Armed Forces Ready For the Long Haul
India is making vigorous attempts to provide logistics support to its forward deployed soldiers in the eastern Ladakh sector, where more than 50,000 Indian troops are likely to remain stationed through the winter months to deal with any provocation by the Chinese forces, with no end in sight to the tense border standoff.
This year, an additional 30,000 troops along with equipment have been stationed since May to ward off any misadventure by China. Winter has set in from the first week of September when night temperatures dip below the freezing point. The entire area is above 14,000 feet and some of the mountain passes to be guarded are in excess of 17,000 feet.
For the upcoming winter, the Army has already asked for additional winter supplies including things like snowboards and winter jackets to sustain the additional number of troops.
Long Haul
In reaction to India’s new map of Jammu & Kashmir and infrastructure construction in the border areas China’s has adopted a an aggressive stance in the Aksai Chin region. The Chinese want to provide depth to the G2-19 highway that connects Xinjiang province with Tibet.
In a statement made in the Lok Sabha on the situation in the Ladakh sector, defence minister Rajnath Singh said, “I can assure you that the morale and motivation of our armed forces is very high…They are being provisioned with suitable clothing, habitat and the required defence wherewithal.”
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Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane visited forward locations in Ladakh, on 3 September, to review the army’s operational preparedness and the logistics arrangements for sustenance of forces through the winter. China has deployed sizeable military assets in the eastern Ladakh theatre, including 50,000 troops, 150 aircraft, tanks, heavy artillery, missiles and air defence systems, with India matching every military move made by the neighbour.
From specialised winter clothing to rations and arctic tents to portable heaters, military planes and helicopters have been flying to Ladakh almost daily with their cargo holds filled with crucial supplies and gear that soldiers would require to slug it out in the inhospitable mountain terrain, the officials said, requesting anonymity.
Dominating Positions
The Indian Army controls ridgeline positions on the southern bank of Pangong Tso that allow it to completely dominate the sector and keep an eye on Chinese military activity.
The Indian Army has also taken control of key heights overlooking the PLA’s deployments on the Finger 4 ridgeline on the northern bank of Pangong Tso. The Chinese side has mobiliseda large number of troops and weapon systems along the LAC as well as in the eastern Ladakh theatre where the current friction areas include Gogra, Kongka La and the northern and southern banks of Pangong Tso.
Specialised High Altitude Gear
With additional troops to be positioned along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh during winter, the Army is procuring world-class snow boots, gloves, layered jackets, trousers and sleeping bags. The soldiers will be given multiple pair of clothing including shoes which often get wet due to snow.
Just the clothing and gear to tackle the cold — night time temperatures are expected to be minus 30°C in peak winter —would cost more than Rs 1 lakh for each soldier.
Normally, patrolling is curtailed in winter as temp dips up to minus 30°C. It is the first time that so many troops will be stationed during winter in eastern Ladakh along the 826-km LAC. Under normal circumstances, troop levels are no more than two brigades (around 10,000). Heated habitat with bunker-type beds already exists to house these many troops.
Winter Habitat
Besides the need additional habitat for more troops being deployed, winter clothing, rations, there is going to be a huge need for fuel and equipment to last through the deadly winters.
Though there are heated facilities with bunker beds for around 10,000 troops who are already there, with additional troops the Army is also working on getting special arctic tents as the temperatures in the night are expected to touch almost -30o C in winters.
Special Calorific Requirements
The other task is to feed the troops as low oxygen availability in tree-less eastern Ladakh, coupled with extreme cold, low humidity and intense solar radiation, throws up a challenge. The calorie intake has been calculated as the per Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences study. The energy requirements in high altitude (over 12,000 feet) vary between 4,270 and 4,550 calories per day per person.
Then there is a requirement of nutrients as the low availability of oxygen in tree-less eastern Ladakh coupled with extreme cold, low humidity and intense solar radiation throw up a challenge. Physical activity like patrolling and the weight of cold protective clothing coupled with a loss of appetite leads can lead to weight loss and decreased performance.
Troops operating in high altitude area suffer from anorexia, says the DIPAS study. There will be an increased supply of fresh vegetables, fruits and even chocolates, energy bars, etc, which will be supplied by air from Chandigarh, the logistics base for Ladakh.
Mechanised Forces Deployed
The Army has deployed its T-90 and T-72 tanks along BMP-2 Infantry Combat Vehicles along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China amid tensions between the two nations. These combat vehicles are capable of operating in temperatures up to minus 40 degree Celsius and assume significance amid the onset of winter in the region.
Altitude Takes Its Toll
As a harsh winter draws closer in eastern Ladakh, where Indian and Chinese soldiers are holding towering heights and already exposed to sub-zero temperatures. Some Chinese troops were evacuated from the Finger 4 heights to a field medical facility ahead of Finger 6, in mid-September, due to health complications linked to high altitude. The atmospheric and climatic conditions there are characterised by rarified oxygen and sub-zero temperatures. Hypoxia and hypothermia, therefore, were bound to take their toll.
Chinese troops deployed opposite Ladakh were largely conscripts who were enlisted for military training and were not trained to move on foot over long distances; they were also not used to operate in high altitude areas for extended periods.
Indian soldiers occupying positions in the eastern Ladakh sector had undergone the necessary acclimatisation to be deployed at high altitudes and adequate forward medical facilities were available to cater for any emergency.
Indian Army’s experience of fighting in Siachen for over three and a half decades as also our deployment in other high altitude areas opposite Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh has also been an excellent training opportunity to fight in high altitude areas anywhere.
Extreme weather at those heights of 16,000 to 17,000 feet is bound to create health complications for soldiers – both Indian and Chinese. Conditions will only get worse in the coming months.
Advancements made in high-altitude medicine, better gear, best possible training, in-house innovations, and following proper drills have helped the Indian Army keep the casualty rates low in high-altitude areas.
Comments
The status quo is unlikely to change for at least till summer if not many years to come. The ‘trust deficit’ that has now crept in is likely to remain with each side keeping a watchful eye on the other, which means the surge in troops deployed is unlikely to reduce.
The current standoff along the LAC is a nightmare for the operations and logistics staff. The super high altitude and desert terrain, sparse vegetation entails that all items need to be transported both by road and air. While the winter stocking must have been carried out, the lines of communication for logistics need to be kept open irrespective of the weather.
The Army has to ensure that the passes are kept open despite the heavy snowfall. Equipment management will be tested to its extremes as the extreme cold weather conditions impact perishable parts.
Should China decide to proceed with her belligerence, it will have to factor in whether it wants to retreat and restore stars quo ante or be remain poised on the Tibetan plateau with all its perils in the winter months. China may not be actually prepared for extended combat in a terrain for which her army is not trained for.
The Chinese army is deployed only in selected sectors and should the LAC get activated in other sectors, the Indian Army will be better geared to adopt a proactive approach.
