Article

2007-04-20 India-Pakistan

Indian Army conducts large-scale war games in Rajasthan

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by John Frum 2007-04-20 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11130 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 I recommend Maharaja, the Indian recasting of the Britannia system.

Posted by Eric Jablow">Eric Jablow 2007-04-20 00:24|| 2007-04-20 00:24|| Front Page Top

#2 An entire strike corp from Mathura

That would be "1 Corps" - each strike corps is comprised of an armored division and two infantry division, one artillery brigade, one air defense and one engineer brigade.

An Infantry Division has about 15,500 combat troops, with 8000 support elements (engineers, medical, etc). It consists of 3 to 5 Infantry Brigades, an Armoured Regiment and an Artillery Brigade.

An Armoured Division consists of 3 to 5 Armoured Brigades, one Mechanised Brigade and one Artillery Brigade. It has a strength of 300 to 400 main battle tanks and an equal number of other armoured vehicles.

Posted by John Frum 2007-04-20 05:58|| 2007-04-20 05:58|| Front Page Top

#3 The Army currently has 3 'Strike' Corps + 10 'Holding' Corps in active service. The principal offensive formations of the Indian Army are the three Strike Corps - 1 Corps, 2 Corps & 21 Corps

The Army also has four RAPID (Reorganised Army Plains Infantry Division) formations each consisting of two infantry brigades, one mechanised brigade with brigade-sized mechanised assets, one artillery brigade, one recon & support battalion, one engineer regiment, one signals regiment and vastly improved surveillance with target acquisition equipment and dedicated aviation units.

ORBAT

Personnel
Army: 980,000 active troops.

Army Reserves: 300,000 first line troops (within five years of full time service)
500,000 second line troops (commitment until 50 years of age).

Territorial Army: 40,000 first line troops (160,000 second line troops).

Command Structure
Indian Army HQ: New Delhi

Operational Commands: Northern Command - HQ in Udhampur, Jammu & Kashmir.
Western Command - HQ in Chandimandir, Chandigarh.
South Western Command - HQ in Pathankot, Punjab.
Central Command - HQ in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
Eastern Command - HQ in Kolkota, West Bengal.
Southern Command - HQ in Pune, Maharashtra.

Functional Commands: Training Command (ARTRAC)

Formations
Corps: 13 Corps, consisting of 3 'Strike' Corps + 10 'Holding' Corps - including 1 Desert Corps.

Armour: 3 Armoured Divisions + 8 Independent Armoured Brigades = 63 Armoured Regiments;
13 T-55 Regiments
35 T-72M1 Regiments
14 Vijayanta Regiments
1 Arjun Mk.1 Regiment (Undergoing Trials)
*T-90S MBTs are currently being delivered to replace the older tanks.

Infantry: 4 RAPID, 10 Mountain Divisions, 18 Infantry Divisions + 7 Independent Infantry Brigades.
*Each RAPID (Reorganised Army Plains Infantry Division) has a Mech. Infantry Brigade.
*One Infantry Division is earmarked for mountain use - 3rd Division.

Artillery: Two artillery divisions (30 AD and 41 AD).
*Each division has at least one artillery brigade.
*Nearly 200 regiments of field artillery exist.

Air Defence: 50+ regiments - 35 'Flak' and 15 'Point Defence' regiments.
SAM: Two SA-6 Groups - 12+ regiments.
*Each 'Flak' regiment has four battalions - 64 guns.
*20 additional 'Flak' regiments held in reserve.
*New AD Groups - one per Strike Corps - being formed: One regiment each of ZRK-SD Kub (SA-6), OSA-AKM (SA-8b), and ZSU-23-4 Shilka or Tunguska-M1. SA-10 batteries are known to be in used in the vicinity of Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Trombay.

Aviation: 14 Helicopter Units (HAL Chetak and HAL Cheetah) in anti-tank, liaison and observation duties.

Territorial Army: 25 Infantry Battalions
29 Departmental Units
4 Ecological Battalions

Posted by John Frum 2007-04-20 06:06|| 2007-04-20 06:06|| Front Page Top

#4 What do the Ecological Batallions do?

Posted by Seafarious">Seafarious 2007-04-20 09:07|| 2007-04-20 09:07|| Front Page Top

#5 Plant trees and such..

Posted by John Frum 2007-04-20 11:53|| 2007-04-20 11:53|| Front Page Top

#6 Meanwhile in Kashmir...

A group of masked Kashmiri men sit before their surrender at a garrison in Rampur, 84 km (53 miles) west of Srinagar April 20, 2007. A group of 24 Kashmiri separatist militants belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen and other militant groups handed over their arms before the authorities during the ceremony, Indian army spokesman said

A Kashmiri woman cries as she hugs her relative after he surrendered in a garrison in Rampur, 84 km (53 miles) west of Srinagar April 20, 2007. A group of 24 Kashmiri separatist militants belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen and Al-Badar militant organisations handed over their arms before the authorities during the ceremony

SRINAGAR: Twenty-four militants surrendered before the General Officer Commanding of 19 Infantry Division Major General Ramesh Halgali in Baramulla on Friday.

Defence spokesman Col. A.K. Mathur said emotional scenes were witnessed as the militants met their family members. Many of them had crossed over to the other side of Line of Control at an early age.

"All of them were forced to cross over to PoK six to eight years ago. They joined Jehad by compulsion due to circumstances and not by choice. But they have realised the futility of Jehad. Hundreds of lives have been ruined, families shattered and only darkness engulfs the horizon of PoK," the spokesman quoted the militants as saying.

Growing cynicism

They, according to Col. Mathur, unequivocally spoke of growing disillusionment amongst the Kashmir militants. "There is a widening rift between local and foreign militants. They were very forthright in admitting that they feel safe and free in India and want to expose Pakistan's false rhetoric in support of Kashmiris."

In a statement, he said: "They have also confirmed that terrorist infrastructure in PoK is intact and flourishing. Pakistan's involvement in abetting militancy in J&K in terms of moral, financial and material support from across the Line of Control remains undiminished."

The surrendered militants owed allegiance to the Hizb-ul Mujahideen, the Tehrik-e-Jehad, the Hizb-e-Islami, and the Kashmir Revolutionary Force.

In the recent past, 146 militants who surrendered in Baramula had gone back to their families across the Valley. "They are gainfully employed in family activities and professional ventures. There has not been a single incident so far, wherein a surrendered militant has reportedly participated in any form of anti-national activity. This provides credence towards their genuine belief of returning to India and thus lead a normal life," he said.

The statement claimed that inputs from the surrendered militants confirmed that the Hizb's supreme commander Syed Salahuddin is losing ground support.

"He [Salahuddin] reportedly visited the training camps in PoK to persuade the Hizb cadre against surrenders. However, the groundswell in favour of surrender movement compelled him to think on the lines of ceasefire," he said.

Posted by John Frum 2007-04-20 17:32|| 2007-04-20 17:32|| Front Page Top

An Indian policeman runs towards the scene of a gun battle between suspected militants and Indian police in Harwan on the outskirts of Srinagar in this April 19, 2007 picture. One residential house was stormed as the gun battle was still going on, police said

Posted by John Frum 2007-04-20 17:43|| 2007-04-20 17:43|| Front Page Top

23:50 JosephMendiola
23:45 RD
23:34 trailing wife
23:33 Zenster
23:30 Zenster
23:30 RWV
23:28 RD
23:22 RWV
23:19 JosephMendiola
23:10 Frank G
23:03 RD
22:57 USN, ret.
22:55 Frank G
22:52 JosephMendiola
22:50 Ho Chi Snusoper4439
22:49 RD
22:44 Grunter
22:39 JosephMendiola
22:36 Anonymoose
22:27 JosephMendiola
22:24 RD
22:20 Zenster
22:20 KBK
22:18 Zenster