Army, IAF hold drill to meet challenges along border with China

Amidst the ongoing border tension with China, Special Forces of the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force have successfully demonstrated that New Delhi could quickly insert specialised troops in the hilly and forested areas near the disputed boundary with China in the east and Northeast to tackle any emergency.

IAF’s C17 Globemasters transporter and Chinook and Mi-17 heavy-lift helicopters undertook multi-mode insertion into designated greenfield landing zones with surgical precision, defence ministry sources said here on Thursday.

Army paratroopers from the Shatrujeet Brigade (50 Para) conducted special heliborne operations validating their ability to rapidly deploy into hostile environments using Chinooks and Mi-17 helicopters to offensive actions supplementing the regular ground forces.

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Such special operation exercises are a mix of conventional and unconventional military actions that are undertaken by specially designated, selected, trained and equipped units.

The eastern theatre exercise by Kolkata-based Eastern Command as per a tactical setting showcased the operational preparedness and synergy of strategic forces to quickly undertake successful operations in high altitude and mountainous terrain.

The drill demonstrated the speed, agility and lethality of the specialised troops showcasing their utility to rapidly deploy in a hostile environment, secure landing zones and engage the enemy with precision and speed, despite operating in treacherous mountainous terrain.

The wargame involving the Special Forces and the IAF came close on the hills of Exercise Vayu Prahar that validated a protocol of rapid force mobilisation by a reaction force from the hinterland to carry out operations at the advance landing grounds in the Northeast.

The two back-to-back combat drills happen at a time when edginess prevails along the entire Line of Control following a two-year-long stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh and the recent clash between Indian and PLA troops at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.

Last week Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan visited forward areas in North Bengal along with the top brass of Sukna-based Trishakti Corps (33 Corps).

While Gen Chauhan reviewed the progress of infrastructure development and operational and logistics preparedness in the area, he was also given a briefing on the operational situation along the northern borders in Sikkim.