Mountain strike corps formally raised, its 1st division formed

[janon]

The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Nation

New Delhi, January 1
The mountain strike corps, aimed at countering China, was formally raised by holding a "flag hoisting" ceremony at Ranchi today. The headquarters of 59 Division, under the Corps, was also raised simultaneously this morning. The second Division, 72, will be raised at Pathankot later.
This is the first corps to be raised since the 9 Corps was raised at Yol, near Dharamsala, in 2005.
It would take another 10 months to complete staffing and equipping of the 59 Division that would get already established regiments, sources said. The regiments would be replenished with new recruits as this corps would lead to force accretion and not draw from existing forces.
Instructions have already been issued for moving of regiments. Each of the Divisions will have four brigades and a strength of around 30,000 each, including infantry, signals, artillery, engineers, armoured and supply, besides helicopters. The existing three strike corps at Ambala, Mathura and Bhopal have around 80,000 troops each.
The CCS cleared the corps on July 17, allocating Rs 64,000 crore to be spent over the next six-seven years.
Ranchi is the temporary headquarters. The corps and the division will have their headquarters at Panagarh in West Bengal. The IAF special operations aircraft, C-130 J Super Hercules, will also be based there.
Maj Gen Raymond Norohna has been designated as the first GoC of the corps that has been named the 17 Strike Corps. Normally a strike corps is headed by a Lieut General rank official. Maj Gen Norohna is slated for promotion as Lieut General and the file for his appointment along with the promotions of 14 other Major Generals is pending with the appointments committee of the Cabinet.
The board for promotion was conducted on November 13 and since then the file has been moving between the Ministry of Defence and the Army over some queries.

First since 2005
* This is the first corps to be raised since the 9 Corps was raised at Yol, near Dharamsala, in 2005
* It will take another 10 months to complete staffing and equipping of the 59 Division that will get already established regiments
* The second Division, 72, will be raised at Pathankot later

 

[IND151]

A good news indeed.

 

[Donatello]

It's fine if they are raising a 'Mountain' strike corps, but the troops/units that will serve under it, how much Mountain warfare experience do they actually have?

 

[Srinivas]

Nice move! We also need light howitzers,light tanks and mmrca.

 

[saikumar]

A good news indeed.

true bro

 

[janon]

It's fine if they are raising a 'Mountain' strike corps, but the troops/units that will serve under it, how much Mountain warfare experience do they actually have?

Well the Indian army has the largest pool of mountain warfare specialists in the world, so I'm sure that they will not raise a mountain strike corps with people who don't have that experience. If they are new recruits, they will be put through some of the finest high altitude training in the world, at HAWS and parvat ghatak school and others. The very rationale for this corps was to have a permanent strike formation trained and acclimatized for mountain warfare, so as to be able to pump in battle ready troops any time.

By the way, at least half the Indian army has experience in mountain warfare, from siachen to arunachal pradesh.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

It's fine if they are raising a 'Mountain' strike corps, but the troops/units that will serve under it, how much Mountain warfare experience do they actually have?

While the Formations are being raised under new Badges, the troops forming the core groups will not be new, existing units will raise the Core groups. That is always how its done. At full strength, the units are fully trained for their tasks. In short not every soldier in these new formations will be a new recruit. The first units will not even have fresh inductees in them.

Well the Indian army has the largest pool of mountain warfare specialists in the world, so I'm sure that they will not raise a mountain strike corps with people who don't have that experience. If they are new recruits, they will be put through some of the finest high altitude training in the world, at HAWS and parvat ghatak school and others. The very rationale for this corps was to have a permanent strike formation trained and acclimatized for mountain warfare, so as to be able to pump in battle ready troops any time.

By the way, at least half the Indian army has experience in mountain warfare, from siachen to arunachal pradesh.

Just to add to that; the Indain Army already has someting like 10-12 Mountain Divisions which were in conventional Corps. What is happening is a process of re-defining tasks on the lines of the process that has already been carried out in the Western Theater AND re-equipping them in light of the re-tasking. Apart from raising the strength levels in the North and East. So that both Theaters become more autonomous of each other in Ops.

 

[egodoc222]

wat are the options we have for light tank?
any ongoing program by drdo?
any rfp released to procure from foreign ?

 

[Rajaraja Chola]

A fine start indeed...! Govt should also equip them better instead of raising alone

 

[neehar]

A fine start indeed...! Govt should also equip them better instead of raising alone

only thing which worries me in all the three defence arms is army! sometimes i get the feeling unfortunately our govt neglects their needs.no clear info on their acquisitions till now.

 

[Rajaraja Chola]

only thing which worries me in all the three defence arms is army! sometimes i get the feeling unfortunately our govt neglects their needs.no clear info on their acquisitions till now.

If u ask me, I am very worried about F-INSAS programme. It was due to be completed by 2020. But i doubt the production started beyond proto.!

 

[neehar]

If u ask me, I am very worried about F-INSAS programme. It was due to be completed by 2020. But i doubt the production started beyond proto.!

yes some serious inductions has to be done like f-insas,howitzers and other important stuff hope everything will be fyn by the end of this 5 year plan.

 

[Indischer]

God knows what happened to the light howitzer procurement program. I'm guessing our Soldiers do not like the idea of being outgunned in heavy artillery while climbing mountains!

 

[SrNair]

It's fine if they are raising a 'Mountain' strike corps, but the troops/units that will serve under it, how much Mountain warfare experience do they actually have?

Indian Army is considered as one of the best Mountain Warfare specialised Army in the world.
Before US Army operation in Afghanistan they send 100 officers to India for training.Russia ,UK etc all are training in the India for mountain warfare

The Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun conducts preliminary mountaineering and mountain warfare training for all Officer Cadets. Discontinued in the late 1980s, the Bhadraj Camp was revived in 1999 after the Kargil War. The culmination is a course of a 40 km run and climbing a 5500 feet cliff with a fully loaded pack at night.[5]

For more specialized training, the Army operates the Parvat Ghatak School (Hindi: पर्वत घातक, Mountain Strike or Mountain Warrior) at Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh. This high-altitude commando school is the highest of its kind at 15,000 feet. With the mercury dipping to minus 20 degrees providing a freezing tougher terrain to impart training in conditions similar to Siachen.[6]

Another school, the High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS) is located near Gulmarg, Jammu and Kashmir. Set up in 1948 as the 19 Infantry Division Ski School, HAWS has over the years become the Indian Army's nodal center for "specialised training and dissemination of doctrines" in high-altitude, mountain and snow warfare. HAWS Mountain warfare courses are conducted in the Sonamarg area, and snow-craft & winter warfare training in the Gulmarg area. HAWS played an important role during the Kargil War by conducting crash courses for troops prior to their deployment.[7]

Given the extensive experience of the Indian Army in mountain warfare, troops from other nations regularly train and conduct joint exercises at these schools. Because of its experience in fighting wars in mountain regions for over 50 years, as well as its history of recruitment of natives from the Himalayan regions of India and Nepal (such as Gurkha,Kumaon, Garhwal and Dogras), Indian Mountain Warfare Units are considered among the best in the world. Numerous army units across the world are now implementing training modules modeled after Indian Mountain Warfare training systems.[7] These include forces from UK,[8] US,[9] Russia, etc. In 2004, US special forces teams were sent to India to learn from Indian Army experiences of the Kargil War prior to their deployment for operations in Afghanistan. Russian troops also trained at the High Altitude Warfare School in Gulmarg for operations in Chechnya.[10][11] They also visited Siachen and other Army posts.[12]

 

[Abingdonboy]

Well I must say I am impressed at the fact this has happened so soon after being cleared by the GoI. Now just arm and equip them right from DAY ONE and things will look even better.