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NEW DELHI: Unruffled by Pakistan's brandishing of tactical nuclear missiles for battlefield use, India is launching another massive combat exercise to further sharpen its "pro-active'' strategy of multiple blitzkrieg thrusts across the border.
Around 50,000 soldiers with T-90S, T-72 M1 main-battle tanks and infantry combat vehicles, backed by Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, aircraft, helicopters, drones, satellites and other force-multipliers, will take part in the `Sudarshan Shakti' exercise in the Thar desert in November-December.
This comes after the major 'Vijayee Bhava' wargames in April-May, during which Pakistan projected its new 60-km Nasr (Hatf-IX) missile as a deadly game-changer against what is loosely called India's 'Cold Start' doctrine.
Indian armed forces, however, are not rattled by all the tall talk. "All our major combat manoeuvres are conducted under the NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) overhang. We practice for all eventualities,'' said a senior officer.
Moreover, the military brass points to India's nuclear doctrine which holds that "nuclear retaliation to a first strike will be massive and designed to inflict unacceptable damage''.
That's not all. India even retains the option to retaliate with nuclear weapons if its forces "anywhere'' are attacked with biological or chemical weapons.
"Sudarshan Shakti, which will enter its final phase in early-December, is geared towards a conventional integrated land-air war-fighting machinery. Army and IAF have seriously stepped up operational synergy along the entire western front,'' said another officer.
Consequently, the Southern Army Command under Lt-Gen A K Singh is working in close conjunction with its naval and air force counterparts for the Sudarshan Shakti exercise, with troops already being mobilised.
The exercise primarily revolves around the 21 Corps, one of Army's three principal strike formations apart from 1 Corps and 2 Corps, tasked with taking the battle right into enemy territory. The `Vijayee Bhava' exercise, incidentally, was conducted to hone the combat skills of the 2 Corps.
Even as Army now "transforms'' itself by consolidating its strike capabilities, the 1.13-million force is also focusing on streamlining operational logistics to ensure it can rapidly mobilize and sustain multiple armoured thrusts.
"The exercise envisages innovative manoeuvres, in a simulated battle environment, by composite combat entities, ably supported by air and complemented by a wide array of force-multipliers and enabling logistics. In short, it's based on the integrated theatre battle concept,'' said an officer.
Interestingly, the Army commanders' conference to be held in New Delhi next week will discuss the various "transformational initiatives'' underway as well as augmentation of "all-weather'' or night-fighting capabilities.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in turn, will address the top brass of the three services on October 11, followed by defence minister A K Antony, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, home minister P Chidambaram and foreign minister S M Krishna.
Army to hold massive combat drill in Thar - The Times of India
Around 50,000 soldiers with T-90S, T-72 M1 main-battle tanks and infantry combat vehicles, backed by Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, aircraft, helicopters, drones, satellites and other force-multipliers, will take part in the `Sudarshan Shakti' exercise in the Thar desert in November-December.
This comes after the major 'Vijayee Bhava' wargames in April-May, during which Pakistan projected its new 60-km Nasr (Hatf-IX) missile as a deadly game-changer against what is loosely called India's 'Cold Start' doctrine.
Indian armed forces, however, are not rattled by all the tall talk. "All our major combat manoeuvres are conducted under the NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) overhang. We practice for all eventualities,'' said a senior officer.
Moreover, the military brass points to India's nuclear doctrine which holds that "nuclear retaliation to a first strike will be massive and designed to inflict unacceptable damage''.
That's not all. India even retains the option to retaliate with nuclear weapons if its forces "anywhere'' are attacked with biological or chemical weapons.
"Sudarshan Shakti, which will enter its final phase in early-December, is geared towards a conventional integrated land-air war-fighting machinery. Army and IAF have seriously stepped up operational synergy along the entire western front,'' said another officer.
Consequently, the Southern Army Command under Lt-Gen A K Singh is working in close conjunction with its naval and air force counterparts for the Sudarshan Shakti exercise, with troops already being mobilised.
The exercise primarily revolves around the 21 Corps, one of Army's three principal strike formations apart from 1 Corps and 2 Corps, tasked with taking the battle right into enemy territory. The `Vijayee Bhava' exercise, incidentally, was conducted to hone the combat skills of the 2 Corps.
Even as Army now "transforms'' itself by consolidating its strike capabilities, the 1.13-million force is also focusing on streamlining operational logistics to ensure it can rapidly mobilize and sustain multiple armoured thrusts.
"The exercise envisages innovative manoeuvres, in a simulated battle environment, by composite combat entities, ably supported by air and complemented by a wide array of force-multipliers and enabling logistics. In short, it's based on the integrated theatre battle concept,'' said an officer.
Interestingly, the Army commanders' conference to be held in New Delhi next week will discuss the various "transformational initiatives'' underway as well as augmentation of "all-weather'' or night-fighting capabilities.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in turn, will address the top brass of the three services on October 11, followed by defence minister A K Antony, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, home minister P Chidambaram and foreign minister S M Krishna.
Army to hold massive combat drill in Thar - The Times of India
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