Pakistan Defence

To improve its operational preparedness in counter-terrorism and anti-hijacking situations, India’s National Security Guard (NSG) is modernising its force with the latest surveillance and communication equipments and is also training its commandos with the Special Forces of different countries, said the NSG Director-General.

The developments were shared on the sidelines of the NSG’s 29th Raising Day yesterday. Force’s Director-General, Arvind Ranjan, also said that in view of the increasing number of IED blasts occurring across the country, the NSG’s experts are guiding and advising the instructors of the bomb disposal squads of different states in IED management. These instructors would then further train their own bomb squads.

The NSG, also known as ‘The Black Cats’, is a federal contingency force raised in 1985 to tackle terrorist attacks in the country. Enhancing the skills of its commandos, the NSG sent 17 of them to train with the Special Forces of different countries, including the United States, France and Israel, according to the DG.

The force will also conduct ‘personality profiling tests’ of its commandos. “In this test we will study the profiles of each commando. We will see what they are good at. Some may be good at firing, while others will be skilled in efficiently rappelling down from a hovering chopper. And using the test we will place commandos having varied skills in all our hits (teams of commandos). So that the hits are balanced,” said Arvind Ranjan. A hit comprises six commandos.

The NSG is also in the process of procuring high-tech surveillance and communication equipments. The force will also have ‘tactical extraction platforms’, which are nets hanging from the rear end of helicopters. At a time, 10 commandos can hang on such a net and be evacuated from high-rise buildings and hostile environments, according to Ranjan.

“We are focusing on improving the operational preparedness of our commandos. We are not just procuring the latest equipments and gadgets. But we are also training our commandos,” said the DG.

Modernising force

The NSG has sent 17 commandos to train with the Special Forces of different countries, including the United States, France and Israel
The NSG is in the process of procuring high-tech surveillance and communication equipment
The force will also conduct 'personality profiling tests' of its commandos

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