Mumbai Police modernisation generates controversy

[tyagi]

Mumbai Police modernisation generates controversy

http://www.hindu.com/2009/04/08/stories/2009040850440100.htm

Praveen Swami

Weapons purchased without conducting field tests or evaluating the competitive technologies

MUMBAI: Ill-planned efforts to upgrade the counter-terrorism capabilities of the Mumbai Police may have led to the acquisition of outdated and inappropriate weapons, highly placed government sources told The Hindu.

Last month, the police placed orders for four new weapons without conducting field trials to determine their effectiveness in local conditions or evaluating the competing technologies.

The police planners selected the Colt M4 5.56-millimetre carbine for assault roles, the Brügger & Thomet sub-compact MP9 for close-protection duties, the Smith & Wesson Military and Police 9-millimetre pistol as a personal side-arm and the M107 50-calibre Special Application Rifle.

But experts in the National Security Guards and the Army told The Hindu that the choices made were less than transparent.

For example, the United States military special forces are replacing the Colt M4s with new-generation European-made weapons. And the state-of-the-art MP9 is intended to protect VIPs in environments where it is inappropriate to display guns—a responsibility the Mumbai Police does not have.

The M107 SAR, a lethal weapon designed to penetrate armour and bullet-proof glass, has been selected despite the risk of collateral damage and the fact that the Mumbai Police have no range on which personnel could be trained in its use. [See inside story].
Opaque committee

Highly placed police sources said the weapons were chosen by a committee comprising Police Commissioner Hasan Gaffur, Additional Commissioner of Police (Protection) Vinay Khargaonkar and Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Sanjay Barwe.

Off the record, Mumbai Police officials said the force chose to bypass testing and competitive evaluation procedures because of the urgent need for new weapons.

Mr. Gaffur did not respond to phone calls and a text message seeking information on how the weapons systems were chosen.

Notably, the committee did not hold consultations with the Maharashtra Police and the National Security Guards (NSG), which have primary responsibility for counter-terrorism roles in Mumbai.
Force One

On April 2, the Maharashtra government passed orders creating Force One, a 350-man crack special weapons and tactics formation modelled on the National Security Guards. According to the order, Force One, than the Mumbai Police, will have the primary responsibility of counter-terrorism operations in the city—making it possible the expensive weapons the committee ordered will never be used.

Later this year, the NSG will begin operations from a new 25-acre facility in the city’s Kalina area. The NSG personnel in Kalina will be equipped with much of the special equipment the Mumbai Police had ordered, including the M107 SAR and the Brügger & Thomet MP9.

Union Home Ministry officials in New Delhi, who granted permission to the Mumbai Police to import the new equipment last month, declined to comment on the controversy. “It is our job to act as a facilitator of modernisation and not to sit in judgment on what equipment best meets the needs of a particular state. While we may have our concerns, we do not wish to be cast as spoilers,” a senior official said.

 

[tyagi]

No bang in Mumbai Police’s new guns

Modernisation programme built around outdated, inappropriate weapons

MUMBAI: In the wake of November 2008 carnage, the Mumbai Police promised the people that it would soon arm itself with the equipment it needed to evolve into a credible counter-terrorism force.

In the next few weeks, the police will receive the first of the new guns it desperately needs. But experts in India’s elite forces and military have told The Hindu that the four critical weapons systems do not in fact pack much of a bang. Ordered without competitive field trials, the weapons are being criticised as technologically suspect and inappropriate to local needs.

M4 Colt 5.56 Carbine

The Mumbai Police planners have chosen this assault weapon, which had been in service with militaries and special forces around the worldjust as it is being phased out.

During the Vietnam War, the United States troops discovered the limitations of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation-standard 7.62 x 51 millimetre rifles and in response to their needs, Colt designed the now-classic M16 rifle.

For special forces’ use in urban counter-terrorism contexts—situations where accuracy can be sacrificed for ease of use in confined spaces—the M16’s designers produced a variant with a short barrel and folding stock – the M4 carbine.

Despite its distinguished pedigree, the M4 suffers from several problems inherent to the gas-optimised system that powers its firing mechanism: among them, jamming and heavy component wear and tear.

Given that the M4 will serve the Mumbai Police for three decades and more, the choice of technology is debatable. Even as the police prepare to take delivery of the Carbine, some of its users are switching to more modern systems. The United States’ Marines have chosen the Fabrique Nationale Herstal Special Forces Compact Assault Rifle, while the crack Delta Force has picked the Heckler and Koch M4.

Brügger & Thomet MP 9

In service with crack forces such as the Special Protection Group (SPG) and National Security Guards, the Brügger & Thomet MP9 is a sub-compact version of the classic MP5 A4 and MP5 A3 machine-pistols.

Designed to be concealed inside the clothes of close-protection guards assigned to VIPs, the MP9 has a retractable stock and the magazine is fitted inside the grip. Like other weapons of this kind, it trades accuracy for size.

The Mumbai Police planners are thought to have ordered over 200 MP9 units—a surprise number, given that responsibility for protecting the State’s VIPs lies with a special unit of the Maharashtra Police. Moreover, it has ordered none of the more accurate MP5 series.

Experts in the armed forces believe that the Mumbai Police ought to have evaluated newer weapons systems before making a purchase decision.

For a variety of technical reasons, the 9 millimetre ammunition used by the MP5A4 is known to be less than optimally efficient at generating the neurological shock that kills or incapacitates targets. Designers have sought to compensate for the design flaws in the 9 millimetre system by creating what are known as hollow-point bullets.

But many crack forces have switched over to newer ammunition systems.

The SPG, for example, uses the 5.27 x 8 millimetre Fabrique Nationale Herstal P90. Built around what designers call a ‘Bullpup’ frame, the P90 is compact without compromising on accuracy.

Smith & Wesson M&P 9 Millimetre Pistol

This is a new weapon designed to break into a market dominated by European manufacturers Glock, Heckler and Koch and Sig Sauer. It has so far had little success. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, for example, rejected the home-manufactured Smith & Wesson in favour of Europe’s Sig Sauer and Heckler and Koch.

Most police forces in India, including the Maharashtra Police, have purchased the popular Glock 9 millimetre. But Mumbai Police sources said the decision to purchase Smith & Wesson was made because of problems reported with the Glock from Punjab and elsewhere.

However, the problems are believed to be the result of sub-standard ammunition and not faulty design.

M82/M107 Special Application Rifle

This weapon, earlier known as the M82, is the most powerful small arm in the world; anything larger counts as a canon. Its 50-calibre shells can punch through Level 8 ballistic glass, the strongest available, and puncture armoured vehicles—this, at ranges upwards of 2.5 kilometres.

In theory, this power is useful for shooting terrorists through concrete walls, after identifying their locations with thermal imaging systems.

But the risk of collateral damage to civilians is immense, not in the least because the Mumbai Police personnel do not have a firing range on which they can be trained in the use of the M107 SAR.

Given that Mumbai will soon have a dedicated NSG unit at Kalina on call for situations where the weapon might be needed, the rationale behind the purchase is all the more mystifying.

No police force in the world uses the M107 SAR in counter-terrorism jobs, where civilians may be at risk. New York’s police Special Weapons and Tactics team uses the SAR to blow apart vehicle engines in high-speed chases as a last resort.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police, India’s most experienced counter-terrorism force, use nothing more powerful than the Soviet-designed 7.62 millimetre sniper rifles.