While the initial plan was to create four theatre commands — an air defence command, a maritime theatre command and two land-based theatre commands (one each for the western and the eastern sectors) – the services decided to take a fresh relook on the proposed reform after the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan asked them to do so, considering the IAF’s objections to the previous plan.

One of the top proposals being considered is to create joint theatre commands based on India’s adversaries in the neighbourhood to begin with, as against the four defined theatre commands planned earlier.

This involves initially carving out an integrated theatre command to take care of the northern and eastern borders with China, another for the western borders with Pakistan and a third maritime command to tackle threats in the maritime domain, from the 17 service-specific military commands operating under the three services at present. Visakhapatnam, Jaipur and Lucknow are among the possible locations being discussed for their headquarters.

Also under discussion is the creation of a joint training command. Three joint logistics nodes had already been operationalised until 2021. India has two joint services commands at present – the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) and the Strategic Forces Command (SFC).

An official said efforts are on to ensure that the process of creating the theatre commands does not have a long “settling period” given that there’s alway the possibility of a conflict on the horizon.

The previous plan had envisaged keeping out the Army’s Northern Command and the IAF’s Air Officer Commanding Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh from the theatre commands and these were to operate independently.

The IAF had raised objections to the previous theaterisation plans – these were spearheaded by the country’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat – and stated that it would divide their fighting assets.

Over the last two years, multiple studies were carried out by top officers of the three services to examine the theaterisation process, but the plans lost pace after General Rawat was killed in a helicopter crash in December 2021.

Meanwhile, the services continued their deliberations on the proposed reform with a few table-top exercises held to examine employment of theatres in different operational scenarios.

The plans picked up pace again after the current CDS, General Anil Chauhan, took over in September last year.

According to officials, the services were asked to individually study and check the feasibility of adopting a new and separate approach to the Indian military’s theaterisation plans. In the last three months, multiple meetings have taken place within the three services – and between the three service chiefs and General Chauhan on the theaterisation plans.

Officials privy to the latest developments said the plan is expected to be finalised shortly, which would be discussed, examined and accordingly fine-tuned further in consultation with the CDS.

They emphasised that the existing plan is still fluid and may undergo additional changes with more internal deliberations, and inputs from the government.

Last year, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari had said that the IAF is not opposed to the theaterisation process if the doctrinal aspects of the force is not compromised by the creation of the new structures.

He had also said that while the theatre commands should be future-ready to deal with the emerging forms of warfare in the space and cyber domains, they should not increase the decision-making chains from the existing levels.

Last month, former Army chief General M M Naravane (retd) said that unless a national security strategy is in place, talk of theaterisation is “actually putting the cart before the horse”.

Army chief General Manoj Pande told the media last week that there is a need to get the right tri-service structures in place and the services are in the process of deliberations on issues related to theatre commands.

The post Armed Forces give shape to contours of theatre plans appeared first on IMR.

Making this announcement, on 8 October, at the Air Force Day parade in Chandigarh, the first outside the Delhi NCR, Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari said, “On this historic occasion, it is my privilege to announce that the government has approved the creation of a Weapon Systems Branch for officers in the IAF. This is the first time since Independence that a new operational branch is being created.”

 “This will essentially be for manning of four specialised streams of surface-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles, remotely piloted aircraft and weapon system operators in twin and multi-crew aircraft. Creation of this branch will result in savings of over Rs 3,400 crore due to reduced expenditure on flying training,” he said.

Later, a senior IAF officer, explaining the need for a dedicated branch for weapon systems, said the establishment of a separate branch for missile system operators, unmanned aerial vehicles and weapon system officers of two-seater aircraft is an effort to synergise operational requirements which differ from active flying.

Pointing to the induction of more missile systems with complex operational dynamics and the future establishment of an Air Defence Command with integrated air defence assets of all three services, the officer said there was need to do away with piecemeal deployment of officers from non-specialised branches and institutionalise the non-flying operational cadre.

A long-felt need

Bringing all weapon system operators under one roof addresses a long-felt need in the IAF, ensuring a dedicated cadre. A specialised branch will facilitate induction of more complex weapon systems.

“Basically, the weapon systems operator in a twin-seater aircraft does not have to be a full-fledged pilot as his core competence is handling the weapons on board. We can gradually build up this cadre and phase away pilots from doing this task, thereby making him or her available for flying duties,” the officer said.

This separate branch is also expected to include officers who specialise as intelligence analysts and operate intelligence-gathering tasks in unmanned aerial vehicles as well as space-based assets. Here again, the need for building core competence in a separate branch has long been felt by the IAF brass, given the increasing role of UAVs and space assets in information gathering and advance warning.

The officer also referred to the accidental firing of a Brahmos in March and said an analysis of the incident had reinforced the belief that a dedicated cadre of missile commanders must be built.

In his address, Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari said the induction of Air Warriors into the IAF through the Agnipath scheme is a challenge, but more importantly, it is an opportunity to harness the potential of India’s youth and channelise it towards the service of the nation.

“We have changed our operational training methodology to ensure each Agniveer is equipped with the right skills and knowledge to start a career in the Air Force. In December this year, we will be inducting 3,000 Agniveer Vayu for their initial training. This number will only go up in the years to come to ensure adequate staffing,” he said.

He said IAF is also planning on induction of Women Agniveers starting next year. Creation of infrastructure, he said, is in progress and streamlining of trade structure is being finalised.

From continued deployment along the borders, Humanitarian And Disaster Relief (HADR) operations to rescuing stranded Indians from conflict zones, the IAF has seen the entire spectrum of roles and tasks.

“The traditional domains of land, sea and air have expanded to include space and cyber. We are increasingly seeing the convergence of all these domains into one continuum in the form of hybrid warfare. The use of non-kinetic and non-lethal warfare to supplement kinetic means has changed the way wars will be prosecuted. Therefore, conventional systems and weapons will need to be augmented by modern, flexible and adaptive technology.”

“Technology has given us the wherewithal to be innovative. We need to accept the fact that tomorrow’s conflicts cannot be fought with yesterday’s mindset. To be able to execute all missions in an environment of denial will increasingly be the basis of our training in the Air Force,” he said.

Keeping these aspects in mind, the IAF chief said, there is a need to plan for integrated and joint application of combat power. “The key to success in multi- domain operations is to have flexible, robust Command and Control Structures which will allow a joint force to dominate across domains. No single service can win a war on its own. Work is in progress to enhance jointness amongst the three services,” he said.

The theme for this year’s anniversary celebrations – ‘IAF: Transforming for the Future’ — is very apt and highlights the Indian Air Force’s need to redefine, reimagine and recalibrate to transform into a contemporary and future-ready force, he said.

“Our fighting potential has to be sustained over the years through the induction of 4.5 Gen fighters, AWACS, AEW&C and flight refuelling aircraft. We have initiated necessary steps to ensure our fighter squadron strength remains at the desired level. Indigenous development of six AEW&C Mk-II has been sanctioned and we are actively pursuing the acquisition of ISTAR, UAVs, Counter UAS technology and strengthening our networks,” he said.

Modern armed forces, he said, have to be sufficiently self-reliant to ensure minimum disruptions. “Towards this, Atmanirbharta and Make-in-India are a step in the right direction. Our indigenous operational network AFNET, the backbone of all air operations IACCS, one of the largest maintenance management protocols

e-MMS and the fact that we are completely paperless in our offices through the e-Office application is a testimony to our commitment towards becoming self-reliant,” he said.

The LCA, ALH, Akash surface-to-air missile, Astra BVR, LCH and Brahmos, he said, are a few examples of the indigenous hardware that has already been inducted and operationalised.

He said the IAF has signed a contract for 83 LCA Mk 1A and is fully committed to the development of LCA Mk-II and the AMCA.

“The advent of drones, swarm drones, hypersonic weapons and space based ISR systems have added a new dimension to war fighting. To effectively handle the full spectrum, artificial intelligence is being used for quicker decision-making and analysis of big data. I am happy to report that several projects are well underway to utilise the potential of automation, data analytics and artificial intelligence to transform our operational philosophy,” he said

The post IAF to get new weapon systems branch – Air Chief on 90th IAF Day appeared first on IMR.

Lt Gen. Chauhan, 61, will be India’s second CDS. His predecessor, Gen. Bipin Rawat, died in a helicopter crash in December last year. This is the first time in the history of the Indian military that a retired three-star officer has returned to active service in a four-star position.

In the 10 months following Gen. Rawat’s death, there had been widespread speculation that the next CDS would be appointed from within the Indian Army, not only because it is the biggest and most influential of the three services but also because Gen. Rawat’s untimely death had left the army’s CDS term unfinished.

In June, when the government made changes in the rules for appointment of the CDS, military circles were abuzz with Lt Gen. Chauhan’s name as a possible contender for the coveted post. Lt Gen. Chauhan belonged to the 11 Gorkha Rifles regiment, the same as Gen. Rawat. He is a native of Uttarakhand, like Gen. Rawat was. After his retirement from the army in May 2021, Lt Gen. Chauhan had been working closely with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval as a military advisor in the National Security Council Secretariat.

Seen as an expert on China, Lt. Gen. Chauhan previously served as director general of military operations (DGMO) before being appointed as the eastern army commander in September 2019. In his 40-year-long service in the army, he commanded an infantry division in the critical Baramulla sector in the Northern Command and later a corps in the Northeast.

Besides being a hardcore military man, Lt Gen. Chauhan has been a regular contributor to military think-tanks and has authored the book Aftermath of a Nuclear Attack.

As CDS, one of Lt Gen. Chauhan‘s biggest tasks will be to complete the theaterisation of the defence forces, which will see the creation of theatre commands. Gen. Rawat, who had started the process, was of the view that there was a marked lack of synergy between the three military wings since they operated in isolation. In the past few months, several studies on theatre commands have been underway at the Department of Military Affairs, along with a study on manpower optimisation.

The main agenda for the CDS will be to build a lean and integrated warfighting machinery within the budgetary constraints. The issue of theatre commands has been mired in controversy within the services, with the Indian Air Force (IAF) objecting to the move. Air chief marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari recently said a separate air defence command would be “counterproductive”.

Gen. Rawat had been working hard to iron out the inter-service differences—a task his successor will have to continue. Like in the US and China, Gen. Rawat planned to have five commands—northern, western, peninsular, air defence and maritime.

The Indian military currently functions under 17 single-service commands. It has eight commands to manage the China front as against a single theatre command of the Chinese military responsible for borders with India. The proposal to set up unified commands came after the 1999 Kargil War, but the concept remained in limbo partly over fears that it would trigger an ugly turf war between the three services. If IAF chief Chaudhari’s remarks are any indicator, the issue of theaterisation still remains hotly debated and polarising within India’s defence establishment.

The post Theaterisation of defence forces tops new CDS Gen Anil Chauhan’s agenda appeared first on IMR.

According to the plan, each of the theatre commands will have units of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force and all of them will work as a single entity, looking after the security challenges in a specified geographical territory under an operational commander.

“This exercise is in progress. While there are areas of convergence and common understanding among the three services, there are some issues that still need to be addressed. That I suppose will have to be taken up for resolution at the appropriate level,” General Pande said.

The Department of Military Affairs headed by the country’s first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, had asked all the three services last year to carry out independent studies on the theaterisation plan for its rollout.

“In so far as the studies which the Army was required to undertake for the land theatre commands, these are in the final stages of completion and will be submitted in due course,” General Pande said.

“But at the end of it, I must reiterate the Indian Army’s commitment towards achieving this objective of theaterisation. I would want to state our full commitment and that we are prepared to sort of cooperating and taking the lead in any manner towards making theaterisation a success,” he added.

At present, the Army, the Navy and the IAF have separate commands. Initially, a plan was firmed up for the creation of an Air Defence Command and a Maritime Theatre Command.

The theatre commands are being planned to integrate the capabilities of the three Services and ensure the optimal utilisation of their resources.

Integrated Battle Groups

The Indian Army is in advanced stages of putting together Integrated Battle Groups (IBGs) by reconfiguring its combat formations.

General Pande said the plan is to have one in the northern sector and another on the western front. “It is in the final stages of compilation,” he said.

“Consultations with all stakeholders are more or less formalized and are now in the process of final compilation. Once this happens, we will see how we can take this forward and apply to perhaps other formations of the Army,” the Army Chief said.

The IBG, which aims to integrate different components of the Army into the new formation, will include artillery guns, tanks, air defence and logistical elements.

“The purpose of restructuring our existing formations was to have forces which are lean, agile and tailor-made that would afford the commanders the flexibility and more options for their deployment,” the Chief of Army Staff said.

The IBGs add punch to the ground forces by combining the strengths of each formation. The Army has already carried out extensive test-bedding of the IBG concept.

“We have identified a holding formation on the western front and a strike formation in the eastern or northern borders for the IBGisation to commence,” said Gen Pande.

Once IBGs are rolled out, these will be comparatively smaller formations but will be able to execute their operations swiftly. They will add to the options of the theatre commanders. The IBGs will be bigger than a brigade (3,000-3,500) but smaller than a division (10,000-12,000).

In the first go, of the two IBGs planned, one is coming up under the 9 Corps mandated to operate on the western borders with Pakistan.

The other one is being raised under the 17 Corps raised as the sole strike corps to operate along the northern borders with China.

The post Theatrisation Plan and IBGs in Final Stage appeared first on IMR.

Session 1 : Inaugural Session

Welcoming the delegates, Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia, Director of CENJOWS mentioned that the aim of the event was to bring all stake holders on a common platform where armed forces can spell out their expectations from the Industry and the Industry could explain its capacity and concerns. During deliberations, the integration of new technologies, optimizing legacy system and an action plan for the way ahead would also be projected.

Inaugural Address

Gen Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff, gave the Inaugural Address. He covered a vast canvas of topics such as impact of COVID19 on geopolitics and geo-economics and its impact on the world order, the contours of which were still uncertain, the ongoing defence reforms, changing nature of warfare with various technological advancements and their effect on the war fighting, etc. He also spoke on several disruptive and enabling technologies and the challenges and opportunities these offered to the defence forces. He emphasised on the need for constant innovations to stay ahead for the future wars as well as carry out upgrades/ phasing out of the legacy systems with the aim to find the best solutions.

He said that the situation brought upon by COVID 19 was reminiscent of the Great Depression, under which the international relations faced great stress. This was forcing countries to adopt ‘Nation’s First approach’ which was antitheses to the multi-lateral and multi-polar relations. He remarked that India values emerging relationship with United states but, at the same time, we cherish our close ties with Russia.

Talking of ongoing reforms in the Ministry of Defence and in the armed forces, he asserted that, inter-services integration and civil military synergy were important for effective functioning of the armed forces. The reforms related to formation of joint commands. In particular, he discussed a great deal on the formation of Aerospace Defence Theatre and its ensuing advantages. He advocated flexible use of air space by aircraft, helicopters, UAVs and long-range vectors. He opined that C4I systems, modernisation of the AD systems, common communication between Services and integration with ISRO and DRDO would ultimately increase effectiveness of the AD system as well as avoid fratricides.

ALSO READ: New Air Defence Command Expected by October

Referring to the contours of air threat, he commented that in modern times, aircraft was a system of systems and very potent. In fact, now both missiles and aircraft complement each other. He opined that Indian security was not confined to the country but to extended security of the neighbourhood.

Keynote Address

Air Mshl HS Arora, Vice Chief of Air Staff delivered the Keynote Address. He said that future wars would present a dynamic and uncertain threat in several domains simultaneously. Now, apart from land, sea, air and space, we also face threats in the electromagnetic domain as well. Armed forces may need to fight in all dimensions simultaneously. In this environment, the emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) presented great opportunities. Talking of air defence, he asserted that IAF carries out the surveillance of entire Indian air space using C4I systems which enables centralised control and decentralised execution of the operations. He reminded that, unlike in the past, AD operations have now become quite complex, hence, conventional methodologies of conducting operations are no more relevant. Our AD philosophy needs to redefined, focusing on the area defence concept followed by the close-in defence. AD command when formed will enable integration of the AD systems of other Services, which will make AD more potent.

He concluded his address by asking the industry to manufacture AD systems that are light weight, mobile but at the same time very lethal.

Theme Address

Delivering the Theme Address, Lt Gen Naresh Chand, former DG Army AD, welcomed the initiative of the CDS in formation of joint air command. In his talk, he generally covered the historical perspective of the Army AD, which in the past was primarily with L-60 guns. He said that many of systems of 60’s vintage weapons are still being used. The modernisation was very slow. On the subject of emerging technologies, he discussed the attributes of the advanced US Patriot (PAC3) missile, which was erratic in the past but has evolved into a successful system. He was sure that DRDO was fully capable of developing similar technologies. He, however, was not in favour of reinventing the wheel by engaging in development of the technologies which have already matured. Instead, he favoured transfer of technology.

ALSO READ: An Overview of Indian Air Defence Programmes

On the proposal of an integrated aerospace defence theatre, he said that AD inherently works on jointness, hence, integrating all resources was, therefore, a good step. The environment in the tactical battle area (TBA) was very complex, where area of influence of the battle commander was increasing. It called for good coordination with the Air Force, which would be taken care of by the formation of Joint AD Command.

On indigenisation, he advocated persistent and imaginative approach of the R&D and Services. He was appreciative of the announcement of import denial list announced by the government. This he felt would eventually lead to the indigenous development and manufacture of weapons.

ADB Perspective

Maj Gen KV Jauhar, Addl DG Army Design Bureau (ADB) gave his perspective on indigenisation or achieving self reliance in manufacture of defence equipment. He said we faced three challenges in indigenisation. First, the high cost when faced with shrinking budgets. Second, technology relevance in our conditions and third, access to technologies because no one was willing to share niche technologies. ADB seeks collaboration with technical institutes, academia and the industry and has even signed memorandum of understanding with many of them to move forward. To reach out to academia, institutes and industry, ADB plans visits, seminars and presentations. He said that industry could get the cue to our future focus from the ADB website, where all requirements were explained. ADB’s efforts had been received well by the industry and academia. ADB has started a number of projects and invested Rs. 30,000 crores in a number of projects. ADB’s focus was on following eight technologies, ie, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Quantum computing, autonomous technology, space and bio-technology.

Session 2 : Contours of Aerial Threat

The session was chaired by Air Mshl BR Krishna, Director General Air Ops, Air HQ.

Brig MKK Iyer, Vice President, Bharat Forge, spoke on an array of evolving aerial threats and ongoing technological advancements in the realm of aircraft, helicopters and drones/UAVs and missiles, directed energy weapons, microwave energy weapons and charged beam particle weapons. He also discussed other related areas that make these threat highly potent and difficult to neutralise. He spoke on advancements in communication systems, wide area surveillance system, engine technologies, armaments which can carry out precision attack from very large stand-off ranges. The other topics such as data warfare, air situation in the TBA, hypersonic technology, nano technology and its impact on flying machines, survivability of aircraft, EW suits and integrated defence countermeasures were also discussed.

ALSO READ : Air Defence : CDS Tasked With Creating a Joint Air Defence Structure

Mr Amit Jawade, Senior Manager Business Development, Saarloha Advanced Materials, spoke on the attributes and offerings of his company. Saarloha Advanced Materials belongs to the Kalyani Group. Its plant is located at Pune, which manufactures special steels which hitherto were imported and now being manufactured in the country itself. The steel is being used in wide specialised areas such as in manufacturing gun barrels, missile body casing, shells, etc. It was also used in the past by ISRO in manufacture of Chandrayan 1, Gaganyan and in rocket casing. Saarloha Advanced Materials occupies a pride of place in the industry in the journey for self reliance in manufacturing.

Mr Neer Barnhart, Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, Israel made a presentation on Operational Air Defence Optimizer, which is a tool for achieving efficient and effective AD against multifarious aerial threats from varied platforms, aircraft, helicopters, drones, etc. It has the ability to integrate the sensor inputs, analyse the threats and select optimum response from various weapon options to neutralise the threats.

Gp Capt Vishal Malhotra, Gp Capt (Operations), Air HQ made a presentation on ‘Aerospace Threat’. He explained the characteristics of the air threat emanating in nuclear, conventional, sub-conventional and outer space domains. In these areas, he also carried out fact check of threats presented by China and Pakistan.

Col KV Kuber, Director Defence & Aerospace, Ernst & Young, gave the industry perspective. He talked about several high points of the Indian industry which has showcased developments in serval hi-tech and state-of-the-art technology areas in its journey towards Atamanirbhata. In that, he talked of exploits of DPSUs and private industry. The basic theme was that Indian industry is well poised to move forward in the Make in India initiative either by self-innovation or through joint ventures though transfer of technology route.

Session 3 : Emerging Technologies

The Session was chaired by Lt Gen (Dr) VK Saxena, former DG Army Air Defence.

Brig Shyam Mohan Murari, former DDG Army Air Defence, Army HQ, spoke on the ‘Emerging Threats from UAVs/ Drones’. After giving a detailed historical perspective, he covered the various tasks which drones/UAVs can perform replacing the manned aircraft. He also covered their use in civil applications where control is exercised by Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA), which allots unique ID to each UAV flight and also issues licence to the drone flyer who is required to abide by prevailing rules and regulations on the subject. Speaking of the threat, he talked of their detection by active and passive means and measures for their destruction /neutralisation. He also covered futuristic Swarm drone concept, autonomous drones and use of drones in a robotic wingman concept, where the drone would team up with the manned aircraft as number two in formation and would be controlled in the offensive mission by the manned mother aircraft.

ALSO READ: Defence Reforms : Peninsular and Air Defence Commands in the Works

Wg Cdr M Balasubramaniam, Wg Cdr Operations (Offensive), Air HQ, spoke on the evolution of the airpower and guiding vision, global trends, present trends in air munition developments, insight into the present day weapons, promising technologies, trends in the delivery systems and warheads. In his talk about munitions, he delved into Swarm drone, new hypersonic engines, boat glide vehicles, hypersonic cruise missiles, which are manoeuvrable and, therefore, difficult to intercept. Revolution in military affairs was bound to take place with these new technologies being ushered in making flying machines unpredictive, more uncertain but, very accurate and lethal.

Cdr Inder Kumar Singh, Commander Staff Requirements, Directorate of SR, Naval HQ, covered the concept of defence of naval flotilla at sea. In the Navy, the concept of defence in depth is followed against the aerial threat of all kinds with long range weapons employed when the threat is at longer ranges, followed by using medium range weapons at medium range and in the final stage, short ranges weapons are employed to destroy the airborne threat. The short-range weapons have very high rates of fire and are accurate. Cdr Inder also talked about the emerging threats from drones, hypersonic missiles and glide vehicles. Apart from direct weapons, the passive measure such as decoys, radar absorbent fog, etc, were also effective in deflecting the threats. In future, the directed energy weapons, electromagnetic rail guns and laser and microwave weapons, which are under development and testing, hold great promise against emerging threats.

Session 4 : Integrated Air Defence Battle & Challenges

This session was chaired by Air Mshl Anil Chopra.

Gp Capt KB Mathew, Gp Capt Ops AD (C&R), Air HQ, spoke on ‘Overall Air Defence Framework and Air Space Management Challenges.’ He described the attributes of air defence, which requires a minute-to-minute accurate presentation of the air situation. This was achieved by the network centric systems of the air force. He clarified that the Union War Book clearly bestows the responsibility of air defence to the Indian Air Force, but he asserted that full effectiveness and efficiency can be achieved by integrating the Army and naval AD assets. In his presentation, he briefly covered the high points of the peacetime as well as wartime air defence operations and their challenges. The main challenge was that area of responsibility covers a vast area, for which requirement exists on 24/7 basis for all days and months. In the process, air defence is required to monitor and identify and react appropriately after sifting data on the borders and other areas, which during peacetime is teeming with large amount of civil traffic. During operations, while the main objective of air defence is to neutralise the air threats but own weapon systems also require maximum freedom and at the same time fratricide is to be avoided.

Brig Jagdeep Dahiya, former DDG Army AD, spoke on ‘How the Integrated Air Defence Command Structure can be Effective’. He fully subscribed with the idea of integration of air defence and formation of the Air Defence Command. He, however, believed that the leading service for joint organisation should be decided by the extent of the vulnerability faced and not by the bestowed responsibility. In that, he felt that army elements in the TBA faced maximum vulnerability. Talking of interoperability of the data sharing and communication links, he asserted these would be effective only when integrated and not when just interoperable. He propagated integrated fire control, use of mobility and simulation tools, joint training, giving equal importance to passive defence with active defence and finally sought separate budget for the futuristic aerospace defence theatre.

Session 5 : Atmanirbharta in Defence

The session was chaired by Maj Gen AK Channan, ADG PP & Head Army Design Bureau.

Lt Gen (Dr) VK Saxena, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, former DG Army AD spoke on ‘Army Air Defence – The Need for Self-reliance”. His talk was focussed on the sensors and air defence weapons. He gave a detailed account of our indigenous capability in manufacture of radars and AD weapons. Instead of importing new systems from aboard, he recommended joint manufacture with the foreign OEMs with transfer of technology. In support of his argument, he gave example of successful development of Barak LRSAM which was manufactured by DRDO jointly with Israeli defence manufacturer Rafael.

Dr Amit Kumar, Scientist F, Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), DRDO spoke on ’Self-Reliance and Capability Development in Critical Technologies’. He included indigenous exploits in connection of India’s ballistic missile defence and anti-satellite test, Shakti. Both ventures have successfully showcased our capability and, apart from proving our indigenous technical prowess to develop and manufacture hi-tech systems, have enhanced India’s prestige worldwide and given us the heft in strategic positioning in the world.

Mr Rupesh Kuchhal, General Manager (Business Development), Hanwha International India, gave details about several types of the armed vehicles such as infantry fighting vehicles, medium tanks, armoured personnel carriers, several types of air defence systems and launchers that the company manufactures. The company carries out considerable business with Indian defence forces and is willing to share in Make in India programme by sharing technology with the Indian manufactures.

Session 6 : Tracking, Control & Reporting, Common Operational Picture

Air Marshal Ramesh Rai, former AOC-in-C Training Command IAF chaired the session.

Lt Col (Res) Noam Shultz, Rafael Advanced Defence Systems spoke on Common Operational Picture Solution designed and manufactured by his company. The product is mobile and vehicle-based and assisted by artificial intelligence. It presents a composite and integrated air picture from various sensors to the operations staff, analyses and identifies the threats and gives optimum solutions to neutralise these after evaluating available various weapons.

Air Cmde Trilok Chand, Senior Fellow, CENJOWS spoke on “Identification Friend & Foe and Common Operational Picture”. He generally explained the various operational modes of IFF Mk 12, which is being used in air defence organisations in India. He also said NATO used an improved version IFF Mk 12A. He briefly discussed the automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B), which is a satellite-assisted system and is used on the civil side to track commercial flights. He said that once we have tactical data link with the American aircraft platforms, we would be able to get the composite picture from their platforms too. This possibility exists upon concluding the COMCASA agreement with United states.

Mr. Vasudevan R, Scientist F, LRDE spoke on the Latest Developments in AD Radars. He delved into the emerging threats such as stealth aircraft, unmanned vehicles and hypersonic vehicles, which have low RCS and are difficult to detect and, therefore, difficult to counter. He talked of several technologies like bi-static/ multi-static radars, passive radars, etc. which could detect such threats. Thereafter, he covered the radar manufacturing history of LRDE, which developed the first Indira radar in 1991 and have progressed tremendously from manufacturing the rotating radars to phased array radars.

Valedictory Address

Lt Gen Kuldip Singh, former DG Army Air Defence gave the valedictory address. He was appreciative of the move to form the Integrated Aerospace Defence Command, which would bring efficiency with cost effectiveness. He was in concurrence with the Government of India’s negative import list of the defence equipment, which positively will encourage the DPSUs and the private industry to manufacture locally. He emphasised that we need to focus both on hard and soft kill techniques and have ability to engage the threats at all ranges. This obviously can come with robust C&R systems, fully integrated with AD of other Services.

Closing Remarks

Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia, Director CENJOWS thanked all the speakers, participants and sponsors on successful conclusion of the webinar. He emphasised that the formation of Aerospace Defence Theatre would eventually help further in the air and missile defence domains. The integration was not confined to the defence alone but it also involves integration with academia and industry as well, so that we have common focus and purpose to move ahead. Self-reliance cannot be a slogan; rather it should become the norm. He said we import nearly 60 per cent of the weapons from abroad, which must change if we are to truly become power in this region.

Speakers at Air & Missile Defence

Gen Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff
Air Mshl HS Arora Vice Chief of Air Staff
Lt Gen Naresh Chand Former DG AAD
Air Mshl BR Krishna DG Air Ops
Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia Director CENJOWS
Lt Gen VK Saxena Former DG AAD
Air Mshl Anil Chopra Former AOP
Lt Gen Kuldip Singh Former DG AAD
Air Mshl Ramesh Rai Former AOC Training Comd
Maj Gen KV Jauhar ADG Army Design Bureau
Maj Gen AK Channan Former ADG PP
Brig Shyam Mohan Murari
Brig Jagdeep Dahiya
Gp Capt Vishal Malhotra Gp Capt Ops, Air HQ
Gp Capt KB Mathews Gp Capt Ops AD (C&R)
Wg Cdr M Balasubramaniam Wg Cdr Ops Offensive
Wg Cdr Y Subramanyam
Dr Amit Kumar Scientist F, ASL
Vasudev Ramakrishna Scientist F, LRDE
Brig MKK Iyer, Vice President, Bharat Forge
Lt Col (Res) Noam Shultz, Rafael Advanced Defence Systems
Mr Neer Barnhart, Rafael Advanced Defence Systems
Mr Rupesh Kuchhal, GM Hanwha International India

The post EVENT REVIEW : Air & Missile Defence India 2020 Event appeared first on IMR.

The air defence command is proposed to be set up alongside the Central Command Headquarters of the IAF which controls important air bases including Agra, Gwalior and Bareilly.

A study in this regard was done by the IAF’s Vice Chief Air Marshal HS Arora which has also suggested the structure of the proposed command comprising assets of all the three services.

The Department of Military Affairs under Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat has been given the mandate to create joint military commands along with theatre commands.

The CDS is also working on the creation of the combined maritime command which would come up either at Kochi in Kerala or Karwar in Karnataka.

Each service has its individual air defence set-up. The air defence command would integrate the air defence assets of the Army, Air Force and Navy and jointly provide air defence cover to the country.

The CDS has also made it clear to the armed forces that he would not create any additional post at a three-star level for manning any of the new commands and the new formations would be raised from the existing resources only.

Meanwhile, for protecting the air space of the country, a proposal for the acquisition of two new PHALCON Airborne Early Warning ad Control Systems from Israel and Russia has reached the Cabinet Committee on Security and may be taken up for clearance soon.

The post New Air Defence Command Expected by October appeared first on IMR.