SP's Land Forces June-July 2010

SP’s LAND FORCES3/2010

SP Guide Publications (SP’s): Having taken over asone of the largest and most combat experiencedarmies of the world, what are your feelings as theChief of Army Staff?Chief of Army Staff (COAS): It is indeed a matterof honour and privilege for me to take over thereins of the Indian Army, one of the world’s finestfighting forces comprising absolutely dedicatedand professional officers and men. It is indeed anonerous responsibility. I feel humbled by the trustreposed in me.

I am conscious of the emerging security chal-lenges – both homeland and in the subcontinent.The Indian Army will undertake all challenges tothe nation’s security with utmost commitmentand professionalism. The responsibilities andchallenges bring about a feeling of great concernfor the valiant men who make up our Army.

SP’s: What would be the major challenges that youwill have to confront and how do you propose totackle them? What are the key result areas that youpropose to adopt during your tenure?COAS: At the outset let me assure you that the In-dian Army is fully prepared to meet the variety ofsecurity challenges confronting our country.There has been a paradigm shift in the nature ofconflict and emerging technologies with its cen-tre of gravity now focussing towards Asia.

Terrorism, proxy wars, militancy, insurgen-cies, fourth and fifth generation war are likely tobe employed by the non-state actors against stableand economically progressive nations. Conven-tional conflicts in future will be reinforced by theinclusion of large force multipliers and PGMs. Ourcountry, therefore, faces a large number of chal-lenges ranging from conventional land-centricthreats to fourth and fifth generation warfare andinternal security challenges.

However, the fast-changing nature of conflictand emerging technologies require constant reap-praisal and improvement. I have laid down an all-encompassing vision for the Indian Army, whichis to hone the Army into a well-motivated, opera-tionally-prepared, well-equipped force capable ofmeeting the security challenges faced by the na-tion. Also initiate the transformation process tofunction in a networked joint services environ-ment to leverage technology and the human re-sources capital in consonance with the rich valuesand traditions of the Indian Army.

Having said that, I would essentially focus onthe following issues: l Enhance operational preparedness l Consolidate and address deficiencies l Enhance meaningful training to prepare for

PAGE 4Iron Fist and Velvet GlovesCombating the Maoists/Naxals requires themost energetic steps, firm action and leadership which operate up front ensuring avoidance of collateral damage

Lt General (Retd) Harwant Singh

PAGE 8Artillery SeminarThe 3rd International Seminar on ArtilleryTechnology highlighted the latest technological developments in artillery and the need to take advantage of availablenew technologies for the modernisation ofIndian Artillery

Lt General (Retd) V.K. Kapoor

PAGE 15Face-to-FaceLoic Piedevache, Country Head, MBDAGroup, in conversation with SP’s Editor-in-Chief Jayant Baranwal spoke about buildinga reliable, strategic and long-term partnership in India

WORD FROM THE PUBLISHER

SP’s Land Forces, a uniqueconcept, has come a longway since its launch duringDefexpo 2004 held earlyFebruary that year. The bimonthly has attempted

relentlessly to satiate the thirst for informa-tion and knowledge of readers from theland forces, associated industry and OEMs.In keeping with trends and dynamics ofthe market, the magazine has made all theefforts to offer readers writeups steeped in knowledge and varied in information byexperts and personalities from diverse, butrelevant backgrounds.

The new edition 3/2010 comes with a refreshing and soothing appearance. We,at SP’s, hope this look of the SP’s LandForces will be more readable and user-friendly, and thus connect more efficientlywith our readers. We believe in the dynamics of time and circumstances and,therefore, innovate accordingly. We hopeour valuable readers will appreciate theseefforts, and we would be delighted to receive your thoughts on our new design.

Publisher and Editor-in-ChiefJAYANT BARANWAL

‘I Have Laid Down an All-Encompassing Visionfor the Indian Army’

General V.K. Singh took over as the Chief ofArmy Staff on April 1, 2010. In the first installment of a candid interview with SP GuidePublications, General Singh shares his thoughtsand perceptions on the security challenges facingthe nation, modernisation and transformation of the Army for future challenges.

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SP’s A N S P G U I D E P U B L I C A T I O N

R O U N D U P

June-July l 2010

IN THIS ISSUE T h e O N L Y 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

Volume 7 No 3

SP’s LAND FORCES3/2010

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existing and emerging challengesl Uphold the image of the Army, and en-

sure inculcation of core values of self-lessness and professionalism

l Provide dignity to the art of soldieringand restoring pride in all ranks

l Speed up modernisation process and en-sure refinement of procedures and workculture

l Improve quality of life, habitability andliving conditions in forward deploymentareas

l Enhance synergy with other services l Commence transformation process for a

more agile, lethal, versatile and net-worked force

l Contribute towards nation buildingthrough initiatives on environmental issues, greening programmes and sportsprojects

SP’s: What, in your view, are the major oper-ational challenges confronting the IndianArmy currently and what additional chal-lenges do you foresee in the future? Is theArmy structured to take on the challengeslikely to be encountered in the future? Whatis the type of transformation that the IndianArmy should undergo to confront thesethreats and challenges? COAS: The Indian Army needs to prepare forchallenges across the spectrum of conflicts.It has to be prepared to fight a conventionalwar and also fight insurgencies. At the sametime, we have to fulfill our commitments toUN peacekeeping, contribute to regional se-curity and stability, and undertake humani-tarian assistance and management.

With these challenges emerging, it is im-perative on our part to develop matchingmilitary capabilities in consonance with itsgrowing economic and technological ad-vancements so as to provide a peaceful andconducive environment for ensuring a self-sustainable economical growth and prosper-ity. Hence, operational challenges rangefrom ensuring constant vigil on the border,preparing for conventional land-centricthreats from super high altitude areas to thedeserts, constant engagement to fight proxywars and insurgencies, and be prepared toassist the nation in internal security situa-tions as also disaster relief operations. TheArmy is well structured for these challengesand we have also worked out changes tomake ourselves agile, lethal and capable offunctioning in a digitised, network, jointservice environment. We are looking atmaking ourselves better by reducing our lo-gistics tail and yet ensuring a functional andefficient logistics grid to sustain our forces.

SP’s: India has been absorbing internally allpunishment meted out by the jihadis/terroristelements unleashed by Pakistan and this pas-sivity has encouraged the terrorist groups op-erating inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir(PoK) to escalate their activities on Indiansoil, both in Jammu & Kashmir, and in the hin-terland of the country. India’s failure to evolvecredible conventional responses to Pakistan’s

asymmetric provocations has seriouslyeroded its deterrence and credibility. May wehave your views on this issue?COAS: It is not prudent to assume that wehave failed to evolve a suitable response toany asymmetric provocations. A number ofregional and international factors have tobe considered while formulating our op-tions and the government takes all theseinto consideration.

As far as the Army is concerned, it is capable of responding adequately to meetany threat today and those that may develop in the future. I can assure you thatthe Army is prepared to mete out deter-rence in conformity with our politico-strategic decision process.

SP’s: Considering India’s current operationalstatus, which are the key technologies thatthe Indian Army wishes to acquire and whatare we doing about it?COAS: The Indian Army for the last decadehas been on the steady road to modernisa-tion and considerable progress has beenmade in this regard. However, emergingthreats makes it imperative to upgrade ourtechnological threshold to meet the loom-ing challenges.

We have formulated our plans and areevolving our implementation philosophy androadmap to acquire net-centric capability.Projects have been undertaken to moderniseand automate the battlefield functions at theunit and individual soldier levels. Battlefieldmanagement system (BMS) and future in-fantry soldier as a system (F-INSAS) are twosuch projects in the making. Similarly, at tac-tical and strategic levels, steps have beentaken for battlefield automation and defencecommunication network. Project Kranti hasbeen taken up to enhance communicationconnectivity. All this is to achieve networkedjoint service compatibility. Some of the areasof interest are better situational awarenessthrough cutting edge technologies in the fieldof surveillance and night vision capability;increasing own lethality through PGMs andsmart munitions; ensuring efficacy of oursoldiers by lighter and multimode combatsupport systems.

SP’s: You have just handed over the Commandof the Eastern Army. At present, what is thestatus of insurgency in the Northeast? Howdoes it compare to the previous years andwhat are the new characteristics which havebeen noticed about the groups which are op-erating in the Northeast? Are they getting anysupport from outside?COAS: The prevailing security situation inthe Northeast (NE), owing to the continuousefforts by security forces and other govern-ment agencies, is under control. The insur-gency related incidents have shown adownward trend in all NE states other thanManipur. Overall, there has been a decline inexplicit violence due to better security envi-ronment in Tripura, dwindling support baseof the ULFA, and surrender by Dimasa andKarbi groups.

The insurgency in NE is no longer ideol-ogy-driven. These fringe outfits thrive on ex-tortion, smuggled arms and muted responseof the populace. Broadly, the consistent sus-tenance of insurgency in NE can be attrib-uted to ambivalence of local establishments,inter-community trust deficit, tardy criminaljustice system, extortion, abundance ofweapons in SE Asian markets and conven-ient havens across Indian borders. Overall

the security forces have achieved greatamount of success in last two years. We needpolitico-administrative and developmentalinitiatives to ensure long-term stability.

SP’s: Considering the disputed border in theEastern theatre, how well are we prepared toconfront a conflict in the region? What are theareas of focus as far as military preparednessof this theatre of war is concerned? What isour operational status as compared to the fastpaced modernisation of the PLA?COAS: China has focussed itself towardsbuilding its comprehensive national strengththrough economic development along withimpetus to military modernisation. They havebeen carrying out rapid infrastructural devel-opment as per their overall infrastructural de-velopment plan. We are fully seized of thesecurity needs of the country as well as therequirement of the development of the infra-structure in the border areas.

Necessary measures as required havebeen initiated for the upgradation of our in-frastructure which includes roads, railwaysand air fields as well as enhancement of op-erational capabilities of the Army to securethe desired national security objectives. Weare well prepared to tackle the challengesposed and the modernisation of the PLA isfactored into our preparation.

SP’s: There have been a political move to re-move the Armed Forces Special Powers Act(AFSPA) from J&K. Such a move could seriouslyjeopardise the safety and credibility of the IAoperating in J&K. What is the stand taken bythe Army Headquarters on this issue?COAS: While the security forces have throughrelentless operations substantially controlledthe violence levels in J&K, the terrorist threatremains real and the terror infrastructureacross the borders remains active. In such anenvironment, the security forces are requiredto undertake operations in challenging cir-cumstances against highly trained terroristsarmed and equipped with sophisticatedweapons. Therefore, we need requisite legalprotection. Any dilution/withdrawal ofAFSPA will lead to constraining our opera-tions. AFSPA is a misunderstood act and allwho ask for its dilution/withdrawal, probablydo so for narrow political gains. We are veryclear on the subject that soldiers operating inhostile environment need legal protection toensure that they perform their task efficiently.

Adequate measures have been institutedat organisational and functional levels to en-sure that the powers entrusted through theAct are not misused.

SP’s: Serious delays have occurred in equip-ping the Army with critically required weaponsand equipment whose non-availability couldseverely impact operational efficiency now andin the future. This includes long range artilleryguns, air-defence weapons, suitable rifles andcarbines, night vision equipment for infantryand tanks and other weapons and equipmentfor special forces among a host of other re-quirements. What action are you going to taketo overcome such delays in the future?COAS: I am conscious of the voids in equip-ment, weapon systems and its upgradation.You are aware that the process of acquisitionis complex and also influenced by budgetaryallocations. Delays occur due to necessarychecks and balances as well as the procedures.

Procurement of equipment, upgradationto new generation technology and betterequipment is an ongoing process and I con-sider this as my thrust area. The DPP is peri-odically reviewed and I have given directionsfor refinement of our own, in service proce-dures, to facilitate meeting the time lines ofour modernisation process. The governmenthas also adopted various measures tostrengthen the defence equipment productioncapabilities of both public and the private sec-tor within the country. In synchronisationwith the MoD, we are taking measures to has-ten up the acquisition.

– To be continued

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SP’s LAND FORCES 3/20102

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Naxalites have launched an undeclared war

against the Indian State. Last month, they killed 76

security personnel in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada

district. On May 17, they blew up a bus there,

killing civilians and special police operatives and

then came the shocking news of the derailment of

Gyaneshwari Express. The death toll has already

crossed the 140 mark. The Maoists are getting

more audacious due to poor response by the

State. The bleeding hearts intelligentsia is only

worried about the criminals but does not seem to

be disturbed by the innocent people killed, the peo-

ple for whom the State exists.

It is high time that our political parties speak with

one voice. Let all of us unite to defeat the Maoists

goal to overthrow the authority of the government

through armed liberation struggle. If a military re-

sponse is essential, so be it. However, the govern-

ment must fully comprehend the actions required at

their level and in the states and the consequences

of military action. The disturbed Areas Act and the

Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958, must be

promulgated in the states concerned in the first

instance. Meanwhile, the nation must prepare itself

for the military mission apart from the developmental

effort. Intelligence grids should be established in the

affected states. All data about Maoists, their leaders,

and those who provide logistics should be obtained

and they should be under constant surveillance. The

national intelligence grid (Natgrid) must be estab-

lished at the earliest. The National Counter Terror-

ism Centre must take under its wings all intelligence

agencies functioning for internal security.

Defence intelligence should keep itself fully en-

meshed with national intelligence. Counterinsur-

gency grids must be established and Central

paramilitary units positioned with clear-cut com-

mand responsibilities of senior police officers.

Satellite and UAV reconnaissance should keep

selected sectors under constant surveillance. A

complete intelligence picture of each sector should

be updated at all times. Training of Central forces

including the senior police officers (who are the

weak links) must be hastened. Army, if employed,

must only be used offensively to cause maximum

causalities in Naxal ranks. Employment of small

teams with heavy firepower for rapid offensive

actions based on prior intelligence will prove

successful. We need to be pro-active. Do we have

the national will to do so?

ED

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‘Any dilution/withdrawalof AFSPA will lead to constraining our operations. AFSPA is a misunderstood act andall who ask for its dilution/withdrawal,probably do so for narrow political gains.’

Lt General (Retd) V.K. Kapoor

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n LT GENERAL (RETD) HARWANT SINGH

Nearly 200 districts in the countryare in the grip of Maoists/Naxals.This situation developed over aperiod of time and all this whilestate governments and the Centre

turned a Nelson’s eye to the emerging scene.There appears to be no one accountable forthe current state of affairs. No heads everrolled, but all those who failed the State keptclimbing the promotion ladder. Now whenthe Home Minister has named some police of-ficers who had failed policemen at Dantewadaand wants action against them, we are toldthat these officers are the very best.

If they are so good, then how did wereach this sorry state, where policemen,state and central police organisations (CPOs)are easily targeted, their weapons takenaway, they face regular ambush, and policestations and CPO camps are routinely raided.How have the police, both state and CPOs inthe Red Corridor, descended to such poorstate of training and low morale. This stateof affairs does reflect on the quality of lead-ership in these forces. There is no accounta-bility and there are no sackings, while moreand more senior level posts are sanctioned,making the police extremely top heavy.

Lack of inclusive growthThe Indian State has been painfully slow inwaking up to the Maoist/Naxal threat. Thereis large-scale disaffection, deprivation and de-spondency amongst vast sections of margin-alised and dispossessed population. Alldevelopment and poverty alleviation schemeshave simply bypassed them. For them, therehas been no “inclusive growth”. No one inDelhi, Ministry of Finance (MoF) and Plan-ning Commission, etc, bothered to find outwhere large funds being made available forinclusive growth have been disappearing.Among them, Adivasis have suffered themost. Their small land-holdings have beentaken over by mining mafias, hydel projects,multinational corporations (MNCs) and someothers; whose forest rights have been dis-

solved, leaving them with no means of liveli-hood. Forced evictions from their dwellingsand land had become a routine affair. Noroads, no schools, no hospitals, nothing werebuilt in these areas.

There has been a gradual withdrawal ofgovernance at the district level. To stay inpower, the political class found it more prof-itable to keep the people in a state of poverty,ignorance and deprivation. Turmoil and un-rest in these areas made siphoning of fundsmuch more easy. At the same time, theseconditions created fertile grounds for theMaoist/Naxal groups to spring to life andfind wide ranging support among the dispos-sessed. Maoists terrorrised the locals to drawtheir support on the one hand, and to denytheir support and intelligence to the policeand security forces on the other.

As governance shrank, police high hand-edness increased and allocations for povertyalleviation schemes ended in the pockets ofcorrupt officials and colluding politicians,Naxals ranks kept increasing. District offi-cials never stirred out and functioned fromwithin their high security residences and of-fices and on return to Delhi, became expertsin dealing with Maoists. Given such condi-tions, Maoists kept enlarging their foothold,while Delhi and the affected states slept andtook no corrective action or held any one ac-countable for this downslide.

Aftermath of DantewadaNow after the Dantewada ambush and the

targeting of a civilian bus in the same regionkilling over 35 people, suddenly everyonehas come to life and all manner of solutionsto the problem are being fielded. The mediahas gone into an overdrive, demanding all-out and immediate action against the insur-gents. Wisely, as of now, the deployment ofthe military is not being considered as an op-tion, but there is demand both from theHome Minister and the affected states for de-ployment of the Indian Air Force (IAF). Useof helicopters, even in a logistic support role,could result in casualties as these will oftenfly low over insurgent-infested areas. Giventhe terrain conditions and poor intelligence,gunship helicopters will not be that effectiveand could cause considerable collateral dam-age. Use of offensive air support will throwup a whole range of wrong signals to theworld and adversely affect foreign invest-ment in the country. The fact is that Maoistswill have to be defeated, essentially, by the security forces in ground action. There is nogetting away from this.

The call for talks with the Maoists is mis-placed and inopportune. Such renegadegroups should be invited to the table for talkswhen they have been driven against the wall.Only then there can be a hope of arriving atviable and acceptable solution. To expectthem to shed arms when they are on ascen-dancy is a bit unrealistic. Often, as has beenour experience in the past too, this period ofceasefire and talks is used by the insurgentsto regroup and reorganise themselves. Weshould seek talks once we have put themcompletely on the defensive and in a bind.

Senior leadership is CRPF’s weakness The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has210 battalions and many more are nowbeing raised. Most of these units and thestate police forcecs in the Red Corridor havebeen fighting Maoists/Naxals; so they oughtto have learnt enough about fighting insur-gents and have had own schools for counter-insurgency training. The answer to thisintriguing question perhaps rests in the factthat the higher hierarchy in the CPOs andthe affected state police have no ground levelexperience in counter-insurgency opera-tions, there is no accountability and there islittle Central and state policy or doctrine onthe subject.

The hype created over the Dantewada in-cidents portends ill for the developing situa-tion. Elimination of Maoists has become thetop priority without regard to means andmethods. Terms like revenge, enemy and warare being freely bandied about. What mayfollow are excesses by the police, provincialand CPOs. Arrests, interrogations, tortureand torching of villages, dislocations andfake encounters, etc will become commonoccurrence; more so, when the senior lead-ership stays away from the field. Troops withlow morale and poor discipline are moreprone to brutalities. Remember the My Laimassacre in Vietnam.

Fighting insurgency is a serious businessand leadership in the forces has to be ledfrom the front, setting an example in disci-pline and risk-taking. The military has beenin this business and the casualty ratio be-tween troops and officers in these operationsis 1 to 13.4. The figure of officers killed in thelast decade and a half is by now well over560. These are commissioned officers, fromLieutenants to Colonels, and in a few caseseven of higher ranks. The military has beencombating motivated, well-trained andhardcore insurgents in the Northeast andJammu and Kashmir.

Maoists are a ragtag force in their pres-ent state. Yet success has eluded the policeand there are hardly any casualties amongIPS officers while policemen (including thosefrom CPOs) have died in thousands. Toachieve results, the police leadership willhave to be upfront and run the same risktheir subordinates routinely face. During thePunjab problem in the 1980s, only when theArmy was deployed, the police started oper-ating in a meaningful manner. Such a sys-tem should not become a pattern and CPOsand state police forces should not requiremilitary crutches all the time.

Combating requires energetic steps While law and order remains a state subject,the present situation cannot be consideredas a mere law and order problem. Thoughthe Centre would extend all help to the statesto combat Maoists/Naxals, the states willhave to show greater involvement. To takethis challenge head-on, there is a need tobring in legislation where the Centre cantake over direct control over operationsagainst Maoists/Naxals in the Red Corridor,create central controlling authority whichcoordinates intelligence and operations ofCPOs with the state police and administra-tion. Gray Hounds, Cobras and Vipers, allshould join the fight in a coordinated man-ner. India can ignore the Maoist/Naxalthreat at its peril. Combating Maoists/Naxalsrequires the most energetic steps, firm actionand leadership which operate upfront ensur-ing avoidance of collateral damage.


Iron Fist and Velvet GlovesCombating the Maoists/Naxals requires the most energetic steps, firm action, and leadership which operate upfront ensuring avoidance of collateral damage

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>> I N T ERNAL SECUR I TY

Maoists will have to be defeated, essentially,by the security forces in ground action andthere is no getting away from this

Fighting insurgency is serious business, and leadership in theforces has to be leadfrom the front, setting an example in disciplineand risk-taking

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SP’s LAND FORCES3/2010 5

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n LT GENERAL (RETD) P.C. KATOCH

Future wars will be fast paced and es-sentially technology driven, and tech-nology is changing very fast. TheArmy is aware about this and is aim-ing at the network-centric warfare

(NCW) capabilities. A few projects are alreadyongoing that will enable the commanders athigher level and staff officers with capabili-ties, and will facilitate efficient decision-mak-ing and situational awareness. But at thecutting edge there is lack of such tool thatleaves the commanders and men at battal-ion/regiment and below to depend on theirtraining, experience and intuition to take de-cisions that can at times be critically delayed.This is even more relevant to manoeuvre op-erations because of the need for an acceler-ated decision-action cycle and an ability toconduct operations simultaneously within anall arms group. To fill this void, the Army isgoing in for a battlefield management system(BMS) by harnessing information technologythat will act as a force multiplier to enhanceoperational effectiveness of commanders andtroops at all levels, enabling exchange, filter-ing and processing of ever increasingamounts of digital information already avail-able but not integrated.

Communication is vital in every type ofwarfare and is an essential component ofany BMS. Throughout history, the success ofa battle has depended on the ability of thefighting components to communicate witheach other in an effective manner. Commu-nication ensures awareness and increasedawareness increases the chances of win-ning. This is more applicable in today’s war-fare because of large and varied forces thathave the ability to strike over long distances.Convergence of such forces at a place andtime can multiply the effect.

The conceptThe BMS (planned at battalion/regiment andbelow level for all arms and services of theArmy) will comprise a tactical hand-heldcomputer with individual soldiers and tacti-cal computers at battle group headquartersand combat vehicles. Computers will be inte-grated employing application and databaseservers connected on a data enabled commu-nication network. The system will enablegeneration of common operational pictureby integrating inputs from all relevantsources within a battle group by the inte-grated use of GIS and GPS. The BMS will bea highly mobile system which is able to net-work itself by integration of components andprovide a high data rate. The communica-tions should not interfere with the legacycommunication equipment and should easilybe retrofitted into combat platform. The com-munications system should optimally utilisethe bandwidth available for military commu-nications involving voice and data includingvideo streaming and imageries. It should bescalable to ensure availability to all elementsand range from being man-portable to beingfitted in combat vehicles.

ConcernsConsiderable ground has been covered foridentifying suitable technologies, hardwareand system requirements for the BMS. How-ever, one issue that has come under a lot ofdebate is the communication requirementfor BMS and the debate is very fair as theArmy has a baggage of legacy communica-

tion system. When pitted against the futurerequirements, unfortunately, the legacycommunication devices are physically in-compatible, follow different link protocols,have issues of address, reach and quality ofservice (QoS). In effect, the present family ofradio sets do not meet the requirements of anetwork-centric force that would facilitatetransmission of voice, video and data simul-taneously. For a BMS to be successful there isa need for a reliable, robust, resilient and ef-ficient communication system that assuresthat the network is always functional.

Understandably, such networks are spec-trum hungry and with commercial interestslooming over this scarce resource, it is a tugof war between national security and com-mercial interests. The answer lies in speedyprojection of requirements and optimisationof the spectrum ensuring protection of all se-curity concerns without losing any more timeand also identifying such technologies whichexploit emerging technologies for efficient useof available spectrum. It is also important toensure that the defence band, which shouldbe dedicated, is one single entity, securing ofwhich is easier than the current arrangementof varied bands for defence use entwined withinterjected commercial bands.

The following issues should also be ofconcern to the Army: l The last mile connectivity at the cutting

edge, where the soldier’s main energy isdirected towards fighting; will commu-nication act as a force multiplier andmake him more surgical or will he beoverburdened?

l How can technology help in overcomingthe limitations imposed by environmentalconditions in terrestrial communications?

l In a network agnostic environment, whatare the options available for ensuring ef-fectiveness with wide spread dispersionand communication on the move?

l What should be the approach while ad-dressing a network management system?What should be the additional capabilitiesthat can be expected from a managementsystem?

l What should be the appraoch towardshandling security issues? Is the currentsecurity policy which is meant for point topoint networks suitable for a networkwhere users at different levels of securityclassifications have to function together.

l While it is certain that the legacy radiosdo not support a networked environment,how should the changeover from legacyto new generation radios be handled con-sidering the massive quantities and theexpenditure involved?

RequirementThe Army’s current holdings of radio sets donot facilitate transmission of voice, videoand data simultaneously, which are essentialfor the network-centric force. Existing radioswith fixed frequency (analogue) cater to lim-ited communication. Besides, these combatnet radios (CNR) do not have inbuilt capabil-ity of data transmission (a modem is re-quired), are not secure, and have no dataencryption facility. For a successful BMS,there is a need for a reliable, robust, resilientand efficient communication system that as-sures consistent functionality of the net-work. Net centricity warrants a paradigmshift from voice centric to data centric sys-tems and networks eventually enabling net-centric warfare capabilities.

In finalising communications for theBMS, the Army should focus on the following:l Long rangesl High bandwidth data transmission (live

streaming)l Messaging including voice maill Quickly deployable, self-configuring and

self-healing networksl Easy customisation, rolling coverage and

interoperability l Changes in network topologyl Non-line of sight communicationsl Spectrum managementl Network management systemsl Quality of service (including latency, as-

sured delivery, jitter)l Security of communications, networks

and storagel Robustness and authentication l Deployment of new technologies like soft-

ware defined radios (SDRs) to offsetgrowth in demand for spectrum

l Compression technologies for passage ofinformation must also be capitalised

l Review communication philosophy of the Army

l Fine-tuning change managementl Standardisation of applications and

adaptability to any communication sys-tem including COTS products

Faux passéProgress of Project BMS was stalled for over10 months because of lack of delimitation be-tween Project BMS and F-INSAS, latter beinghandled by the infantry. The F-INSAS pro-gramme is to be developed in three phases forinfantry battalions. Phase 1 comprisesweapons, body armour, clothing and individ-ual equipment. Phase 2 is the target acquisi-tion system. Phase 3 comprises the computersubsystem, radio subsystem, software andsoftware integration. Complete fielding in allinfantry units is likely to be completed by year2020. The BMS being developed concurrentlyunder the information systems is likely to becompleted earlier and was conceived at bat-talion/regiment level pan Army (includingthe infantry). It comprises communication,non-communication hardware and software.The system will be further integrated with thetactical command, control, communicationsand information (Tac C3I) system throughthe command information decision supportsystem (CIDSS).

Since the Directorate General of Informa-tion System is charged with facilitating trans-formation of the Army into a dynamicnetwork-centric force, achieving informationsuperiority through effective management ofinformation technology, quite logically, Phase3 of F-INSAS (computer subsystem, radiosubsystem, software and software integra-tion) should be part of Project BMS. However,infantry took a stand that Phase 3 of F-INSASshould also be handled by them. The signalsresponsible for communications only top-down up to battalion headquarters level,sided with the infantry sensing opportunityto increase their turf down to soldier level,knowing that in the absence of InformationSystems Phase 3 of F-INSAS infantry will beunable to handle without signals assistance.This standoff stymied progress of Project BMSfor over 10 months, an unfortunate andavoidable delay to a project that should havebeen in place a decade back.

The Army has now decided that whilehandling F-INSAS, the infantry will developthe Phase 3 of F-INSAS up to companylevel. By doing so, a self-inflicted faux passéhas been committed, a separate project ofsoftware and communication integration byinfantry is retrograde, and apart fromamounting to re-inventing the wheel, it willdelay overall net-centricity pan Army andwill incur additional avoidable costs. Infor-mation Systems has already done consider-

Multiplier EffectThe key to NCW lies in communication infrastructure. For a BMS to be successfulthere is a need for a reliable, robust, resilient and efficient communication systemthat assures that the network is always functional.

2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), speaks into a radio during theNCO and Soldiers of Quarter Competition

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able work in the fields of geographical infor-mation system (GIS) and applications in-cluding completing Phase 1 of CIDSS andbattlefield surveillance system (BSS). Ironi-cally, the decision has been taken while in-formation systems continue to develop theBMS for mechanised infantry battalionsboth in mounted and dismounted role.

If infantry is to incorporate situationalawareness and GIS as part of F-INSAS, thenit amounts to not only re-inventing the wheelbut will also require another project to inte-grate the F-INSAS with the BMS implyingavoidable additional expenditure and time.The IA should have learnt from similar mis-takes made by foreign armies. Given the in-fantry ethos and not having earlier dealt withcomputer subsystem, radio subsystem, soft-ware and particularly software integration,the infantry may also go in for the minimumin respect of Phase 3 during the test bed of F-INSAS for fear of information overload,whereas, the correct approach should be togo for maximum during the test bed and thenreduce as required.

System of systems are about integratingsystems and empowering the user. The sol-dier is only a part of the network and is notresponsible for the network. Separate F-INSAS and BMS programmes (relating tocomputer subsystem, radio subsystem, soft-ware and software integration) will lead to is-sues related with interoperability andintegration of systems as the systems will bedeveloped by different agencies using differentplatforms. Development of different systemsfor the same purpose will accrue avoidable ad-ditional costs on account of yet another inte-gration project. Maintenance of disparatesystems would be required and it would be dif-ficult to achieve test bed of an integrated com-bat group or infantry battalion group.

New technologiesIt is obvious that while legacy combat net ra-

dios have their own limitations, en masseswitch to new generation radios like theSDRs cannot be affected due to the quanti-ties and costs involved. New technologies likeSDR are compact (with part hardware func-tions done by the software itself) and meetthe requirements of future combat. SDRs areavailable with dual wavelengths that canalso communicate with legacy radios. A mixof SDRs and legacy radios is thereforeneeded in order to start with. This should bethe springboard for a gradual changeover tothe new generation radio sets. The signals re-sisted the concept initially arguing that ex-isting CNR can meet BMS communicationrequirements and that SDRs are in too dis-tant a future. However, they have graduallycome around and are working on their owngeneral staff qualitative requirements(GSQR) for the SDR.

Higher capacity SDRs with ability totransmit large volumes of information inlesser bandwidth than traditional radios areworth considering. We must continue toleverage commercial technology to deter-mine whether there are alternate solutionsin the commercial world to solve the band-width problem.

It goes without saying that robust securityalgorithms must be speedily developed to en-

sure security of both stored data as well astransmitted information.

Bandwidth and latencyThe Army must work out bandwidth re-quirements for the BMS keeping in mind in-cremental requirements of coming years.This is very relevant at the cutting edge, par-ticularly during fast moving operations asalso non line of sight (NLOS) operations inmountains including offensive operationswhen terrestrial communications would beout of reach. A conservative approach bythe Army at this stage, which is likely due tothe limitations of legacy communicationequipment, could limit exploitation of fu-ture technology. Significantly, the US Armyalready caters for 1 GB per second band-width for a combat team and plans to in-crease it incrementally over the years. Weare not the US Army, but we need to be veryclear on the bandwidth required when ourbattle groups are engaged in fast paced ma-noeuvres. Satellite communications (SAT-COM) are important in meeting NCWrequirements. It is for such reason that theStryker units in the US Army have been pro-vided portable SATCOM terminals at theplatoon level. Considering the combat boostto net-centricity coupled with national se-curity requirements in the forseeable future,the Army needs to shed its rigid stance that

SATCOM is too expensive a commodity. As part of exploitation of technologies,

we must also maximise compression to en-sure free flow/near free flow of informationwith no/minimum prioritisation. The lack ofbandwidth on wireless media for mobile op-erations is one of the most complex technicalchallenges to NCW. A potential aid in thisissue is the use of computer software to com-press the signals in a manner to ensure leastconsumption of traditional amount of spacein the frequency spectrum.

ConclusionCommunication is vital to the BMS. The keyto NCW lies in communication infrastruc-ture. As per Metcalfe’s law governing net-work-centric computing, the power of anetwork is the square of the number ofnodes in the network. This power can onlybe harnessed if matching mobile communi-cations are provided to integrate the nodesto the network in time and space. Battlefieldtransparency can only be achieved if robustand reliable communications are madeavailable with necessary bandwidths andmedia redundancy.

Project BMS needs to be accelerated. TheArmy needs to review its decision of lettingthe infantry handle Phase 3 of F-INSAS,computer subsystem, radio subsystem, soft-ware and software integration of which ithas little or rather no experience, particu-larly software integration. Separate develop-ment of BMS and F-INSAS will haveproblems of integration besides additionalexpenditure and time. Phase 3 of F-INSASshould be part of Project BMS as a system-of-system approach.

New technologies like the SDR need tobe suitably exploited. SATCOM terminals at appropriate level need to be introduced.Foolproof security needs to be ensured so that higher levels of net-centricity are achieved.

T ECHNOLOGY>>


Battlefield transparencycan only be achieved ifrobust and reliable communications aremade available with necessary bandwidthsand media redundancy

We must maximise compression to ensurefree flow/near free flow of information with no/minimum prioritisation

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n LT GENERAL (RETD) V.K. KAPOOR

The Regiment of Artillery in associ-ation with the Confederation of In-dian Industry (CII), the DefenceResearch and Development Organ-isation (DRDO), and CLAWS jointly

organised a two-day International ArtillerySeminar on May 10 and 11 at the IndiaHabitat Centre in New Delhi. Internationaldefence companies such as BAE Systems,General Electric, Israeli Aerospace Indus-tries, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, SAABGroup, Sagem (Safran Group) and Nextertook part in the event along with Indiancompanies like Tata Power, Tata Motors,Bharat Electronics, Indian Ordnance Facto-ries, and the Armament Research and Devel-opment Establishment of DRDO.

The main aim of the seminar was to dis-cuss the latest technological developmentsin artillery in order to take advantage ofavailable new technologies for the moderni-sation of Indian Artillery. The seminar cov-ered all aspects regarding the modernisationof Indian Artillery platforms and supportsystems. The seminar comprised three tech-nical sessions, apart from the inaugural andvaledictory sessions. The technical sessionsdeliberated on the development of weaponssystems and munitions, measures to en-hance surveillance and targeting and re-search, and industry’s capability to meetfuture challenges. The highlights of the sem-inar along with Editors Comments are givenin the subsequent paragraphs.

Army Chief General V.K. Singh, in hiskeynote address, said that India has been“too late” in acquiring modern artillery andneeds to accelerate its efforts to modernise itsfirepower in an era where advanced nationshave gone far ahead. General V.K. Singh,who assumed office on March 31, said thatthough Indian artillery is in the process of amajor modernisation programme, the in-duction of more powerful weapons like155mm/52 callibre guns of the wheeled andself-propelled variety as also the ultra lightguns is not proceeding at the desired pace.

He stressed that it is imperative that Indiasystematically modernises its artillery to com-pete with the best in the world. The ArmyChief cautioned that any delay in this regardwould render the gap between the front-run-ners and laggards impossible to be narrowed

down. “We certainly need to catch up, andcatch up fast. We have to take much longerstrides and accelerate our efforts,” he added.

Lt. General K.R. Rao, Director General,Regiment of Artillery, said that for the next15-20 years, the philosophy of artilleryshould continue to achieve “destruction” bysynergised orchestration of all available fire-power resources provided by a variety ofagencies cutting across the three servicesbased on a joint targeting doctrine, includingeffective use of the ‘fourth dimension’. Re-garding the future, Lt General Rao said, “Futuristic artillery platforms should be inde-pendent and autonomous firing identities, ca-pable of firing on their own, achieved byintroducing automatic alignment, and layingand loading of ammunition. These platformsshould have matching mobility in case oftowed guns, adequate protection in case ofself-propelled guns and portability by helicop-ters and aircrafts in case of light guns. Largeoperational frontages will dictate platformscapable of achieving longer ranges, whichhelp us in achieving concentrated firepowerin preference to concentrating firepowerunits. However, there should be a balance be-tween mobility and longer range.”

He also stressed on the importance of ef-ficient ammunition management in thefield, which becomes a crucial battle win-ning factor rather than merely the numberof tubes (guns) available.

Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal, Director,CLAWS felt that there was an 80-90 per centchance that future conflicts, if any, wouldbreak out in the mountains as a corollary ofthe ongoing border disputes. He felt that gain-ing and occupying territory and evicting theenemy from the territory occupied by themare important military objectives in futurewars and only an air land battle with massiveasymmetry of firepower in our favour wouldachieve the desired military objectives.

He felt that manoeuvres are limited inmountains and deep manoeuvres in theplains and deserts cannot be risked due tothe nuclear overhang and, hence, limitedwars will have “limited aims and objectives,limited force levels, limited geographicalarea, and limited timeframe.” He therefore,gave three trend lines for artillery firepowerin the future - change in employment of ar-tillery from neutralisation to destruction;from dumb to smart and intelligent muni-

tions; from long-drawn ranging proceduresto near first salvo effectiveness. He recom-mended heavy accretion of artillery and useof precision-guided munitions from the cur-rent negligible levels to 20 per cent of totalavailable ammunition.

Dr Bashir from Tata Power (StrategicElectronics Division) said that the require-ments of modern artillery include character-istics such as higher lethality, enhancedrange consistency, all-weather operations,battlefield management, survivability, crewcomfort and auto operation, better accuracywith response time, and shoot and scoot ca-pability. He said that there are many con-tributing elements which involve thedevelopment of fast response technologicalconfigurations. He then proceeded to explainhow these could be acquired. He also ex-plained the work done by Tata Power in up-grading the L-70 air defence gun.

Colonel R.S. Athreye made an interestingpresentation on ‘Enhancing lethality andprecision’. He spoke in detail about the fac-tors and technologies involved in develop-ment of trajectory correctable munitionsand terminally-guided munitions.

Lt General V.K. Ahluwalia, General OfficerCommanding-in-Chief, Central Command, ina special address before the start of Session II,made a very informative presentation on ‘Artillery in mountains, high altitude andglaciated terrain’. He explained the terrain pe-culiarities and the impact of these on artilleryfire. He quoted from Lt General V.R. Ragha-van’s book about the fact that artillery ex-change is an economic form of fighting in theSiachen region. Having been GOC 14 Corpsin the very same region earlier, it was inter-esting to hear his views on the employmentof artillery in this geographical zone.

Another absorbing presentation was onthe concept of ‘Battlefield surveillance andtargeting” by Major General P.K. Chakravorty,Additional Director General of Artillery. Hefirst explained the terms surveillance (SVL)and targeting before proceeding to explain theresources available at the division and higherlevels. He then covered the concept of em-ployment of these resources. He said thatplanning of SVL is based on intelligencepreparation of battle which is carried out dur-ing peace time and carried forward duringwar. All SVL resources are integrated in con-sonance with the theatre communicationgrid. As regards the modern and futuretrends, he explained that nanotechnologywould usher in the new era which would im-

prove SVL over a wide area. Lt General V. Nayanar, Commandant,

School of Artillery, made a well-preparedpresentation on ‘Role of artillery in degrada-tion operations in the future’. He said that thetechnological trends impacting the futurebattlespace are long-range precision fire-power with enhanced lethality, increasedrange and sensitivity of surveillance systemsand sensors, and increasingly intelligent de-cision support systems. Combination of theseemerging trends impart considerable lethalityto conventional forces in the battlespace andare the prime focus of modern artillery. Helaid out the focus areas for industry.

He said that the imperatives for firepowerdelivery platforms were longer range to en-gage operational level objectives, automatedhandling of increased rates of fire, self-pro-pelled systems for mobile operations, au-tonomous gun systems to enable single gunfire units, ability to deliver varied types ofammunition, and rocket systems capable ofdelivering up to 120 km. He recommendedthat target disposition and equipment profileshould be in consonance and, hence, theequipment profile should preferably adhereto the following: 50 per cent of the total ar-tillery should be guns with 50 km range, 35per cent should be with long range rocketsup to 120 km range, and 15 per cent withmissiles of 250 km range.

Lt Colonel Eric Briot from the FrenchArmy brought out the multiple technical ca-pacities of Caesar truck-mounted artillerysystem which is a 155mm, 52-calibre self-propelled gun developed by Nexter Systems(formerly Giat), based in Versailles, in coop-eration with Lohr Industries of Hangenbi-eten, France. Caesar entered production inJune 2006. The first vehicle was delivered tothe French Army in April 2007 for extensivefiring trials. The first Caesar system was de-livered to the French Army in July 2008 anddeliveries are scheduled to complete in 2011.

Caesar is equipped with all systemsneeded for independent operation, a cabin toprotect the six-man gun crew against shellfragments and small arms fire, an initial am-munition supply of 16 complete rounds andinstrumentation for navigation, aiming, bal-listic calculations and command aids. Thesystem was specifically designed to meet thefire support requirements of rapid deploy-ment forces. It was deployed in Afghanistanin 2009. A unit of eight Caesar self-propelledartillery vehicles can dispense in less thanone minute, more than 1 tonne of projec-

Artillery SeminarThe 3rd International Seminar on Artillery Technology highlighted the latest technological developments in artillery and the need to take advantage of available new technologies for the modernisation of Indian Artillery

General V.K. Singh deliveringhis keynote address

Lt. General K.R. Rao, Director General, Regiment of Artillery

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The Stallion MK IV is the latest version ofthe Stallion vehicle for GS role applica-tions that addresses suggestions for

upgradations made by end users and a prod-uct of the process of continuous improve-ments at Ashok Leyland. With over 55,000vehicles doing various roles, the Stallion hasbecome the veritable backbone of logisticsupport for the Indian Army.

A flagship of the Hinduja Group, AshokLeyland is the second largest commercial ve-hicle manufacturer in the country with anannual installed capacity of 150,000 vehiclesrolled out from seven manufacturing unitsspread across the country. The only automajor with an ISO/ TS 16949 Corporate Cer-tification, Ashok Leyland’s turnover for2009-10 was more than of $1.6 billion.

For over five decades, the company hasbeen rolling out products that have becomesynonymous with reliability and ruggednessand these qualities are inherent in the com-pany’s range of defence vehicles. The Stallionvehicle, in particular, has been performingflawlessly in temperatures ranging from -40degree Celsius to +50 degree Celsius and frommean sea level to over 5,500 metres altitudes

and that’s because it is tested under the mostexacting of conditions. The company’s R&D

centre near Chennai has a variety of torturetracks like speed, pave, setts, corrugated, her-

ringbone, articulation, pot hole, sand tracks,water wading troughs and brake test areas. Inaddition, the company has the 6-poster, theonly one of its kind in the country, an acceler-ated torture simulator for multi-axle vehicles.

Ashok Leyland’s range of defence vehiclesinclude Truck Fire Fighters, Water Bowsers,Light Recovery Vehicles, Field Artillery Trac-tors, Light Specialist Vehicles, Common GunTowers and Buses custom designed for thearmed forces. Exclusive designs for 5/7.5T ve-hicles are being manufactured by vehicle fac-tory, Jabalpur, under a TOT agreement withAshok Leyland for the Indian Army.

A pan-India network of dealerships andauthorised service centres provide promptafter market support and dedicated after mar-ket support that comprise model rooms atvarious locations (15 so far) for training armypersonnel. Periodic technical seminars/train-ing programmes are conducted at variouscommands and regular service campaignsshared at various battalions.

The Stallions have already made foraysinto overseas markets like the Honduras,Thailand, and are being used by the USArmy in Iraq.

tiles, 1,500 bomblets or 48 smart anti-tankmunitions on targets at ranges up to 40 km.

Pascal Dubois, Sales director, Nexter,spoke about the Caesar system by giving thestatus of Caesar system in France, Thailandand Middle East and its employment inAfghanistan. He also explained the VLAP(rocket assisted projectile) which is capableof firing up to 58 km and BONUS (sensorfused munitions) which has given excellentresults to the French Army.

Bharat Singh from the Indian OrdnanceFactories explained the efforts by India’s Ord-nance Factories Board to indigenise weaponproduction and weapon upgrades. He madea detailed presentation on the advantages ofa 105mm gun versus a 155mm gun. He saidthat the worldwide trend is to develop low-weight high efficiency artillery gun systemwith minimum logistic tail.

The third session which commencedwith a discussion on industry’s role in thedevelopment of rockets and missile systemsconcluded with the topical issue of integra-tion of designers and industry with specialemphasis on absorption of technology.

The DG Artillery in his concluding re-marks said it was heartening to note that de-signers, manufactures and users were ableto share and understand each others’ re-quirements and capabilities. Concerted andcoordinated efforts of the three playersthrough an interactive approach wouldsurely lead to technologically modern ar-tillery in the foreseeable future. He hopedthat the designers and manufactures wouldnow work on the requirements of the Army

and be able to formulate a well-definedroadmap to meet the user requirements.

Editor’s commentsThe seminar was interesting and was well-attended by service officers. The DirectorateGeneral of Artillery and the widely experi-enced Army Commanders serving in variouscommand and staff appointments were ableto articulate Indian Army’s requirements forthe future. However, the political leader whoare the decision-makers were conspicuousby their absence and this was disappointing,to say the least.

While the DG Artillery and his staff can-not be blamed for being passionate abouttheir requirements, based on their apprecia-tion on the nature and type of future wars,there was a discernible attempt to overstatethe role of Artillery. Certain declarations andassertions by a number of speakers were un-real and impractical. All experienced army-men know that the effects of artillery fire inthe mountains is much less than in theplains due to the nature of the terrain andtherefore overwhelming artillery support inthe mountains is generally catered for. In thisregard, it may be noted that despite theabundant availability of 155mm Bofors,moved from other operational sectors duringthe Kargil conflict and unbridled use of155mm ammunition, and as per Air CmdeJasjit Singh, “exceptionally well executedaerial strikes by IAF,” then why did IndianArmy lose more than 500 officers and sol-diers in the attacks or counter-attacks thatfollowed the intrusions by the Pakistani

army dressed as jihadis? No war can ever be won by firepower

alone and future wars will be no exception. Infact, the enemy is also likely to launch multi-dimensional attacks on almost every aspect ofthe opponent’s social, economic and politicalsystem which will demand multi- dimensionalcapabilities to defeat the enemy’s designs.While superior firepower is warranted, let ushowever not have doubts that what will pre-vail is an integrated all-arms force level con-figured to suit the demands of each situation,excellent tactical and operational level leader-ship, and a far superior joint operations capa-bility which is lacking at present.

Another aspect that requires greater de-liberation by the DG Artillery and his staff isthe type and quantum of artillery required.One speaker mentioned about 35 per centrocket artillery with a range of 120 km.This, in our context, would imply 70 -80 reg-iments of rocket artillery. This seems a tallorder. It should be thought through carefullybased on expenditure and outlays involvedand recurring cost of rockets, with precisionwarheads.

One of the speakers felt that there was an80-90 per cent chance that future conflictswould break out in the mountains. Be that asit may, it does not mean that India should giveup the military option of opening up otherfronts to defeat the opponent’s designs. Mili-tary strategy demands that multiple optionsbe retained in all situations. Lack of strategicflexibility in our force structures will be disas-trous in future wars. As a rule we should beplanning synergised operations as air land

battles and single service thinking is out ofsync with the realities of modern wars.

Lt General C.K.S. Sabu, GOC-in-C SouthWestern Command, very competently andsuccinctly spelt out the concept of operationsin the future. He talked of carefully craftedplans of employing manoeuvre and firepowerand the advantages of a networked battlefieldin executing simultaneous operations acrossthe entire operational depth to reduce thetime required to achieve strategic objectivesof war. It is in this context that Artilleryshould work out its requirements both in themountains and in the plains and the IndianArmy should acquire capabilities to meetthese requirements.

Future conflicts will have to be plannedcarefully at strategic and operational levelsso that we are not carried away by our ownlinear tactical thinking. The human braincannot easily grasp the six dimensions ofwar and three dimensions of tactical battlebeing initiated simultaneously to first defeatthe enemy commander’s mind. When ourcommanders become well-versed in this op-erational art and the enemy becomes awareof our expertise, we will win wars withoutfighting–the acme of skill of a general asenunciated by Sun Tzu.

Wars have their own limiting factors inresources, space, endurance, etc, but as theirlogic is different, wars cannot be approachedmathematically or like an engineering prob-lem. When one enters the realm of war, oneenters the realm of contemplation, reason,emotion, intuition, initiative, and risk. Thishas never changed.


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Futuristic artillery platforms should be independentand autonomous firing identities, capable of firing on

their own, achieved by introducing automatic alignment, and laying and loading of ammunition

The Stallion 4x4 MK IV – Tried and Tested

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PHOTOGRAPH: Ashok Leyland

n BRIG (RETD) VINOD ANAND & COL (RETD) ANIL SINGHAL

Precisely six years ago, in April2004, Anti-Material Rifles (AMR)had caught the attention of themedia for a different reason.Denel, a South African arms sup-

plier who had been contracted to supplyDenel NTW-20 AMR was blacklisted for hav-ing paid kickbacks to secure the deal.

An AMR is designed for use as the namesuggest against military equipment or mate-rial rather than traditional combatants (per-sonnel). In American parlance, they areclubbed as Special Application Sniper Rifle(SASR) or Hard Target Interdiction (HTI).AMR are similar in form and appearance tomodern sniper rifles and can often serve inthat role, though they are usually more pow-erful than is normally required for neutral-ising an enemy combatant, and can operateat a greater range. These weapons can beused for counter-sniping, destroying explo-sive stocks (from a safe distance) or againstenemy radar installations, communicationequipment, parked aircraft, fuel storage fa-cilities, vehicles or personnel. In the GulfWar, .50 calibre sniping rifles had been usedto even damage the artillery guns.

AMRs and the large calibre sniping riflesappear almost similar. The main design con-sideration of a sniping weapon is longer inrange and accuracy, whereas AMRs are de-signed for damage and penetration. The tworoles, however, tend to overlap to some extent.

Background & usageThe origin of the anti-materiel rifle goes backto the First World War, when the first anti-tank rifles appeared. One of the first designsto be offered was the Austria’s Steyr AMR. Itfired a saboted fin-stabilised round that couldpenetrate 40mm of armour plate with con-siderable secondary fragmentation behindthe plate. Although it opened many people’seyes to the potential of AMRs, the Steyr hasbeen essentially overtaken by designs usingmore readily available rounds.

The concept behind their employment issomewhat different from conventionalsniper operations. AMR is to be employedagainst hardened targets at extreme ranges.This concept requires a different state ofmind and training than normal systems.AMRs have been proposed to be used:l Against communication systems, radar

systems, command systems, missiles,crew served weapons, aircraft, etc.

l Against APCs, future anti-armour pla-toons will have an AMR squad whichcan engage lighter AFVs and free theATGW crews to deal with the Main Bat-tle Tanks.

l Against helicopters or to “peel” reactivearmour from tanks to make them morevulnerable to other weapons. In Croatia,AMRs were vital elements of night op-erations since they were needed to de-stroy tank-mounted armoured thermalimagers.

l To “snipe” at exposed tank commanders,easily defeating any body armour theyare likely to have.

l For remote explosive ordnance disposal.Special disrupter rounds filled withwater, aerogel or foam could be devel-oped for this role.

l To attack parked aircraft and other softtargets from a distance. Such SpecialForces applications may require HE-Irounds rather than AP. In general, anti-materiel rifles are cham-

bered for 12.7x909mm NATO (.50 BMG),12.7x108mm Russian or even 14.5x114mm Russian and 20mm cartridges. Thelarge cartridges are required to be able to fireprojectiles containing usable payloads likeexplosives, armour-piercing cores, incendi-aries, or combinations of these, as found inthe Raufoss Mk211 projectile. Due to theconsiderable size and weight of AMR andother support equipment, the squad operatesin teams having two or three members.

International development status One of the popularly designed AMR is theSouth African NTW 20. The NTW 20/14.5is one of the few firearms in existence thatallows the changing of the calibre withoutcompletely disassembling and reworking theweapon. Switching between the two calibresof the NTW (20mm and 14.5mm) requireschanging the bolt, barrel, sighting gear andmagazine. A third variant, the NTW 20x110has also been developed, but is not designedfor barrel calibre switching. Calibre switch-ing the NTW 20/14.5 can be accomplishedsimply in the field without specialised tools.This weapon can be broken into two man-

loads and offers the user the choice of14.5x114mm (Russian), .50 Browning or20x83.5mm or 110mm MG151 ammo. Itcan also be moved as an assembled weaponfor “shoot and scoot” operations.

Some other well known AMR are; UK’sAccuracy International AW 50/F .50 Brown-ing Machine Gun(BMG) (12.7x99mmNATO), US Barrett M 82A1/107 (.50 BMG(12.7x99mm NATO) and McMillan TAC-50,Hungary’s Gepard (.50 BMG with 12.7x99NATO, 12.7x108mm (.50 Russian) & 14.5x114mm Russian, Austria’s Steyr IWS 2000(15.2 proprietary APFSDS), Serbia’s ZastavaM93 .50 BMG (12.7x99mm NATO) and12.7x108 (.50 Russian). The Barrett .50 isnot accredited with the world’s longest rangekill as that achievement goes to the McMillanTAC-50 bolt action sniper rifle. The TAC-50does however fire the same ammunition, the.50 cal BMG cartridge. During the conflict inAfghanistan in 2002, a Corporal of the Cana-dian Forces fired his McMillan TAC-50 to killan insurgent at a range of 2,430 metres(7,973 feet) or just over 11/2 miles away. It isa record for the longest sniper kill in history.

On the projectile front, Norwegian com-pany’s Raufoss Mk.211 is a .50 calibre BMG(12.7x99mm NATO) multipurpose anti-ma-teriel projectile. The multipurpose name isgiven as the projectile is having an armour-piercing (tungsten core), an explosive, andan incendiary component, thus making itcapable of penetrating lightly armoured tar-gets and causing damage to the personnelinside the target after penetration. It is a suit-able round for engaging helicopters, aircraftand lightly armoured vehicles, as well as un-armoured vehicles, and it also has the capa-bility of igniting jet fuel. It has similardestructive power as a standard 20mmround against such targets.

The US is investing in newly developedrifle called the Stealth Recon Scout (SRS)which is a multi-calibre bullpup bolt-actionanti-materiel/sniper rifle. There are four ver-sions of the DTA SRS rifle: .338 Lapua Mag-

num , .300 Winchester Magnum (.300 Win.Mag), 7.62_51mm NATO (7.62mm NATO)/.308 Win., and .243 Win. This has lot ofsimilarities to the DSR-1 Rifle made by DSR-precision GmbH (Alpirsbach, Germany).

Bullpup is a firearm configuration inwhich the action and magazine are locatedbehind the trigger. This increases the barrellength relative to the overall weapon length,permitting shorter weapons for the samebarrel length, saving weight and increasingmanoeuverability. It alternatively allows forlonger barrels on weapons of the samelength, which can increase muzzle velocityresulting in flatter trajectories, a longer ef-fective range and increased lethality. Thebullpup design significantly enhances theweapon’s balance, putting the balancingpoint just in front of the trigger guard.

The US SRS AMR is designed around the.338 Lapua Magnum cartridge. This has thesame size and weight characteristics as thewell known .308 Win rifles, yet it has a tra-jectory that rivals the popular .50 calibre ri-fles. But .338 LM has more recoil than the.308 Win, which is very manageable andmuch less than with a .50 calibre. The 338LM also has very good penetration whenusing military AP ammunition.

Indian context The AMR is an extremely useful system forspecific situations like bunker bursting and other anti-material role. It has been employed against hardened sites and criti-cal equipment with very good results. Oneunique use of the AMR has been by theFrench in Bosnia in the counter-sniper role.They employed the M93 in conjunctionwith a 20mm rifle allowing them to pene-trate any obstacle in order to deter or sup-press enemy snipers in buildings. Theyfound this system highly effective. The M93was used to push the enemy snipers into adesired section of the building and then the20mm is used to eliminate them (and thatsection of the building).

T ECHNOLOGY>>


For Special ApplicationsAnti-Material Rifles are similar in form and appearance to modern sniper rifles, though they are usually morepowerful than is normally required for neutralising an enemy combatant, and can operate at a greater range.These weapons can be used for counter-sniping, destroying explosive stocks (from a safe distance) or againstenemy radar installations, communication equipment, parked aircraft, fuel storage facilities, vehicles or personnel.

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Today’s AMR are muchlighter and moreportable due to the useof advanced recoil suppression and metallurgy in the overall construction of the rifle

A scout sniper team leader of US marines fires a round down-

range from an M82A3 .50-calibrespecial application scoped rifle

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In the wake of the carnage in Mumbai,in November 2008, the need for such aweapon system was felt where AMR poweris useful for shooting terrorists through con-crete walls, after identifying their locationswith thermal imaging systems. There is animperative need to take care of the collateraldamage to civilians in such situations. Nopolice force at present uses ATR in counterterrorism role due to the risk to civilians.However, New York police SWAT team usesit to blow apart vehicle engines in high speedchases as a last resort.

Under the contract first signed in 1999by the NDA government, 100 AMRs werebought for Rs 23 crore. Later, the army hadabout 300 Denel AMRs and was to getabout 900 more. The UPA governmentscrapped this deal in 2004, following accu-sations that Denel had paid kickbacks to secure this contract. AMR is primarily deployed in border areas to knock outbunkers, security towers and radars ofenemy forces. The army, incidentally wasquite satisfied with the weapon systems per-formance and was keen to induct moreAMR from Denel–after acquiring the firstbatch in December 1999–for their “potentbunker-bursting” capabilities.

Indigenous development –VidhwansakThe development of the AMR by the state-runfactory came at a time when the Indian gov-ernment has scrapped all defence deals withSouth Africa’s Denel, which had previouslysupplied similar weapons to the Indian Army.

The ordnance factory at Thiruchirapalli(OFT) and DRDO had developed a multi-calibre AMR named Vidhwansak for theArmy, SSF and paramilitary forces. Its development was completed in November2005 and the rifle was sold to the Army, BSF and National Security Guards from 2007.

Some reports suggest that Vidhwansakis a reverse-engineered version of the NTW-20. In any case, Vidhwansak is comparableto NTW-20 in terms of calibre, size and per-formance. Vidhwansak, which costs Rs 10lakh ($20,000), is much cheaper thanDenel NTW-20 AMR, which costs Rs 23lakh ($45,000). It also supports multiplecalibres and fires 12.7mm, 14.5mm and 20mm rounds compared to dual calibressupported by NTW-20.

Vidhwansak AMR is one of few firearmsto support three calibres with quick inter-changeability. Vidhwansak can be easily

converted between the three calibres –12.7 mm, 14.5mm and 20mm, by replacingthe barrel, bolt, magazine and scope, whichtakes about one minute in the field, withoutthe need for any specialised tools.

Vidhwansak is a manually operated, ro-tating bolt action rifle. The barrel along withthe receiver recoil inside the chassis frameagainst a damping system. The rifle is fedfrom a detachable box magazine that is in-serted from the left side. The rifle can bequickly disassembled and carried in twoman-portable packs, each weighing about12-15 kg.

Vidhwansak weapon (14.5mm calibre)had a maximum range of 1,800 metres,while the 20mm calibre version had 1,300metres. A muzzle brake is fitted on the end ofthe barrel which absorbs an estimated 50 to60 per cent of recoil. This is further supple-mented by a buffered slide in the receiver.Vidhwansak is equipped with an 8X magni-fication, long eye relief telescopic sight withParallax adjustment.

ConclusionToday’s AMR are much lighter and moreportable due to the use of advanced recoilsuppression and metallurgy in the overallconstruction of the rifle. The 20mm rifles areslowly becoming more and more popularwith commandos and special forces for theircomplete ability to knock out the majority ofbuilding walls and vehicles with one shot atreasonable ranges.

As time goes by, more and more develop-ments relating to the weapon system andcalibre will be seen. New larger weapons arebeing produced. However, it seems that the.50 calibre or equivalent AMR is destined toremain the system of choice for missions re-quiring a man portable highly versatileweapons system.

T ECHNOLOGY>>


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forces.net BigDog is a dynamically stable

quadruped robot invented in 2005by Boston Dynamics with Foster-

Miller, the NASA Jet Propulsion Labora-tory, and the Harvard University ConcordField Station. A BigDog is 3 feet (0.91 m)long, stands 2.5 feet (0.76 m) tall, andweighs 240 pounds (110 kg), about thesize of a small mule, according to a com-pany press release. It is capable of travers-ing difficult terrain at 4 miles per hour

(6.4 km/h), carrying 340pounds (150 kg) and climb-ing a 35 degree incline. Loco-motion is controlled by anonboard computer that re-ceives input from the robot’svarious sensors. Navigationand balance are also man-aged by the control system.

BigDog has set a worldrecord for legged vehicles bytravelling 12.8 miles withoutstopping or refuelling. OnMarch 18, 2008, Boston

Dynamics released video footage of a newgeneration of BigDog. The footage showsBigDog’s ability to walk on icy terrain andrecover its balance when kicked from theside. The ultimate goal for BigDog is to develop a robot that can go anywhere people and animals can go.

The programme is funded by the Tactical Technology Office at the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency(DARPA).

BigDogA robot invented by Boston Dynamics with Foster-Miller, the NASA JetPropulsion Laboratory can go anywhere people and animals can go.

T E C H W A T C H

Protecting WarfightersOshkosh Defense supplies FMTV trucks, trailers to US Army

F I R S T

Advanced Robotic SystemMAARS is the first fully modular ground robot system capable of providing forceescalation options for a measured response that fits any combat situation.

Modular Advanced Armed RoboticSystem (MAARS) has been devel-oped by QinetiQ, North America’s

Technology Solutions Group. It is the firstfully modular ground robot system capableof providing force escalation options for ameasured response that fits any combat sit-uation. MAARS is an agile, combat-readyrobot that is remotely controlled by the oper-ator, who can interact with hostile forcesfrom a safe distance using the robot’s two-way communication features and multiplecameras, a company press release said.

It provides multiple options for responseand escalation of force like non-lethal-oper-ator’s voice projected through loudspeakerson the robot and an eye-safe laser to dazzlepeople; less-lethal-launcher to deploy beanbags, smoke, star clusters and pepper spray;lethal-launcher to deploy 40mm high-ex-plosive grenades or the powerful M240Bmedium machine gun firing 7.62mm am-munition. Multiple cameras give the opera-tor a clear view of the robot and itssurroundings to ensure optimum safety andimprove situational awareness. In theMAARS weapons-configured system, theoperator always sees where the weapon ispointed in relation to him and other friendlyforces. MAARS uses an easy-to-learn digitalcontrol system that provides comprehensivesituational awareness that works up to arange of over 1 km from the operator, effec-tively extending the reach of the operatorand enhancing soldier survivability. In addi-tion, the robot’s turret system is able to sup-port a drop-in manipulator arm, multipleweapons and a range of sensor packages.

Oshkosh Defens e, a division ofOshkosh Corporation, has shippedits first family of medium tactical

vehicles (FMTV) trucks and trailers to theUS Army. The vehicles have left the com-pany’s Oshkosh, Wisconsin, campus.

According to the company, theOshkosh vehicles represent a major mile-stone for the FMTV programme. TwoFMTV variants and trailers for both vehi-cles are being delivered. The OshkoshFMTVs feature the long-term armourstrategy (LTAS)-compliant cab solution.“We are pleased to do all we can to ad-vance the safety and protection of ourwarfighters,” said Mike Ivy, vice presidentand general manager, Army Programs,Oshkosh Defense.

According to the US Army’s originalFMTV programme timeline, Oshkosh Defense will begin delivering productionunits in October 2010. Production deliver-ies under the existing orders run throughDecember 2011. Till date, Oshkosh has re-ceived orders to deliver 5,209 FMTV trucksand trailers.

The five-year FMTV contract is for theproduction of an estimated 23,000 vehi-cles and trailers, as well as support servicesand training. The FMTV is a series of 17models and 23 variants ranging from 2.5-tonne to 10-tonne payloads. The vehiclesfeature a parts commonality of more than80 per cent, resulting in streamlined main-tenance, training, sustainment and overallcost efficiency for the US Army.

It seems that the .50 cal-ibre or equivalent AMR isdestined to remain thesystem of choice for mis-sions requiring a manportable highly versatileweapons system

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n LT GENERAL (RETD) P.C. KATOCH

Communications have been impor-tant for winning battles since timeimmemorial. Success or failurecontinue to be dependent on theability of the fighting force compo-

nents to communicate with each other. Fu-ture wars will continue to be technologydriven and technology is developing speedily.Today, militaries use very high technologycommunication systems wherein messagescan be sent and received instantly through asecured network. The equipment is speciallytailored since no compromise in quality is ac-ceptable. Satellite signals are mainly used forradio transmission with high security fea-tures to avoid interception and recording bythe enemy. Satellite communications (SAT-COM) are increasingly becoming importantin the fast moving operations not only fornon-line of sight (NLOS) communications,but also where large and varied forces, includ-ing strike corps and their various battlegroups, are engaged in manoeuvres and in-tense battle, optimising net-centric warfare(NCW) capabilities to multiply the effect byconverging at a time and place of one’s choos-ing over long distances. Advantages of SAT-COM are being exploited by terrorists too, asis apparent from the large number of In-marsat and Thuraya radio sets captured inanti-terrorist operations in India.

With flexible operational services andcompact ground terminals, SATCOM serv-ices offer attractive solutions for militaryusers. Dedicated military satellite networksare augmented by commercial services likedemand assigned multiple access (DAMA)controlled networks that offer the user totalcontrol of the space link. SATCOM providesterrain-independent communications, flexi-ble networking, and direct link to final desti-nation without reliance on radio relays.

Indigenous satellitesWith Apple, INSAT satellite series, ASC Net-work, etc, India has come a long way from1981 when the Indian Space Research Or-ganisation (ISRO) first experimented withgeosynchronous telecommunications relaysto now having a number of active spacecraftin geosynchrous earth orbit (GEO). IndianGEO platforms perform the dual functions ofcommunications and earth observation. Thefirst dedicated military satellite (INSAT-7) is

now on the anvil. Despite failure of the geo-synchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV-D3) in April this year, ISRO has assured thatits first dedicated military satellite is onschedule and will be launched within a year.It will have a footprint of around 1,000 nau-tical miles over the Indian Ocean. The re-quirement was first projected by the Navy afew years back. Though the Army and theAir Force woke up late, they will get to sharethe bandwidth of INSAT-7 partially till ded-icated Army and Air Force satellites arelaunched in coming years.

Types of communication satellitesGlobally, communication satellites are func-tioning on C, Ku, Ka, S and L Bands. C Bandis widely used and proven, has large band-width and no rain attenuation. Ku Band hassimilar advantages; besides communicationon the move (COTM) is possible. However, inboth C and Ku Bands, the equipment is noteasily portable and is prone to mechanicalfailure due to size, weight and movement.The sub-assemblies are large and so the in-stallation time is considerable. In the KaBand, broadband communication is possi-ble, power consumption is low, use of solarpanels is possible and feasibility of COTM ex-ists. However, this system is adversely af-fected by snow, rain and heavy clouds. Spacesegment in Ka Band is currently limited inIndia. The S Band is meant only for radar

T ECHNOLOGY <<

Unbreakable CommunicationThe Army should review its communication philosophy and cater to requisite satellite communications withalacrity, boosting the Indian Army’s quest for acquiring true NCW capabilities.

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communications and hence has not beendiscussed further.

L Band is by far more reliable especiallyunder NLOS conditions as accurate pointingis not required between satellite and user ter-minals. The system is highly portable, andman-portable option is available. It is light-weight with no moving parts, quick to de-ploy with rapid connectivity, not affected byweather conditions and has low power re-quirements, lower attenuation, and betterrange. However, L Band has less bandwidthavailability compared to C, Ku, Ka Bands andhas interference with terrestrial communi-cations. L Band services include standard IP,flexible bandwidth based on usage, user con-trol and spot beams.

A dispassionate analysis of the varioustypes of satellites would indicate that L Bandis most suited for non-terrestrial communi-cations in the tactical battle area (TBA). LBand terminals are truly portable, plug-and-play, reliable on account of integrated de-sign, communications for land, sea and airapplications, flexible and have low first timeinvestments. For some inexplicable reasonnone of the indigenous satellites are L Band,even though the initial investments com-pared to other satellites is less. The dedicatedmilitary satellite (INSAT-7) to be launchedtoo will not be L Band. Though a number offoreign satellites on L Band have footprintsover India, use of a foreign satellite for oper-ational military communications raises le-gitimate apprehensions of security.

Foreign firms argue that security whileusing a foreign satellite can be made fool-proof if the security gateway is positionedwithin Indian territory and indigenous secu-rity solutions developed by the Centre for Ar-tificial intelligence and Robotics (CAIR) aresuperimposed. However, this requires thor-ough analysis. Under our existing regulatoryregime, any company even wishing to pro-vide subscription-based television services tocustomers in India must uplink from Indianterritory and must use INSAT or a satellitesystem approved by the Department of Space(DoS). Approval for using a foreign satelliteby a DTH service provider is given rarely forshort term (with ISRO approval) until INSATis able to launch additional capacity.

Role of satellite communicationsSatellite communications play a vital role inhugely varied terrain (mountains, deserts,jungles, urban areas) and areas with poor ornon-existent telecom infrastructure/terres-trial communications, especially with in-creased requirements of COTM. Militaryapplications of satellite communications in-clude collaborative battlefield planning usinginteractive white boards and video conferenc-

ing, live video feedbacks from unmanned aer-ial vehicles (UAVs), reconnaissance units/combat camera teams of troops in contact/special forces missions, etc. Any voice to anyvoice, push to talk to landline phone, andmerging of voice, data and video on a singlenetwork is facilitated. Modern satellite com-munications, which cater to increased mobil-ity, are easier to use, and with increasedthroughput are usable at lower levels for VTC,situational awareness and sensor information.

Indian Army scene Although a VSAT network is in the processof being established as part of Project Air Defence Control & Reporting System(ADC&RS), the Army needs to shed its inhi-bition of treating SATCOM as “an expensiveand rare commodity” with continued re-liance on terrestrial communications forvital systems like the battlefield surveillancesystem (BSS). Not only communicationshave to be foolproof, future requirement ofan NCW capable force needs to be well un-derstood. While there is merit in relying onterrestrial communications, satellite com-munications must be scaled selectively atlower levels as well after thorough apprecia-tion of future battlefield requirements.Stryker units of the US are already providedsatellite terminals down to platoon level.Problems with current communication sys-tems are poor spectrum utilisation, low datatransfer rates, pre-defined mission planningand intentional and unintentional jammingenvironment resulting in poor communica-tion performance. Modern satellite commu-nications help overcome these problems. Therule should be “communications withoutbreak” using terrestrial communicationswhere feasible and when not adversely af-fecting network centricity.

The Army should plan on selective SAT-COM both in the TBA and upward connec-tivity including redundancy in criticalsituations on war and national security. Thetactical communication system (TCS) is tocater for TBA requirements primarily for of-fensive operations by battle groups of boththe strike and pivot corps, albeit its induc-

tion and fielding is inordinately delayed.Fielding of information systems like theBSS, battlefield management system (BMS),ADC&RS, artillery command control &communication system (ACCCS) and theirintegration to the tactical command, con-trol, communications and information (TacC3I) System through the command infor-mation decision support system (CIDSS)coupled with the requirement of foolproofcommunications in a fast moving intensebattle environment certainly necessitatesdue prominence to SATCOM. This is alsopertinent to F-INSAS and particularly spe-cial forces detachments operating deep in-side enemy territory for where compactlightweight portable SATCOM terminalswould be essential.

Required focusIt would be prudent for the Army to focus onthe following issues:l Review the communication philosophy,

appropriately incorporating SATCOM tomeet requirements of net centricity in fu-ture wars.

l Requirements of SATCOM must be iden-tified, link data rates determined, designand size of each link decided, and the ra-tionale documented. The analysis shouldtake into account the orbit, RF spectrum,data rate, duty factor, link availability,link access time, threat, etc.

l The system chosen should be flexible andmodular, catering to data securitythrough encryption, spatial, time andsatellite diversity, frequency hopping andinterleaving.

l Terminals chosen should be flexible andmodular; easy to move between net-works, with easily adaptable throughputand easily switchable from military tocommercial satellite, if the need arises forthe latter. Time required for training andoperations should be minimal. Theyshould need limited logistic support, easyfor undertaking field repairs and withswappable modules.

l Compression of data is essential since dig-ital image files in particular are large andat times there will be need to send moredata than what the bandwidth accommo-dates. The bandwidth is limited by the linkequation. Therefore, the best compressiontechnologies must be exploited.

l Spectrum management is very important.Experience shows that at any given time,large bandwidth of the entire RF frequency (up to 100 GHz) remainsunutilised. The system chosen should beable to capitalise on unutilised bandwidth.

l SATCOM systems other than in L Bandare bulkier and hence the Army has been

contemplating use of Wimax in TBA. Thismust be given adequate thought espe-cially from security point of view. Becauseof doubts of foolproof security of Wimax,foreign armies are using Wimax only forlogistics nets and not for operational nets.The Government/MoD needs to consider

the following in conjunction with the Army:l Development and launch of L Band satel-

lites by ISRO for military SATCOM due toadvantages including COTM, as dis-cussed above. If agreed upon, the groundnetwork and terminals will have to be de-veloped concurrently.

l Due to high costs of development and op-erations of satellite systems, outsourcingof services is considered by many na-tions. There is a need to examine the im-plications of hiring a foreign L Bandsatellite for military communications (tillall the requirements of the Army are metthrough ISRO satellites). Such an exer-cise should include feasibility of ensuringfoolproof security with the security gate-way positioned within India and with su-perimposed security solutions developedby CAIR. Obviously, such an arrange-ment would require firm commitmentregarding availability of space segmentat all times and under all conditions,apart from security issues being suitablyaddressed. Need for such examination isnecessary in order to leapfrog into netcentricity, which is at present too far.

ConclusionDuring war time and at times of conflictonly the best communication system willsucceed. SATCOM is vital for an NCW capa-ble army. The satellite can support thou-sands of terminals in a net-centric systemformation. For redundancy, the network canuse multiple satellites or alternative commu-nications. Military grade on-the-move SATCOM ground terminal must providecontinuous connectivity in conditionswhere commercial terminals usually fail.They must be able to automatically and rap-idly recover from signal blockages, due toman-made objects, terrain/foliage, weatherand other atmospheric effects. Such termi-nals are designed to work with a wide rangeof military and commercial satellite serv-ices, including wideband commercial lowearth orbit (LEO), medium earth orbit(MEO), and military geosynchronous earthorbit (GEO) satellites, as well as protected(advanced EHF) narrowband satellite com-munications. The Army should review itscommunication philosophy accordingly andcater to requisite SATCOM with alacrity,boosting the Indian Army’s quest for acquir-ing true NCW capabilities.

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With flexible operationalservices and compactground terminals, SATCOM services offerattractive solutions formilitary users

Next Issue

Extensive coverage of

Eurosatory 2010 Editionn Largest ever fair of land defence systems. About 1,300companies exhibited their products atEurosatory 2010, and an estimated number of 60,000 visitors attended four-day fair

n Innovative solutions for air defence, armies andinternal security requirements.

n US giant General Dynamics had a prominent presence at the fair. General Dynamics unveils the PiranhaClass 5, the latest generation of the highly successful Piranha combat vehicle family.

nMilitary equipments from China were seen at Eurosatory defenceinternational fair. It is the first time that China has participated in theEurosatory 2010.

n Thirty-four Russian companies participated in this exhibition; twelve of thempresented military products in the form of 300 exhibits.


I NDUSTRY / FACE -TO - FACE <<

SP Guide Publications (SP’s): MBDA wasformed with the merger of key missile producers in France, Italy and Great Britain,and subsequent acquisition in Germany. Hasthis made you a world leader or was it a fait accompli?Loic Piedevache (Loic): In the past fewdecades, there have been many mergers andreorganisations in the defence sector world-wide. The merger of several companies hasinadvertently resulted in huge turnover asthe best of resources and expertise on a widerange of products came together.

But a lot of hard work was required to ef-fectively integrate the companies and ensurethat their operating systems are coordinatedproperly. In order to create a suitable busi-ness model, resources had to be pooled in themost effective manner with the correct useof synergies.

MBDA has set a benchmark in terms ofinternational integration within the defencesector and has become a global player.

SP’s: Can you please tell us about the com-pany’s current profile? How do you positionyourself in the global market today?Loic: MBDA is a global player having busi-ness in defence markets across the globe. Weare moving towards a situation where over50 per cent of our turnover will come fromexport activities as opposed to domestic sales(UK, France, Italy and Germany). Our latestprogrammes include Storm Shadow, Scalp,to name a few.

SP’s: Can you briefly outline the company’shistory? What are the factors that lead to themerger? In hindsight, what have been its pos-itive points?Loic: The consolidation of Europe’s missilecompanies began in 1996, when parts ofMatra Defence and BAe Dynamics merged toform Matra BAe Dynamics (MBD). In 1999,the Aérospatiale-Matra Missiles was formed.In 1998, GEC-Marconi Radar and DefenceSystems and Alenia Difesa combined theirmissile and radar activities to form AleniaMarconi Systems (AMS). In December 2001,MBD (including AMM) and the Missile andMissile Systems activities of AMS weremerged and thus came up MBDA. In June2005, LFK, a unit of EADS Defence and Se-curity Systems merged with MBDA. Themerger was necessary for the survival of thefragmented European industry.

SP’s: What is the annual turnover of MBDA?Your website says you have as many as 45products in service. What are your mostsought-after products?Loic: The growth was rapid and by 2005MBDA had doubled its turnover to 3 billionEuro. The company’s current turnover(2009) stands at 2.6 billion Euro. It will bedifficult to say what are our most soughtafter products. In terms of quantity (numbernot value) – large quantities of Eryx missilesand Exocet missiles have been sold. Mistral isin service with about 30 countries and willsoon be in service on the Indian Dhruv/WSI.

But MILAN manufactured under licence inIndia by BDL has been sold in even higherquantities around the world.

SP’s: MBDA is a multinational company. Whatis the collective view of the nations involved(in MBDA) with regard to transfer of the latestand sensitive technologies to India? Are thereany conflicts of interest? Loic: There are no conflicts of interest.MBDA’s identity is represented by advancedtechnology and not nationality. Transfer oftechnology (ToT) is the key feature thatMBDA offers. In most cases, transfer of tech-nology is a key feature of MBDA’s offer to thecustomers. Our customers do not wait for a

product enhancement to be commonlyavailable. If the customer makes specific de-mand for a product, we make it available forthem after discussions with them about thespecific enhancements in line with nationalspecific requirements.

SP’s: MBDA offers a range of weapons for allthe three forces–land, sea and air. What edgedoes your range of weapons offer comparedto your competitors? Is cutting-edge technol-ogy the USP of your group or do you haveother aces too up your sleeve?Loic: MBDA has many aces–we are a technol-ogy leader, we are the only company provid-ing weapons to all three of the armed forces.

Weapons such as Storm Shadow/SCALPand Meteor are the world leaders and cannotbe compared with other weapons. We com-bine the industrial and technologicalstrengths of France, Italy, Germany and theUK together within one company.

Meteor, the beyond visual range air-to-air missile dominates the air battle giving airsuperiority against the threat, provides anunmatched no escape zone. It has been or-dered by the UK Ministry of Defence and fiveother European nations namely France, Ger-many, Italy, Spain and Sweden. The StormShadow/SCALP is a conventionally armedstand-off air-to-ground long-range missilewhich can be deployed day and night and inadverse weather.

SP’s: MBDA is one of the leading manufactur-ers of missiles in the world. In what ways arethe 15 new products now being developed byMBDA different?Loic: The new developments include intelli-gent warheads, modular systems, and newpropulsion technologies among others. Theyare all designed to meet new customer re-quirements regarding new terms of engage-ment, new platforms, threats, etc.

SP’s: When something becomes seeminglyobsolete, do you phase out the product or up-grade it? Or is it a combination of both?Loic: Because of paucity of funds, some cus-tomers ask for upgradation, to extend the lifeof the existing products. In many cases wehave provided life-extention service up to 5-10 years through our support team. As werespond to customer operational needs, it re-sults in the long-term development of ourproduct portfolio. Of course, we need to pro-vide long-term support for in-service prod-ucts and so we cannot just decide a productline as obsolete and ignore it.

SP’s: Can you elaborate on the ground-basedair defence missile, air dominance missile andsurface to surface missile systems manufac-tured by MBDA?Loic: MBDA is a leader in providing a rangeof defence systems to create an effective lay-ered defence system–from deployable short-range systems such as Mistral and VL Micato higher level systems such as Aster.

Our air dominance range includes AS-RAAM, Mica and Meteor to ensure the air-

‘MBDA is Seeing India as the Fifth Pillar of its Structure after the Four Domestic Countries (UK, France, Italy and Germany)’MBDA, a world leader in missiles and missiles system, desires to be a major player in the Indian defence mar-ket and is viewing India as the fifth pillar of its structure in addition to current partner countries – France, UK,Italy and Germany. Loic Piedevache, Country Head, MBDA Group, in conversation with SP’s Editor-in-ChiefJayant Baranwal, spoke about building a reliable, strategic and long-term partnership in India.

>> A Brief Profile

Loic Piedevache has been the CountryHead, India, MBDA Group since 2007.Prior to this, he was with Sofema andserved as the Director, South Asia, from2003 to 2007, Director, Latin Americaand the Caribbean from 2000 to 2003,and Office Director, Rio de Janeiro office,Brazil from 1994 to 2000. An alumnus ofCollège Stanislas, Paris and Ecole descadres Management School, Paris, Loichas served as Overseas Trade Advisor forFrance Vice-President of India sectionfrom 2004 to 2008. He has a privatepilot’s licence and is the recipient of theFrench National Defence medal.

to-air battle. Dual Mode Brimstone andStorm Shadow/SCALP are available to de-liver devastating precision in the air-to-ground attack missions.

In the battlefield warfare, MBDA is offer-ing MILAN and Eryx missiles. Concerningthe maritime threats, we can offer a widechoice of weapons: the latest generation ofExocet family (MM40 Block 3) and OtomatMk2 Block IV for long range targets andMarte Mk2 for middle range targets.

SP’s: You lay a lot of emphasis on customersupport. How do you ensure that every sale isfollowed by quality customer support? Loic: Customer support is crucial for us. Weensure that the customer gets the maximumbenefit from the equipment “through life sup-port through life performance”. Our supportservice ranges from training, spares manage-ment, repair work, assistance with live firings,stockpile management, etc.

Our customer service is highly personal-ized and does not come off the shelf or out ofa catalogue. It is discussed, developed,adapted, customised and implemented in linewith each and every customer’s specific re-quirements. Our approach is work in-countrywith the customer.

SP’s: The Milan anti-tank missile has been inservice with the Indian Army for a long timenow. It is understood that a fresh contract wassigned at the end of 2008 for an upgradedversion. Can you elaborate? Loic: Milan is a success story between MBDAand the Indian public sector undertakingBharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) whichstarted 30 years ago. Licences for several ver-sions of Milan missiles have been successfullyimplemented in India. The last version deliv-ered to India is the Milan 2T which has adeadly tandem warhead and enhanced oper-ational capabilities.

SP’s: It has been reported that MBDA and theDefence Research and Development Organi-sation (DRDO) are jointly developing a newgeneration of low-level, quick-reaction air de-fence missile Maitri for the Indian Navy andthe Air Force. It is understood that it has beenoffered to the Indian Army as well. Can youcomment on the project? Loic: MDBA is considering India as a strate-gic long-term partner and is keen to shiftfrom a usual buyer-seller approach to adeeper relation through a strong co-develop-ment programme involving key transfer oftechnologies. Developing short range sur-

face-to-air missile (SRSAM) is in tandemwith this strategic step. The Indian Navy willalso be a potential customer for SRSAM.

SP’s: Will you also offer core technologieslike the design of the active seeker head and the missile engine apart from the othersubsystems?Loic: Sensitive technologies will be trans-ferred in the form of SRSAM, but at thisstage, we cannot disclose more information.

SP’s: What about the missiles systems for theIndian Air Force (IAF) and missile upgradationfor Jaguar and Mirage 2000? Is MBDA contem-plating on participating in the mid-life upgra-dation programmes of these combat aircraftof the IAF?Loic: Regarding the Mirage upgradation,MBDA has been requested to make an offer forthe air-to-air weapon. We have proposed theMICA, the multi-mission air-to-air missile sys-tem which has outstanding manoeuverabil-ity, high resistance to counter-measures, twointeroperable advanced technology seekersand can be used in multi-target from longBVR interceot to close-in dog fight.

Regarding the Jaguar, MBDA is currentlyresponding to a Request For Proposal for aclose combat missile. We are offering As-raam Combat Missiles for Jaguars, which hasalready been fitted on Jaguars operational inother air forces.

SP’s: Is MBDA a part of the 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) for the IAF?Loic: MBDA is providing missiles in weaponpackages of the 3 European OEMs includ-ing Dassault (Rafale), EADS (Eurofighter),Saab (Gripen).

SP’s: Can you tell us something aboutMBDA’s multi-purpose combat vehicle proj-ect and its other variants? Will it be offeredto India? Loic: The multi-purpose combat vehicle is aversatile and deadly accurate air trans-portable vehicle equipped with a motorisedturret, with electro optical sensors. It has asmall calibre gun and four ready-to-fire mis-siles that can be operated from an interior fir-ing console. It will be offered to India if thereis a requirement.

SP’s: Are you working on any other joint ven-ture with BDL? Loic: MBDA does not have any JV with BDL.We are providing production licenses to BDL.

SP’s: Has MBDA established any joint venture or partnership with any Indian com-pany in the private sector or do you propose to do so to meet the possible offsetrequirements?Loic: MBDA is looking for a strong, reliable,strategic, long-term and fruitful partner-ship with India. In this regard, we are having advanced discussions with a majorprivate Indian group. This partnership will be a structured and comprehensive one and will meet all the procurement requirements.

We are looking for a partner having com-plementary technologies and skills, a strat-egy consistent with MBDA’s global strategy,in order to become/behave as a source or anequal partner, able to export from its homebase, share MBDA views on collaborationwith SME’s, DPSU’s, and be recognised bythe Indian authorities as a strategic indus-trial asset for the country.

SP’s: What are your long-term plans for India?How do you see the potential? Loic: Besides BDL, we have also been work-ing with Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL) andHindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Wewelcome the developments with regard toforeign direct investment in India, which isat present 26 per cent. Emergence of privatesectors would be fruitful to compliment thepublic sector.

MBDA wants to be a major local playerin India. All the clearances towards exportsare well in place. We offer to co-develop Meteor and various other leading pro-grammes in India. Meteor is claimed to bebeyond competition.

MBDA is seeing India as the fifth pillar ofits structure after the four domestic coun-tries (UK, France, Italy and Germany).

SP’s: How do you look at the future?Loic: We work 20 years ahead of time.

I NDUSTRY / FACE -TO - FACE>>


Milan is a success storybetween MBDA andBharat Dynamics Limited(BDL) which started 30 years ago. Licensesfor several versions ofMilan missiles havebeen successfully implemented in India

MBDA’s Mistral in servicewith about 30 countries

MBDA’s Mistral will soon be inductedon the Indian Dhruv helicopters

PHOTO

GRAPH

S: M

BDA

n MAJOR GENERAL (RETD) MRINAL SUMAN

On January 22 this year, the De-fense Security CooperationAgency (DSCA) of the US noti-fied the US Congress of a possibleforeign military sale (FMS) of

145 M777 155mm light-weight towed how-itzers with laser inertial artillery pointing sys-tems for approximately $647 million (Rs3,039 crore) to India. It was also clarified thatthe deal would carry no offset obligations.

The news report came as a surprise tomany observers. Earlier reports had indi-cated that India would be procuring lighthowitzers in an open competition aftertechno-commercial evaluation of all how-itzers on offer. Having failed to conclude anymajor contract in multi-vendor environmentduring the last decade, it appears that thegovernment has lost confidence in its ownprocurement regime. For all urgent and crit-ical equipment, it has been resorting to sin-gle-vendor procurements.

In a path-breaking deal with the US, pur-chase of 8 AN/TPQ-37 Fire Finder counter-battery artillery radars was negotiated in2002. India wanted a vast array of latestmilitary equipment and the US authoritiesappeared receptive. Purchase of P-8I mar-itime patrol aircraft (DCS deal) and C-130JSuper Hercules transport aircraft are someof the other major deals signed.

Foreign military salesMilitary equipment is sold by the US in twoways–direct commercial sales (DCS) and for-eign military sales (FMS). Deals under DCSare pure commercial transactions between abuyer government and industry. US compa-nies compete with producers from othercounties to sell their products. As in an openglobal competition, all vendors are invited tofield their equipment. Techno-commercialevaluation is carried out by the purchasingcountry as per the criteria laid down by it. Itimplies that the US companies are pittedagainst other producers and required to wincontracts in a competitive environment.

FMS, on the other hand, is commonlyknown as a government-to-governmentdeal. This route is usually followed for itemswhich have already been inducted in the USforces. The buyer nation forwards a letter ofrequest (LOR) to the US government. If therequest is cleared, a letter of offer (LOO) issent to the requesting government. The buy-ing government is required to submit a letterof acceptance (LOA) along with the initialadvance. Thereafter, a legal contract issigned. The US government may supply theitem from its own existing stocks or procureit afresh from the producer.

Sale of certain critical items is allowedonly through FMS route and such items aredesignated as “FMS only” under the provi-sions of the Security Assistance ManagementManual (SAMM) C4.5.9. Such designationmay be based on legislation, presidential pol-icy, disclosure policy, interoperability con-cerns, or safety concerns. Historically, itemslike man portable air defence missiles, certaincryptographic equipment, precise positioningservice and airborne early warning and con-trol systems have been designated likewise.

There are no middlemen in FMS. Thebuyer nation saves considerable effort as theUS government procures the item as per itswell-established acquisition procedure.Quality and performance parameters are

also assured. Since the item is already in usewith its forces, the US government is in a bet-ter position to provide logistic, training andexploitation support. Joint training and de-velopment of usage doctrine also gets facili-tated. FMS route is ideally suited for US allieswho have common operational doctrine andwhere interoperability of equipment is an es-sential consideration.

One of the major limitations of the FMSroute is that a buyer country has to acceptthe equipment as it exists and cannot evolveits own parameters. Unquestionably, theequipment would have been developedspecifically for the US forces, keeping in mindtheir capabilities, doctrine and envisaged op-erational exploitation. It is essential for abuyer country to be fully convinced of theusefulness of the equipment in its own envi-ronmental context prior to initiating re-quest. No military equipment is ever used inisolation and its optimum exploitation is pos-sible only if it is fully integrated with match-ing capabilities.

Common misconceptions about FMS routeWhile the FMS route has the advantages offixed prices, sovereign guarantees and after-sales support, it precludes competition andtrials. In other words, it is a take-it-or-leave-itsituation for the buyer. Some of the com-monly touted advantages of FMS are exam-ined hereunder to remove misconceptions.

It is always a cost-effective route: Al-though the US government offers equipmentto foreign governments at the rate at whichthese items had been purchased for the US forces, it imposes additional handlingcharges. Except for specific statutory exemp-tions, the US government charges the purchaser for sales negotiations, case imple-mentation, contract negotiation, contractmanagement, financial management and al-lied expenses. In other words, the final FMSprice includes administrative surcharge andcontract administration services costs.

Moreover, the FMS system provides for es-timated prices and estimated payment sched-ules. The final price of equipment under FMSis known only after it is delivered, whereas inopen bidding, a purchaser knows the finalprice and payment schedule before he placesorders. Additionally, the Arms Export ControlAct (AECA) requires a charge for a propor-tionate amount of any nonrecurring costs ofresearch, development and production ofmajor defence equipment sold through FMS.DCS is exempt from these costs.

Interestingly, the US government doesnot facilitate comparison between FMS priceand DCS price for any equipment, therebydenying an opportunity to a purchaser to se-lect a cheaper option. No purchaser can ob-tain a DCS price quote after submitting anLOR under FMS. He has to cancel the LORprior to making the DCS request. Similarly,

all DCS activities have to be stopped by a pur-chaser before submitting an LOR.

On the other hand, competition andmarket dynamics of multi-vendor open bid-ding allows a purchaser to drive hard bar-gains to get most favourable commercialterms through adroit negotiations. As it is abuyers’ market in the world arms trade, eventhe US companies may be forced to accept re-duced profit margins compared to what theUS government allows them under FMS pro-curements. Therefore, it is a misnomer thatthe FMS route, being a government to gov-ernment transaction, is always cheaper.

Deliveries are faster: FMS is a long-drawn process. After development, reviewand acceptance of the LOA, assembling ofrequirements for economic quantity or con-solidated purchasing cycles have to be man-aged. Thereafter, contract negotiations haveto be finalised. Production lead times arefairly long for major equipment. However,deliveries can be much faster in case the USgovernment decides to supply equipmentfrom its stocks or reserve inventory. In anemergency, the US government may allowdiversion of items under production for itsown use to a needy purchaser.

Due to numerous inbuilt safeguards,FMS process tends to get bogged down inprocedural details. On the other hand, de-fence articles in production can be procuredmore speedily through open commercial bid-ding. It is an accepted fact that contractorsprepare their proposals much faster than theUS government completes the paper work.Moreover, in DCS cases the buyer countrycan negotiate delivery schedules as per its re-quirements with penalties for default.

Transfer of high-tech equipment isfacilitated: It is wrongly believed that trans-fer of high-tech items and technology is eas-ier through the FMS route as deals arenegotiated between two governments. As re-gards considerations for permitting technol-ogy release, they are identical both for FMSand DCS sales. For FMS cases, DSCA seeksapproval of the State Department before de-veloping new cases. On the other hand, con-tractors have to obtain an export licencefrom the State Department for DCS deals. Inother words, both FMS and DCS deals aresubject to grant of licence by the Office ofDefense Trade Controls of the State Depart-ment. Additionally, under AECA [Sections36(b) and 36(c) respectively], both types ofsales are required to be notified to the USCongress if the proposed sale meets or ex-ceeds the statutory thresholds.

Therefore, opting for the FMS route pro-vides no extra benefit with respect to ease ofpurchase of high-tech equipment.

End use monitoring is less rigid:With a view to ensure security of its ex-ported technology, the US government over-sees that the equipment sold by it is usedstrictly as per the initially stated intent inLOR. The US authorities retain the right ofground inspection to check compliance.

Elaborate regulations have been framedfor End Use Monitoring (EUM), both underFMS and DCS routes, whereas Golden Sentryis applicable to FMS deals, Blue Lantern pro-gramme oversees DCS contracts. Criteriaand policy for third county transfers are alsothe same for both routes. Therefore, it iswrong to assume that EUM is less severe inFMS sales.

Technical support is assured: Thereare two facets of provision of continued tech-


PROCUREMENT <<

The Trend is for FMS RouteIndia has carried out wide-ranging reforms in its procurement organisation and procedures. Free competitionand transparency are central to the new dispensation. But many observers fear that a distinct discernible pat-tern is emerging in recent deals to circumvent competition.

The M777 uses a digital fire-control system toprovide navigation, pointing and self-location, allowing it to be put into action more quicklythan earlier towed and air-transported howitzers

PHOTOGRAPH: BAE Systems

n LT GENERAL (RETD) V.K. KAPOOR

Exercise Yodha Shakti held in April-May 2010, involved the IndianArmy’s Mathura based 1 Corps(Strike Corps) under the commandof Lt General A.K. Singh, a cavalry

officer of impeccable credentials. The exer-cise was carried out under the aegis ofArmy’s South Western Command currentlycommanded by Lt General C.K.S. Sabu, acompetent senior officer with a highly devel-oped sense of operational art.

Collective training seasonThe Indian Army usually conducts exerciseswith troops in the Western theatre (plains,semi-desert and desert terrain) during the pe-riod from October of the previous year to Aprilof the ensuing year in what is euphemisticallyknown as the “campaigning season.” The pe-riod is appropriately chosen after the end ofrainy season till the onset of summers. Boththe offensive and defensive formations un-dergo training with the troops. Exercise Yodha

Shakti was conducted in the desert sector forwhich the troops had moved out inOctober/November 2009 and the trainingwas conducted from the sub-unit (infantrycompany or equivalent level) to higher forma-tion level (division and corps). Apart from giv-ing a feel of their respective commands to thecommander at each level, which is an essen-tial ingredient of training in an offensivecorps, this training also ensured synergisedand integrated training of all arms and serv-ices and representative employment of forcemultipliers, mainly to try out the intelligence,surveillance and reconnaissance equipment.This exercise also enabled the Army forma-tions to practice joint operations with the In-dian Air Force.

This training exercise was conducted inthe backdrop of a conventional conflict undera nuclear shadow and, hence, was designedto achieve strategic objectives in a short time-frame. Thus, the concept of operations con-ceived involved simultaneous operationsacross the entire depth of the battlefield byemploying mission oriented mechanised

forces and air-borne and helicopter-borne-forces. The Army also practised use of long-range artillery and air power to neutralise theadversary’s operational and strategic reserveseven as the tactical battle was being fought.Use of UAVs, electro-optical resources, battle-field surveillance radars, and other surveil-lance devices were also practised.

The exercise synergised all arms andservices (logistics) units and formations ofthe 1 Corps with air power components, thusexecuting an air-land battle in the Indian en-vironment which envisages predominantlymechanised operations inside the enemy ter-ritory. The operations were executed withoverwhelming momentum and tempo.State-of-the-art technology provided the cut-ting edge. The induction of night vision ca-pabilities in the mechanised forces enabledday and night, 24/7 capability.

Operational manoeuvres included thearmour and mechanised infantry predomi-nant attacks, helicopter-borne operationsin the tactical depth and airborne opera-tions by paratroopers in the operational

depth, while simultaneously conductingmultiple manoeuvres by the mechanisedforces on the ground supported by attackhelicopters. Enhanced synergy and integra-tion between the army and the air force wasattempted and achieved.

The aerial re-supply to the armoured di-vision columns deep inside the enemy terri-tory provided it with requisite logistics surgecapability for enhanced operational reach.As a reflection of the leadership ethos of theIndian Army, the airborne operation was ledby Vice Chief of Army Staff, Lt General P.Bhardwaj, a highly experienced and deco-rated officer with Special Forces having apara background.

ObserversThe final phase of the exercise was witnessedby the Army Chief General V. K. Singh alongwith General Officer Commanding-in-ChiefSouth Western Command, Lt General C.K.S.Sabu, and a large number of senior officersof the army and the air force. Southern andWestern Army Commanders and Westernand South Western Air Command Chiefs toowere present on the occasion. The CorpsCommander, Lt General A.K. Singh, briefedthe Army Chief on the operational readiness,optimisation of force multipliers, and thenew concepts which were tried out. TheArmy Chief also interacted with the officersand jawans of the formations of the StrikeCorps and expressed his appreciation ontheir high standard of professionalism,training and motivation.

ConclusionThe exercise which concluded on May 8,proves that the Indian Army still feels thatthere is a window of opportunity for a con-ventional conflict in the Indo-Pak contextdespite Pakistan’s repeated attempts to ad-vance the core belief of their nuclear doc-trine which precludes the possibility of aconventional conflict. Be that as it may, itseems that there is no doubt in the minds ofthe Indian military commanders that eventoday a conventional conflict can be foughtand won although with limited aims and objectives and that Pakistan must not be al-lowed to get away with nuclear brinkman-ship. Are our political leaders on the samewavelength?

nical support for the equipment sold-initialsupport package and solemn assurance ofsubsequent life-time support. As regards theinitial package, FMS system caters to the de-velopment of a total package approach to in-clude all support equipment, spare parts,training and publications by the US govern-ment. On the other hand, under DCS sales, thecontactors develop support packages as perthe requirements projected by the purchaser.However, there is no difference in contractorparticipation in follow-on support and main-tenance programmes under FMS and DCS.

What is of more serious concern is theright reserved by the US government to uni-laterally terminate a deal if considered es-sential in the US national interests. This rightis equally applicable to FMS and DCS con-tracts. The US government can terminate aDCS export licence or cancel LOO/LOA inFMS cases. It can also halt deliveries of FMSitems or DCS licensed items even if alreadypaid for. Hence, FMS deals provide no guar-

antee of continued US support. Offsets: Although offsets are allowed

even in FMS deals, the US government fol-lows a hands-off policy with regard to offsetprovisions. A purchaser country may nego-tiate a separate offset agreement directlywith the prime contractor. Implementationof such an offset agreement remains a mat-ter between the buyer country and the con-tractor. The US government accepts noresponsibility for its enforcement.

As the main contract and the offset con-tract get delinked, the purchasing countryhas no leverage to ensure fulfillment of offsetobligations. In a normal commercial deal,failure to implement offset programmes asper the contracted schedule can invoke im-position of penalties. In the case of FMSdeals, payments are made to the US govern-ment and hence cannot be withheld.

ConclusionIndia has carried out wide-ranging reforms in

its procurement organisation and procedures.Free competition and transparency are cen-tral to the new dispensation. Every govern-ment-to-government deal is a testimony to thefailure of the present defence procurementregime to deliver. It amounts to a tacit admis-sion by the government of its inability to pro-cure major equipment in an open competitiveenvironment as per its own parameters.

Many observers fear that a distinct dis-cernible pattern is emerging in recent deals tocircumvent competition. Aggressive US con-tractors hardsell their equipment to Indiandecision-makers through personal contactsand networking in utmost secrecy of officialconfines. No request for information (RFI) isissued and no indications are given to possiblecompetitors. Once the Indian decision-mak-ers are convinced, they are prevailed upon toseek equipment through the FMS route,thereby effectively eliminating all competi-tion. It is a highly rewarding and time-testedstratagem employed by experienced contrac-

tors to clinch lucrative contracts by riding pig-gyback on the US government. In fact, theyprovide an easier way out to countries likeIndia that have failed to put an effective pro-curement regime in place.

Recent reports reveal that DSCA has no-tified the Congress of possible sale of 10 Boe-ing C-17 Globemaster III strategic-liftaircraft to India in a deal worth $5.8 billion(Rs 27,300 crore). According to manyknowledgeable observers, the final value ofthe deal with support systems will far exceedthe indicated cost, making it the biggest de-fence deal in India’s history. True to the pasttrend, it is going to be a single vendor deal,bereft of all competition.

Finally, it is a misnomer that all FMSdeals are above board and free from taint.The very fact that decision-makers are pre-vailed upon to forego open competition (withassociated cost, quality and delivery advan-tages), and opt for single vendor FMS route,raises questions of propriety.

EXERC I SE YODHA SHAKT I>>


Offensive Desert ManoeuvresThe exercise Yodha Shakti proved that the Indian Army still feels that there is a window of opportunity for aconventional conflict in the Indo-Pak context despite the latter’s repeated attempts to advance the core beliefof their nuclear doctrine which precludes the possibility of a conventional conflict

www.sps

land

forces.net

FMS Route continued

GOC Strike One briefing COAS deep inside ex-enemy territory

PHOTO

GRAPH

: Indian

Arm

y

FLIR SYSTEMS RECEIVES $35.2 MILLION IDIQ CONTRACT FLIR Systems has announced that it has re-ceived a $35.2 million (Rs 161 crore) firm-fixed price, indefinite delivery and indefinitequantity contract with an initial deliveryorder for $20.9 million for its TALON systemfrom the United States Special OperationsCommand (USSOCOM). The stabilised, light-weight, multi-sensor systems deliveredunder this contract will support the long-range ground mobility visual augmentationsystems (LR-GMVAS) programme by provid-ing ground vehicles with a stabilised, all-weather, day/night, high-resolution,thermal imaging capability.

FINNISH ARMY PLACES NEW ORDERFOR MATIS HH THERMAL IMAGERS

After an international competition organ-ised by NATO Maintenance and SupplyAgency (NAMSA), Sagem won the order fora new series of MATIS Handheld (HH) ther-mal imagers for the Finnish Defence Forces.The contract, having a total value of severalmillions of euros, includes a significantamount of thermal imagers. The contractalso includes complete maintenance servicesfor these imagers, to be provided in Finland.These new MATIS HH imagers will join theprevious MATIS imagers already deployed bythe Finnish Army. Featuring an ergonomicdesign for tactical efficiency, Matis HH adds

new functions to its infrared vision, namelystabilised observation and image recording.It also incorporates the latest technologiesdeveloped by Sagem for the JIM LR long-range multifunction binoculars, which in-cludes video, laser range-finding, Northseeker and GPS functions in addition to itsinfrared vision.

LONG-RANGE AGNI-II MISSION SUCCESSFUL

The pencil-like long-range nuclear capableballistic AGNI-II missile has been success-fully launched by the Strategic Forces Com-mand on May 17, 2010, from the WheelersIsland, off the Orissa coast. The missile waslaunched by Strategic Forces Commandthereby crediting with the launching oflong-range A1, A2 and A3 missiles within atime span of five months. Two down rangeships from Indian Navy located near the tar-get have tracked and witnessed the missilereaching the target. The two stage solid pro-pellant based AGNI-II Missile has a 2,000km range with a pay load capability of 1 tonne. The missile is equipped with state-of-the-art navigation system with moderntechniques for taking the missile towardsdesignated target very accurately.

IN BID FOR THE US ARMY’S COMBAT VEHICLE PROGRAMMEKrauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rhein-metall have concluded a cooperation agree-ment with the American companies ScienceApplications International Corporation(SAIC) and Boeing to tender a joint bid for thedevelopment contract for the Ground CombatVehicle (GCV) programme of the UnitedStates Army. This cooperation will see KMWand Rheinmetall acting as subcontractorswith SAIC acting as the general contractorwith regard to the procuring agencies. As themanufacturers of the Puma infantry fightingvehicle of the German Armed Forces, themost modern system of its kind in the world,KMW and Rheinmetall will be contributingtheir highly advanced expertise to thistransatlantic partnership. The objective of thecooperation is to provide the American Armywith absolute state-of-the-art technology.

IA GETS ITS FIRST ARMOURED REGIMENT OF MBT ARJUN

The Indian Army has equipped itself withthe first armoured regiment of indigenouslybuilt Main Battle Tank (MBT) Arjun. The de-velopment marks the fruition of 35 years ofresearch in self-reliance by dedicated Indianscientists. At least 16 tanks (Cumulative 45Arjun tanks) were handed over to Lt General

D. Bhardwaj, DGMF, towards formation ofthe 1st Arjun regiment by S. Chandrasekar,Addl. DGOF (AV). It was flagged-off by Dr A.Sivathanu Pillai, Chief Controller, Research& Development and a distinguished scientist,DRDO, at a function in Avadi.

DRDO AWARDS SCIENTISTSOn National Technology Day, Prime MinisterDr Manmohan Singh presented the DRDOawards 2009 on May 26. Defence MinisterA.K. Antony, Defence Secretary PradeepKumar and Secretary Defence R&D Dr V.K.Saraswat, senior DRDO officials including agalaxy of invitees from the Government ofIndia were present. The awards were givenaway to DRDO scientists in recognition oftheir outstanding contribution towards devel-oping a strong indigenous technology base.

MOBILE LAB HANDED OVER TO ARMYThe Mobile Contamination Analysis Station(Mobile Lab) developed by Defence Researchand Development Organisation (DRDO) forrapid detection of contamination caused byNBC agents was handed over to the Army ina ceremony held at DRDE Gwalior on June18. Installed over 8x8 Tatra vehicle for cross-country mobility, the system armed withstate-of-the-art technologies and equipmentdeveloped by DRDO labs will be of immenseuse for armed forces, though it can also beused by civil authorities. DRDE Gwalior, aleading DRDO laboratory, in collaborationwith other sister labs has developed this Mo-bile Contamination Analysis Station.

PRITHVI-II MISSILE LAUNCHEDThe Prithvi-II missile was successfullylaunched from launch complex III atChandipur on June 18, 2010. The entire op-eration was carried out by the armed forces.It was a textbook launch and met all the mis-sion objectives. The terminal phase of theflight and the events were monitored bydown range ships located near the impactpoint. All the operations for the mission werereviewed by Dr V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Ad-visor to Defence Minister and Director Gen-eral, Secretary, DRDO.

INDIAN DEFENCE TO USE DEDICATEDCOMMUNICATION NETWORKThe Indian armed forces will use a dedicatedcommunication network operated by state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)by the end of 2012. BSNL will finalise thetenders calling for the implementation of thearmy and the navy network by this Augustand implement the networks by December2012. BSNL has said that the Indian defencewould vacate the 45 Mhz radio spectrumonce it had built an alternative optical-fibrecable network for all the defence forces. The Department of Telecom expects the defence forces to vacate the radio waves bySeptember 2010.

US ARMY CANCELS PRECISION ATTACKMISSILE PROGRAMMEThe US Army has cancelled the non-line-of-sight launch system (NLOS-LS), a precision at-tack missile programme that was part of thearmy’s future combat systems programme.The project, which is under development byRaytheon in cooperation with Lockheed Mar-tin, has already completed a $1 billion devel-opment phase through a six-year period.Following a detailed analysis of the NLOS-LS,the army has concluded that the missile sys-tem does not provide a cost-effective precisionfire capability. NLOS-LS is a platform inde-pendent precision engagement system thatprovides networked, responsive and rapidlydeployable precision strike capability againststationary and moving targets.


News in Brief Publisher and Editor-in-ChiefJayant Baranwal

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11/15, app. 132, Moscow 115172, Russia.Tel: +7 (495) 911 2762, Fax: +7 (495) 912 1260

www.spguidepublications.comwww.spslandforces.net

RNI Number: DELENG/2008/25818

21 June - 24 JuneCorporate Security Summit India 2010JW Marriot, Mumbai, Indiawww.corpsecindia.com

28 June - 30 JuneUnmanned Systems Summit 2010Key Bridge Marriott, Arlington, Virginia, USAwww.unmannedsystemssummit.com

29 June - 30 June Israel’s Army & Defense 2010The Israeli Convention Center,Tel Aviv, Israelwww.army-defense.org

29 June - 2 JulyInternational Defense Logistics SupportHotel Le Plaza, Brussels, Belgiumwww.wbresearch.com/internationalde-fencelogistics/home.aspx

30 June - 4 July International Defence Exhibition IDELF2010 Zhukovsky, Moscow, Russiawww.idelf.ru

1 July - 2 July3rd Annual Combat Engineering 2010CCT Venues, London, UKwww.combatengineering.org

12 July - 13 JulyMilitary Satellites 2010CCT Venues Canary Warf, London, UKwww.milsatellites.com

>> SHOW CALENDAR

SHOCK-PROOF. VIBRATION-PROOF.AND EVEN FUTURE-PROOF.

Over 115,000 DRS systems have been fielded for Blue Force Tracking and FBCB2. And thanks to a powerful Dual Core processor and flexible architecture, today’s JV-5 is ready for future applications. From the Joint Battle Command-Platform (JBC-P) and beyond. Which means U.S. joint forces will see returns on this hardware investment for years to come.

Capability For Today. And Tomorrow. That’s Go To.

JointForceSystems.com

FUTURE-PROOF.ND EA

VIBRATION-PROOF.

FUTURE-PROOF.VND E

VIBRATION-PROOF.

FUTURE-PROOF.EN V

VIBRATION-PROOF.

FUTURE-PROOF.

VIBRATION-PROOF.

FUTURE-PROOF.

VIBRATION-PROOF.

VIBRATION-PROOF.

FUTURE-PROOF.

FUTURE-PROOF.

FUTURE-PROOF.

FUTURE-PROOF.

FUTURE-PROOF.

means U.S. joint forces will see returns on this hardware investment for years to come.

tacilppaerutufrofthanks to a powerful Dual Core processor and flexible architecture, today’s JV-5 is ready Over 115,000 DRS systems have been fielded for Blue Force Tracking and FBCB2. And


taBtnioJehtmorF.snoithanks to a powerful Dual Core processor and flexible architecture, today’s JV-5 is ready Over 115,000 DRS systems have been fielded for Blue Force Tracking and FBCB2. And


mroftalP-dnammoCelttthanks to a powerful Dual Core processor and flexible architecture, today’s JV-5 is ready Over 115,000 DRS systems have been fielded for Blue Force Tracking and FBCB2. And


W.dnoyebdna)P-CBJ(thanks to a powerful Dual Core processor and flexible architecture, today’s JV-5 is ready Over 115,000 DRS systems have been fielded for Blue Force Tracking and FBCB2. And


h cihthanks to a powerful Dual Core processor and flexible architecture, today’s JV-5 is ready Over 115,000 DRS systems have been fielded for Blue Force Tracking and FBCB2. And


oFytilibapaCmeans U.S. joint forces will see returns on this hardware investment for years to come.


oTdnA.yadoTromeans U.S. joint forces will see returns on this hardware investment for years to come.

s’tahT.worromomeans U.S. joint forces will see returns on this hardware investment for years to come.

.oToGsmeans U.S. joint forces will see returns on this hardware investment for years to come.


SP's Land Forces June-July 2010

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Transcript of SP's Land Forces June-July 2010