Coming, US heavy metal - Iraq warhorse to be deployed in India for drill

[TaimiKhan]

Coming, US heavy metal - Iraq warhorse to be deployed in India for drill

The US is shipping 17 Strykers, its most modern fighting vehicles which lead many ground operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, to India for the largest joint army exercise between the two countries. This will be the largest deployment of Strykers by the US outside Iraq and Afghanistan.

The exercise will be the latest in a series of drills called Yudh Abhyas that has so far been wargamed on counter-insurgency themes. The deployment of the Stryker armoured fighting vehicles — designed to be more agile but with the firepower of tanks — alongside a formation of the Indian armoured corps suggests the level and intensity of Yudh Abhyas is being scaled up.

The Strykers will be shipped from Hawaii, the headquarters of the US Pacific Command, to Mumbai and then taken either by air or road to Babina near Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh. Babina is the headquarters of the Indian Army’s 31 armoured division. The division is an element of the 21 Strike Corps and trained to lead ground operations in desert and semi-desert terrain on the India-Pakistan border. The 31 division has T-72 Russian-origin tanks and is currently being re-equipped with the later-generation T-90 tanks.

Yudh Abhyas-09, scheduled for the second fortnight of October, will coincide with a major India-US Air Forces’ exercise that will be centred in Agra. The US will deploy C-130J Hercules for the latest edition of the Cope India series of wargames. Six of the Lockheed Martin-made aircraft for medium cargo lifts and special forces operations have been contracted by the Indian Air Force. The US will also fly in the much bigger C-17 Globemaster made by Boeing. The Indian Air Force has projected a need for a heavy lift transport aircraft in the category of the Globemaster. But the government has not yet called for proposals from prospective sellers.

The Agra base is home to the Indian Air Force’s transport and refueller aircraft and to the special forces’ Parachute Training School. An army source said the configuration of the Indian deployment for the land forces’ exercise, most likely to be held in the field firing ranges near Babina, was still being worked out. The US Stryker has replaced or is replacing most of the Bradley fighting vehicles that, along with the M1A1 Abrams tanks, the Humvee and the Hummer, led the charge into Iraq from Kuwait in 2003. Subsequently, the US army chief, General Eric Shinseki, formulated the idea of Stryker Brigade Combat Teams that are the mobile land components in the wars. The Stryker is capable of carrying 11 troops in its infantry-carrying version. But it can also be used for heavier mobile firepower and mounted with cannons and mortars. It is also used for medical evacuation and as a mobile command centre.

ASIAN DEFENCE: Coming, US heavy metal - Iraq warhorse to be deployed in India for drill

 

[pmukherjee]

Coming, US heavy metal - Iraq warhorse to be deployed in India for drill

The Stryker

Stryker is a family of eight-wheel-drive combat vehicles, transportable in a C-130 aircraft, being built for the US Army by General Dynamics Land Systems - Canada (formerly General Motors Defense) and General Dynamics Land Systems Division of USA.

Stryker is based on the GDLS Canada LAV III 8×8 light armoured vehicle, in service since early 2001. The LAV III is itself a version of the Piranha III built by Mowag of Switzerland, now part of GDLS - Europe.

Fabrication and final assembly of the vehicles is being shared among plants at Anniston, Alabama; Lima, Ohio; and London, Ontario.

The Stryker brigade combat team (SBCT) combines the capacity for rapid deployment with survivability and tactical mobility. The Stryker vehicle enables the team to manoeuvre in close and urban terrain, provide protection in open terrain and transport infantry quickly to critical battlefield positions. The eight-wheeled Stryker is the first new military vehicle to enter service into the United States Army since the Abrams tank in the 1980s.

"Stryker is a family of eight-wheel-drive combat vehicles, transportable in a C-130."The contract for the US Army's interim armoured vehicle (IAV) was awarded in November 2000. The vehicles form the basis of six brigade combat teams. The contract requirement covers the supply of 2,131 vehicles. Deliveries of Stryker infantry carriers began in April 2002. A seventh SBCT has subsequently been planned and the requirement raised to 2,691. Over 2550 vehicles have been delivered.

The 5th Stryker Brigade is scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan in summer 2009, the first SBCT to do so.

The first US Air Force Stryker unit made its first deployment in Iraq in August 2005.

In December 2008, the Iraqi Government requested the foreign military sale (FMS) of 400 Stryker infantry carrier vehicles.


US Army Produced Eight Wheel Combat Vehicle

Stryker is a Rapid Deployment Tactical Srike Vehicle
[/QUOTE]

 

[pmukherjee]

After holding the Malabar naval wargames in the Pacific with Japan, India and US forces are now gearing for two more major combat exercises in October to further enhance “interoperability”.

Eager as it is to grab a major chunk of the lucrative Indian defence market, US will be showcasing its Stryker armoured combat vehicles, C-17 Globemaster-III giant military transport aircraft and Chinook multi-mission helicopters, among others, during the `Yudh-Abhyas’ and `Cope-India’ exercises.

India has already shown interest in acquiring at least 10 C-17 aircraft and 15 Chinook helicopters after inking the $2.1 billion deal for eight P-8i long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft and the $962 million contract for six C-130J heavy-lift aircraft.

Finalisation of the End-Use Monitoring Agreement (EUMA) — governing US sensitive technology transfer requirements — during secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s visit here last month has only served to whet the appetites of Indian forces for American military hardware and software.

Though EUMA generated heat in Parliament, with the Opposition attacking the UPA government for giving US the right to physically inspect defence equipment sold to India, the two countries are now swiftly and quietly moving ahead to seal pending deals.

The technical assistance agreement to `operationalise’ the P-8i deal, for instance, was inked recently. Then, the contract for AGM-84L and ATM-84L Harpoon Block-II anti-ship missiles for $170 million is being finalised now, said defence ministry sources.

The most visible symbol of the upward trajectory has, of course, been the flurry of joint combat exercises — around 50 in the last seven years — between Indian and American forces.

Incidentally, a major Indo-US exercise revolving around maritime operations by special forces, which was to be held off Mumbai, was abruptly cancelled in the run-up to the April-May general elections due to Indian domestic political sensitivities.

But brushing that aside, the next round of bilateral wargames will kick off in October, with an advanced transport and helicopter fleet exercise between IAF and USAF in Agra and Chandigarh.

This Cope-India exercise will also include operations by special forces after paradropping from transport aircraft like Indian IL-76s and AN-32s and American C-130J “Super Hercules”.

Almost simultaneously, the 2nd Stryker Brigade will be in the Babina armoured corps training centre near Jhansi to take part in the three-week long Yudh-Abhyas geared for swift combat manoeuvres in “a semi-urban environment”.

Indo-US military tango continues, two major wargames in Oct IDRW.ORG

 

[beckham]

US - Indian troops to training together for war




by Ajai Shukla
Business Standard, 24th August 09

Since 2004, American GIs and Indian jawans have trained together to combat terrorists and insurgents. Now, the two armies are about to begin training to fight a war together.

Underlining the growing military-to-military relationship, a US Army battalion group of several hundred soldiers and some 50 frontline Stryker armoured vehicles, will travel to India in October and train with Indian strike formation units at the Babina Field Firing Ranges near Jhansi. This exercise, named Yudh Abhyas 2009, will include live firing by heavy combat vehicles.

It will be the first time mechanised units of an Indian strike corps, which bases its power on T-72 and T-90 tanks, BMP-II infantry combat vehicles, missiles and 155-mm medium artillery guns, will train or share expertise with any foreign army. The Indian units taking part will be selected from the Jhansi-headquartered 31 Armoured Division.

The annual Yudh Abhyas exercises (which US soldiers are told is pronounced as “You da Boss&#8221 kicked off in March 2004, when 60 Indian jawans and 55 US soldiers from Alaska jointly raided mock insurgent hideouts in the jungles of Mizoram.

Since then, Yudh Abhyas has expanded each year in size, scope and complexity. Last November, in Yudh Abhyas 08, an Indian Air Force IL-76 aircraft had flown a company (120 soldiers) of Indian jawans to Hawaii for training in counter-insurgency with US soldiers of the US Pacific Command. Their simulated operations were controlled by India’s 49 Infantry Brigade, which set up a command post in Hawaii as part of the exercise.

But Yudh Abhyas 2009 will impart a different trajectory to the military-to-military relationship. This is no longer about raids on insurgent hideouts or terrorist camps; strike corps training is for fighting a full-scale war together. This year, American and Indian mechanised forces will synchronise operations, planning, manoeuvring and firing together to capture a simulated objective.

Senior Indian Army officers have confirmed to Business Standard that the US Army Stryker vehicles and crews will be transported to India by sea. They will come from the US Pacific Command, or US PACOM, which is headquartered in Hawaii and which oversees US military interests from the US west coast to the western border of India.

Starting from Pakistan, and extending across West Asia, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) is responsible for American military interests. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are under the jurisdiction of CENTCOM.

Approached for their comments on Yudh Abhyas 09, the Hawaii-based USPACOM has not responded. But speaking off the record, senior US Army officers have expressed satisfaction at what they term a “quantum jump” in the US-India military relationship.

One US officer notes, “Singapore armoured units have come earlier to Babina to fire their tanks since they don’t have the space to practise in Singapore. Similarly, Singapore air force fighter aircraft fire in Pokhran and artillery units fire near Nashik. But this is not just about firing. Yudh Abhyas 09 will see the two armies practising how to fight a full-scale war together. And the engagement will only grow closer.”