NEW DELHI: India is planning to raise two new mountain divisions to give more teeth to its army. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) that met here recently under Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh approved the Defence Ministry proposal to raise these formations.
The proposed mountain divisions will be stationed along the Line of Control (Loc) in Jammu and Kashmir and areas bordering China. Each division, with personnel strength of 10,000 to 13,000 troops, has a minimum of three brigades with personnel strength of approximately 3,000 to 4,500 men each.
Phases:
The Indian Army already has 10 divisions dedicated to mountain warfare and another infantry division for high altitude operations. “The two new formations will be raised in a two-phased plan in about five years,” the sources said. The mountain divisions are usually trained for specialised warfare, and the troops carry specialised weaponry for operations.
In the first phase, which will be implemented in two years, the two new divisions headquarters along with a brigade each, would come up, including the headquarters’ support elements such as signals, provost, and intelligence units. Implementation of the second phase would take another two to three years and during that period the complete division would be ready for operation.
Air elements: The two divisions will also have their air elements functional after five years. The air assets would include helicopter gunships and attack helicopters to provide the two divisions capabilities to carry out manoeuvres for countering the terrain impediments, Press Trust of India reported.
“The gunships and attack choppers will be necessary for providing the two formations fire power in a mountain terrain, as the army will not be in a position to deploy tanks and armoured vehicles,” sources said.
The firepower in the third dimension was required due to the difficulties the army would face in using artillery guns in an operation on a mountainous terrain.
“The air assets are an integral part of any mountain division to provide the fighting ground troops logistics and fire support,” the sources said.
