Tag: war

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S-400 Air Defence System

 

 

It was great interacting with Aadi Achint on Def Talks on a very current and valid topic.

(All information is based on open sources and views expressed are personal)

 

For selective viewing please click on the links below:

  1. Introduction (Up to 2:00).
  2. Perspective on AD & S-400 (2:00 – 07:37).
  3. System Description (7:37 – 13:55).
  4. Threats it can Handle (13:55 – 16:00).
  5. US Objections & Threat of Sanctions (16:00 – 26:25).
  6. Capability Enhancement, Employment & Effect on Adversary  (26:25 – 35:00).
  7. Cost Factor and Future Systems (35:00 onwards).

 

Bottom Line

 The system is much needed and is a game changer.

 

Question

Will we ever become self reliant on defence equipment, weapons and systems?

 

Suggestions and value additions are most welcome

 

 

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Lesser Known Facts: 1971 War

Pic Courtesy: Defence xp

The Indo-Pak war of 1971 was a defining moment in the history of the subcontinent, resulting in Bangladesh becoming independent. This established the progress of the Indian Armed Forces including the Army, Air Force and Navy. The war started on 3 December 1971, when the struggle for independence was going on in East Pakistan. The war ended 13 days later on 16 December with the surrender of the Pakistani Army (93,000 POWs). 

 

Role of Kilo Flight in 1971 War

 

Pic Courtesy: Colours of glory

  • Kilo Flight is the code name for the Mukti Bahini combat aviation formation during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.

 

  • It consisted of one DHC-3 Otter plane and one Alouette III helicopter.

 

  • These ac carried rocket pods and machine guns for launching hit-and-run attacks on Pakistani targets, and one DC-3 Dakota for logistical missions.

 

  • 9 Bengali pilots and 58 ex PAF personnel formed the unit under the command of Group Captain A. K. Khandker in September 1971.

 

  • The aircraft were supplied by Indian Authorities and the formation was led by Squadron Leader Sultan Mahmud under the operational control of IAF base Jorhat.

 

  • The unit started training in October 1971 at Dimapur in Nagaland, and this unit was the first to launch airstrikes on Pakistani targets in East Pakistan on December 4, 1971, by attacking oil depots at Narayanganj and Chittagong.

 

  • In total the unit flew 90 sorties and 40 combat missions between December 4 and 16, 1971. After the war it formed the core of the nascent Bangladesh Air Force.

 

Breakdown of POWs of 1971 War

 

Pic Courtesy: Bharat Rakshak

India took approximately 93,000 prisoners of war that included Pakistani soldiers as well as some of their East Pakistani collaborators.

 

  • 79,676 of these prisoners were uniformed personnel.
  • 55,692 were Army.
  • 16,354 Paramilitary.
  • 5,296 Police.
  • 1000 Navy.
  • 800 Pakistan Air Force.
  • Remaining 13,324 prisoners were civilians – either family members of the military personnel or Bihari Razarkars.

 

Tibetan Heroes of the 1971 War

 

The highly trained Special Frontier Force (SFF), played an important role along with the Mukti Bahini, in the 1971 War.

SFF was founded in November 1962. It was also known as ‘Establishment 22’ or simply ‘Two-twos’.

In 1971, the Tibetan force was selected to conduct guerrilla warfare. The terrain was a paradise for guerilla warfare. Forests and hills, rivers, streams and lakes made many areas inaccessible. Yet there was fish and fowl in abundance to keep a guerilla force functioning independently.

In February 1971, the SFF had already started infiltrating Bangladesh along with the Mukti Bahini. It was probably for reconnaissance only initialy.

The Mukti Bahini was very good at making guerrilla plans and at guerrilla tactics. SFF were responsible to support the Mukti Bahini and provide reinforcement to them as and when required.

The SFF played a crucial role in the war.

Incidentally, the force had only one helicopter. The pilot, Sqn Ldr Parvez Rustomji Jamasji, had to carry out all the duties, para-dropping over the battle sites, rations and ammunition dropping, rescue operations, etc — a feat in itself for which the young pilot was awarded Vir Chakra.

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References

https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/history/1971war/1403-arun-karandikar.html#gsc.tab=0

https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/operation-kilo-flight-story-valour-2158326

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoners_of_war_during_the_Indo-Pakistani_War_of_1971

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Interesting Classification of Warfare into Generations

 

While researching for “future of warfare”, I came across an interesting article about classification of wars over the years into generations.

 

These thoughts are of  Russian military theorists Major General Vladimir Slipchenko (1935–2005). General Slipchenko is considered as one of the leading thinkers on “non-contact” and “sixth-generation” warfare.

 

Slipchenko’s while examining warfare, classifies warfare into six generations.

 

Slipchenko’s Generations of Warfare

(Source: Vladimir Slipchenko, Voiny Novogo Pokolenia – Distantsionnye i Bezkontaktnye (Moscow: Olma-Press, 2004), pp. 32– 34.

 

No Contact Warfare.  Slipchenko ties the idea of sixth-generation warfare to a concept of non-contact or contactless warfare. He conveys the idea that future war between modern states will take place without direct contact.

 

Future Warfare. Slipchenko outlined wars of the future as follows:

  • The role and importance attached to nuclear weapons will gradually decline.

 

  • Conventional long-range high-precision strike weapons will grow in importance.

 

  • Wars will be shorter than in the past.

 

  • Advanced militaries will restructure their forces from the traditional army, navy and air force to strategic attack forces and strategic defense forces.

 

  • The tactical level of warfare will decline in importance and the strategic level will become the main emphasis in future warfare.

 

  • The main role for land forces in the future will be to support the air force.

 

Seventh-Generation Warfare: Info Warfare

Slipchenko also worked on the concept of a future “seventh generation” of warfare, which he forecast could emerge in the 2050s among the most advanced military powers. Numerous aspects of this work, especially in relation to the exponential growth in the importance of information in modern and future warfare are already percolating into the modern day warfare.

 

Slipchenko ahead of his time highlighted the importance of cyber along with information in the future battle space, and also forecast this area emerging as a separate combat arm. He identifies the centrality of information in modern and future warfare, forecasting that its utility would eventually move beyond a combat support role and into the area of essentially a combat arm.

 

Slipchenko identified information as a future weapon in war similar to the destructive effect of kinetic systems, and suggested that this would influence war in its entirety from beginning to conflict termination. He estimated that info warfare will transform warfare beyond the strategic level to reach truly global scales.

 

According to Slipchenko, information superiority would be the key to gaining superiority in non-contact warfare. Domination would be required in the information domain of space systems as well as reconnaissance, warning, navigation, meteorological, command and control, and communications assets.

 

Information Confrontation. Slipchenko argued that the information confrontation demands continuous exploitation as compared to information warfare during a skirmish. Possibly hinting at exploitation of info warfare even in no war conditions (Present day Grey Zone).

 

Comments

 

Slipchenko’s Thoughts and predictions are coming true, that too ahead of expected timelines.

 

Information has become a new domain for warfare.

 

Information warfare is not in isolation but getting linked with other domains of cyber, space and electronics.

 

A new service is evolving to deal with this type of warfare (e.g. Chinese Joint Strategic Support Force).

 

This warfare is being exploited in a conflict scenario, without declaring open war i.e. Grey Zone warfare.

 

Additional Thought

 

Seventh or eighth generation warfare is also developing in another direction in parallel. The kinetic or contact warfare being fought by unmanned machines (or a combination of manned and unmanned machines). These machines will have a very high computing power, will be AI enabled and will work in a networked environment.

 

Random Observations

Sci-Fi movies become reality sooner or later.

 

Question

What are your views about the direction in which warfare is progressing ?

 

Suggestions and value additions are most welcome

 

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References

https://jamestown.org/program/russian-military-thought-on-the-changing-character-of-war-harnessing-technology-in-the-information-age/

https://jamestown.org/program/russian-sixth-generation-warfare-and-recent-developments/