Indo-UK-Ex-Ajeya

[RPK]

 

[RPK]

 

[RPK]

By Lt Col N N Joshi
[PRO, Defence, Tezpur]
Belgaum: The Indo-UK Joint Military training aimed at enhancing counter terrorism skills got underway on 04 April 2013 at the hills of Belgaum. The Joint Training code-named Exercise Ajeya Warrior will simulate a scenario where both nations are working together on a joint operation in counter insurgency and counter terrorism environment. This is one of the major ongoing bilateral defence cooperation endeavours between the two countries and is the fifth in the series which initially started as a biennial feature in 2007 to be held in India and UK alternatively.
The four-week exercise will witness about 100 personnel of the Royal Welsh Regiment of the UK Army and a similar strength of a battalion of the Kumaon Regiment of Indian Army. The troops of the two countries are in the third week of their joint exercise. The first week comprised of familiarization with the organisation, weapons and equipment of both the armies. In the second week tactical drills of the two countries were demonstrated and practiced.
Both countries have troops deployed in active Counter Insurgency/ Counter Terrorism operations and thus sharing each other’s operational experiences in such diverse environment is of immense value. The exercise curriculum is progressively planned where the participants are initially made to get familiar with each other’s organisational structure, weapons, equipment, confidence training and tactical drills. Subsequently, the training advances to joint tactical exercises wherein the battle drills of both the armies are coherently unleashed. The exercise is a great step for the armies of the two democratic countries to train together and gain together from each other’s rich operational experiences.
Training to combat terror: Learning from each others experiences in varied terrain and environment, the company level joint exercise enters the fourth week of the joint training cycle of four weeks. The initial weeks of the joint training included familiarisation, demonstration, lectures and joint tactical exercises. This was divided into indoor and outdoor training. The joint training is being conducted by having two mixed companies of UK Army & Indian Army Soldiers.
The exercise is aimed to build and promote positive military relations between the two countries by undertaking joint training for Counter Insurgency Operations and thereby gaining from each other’s valuable operational experiences. The exercise will also help to evolve joint battle drills for combating such menace.
During the course of Exercise Ajeya Warrior – 2013, the technology advancement has been amalgamated to create a force multiplier and assist the combat troops in conducting its operation. UAVs, Recce and Observation system, Thermal Imaging system, Early Warning detachments, use of Helicopters and sniffer & tracker Dogs assisted the commanders of the joint exercises in achieving their aim.
Having rehearsed and trained on counter insurgency and counter terrorism environment, the troops of the two Commonwealth Nations have graduated to the stage of conducting tactical exercises jointly in rural and semi urban environment. The joint training having exercise on Search and Destroy operations in the past week and will now move on to Cordon and Search operations.
The fourth and last week of training will mark the culmination with the joint exercises on Cordon and Search operations. The drills & procedures of the two most experiences armies in the domain of counter insurgency will be dovetailed into one integrated force.

[url]http://tarmak007.blogspot.com/2013/04/indo-uk-ex-ajeya-warrior-on-in-full.html[/URL]

 

[Koovie]

Nice pics!

Keep em coming

 

[COLDHEARTED AVIATOR]

How poorly equipped our infantrymen are....Hope F-INSAS gets inducted soon.

 

[Dandpatta]

am seeing the Brits using the INSAS rifle . Would be interesting to know what their feedback is.

 

[dekho]

am seeing the Brits using the INSAS rifle . Would be interesting to know what their feedback is.

Probably laughed their a.ss off. Truth is our own soldiers hate that rifle. That is why we see Indian soldiers with AKs who are actually involved in combat.

 

[Koovie]

am seeing the Brits using the INSAS rifle . Would be interesting to know what their feedback is.

What do you think will they say about a orange painted semi auto rifle with a 20 round mag?

 

[Dandpatta]

What do you think will they say about a orange painted semi auto rifle with a 20 round mag?

I could never understand the reason behind the plasticky orange scheme ! I have never served in the military but from a layperson's POV, the color stands out even with maximum camouflage worn by the soldiers.

 

[RPK]

1 Royal Welsh develop skills with the Indian Army - British Army Website


One hundred British soldiers have spent the last four weeks training with the Indian Army in the mountains of Belgaum in southern India.
The soldiers, all members of D Company, 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh, deployed on an exchange programme with the Indian Army to develop counter-insurgency and survival skills in a very testing climate alongside soldiers from the 17th Battalion of the Kumaon Regiment, who travelled to Belgaum especially for the exercise.
Troops from Wales and the north-west of England took part in shared training sessions at Belgaum Training Centre – home of the Maratha Light Infantry and the Indian Commando Training Centre.
The culmination of the training saw the soldiers deploy on a series of exercises with their Indian colleagues into the mountain forests. The Royal Welsh were selected for the role due to their recent experience of Afghanistan, having returned from Operation Herrick 16 in October last year.

"very different backgrounds"
Officer Commanding D (Tipu) Company, Major Richard Sernberg, said: “These two armies have different recent military experiences, different equipment, and our soldiers come from very different backgrounds. There is much that we can learn from the Indian Army and hopefully we have offered the Indians the benefit of our recent Afghanistan experience.
“D Company is the product of an Army that has been solely focused on operations in Afghanistan. This exercise was our opportunity to relearn some of the basic generic skills that we may require on future operations.”
Joining the Royal Welsh soldiers for the first part of the trip were four British subject matter experts, requested by the Indians to exchange knowledge and experiences in the areas of countering improvised explosive devices, media, force protection and stabilisation.
While the Indians do not conduct expeditionary operations in the British way, they have vast current experience of countering insurgencies in their own country.
For the Royal Welsh and the Kumaon soldiers the preparation training for the 4 short test exercises included learning Indian infantry skills to help the companies gel when deployed, traditional Indian combat training such as jungle survival skills, confidence-building on a high-wire raised 70 feet above a deep water pool, and the handling of vipers, cobras and rat snakes.
Among the other experiences to be shared was the cricket match between the British and Indian soldiers and cultural visits to Belgaum and Goa.
Fusilier Lee Jones, aged 24, said: “The Indian soldiers are really switched on and really nice people. During survival training they asked me to catch and hold a rat snake. I was very wary of its bite but, once I held it, it was great.”
Fusilier Robin Wyn Griffiths, aged 21, said: “It was great to learn new skills with the Indian soldiers during the exercise and seeing how the Indian Army does their soldiering. It was really hot but we worked around the heat of the day and we quickly got used to it.”