October-November 2011
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ROUNDUP
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IN THIS ISSUE
T h e O N LY j o u r n a l i n A s i a d e d i c a t e d t o L a n d F o r c e s
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Active protections System Composite and hybrid armour systems have been adopted for tanks by improving their protection against kinetic and shaped-charge threats.
COV E R STO R Y
China’s Military Doctrines PHOTOGRAPH: Wikipedia
Lt General (Retd) Naresh Chand PAGE 7 Turning 250 The First Battalion of the Indian Army’s Parachute Regiment celebrated its Raising Day on October 17. Lt General (Retd) P.C. Katoch PAGE 8 Exploiting Technology for Mission Accomplishment The BMS will provide the Indian Army an integration tool supporting every level of military. Lt General (Retd) P.C. Katoch PAGE 11 Transform National Security Apparatus The need to bring intelligence and geospatial information under the aegis of one single agency cannot be underestimated and should not be relegated to a later day. India must reach a base level to match its status as a regional power. Lt General (Retd) P.C. Katoch PAGE 16 Jeep on Steroids
The US Annual Report 2011 to Congress specifies that over the past decade, China’s military has benefited from the robust investment in modern hardware and technology. Many modern systems have reached maturity and others will become operational in the next few years. With emphasis on crew protection, the US Army has gone in for a RFP to upgrade the Humvees. R. Chandrakanth PLUS Interview: Rafael Reach for Accuracy and Reliability Sudarshan Shakti First / Tecknow Show Report: DSEi Interview: ATK Interview: Oshkosh Defense News in Brief
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n LT GENERAL (RETD) V.K. KAPOOR
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n the november-December 1993 issue of Foreign Affairs, an article entitled ‘the rise of china’ appeared. the article was by nicholas D. Kristoll, the former New York Times columnist, in which he said that china’s economy would surpass that of the US to become the world’s largest by the middle of the 21st century. he predicted that china’s economic growth would have a certain negative influence on the world’s economy. he said that if there were to be a power vacuum in the Pacific and Far eastern regions, china would take advantage of it as an opportunity to expand its regional sphere of interest. his observa-
tions have turned out to be prophetic. today, while there is a global fascination for china, the success of china’s national strategy employed so far and flowing from that its military strategy, needs to be studied and analysed so as to establish the veracity of global concerns regarding china’s conduct and stance in the future. As a first step, strategic and military thinkers need to study the evolution and development of china’s military thought through the ages which would indicate the trend of china’s military strategy and give an insight into the mental conditionings of china’s military leadership and their soldiery. this article briefly deals with the evolution of china’s military thought in the following context:
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the warring states era maoist military thought People’s War under modern conditions Active defence Local wars under high-tech conditions Local wars under conditions of “informatisation”
The Warring States Era chinese have their own unique perceptions, which may be difficult to appreciate without an examination of their ancient military thought and ancient statecraft. recent chinese writings about the future security environment have referred to “the warring state era” in chinese history which pertains to the period 475-221 bc. During this age, the
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COV E R STO R Y PHOTOGRAPHS: PLA, Wikipedia
classics of chinese statecraft was produced and it was also the time when multi-state competition to become powerful, featured schemes and plots, small wars, inter-state conferences, treaties and anarchy. china’s military authors have called the future multipolar world quite similar to the “warring states” era and have declared that the future security environment resembles the warring states era in many ways. the Director of research at the General Staff Department of the PLA has published six volumes of the studies on ancient statecraft in 1996 that contained specific advice of how to comprehend the current and future security environment. In this context, china’s concept of “comprehensive national Power” and the influence of Sun tzu’s Art of War are also important driving factors. Comprehensive National Power (CNP): this is considered an essential aspect of assessing the security environment. It is said to determine the rank order of power held by the various warring states. the current chinese concept of cnP was invented in the 1980s but stems from chinese traditional military philosophy. by cnP, it generally means the sum total of the powers or strengths of a country in economy, military affairs, science and technology, education and resources and its influence (china Institute of contemporary International relations 2000). In a more abstract manner, it refers to the combination of all the powers possessed by a country for the survival and development of a sovereign state, including material and ideational ethos and international influence as well (huang Shuofeng,1999). Sun tzu identified ‘five things’ and ‘seven stratagems’ that govern the outcome of war. Similarly, Wu Zi wrote about six conditions in which if the other sides’ strength was greater, war should be avoided. Ancient chinese strategists also attempted to help their country achieve dominance through war avoidance strategies. the chinese are of the view that calculating cnP can aid a nation for war as well as for coordinating a political and diplomatic offensive during a crisis in peacetime. Sun Tzu’s Art of War was written 2,000 years ago. It throws light on general principles of how the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) may fight in the future. Another source frequently referred by chinese military thinkers is the 36 military strategies or stratagems, the last of which is “running away as the best choice. evade the enemy to preserve the troops. the Army retreats: no blame. It does not violate the normal practice of war.” other stratagems include deception, ingenuity and stealth—the characteristics which are found in the Art of War and later in the works of mao Zedong. these ancient and modern texts constitute the military heritage that is imprinted on the soldiery before they enter service and then throughout their professional military education experience. the Art of War begins by proclaiming that “war is a matter of vital importance to the state… It is mandatory that it be studied thoroughly.” PLA demonstrates this idea by the degree of planning it undertakes prior to any military operation, or an exercise. Sun tzu’s main contribution can be attributed in the field of military strategy where he argued that “the best policy is to take a state intact” and “to subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill”. While overt military strength is important, other aspects of national power are essential to waging war.
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Maoist Military Thought mao wrote on every aspect of the military; the philosophy of war, strategy, tactics, organisation, logistics, the importance of man in warfare, the relationship between the army and the society, between the party and the army, and so forth. Yet mao was never attracted to the military profession. his introduction to warfare and armed struggle came when he concluded that it was the only way to respond to the repres-
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PLA Armour drill
PLA soldiers in Shenyang
sion of the chinese peasantry. Later, his red Army was also engaged in several battles with the Japanese Army. he gained his knowledge and experience of war and in his armed struggle against vastly superior enemies both in terms of numbers as well as the quality of weaponry. thus he accumulated enormous experience to expound a theory which fused politics and warfare. most of mao’s writings, the published ones belong to the era between the Zunyi conference of 1935, when his military ‘line’ became the party’s ‘line’ and the end of civil war in 1949. During that period, he developed several concepts of war as a social product; war as a form of politics with bloodshed; the necessity for the weak to engage in a protracted war with a powerful enemy; the establishment of ‘red’ bases where the entire population could be mobilised for a total war; the concentration of a superior force to attack the enemy’s weaknesses; treating the enemy as a supplier of weapons; treating the soldiers humanely and giving them political education; party control of the armed forces which were geographically scattered; the three strategic phases of protracted war: strategic defensive to conserve one’s strength, strategic consolidation to build up strength and finally the strategic offensive to annihilate the enemy and emerge victorious. he prescribed the style of war for each phase, that is, guerrilla wars for the phase of strategic defensive, conventional war of movement or mobile warfare during the consolidation phase and then stand-up warfare by divisional strength and above during the strategic offensive phase. During all these phases, mao emphasised the importance of man over machine (weapons) which he was later to call the ‘spiritual atom bomb’. the belief in the ultimate victory of the people despite an adverse balance of forces meant that for china all wars would become
People’s War under modern conditions was preached as a doctrine of necessity rather than a move welcomed by the military protracted wars in which the people’s power would ultimately prevail. Another implication of the belief in the ultimate victory of the people was regarding the concept of defeat. total destruction did not mean defeat and chairman mao believed that so long as the marxist-Leninist ideology survived in the human mind, military forces could be built up from the scratch to continue the struggle. mao’s political goals and strategic doctrine was therefore derived from the marxism-Leninism—mao Zedong thought and these in turn determined china’s military capability.
People’s War the doctrine of People’s War was derived and developed during the Japanese War (191345) in china. It is a doctrine for asymmetric wars, a recipe for the weak to resist the strong. It is a doctrine of defensive war to be fought on chinese territory, of fighting one or more invaders with total mobilisation of china’s population. In the worst case scenario, in a nuclear setting, it envisaged the involvement of the following steps: l A pre-emptive nuclear first-strike against chinese nuclear installations, cities and industrial centres. l the enemy invades the chinese territory in force.
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other adversaries invade china from other directions. l the PLA opposes the invasion at the borders, while simultaneously the general mobilisation of the people is ordered. l the PLA forces organised in military regions manage their own theatres of war to contain the threat. l When the enemy penetrates deeper, they would encounter the second echelon, armies organised in the military districts. l Deeper inland, the People’s militia will be ready to fight by harassing the enemy, cutting his supply lines, providing intelligence about his movements, laying ambushes, and generally fighting a protracted guerrilla war. l the actions of People’s militia would give the time for regular forces to be mustered and reorganised in the depth areas for counter attacks and counter strokes. l even if the enemy were to occupy certain towns and cities, the wide expanse of china’s countryside would be adequate to wage a protracted war. l the doctrine envisages that the enemy will be finally forced to withdraw from chinese territory. A similar strategy would be applied in defensive non-nuclear settings. “People’s War” doctrine is not for application for proactive offensive settings beyond the borders of china. In any case two out of the three elements which constituted the land forces during mao’s time i.e. the Provincial Armies and People’s militia were designed and equipped to operate locally in their own areas. only the Field Armies could be employed beyond the chinese borders. People’s War also demands a high degree of political, economic and military decentralisation. this is achieved through political decentralisation, the key to which is internalisation of communist Party’s basic line. Some aspects of warfighting can be understood through the series of aphorisms of mao—“our strategy is to pit one against ten; our tactics is to pit ten against one. And never fight a battle unprepared. And again concentrate two, three, four or even ten times the enemy forces.” other aphorisms deal with the tactics for guerrilla warfare, the establishment of bases in the countryside, concepts of envelopment and annihilation and so forth.
People’s War under Modern Conditions It took two to three years after the death of mao for a clear pattern to emerge. In october 1979, the then minister of Defence Xu Xiangqian wrote, “to master the advanced modern military thinking, we must combine marxism-Leninism-mao Zedong thoughts with the practice of modern warfare and realistically solve problems regarding the theory and practice of building a People’s Army and launching a People’s War under modern conditions.” modernisation of PLA and the adaptation of new ideas to the doctrine of People’s War were seen as complementary rather than to the detriment of national defence. the dramatic cuts to the military funds in the 1981 budget compelled the PLA to submit to the Party’s modernisation priorities. Financial constraint revealed that the task of modernising a huge army of nearly 250 combat divisions and 2,800 independent regiments in the main and local forces to acceptable levels was impossible. Accordingly, People’s War offered china a way out of the above dilemma as its doctrine relied on the masses to oppose an invading enemy. People’s War under modern conditions was therefore preached as a doctrine of necessity rather than a move welcomed by the military.
Active Defence “Active defence” is sometimes called china’s “military strategy” or “strategic guideline”. even though ‘active defence’ advocates that china will strike after the enemy has struck, yet the line between accepting enemy’s first strike and use of pre-emption to defend
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COV E R STO R Y Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed the Combined Commanders Conference of the Indian Armed Forces in New Delhi on October 11, 2011. Among the many issues addressed by him, the aspect of equipping the armed forces to take care of all threats to the nation was mentioned. He said, “It is equally the responsibility of the government to equip our armed forces with all the necessary means to meet all threats to our nation, including those which go beyond conventional warfare.” It is in this context that we wish to point that every year, during such occasions, the PM or the Defence Minister invariably promises to suitably equip the armed forces with the requisite weaponry. However, the sad story is that today the hollowness that exists in the inventory of weapons and munitions of the Indian Army is shocking. The Times of India on October 18, 2011, reported that while “the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force may be on the modernisation track, albeit much slower than desired, but the Army seems to be floundering.
The 1.13-million-strong force needs as much as `41,000 crore to even meet the shortages in equipment and ammunition.” It is also a fact that the Army had painted a grim picture in its Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12) review, pointing out the operational voids that exist in a wide variety of areas which include artillery, aviation, air defence and night fighting equipment, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), precision guided munitions (PGMs) and specialised tank and small arms ammunition. While this shortage of conventional weapons and munitions is bad enough, the PM pointed towards the sophistication of the terrorists and the emerging threats. He said, “Today terrorist groups are highly networked, nimble footed and more lethal. This calls for appropriate responses. Cyber threats are emerging as a major source of worry. Cyber and information warfare could qualitatively change the concept of a battlefield. Nuclear proliferation and nuclear security remain a serious threat in our neighbourhood.” The unfortunate fact
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remains that in these fields too we are worse than our adversaries. China is far ahead of India in offensive and defensive aspects of cyber warfare while Pakistan too can boast of a better cyber warfare capability. In the nuclear and missile arenas, China does not consider India a threat as it is aware of its strengths and our weaknesses, while Pakistan congratulates itself on being able to effectively deter India’s conventional capability. So when will our political leaders stop indulging in verbosity and start taking proactive measures to improve our infrastructure at the borders and make the armed forces more capable of facing the current and future threats.
Lt General (Retd) V.K. Kapoor
PHOTOGRAPH: Wikipedia
china is blurred. mao defined ‘Active Defence’ in 1936 as: “Active Defence is also known as offensive defence, or defence through decisive engagements. Passive defence is known as pure defence. Passive defence is actually a spurious kind of defence and the only real defence is active defence, defence for the purpose of counter attacking and taking the offensive—militarily speaking our warfare, consists of alternate use of defensive and the offensive. In our case, it makes no difference whether the offensive is said to follow or to precede the defensive, because the crux of the matter is to break the encirclement and suppression.” In 1947, mao compiled ten “principles of operations” learnt through two decades of his own combat experience. these principals stressed the red Army’s style of fighting and advocated destruction of enemy through concentration of forces, situational awareness and detailed preparation. these are: l Attack the dispersed isolated enemy forces and attack the concentrated strong enemy forces later. l take small and medium cities and extensive rural areas first, take big cities later. l Destroying enemy’s effective strength should be the main objective; do not make holding or seizing a city or place as the main objective. l In every battle, concentrate an absolutely superior force (two, three, four and sometimes even five or six times the enemy’s strength), encircle the enemy forces completely, strive to wipe them out thoroughly and do not let any escape from the net. l In special circumstances, use the method of dealing with the enemy crushing blows, that is, concentrate all the strength to make a frontal attack on one or both of his flanks, with the aim of wiping out one part and routing another so that our Army can swiftly move its troops to smash other enemy forces. Strive to avoid battles of attrition in which we lose more than we gain or only break. l Fight no battle unprepared, fight no battle you are not sure of winning; make every effort to be well prepared for each battle, make every effort to ensure victory in the given set of conditions. l Survive to wipe out the enemy when he is on the move. At the same time, pay attention to the tactics of positional attack and capture enemy fortified points and cities. l With regard to attacking cities, resolutely seize all enemy fortified points and cities that are weakly defended. At opportune moments, seize all enemy fortified points and cities defended with moderate strength, provided the circumstances permit. As for all strongly defended enemy fortified points and cities, wait until the conditions are ripe and then take them. l replenish our strength with all the arms
Mao statue in Lijang, China
Local Wars under Conditions of Informatisation china’s Defence White Paper 2008 stressed the need for modernisation throughout china’s armed forces, achievable in part through new acquisition programmes, but more generally and importantly through a process of “informatisation”, a coordinated, network-centred enhancement programme. the network-centred approach is considered vital for optimising component contributions to both offensive and defensive operations, and particularly critical to success in “local wars”. china is developing new, technologically advanced equipment, using an ambitious and exponential “leapfrog development” programme. In doing so, it notes the importance of previous modernisation in allowing a significant reduction in the size of its armed forces, with the inference that further force reduction may be possible. According to the document, the modernisation of china’s armed forces is focused on several strategic areas. “china is stepping up the composite development of mechanisation and informationisation,” it says. “china is working to develop new and high-tech weaponry and equipment, training talented people, conducting military training in conditions of informationisation and building a modern logistics system.”
US Annual Report 2011 to Congress and most of the personnel captured from the enemy. our army’s main sources of manpower and material are at the front. l make good use of the intervals between campaigns to rest, train and consolidate our troops. our strategy and tactics are based on People’s War; no army opposed to the people can use our strategy and tactics.
Local War under Modern High-tech Conditions new regulations were promulgated in 1999 to fight wars under modern high-tech conditions. mao’s basic military principles were updated to conform to military developments and new technologies of the late 20th century. After issue of the new regulations, the national Defence University published a book entitled On Military Campaigns to be used to instruct PLA officers on their new warfighting doctrine. this book provides detailed insights as to how PLA intends to conduct operations at the operational level of war at army group and higher levels in the future. the book addresses itself to larger principles but some tactics can be inferred. In time of war or national emergency, war zone headquarters will be established based on the existing military regions to command forces from all services in their respective
‘Our strategy is to pit one against ten; our tactics is to pit ten against one. And never fight a battle unprepared. And again concentrate two, three, four or even ten times the enemy forces.’ — Mao Zedong regions. War Zone hQ are “joint” organisations as are military regions but the boundaries may be redrawn based on the strategic missions. Within a war zone, there will be a direction of main effort as well as supporting directions (to achieve secondary missions). the commanders for the main direction along with the commanders from the services participating in the operation would be under the overall war zone commander. War zones have anumber of Group Armies or what we call “corps”.
the term “informatisation” officially entered the PLA’s lexicon in 2002 when the then chinese communist Party (ccP) General Secretary and central military commission (cmc) chairman Jiang Zemin, in a speech before the 16th Party congress, referred to the concept as necessary for the PLA’s rapid modernisation and for enabling integrated joint operations. Jiang’s address recognised that moving china’s military on a path toward informatisation would require integrating the entire PLA with common information systems, as well as a new organisational model for war fighting. the PLA formally institutionalised the concept in 2004. PLA analyses of the US and coalition operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have re-emphasised the importance of informatisation and joint operations. the US Annual report 2011 to congress specifies that over the past decade, china’s military has benefited from the robust investment in modern hardware and technology. many modern systems have reached maturity and others will become operational in the next few years. consequent to the intense acquisition period of the past decade, the next ten years from 2011 to 2020 are likely to be critical to the PLA as it attempts to integrate many new and complex platforms and adopt modern operational concepts including joint warfare and network-centric warfare.
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T EC H N O LO GY
Active Protection System Armour protection has substantially improved in the recent years. Tanks, earlier made of steel plates, are now protected by more complex composite armour, a sandwich of various alloys and ceramics. Composite and hybrid armour systems have been adopted for tanks by improving their protection against kinetic and shaped-charge threats. PHOTOGRAPH: Wikimedia
Merkava Mark IV
n LT GENERAL (RETD) NARESH CHAND
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AGGer AntI-tAnK mISSILe system of Soviet origin was used by the egyptian armed forces against Israeli armoured forces during the Yom Kippur War of october 1973, and caused massive destruction to their tanks. there seemed to be no protection against Sagger as it could penetrate any existing armour. Armoured fighting vehicles (AFvs) have been destroyed by infantry with weapons like the m1 bazooka of the US during Second World War but the destruction was never achieved at such a large scale as during the Yom Kippur War where about 840 Israeli tanks were destroyed in 20 days. the anti-tank gun and missile systems became more and more lethal but there were not many changes in the AFv material. however, with advancements in technology, many new materials and sensors have emerged to provide better protection to AFvs on the battlefield. Armour protection has substantially improved in the recent years. tanks, earlier made of steel plates, are now protected by more complex composite armour, a sandwich of various alloys and ceramics. composite and hybrid armour systems have been adopted for tanks by improving their protection against kinetic and shaped-charge threats. Passive and active protection has evolved over a period of time. Non–Explosive Reactive Armour: A new type of non-explosive reactive armour, known as nxrA has evolved. this uses “energetic” but non-detonating rubber-like materials. Sandwiched between hard plates, they discharge a rapidly expanding gas to absorb energy from a warhead. the gas pushes out the external layer of armour so that it strikes the spike at an angle which deflects or reduces the energy of the impact. non-explosive reactive armour typically provide less stopping power, but they have an advantage in countering “tandem charge” munitions from systems like the US shoulder-launched Javelin and aircraft-launched hellfire missiles. once a brick of explosive armour detonates, that spot becomes more
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vulnerable to a second charge carried towards the tail end of the same munition and detonates about 500 microseconds later. In contrast, rubbery non-explosive armour often remains partially intact. cage armour can provide additional protection against tandem charge. to counter russia’s rPG 29, some european Union countries are developing electric armour but it is still in a very early stage of development. Some new materials like hard ceramic composites have been developed made from rubber and epoxy resins. A ceramic armour called Dorchester Level 2, used on british challenger 2 tanks, reportedly provides three times more resistance to some strikes as the same weight of steel. SJh Projects, a small british company, has developed a so-called “stone sponge” material which is fixed to a vehicle’s undercarriage and partially absorbs the blast off an improvised explosive device. there is continuous competition between developments in AFv protection technology and AFv destruction technology. According to Dynamit nobel Defence, Panzerfaust 3 shoulder-fired anti-tank guided missile strikes its target with a velocity of
more than 720 kmph, its exploding warhead then shoots out a spike of copper at more than 7 km a second (25,200 kmph) with enough energy to blast through a metre of steel, or any other current AFv.
Active Protection Systems Explosive-Reactive Armour (ERA): It was first used in the 1980s by the Israelis and covers parts of an AFv with bricks of plastic explosives, sandwiched between metal plates. When a warhead struck the outer metal plate, the specially shaped explosives in between, detonated and forced the sandwich to rapidly bulge as the plates moved apart. the aim was to shear the armourpiercing shell into bits, which would then lose their effectiveness for penetrating the armour. however, this created a side effect as the shrapnel from the explosive brick would injure or kill infantry soldiers or civilians who were in proximity. thus the US Forces do not employ AFvs like the bradley or the Stryker fighting vehicles which have explosive reactive armour in civilian areas. Dynamit nobel Defence of Germany has developed a metal-free explosive armour
named cLArA that limits the number of such flying fragments but so far no other details are available. Some russian engineers have claimed that they have developed a reactive armour, which requires only a quarter of the amount of explosives as compared to its earlier version and provides the same amount of protection but it reacts comparatively faster. however, the underlying danger is that its faster-reacting, more-sensitive explosives might detonate accidentally if hit by a bullet or another vehicle. Trophy Active Protection System (APS): the APS is the result of a 10-year collaborative development programme between rafael Armament Development Authority and Israel Aircraft Industries/elta rafael is the prime contractor for the programme. the trophy system can detect, classify, track and destroy all types of advanced antiarmour threats, including anti-tank guided missiles and rockets at a suitable distance away from the targeted AFv platform. In certain situations, it can destroy the anti-tank munition without detonation thus leaving no residual effect on the platform. the system comprises of a sensor and a hard kill mechanism. the sensor is an elta radar connected to four antennas located on all the four sides of the AFv thus providing all round protection including top attack. the hard kill part consists of two elements developed by rafael which are located on either side of the platform. the trophy radar carries out a search and on detecting the threat carries out threat analysis. It will start tracking the threat only if it is going to hit the AFv. the hard kill countermeasure is then activated to neutralise the threat at a safe distance from the platform to cause minimum collateral damage. this is an important requirement and as per the company, the maximum injury it will cause to the dismounted infantrymen will be less than one per cent. Its integration is being carried with the merkava mk 4's battle-management system where it can react itself or pass the information to another AFv which is threatened. APS can also be fitted to a variety of AFv platforms. efforts are on to reduce the weight to make it suitable for lighter platforms like the Stryker. Weight is also an important characteristic and so such ‘add on’ systems do not impinge on the manoeuvrability of the AFvs.
PHOTOGRAPH: Rafael
Other Developments in APS Trophy Active Protection System
An APS has been under development in the US named Integrated Army Active Protection System. United Defence Land Platforms and bAe Systems of the UK are developing the sensor systems, and northrop Grumman is developing the hard kill component. ‘Iron curtain’ is another active-protection system which has been developed for US Forces by Artis. It uses radar and optical sensors to calculate the trajectory of an incoming warhead, and then intercepts it with a projectile fired from a roof-rack. the impact then breaks up the warhead before it hits the AFv. russia’s Kolomna-based engineering Design bureau (KbP) together with other allied enterprises have designed and produced the Arena tank active protection system which belongs to the latest generation of russian APS, together with Drozd-2 APS. Arena is intended to protect tanks from antitank grenades and AtGms, including some variants of top-attack AtGms.
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INTERVIEW
‘Trophy is not an add on system’ Rafael’s Trophy active protection system is type classified, combat proven and works under all weather conditions. In an interview with SP’s Land Forces, Lova Drori, Executive Vice President, Rafael, threw light on the Trophy countermeasure technology. SP’s: What is the concept of the active protection system? Why has it been invented? Lova Drori (Drori): trophy’s countermeasure is based on direct hit of multiple explosive formed penetrators (meFP) at the threat’s warhead, causing disintegration of the warhead from the missile and in most cases without missile detonation. It was invented since the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) concluded that there is no other way or technology to protect a combat vehicle 360 degree against chemical energy (ce) threats.
when the engine is switched off? Drori: Yes, trophy APS is type classified and combat proven. It works under all weather conditions as well as when the vehicle’s engine is switched off.
SP’s: What is the danger for the accompanying infantry who are outside the tank or ICV? Drori: Since the trophy is activated only if the threat is about to hit the vehicle, it hits directly the coming missile’s warheads and PHOTOGRAPH: Rafael
Trophy on Hummer
SP’s: Does the system take care of flat as well as inclined trajectory attacks? Drori: trophy will kill all known anti-tank guided missiles (AtGm), anti-tank rockets (Atr) and-tank high explosive anti-tank (heAt) rounds, in all trajectories and without any limitations.
SP’s: Is the system automatic when it is switched on? Drori: Yes. SP’s: Is the whole vehicle (tank or infantry combat vehicle) protected or only selected portions are protected? Drori: the whole vehicle is protected while enabling the vehicle’s commander to neutralise a selected sector.
SP’s: What role does the range of the attackers weapon play in the protection system? Is a short-range of attack by a hand held weapon more dangerous? Drori: trophy will kill all the above mentioned threats, including very short-range shooting.
SP’s: Is it applicable round the clock in all weather conditions? Is the vehicle protected
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SP’s: What kind of design does this equipment have? Is it an “add on” equipment and detachable? Drori: trophy is not an “add on” system. however, it can be integrated to almost any medium (16 tonne) or heavy weight vehicle SP’s: What are the advantages offered by your Trophy system versus the Arena or the Shtora system of Russia? Drori: Shtora is a soft kill system that is capable of defeating relatively small number of missiles and cannot defeat anti-tank rockets (Atr/rPG) at all. Arena will not cover 360 degrees and has a lot of collateral damage.
SP’s: How is target detection and tracking done in an active protection system? Drori: trophy uses radar technology (four antennas to cover 360 degrees) to detect and track the coming threat. trophy countermeasure will be activated only if the threat is about to hit the protected vehicle and the radar delivers to the crew an exact location of missile launcher.
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in most cases will not cause threat detonation—the danger to accompanying infantry is minimal and in any case—much less than if the missile will hit the vehicle.
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RAISING DAY
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Turning 250 The First Battalion of the Indian Army’s Parachute Regiment celebrated its Raising Day on October 17 PHOTOGRAPHS: Indian Army
n LT GENERAL (RETD) P.C. KATOCH
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IrSt bAttALIon, the PArAchUte regiment (Special Forces), in short the 1 PArA (SF), is the oldest battalion of the Indian Army. the battalion celebrated its 250th raising Day on october 17, 2011, preceded by a host of activities including a mountaineering expedition, an overseas remembrance expedition, a documentary film, special cover and stamp and a multidimensional rally with sky diving and underwater diving.
Raising, Designations & Honours the battalion traces its origin to the madras Army of the east India company, having been raised as the eighth battalion, the coastal Sepoys by captain cooke at trichinopoly in october 1761. eight years later, the unit was renamed as eighth carnatic battalion; and before the century was out, its designation had been changed twice—in 1770 to Seventh carnatic battalion and in 1784 to Seventh madras battalion. It rose to give a glorious account of itself, passing through centuries and emerging through incessant campaigning as an epitome of valour, loyalty and military traditions. the designation of the battalion changed more than a dozen times (see box).
Regimental Colour 7th Madras Infantry replaced by the new regimental colour in green on November 10, 1903
Regimental Colour 67th Punjabis replaced by 1st Battalion 2nd Punjab Regimental colour on March 20, 1939
Milestones 1761 – raised as 8th battalion of coast Sepoys (cooke-ki-Paltan) 1769 – 8th carnatic battalion. 1770 – 7th carnatic battalion. 1784 – 7th madras battalion. 1796 – 1st battalion of madras native Infantry. 1824 – 7th regiment of madras native Infantry. 1885 – 7th regiment of madras Infantry. 1901 – 7th madras Infantry. 1903 – 67th Punjabis. 1922 – 1st battalion 2nd Punjab regiment. 1946 – 1st battalion Punjab regiment (Para). 1952 – 1st battalion the Parachute regiment. 1978 – 1st battalion the Parachute regiment (commando) 1995 – 1st battalion the Parachute regiment (Special Forces)
Kings Colour 67th Punjabis replaced by 1st Battalion 2nd Punjab Regiment Kings Colour on March 20, 1939
change of name did not however change the identity of the unit as the battalion fought from honour to honour—10 battle honours and eight theatre honours even as colours changed over the years (see box). In the first 60 years, the battalion fought with hyder Ali of mysore, tipu Sultan, the marathas and the French in the battles of coimbatore, Seringapatanam, Pondicherry, mehidpur and Assenghur that were great victories for the british. Later, it sailed and saw active service in ceylon in 1795. In 1824, the battalion participated in the First Angloburmese War, winning battle honour Ava and earning the badge of Galley with the motto Khushki-wuh-tarri (by land and sea). thereafter, it operated thrice in burma, also serving in Penang, malacca and Singapore. In 1903, the composition of the unit was altered to Punjabis, the designation changed to 67th Punjabis and the new century was heralded by marching 1,750 kilometres to Fort Lockhart and vigorous campaigns in World War I, the battalion fought the siege of Kut-al-Amara and fierce battles against turks at tukse marh, Shumran, tigris, Qisil robat, Kudarrah and nasiriyah. Later, it saw service in Salonica, batum, tiflis and chanak before returning to India in 1920, having earned battle honour of Kut-al-Amara and theatre honour of mesopotamia and winning 65 gal-
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>> R A I S I N G D A Y / B M S lantry awards including four DSos, one mc and 60 mention-in-Despatches. World War II saw the unit again deployed in middle east with actions fought in british Somaliland, followed by battle of Al Alamein in 1942, fighting in berbera, Alexandria, winning three military crosses. In 1944, the unit fought in Italy at modina, Pratelle Pass, San martino Sogliano, mount Farneto, casa betini, trieste, Donato, vignola, teodorano, casa blanca and clemente, displaying indomitable spirit in the advance to cassino, to capture the Idice bridge head in 1945 repulsing counter attacks by Germans. the battalion received official commendation from Field marshal Alexander, c-in-c Allied Forces in Italy and 53 gallantry awards. In 1946, the battalion converted to paratroopers. the first Indian commanding officer was Lt colonel (later major General) t. mahadeo Singh, DSo. In 1947, the muslim companies of the battalion went to Pakistan while Sikh and Dogra companies from 1/12th Frontier Force regiment joined the unit. In Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the battalion fought at Shelatang, badgam, baramula, Uri, beri Pattan, nowshera, Kotli, Jhangar, Grund Gala, mendhar, Poonch, Pir badesar and bhimbhar Gali, earning battle honour Poonch, theatre honour J&K 194748 and winning seven vir chakras and 41 mention-in-Despatches. having weathered the rigours of Jammu and Kashmir operations, the battalion sailed to Gaza for a Un mission in 1957 under Lt colonel (later Lt General) I.S. Gill, mc and was commended by the Un Secretary General. For some of the veterans of World War II, the sight and sounds of Port Said were not unfamiliar, having fought at el Alamein and later crossing the mediterranean to fight in Italy. the Secretary General of United nations organisation, Dag hammarskjold after a visit to the battalion stated, “I am very much impressed with the military efficiency of the Paratroopers.” the battalion returned to India in 1961 and celebrated its bicentenary to mark 200 years of unbroken service, being the first unit of the Indian Army to do so. In the same year, it led
Battle Honours
Theatre Honours
Pre-Independence carnatic (1780-84) mysore (1790-92) Ava (1824-26) Kut-al-Amara (1915) berbera (1940) Pratelle Pass (1944) San martino Sogliano (1944) Idice bridge head (1945)
Pre-Independence burma (1885-87) mesopotamia (1915-18) Abyssinia (1940-41) british Somali Land (1940) north Africa (1940-43) Italy (1943-45)
Post-Independence Poonch (1947) haji Pir (1965)
Post-Independence J & K (1947-48) J & K (1965)
Indira Gandhi with the gallant victors of Hajipir Pass in 1965
Indira Gandhi signs the visitors book in Officers Mess
Indira Gandhi with officers of the battalion
the advance on Goa. overcoming opposition, Lt colonel Sucha Singh, vrc, mc received the surrender of Portuguese troops. more glory came in 1965 when the battalion attacked and captured Sank, Ledwali Gali, Sar and Sawanpatri as prelude to capture hajipir Pass under the dashing major (later Lt General) ranjit Singh Dyal, earning the battle honour haji Pir, an mvc for Dyal and another seven awards. In 1971, the battalion captured Pakistani posts of Peereke, Gatti bharola and Amin bhaini, eight awards including two vir chakras. In 1975, the battalion led operations for merger of Sikkim with India, winning three awards including a Shaurya chakra. In 1978, the battalion was reorganised into a commando battalion. In 1984, the battalion participated in operation blue Star. From 1987 to 1989, the battalion operated in Sri Lanka as part of Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) and on return was repeatedly deployed in counter-insurgency operations in the northeast and J&K killing/capturing over 130 terrorist, hostage rescue, capture of weapons and warlike stores, and successful raids. A daring rescue operation was undertaken in 1992 to rescue 10 passengers stranded in a suspended cable car at timber trail resorts at Parwanoo in himachal Pradesh that got global coverage. In real life, major I.J. crasto of the battalion displayed exemplary courage in landing on the stranded cable car by a mI-17 helicopter and rescued all the passengers safely. Post-Independence, the battalion has earned about 386 awards including one maha vir chakra, one Kirti chakra, 11 vir chakras, six Kirti chakras, 17 Shaurya chakras, 64 Sena medals, two vishisht Seva medals, 38 mention-in-Despatches and 246 commendation cards (all types). As part of the 250th anniversary celebrations, a 20member team of the battalion, under major raj S.S. rajpurohit, scaled mount bhagirathi II from may 23-25, 201. the trail of glory will go on endlessly! (The author was commissioned into and commanded 1 PARA (SF))
Exploiting Technology for Mission Accomplishment The BMS will provide the Indian Army an integration tool supporting every level of military users ranging from individual soldier to Battalion Group/Combat Group Commander in the tactical battle area displaying in near real time an appropriate, common and comprehensive tactical picture by integrating inputs from all elements of the battle group n LT GENERAL (RETD) P.C. KATOCH
www.spslandforces.net
T
he InDIAn ArmY AcQUIrInG the battlefield management system (bmS) inched a bit closer with the Defence Acquisition council (DAc) clearing the bmS proposal as a ‘make’ project. Since future military operations will be combined and joint comprising of all arms and inter-service elements, the requirement will be of units and subunits of other arms to operate subordinated or in cooperation with each other, accelerated decision-action cycle and an ability to conduct operations simultaneously within an all arms group. the bmS will provide the Indian Army an integration tool supporting every level of military users ranging from individual soldier to battalion Group/combat Group commander in the tactical battle area (tbA) displaying in near real time an appropriate, common and comprehensive tactical
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picture by integrating inputs from all elements of the battle group. It will be possible to pick up the enemy much before he picks you up, see the target and fire direct in quick time using the best weaponry available, as also monitor the after effects. As such, fielding of the bmS will be an important facet of capability building in the Indian Army.
Project BMS the concept is to have an ideal system which should be able to integrate the means of surveillance and engagement through an automated decision support and command and control system. the concept aims to exploit technology for mission accomplishment in the tbA by rapid acquisition, processing and transfer of information, enhance situational awareness, acquire capability to react to information, sharpen ability to synchronise and direct fire, plus establish and maintain overwhelming operational tempo. Project
bmS was envisaged to enable a faster decision process by commanders at all echelons, enable better decision due to reliable operational information provided in real time and have the ability to quickly close the sensor to shooter loop. the overall scope of the system is to integrate, test and field a bmS duly integrated with other components of the tacc3I. the system customised to the specific Indian Army requirement, needs to be first integrated and tested in a controlled environment for which a test bed laboratory will need to be established. After testing in the laboratory conditions, validation trials of the system will be carried out in field conditions. After successful validation of the system in field, the process for equipping will begin. the mission capabilities being looked at are as follows: l Provide a command and control system spanning the tbA spreading across individuals, detachments, combat platforms,
sensors, subunits, units to the battalion commander/regiment commander. l Achieve faster reaction capability and flexibility in command and control by providing information automatically at the right place in the right time, thereby compressing observe, orient, decide, and act (ooDA) loop. l Provide a strong foundation for making decisions based on near real time, consistent and well-structured information, thereby enhancing the information handling capability of commanders at all levels. l Strengthen information exchange by having a strong messaging and replication mechanism. l Improve and modernise presentation of information in near real time. l Integrate with other command and control system. the bmS will comprise a tactical hand
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BMS
held computer with individual soldiers and tactical computers at battle Group headquarters and combat vehicles. the computers will be integrated employing application and database servers connected on a dataenabled communication network. the system will enable generation of common operational picture by integrating inputs from all relevant sources within a battle group by integrated use of geographic information system (GIS) and global positioning system (GPS). the bmS will be a highly mobile system which is able to network itself by integration of components and provide a high data rate. the communications should not interfere with the legacy communication equipment and should easily be retrofitted into combat platform. the communications system should optimally utilise the bandwidth available for military communications involving voice and data including video streaming and imageries. It should be scalable to ensure its availability to all elements and range from being man-portable to being fitted in combat vehicles. the initial planned deployment schedule of Phase I (establishment of the test bed lab and field trials at test bed location of one combat Group and three Infantry battalion Groups by 2012) has already gone haywire because of the vital time lost due to indecision in the delimitation between the bmS and the futuristic infantry soldier as a system (F-InSAS) and concurrent fallout in re-ordering of the feasibility study. the Infantry insists in handling computer and radio subsystems plus software integration of Project F-InSAS by themselves and unfortunately, the situation was allowed to perpetuate due to lack of understanding of technology in higher echelons.
priority as it would be the very beginning of large-scale private industry partnership in the defence sector. though PSUs too are a part of the rUrs, individual private industry including consortiums, have an equal chance. In all probability, minimum two developers will be chosen to develop the prototypes. It is equally important to understand that if the prototypes are not of the required standard and found wanting; the project will then go the DrDo way, delaying the overall project by yet another few years. Private industry must realise that considering the bmS will be fielded pan Army at the battalion/regiment level, the overall requirement will be colossal. more importantly, a similar system will eventually be required by the Paramilitary Forces (PmF)
Inadequacy in understanding the technology at the top echelons is a real problem that the Indian Army must look at seriously
Current Status the bmS has been cleared as a ‘make’ project by the DAc. the DG Acquisition, ministry of Defence (moD), will now order constitution of an Integrated Project management team (IPmt) to undertake a study, following which an expression of interest (eoI) will be issued by the moD to the industry raksha Udyog ratnas (rUrs). Going by earlier norms, the IPmt report should take about 12 months, implying that the eoI can be expected to be issued by october 2012. considering the response time to the eoI (about three-four months), nomination of prototype developers plus development time (about 12 months) and the test bed, Phase 1 may be expected to be completed by 2015 (instead of 2012) provided no further hurdles are put. the cascading effect has already delayed completion of Phase II (equipping) from initial plan of 2017 to 2020 and Phase III (change management and upgradation of system) from 2022 to 2025 as per current status.
PHOTOGRAPH: General Dynamics
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It would be prudent for the Indian Army to focus on the following: l the bmS was required “yesterday”. Delay in processing the development and fielding would be at the cost of operational capability, including ongoing subconventional operations. l For Phase III of F-InSAS (dealing with computer and radio subsystems and software integration) Pmo F-InSAS should be moved out from DG infantry and placed directly under the DG Information Systems akin to the artillery command, control and communications system (AcccS) and air defence control and reporting system (ADc&rS). the ongoing effort to bulldoze F-InSAS independently in any case will be quashed by the moD-Finance particularly when Project bmS is already catering for even dismounted mechanised
Infantry. A full-fledged Pmo bmS is a must against existing gross inadequacy of two-three officers handling such a vital project. l Pmos are a global concept and with good reason. Scrapping the Pmo in DGIS (that were already posted with hard scale strengths) and renaming them in sections with still less officers on grounds of saving manpower has been most retrograde and indicates the inability to recognise information as a strategic source. It would be prudent to review this decision dispassionately discounting egos. l the bmS was required yesterday. the Army could have avoided delays. Inadequacy in understanding the technology at the top echelons is a real problem that the Indian Army must look at seriously. If this is not addressed, the bmS may get further delayed every time new incumbents take over as vice chief and the two Deputy chiefs, particularly if someone is hell bent to push the F-InSAS individually, disregarding the disadvantages in terms of time and costs including the requirement to develop yet another system to integrate the bmS and F-InSAS, if these are developed separately. l test bed for the bmS should be at full scale, down to the individual soldier. It is prudent to do this and then think of any elimination. l training for the personnel handling of the bmS needs to be well planned. besides individual digitised training packages, the Army needs to work out a comprehensive training package for these personnel. considering the numbers involved, such collective training will perhaps need to be decentralised at brigade/battalion level. l At some point of time we need to start thinking of interoperability with friendly foreign forcess we will be in partnership with for peace, especially under the Un flag. l
A project like the bmS is a multi-disciplinary process. various subsystems of the tactical command control and communication intelligence (tac c3I) like the command decision support system (cIDSS), AcccS, Air Defence control and reporting System (ADc&rS), battlefield surveillance system (bSS), electronic warfare system (eWS), etc have been under various stages of development and fielding in the Army at the brigade and above level. however, the net-centricity that would be achieved from the above will have little dividends if it is not optimised through a bmS at the battalions/regiments that are at the forefront and do the actual fighting in the tbA. We need to accelerate the development and fielding of the bmS as part of essential capability building of the Army.
It is extremely important for the private industry to take note that developments of such an important information systems project has come into a level playing field without the Defence research and Development organisation (DrDo) hijacking it ab initio for the very first time. the bmS is a finance intensive project and exact financial implication can only be holistically worked out at the end of Phase I only. however, the approximate cost of Phase I of the system was earlier estimated to be around `350 crore. therefore, what should be vital to the private industry is to invest heavily in research and development (r&D) and produce state-of-the-art prototypes well before issue of the eoI in october 2012. the project must be given top
SP’s LAND FORCES
The Army
The BMS has been cleared as a ‘make’ project by the DAC. The DG Acquisition will now order constitution of an IPMT to undertake a study, following which an expression of interest will be issued by the MoD to the industry.
Capacity Building
Private Industry
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and central Armed Police Forces (cAPF) involved in anti-terrorist operations if we are to achieve national net-centricity to counter the increasing asymmetric threats of terrorism, insurgencies and fourth generation warfare. the prototype should be developed as a suitable application on an intuitive operating system with GIS suitability customised to meet the military requirements. voice and data communications must be always up. computer hardware should be rugged and non-obtrusive with retro-fitment maintaining the platform integrity. System integration should include application software, data links with radio systems, integration of battalion/regiment level sensors battlefield surveillance radar (bFSr), thermal imagers, unmanned aerial vehicle and micro aerial vehicle (UAv/mAv) data, satellite imagery, etc.
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Transform National Security Apparatus The need to bring intelligence and geospatial information under the aegis of one single agency cannot be underestimated and should not be relegated to a later day. India must reach a base level to match its status as a regional power. PHOTOGRAPH: US Army
n LT GENERAL (RETD) P.C. KATOCH
the government in order to optimally exploit the available information in a geographic context. Stand-alone reliance can leave large gaps in intelligence which would be crucial at the time of critical decisionmaking. It is therefore essential that any agency entrusted with the task of producing geospatial intelligence should be multifaceted with representation from all agencies dealing with aspects of intelligence, cartography, oceanography, civic infrastructure creation, public utility/safety services and so on. cartography in an urban environment is a challenging task since there is lack of natural features that can be selected as control points plus the problem of line of sight for surveying. the requirements of user, especially security forces, are also very demanding in an urban setup. Layout of the sewage system, the power and telephone lines/distributors, other communication infrastructure, traffic conditions at various time of the day, location of medical and health centres, the demography, location of trouble spots, ethnic/communal break up of population, architectural drawings of the buildings, etc are the disparate sources of information which can enable a commander in taking logical decisions in case of a crisis.
T
he SecUrItY, economIc ProGreSS and well-being of the citizens of a country is closely interlinked with what intelligence gathering capability the country’s establishment has. Intelligence plays a prominent role in the decision-making process of any organisation including the military and such geospatial intelligence is vital to the command, control, communications, computers, information, intelligence (c4I2) system. the technological revolution particularly in the field of information technology and 21st century challenges to security including expanding threat of international terrorism has forced governments’ world over to adopt organisational restructuring to cope with such threats. the emphasis is on state to state cooperation and exchange of information rather than pursuing an independent agenda since these threats are transnational, omni-present and can occur any time. the geographic database is vast; no more restricted to areas adjoining international boundaries and also includes own territory. therefore, the amount of information that needs to be processed to filter meaningful intelligence is colossal. this makes exploitation of technology essential in order to facilitate real time intelligence. conventional approach will not do since it will be time taking and resource consuming. Automated decision support systems can process and form a cohesive picture from large amount of data in fairly short span of time, thereby permitting retention of initiative. the aim of any such system should therefore be to fuse data from multiple and sometimes even unrelated sources to be able to produce a comprehensive intelligence picture dealing with all aspects of information.
Geospatial Intelligence there are many definitions for geospatial intelligence. however, the most apt definition depicting the magnitude of the effort required to build a database of geospatial intelligence is by the national Imagery and mapping Agency (nImA), which defines it as “the exploitation and analysis of imagery and geospatial information to describe, assess, and visually depict physical features and geo-
A holistic view of our organisation in the field of intelligence and geospatial intelligence at the national level is necessary to lay down a framework for transformation of our national security apparatus to meet future challenges
graphically referenced activities on the earth.” this elucidates the type of database required by government agencies entrusted with the task of national security. the need for commanders at all levels to have access to maximum data pertaining to the topography and demography of an area of interest is well established. transparent overlays with supplementary information placed over printed topography sheets have been in use for long and are just one example of this necessity. computers and associated technology have ushered in the era of digital mapping where this supplementary data can be tagged to various terrain features, which can be displayed, queried or processed, based on the requirement without cluttering the base map. the capability and capacity of any application based on a geographic information system (GIS) is dependent on the quantity and quality of data provided as input. A digitised cartography map needs enormous volume of attributed data before it can become suitable as a GIS input. While generally this data has been assumed to pertain to terrain feature only, a true GIS ready map should logically cover the complete spectrum of data required by various disciplines of geodetic science that has military value in assisting the operations. this definitely calls for inputs even from agencies other than those dealing with topographic survey in order to make it all encompassing. For example, it should assist in calculating the effects of certain type of munitions like incendiary, chemical or biological that cannot be calculated purely by use of standard two dimensional models since it also requires detailed knowledge of terrain in terms of type of forest, condition of the shrubs and metrological conditions, etc.
Infrastructure to reinforce the above, the security forces will need to rely on all relevant agencies of
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T EC H N O LO GY PHOTOGRAPH: US Army
ations can be planned to produce maximum results. Within the military, the primary prerequisite would be the fusion of inputs from the three services pertaining to the defence part of the national security apparatus. While it will take time to influence smoother flow of information from other arms of the government, the military itself must focus on integration of various sources of information belonging to the three Services under the aegis of Integrated Defence Staff (IDS). In the absence of a dedicated defence space programme, the military is dependent on national remote Sensing Agency (nrSA) and commercial satellite based imagery for some of the ImInt requirements. there is a need to employ other alternate sensors to meet the defence requirements not only pertaining to imagery, but also pertaining to data required for cartography. this calls for a well coordinated surveillance effort by airborne sensors of the three Services. Similarly, the hUmInt and eLInt data needs to be fused with ImInt and the topographic data. military survey needs a large amount of data to prepare accurate maps of areas across the Ib/LAc/Lc. Unless we can task our assets according to the overall vision for geospatial intelligence, we will continue to operate in isolation, and remain critically short in terms of geospatial data. there is a need to chalk out a well thought out roadmap in this context.
Requirement
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The emphasis is on state to state cooperation and exchange of information rather than pursuing an independent agenda since these threats are transnational, omnipresent and can occur any time Post-9/11, the US undertook major restructuring of government agencies and formation of national Geospatial Intelligence Agency (nGA) by merging in it with elements of the central Intelliegence Agency (cIA), Defence Intelligence Agency, national reconnaissance organisation (nro), State Department, etc. the nGA’s mission statement being “provide accurate and timely geodetic, geophysical, geotechnical analysis and geospatial intelligence information to support national security, department of defence, and intelligence objectives,” it is undoubtedly a major arm of the US Government assisting in implementing the national goals of USA. other major nations too are restructuring to establish agencies dealing with this important aspect of intelligence. one may argue that USA is a global power and requires much larger database of spatial intelligence to support its foreign policies and its military deployed at various parts of the globe. While we may not draw comparisons with the US in terms of infrastructure at this stage, we will surely have to reach a bare minimum level to match our status as an emerging regional power including in the Indian ocean region (Ior). For production and analysis of data required as base for geospatial intelligence, numerous agencies are involved. this would include high resolution imagery products, elevation data through ground/ air/space based survey, electronic intelligence (eLInt) and human intelligence (hUmInt) assets, cartography data, inputs from agencies dealing with internal security, urban and
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rural development agencies, forest management agencies, intelligence community and so on. It is only when the seemingly unrelated events collected individually by these agencies are merged, a comprehensive intelligence picture in the geographic domain can emerge.
Indian Scene on the Indian front, establishment of the national Spatial Data Infrastructure (nSDI) has been a good initiative but its networking with concerned government agencies relevant to geospatial database and updates is going too slow and may take many years unless the right impetus is given. more importantly, nSDI deals with only some aspects pertaining to creation of metadata of available geospatial data and does not cater to inputs from intelligence community or for that matter the defence services. In spite of the recommendations of the Kargil review committee (Krc) as well as recommendation of Group of ministers (Gom) on issues related to streamlining the intelligence agencies in the country, a lot of work is yet to be done on issues related to fusion of intelligence data. While the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and national technical research organisation (ntro) have been established, such steps are still not sufficient to deal with aspects pertaining to geospatial intelligence. the DIA is the central repository for all intelligence inputs pertaining to the three Services including imagery intelligence (ImInt) and electronic intelligence (eLInt). however, we are yet to integrate the aspects of topography with the DIA. Within the existing setup, adequate resources in terms of remote sensing, eLInt payloads and cartography are not available to produce high quality fused data. Similarly, much more is required at the national level in terms of integration of various government agencies. While certain isolated linkages between certain government agencies are already in place, this connectivity has to be extended to all necessary arms of the government over a national security information grid for optimal exploitation of various multilayered data sets. Ideally, a comprehensive geospatial intelligence data set should be able to generate large scale maps, surface models, to include natural and manmade structures, walk through of critical infra-
structure/buildings, computer models to predict and manage natural disasters and many other functions required to support aspects pertaining to nation building as well as national security. the Disaster management Authority (DmA) by itself is recognition of the importance of geospatial science in nation building. An organisation like this would have to deal with varied amount of data pertaining to disparate sources of information to perform its tasks. A national Information Grid is a basic prerequisite for the collection and assimilation of data coming from different parts of the country, dealing with different aspects of national security. our existing communication infrastructure is definitely not in a position to deal with information flow of the magnitude necessitated by disasters like the tsunami and recent calamities in Leh, Sikkim and West bengal. our national Intelligence Grid (nAtGrID) has already been cleared by the cabinet committee of Security (ccS). this needs to be established on priority, synergising ‘all source’ intelligence and should also be linked to the national Special Data Infr structure (nSDI). be it disaster management, communal riots or counter-insurgency operations, the di parate information held by different agencies has to be fused to form an intelligent picture before the oper-
In times to come, as India gets increasingly involved in UN-backed conflict management activities, we will have to continuously review our policies and carry out organisational adaptations to operate seamlessly with other major member countries
the following needs to be focused by the government and the military, as relevant: Data links of nSDI with concerned government agencies and the military need to be established on priority basis. l Which government agencies need to be linked with nSDI needs holistic thought, for which views could be taken from various forums including the ministries of home and Defence, military, military Survey, Survey of India, Disaster management Authority, nrSA, DoS, think tanks, etc. l nSDI must be networked with agencies like the DIA and ntro. l establishment of nAtGrID needs acceleration. once established, it should be linked to the nSDI and DIA besides other intelligence agencies and users. l the military should focus on integrating topographical aspects with the DIA. the need to establish a Defence Spatial Data Infrastructure (DSDI) was never more, the initiative for which needs to be taken by the hQ Integrated Defence Staff (IDS).
Meeting Future Challenges efforts pertaining to geospatial data and intelligence within the three services need to be integrated to help field a fully functional c4I2 system, which would be an integral part of our war making effort in the years to come. Individual service approach cannot suffice. no automated battlefield management system can be fully exploited unless quality data is provided to it as input. our efforts to enable production of geospatial intelligence would meet most of the data requirements of both c4I2 and tactical command, control, communications and information (c3I) systems of the three services. the need to bring intelligence and geospatial information under the aegis of one single agency cannot be underestimated and should not be relegated to a later day. India must reach a base level to match its status as a regional power. In times to come, as India gets increasingly involved in Unbacked conflict management activities, we will have to continuously review our policies and carry out organisational adaptations to operate seamlessly with other major member countries. A holistic view of our organisation in the field of geospatial intelligence at the national level is necessary to lay down a framework for transformation of our national security apparatus to meet future challenges.
AMMUNITION
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Reach, Accuracy and Reliability The development of guns has almost reached a plateau in terms of reach but there has been revolutionary development in gun ammunition to meet the requirements of longer reach, lethality and accuracy. The modern gun ammunition can be used from land, sea or air, depending on the type of platform. PHOTOGRAPHS: USAF, US Marines
n LT GENERAL (RETD) NARESH CHAND
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LASSIFIcAtIon oF the cALIbre of guns or ammunition is difficult as every country and manufacturing company has its own system. In the Indian Artillery, the classification was earlier based on the calibre of the gun and the ammunition was named accordingly. the field gun was around 25 pounder/105mm, the medium gun was 5.5 inch/130mm and the heavy guns were 7.2 inches. this distinction has been somewhat blurred with the employment of heavy firepower in all phases of offensive and defensive operations. Accordingly, 155mm is an accepted calibre across the board for field artillery. however, there are a variety of ammunitions termed as “medium calibre” depending upon its role and employment. the development of guns has almost reached a plateau in terms of reach but there has been revolutionary development in gun ammunition to meet the requirements of longer reach, lethality and accuracy. the modern gun ammunition can be used from land, sea or air, depending on the type of platform.
A-10 Thunderbolt II with a 30mm GAU-8 Avenger seven-barrel Gatling gun
Marine Attack Squadron ordnance technicians load 25mm rounds into the GAU-12 cannon pod of AV-8B Harriers
Medium-Calibre Ammunition many companies are developing and manufacturing many types of state-of-the-art medium calibre ammunition to be used from land, sea and air.
ATK AtK produces a complete family of mediumcalibre tactical and training ammunition which can be fired from Apache helicopters, A-10 thunderbolt II aircraft, bradley infantry fighting vehicles, ship platforms, etc. they are in the calibre range of 20mm, 25mm and 30mm rounds which can be effectively used in a variety of roles like anti-armour, anti-materiel, anti-personnel, ground suppression, air defence, and shipboard-defence applications. 20mm x 102mm: AtK produces a full spectrum of 20mm x 102mm ammunition for air, ground and sea platforms for armour piercing, anti-materiel and personnel role. the ammunition is lethal, has good penetration and is very accurate. It can be effectively used from fixed-wing aircraft for combat applications to support air-to-air and air-to-ground missions; rotary-wing applications for air-to-ground missions and against today’s modern littoral and antiship threats. this ammunition can also be used in a ground-based defence system to counter rocket, artillery and mortar attacks and against speeding cars loaded with explosives. the rounds can be fired from the m39A2, m61A1, m197 and m621 cannons. the penetrator with enhanced lateral effect (PeLe) round version offers a superior fragmenting projectile without the use of high explosives. It is effective against air targets as well as light armour and material targets. 25mm: AtK is the world’s leading supplier of combat proven, low-cost 25mm x 137mm ammunition which is extremely effective in anti armour, anti-materiel, antipersonnel, and fire suppression roles. the 25mm bushmaster ammunition provides infantry fighting vehicles, ship self-defence systems and air defence platforms with the firepower necessary to meet a variety of threats. this ammunition may be fired from
the AtK bushmaster m242 chain gun, the oerlikon KbA, GAU-12/U cannon or any other north Atlantic treaty organisation (nAto)-qualified 25mm weapon system. the ammunition meets or exceeds all the US Government performance requirements and is the only 25mm ammunition to have obtained nAto certification. 30mm x 173mm: this family of ammunition builds on the experience of AtK which has produced over 100 million rounds of 30 mm GAU-8 ammunition. this new generation of ammunition for AtK’s mk44 cannon has been developed for the US marine corps expeditionary fighting vehicle. mk44 cannon and 30mm ammunition can also be used with infantry fighting vehicles and naval platforms. It can be used effectively in armourpiercing and anti-personnel roles. 30mm x 173mm Air Burst Munition (ABM) System: the system provides the capability to burst a 30mm projectile at a precise point in space resulting in increased effectiveness against targets in defilade. the AtK Abm system comprises of the AtK 30mm mk44 bushmaster cannon employing an integrated fuse setter in the feed system; an Abm fuse setter module in the gun control unit; an Abm ballistic algorithm integrated into the platform fire control unit; and the mk310 programmable airburst munition (PAbm). the PAbm can function in air burst, point detonating and point detonating delay modes. the projectile has proven penetration capability and is significant behind armour effects against lightly armoured vehicles. the
AtK Abm system is also capable of being retrofitted into existing mk44 cannons. It can also be easily integrated into land and sea platforms using AtK’s mk44 cannon. AtK airburst system can be integrated into future and legacy platforms. Light weight (LW) 30mm ammunition: AtK provides the US and its allies with a multi-service family of LW 30mm ammunition which was developed and fielded for the m230 chain gun on the Ah-64 Apache helicopter. combat proven in operations Just cause, Desert Storm and in Afghanistan, LW30mm high explosive dual purpose has demonstrated excellent armour penetration at ranges from 150 to 2,000 metres, effectively defeating the infantry fighting vehicle threat. because of its light weight, small volume, and moderate recoil, LW30mm ammunition is ideal for helicopters, light ground vehicles and shipboard applications. Proven effective against light armour and materiel targets, it provides suppressive firepower at ranges equal to those of the hellfire or tube-launched, optically-tracked, wire command-link guided (toW) missile, making it capable for defeating armour as well as providing wide-area lethality.
Rheinmetall Defence Armour-piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabot-tracer (APFSDS-T): It is a new generation of armour-piercing sub-calibre ammunition, used by infantry fighting vehicles in a self-defence role for engaging ground targets and enemy aircraft. Designed
for extremely low air resistance, the round’s tungsten penetrator defeats homogenous steel and high-density armour, even at low angles of impact and long engagement ranges. It is available in calibre 25mm x 137, 30mm x 173 and as ballistically-matched practice ammunition. Frangible armour piercing (FAP) ammunition: FAP is a new type of highperformance, explosive-free, multi-purpose ammunition for fighter planes and fighterbombers. each round is armed with a penetrator consisting of individual frangible heavy metal pellets and heavy metal sub-projectiles. After penetrating the target envelope, the heavy metal pellets disintegrate into multiple fragments. It is designed for air-to-ground and air-to-air engagements. the FAP multi-purpose round is available in calibre 20mm x 102, 25mm x 137 and 27mm x 145. FAPDS Ammunition: the concept of the frangible sub-calibre projectile without primer and explosives has been specially developed for engaging hard and semi-hard targets and is available in 25mm x 137, 27mm x 145 and 30mm x 173 calibre. Advanced hit efficiency and destruction (AHEAD) ammunition: the 35mm AheAD system consists of measurement and programming units, control electronics and programmable AheAD ammunition. It can be fitted to any suitable automatic cannon and then successfully engage small fast aerial targets with a high kill probability. each “AheAD” round contains 152 tungsten subprojectiles which are ejected immediately in front of the oncoming target. the measurement unit determines the velocity of each AheAD round prior to muzzle exit. based on this data, the control electronics calculates the sub-projectile ejection time, which is transmitted via the programming unit to the time fuse in the projectile. Penetrator with enhanced lateral effect (PELE) ammunition: PeLe is a new type of automatic cannon ammunition without a fuse or explosive. the combination of two materials with different densities causes the shell to disintegrate in the target zone without the need for an explosive charge or fuse. Its penetrating power, response sensitivity and fragmentation performance actually exceeds conventional ammunition in terms of lethality.
Oto Melara oto melara has developed the concept of vulcano technologies for the future vulcano ammunition family which is based on subcalibre with the guided version having aerodynamic controls, inertial/GPS navigation with a long-range and high degree of accuracy. terminal guidance is also being provided in certain configurations. two types of ammunition i.e. unguided and guided are being developed both in the extended-range and long-range category. the calibres selected are 155mm for the land version and 127mm for the naval version. Projected ranges for the unguided version is up to 70 km, while the range of the guided version is expected to be of up to 100 km when fired by the 127/54c gun and of 120 km when fired by the new 127/64LW. the expected range for the 155mm calibre is up to 100 km. these ranges are achieved by dual means of providing a very high muzzle velocity and keeping the aerodynamic coefficient low. the programmable multifunctional fuze is based on microwave technology.
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S O U T H E R N CO M M A N D E X E R C I SE
Sudarshan Shakti Troops of the Southern Army have already reached the desert for their annual training exercises. This training will commence at the subunit and unit level and progress to formation level exercises to give a feel of actual command in the field to the commanders at each level and culminate in a major exercise in December 2011. PHOTOGRAPH: Indian Army
n LT GENERAL (RETD) V.K. KAPOOR
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XercISe SUDArShAn ShAKtI IS being held in november-December 2011 to validate the operational preparedness of the Southern Army in a tri-Service environment. more importantly, it will be based on the Integrated theatre battle concept under the Southern Army commander Lt General A.K. Singh with 21 corps in the lead, supported by all other relevant elements of Southern Army.
Theatre Battle in Indian Context the Army has underlined that the exercise is based on the concept of integrated theatre battle. What precisely does it mean? So far in the Indian Army, the highest level of tactical battle is planned and fought at the corps level. A Strike corps is the highest level field formation in the Indian Army which is capable of independently conducting offensive operations in the field. there is no fighting formation higher than the corps. hence an Army commander (General officer commanding- in- chief of a regional command) is loosely termed as a theatre commander because there are no integrated (tri
service/bi-service) theatres except the Andaman and nicobar command, which hardly has any troops at present. An Army command may have two or more corps under it, but the army com-
mander is not a field commander in the strict sense of the word. he does not get involved in tactical battles and generally plans the theatre military strategy and evolves the operational art to be applied in a particular campaign at
the theatre level and is therefore more concerned with the conversion of the chiefs of Staff Directive into military aims and objectives within the command in order to achieve the political aims of war. the Army commander gives out his intention, his military objectives, his vision of the campaign, and specifies the military end state of the campaign. he is more concerned with the allocation of resources to the corps and the planning required to achieve the political and military objectives of war. In the Indian context, detailed planning and conduct of tactical battles to achieve the laid down military objectives is done by the commander of the Strike corps in consultation with his subordinate commanders and staff. however, the Army commander keeps himself well informed of the planning and intervenes where necessary. During the conduct of battle, he keeps abreast of the progress of battle and intervenes when a situation so demands. Some situations which may demand his intervention include adjustment of boundaries of formations in the field as the battle progresses, change of command and control of subordinate formations due to changing tactical situations, and release of reserves of troops,
F I R S T
T E C K N O W
AlphaDog
Light Tactical Vehicle
AlphaDog is designed more for walking alongside troops rather than outpacing anyone
Navistar’s new Saratoga light tactical armoured vehicle has been designed for superior survivability, mobility and transportability PHOTOGRAPH: Navistar Defense
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cientists from boston have invented a dog-like robot, which can carry over 180 kg on its back for 30 km and on any kind of terrain. It uses computer vision and GPS to follow a leader, rather than require a remote-controlled driver to tell it where to go. named AlphaDog or the legged squad support system (LS3) has been developed by boston Dynamics and funded by the Defense Advanced research Projects Agency (DArPA) and the US marine corps. AlphaDog can walk and trot over sharp rocks, though slowly. It will take the robot 24 hours to cover 30 km, without the need for refuelling. AlphaDog is designed more for walking alongside troops rather than outpacing anyone. LS3 will take 30 months to develop and is schedule for
launch in 2012. AlphaDog does not need a driver; it follows along with troops, making use of its global positioning system (GPS), computer vision and state-of-the-art hydraulics. AlphaDog is the offspring of bigDog, an earlier noisier version with limited payload and operating range. While bigDog took on four legs articulated like an animal’s, AlphaDog has been designed to be over ten times quieter than bigDog. this quadruped has the same cargo carrying mission as bigDog, but with better range and payload. boston Dynamics teamed up with engineers and scientists from boston Dynamics, bell helicopter, AAI corporation, carnegie mellon, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Woodward hrt. PHOTOGRAPH: Boston Dynamics
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avistar Defense has unveiled its Saratoga light tactical vehicle at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) annual meeting and symposium. the company designed the vehicle for superior survivability, mobility and transportability to target the gap between the current high mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicle (hmmWv) modernised expanded capacity vehicle (mecv) and joint light tactical vehicle (JLtv) programmes. the vehicle is ready for production to meet today’s mission needs. the Saratoga light tactical vehicle has a high degree of commonality with fielded vehicles and incorporates navistar’s automotive and manufacturing expertise. the
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company has also designed and tested its own proprietary geometry survivability solution for the vehicle. considering the material mix, vehicle structure and hull shape, the Saratoga offers a more survivable solution for the light tactical vehicle class while also meeting 76” transportability height. the vehicle meets the most demanding performance needs and has undergone more than 40,000 km of automotive testing. the Saratoga incorporates the maxxForce D6.0L v8 engine, automatic engaging limited slip differentials, Allison 2100 SP 6-SP automatic transmission and air independent suspension for added control.
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The unique feature of this exercise will be the jointmanship between the Southern Army and its counterparts in the IAF and the Indian Navy weaponry and logistics. therefore, when the Army says that this Southern command exercise is being planned on the basis of a theatre battle, it is far more than the mere phraseology that the media is proclaiming.
Aims of a Theatre Offensive In any offensive operations planned on the subcontinent, the aim would either be to capture the territory or destroy enemy forces or a combination of both. Any territory captured across international boundary would invariably have to be returned though it could temporarily be used for post-conflict bargaining. the territory captured across disputed border like the line of control, may be retained though in the present global environment that would also not be realistic. hence destruction of forces would be a more important objective which would have a long-term economic impact on the adversary.
Integrated Theatre Concept For destruction of large armoured and mechanised forces, battles will have to be planned and orchestrated according to an integrated theatre plan so that larger forces comprising more than one strike corps can be employed synchronously from one theatre or from two different theatres to cause maximum destruction of enemy forces. this would imply that an Army commander acting as a theatre commander would have to have a tactical headquarters fully staffed with the necessary communications to all strike and pivot formations of the Army in that region, and to the concerned Indian Air Force (IAF) headquarters, which in this case would be either South Western Air command (SWAc) or the Western Air command (WAc), or elements of both air commands. the IAF will have to play a dominant role in the destruction of enemy mechanised and armoured forces on the battlefield and therefore joint planning will be essential. It is here that a truly integrated theatre would be very useful. the success in this battle will depend upon the synergy and close coordination achieved by the Army and the IAF, and intra theatre (within a theatre) between the pivot and the strike corps of that theatre (command), or inter-theatre (inter-command) between the strike corps of two adjoining theatres of operations along with their IAF counterparts. the tactical headquarters of the Army would have to suitably locate itself to orchestrate and conduct the battle of destruction of enemy forces. If this is what is being planned in this exercise, then it would be the first time that a theatre battle concept is being physically tried out. however, we wonder how useful it will be with only one command (Southern Army) on the ground. to derive maximum advantage and to bring realism in planning, from such a large scale exercise, at least two command headquarters should have been positioned on the ground.
Coordination Philosophy In view of the large number of Army and air formations and units involved and a very large variety of force multipliers that are likely to be employed, the coordination and conduct of overall campaign is of vital importance. We hope that the Deputy chiefs of Integrated Defence Staff (DcIDS) (operations) and (training) of the Integrated Defence Staff and their subordinate staff officers, on behalf of the chiefs of Staff com-
mittee, are closely associated with this exercise to understand the requirements of synergy and coordination between the Army and the IAF which could then propel the joint training and planning in peacetime.
Conduct of Exercise troops of the Southern Army have already reached the desert for their annual training exercises. this training will commence at the subunit and unit level and progress to formation level exercises to give a feel of actual command in the field to the commanders at each level and culminate in a major exercise in December 2011.the exercise envisages innovative manoeuvres in a simulated battle environment, by composite combat entities, ably supported by air and complemented by a wide array of force multipliers and enabling logistics. the Southern Army is working towards a ‘capability based approach, based on a
series of transformational initiatives spanning concepts, organisational structures and absorption of new age technologies, particularly in the fields of precision munitions, advance surveillance systems, space and network-centricity, under the overall guidance provided by the transformational study of the Indian Army. the unique feature of this exercise will be the jointmanship between the Southern Army and its counterparts in the IAF and
The Army has underlined that the exercise is based on the concept of integrated theatre battle
Indian navy. the exercise will see this cooperation in earnest wherein, the inter-service operability will be tested and re-configured to suit the constantly changing operational requirements.
Leadership It is heartening to see that the exercise is being conducted by Lt General A.K. Singh, who has been in command of the mechanised Forces and has experience of commanding offensive formations throughout his career. he is hence the most suitable senior officer to plan and undertake offensive operations at the national level. he has already commanded 31 Armoured Division in the desert and has very successfully commanded 1 corps (Strike) and was one of the main architects of the new “transformational Study of the Indian Army” conducted by the current Army chief when he was the Goc-in-c of eastern command at Kolkata.
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MULTIPURPOSE VEHICLES
Jeep on Steroids Humvee from AM General became the ubiquitous HMMWV and the mainstay of the US military from the mid1980s as its forte has been ‘one platform, multiple missions’. Now with emphasis on crew protection, the US Army has gone in for a RFP to upgrade the Humvees. PHOTOGRAPH: BAE Systems
n R. CHANDRAKANTH HMMWV with the Integrated SMART V™
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n the mID 1980S when American soldiers first began using the humvee, they often referred to it as a “Jeep on steroids”. the vehicle was designed for the world’s toughest environment— bloody war. the humvee has been deployed in different war theatres, including Iraq and Afghanistan, to great effect. humvee from Am General became the ubiquitous high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle (hmmWv) and the mainstay of the United States military from the mid1980s as its forte has been ‘one platform, multiple missions’. now with emphasis on crew protection, the United States Army has gone in for a request for proposal (rFP) to upgrade the humvees (see box). the United States military has a wide array of armoured vehicles at its disposal, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. these vehicles can be deployed in any number of confrontations, depending on the terrain, conditions and nature of the fighting. most armoured ground vehicles fit into one of the six primary categories—tanks; family of medium tactical vehicles (Fmtv); high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle (hmmWv); indirect fire systems; heavy equipment transporters (het) and m113. hmmWv is the classification given to light, tactical vehicles. these vehicles can be customised to serve specific purposes, including troop transport, toW missile transportation, scouting enemy positions and even transporting the injured as an ambulance. And Am General’s humvee has been synonymous with hmmWv. over 65 combat and combat support systems have been fielded on hmmWvs. Am General has produced more than two lakh hmmWvs for the US and over 50 friendly international forces.
Revolutionary Design though in production for over 25 years, its design is still as revolutionary today as it was when engineers began initial concepts way back in 1979. the final design met military requirements to replace numerous types of aged vehicles and to keep up with swift moving tanks. the Army wanted durability, mobility and reliability. the unique geometry of the truck provides these qualities. no other light tactical vehicle in the world approaches the hmmWv’s capabilities or cost effectiveness. no wonder, Am General proudly announce, “We built the toughest trucks on the planet.” that doesn’t mean today’s hmmWvs are the same as those first produced. the
armour); m1043A2/1045A2 (armament/ toW missile carrier supplemental armour – 44 grain); m997A2 (maxi-ambulance basic armour); and m1035A2 (soft top ambulance).
Expanded Capacity Vehicles
hmmWv is a dynamic vehicle with M1113 Specifications changes and improvements continually added. For instance, thorough curb weight: 6,400 lbs (2,903 kg) corrosion resistance has been added Payload: 5,100 lbs (2,313 kg) and most components have been Gross vehicle weight: 11,500 lbs (5,216 kg) Gross axle weight (front): 5080 lbs (2,290 kg.) upgraded and now have a larger Gross axle weight (rear): 7,000 lbs (3,176 kg) 6.5-litre diesel engine. Initially introLength: 196.5 in (5.00 m) duced with a 1 ? tonne payload height: 76 in (1.93 m) capacity, it now can carry payloads min. reduced height: 56 in (1.42 m) up to 5,100 lbs and gross vehicle reduced shipping cube: 548 ft.^3 (15.5 m^3) weight rating (GvW) up to 12,100 Approach angle: 46° lbs. the workhorse now carries new Departure angle: 41° sophisticated communications and Acceleration (0-30 mph): 9.4 sec. 9.4 sec. weapons systems. Acceleration (0-50 mph): 26.1 sec. 26.1 sec. the hmmWv is a lightweight, cruising range: 275 mi. (443 km) highly mobile, diesel-powered, fourcGX: 60.4 in. (1.53 m) wheel drive tactical vehicle that uses a cGY: .06 in. (.015 m) common chassis to carry a wide varicGZ: 29.7 in. (.76 m) ety of military hardware ranging from Spring rate (front): 1,750 lb/in. (306 n/mm) machine guns to tube-launched, optiSpring rate (rear): 3,000 lb/in. (525 n/mm) cally tracked, wire command-guided troop seating capacity: 1+1 anti-tank missile launchers. It has Source: AM General shown excellent performance in a wide variety of terrain, from deserts to jungles, for long durations with minimal saves tax dollars. the humvee has a 16-inch maintenance. ground clearance and it is an engineering feat Its 15 configurations (cargo/troop carri- considering that the vehicle stands only 72 ers, weapons carriers, ambulances and shel- inches high. ter carriers) share a common engine, chassis and transmission, with 44 interchangeable Wide Range of Humvees parts that are used in more than one position. the hmmWv models include A2 Series that means fewer training hours are neces- vehicles – m1097A2 (base platform); sary for the mechanics. Its simplified supply, m1097A2 (cargo/troop carrier/prime maintenance and logistics system—essen- mover); m1123 (cargo/troop carrier); tially one set of common parts for 15 config- m1097A2 (shelter carrier); m1025A2 urations—means lower life-cycle costs, which (armament/toW missile carrier basic
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US Army Pegs Cost of Humvee Upgrades the US Army intends to pay no more than $1,80,000 to upgrade each humvee in its recapitalisation programme, according to reports. the US Army and marine corps officials have said it makes sense to upgrade a portion of the humvee fleet only if it remains significantly cheaper than buying joint light tactical vehicles (JLtv) which is estimated to cost about $3,66,000 a piece. “We don’t want to be in a position where we are spending more to upgrade a humvee than we would to replace that vehicle with an even more capable vehicle that we built from the ground up,” colonel David bassett, Army Program manager for tactical vehicles has said. the US Senate Appropriations committee recently recommended the Defense Department to kill the JLtv, saying its jobs could be handled by other vehicles, including upgraded humvees. Army leaders plan to upgrade 60,000 to 1,00,000 humvees by 2016, extending the life of the vehicle to 2030. the marine corps similarly plans to upgrade more than 3,400 of its
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No other light tactical vehicle in the world approaches the HMMWV’s capabilities or cost effectiveness
the expanded capacity vehicles (ecvs) are designed to carry heavier payloads without sacrificing the vehicle’s mobility, dependability and performance. the m1113 ecv is used for special operations vehicles and communications shelter carriers; the m1114, with improved ballistic protection levels, is used for scout, military police and explosive ordinance disposal missions. the US Air Force uses a modified version of this vehicle, the m1116, featuring an expanded cargo area, armoured housing for the turret gunner. In 2005, Am General began production of the m1151, m1152 and m1165 variants, incorporating the highest levels of protection including frag kits, all field installable/removable. m1151s are armament carriers and m1152s are two-man vehicles that can be used as troop carriers/shelter carriers. the m1165 is a command and control vehicle with four-person seating capacity.
International Vehicles Am General has joined other defence contractors to develop vehicles based on the hmmWv chassis or drivetrain and suspension components. the Swiss firm mowag and the turkish firm otokar have each designed, tested and produced unique vehicles that provide outstanding mobility and performance combined with the reduced logistical costs of the hmmWv. the current models are eagle (for reconnaissance, surveillance, liaison, escort, border patrol and police missions); and cobra (full armour protection for a crew of four to eleven, depending on the seven different configurations available from personnel to weapons carrier). Continued on page 20
humvees. the Army specified the defence teams upgrade the m1151 armaments carrier humvee variant although data will also be collected on the m1152 shelter carrier variant during certain phases of the competition. Four major competitors have lined up for the recapitalisation programme, including a team of textron Systems and Granite tactical vehicles, and industry teams led by Am General, bAe Systems and oshkosh. Am General has built the humvee since the Army first started fielding it in the 1980s. Defence teams will compete to design upgrades to provide humvee passengers more protection while maintaining the truck’s speed and agility. Army officials listed crew survivability in the draft request for proposals (rFP) as the most important evaluation factor in the competition. meanwhile, Am General has tested a chimney venting system called the Structural blast chimney. the chimney, which is not much wider than a laptop built into the middle of the truck, vents explosive energy up through the vehicle, working like a pressure relief valve. the blast energy travelling through the chimney also creates an enormous downward pressure that keeps the vehicle from flying into the air.
SHOW REPORT
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Innovations Sans Showstopper DSEi 2011 had the world’s largest display of land, sea and air applications of defence and security products and technologies, yet according to analysts there was nothing ‘revolutionary’. For the first time, the expo staged a number of high level briefings, which were held away from the show floor to provide an in-depth understanding of a variety of topics, including trauma care, defence offsets and cyber security. n SP’S SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
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he DeFence & SecUrItY equipment International (DSei) exhibition held in London recently had the world’s largest display of land, sea and air applications of defence and security products and technologies, yet according to analysts there was nothing ‘revolutionary’. From an exhibition perspective, the organisers put the attendance figure a little over 29,000, an increase of 16 per cent over the 2009 edition. the exhibition featured 1,391 exhibiting companies representing 46 countries and included 30 national pavilions making the 2011 edition the largest DSei ever. there were official delegations from 55 nations—a 12 per cent increase over 2009. reflecting the increased focus on security during this DSei, visitors such as commanding General counter terrorist operation centre, Lieutenant General Pra-
which were noticeable at DSei. the UK defence industry is awaiting the 10 year Defence equipment Procurement plan, hoping for better days ahead. Inaugurating the DSei, the UK Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox underlined the importance of strategic defence and security review (SDSr) and how it was influencing equipment procurement and how it was not immune to the broad economic movements, particularly recession. the Defence Secretary exhorted the industry to tap untapped export markets and how small and medium-sized businesses could benefit from global trade.
UK Second Biggest Defence Exporters Dr Fox said that the Government strongly supported the defence industry which is the second biggest defence exporters in the world. the defence industry employs over 1,10,000 people across the whole country and generated more than £22 billion for the UK economy in 2010.
visitors were treated to a demonstration where they could view the technology through an infrared camera. the product allows a vehicle to match its surroundings in the infrared spectrum. the system called Adaptiv employs onsboard cameras to detect the background and display the corresponding infrared (Ir) image on the vehicle to help it ‘blend’ into the surroundings. Hovercraft demonstration: currently in service with the royal marines, Griffon hoverwork’s new 2400tD craft performed on the river thames twice each day during DSei’s anti-piracy dockside demonstration, ‘operation vision’. reaching a speed of 40 knots, with a range of about 500 kilometres, the 13 metre fully amphibious craft can carry a crew of two (driver and commander) plus sixteen fully-equipped marine commandos. the vessel has recently been upgraded to allow for a greater payload and obstacle clearance, while also providing weapons and
sent back to the unit leader. Smallest sniper rifle: the US-headquartered rifle specialist Desert tactical Arms responded to demands for marksmen to be more mobile and easily concealed by unveiling a much smaller sniper rifle. the company's Stealth recon Scout is a full foot shorter than conventional sniper weapons without sacrificing accuracy—it claims to maintain a one to two minute of angle, typical of its type. It can be adapted to mission requirements by changing the weapon's calibre and length. QinetiQ and Clarion partnership for scenario-based UAS demos: the QinetiQ West Wales UAv centre (WWUAvc) and clarion events announced a new strategic partnership which will deliver the world’s first scenario-based programme of indoor unmanned systems demonstrations. the first such scenario, a “foot patrol in Afghanistan” was unveiled at DSei, demon-
PHOTOGRAPH: Neetu Dhulia
Griffon Hoverwork’s new 2400TD craft
General Dynamics Scout-SV
pajit chaowarit (thailand) and the Director General Indian coast Guard, vice Admiral A.K. chopra (India) attended the exhibition. For the first time this year, DSei staged a number of high level briefings, which were held away from the show floor to provide an in-depth understanding of a wide variety of topics, including trauma care, defence offsets and cyber security. Alongside the exhibition, DSei presented a thought-provoking seminar schedule on increasing global concern with a broad spectrum of threats, from cyber attacks to piracy. What constitutes victory and what is defeat in the cyber battlefield? A series of cyber-focused seminar sessions offered new angles to the ongoing international debate, examining the changing shape of future conflict and questioning whether this is a challenge that can ever be overcome.
Sluggish business numbers aside, in terms of contracts signed, particularly by the UK ministry of Defence, the performance was ‘sluggish’, indicating looming recessionary trends. Defence budget cuts are the order of the day in the western world and this had a cascading effect on the defence industry, signs of
Notable Presentations General Dynamics showcases Scout-SV prototype: General Dynamics showcased its Scout-Sv representative prototype for the first time, developed as part of a £500 million contract from the UK ministry of Defence issued in July 2010. It is one of a number of vehicles being developed to derisk the programme prior to the delivery of the first of seven prototype vehicles in 15 months. the prototype unveiled is one of the two test bed vehicles and features the Lockheed martin UK experimental demonstration unit (eDU) turret fitted with ctAI cased telescoped (ct40) 40mm cannon. Also on display was General Dynamics european Land Systems’ medium trackway bridge (mtb). It has been designed to be easily transported and launched from any vehicle with a weight of above four tonnes, which covers most of the tactical vehicles currently deployed. BAE’s invisibility cloak: bAe Systems presented Adaptiv 'invisibility cloak', which uses a series of hex-shaped computer-controlled semiconductor heat-sink tiles to hide or disguise the thermal image of military assets.
surveillance platforms which remain stable throughout operational manoeuvres. equipped with enhanced thermal imaging, navigation and communications tools, the hovercraft travels with ease over shallow water, rapids and rivers, vegetation, ice and even snow. Northrop Grumman’s UAV data management system: northrop Grumman introduced an unmanned air vehicle data management system to the european market, to allow troops on the ground to "eliminate the tunnel-vision of the battlefield". called the heterogenous airborne reconnaissance team (hArt), it allows soldiers at small unit level without their own UAv to benefit from the plethora of assets overflying the battlespace. tim beard, Deputy Director of advanced concepts at northrop Grumman Aerospace, said, "We have got a lot of UAvs in the air, but no one has created a system so that everyone can share the data." A unit leader simply sends a request for imagery to the tactical operations centre, which then prioritises the request. the hArt system then selects the most relevant imagery or the nearest UAv, and the image is geolinked and
strating the integration and interoperability of numerous unmanned ground and airborne systems with force patrol operations in support, surveillance and protection roles through a “real world” scenario. the WWUAvc provides significant operational airspace for UAS research and development (r&D), training and demonstration, together with safety, infrastructure and complementary environmental and communications test facilities across the full-range of UAS platforms. QinetiQ and Dytecna also announced a memorandum of understanding (moU) that will see two leading experts from the defence and security industry pursue shared product development opportunities relating to force protection. Photonic launches pirate defence system: United Kingdom-based marine security specialist company Photonic Security Systems (PSS) launched a new proactive pirate defence system, the LDS100, earlier this month. the LDS100 acts in what is said to be a non-lethal and humane manner and is based on a proactive method to prevent pirates from approaching a ship.
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SHOW REPORT BAE Systems BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle
PHOTOGRAPHS: Neetu Dhulia
Nexter Systems’ XP2 (6x6) technology demonstrator
the system works by sending a 10 metre wide multi-band laser light beam, up to a distance of one kilometre to dazzle potential intruders and disable them from locating and boarding the ship. this newly developed alternative is expected to prevent pirates boarding merchant ships. It is said to make it very difficult for the miscreants to filter the beam and still retain a view of the intended target. the LDS100 is located in the ship’s hull, making it difficult to be destroyed by the intruder. the product’s inventors/designers believe that this is a key to its success. the standard LDS100 incorporates a twin laser system, with the command centre mounted inside the bridge. Laser optics is mounted on swivelling and tilting, tracking cameras on brackets on each side of the vessel, to enable it to track incoming craft. Aero Sekur launches stealth poncho: Aero Sekur showcased a stealth poncho designed to reduce the Ir and radar signature of snipers in the field. the poncho is part of a new military clothing range designed and manufactured by Aero Sekur for the Italian future soldier project. the poncho is designed to virtually eliminate the heat signature of the soldier wearing it. Produced out of a combination of several different fabrics, the poncho can be quickly tucked into a pocket when not needed. MSI-Defence Systems unveils stabilised gun system: mSI-Defence Systems unveiled a single 20mm stabilised gun system said to offer customers the potential to upgrade capabilities while still using legacy ordnance stocks. From thermoteknix comes an addition to its range of ultra low powered miniature thermal camera cores. tubitak-SAGe, the defence industries research and development institute of turkey’s scientific and technological research council, unveiled the stand-off mis-
sile (Som). Som is a 1,300 lb stealthy cruise missile offering a variety of programmable ingress and attack profiles. Selex Galileo launched the SkyIStAr integrated IStAr architecture for UAvs. It is platform and payload agnostic and is an open, multi-mission system that provides an interoperable environment. the SkyIStAr is to be installed with Selex Galileo Seaspary radar in a Predator b UAv provided by General Atomics. Itt electronic Systems launched a tactical radio system at the expo adding hF capability to its existing Spearhead vhF range. It has also developed a new sonobuoy system that reduces environmental impact and lifecycle costs. thales showcased its integrated cbrne Assessment System (icAS), a modular and tailorable detection and monitoring system that can rapidly assess cbrne incidents and provide key information to emergency responders. At DSei, three radio sets from elbit Systems were launched, which included tadrin SDr-7200hh, tadiran Pnr-1000A and the tadrin GrX-4000. the other elbit systems which made its debut included mSr-3000, a portable man-pack satellite solution for Special Forces that integrates all Satcoms components into a single compact unit. the company also introduced a family of tactical multimedia routing (tmr) that allows dismounted soldiers, armoured vehicles and deployed command posts to share multimedia data. elbit also announced the setting up of its joint venture, the harpia Sistemas, with brazil’s embraer Defesa e Seguranca. For the first time, Pearson engineering showcased its bridge launch mechanism (bLm) integrated into a bAe Systems Warrior manoeuvre support vehicle. It is a special to role attachment that can be fitted to a wide range of chassis, tracked and wheeled. nobles manufacturing displayed two variants of its viper gun system, the land version
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Lockheed Martin’s Hellfire-II on display
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and the Sea-viper. canadian firm Weatherhaven unveiled its innovation, the tactical redeployable expanding container capabilityhelicopter (trecc-h), a breakthrough for helicopter-transported containerised capability. revision military showcased the batlskin head Protection System and the company claims it is the first fully integrated and fully modular solution of its kind. Ge Intelligent Platforms introduced its IPS511 rugged situational awareness processor designed to provide ground vehicles, aircraft, remote unmanned platforms and security surveillance systems with 360 degree situational awareness. nexter Systems showcased the XP2 (6x6) technology demonstrator, following its initial mobility trials in the south of France. Saab demonstrated its latest rbS 70 new Generation surface-to-air missile. thermoteknix unveiled a new 640 x 480 resolution thermal imaging core with 17 micron pixel pitch. Autonomous Surface vehicles (ASv) displayed the c-target naval target drones, a high speed, adaptable target boat designed for use in naval gunnery training, weapons testing and ship command and control assessments. Likewise, raytheon Anschutz showcased its state-of-the-art integrated bridge and navigation systems on board the royal navy type 45 destroyer hmS Dauntless and the German K 130 corvette FGS braunschweig. At irobot’s stand was the 1KA Seaglider used in collecting data for academic and military oceanographers around the world. Among other products on display were meprolight’s mepro m5, the company’s advanced line of operationally proven combat optics for light weapons; and noA nYX, a lightweight, uncooled thermal weapons sight. Switzerland based vectronix launched its newest portable laser rangefinder (PLrF family) in the Swiss Pavilion. Survitec launched a new modular attack helicopter air crew life preserver.
At the expo, cassidian announced that it has made a breakthrough through development of the world’s first truly secure wireless data mobile Internet protocol technology. the technology has been designed to improve the ability of military and emergency response services to maintain secure communications. AgustaWestland’s AW159 Lynx Wildcat came to the expo for the first time. the helicopter is likely to be fully operational in 2014. the expo also had the assisted carriage system (AcS) developed by John Deere and boeing Defense UK; and the meerkat super light tracked vehicle, developed at ovIK and shown for the first time.
Successful Show As mentioned, the four-day exhibition had many novelties, but there was no showclincher. however, it was not without its share of controversy. the organisers had to close down beechwood equipment's stand after literature showing equipment banned under UK Government export controls and our own contractual requirements was found on display. DSei exhibition Director Duncan reid said, “First and foremost I’d like to thank all our exhibitors—they helped to make the show a major success. We invested significantly in this year’s event. We introduced new features such as the robotics and unmanned systems showcase, a security themed stream in our seminar theatres, enhanced Waterborne Demonstrations, a static vehicle display area and the show floor seminars. All in all, there has been an unprecedented amount of live action for visitors to see and a real diversity of learning opportunities—the high levels of visitor numbers reflect the success of this approach. now our task is to build on this platform and we are already planning for DSei 2013, which will take place from September 10 to 13, 2013, at excel London.” Oshkosh Defense’s M-ATV on display
INTERVIEW
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‘At the core of our international business is Defence Weapons Systems and the Security Sector, including Special Operations Forces’ In the backdrop of Defence Security and Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition in London, Jayant Baranwal, Editor-in-Chief, SP’s Land Forces, had a tête-à-tête with Tom O’Sullivan, International Sales Manager, ATK Security and Sporting Tactical Systems; Roger O’Dell, Director, Technology and Advanced Programmes, ATK Armament Systems Integrated Weapons Systems; and Amanda Covington, Director of Communications, ATK Armament Systems on ATK’s varied weapon systems. Excerpts of the interview: Jayant Baranwal (SP’s): Can you elaborate on ATK’s future infantry combat vehicle (FICV) products? Roger O’Dell (Roger): With regard to the future infantry combat vehicle (FIcv), AtK is offering its medium-calibre cannon, the mK44. the mK44 is placed with various vendors who are competing with combat vehicles. the 30mm mK44 will also be present at the Defexpo show next year. In addition to FIcv, AtK has navy opportunities, for 30mm gun systems and remote weapon systems (rWS). AtK is also the world’s largest manufacturer of small caliber ammunition, including the 9mm and 5.56mm. SP’s: Is ATK open to technology transfer? Roger: everything is subject to US Government approval, but the company is inclined. We have indicated to our partners for tot for FIcv medium calibre gun system. Tom: Finally, on the Special Forces side, we have had interest in ammunition and products from AtK brands such as black hawk!. this includes Special Forces equipment like tactical accessories, such as vests, holsters, etc. those are the broad areas that AtK is known for in India. Amanda Covington: AtK is also known for precision-guided weapons. We have developed precision guidance kits for mortars and artillery. GPS technology increases accuracy of the round, which is an increasing requirement on today’s battlefield. Roger: Precision is the key word and in case of a precise fired round, you get less collateral damage. SP’s: Tell us about Black Hawk and your India focus. Tom: black hawk was founded in 1994. It is about 17 years now and about nine years back the company was diversified. For India the focus is on Special Forces and not so much on law enforcement, primarily because AtK is not the L1supplier. SP’s: But now India is no more looking at L1. We have the example of medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA), India is going for say L3 or L4. Tom: India has a unique budget, unique requirements, and we have unique products that are proven in combat. We have found it over the years that it is a fairly easy choice so that they can buy more products at lower price. the second step in our process is conventional forces, the military and armed forces. SP’s: Which are the countries using your programmes? Tom: our products are used in more than 80 countries including the Special Forces of UK, US, France, etc. India is next. AtK also owns eagle Industries, which has very high-quality, made-in-the-USA products. those items can also be made and sold if the Indian Special Forces have a special need in terms of custom design. We offer a
Guided Advanced tactical rocket (GAtr). We have demonstrated success with GAtr on both Kiowa and blackhawk helicopters. It has applications for rotary-wing and fixedwing aircraft, with lock on before or after launch capabilities. SP’s: But India is certainly looking at Chinooks in immediate terms, if not Apache which could be acquired a little later. Roger: We do have the mK44 on the Ac-130 gunship of the US Air Force. SP’s: Do you have any involvement with the C-130J programme? Roger: Yes, AtK has sensors on that.
Roger O’Dell
wide range of choices. SP’s: And if it has to be customised, is it going to cost more? Tom: It depends on the situation and in some cases it has been customised based on the customers’ needs and we have such economical scale that we can do that. SP’s: Has any presentation been made to the Indian Special Forces? Tom: no, but we are looking ahead to demonstrate our products at Defexpo. SP’s: Can you throw light on ATK’s weapons systems and guns? Roger: the medium calibre system side of our business covers everything—from the 7.62mm bushmaster cannon to the bushmaster III, 35mm. the bushmaster series of cannons was originated in the 1960s from a military contract with the government that led to our flagship product that is the m242. the mK44 was a derivative of the m242, it started out as the bushmaster 2. It is a premiere medium calibre cannon system with the 30mm x 173mm calibre, which is combat proven, extremely powerful, expands the range of fire, keeps engaging the target, and is extremely reliable. the other advantage AtK brings is that we also make the accompanying ammunition. this helps us leverage the ammunition designers and the gun designers, who work side by side, to make the system optimal for the end user. this is what we bring to the FIcv competition, in terms of validity and the capability that the system offers. our m230LF (link fed) cannon is built upon our success with our m230, which is the cannon used on the Apache 64 helicopter. the m230LF is a link-fed variant of the proven m230. now we are offering the gun systems to naval and ground platforms which hadn’t been done in the past. to take it a step further, we developed our own remote weapon system that take advantage of the
Amanda Covington
gun with the ammunition, put in the package that gives end users the ability to bring 30mm capability in place of the 7.62mm or 12.7mm calibre gun. It is a game changer in terms of what the warfighter can do, what the platform can do, and instantly upgunning any platform. We do it with essentially the same logistics and cost profile for the same legacy weapons, again both of them with different thrusts and different capability, strategy, but equally successful. SP’s: Have you tried to study the potentials with some of the aerial systems, like light combat helicopter (LCH) and advanced light helicopter (ALH)? Roger: on the air side, AtK has developed a precision air-to-ground weapon called the
SP’s: When you speak about the FICV programme, which all entities you are in touch with in India? Roger: We are in touch with several companies. SP’s: ATK seems to have a huge range of solutions. Roger: Yes, everything used by a soldier from his outfit to his boots, up to the gun systems. SP’s: You have created micro-solutions. Roger: Yes, we were looking at the mandate for the next year. Defexpo is a major event. We will also be at other stands, for example L&t, mahindra, etc. AtK apart from having its own booth will have systems on other Indian stands as well. Tom: We are also considering doing a Special Forces demonstration around that time, though we have not worked out on the details. AtK offers a broad portfolio of products that supports a variety of platforms, from the soldier to land, air and applications.
40th Issue
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INTERVIEW
‘We are actively investigating opportunities in India’ Oshkosh Defense is the pioneer in developing vehicles to support and protect the men and women who risk their lives for the nation. In an interview with SP’s Land Forces, at the Defence Security and Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition in London, Martin Brethouwer, Manager, Middle East Programmes, Oshkosh Defense laid out the company’s plans for Indian market. PHOTOGRAPH: Oshkosh Defense
Jayant Baranwal (SP’s): As wars are becoming increasingly asymmetric, how has Oshkosh Defense strategised its products to fight such threats and how adoptable are these military products for homeland security? Martin: till 2004, oshkosh did not ever produce any armoured vehicles or vehicles capable of carrying armour. Since 2004, all of our vehicles are armoured. So every tactical vehicle that we built is either built with armour or has the capability to be easily armoured. As is the case of our tactical vehicles like Fmtv and heavy expanded mobility tactical truck (hemtt), the vehicle do not carry the actual weight of the armour. but there is provision for attachment of the armour later. the vehicles have greater protection level and the capability of being updated with new armoured technology. We also have the mrAP All-terrain vehicle (mAtv). We use both our armoured technology which is not the case with most of our competitors, and the armoured configuration in our vehicles can also be easily changed. So in a homeland security role, you can add the armour to a logistic vehicle and can change the protection level. SP’s: Are they adaptable to homeland security requirements as well? Martin: Absolutely, for example the m-Atv product line is designed for the homeland security role. It is based on a commercial chassis, is less expensive and the vehicles are designed primarily for the armed forces.
SP’s: What kind of successes you have had in markets outside the United States? Martin: We have had lots of success. It is difficult to give the exact number. our vehicles are used in thailand, taiwan, middle east, South Korea, UK, etc. our vehicles are recognised as high quality, high mobility vehicles built on true military specifications.
Two M-ATVs await transport on a C-17 Globemaster III
SP’s: There will be a lot of scope in India. Army has huge requirements in logistics, infantry and armoured requirements, in addition to that is the homeland security market. Martin: We are actively investigating the opportunities in India. oshkosh is definitely interested in the Indian market. We are looking for partners in India too. SP’s: Any dialogue so far with potential partners or the end user? Martin: We had preliminary meetings with
the end user and had several contacts with the industry and the end user. SP’s: There is also a growing need for not just all-terrain vehicles but also vehicles which are designed to give troops protection. Can you outline the features of your products in this context? Martin: We have logistic vehicles, light armoured vehicles, tractors, recovery vehicles. every tactical vehicle oshkosh makes is designed with the capability for troop protection.
SP’s: How are your vehicles different and better compared to others? Martin: there are many companies which built vehicles, but there are only a few who built vehicles specifically for the military. oshkosh Defense has not built any commercial vehicle. All our vehicles are built for purely military applications. We promise the end user that it will have a usable life span of at least 20 years. our vehicles are also built with a capability that 10-15 years down the line, it can be upgraded to the current configuration. SP’s: You said you have already investigated the potentials in India, which vehicle is the most suitable solution for India? Martin: India is a huge and growing market. there are very challenging environments, like coastal areas. our vehicles are used all over the world and so we have the capability to survive and thrive in those environments. In India, there are requirements for light armoured vehicles. there is also a wide spectrum of requirements in logistics. the vehicles are designed for varied temperature and terrain.
PHOTOGRAPH: AM General
Continued from page 16 the m998 Ao series has a curb weight of approximately 5,200 lbs, a payload of 2,500 lbs. the current comparable model, the m1097A2 weighs only 700 lbs more but can carry almost twice the payload at 4,400 lbs. the current production ecv model m1113 has a payload of 5,100 lbs. humvees are air transportable and droppable, and can be sling-loaded by helicopters.
three humvees can be carried in a c-130 hercules transport aircraft and 15 in a c-5A Galaxy. In combat conditions, the vehicle can be delivered by the low altitude parachute extraction system without the aircraft having to land. Due in part to the humvees success in Desert Storm, Am General introduced a civilian version of the vehicle called the hummer in 1992. the hummer brand was later acquired by General motors.
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Demo Humvee Burns 70 Per Cent Less Fuel the Army has temporarily halted its testing of a unique fuel-efficient tactical vehicle so it could be shown to senior leaders and displayed in the nation’s capital. the fuel-efficient ground vehicle demonstrator, dubbed “FeD Alpha”, is on display this week in the Pentagon courtyard for an energy & Sustainability technology Fair. Last week it was on the exhibit floor at the 2011 Association of the US Army Annual meeting and exposition. the concept vehicle has a solar panel on its rear hatch that can recharge its electrical system. It also has a custom engine, transmission and a score of other features that dramatically increase its mileage per gallon compared to other humvees. the vehicle has all the capabilities of an up-armoured humvee, but burns about 70 per cent less fuel, said Steve Kramer, an engineer with the US Army tank and Automotive research, Development and engineering command, known as tArDec, headquartered in Warren, michigan. Kramer has been involved in designing the FeD Alpha for the past three years. tArDec is working with ricardo, a british company, on the testing phase of the vehicle at Aberdeen Proving Ground, md. the FeD Alpha may never be mass produced as is, Kramer said, but added that he hopes many of the energy-saving features can be priced low enough to make it onto the next gen-
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eration of tactical vehicles. “hopefully the technology on here can get back into the force,” he said. the FeD Alpha features a cummins turbo-charged 200-horsepower 4-cylinder diesel engine, a six-speed automatic transmission, and low-rolling resistance tires. the low-rolling tires alone provide an estimated 7 per cent fuel reduction. While officials said that percentage may not sound like much, if applied to the Army's entire tactical vehicle fleet, it would add up to about $45 million in fuel savings annually. the FeD Alpha also has: A high-efficiency 28-volt integrated starter-generator that enables electric accessories and 20 kW of onboard power for equipment; a lightweight aluminium structure, except for the armoured cab and underbelly v-shaped blast shield and an improved driveline that uses a unique carrier and differential assembly, including nongeared hubs and isotropic super-finished gears to reduce friction. Since July, the FeD Alpha has been undergoing testing at Aberdeen Proving Ground. the Aberdeen test center roadway Simulator is validating the fuel economy of the vehicle. Atc is the world’s largest automotive test simulator and is designed to perform vehicle dynamics, powertrain performance, shock and vibration testing in a laboratory environment. It enables the FeD Alpha to be tested in a controlled environment so small changes in fuel economy can be verified.
News in Brief MERCURY COMPUTER TO UPGRADE AESA RADAR mercury computer Systems has been awarded a multi-year contract by a prime contractor to field-upgrade advanced active electronically scanned array (AeSA) radar systems. Under the contract, the company will provide powerful signal processing modules, which will be used onboard military aircraft to broadcast radar signals while remaining undetected. the fully softwarecompatible signal processing modules can be easily and quickly used to board-swap upgrades on the radar in the field. the company did not disclose the details of the prime contractor, terms of the contract and the award value.
KAZAKHSTAN PURCHASES RUSSIAN EQUIPMENT the armed forces of the republic of Kazakhstan has purchased a set of military hardware from the russian Uralvagonzavod research and Production corporation. RusBusinessNews reported that the shipment included t-72b tanks, toS-1 heavy flamethrower systems, and three tank support fighting vehicles (bmPt). the bmPt vehicle includes the upgraded framework of the t-72 tank and is equipped with two twinbarrelled 30mm automatic guns, Ataka-t guided weapon, automatic grenade launchers and a machine gun. the vehicle has been designed to destroy tanks, infantry combat vehicles, helicopters and low-altitude aircraft. the russian Army has not yet inducted the vehicle into service, though it has passed government tests.
said, “the tanks are the latest digital tanks coming out of the US. they are the most modern m1A1s in the middle east.” the tanks will be tested for quality assurance before being deployed evenly within the four Iraqi Army tank regiments, with each regiment receiving 35 m1A1s and two m-88A2 heavy-tracked recovery vehicles. the Iraqi Army will use the m1A1 tanks to defend its borders and to protect the sovereignty of the country. currently, 85 tanks have been fielded to the army while more than 40 tanks are ready for deployment.”
SRI LANKAN ARMY INTRODUCES VOICE/DATA NETWORK the Sri Lankan Army has introduced its new voice/data communication network to improve its speed of information sharing, situational updates and exchange of intelligence. the new communication network covers more than 30 Directorates and branches at the Army headquarters, six security forces headquarters, 14 divisions/ task forces and 22 regimental headquarters. the voice and video feeds will provide commanders with reliable data for accurate assessments and formalities, as well as strategic inputs and security requirements. the network also enables live meetings, audio and video conferencing, online file transfer, online file sharing, intranet e-mailing and the Internet. the network will also cover island-wide army formations within a few weeks.
RUSSIAN ARMY TO RECEIVE NEW MBTS
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HONEYWELL SPECTRA BALLISTIC MATERIALS TO PROTECT SOLDIERS IN ASIA honeywell has announced that its Spectra Shield II ballistic materials will be used in combat helmets to protect soldiers in Asia. Dae-Sung tech corporation Ltd, a Korean body armour manufacturer, will use Spectra Shield II materials in helmets designed to protect soldiers against a variety of threats, including fragments from improvised explosive devices and small-calibre rounds. the material’s lightweight strength enables the helmets to provide critical head protection at a lower weight, which helps soldiers move more easily and comfortably. Spectra Shield II materials help the helmet achieve a 20 per cent weight reduction when compared with Dae-Sung’s previous helmets. the company will produce the helmets with the material under a three-year contract with honeywell. “Spectra Shield II ballistic material provides the right combination of light weight and ballistic performance that can help improve the protection, mobility and comfort of soldiers in the field,” said James thagard, global marketing manager for honeywell’s Advanced Fibers and composites business. “We are pleased that honeywell’s lightweight Spectra Shield II materials will help protect military men and women in Asia.” the contract represents the latest application of Spectra materials in combat helmets.
the russian Army will receive new-generation main battle tanks (mbt) in 2014-20 as part of a large-scale rearmament of its military armoured units, Defence ministry spokesman Lt colonel Sergei vlasov has said. “At present, russian scientists are developing a new-generation tank, and in 2014-20 we are planning to replace the current fleet with new tanks on a large scale, so that the new models will constitute 70 per cent of the total,” he added. the new mbt will feature enhanced firepower, manoeuvrability, electronics and armour protection capabilities over the t-90 mbt. the Defence ministry has not disclosed the type of the mbt for the replacement of the current fleet. however, russian military experts believe that either the t-95 or the t-99 mbt will be selected for the project. currently, the russian Army is equipped with t-72, t-80 and t-90 mbts and their variants, according to rIA novosti. russia’s existing state arms procurement programme aims to modernise t-72 tanks until 2014.
IRAQI ARMY RECEIVES M1A1 ABRAMS TANKS
PHOENIX II TRIALS FOR FRENCH ARMY
the Iraqi Army has received its final shipment of m1A1 Abrams tanks, which were ordered by the Iraqi Government through a foreign military sales (FmS) agreement with the US. the shipment included the last five of the 140 tanks that were stationed at besmaya combat training centre, which are part of modernising the Iraqi Army’s tank capability. US forces Iraq Army modernisation programme desk officer John hutchings
Sagem has conducted Phoenix II battlefield trials for the French Army to reach its goal of developing new operational capabilities and advanced digital integration at the mourmelon military base. the trials aimed to test the digitisation of communications between infantry soldiers, coordination of optronic sensors, tactical communications requirements, and updates on enemy positions. the Phoenix II programme covered
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ReconRobotics wins orders for 315 Recon Scout XT robots reconrobotics has been awarded a $4.8 million contract from the US Army rapid equipping Force for 315 recon Scout Xt micro-robot kits and an equal number of SearchStick devices. the SearchStick enables warfighters to convert any recon Scout throwbot into a pole camera, which warfighters can use to see over compound walls, onto rooftops and into culverts. reconrobotics plans to complete deliveries of these micro-robot systems by october 31, 2011. “the era of the personal robot has arrived for US troops and, like the ballistic vest and night vision goggles, our recon Scout Xts will save many lives,” said ernest Langdon, Director of military Program for reconrobotics. “We are extremely proud that the US military has chosen reconrobotics to help protect our warfighters as they conduct dismounted operations in theatre.” recon Scout Xt micro-robots are deployed at the fire-team level – i.e., one robot for each four- to six-man fire team – to maximise situational awareness and standoff distance during route- and compound-clearing operations. more than 2,000 of the company’s recon Scout systems have been deployed by the US military and international friendly forces, and by hundreds of law enforcement agencies worldwide. Warfighters use the recon Scout system to determine the layout of the enclosed spaces, identify potential IeDs and to fix the location of friendly, indigenous or enemy personnel. recon Scout Xt weighs just 1.2 lbs (540 gram), and yet it can be deployed in five seconds and thrown up to 120 feet (36 metres). Known for its simplicity and durability, the Xt can be controlled with a single button and can be recharged in the field using standard 5590 or 2590 batteries.
three main areas, including warfighters’ ability to understand the tactical situation, increasing the robustness of tactical communications and combat continuity of information between mounted and dismounted units. French DGA Phoenix contract manager Willy Lamal said that the programme enabled defining new operational concepts based on digital systems that were either being procured or were under test. “the manufacturers involved demonstrated the effectiveness of their solutions. these solutions were assessed by the DGA, while also enabling the troops to discover their operation in the field and compare them to current systems,” he added. A consortium including cassidian, mbDA, nexter Systems, novadem, eca and Aerophile along with co-prime contractors, Sagem and thales took part in the Phoenix II demonstration trials. the Phoenix I battlefield trials were conducted for the French Army in 2007 and 2008.
BAE TO DELIVER LIGHT ARMOURED VEHICLES TO US ARMY
the US Army tAcom has awarded a contract to bAe Systems through the FmS route to produce and deliver nine second-generation international light armoured vehicles (ILAv).
Under the $9 million contract, the company will provide six ILAv explosive ordnance disposal variants and three ILAv interrogator arm variants, along with repair parts. the ILAv is a 4x4 v-shaped hull, mine protected vehicle available in five variants including international light armoured vehicle (base vehicle), interrogator arm, explosive ordnance disposal, joint surrogate vehicle and mrAP training. Work on the contract will also be performed by Force Protection Industries and Spartan chassis at bAe’s facilities in South carolina and Pennsylvania. Delivery of the vehicles is expected to be complete in may 2012. the US and foreign allies have received more than 700 ILAvs till date since 2006.
MITSUBISHI HIT BY CYBER ATTACK Japan’s mitsubishi heavy Industries (mhI) has been the latest victim of a cyber attack, targeting Japanese data pertaining to missiles, submarines. eight viruses were found on 45 servers and 38 computer terminals last month. the viruses targeted a shipyard in nagasaki, a facility in Kobe and a plant in nagoya, where the company designs and builds destroyers, submarines, guidance and propulsion systems for rockets and missiles. the Japanese Defence ministry has said that the attackers failed to access sensitive information. however, it has ordered the company to carry out a full investigation. Japanese Defence minister Yasuo Ichikawa said, “the ministry will continue to monitor the problem and conduct investigations if necessary.” An ongoing internal investigation conducted by the company found only network information, such as IP addresses were compromised. Japanese Government websites, the cabinet office and a video distribution service were also hit by distributed denial-of-service attacks.
CASSIDIAN ELECTRO-OPTICAL TESTER cassidian has launched the oLISe electrooptical tester, which can be used to test smaller opto-electronic systems that are critical to live operations, at the DSei exhibition held in London. the tester, designed particularly for deployment in small, local workshops, can be used to test goggles, visible and infrared cameras, laser rangers and designators, sights and image intensifiers. the fieldtransportable device can also be used to test optical systems on aircraft without the need to remove the equipment.
FRENCH ARMY TO PROCURE 200 ARMOURED VEHICLES French procurement agency Direction Generale de l’Armement (DGA) has placed an order for an additional 200 small armoured vehicles, Petit vehicule Protege (PvP), from Panhard General Defense for the French Army. the latest order is in addition to a previous contract for 933 units ordered in 2004, the procurement office said. the PvP is an armoured four-wheel-drive vehicle that can be fitted with a 7.62mm machine gun on a remote-operated turret, and the vehicles have been deployed in Lebanon and Afghanistan. Delivery of the new batch of vehicles will take place in 2012.
SINGAPORE’S FIRST HIMARS
the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has commissioned the high-mobility artillery rocket system (hImArS), marking the operation of the first hImArS battery as part of a networked force that includes other land platforms. Defence minister Dr ng eng hen said that the advancements in technology have
>> SHOW CALENDAR 31 october-2 november ISDEF 2011 Israel trade Fair & convention center, tel Aviv, Israel www.isdef.co.il 1-2 november Cyber Security India India habitat centre, new Delhi, India www.cybersecurity-india.com 2-3 november Defcom India 2011 manekshaw centre, Swarna Jayanti marg, new Delhi, India www.defcom.in 7-9 november Border Management Conference and Technology Expo town & country resort and Spa, San Diego, cA, USA www.bordertechexpo.com
enhanced the SAF’s capabilities and reduced the reliance on manpower. “the successful induction of the hImArS reflects well on the ability of SAF to respond decisively to new challenges and changing circumstances in the operational environment,” hen added. hImArS has been designed to launch the entire multiple-launch rocket systems (mLrS) family of munitions, providing the troops with precision firepower, enhanced mobility and advanced networking capabilities. the rocket system carries a single pod of six guided mLrS m31 unitary rockets, which are 227mm surface-to-surface inertial guided and global positioning systemaided weapons.
AUSTRALIA APPROVES NEW ARMY TRAINING VEHICLES
12-14 December Special Operations Summit Wyndham tampa Westshore, tampa, FL, USA www.specialoperationssummit.com
OSHKOSH DELIVERS CANADIAN TAPV FOR TESTING oshkosh Defense has delivered the tactical armoured patrol vehicle (tAPv) for the canadian Department of national Defence (DnD) to conduct mobility, survivability and weapons testing at Aberdeen test center, maryland. the oshkosh tAPv, based on its mine-resistant ambush protected all-terrain vehicle (m-Atv) platform, is equipped with tAK-4 independent suspension system for mobility on rough terrain. the vehicle has undergone independent testing for on- and off-road durability validation, ballistic and survivability threat requirements as well as live-fire demonstrations of the fully integrated dual remote weapon station (rWS).
RELIEF OPERATIONS IN SIKKIM
the Australian Government has approved the acquisition of over 950 new four-wheel-drive vehicles, and trailers and associated equipment, which will be used for training purposes by the Australian Defence Forces (ADF). the combined first and second pass approval is for the acquisition of light and lightweight tactical training vehicles under Land 121 phase 5A. the acquisition includes 950 new ‘G-Wagon’ four-wheel-drive vehicles from mercedes-benz, along with 200 modules and 830 trailers. the modules will be manufactured and integrated onto the vehicles by Gh varley, while the trailers will be provided by haulmark trailers. the Land 121 Phase 5A project aims to provide a fleet of tactical vehicles and an enhanced training capability to the Australian Army to prepare for operations in armoured vehicles.
GD AWARDED US ARMY COMMAND HARDWARE SYSTEMS-4 CONTRACT General Dynamics (GD) has been awarded a $3.7 billion firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixedfee, level-of-effort, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract to provide computer hardware and software to the US Defense Department. the five-year command hardware systems-4 award is a follow-on contract to a potential $2 billion, ten-year chS-3 effort that was awarded to GD c4 Systems in 2003. According to a GD spokesman rob Doolittle, the new contract will enable procurement of commercial hardware and software including computers, radio equipment and other communications gear at competitive prices. Work on the new contract will be carried out at massachusetts and is anticipated to be completed by August 26, 2016. the US Army communications-electronics command will be the contracting activity.
ADDITIONAL ROBOTS FOR US ARMY
15-16 november Armoured Vehicles India 2011 Sheraton new Delhi hotel, new Delhi, India www.armouredvehiclesindia.com 5-6 December Military Satellites Summit Los Angeles, cA, USA www.militarysatellitessummit.com/eve nt.aspx?id=603542
tional robots will be used to perform bomb disposal, reconnaissance and other missioncritical operations. the contract also includes foreign military sales (FmS) to the US allies and coalition partners worldwide. the company has delivered more than 4,000 robots to warfighters till date.
A day after a powerful earthquake struck Sikkim, the Armed Forces have mobilised rescue and relief operation on a war footing. two mI-17 helicopters of the IAF carried relief material and national Disaster relief Force (nDrF) to Lachen and mangan, the interior regions of north Sikkim. over 5,000 army personnel, including ten columns of army engineers each comprising 15-20 personnel, were pressed into rescue operations immediately after the first tremors were felt. troops stationed in the area have provided shelter to over 1,500 people.
INDO-RUSSIA DEFENCE TIES
Editor Lt General (Retd) V.K. Kapoor Associate Group Editor Prakash Chandra Assistant Group Editor R. Chandrakanth Senior Technical Group Editor Lt General (Retd) Naresh Chand Contributing Editor Air Marshal (Retd) V.K. Bhatia Sr. Copy Editor & Correspondent Sucheta Das Mohapatra Contributors India General (Retd) V.P. Malik, Lt General (Retd) Vijay Oberoi, Lt General (Retd) R.S. Nagra, Lt General (Retd) S.R.R. Aiyengar, Air Marshal (Retd) Vinod Patney, Major General (Retd) Ashok Mehta, Major General (Retd) G.K. Nischol, Brigadier (Retd) Gurmeet Kanwal, Brigadier (Retd) S. Mishra, Rohit Sharma Chairman & Managing Director Jayant Baranwal Administration & Coordination Bharti Sharma, Survi Massey Senior Art Director Anoop Kamath Design Vimlesh Kumar Yadav, Sonu Singh Bisht Sales & Marketing Director Sales & Marketing: Neetu Dhulia Head Vertical Sales: Rajeev Chugh SP’s Website Sr. Web Developer: Shailendra P. Ashish Web Developer: Ugrashen Vishwakarma Published bimonthly by Jayant Baranwal on behalf of SP Guide Publications Pvt Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, photocopying, recording, electronic, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publishers.
In a spirit of a cooperation and understanding, India and russia held their annual meeting to review the defence ties in moscow on october 4, 2011, and expressed ‘readiness to take all necessary measures to further expand the cooperation on a mutually beneficial basis’. In a protocol signed after the eleventh meeting of the India-russia Inter-governmental Governmental commission on military technical, co-chaired by the Defence minister A.K. Antony and his russian counterpart A.e. Serdyukov, the two sides noted with satisfaction that during the period under review various diligent steps have been taken ‘to deepen interaction in the development of defence technologies, modernisisation of military equipment and joint manufactureing of military systems.
INDIAN ARMY TO DEPLOY ARMED HELICOPTER the Indian Army will induct the first attack version of the indigenously built advanced light helicopter (ALh) rudra into the army aviation corps this year, defence officials have said. rudra is a ‘heavily loaded’ variant of the ALh Dhruv helicopter and is armed with an array of guns, rocket pods, and airto-air and anti-tank guided missiles. the weaponised helicopter is expected to boost the army’s Army’s aerial firepower capabilities and is part of its modernisation and capability development efforts.
APPOINTMENTS irobot has been awarded an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract by the US Army’s robotic Systems Joint Programme office (rSJPo). Under the five-year $60 million contract, the company will provide irobot Packbot robots, spares, repairs, upgrades and support services for the army. the addi-
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Jayant Baranwal
Lt General J.P. nehra has taken over as the Adjutant General of the Indian Army. he succeeds Lt General m. Sabharwal. Lt General narendra Singh has taken over as the new Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Planning & Systems). he succeeds Lt General J.P. Singh.
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