India, Pak To Launch Major Wargames
In a coincidence that has the potential of raising tension levels, the Indian and Pakistani militaries would be conducting major wargames later this month virtually within shouting distance from each other, reports Times of India.
In a coincidence that has the potential of raising tension levels, the Indian and Pakistani militaries would be conducting major wargames later this month virtually within shouting distance from each other, reports Times of India.
Both exercises, involving thousands of troops, aim to test offensive strategies in the event of an armed conflict with the other side and will have active participation of their respective air forces.
The Indian Army will launch its month-long wargames in mid-April in the Thar desert. Called 'Yodha Shakti', the games will involve one of its three principal 'strike' formations, the Mathura-based 1 Corps.
It will practice a 'pro-active' war strategy revolving around the objective of mobilizing fast under 'the cold start' doctrine and striking hard across the border to pulverize the enemy.
Around the same time - from April 10 to May 13 - Pakistan will conduct its 'Azm-e-Nau-III' (new resolve) exercise, described as its biggest wargames in two decades, to train for a conventional war with India.
The manoeuvres will be held near the border in the country's Punjab and Sindh provinces - close to Rajasthan's Thar desert.
Pakistan's exercise will be massive. "It's aimed at validating and refining newly evolved doctrines," the head of Pakistan army's military training directorate, Muzammil Hussain, said in Rawalpindi. Azm-e-Nau-III will mobilize 20,000 troops in the beginning, rising to 40,000 to 50,000 towards the end, he said.
The Indian Army, learning lessons from the slow mobilization during Operation Parakram - the 10-month forward troop mobilization after the December 2001 terrorist attack on Parliament - will practice launching self-contained and highly-mobile 'battle groups,' with Russian-origin T-90S tanks and upgraded T-72 M1 tanks at their core, within 96 hours.
"The exercise will be a two-sided, day-and-night affair, with rapid and deep offensives being undertaken by the battle groups to assault and capture 'enemy' territory. It will also validate our logistics infrastructure as well as new acquisitions," said a senior officer.
The wargames will also have a big IAF component in the drive to achieve greater synergy. Both the western and southwestern IAF commands have stepped up coordination with the different Army commands in the western theatre to synergize efforts to build "an integrated and organic" air-land war-fighting machinery.
Though the Indian armed forces may be now raising two new infantry divisions and an artillery brigade as well as deploying Sukhoi-30MKI fighters in the eastern sector to counter China, they are not diluting their traditional focus on the western front with Pakistan.
The forces, in fact, are reinforcing their offensive punch along the entire western front. For one, IAF will operationalize a forward airbase at Phalodi in Rajasthan on Tuesday. Jaguars will be the first fighters to land at the new airbase on Tuesday to mark its inauguration by IAF chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik.
The Phalodi airbase, strategically located since it falls in the middle of the 'triangle' constituted by Jaisalmer, Nal (Bikaner) and Jodhpur airbases, aims to plug operational and air defence gaps in the western front.
"The 24x7 airbase, equipped to handle potent fighters like the Sukhoi-30MKIs and heavy-lift aircraft, will provide us with requisite flexibility," said a senior officer.
This comes even as the newish South-Western Army Command (SWAC) at Jaipur, established as the sixth operational command of the 1.13-million strong Army in 2005, is fully up and running now.
With the Mathura-based 1 'Strike' Corps and Bhatinda-based 10 'Pivot' Corps under it, SWAC is responsible for offensive operations on the western front in conjunction with the Chandimandir-based Western Army Command (WAC), which controls the Ambala-based 2 'Strike' Corps.
Northern and Southern (which has the Bhopal-based 21 'Strike' Corps) Army Commands, at Udhampur and Pune respectively, will of course play crucial roles in the event of a war but it will be SWAC and WAC which will assume the pivotal roles.
Both exercises, involving thousands of troops, aim to test offensive strategies in the event of an armed conflict with the other side and will have active participation of their respective air forces.
The Indian Army will launch its month-long wargames in mid-April in the Thar desert. Called 'Yodha Shakti', the games will involve one of its three principal 'strike' formations, the Mathura-based 1 Corps.
It will practice a 'pro-active' war strategy revolving around the objective of mobilizing fast under 'the cold start' doctrine and striking hard across the border to pulverize the enemy.
Around the same time - from April 10 to May 13 - Pakistan will conduct its 'Azm-e-Nau-III' (new resolve) exercise, described as its biggest wargames in two decades, to train for a conventional war with India.
The manoeuvres will be held near the border in the country's Punjab and Sindh provinces - close to Rajasthan's Thar desert.
Pakistan's exercise will be massive. "It's aimed at validating and refining newly evolved doctrines," the head of Pakistan army's military training directorate, Muzammil Hussain, said in Rawalpindi. Azm-e-Nau-III will mobilize 20,000 troops in the beginning, rising to 40,000 to 50,000 towards the end, he said.
The Indian Army, learning lessons from the slow mobilization during Operation Parakram - the 10-month forward troop mobilization after the December 2001 terrorist attack on Parliament - will practice launching self-contained and highly-mobile 'battle groups,' with Russian-origin T-90S tanks and upgraded T-72 M1 tanks at their core, within 96 hours.
"The exercise will be a two-sided, day-and-night affair, with rapid and deep offensives being undertaken by the battle groups to assault and capture 'enemy' territory. It will also validate our logistics infrastructure as well as new acquisitions," said a senior officer.
The wargames will also have a big IAF component in the drive to achieve greater synergy. Both the western and southwestern IAF commands have stepped up coordination with the different Army commands in the western theatre to synergize efforts to build "an integrated and organic" air-land war-fighting machinery.
Though the Indian armed forces may be now raising two new infantry divisions and an artillery brigade as well as deploying Sukhoi-30MKI fighters in the eastern sector to counter China, they are not diluting their traditional focus on the western front with Pakistan.
The forces, in fact, are reinforcing their offensive punch along the entire western front. For one, IAF will operationalize a forward airbase at Phalodi in Rajasthan on Tuesday. Jaguars will be the first fighters to land at the new airbase on Tuesday to mark its inauguration by IAF chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik.
The Phalodi airbase, strategically located since it falls in the middle of the 'triangle' constituted by Jaisalmer, Nal (Bikaner) and Jodhpur airbases, aims to plug operational and air defence gaps in the western front.
"The 24x7 airbase, equipped to handle potent fighters like the Sukhoi-30MKIs and heavy-lift aircraft, will provide us with requisite flexibility," said a senior officer.
This comes even as the newish South-Western Army Command (SWAC) at Jaipur, established as the sixth operational command of the 1.13-million strong Army in 2005, is fully up and running now.
With the Mathura-based 1 'Strike' Corps and Bhatinda-based 10 'Pivot' Corps under it, SWAC is responsible for offensive operations on the western front in conjunction with the Chandimandir-based Western Army Command (WAC), which controls the Ambala-based 2 'Strike' Corps.
Northern and Southern (which has the Bhopal-based 21 'Strike' Corps) Army Commands, at Udhampur and Pune respectively, will of course play crucial roles in the event of a war but it will be SWAC and WAC which will assume the pivotal roles.