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Debunking India's Military supremacy claims

Its not the weapon that wins the day for its Army, but usually the brains who deploy it.

In 1971, at Chammb sector, PA had a few more Tanks than IA in numbers, but had comparatively older, lower quality of Tanks and Tank destroyers. Through writing an ORBAT it might have seemed that PA 23rd Infantry Division was superior in terms of armour vis-a-vis the IA 10 Indian Infantry Division. However in actual fact it was the opposite.

All IA tanks in both the armoured regiments (9 Deccan Horse & 72 Armoured regiment) were T-54/55 which were superior to T-59; whereas only PA 11th Cavalry and 28th Cavalry regiments possessed T-59 while the 26th Cavalry and 12th independent squadron were equipped with the obsolete M4 Sherman tanks and M-36-B-2 tank destroyers of world War II vintage. Furthermore, 28th Cavalry had just 31 tanks.

In total, PA 23rd Infantry division had 129 tanks out of which 55 M4 Sherman and M-36-B2 Tank Destroyers were largely ineffective in operational terms; leaving some 74 T-59 of PA against some 90 T-54/T-55 tanks of IA (rest of the Tanks being some 14 AMX-13's). Thus though slightly numerically inferior in numbers i.e. 129 versus 104; the Indians were qualitatively superior as far as armour was concerned. . In addition the Indian T-54/55 tanks possessed better ammunition firing capability which was not available as far as the Pakistani T-59 tanks were concerned. The T-54/55 gun had a far superior stabilization system. The Chinese T-59, the latest in the PA inventory was a Chinese version of the Soviet T-54, which the Soviets had discarded and replaced by a much improved T-55 version.

PA employed its Tanks in such a way that 23rd Infantry Division succeeded in capturing Indian territory.
 

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