Why do I get the feeling that given the developments in Ukraine , the IA is regretting it's decision not to fully back the development of the Arjun ?
BMP frontal acr protection needs to be just strong enough that the first 30mm AP round doesn't get through. That I think is achievable. ATGMs are surely an threat. Even Leopard 2s had their turrets blown away when in offensive.
In any offensive we should be ready to loose around 30-40% of the attacking armour.
In any offensive we should be ready to loose around 30-40% of the attacking armour.
By your yardstick given the 2 front scenario, we ought to be carrying 100% redundancy. I doubt we have even 10% of it. Further I sincerely hope all those advocating for a 1 month time period to vivisect Paxtan take due note.
If you've small bands of infantry / irregulars operating across the country armed with MANPADS, MPATGM, mini drones as well as regular ones like TB -2 coupled with a population where arms & ammo are as freely & easily available like the ubiquitous cell phones, we'd have to go in for a policy of total annihilation of population centres which means total air superiority & dominance within 7 days before undertaking relentless air to ground campaigns .
It's only after this we can think of boots on the ground.
Unlike our armoured groups, Pakistanis keep leaner formations. Like we have 59-62 tanks a regiment. They keep 44. And our 3 formation each have 5-7 such regiments. While they keep it between 3-5.
So a large number of their Tanks are actually under their mechanised formations. BMPs running into such a mechanised formations will be sitting ducks.
The only option is to have good fire power.
1. Have a very large arsenal of conventional subsonic cruise missiles (2000-3000 for each front ) along with equally larger number of cost effective BMs. Pralay and Agni P. Also very large numbers (thousands ) of loitering munitions.
And we need to fire 50% of these within hours at the start of the conflict. This will cripple a large portion of their infrastructure.
2. We need very large numbers of mobile artillery and mobile SAM coverage throughout our frontiers. A 155/39 mounted Gun on a truck will keep area between 15 to 25km easily sanitised , thus ensuring good defence. And mobile air defence will mean enemy aircraft will not be able to take out those mobile artillery pieces. We already have a large stockpile of ATGMs. They will ensure any armour thrust will be taken care of.
3. Very lean and highly mobile composite battle groups with tanks, IFVs, attack helicopter, transport helicopters , mobile SAM, etc.
While we are looking at the 3rd point. We are totally ignoring the 1st and 2nd points.
Russia did a mistake of not using the 1st point within the 1st hour of conflict and they will pay for it.
And following the 2nd point will mean a defence even the combined Chinese/Pakistani assault will not be able to break. 2nd point will also ensure that mosquitoes like ch4 , wl2 and tb2a are mosquitoes and nothing more.
Soviets gave the equipment and training to use those to the Egyptians but they didn't teach them how to use them effectively. A good general and better preparation would have meant Israel wouldn't have had it so easy. We need to learn from others mistakes.
Else everytime we will find ourselves surprised like in 1999.
Else everytime we will find ourselves surprised like in 1999.
For starters , beginning 1965 , those wars were fought predominantly on Indian terrain. We need to correct that .
I believe the rest are reserve. So the field formation is 45, and a squadron in reserve at the regiment level. And not all formations have 59-62 tank, many have 45.
Only the recce units. The fighting units won't face this issue. Would be great to see WhAP or similar replace tracked vehicles for this role.
The IRF should handle that over the coming decade.
I hope to see the QRSAM contract this year, apart from K9 and ATAGS.
I actually feel it's the opposite for armour. All we are doing today is upgrading existing stuff. I hope FICV gets the necessary push quickly, followed by FRCV, or we are gonna fall behind really quickly.
Beyond equipping a third brigade in the desert, the Arjun is pointlessly expensive.
2 are visible. A 3rd one is on the trailer of truck.
Maybe for more testing? Or maybe for export ???
For the Indian Army, the DAC accorded fresh AoNs for procurement of Rough Terrain Fork Lift Trucks (RTFLTs), Bridge Laying Tanks (BLTs), Wheeled Armoured Fighting Vehicles (Wh AFVs) with Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs) and Weapon Locating Radars (WLRs) through domestic sources with emphasis on indigenous design and development.
pib.gov.in
Defence Acquisition Council, headed by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh, clears proposals worth Rs 76,390 crore, in major boost to ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’
Following Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s clarion call for ‘Aatmanirbharta’, D
pib.gov.in
do these extensive BMP upgrades signal that the indigenous replacement candidates will be delayed?
See if we are working at light tank, then an IFV development wouldn't be so hard and shouldn't take long. But it doesn't seem to be a focus right now for Army.