After threatening both China and Pakistan of dire consequences and claiming it had developed a new strategy to tackle both in one go and secure victory within 96 hours, The Indian Army Chief, General Deepak Kapoor has suddenly turned a virtual somersault.
His recent musings highlight the Indian Army’s concern about “night blindness” in the area of Armoured Corps and mechanized infantry. “My major concern is that night blindness of the army is removed so we are able to fight in the night as in the day,” Kapoor said at New Delhi over the weekend, an admission that stunned the world in the back drop of his two weeks old claims. Pakistan had expressed concerns over the belligerent outbursts by the Indian Army Chief at the highest levels and was hoping that detraction would come through some responsible and saner quarters; however, the “Deepak Raag” was endorsed by A.K. Antony, the Indian Defence Minister. The recent admission by Kapoor that Pakistani armour’s night vision capability ranges to 80% while the Chinese have 100% capability in this vital sector and in contrast Indian Army tanks have a limited night vision of capability of only 20% must have shocked the Indian defence planners too. Deepak Kapoor has been frank in divulging that ‘Projects are already in the pipeline to ensure that we have the night vision capability that our adversaries have. It may take three-four years. The lack of night vision capability of the Indian Army has affected its fighting capability during the night. The deficiency has been persistent since the Kargil conflict.’ On a query about the obsolete artillery of the Indian Army, the army chief said that successive bans have delayed acquisition of new guns for long. “Artillery is a cause for concern. We need to have better guns. Trials for towed guns are underway. Because of bans the process got delayed. We are now acquiring (ultra light) guns through FMS (Foreign Military Sales) route (from the US),” Kapoor added. It is a matter of fact that despite a numerical strength of tanks over Pakistan, Indian army’s armoured and infantry capabilities are far below average if compared to Pakistan Army. Indian armoured corps comprises around 4, 059 tanks with a backup of 1, 133 as reserve while Pakistan Army’s Tank strength is 2,401 with a backup of 270 as reserves. However this numerical supremacy of Indian army is counterbalanced by the fact that Indian armoured corps relies mainly on its Main Battle Tank (MBT) Arjun which emerged as a big failure while Pakistan Army’s armoured corps’ main strength Al-Khalid MBT is a great success story. Arjun, being developed since 1974, has not yet met the basic conditions of the army despite the almost $1 billion spent on it. But the tank has failed to meet service requirement tests. It is reportedly too heavy and undependable to be used in combat operations. The Indian Army prefers imported Russian tanks over the indigenous MBTs and says it will use the MBTs for training, not operations. According to the Indian daily, Hindustan Times in its October 20, 2006 issue, ….the Arjun’s sophisticated (German origin) pneumatic suspension system is fed nitrogen gas through pipes that are, to put it delicately, not protected by its armour, and hence even small-arms fire can bring the 58-tonne monster to a grinding halt…. But the latest admission of Indian Army Chief about failure of its armoured corps to fight a battle in the night time is an additional and a rather huge disadvantage to the Indian Army and absolutely negates the claims of Indian Army Chief regarding smooth victory in case Indian army has to fight a war with Pakistan or China or even both at the same time. Latest reports indicate that Arjun has indeed suffered throughout its development, from confusion and inexplicable delays and by imbalances between the Army, the DRDO and the bureaucracy. Pakistan by contrast, has drawn a lesson from the Indian experience and avoided the trap of over lasting her R&D’s indigenous know-how in the development of its MBT Al-Khalid. Arjun mounts a 120mm rifled gun deadly in lethal power but wanting in accuracy. Its performance in various trials was reported to be anything but up to the mark. It is believed that in March 1990, General V. N. Sharma, the then Indian Army Chief of Staff and an armoured expert, was “quite wild” when only three of the five rounds hit the 5X5 meter target and no hit was scored against a moving target. The “night-blindness” for his armour divisions, admitted by the Indian “Guderian”, Deepak Kapoor, who wanted to Blitzkrieg his way into history through his Cold Start Strategy, has felt his spirits dampened. Hopefully the reality check will snap him out of his stupor of military superiority and urge him to pay more attention to bare facts before shooting his mouth off and issuing ultimatums to China and Pakistan. Already General Deepak Kapoor is facing flak for his declaration that he suffered acute deafness in his left ear because of loud bangs generated by booming guns during a military weapons demonstration encountered in his visit to USA last year. It is hard to comprehend that in the USA, where a lot of emphasis is laid on safety measures for the US armed forces personnel and more so for visiting dignitaries that General Deepak Kapoor was exposed to the ear-shattering booms without the safety of ear plugs and ear protection. Some analysts are of the opinion that the Indian Army Chief may have faked the injury to have himself placed in a lower medical category just four months before retirement. A lower medical category indicates partial disability and entitlement to higher pensions. The headline of a local English Daily: “The Chief of blind Indian Army himself goes deaf” speaks volumes for the reality check the Indian Army Chief and his Rommels need to take before indulging in saber rattling.
His recent musings highlight the Indian Army’s concern about “night blindness” in the area of Armoured Corps and mechanized infantry. “My major concern is that night blindness of the army is removed so we are able to fight in the night as in the day,” Kapoor said at New Delhi over the weekend, an admission that stunned the world in the back drop of his two weeks old claims. Pakistan had expressed concerns over the belligerent outbursts by the Indian Army Chief at the highest levels and was hoping that detraction would come through some responsible and saner quarters; however, the “Deepak Raag” was endorsed by A.K. Antony, the Indian Defence Minister. The recent admission by Kapoor that Pakistani armour’s night vision capability ranges to 80% while the Chinese have 100% capability in this vital sector and in contrast Indian Army tanks have a limited night vision of capability of only 20% must have shocked the Indian defence planners too. Deepak Kapoor has been frank in divulging that ‘Projects are already in the pipeline to ensure that we have the night vision capability that our adversaries have. It may take three-four years. The lack of night vision capability of the Indian Army has affected its fighting capability during the night. The deficiency has been persistent since the Kargil conflict.’ On a query about the obsolete artillery of the Indian Army, the army chief said that successive bans have delayed acquisition of new guns for long. “Artillery is a cause for concern. We need to have better guns. Trials for towed guns are underway. Because of bans the process got delayed. We are now acquiring (ultra light) guns through FMS (Foreign Military Sales) route (from the US),” Kapoor added. It is a matter of fact that despite a numerical strength of tanks over Pakistan, Indian army’s armoured and infantry capabilities are far below average if compared to Pakistan Army. Indian armoured corps comprises around 4, 059 tanks with a backup of 1, 133 as reserve while Pakistan Army’s Tank strength is 2,401 with a backup of 270 as reserves. However this numerical supremacy of Indian army is counterbalanced by the fact that Indian armoured corps relies mainly on its Main Battle Tank (MBT) Arjun which emerged as a big failure while Pakistan Army’s armoured corps’ main strength Al-Khalid MBT is a great success story. Arjun, being developed since 1974, has not yet met the basic conditions of the army despite the almost $1 billion spent on it. But the tank has failed to meet service requirement tests. It is reportedly too heavy and undependable to be used in combat operations. The Indian Army prefers imported Russian tanks over the indigenous MBTs and says it will use the MBTs for training, not operations. According to the Indian daily, Hindustan Times in its October 20, 2006 issue, ….the Arjun’s sophisticated (German origin) pneumatic suspension system is fed nitrogen gas through pipes that are, to put it delicately, not protected by its armour, and hence even small-arms fire can bring the 58-tonne monster to a grinding halt…. But the latest admission of Indian Army Chief about failure of its armoured corps to fight a battle in the night time is an additional and a rather huge disadvantage to the Indian Army and absolutely negates the claims of Indian Army Chief regarding smooth victory in case Indian army has to fight a war with Pakistan or China or even both at the same time. Latest reports indicate that Arjun has indeed suffered throughout its development, from confusion and inexplicable delays and by imbalances between the Army, the DRDO and the bureaucracy. Pakistan by contrast, has drawn a lesson from the Indian experience and avoided the trap of over lasting her R&D’s indigenous know-how in the development of its MBT Al-Khalid. Arjun mounts a 120mm rifled gun deadly in lethal power but wanting in accuracy. Its performance in various trials was reported to be anything but up to the mark. It is believed that in March 1990, General V. N. Sharma, the then Indian Army Chief of Staff and an armoured expert, was “quite wild” when only three of the five rounds hit the 5X5 meter target and no hit was scored against a moving target. The “night-blindness” for his armour divisions, admitted by the Indian “Guderian”, Deepak Kapoor, who wanted to Blitzkrieg his way into history through his Cold Start Strategy, has felt his spirits dampened. Hopefully the reality check will snap him out of his stupor of military superiority and urge him to pay more attention to bare facts before shooting his mouth off and issuing ultimatums to China and Pakistan. Already General Deepak Kapoor is facing flak for his declaration that he suffered acute deafness in his left ear because of loud bangs generated by booming guns during a military weapons demonstration encountered in his visit to USA last year. It is hard to comprehend that in the USA, where a lot of emphasis is laid on safety measures for the US armed forces personnel and more so for visiting dignitaries that General Deepak Kapoor was exposed to the ear-shattering booms without the safety of ear plugs and ear protection. Some analysts are of the opinion that the Indian Army Chief may have faked the injury to have himself placed in a lower medical category just four months before retirement. A lower medical category indicates partial disability and entitlement to higher pensions. The headline of a local English Daily: “The Chief of blind Indian Army himself goes deaf” speaks volumes for the reality check the Indian Army Chief and his Rommels need to take before indulging in saber rattling.
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