUG TO IAI NOVA Integrated Systems Limited has delivered a state-of-the-art plug in electro-optic and radar integration payload to IAI– Tamam division at the production roll-out ceremony in Hyderabad. The first production unit of the electro-optic stabilized POP 200 system is integrated, calibrated and tested in India by NOVA, in technical collaboration with IAI-Tamam.

TEXTRON’S ARMOURED VEHICLES Textron Marine and Land Systems has announced that it has been awarded an undefinitised contract action (UCA) by the US Army Contracting Command, Warren, to produce up to 440 medium armoured security vehicles (MASV) for the Afghanistan National Army (ANA).

MASVs include nine armoured vehicle configurations designed specifically for ANA roles and missions, and are derived from the combat-proven M1117 Armored Security Vehicle (ASV) and ASV Armored Personnel Carrier (APC).

HARRIS TO PROVIDE TCS TO ASIA Harris Corporation has received an order from an Asian nation for an integrated tactical communications system to provide command and control in a variety of missions.

Under the $19 million order, the company will deliver and integrate Falcon III and Falcon II tactical radios for advanced situational awareness capabilities. The system also includes software-defined tactical radios, the RF-7800S secure personal radio, the RF7800V VHF combat net hand-held radio, and the RF-7800I vehicular intercom system.

NEW STRYKER VEHICLES IN AFGHAN 12-13 July 5th International Conference and Exhibition on Internal Security India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India www.cii.in

Iraq has received the first 26 of 420 Ukrainebuilt BTR-4 armoured personnel carriers (APC), as part of a $2.5 billion Iraqi Defence Ministry contract for procurement of arms and weapons for its modern armed forces.

Under the contract, Iraq will receive most of the weapons systems and equipment from the US, Russia, Serbia, France and Ukraine.

The four tonne, 8x8 BTR-4 vehicle, a variant of the Russian BTR-80 wheeled APC, has amphibious capabilities and can carry a three-man crew and eight soldiers. The vehicle is immune to rocket-propelled grenades, carries a 30mm auto cannon, a 7.62mm machine gun and a 30mm grenade

MORE BUSHMASTERS IN AFGHAN

The US Army soldiers will begin to receive 150 new Stryker armoured combat vehicles with a double-V hull (DVH) design in the coming weeks for use in Afghanistan. The Stryker DVH, with enhanced armour, wider tires and blast-attenuating seats has been designed to

Contributing Editor Air Marshal (Retd) V.K. Bhatia Sr. Copy Editor & Correspondent Sucheta Das Mohapatra

Chairman & Managing Director Jayant Baranwal Administration & Coordination Bharti Sharma, Survi Massey Photo Editor Amit Bhardwaj Senior Art Director Anoop Kamath Design Vimlesh Kumar Yadav, Sonu Singh Bisht Sales & Marketing Director Sales & Marketing: Neetu Dhulia Head Vertical 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.

SAGEM FIRE CONTROL COMPUTERS The French defence procurement agency DGA, has selected the new generation ballistic computer, Cadet 2G, to equip all control stations in the French Army’s Atlas artillery system. The Cadet 2G solution is derived from the company’s Storm fire control computer (FCC). The computer will determine primary or backup fire control solutions for 155mm artillery pieces and mortars, as well as during force projection missions.

Senior Technical Group Editor Lt General (Retd) Naresh Chand

Contributors India General (Retd) V.P. Malik, Lt General (Retd) Vijay Oberoi, Lt General (Retd) R.S. Nagra, Lt General (Retd) S.R.R. Aiyengar, Air Marshal (Retd) Vinod Patney, Major General (Retd) Ashok Mehta, Major General (Retd) G.K. Nischol, Brigadier (Retd) Gurmeet Kanwal, Brigadier (Retd) S. Mishra, Rohit Sharma

INDIAN ARMY CHIEF HONOURED In a rare event of its kind, Chief of Army Staff General V.K. Singh has become the first Indian officer to be inducted into the ‘Hall of Fame’ of US Army War College, Carlisle, USA, on March 11, 2011. This distinction is extended by the US Army to all officers from friendly foreign countries, who rise to the post of ‘Chief ’ of their respective Armies, after attending the coveted course at US Army War College. A Masters Degree in Strategic Studies is awarded on completion of the course. General V.K. Singh (then Brigadier) passed out from the US Army War College in 2000-01.

Assistant Group Editor R. Chandrakanth

Printed in India

by Kala Jyothi Process Pvt Ltd © SP Guide Publications, 2011

The Australian Government has given approval for the purchase of an additional 101 Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles to support Australian Defence Force (ADF) operations in Afghanistan. This was announced by Defence Minister Stephen Smith. The Defence Ministry is also assessing a range of enhancements to the Bushmaster vehicle for providing enhanced protection to ADF personnel, which if approved, would be applied to the additional 101 vehicles.

FIRST BOXER AFVS IN GERMANY The German armed forces 23rd Mountain Rangers Brigade is to receive its first Boxer armoured fighting vehicles (AFV) for deployment in Afghanistan. The mountain ranger battalion has recently completed operator and weapons training, and the new vehicle’s command and control information system training. The vehicle is equipped with the Infanterist der Zukunft (IdZ) future soldier system, which allows the gunner to engage the enemy from inside the vehicle due to a display and a joystick control.

PORTABLE MISSILES FOR INDIA The South Korean weapons manufacturer, LIG Nex1 has submitted a request to sell portable anti-aircraft missiles to India. “LIG Nex1 submitted a request for a proposal early this year to the Indian Government to export the Shingung portable missiles,” the official added. The Shingung is a shoulderlaunched missile with a range of seven km, and is capable of destroying targets as high as 3.5 km with a speed of Mach 2.0. India is planning to buy portable anti-aircraft weapons worth $1.28 billion by 2014.

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