IAF Gives Out Details Of Its Forward Posts In Tender

[Veeru]

IAF Gives Out Details Of Its Forward Posts In Tender

New Delhi, Oct 19: In an apparent security goof up, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has given away sensitive details about exact locations of Army forward bases, their altitude and their dimensions along the border with China and Pakistan in a commercial open tender.

The tender was issued earlier this month by the IAF to hire private and public sector helicopters for ferrying Army troops and cargo to forward bases in Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh.

In the 30-page Request for Proposal (RFP), the IAF has given the exact latitude and longitude of helipads and the requirements for the loads to be carried to those bases. It also gives out details of the heights at which the helipads are located.

Senior Army officers said such details were classified in nature and should not have been given in an open tender.

The 84 helipads whose details have been given out are located in places including Kishtwar, Kupwara, Tangdhar, Kanzalwan, Parlian Gali in Jammu and Kashmir and Tawang, Daporjo, Bhawani Drop Zone, Yangtze, Forward Post Tapukhar and Taksing in Arunachal Pradesh near the Chinese boundary.

The RFP also gives out the dimensions of the helipads located in the sensitive areas in these two areas.

IAF Gives Out Details Of Its Forward Posts In Tender

 

[indiatester]

Whats so classified about those details. Google would give more than half the details you mention.

 

[angeldemon_007]

I wrote this before also, for immediate need IAF should use these choppers but i think they need to sign a deal for couple hundred more transport chopper before IMRH is ready.

 

[Omar1984]

IAF discloses locations of border posts



The Indian Air Force (IAF) has landed in a difficult spot after it disclosed locations and precise coordinates of sensitive forward posts of the Army along the Pakistan and China border in an open commercial tender posted on government websites.

The precise location of more than 80 forward landing posts, along with details of altitude and dimensions of helipads were given away in an open tender for hiring of private helicopters to carry supplies to forward locations along the border which was first reported by The Indian Express.

The disclosure is being seen as a violation of service rules, given that the information is officially classified as ‘restricted’ by the Defence Ministry. The disclosure also has security implications given that the the geographic coordinates have given away the precise location of a bulk of the Army’s forward locations and camps along the two borders.

The helipads include Chuna, Taksing, Topukhar and Manigong along the Sino-Indian border in Arunachal Pradesh and Pharkian Gali, Kanzalwan, Niru, Z Gali and Baraub along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

Sources said while information regarding the location of forward bases can also be gathered with the use of satellite imagery, the exact coordinates that have been disclosed officially confirm their positions, making them easy targets. “This kind of information is not meant for public circulation. Even within the military, this information is classified as restricted,” a defence official said.

The details were posted in a 33-page tender for hiring helicopters from the private and public sectors to meet operational needs in border areas due to acute shortages and the low serviceability of its existing transport fleet.

It is learnt that the move to hire private choppers to ferry cargo and personnel to forward posts had been cleared by the Army and Defence Ministry but details disclosed that include the precise loads to be carried to each location have come as a shock. A similar tender to hire choppers issued earlier this year did not get adequate response, prompting the disclosure of locations to attract private and public firms.



IAF discloses locations of border posts - Indian Express

 

[Veeru]

I have edited the government website part in my post for obvious reasons.