Comparison between Indian and Pakistani armed forces

New Delhi: India has the world's third largest armed forces behind China and the US, while Pakistan has the world's 8th largest armed forces behind North Korea, russia, Turkey and South Korea.The two nations have fought three wars and several conflicts including the Kargil conflict, the latest. With tension often rising across the Line of Control, the two armies are always at loggerheads, though at present the tensions have cooled down a bit. Let's have a look at the armed forces of both countries: Indian army : The regular Indian army has 13,25,000 officers and jawans, and if we include the reserves and the paramilitary forces it comes to 47,68,407. The Indian army has to defend a very long and porous border with Pakistan, Nepal, China and Bangladesh. There are 30 regiments and 63 armoured regiments spread into 37 Divisions under 7 operational commands and three types of corps. Indian army has 2414 T-72 battle tanks, 807 T-90 tanks, and 248 Arjun MK-II tanks (planned). There are 550 T-55 tanks too. Apart from these, there are more than 700 armoured personnel carriers, 255 reconnaisance vehicles, 410 Bofors Howitzer guns, 200 M-46 field guns, 550 more M-46 field guns( to be replaced), and several thousand other field guns. There are also 62 Smerch, more than 80 Pinaka and more than 150 BM-21 multiple rocket launchers. The army has more than 443 Nag anti-tank guided missiles, more than 30,000 MILAN anti-tank guided missiles, 4,100 MILAN 2T anti-tank guided missiles, more than 15,000 9M113 Konkurs anti-tank guided missile, and also thousands of Korent, Fagot, Shturm, Ataka-V, Malyukta and Falanka anti-tank guided missiles.The army is also equipped with BrahMos stealth Cruise missiles, Prahaar tactical missile, Prithvi-I, II and III short-range missiles, Shaurya and Agni-I medium-range ballistic missiles and Agni-II and III intermediate-range ballistic missiles. Pakistan's ground forcesPakistan has a regular army of 6,17,000 officers and soldiers, and if we include the reserves and para-military, the total comes to 14,34,000. Pakistan has more than 500 Al-Khalid main battle tanks (current and planned), 320 T-80 tanks,1300 Al-Zarrar and type 85-II and type 69-II tanks, 50 amphibious tanks, 345 M48A5 US-made tanks, and 50 T-54/55 tanks. It also has 2000 Talha armoured personnel carriers, 300 Bradley armoured vehicles, more than 1600 M113 infantry armoured vehicles and 160 LAV-25 armoured vehicles. Pak army has 260 203 mm M110 howitzer guns, 250 M109 155 mm howitzer guns, 300 155 mm M109A4 howitzer guns and 115 155 mm M109A5 guns. It has 92 multiple launch rocket systems almost 3,500 towed artillery pieces. It has more than 20,850 Bakhtar-Shikan anti-tank missiles, and more than 10,000 other anti-tank missiles. Pakistani army also has Hatf, Abdali and Nasr battlefield range ballistic missiles, Ghaznavi and Abdali-II short range ballistic missiles, Ghauri-I and II and Shaheen-I and II medium range ballistic missiles and Ghauri-III and Shaheen-III intermediate range ballistic missiles. It is developing the Taimur intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 7,000 km.Its army also has Babur ground-launched cruise missile, ad Hatf-8 air-launched cruise missile. India Air ForceIndian Air Force (IAF) has over 127,000 (2010) personnel and 1,500 aircraft in active service during 2011-2012 making it the fourth largest air force in the world with its squadron strength being raised to 42. India's strike fighters consist of Russian and French aircrafts like MiG-29, Dassault Mirage 2000, Sukhoi Su-30. IAF has 146 sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters out of a total order for 272. IAF operates 68 MiG-29s and 51 Mirage 2000H. Recently, order has been placed for 126 Dassault French Rafale multi-role fighters. In addition to these, IAf operates three Phalcon airborne early warning aircraft, and order has been placed for 20 Boeing P-8 Poseidon Airborne early arning surveillance aircraft. India also has six Ilyushin Il-78MKIs aerial refuelling aircraft and 17 Il-76 Gajraj transport aircraft, to be replaced by C-17 Globemaster III aircraft. There are also six C-130J for combined Army-IAF operations. India also has IAI Searcher and IAI Heron unmanned aerial vehicles. IAF has S-125 Pechora and 9K33 Osa surface-to-air missile systems and is also inducting Akash medium range sufrace-to-air missiles. It currently operates Prithvi-II short-range ballistic missiles. There are also S-300 SAM anti-tactical ballistic missile systems. IAF has placed orders for 48 HAL Tejas fighters also.Pakistan Air ForcePakistan Air Force (PAF) has about 530 combat aircrafts and over 65,000 active personnel, operating out of 9 airbases. Its strike fighters consist of US, Chinese and French fighters like F-16 Fighting Falcon, JF-17 Thunder and Dassault Mirage ROSE-III. It also has transport aircrafts like Lockheed Martin C-130 and Airbus A310, however there are no UAVs or reconnaissance aircrafts in the Pakistani Air Force. The PAF has 120 Chengdu F-7P and 60 F-7PG fighters. It also has nearly 150 Mirage fighters. PAF also has 30 JF-17 Thunder fighters. It also has 54 F-16 Fighting Falcon US-made fighters. PAF has also ordered 36 Chengdu FC-20 fighters. It also has 4 Saab 2000 Erieye airborne early warning and control aircraft. PAF currently has 11 C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. PAF is equipped with Crotale 4000 surface-to-air missile systems and MBDA Spada 2000 air defence system. There are also HQ-2 Chinese high altitude air defece systems and RBS 70 low-altitude air defence systems that fires laser beam-riding missiles.Pakiistan NavyAfter the overwhelming losses in the 1971 war against India, Pakistan rapidly increased the size of its naval fleet which doubled in the 1980s after a massive 3.2 billion dollar military and economic aid by US President Ronald Reagan. At present, Pakistan's navy owns 11 frigates and destroyers, 8 submarines, 8 fast attack crafts, 4 multi-role tactical crafts, 3 mine hunters, 8 auxilliary ships, 12 hover crafts, and 17 patrol boats.It operates from its naval port in Karachi and naval facilities in UK, USA and France. India NavyIndian Navy on the other hand, is a three dimensional naval force consisting of an aircraft carrier, 16 amphibious warfare vessels, 31 patrol vessels, eight minesweepers, one nuclear attack submarine, 8 guided missile destroyers, 15 guided-missile frigates, 24 corvettes and 14 diesel-electric attack submarines. There are also 18 auxilliary fleet ships.The navy operates from its major naval bases in Visakhapatnam, Mumbai, Goa and the Andaman Islands. Indian Navy has significant capabilities of being a true blue water Navy and is experienced both in war and peacekeeping operations in the Indian Ocean.