Indian Army
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The Indian Army is the largest branch of the Armed Forces of India and has the primary responsibility of conducting land-based military operations. The Indian Army maintains the second[1] largest active force in the world.
The Indian Army is a military service, with a troop strength of over one million. It is a completely voluntary service, the military draft never having been imposed in India. The army has rich combat experience in diverse terrains, considering India's diversity on this front, and also has a distinguished history of serving in United Nations peacekeeping operations.
The force is headed by the Chief of Army Staff, currently General J.J. Singh. The highest rank in the Indian Army is Field Marshal, but it is a honorary rank[2] and appointments are made by the President of India, on the advice of the Union Cabinet of Ministers, only in exceptional circumstances. (See Field Marshal (India)). General S.H.F.J. Manekshaw and the late General K.M. Cariappa are the only two officers who have attained this rank.
History
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- This article deals with the modern day Indian Army. For the army before Independence in 1947, please see British Indian Army.
Upon British India gaining independence in 1947, the British Indian Army was divided into two parts to serve the newly created nations of Union of India and Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Most units went to India, and the rest to Pakistan. Some Gurkha units from the force were also retained in the British Army.
The First Kashmir War
Almost immediately after independence, tensions between India and Pakistan began to boil over. And the first of three full-scale wars between the two nations broke out over the then princely state of Kashmir. Upon the Maharaja of Kashmir's reluctance to accede to either India or Pakistan, an impatient Pakistan sponsored a tribal invasion of parts of Kashmir. The men are alleged by India to have also included Pakistan army regulars. Soon after, Pakistan sent in its troops to annex the state. The Maharaja, Hari Singh, appealed to India, and to Lord Mountbatten -- the Governor General -- for help, but it was pointed out to him that India saw no reason to do so. He signed the Instrument of Accession and Kashmir unilaterally acceded to India (a decision ratified by the former colonial masters but never accepted by Pakistan). Immediately after, Indian troops were airlifted into Srinagar and, in a famous operation, repelled the invaders. An intense war was waged across the state and former comrades found themselves fighting each other. Both sides made some territorial gains and also suffered significant losses
An uneasy UN sponsored peace returned by the end of 1948 with Indian and Pakistani soldiers facing each other directly on the Line of Control, which has since divided Indian from Pakistani-held Kashmir. Tensions between India and Pakistan, largely over Kashmir, have never since been entirely eliminated.
Indian Army participation in UN peace-keeping operations
Presently, the Indian army has dedicated one brigade of troops to the UN's standby arrangements. Through its large in numbers, sustained troop commitments India has come in for much praise for taking part in difficult operations for prolonged periods.
The Indian Army has participated in several UN peace-keeping operations, including the ones in Cyprus, Lebanon, Congo, Angola, Cambodia, Vietnam, Namibia, El Salvador, Liberia, Mozambique & Somalia. The army also provided a paramedical unit to facilitate the withdrawal of the sick and wounded in Korea.
Annexation of Hyderabad, 1948
After the partition of India, the State of Hyderabad, a princely-state under the rule of a Nizam, chose to remain independent. The Nizam refused to accede his state to the Union of India, although Hyderabad had an overwhelmingly large Hindu population. Further, the Nizam threatened a mass extermination of non-Muslims in Hyderabad, aided by the Razakar, his elite troops. The following stand-off between the Government of India and the Nizam ended on 12 September 1948 when India's then deputy-Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhai Patel ordered Indian troops to secure the state. Within 5 days of intense fighting, the Indian Army, backed by the Indian Air Force, successfully defeated Hyderabad State forces. The following day, the State of Hyderabad was proclaimed as a part of the Union of India. Major General Joyanto Nath Chaudhuri, who led the Operation Polo was appointed the Military Governor of Hyderabad (1948-1949) to restore law and order.
Goa, Daman and Diu Operation (1961)
Even though the British and French vacated all their colonial possessions in the Indian subcontinent, Goa, Daman and Diu remained under Portuguese control. In 1961, after repeated Portuguese refusals to negotiate towards leaving, New Delhi ordered a small contingent of its troops to invade the Portuguese territories and secure them. It was called Operation Vijay. Unable to withstand the assault, Portugal signed a truce with India and gave up its control over the small territories, which formally became part of the Indian Union.
The Indo-China Conflict- 1962
Since 1959 Indian Police posts had been pushed forward into territory claimed by the Chinese Government. Small scale clashes broke out as India insisted the border ran along the "traditional" watershed, in effect the British McMahon Line, which China disputed. In 1962 Indian soldiers were ordered to occupy the Thagla ridge near the border between Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh, which formed part of the watershed, but was some three miles to the north of the McMahon line. Tensions rose further when New Delhi discovered that the Chinese had constructed a road through Aksai Chin which India claimed. In September 1962 Chinese troops expelled the Indian soldiers from the ridge. On October 12, Nehru gave orders for the Chinese to be expelled from Aksai Chin. On October 20, Chinese soldiers attacked India in both the North-West and North-East parts of the border, entering the disputed Aksai Chin region along with Arunachal Pradesh in numbers. China then called on the Indian government to negotiate. With no peaceful agreement between the two counties, China unilaterally withdrew their troops from the territory they had occupied. The reasons for the withdrawal are disputed with India claiming logistical problems and diplomatic support from the US and China stating that it was returning to the borders that it had staked its diplomatic claim. The dividing line between the Indian and Chinese forces was christened the Line of Actual Control. A review committee was soon set up by the Indian government to determine the causes for India's defeat. The report apparently faulted much of India's armed forces command and especially the executive government for failures on several fronts. Despite frequent calls for its release this Henderson-Brooks Committee report still remains classified.
It is widely believed that the main reason for the failure lies in lack of proper training, equipment and co-ordination.
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
A second confrontation with Pakistan took stand in 1965, largely over Kashmir. Pakistani dictator General Ayub Khan launched Operation Gibraltar in August 1965, believing an Indian leadership still recovering from the 1962 war with China to be unable to effectively deal with such a military thrust. It proved to be a serious miscalculation for Ayub, who had also banked on the intelligence report claiming that the people of Kashmir would aid the Pakistani war effort. No such rebellion occurred and India responded almost immediately with armoured regiments being deployed to both counter enemy intrusions and strike across the border.
Initially, the Indian Army met with considerable success in the northern sector. After launching prolonged artillery barrages against Pakistan, India was able to capture three important mountain positions in Kashmir. However, by the end of the month Pakistan had made progress in areas such as Tithwal, Uri and Punch and India had lost considerable number of troops (est. 120 dead or wounded), and tanks (30 destroyed) having captured the Haji Pir Pass eight kilometers inside Pakistani territory.
Pakistan launched Operation Grand Slam on September 1, invading the Chamb-Jurian sector. In retaliation, the Indian Army's 15th Infantry Division crossed the International Border on the Western Front on September 6. The war proved to be a stalemate and the ceasefire on September 23 was followed by talks in Tashkent (brokered by the Soviet Union), where Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and Ayub Khan agreed to withdraw to virtually all pre-war positions.
Bangladesh Liberation War-1971
In [1971], rebellion broke out in East Pakistan, and India was forced to intervene as an estimated 10 million Bangladeshi refugees fled to India. Unlike the [1965] war, this time decisive change was effected. East Pakistan broke away with Indian intervention and became the independent state of Bangladesh. This was of great help to India, since it no longer had to worry about a two-front war and could concentrate its combat firepower against what had been West Pakistan and the PRC. Under the command of Lt. General J.S. Arora, the Indian army achieved a decisive victory over Pakistan in 1971, taking over 90,000 prisoners of war (38,000 Armed forces personnel and 52,000 civilians of West Pakistani origin) in the Bangladesh liberation war. Even on the western front, the Indian Army was successful in blocking Pakistan's invasion attempts (see Battle of Longewala) and counter attacked capturing more than 12,000 sq. km of enemy territory.
After 1971, tensions between India and Pakistan simmered, periodically threatening to break out into full-scale war, most notably in 1999 and 2002 in recent years. The 1998 tests of Indian and Pakistani nuclear weapons are seen by many commentators as acting as a restraining influence on both sides. Now that each can destroy the other in a war, according to the theory of deterrence, they are less likely to let tensions escalate.
Counter-insurgency activities
The Indian Army has played a crucial role in the past in fighting insurgents and terrorists in the nation. The army launched Operation Bluestar and Operation Woodrose in the 1980s to combat Sikh insurgents. The army, alongwith Indian Paramilitary Forces, has the prime responsibility of maintaining law and order in the troubled Jammu and Kashmir region.
The Kargil Operation in 1999
In mid 1999, Kashmiri insurgents and Pakistan military personnel took control of some deserted, but strategic, Himalayan heights in Indian-administered Kashmir. These had either been vacated by the Indian army during the onset of inhospitable weather conditions, or not occupied on the presumption that it would be foolhardy, for either side, to risk men in such a manner. The 'Mujahideen' took control of several key areas such as the heights overlooking the vital Srinagar-Leh highway, Batalik, Dras and the strategic Tiger Hill.
Meanwhile, the Indian Navy also readied itself for an attempted blockade of Pakistani ports to cut off supply routes. Later, the-then Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif disclosed that Pakistan was left with just six days of fuel to sustain itself if a full-fledged war had broken out. India feared that Pakistan would employ a nuclear strike and requested U.S. President Bill Clinton for help, resulting in a stern warning to Nawaz Sharif.
Two months into the conflict, Indian troops had slowly regained all the lost territorries, but at a very heavy price for the Indian Army but inflicting even more damage to Pakistani's Nothern light infantary.[3] Following the Washington accord on July 4, where Sharif agreed to withdraw the Pakistan-backed troops, most of the fighting came to a gradual halt. However, some of the militants still holed up did not wish to retreat, and the United Jihad Council - an umbrella for fifteen jihadi groups operating in Kashmir - rejected Pakistan's plan for a climb-down, instead deciding to fight on.[4] Following this, the Indian army launched its final attacks in the last week of July; as soon as the last of these "Jihadists" in the Drass subsector had been cleared, the fighting ceased on July 26. The day has since been marked as Kargil Vijay Diwas (Victory Day) in India. By the end of the war, India had resumed control of all territory south and east of the Line of Control, as was established in December 1972 as per the Shimla Accord.
Major Exercises
Operation Parakram
After the December 13 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament, Operation Parakram was launched under which tens of thousands of Indian troops were deployed along the Indo-Pakistan border. India blamed Pakistan for backing the attack. This was to be expected seeing the number of wars fought in so little a time. The operation was the largest military exercise carried out by any Asian country. The operation's prime objective was to prepare the army for any future nuclear conflict with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan which seemed increasingly possible after the December attack on the Indian parliament.
Operation Sanghe Shakti
The main goal of this exercise was to validate mobilisation strategies of the Ambala-based II Strike Corps. Air support was a part of this exercise, and an entire battalion of paratroops was paradropped during the conduct of the war games, with allied equipment. Some 20,000 jawans took part in the exercise.
Structure of the Indian Army
Initially, the army's main objective was to defend the nation's frontiers. However, over the years, the army has also taken up the responsibility of providing internal security, especially in insurgent-hit Kashmir and north-east.
The army has a strength of about a million troops and fields 34 divisions. Its headquarters is located in the Indian capital New Delhi and it is under the overall command of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), currently General Joginder Jaswant Singh.
Commands
The army operates 6 tactical commands and one training command known as ARTRAC. Each command is headed by General Officer Commanding-in-Chief with the rank of Lieutenant General. Each command is directly affiliated to the Army HQ in New Delhi. These commands are given below in their correct order of raising, location (city) and their commanders.
| Command | Location | GOC-in-C |
|---|---|---|
| Southern Command | Pune | Lt Gen Aditya Singh |
| Eastern Command | Kolkata | Lt Gen Arvind Sharma |
| Central Command | Lucknow | Lt Gen Om Prakash Nandrajog |
| Western Command | Chandimandir (Chandigarh) | Lt Gen Daljeet Singh |
| Northern Command | Udhampur | Lt Gen Deepak Kapoor |
| ARTRAC | Shimla | Lt Gen Kuldip Singh Jamwal |
| South Western Command | Jaipur | Lt Gen Parmendra Kumar Singh |
Corps
A Corps is an army field formation responsible for a sector within a Command. There are 3 types of Corps in the Indian Army: Strike, Holding & Mixed. A Command generally consists of 2 or more Corps. A corps has many more army divisions under its control. The Corps HQ is the highest field formation in the army.
| Core | Head Quarter | Command | GOC-in-C |
|---|---|---|---|
| I Corps | Mathura, Uttar Pradesh | Central Command | N/A |
| II Corps | Ambala, Haryana | Western Command | Lt. Gen. Daulat Singh Shekhawat |
| III Corps | Rangapahar (Dimapur), Nagaland | Eastern Command | Lt. Gen. M S Dadwal |
| IV Corps | Tezpur, Assam | Eastern Command | Lt. Gen. R K Chhabra |
| IX Corps | Mamun (Pathankot), Punjab | South Western Command | Lt. Gen. P K Rampal |
| X Corps | Bhatinda, Punjab | Western Command | Lt. Gen. Narinder Singh Brar |
| XI Corps | Jalandhar, Punjab | Western Command | Lt. Gen. Nobel Thamburaj |
| XII Corps | Jodhpur, Rajasthan | Southern Command | N/A |
| XIV Corps | Leh, Ladakh | Northern Command | Lt. Gen. Jayanta Kumar Mohanty |
| XV Corps | Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir | Northern Command | Lt. Gen. Sarabjit Singh Dhillon |
| XVI Corps | Nagrota, Jammu & Kashmir | Northern Command | Lt. Gen. Tej Kumar Sapru |
| XXI Corps | Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh | Southern Command | Lt. Gen. Harcharanjit Singh Panag |
| XXXIII Corps | Siliguri, West Bengal | Eastern Command | Lt. Gen. C K S Sabu |
In addition to this (not to be confused with the Field Corps mentioned above) are the Corps or Arms (Departmental) of the Indian Army. The corps mentioned below are the functional divisions entrusted with specific pan-Army tasks.
Combat and Support Arms
Services
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Quasi Army Arms :- The following arms comprises of a sizable number of Army personals under deputation. The director generals for these arms reports to the Ministry of Home Affairs, rather than Ministry of Defence except for BRO where the DG reports to Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways.
Other Field Formations
- Division: An army Division is an intermediate between a corps and a Brigade. It is the largest striking force in the army. Each Division is headed by [General Officer Commanding] (GOC) with the rank of Major General. It usually consists 15,000 combat troops and 8,000 support elements. Currently, 34 Divisions including 4 Rapid Action Divisions, 18 Infantry Divisions, 10 Mountain Divisions, 3 Armoured Divisions and 2 Artillery Divisions make up the Indian Army. Each Division composes of several Regiments and Brigades.
- Brigade: The Brigade is smaller than the Division and is roughly of the same size as that of a Regiment. A Brigade generally consists of 3 Infantry Battalions along with elements of various Combat & Support Arms & Services and is headed by a Brigadier equivalent to a Brigadier General. The Indian Army also has 5 Independent Armoured Brigades, 15 Independent Artillery Brigades, 7 Independent Infantry Brigades, 1 Independent Parachute Brigade,3 Independent Air Defence Brigades, 2 Independent Air Defence Groups and 4 Independent Engineer Brigades. These Independent Brigades operate directly under the Corps Commander (GOC Corps).
- Battalion: A Battalion is commanded by a Colonel and is the Infantry's main fighting unit. It consists of more than 900 personnel.
- Company: Headed by the Major, a Company comprises of 120 soldiers.
- Platoon: An intermediate between a Company and Section, a Platoon is headed by a Lieutenant or depending on the availability of [Officer (armed forces)|Commissioned Officers], a Junior Commissioned Officer, with the rank of Subedar or Naib-Subedar. It has a total strength of about 36 troops.
- Section: Smallest military outfit with a strength of 11 personnel. Commanded by a Non-commissioned officer of the rank of Havaldar or Sergeant.
Regiments
These are Several battalions or Units under the same formation in a Regiment. The Gurkha Regiment, for instance, has several battalions. All formations under a Regiment are battalions of the same arms or Corps (i.e., Infantry or Engineers). Regiments are not exactly field formations, in sense they mostly do not make a formation, all Regiments of the Gurkha's for instance would not fight together as one formation, but can be dispersed over various Brigades or Corps or even Commands. Some of the regiments (mostly are from the British Indian Army days) are :-
Infantry Regiments
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Armoured Regiments
The Indian Army has 63 Armoured Regiments.
Artillery Regiments
Regiment of Artillery History
The Regiment of Artillery constitutes a formidable operational arm of Indian Army. Historically it takes its lineage from Moghul Emperor Babur who is popularly credited with introduction of Artillery in India, in the Battle of Panipat in 1526. However evidence of earlier use of gun by Bahmani Kings in the Battle of Adoni in 1368 and King Mohammed Shah of Gujrat in fifteenth century have been recorded.
Indian Army Staff
Strength
| Indian Army statistics | |
| Active Troops | 1,400,000 |
| Reserve Troops | 900,000* |
| Territorial Army | 200,000** |
| Main Battle Tanks | 5600 |
| Artillery | 3800 |
| Aircraft | 9 squadrons of helicopters |
| Surface-to-air missiles | 900 |
* includes 300,000 1st line troops and 500,000 2nd line troops
** includes 40,000 1st line troops and 160,000 2nd line troops
Rank Structure
The various rank of the Indian Army are listed below in descending order: Commissioned Officers
- Field Marshal* (Only two made field Marshall so far)
- General (the rank held by Chief of Army Staff)
- Lieutenant-General
- Major-General
- Brigadier
- Colonel
- Lieutenant-Colonel
- Major
- Captain
- Lieutenant
- Second Lieutenant - This has now been discontinued
Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs)
- Honorary Captain- Given to Outstanding JCO's Rank and pay of a Captain, role continues to be of a JCO
- Honorary Lieutenant-Given to Outstanding JCO's Rank and pay of a Captain, role continues to be of a JCO
- Subedar Major
- Subedar
- Naib Subedar
Non Commissioned Officers (NCOs)
- Regimental Havildar Major - This has now been discontinued
- Regimental Quarter Master Havildar - This has now been discontinued
- Company Havildar Major
- Company Quarter Master Havildar
- Havildar
- Naik
- Lance Naik
- Sepoy
Note: 1. Junior Commissioned Officers in the rank of Subedar, Naib Subedar are eligible for Honorary ranks - like Honorary Captains and Honorary Lieutnants.
2. Non-Commissioned Officers in the rank of Havaldar are elible for Honorary JCO ranks.
3. So far, there have been only two officers conferred the rank: Field Marshal K M Cariappa – the first Indian Commander-in-Chief (a post since abolished) – and Field Marshal S H F J Manekshaw, a distinguished former Army Chief who led the Army in the 1971 war with Pakistan. (See Field Marshal (India))
Combat Doctrine
The current combat doctrine of the Indian Army is based on effectively utilizing holding formations and strike formations. In the case of an attack, the holding formations would contain the enemy and strike formations would counterattack to neutralize enemy forces. In the case of an Indian attack, the holding formations would pin enemy forces down whilst the strike formations attack at a point of Indian choosing. The Indian Army is large enough to devote several corps to the strike role. Currently, the army is also looking at enhancing its special forces capabilities.
Equipment
Most of the army equipment is imported, but efforts are being made to manufacture indigenous equipment.
Light Weapons
HandGuns
- FN Browning GP35 9mmx19mm
- SAF(Small Arms Factory) Pistol 1A 9mmx19mm, This is more or less a copy of the Canadian Inglis 9mm
- GLOCK 17 9mmx19mm, The GLOCK-19 along with the 17 is in use with the Special Protection Group (Prime Minister's Security)
Sub-Machine Guns and Carbines
- Heckler & Koch MP5A3 9mmx19mm SMG
- Heckler & Koch MP5K 9mmx19mm SMG
- SAF Carbine 1A 9mmx19mm, Indian made Sterling L2A1 SMG
- SAF Carbine 2A1 9mmx19mm, Silenced Carbine
- UZI 9mmx19mm SMG
Assault Rifles
- RFI (Rifle Factory,Ishapore) SLR1A 7.62mmx51mm NATO Assault Rifle, This old work horse has now more or less been retired from IA service, most going to the police after reconditioning. Some however, remain in use.
- RFI SLR1C 7.62mmx51mm, full Automatic variant of the SLR for use in APCs
- INSAS 5.56mmx45mm Assault Rifle
- TAVOR TAR-21 5.56mmx45mm, for special forces currently 3000 have been purchased from Israel
- KBK AKS 7.62mmx39mm, Polish AKS47-3
- AK47M1 7.62mmx39mm, all black Bulgarian AK. Most of these have been imported for police and paramilitary forces
- Soviet AKM AKMS 7.62mmx39mm
- East German MPiKM MPiKMS72 7.62mmx39mm (Second hand)
- Romanian MPiKM series 7.62mmx39mm, these are Romanian clones of the earstwhile East German rifles. Only external difference is the marking, finish and wooden instead of synthetic fruniture.
- Czech Vz.58 and Vz.58P 7.62mmx39mm
Machine guns
- MG 1B 7.62mmx51mm, Indian made Bren- This is currently being retired.But may remain a while longer because of teething problems with its successor, the INSAS LMG
- MG 2A1 7.62mmx51mm, Indian made MAG 58
- MG 5A 7.62mmx51mm This is the Indian manufactured Co-axial MAG 58
- MG 6A 7.62mmx51mm Another Indian version of the MAG58 specifically designed as a tank commanders gun.
- INSAS 5.56mmx45mm LMG
- FN-Browning M1919 .30Cal, in very limited quantities
- Browning M2 machine gun .50cal, heavy machine gun in very limited numbers
Sniping Rifles
- Dragunov SVD59 7.62mmx54mmR Sniper Rifle
- Mauser SP66 7.62mmx51mm Sniper Rifle
- Heckler & Koch MSG-90 7.62mmx51mm Sniping Rifle. The H&K PSG-1 sniping rifle serves with the NSG anti-terrorist units while small numbers of the Steyr Mannlicher SSG69 serve with the para-military Border Security Force(BSF)
Projectile Launchers
- AGS-17 Plamya 30 mm automatic grenade launcher
- M40 RCL 106 mm
- Carl Gustav 84 mm recoilless rifles
- Igla-19K310 / SA-16 Gimlet replacing the Strela-2M /SA-7b Grail - portable SAM
Combat vehicles
- T-90S Bhishma - main battle tanks (310). Over 1000 more T-90S will be manufactured in India. Additionally, 330 tanks will be purchased from Russia[5].
- Arjun Mk1 - main battle tanks (124). The Army has ordered production of this tank and the first batch has already rolled out of the Avadi factory and are currently being put through trials to check the quality control of the production process. The remaining tanks will follow thereafter.
- T-72 M1 Ajeya - main battle tanks (1,900+). 250 T72M1 are being upgraded by the DRDO, India's R&D organization. While requests for proposal for upgrading approximately 1000 other T-72's have been sent to various firms in Israel, Russia, Poland and France.
- Vijayanta (1,200) and T-55 (700) main battle tanks. Vijayanta have been phased out while the T-55 are in the process of being phased out. Some of these tanks will be attached to infantry brigades and battalions, as Tarmour AFV since despite their vintage, the 105mm L7 gun has substantial firepower.[2]
- PT-76 (amphibious) and AMX-13 light tanks have been phased out over 20 years ago.
- Ferret armoured cars
- BRDM-2 amphibious reconnaissance vehicles
- BMP-1 (700) and BMP-2 (900+)Sarath - mechanised infantry combat vehicles relegated the OT-62/64 to mortar carriers. The BMP-2 are now being modernized with TISAS (thermal imaging stand alone sights), better fire control, and more modern ATGM armament (Konkurs M). BMP-1 has been phased out and the upgraded BMP-2 is BMP-2 M with two thermobaric missiles and two tandem warhead Konkurs mssiles. Its also has an integrated TI sight and an LRF. Has an AGL mounted on the turret which is also stablised in the horizontal plane.
- An indigenous AFV called Abhay is under development.
Artillery
- Agni medium-range ballistic missiles ,it has a range of 700-800 km with a 2000 Kg payload.
- SS-150/Prithvi-1 and SS-250/Prithvi-III - short-range ballistic missiles
- GRAD MBRL Smerch 9K58 - 300 mm multiple rocket launch system
- Pinaka - 214 mm multiple rocket launch system replacing the 122 mm BM-21
- Abbot (105 mm) and M-46 Catapult (130 mm) to be replaced by 4000 new 155 mm self-propelled howitzers. On the short list is the Denel LIW T6 turreted Arjun and the Celsius (Bofors) FH-77AD
- Bofors FH-77B, upgraded Soltam M-46 155 mm towed howitzers
- Bhim Initial reports that the Arjun hull might be used with a 155 mm self-propelled howitzer by fitting the South African T6 turret which has the G5 howitzer fitted, proved to be misfounded. The SPH would be integrated at Bharat Earth Movers Ltd, which would manufacture additional Arjun chassis & hulls for the purpose. At present, the Bhim SPH program is in limbo, since Denel has been temporarily blacklisted by the Indian Ministry of Defence, while corruption charges are being investigated.
- Soltam M-46 130 mm field guns replacing the 105 mm IFG Mk1/2/3
- D-30 122 mm towed howitzers
- Tunguska M1 - low level air defense system
- Upgraded ZSU-23-4M Shilka self-propelled air defence guns (48)
- Upgraded Bofors L40/70 40 mm AA guns replacing the L40/60
- ZSU-23-2 twin 23 mm AA guns
- Due to delays in the Akash missile program the ZRK-SD Kvadrat / SA-6a Gainful air defence systems is being upgraded (100)
- Due to delays in the Trishul missile program the OSA-AKM / SA-8b Gecko air defence systems is being upgraded (50)
- S-300V / SA-10 Grumble
- Strela-10M3 / SA-13 Gopher - short-range, low altitude SAM
Non-combat vehicles
- Bridge Layer Tank using a T-72 chassis and Kartik Armoured Bridgelayer on a Vijayanta chassis - armoured vehicle-launched bridges
- Multi-Hop and Extended Span Assault Bridges on T-72 chassis
- Sarvatra - 8x8 truck-mounted bridging system
- VT-72B ARV (200+) and WZT-3 ARV (124, 228 to be delivered by 2007) - armoured recovery vehicle replacing the Vijayanta ARV
- BMP-2 Armoured Amphibious Dozer and Engineer Reconnaissance Vehicle (ERV)
- Casspir - mine protected vehicles (165)
- Tata LPTA 1621 TC - 6x6 truck
- Mahindra - light multi-role 4x4
- Rampar - amphibious 4x4
Aircraft
- This is a list of aircraft of the Indian Army. For the list of aircraft of the Indian Air Force, see List of aircraft of the Indian Air Force.
- HAL Dhruv multi-role helicopter
- HAL Chetak
- HAL Cheetah
- SA 315B Lama
- Nishant UAV
The Indian army has projected a requirement for a helicopter that can carry loads of up to 75 kg heights of 23,000 feet on the Siachen Glacier in Jammu and Kashmir. Flying at these heights poses unique challenges due to the rarified atmosphere.The Indian Army is believed to have short-listed the Bell 407 and the Eurocopter AS 550 for a Rs 22 billion ($500 million) contract for 197 light helicopters to replace its ageing fleet of Chetaks and Cheetahs, some of which were inducted more than three decades ago.[6]
Missiles
- Agni 1, 2 and 3 — intermediate ballistic missile
- BrahMos — supersonic cruise missile
- Prithvi 1 and 3 (Prithvi 2 with the IAF) — short-range ballistic missile
- Akash — surface to air missile
- Astra — air to air missile
War Heroes
- Lt. Nawang Kapadia
- Major Navneet Vats
- Major Rajesh Singh Adhikari, MVC
- Lance Naik Ahmed Ali [4]
- Lieutenant Kieshing Clifford Nongrum [5]
See also
References
- ^ The Hindu
- ^ Bharat Rakshak
- ^ Kargil: where defence met diplomacy - India's then Chief of Army Staff VP Malik, expressing his views on Operation Vijay in an article in The Indian Express.
- ^ Pakistan and the Kashmir militants
- ^ [1]
- ^ indiadaily