IAF's Garud commandos to be equipped with new arms and bullet proof jackets


Learning lessons from experience of its Garud commandos during the Pathankot airbase attack, the Indian Air Force has started moving towards providing better protection its Special Forces against terrorist bullets in close quarter combat.

In order to give them enhanced firepower, the Air Force is also seeking to buy new assault rifles for special forces.

"Learning our lessons from the attack, we are planning to buy advanced bullet proof jackets for our special forces which can provide protection against 7.62mm bullets fired from AK-47 and other assault rifles used by terrorists," an IAF officer told Mail Today here.

During the attack, an IAF commando Corporal Gursevak Singh had lost his life as he got hit by bullets in thighs and suffered injuries from grenade explosion as well, the officer said. Till now, the IAF is using the bulky jackets which are not very effective against bullets fired from close ranges and are too heavy as they can hinder the movement of commandos during encounters with terrorists. Another Garud officer Squadron leader Dwivedi had been injured in the attack where the Garuds faced their first actual encounter with terrorists and as part of the steps taken after the encounter, it was realised that the troops had to be provided better protection.

Officials said the Garuds had earlier also tried to procure jackets but the move did not yield any result as the jackets on offer were found to be wanting and could not meet the standards desired by the force.

The IAF has also plans of expanding the size of its Garud forces as they are getting experience in anti-naxal duties and getting specialised training with foreign countries.

Around 1,000 more troops have been sought by the IAF from the government as it plans to provide better security to its air bases.

The Garud commandos use the Tavor assault rifles imported from Israel and will get more of them in near future as the case for its procurement is under process. Right after the Pathankot attack, the Air Force had moved in a proposal to raise the fortification of its 54 air bases around the country

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Network Centric Warfare Capabilities & INDIAN ARMED FORCES

Image
By: Next Generation Weapons Technology Network Centric Warfare and Indian Navy & IAF and land based units. More satellites will be launched as grid as launched previously. In addition to making platforms and infrastructure for network centricity, the Navy has also made organizational changes to create and efficiently manage the transition to seamless Network Centric capabilities. The creation of a new post of Assistant Chief of Naval S taff (Communications Space and Network Centric Operations) is step in the process to migrate from a ‘Platform Centric Navy’ to a ‘Network Enabled Navy’. During various exercises, Network Centric Warfare (NCW) has been one of the crucial aspects being validated. During the various coordinated exercises conducted by the Army with the Air Force, the endeavor has been to validate and integrate the use of all available assets, including satellites, UAVs and HUMINT (Human intelligence) to assist commanders at all levels in taking dynamic and pr
Read more

The Heat is on!! for INDIA as China Unveils its 5th Gen Stealth J20 Fighter Jet ; Pakistan expresses interest to buy

Image
China on Tuesday unveiled its J-20 stealth fighter jet at its biggest air show which will have major implications for India as it is the first indigenously-made fifth-generation Chinese aircraft which Pakistan has shown interest in acquiring. Two J-20 aircraft which made waves in the Chinese media in the last few years flew at the Zhuhai city air show where the Pakistan Air Force is also taking part flying with its J-17 Thunder jets which are jointly manufactured with China. This is the first, public show of the J-20 warplane. Pakistan, the largest importer of Chinese arms has said earlier that it is in talks with China to buy the FC-31 - an export variant of the same aircraft. The FC-31 was briefly flown in the 2014 Zhuhai airshow. The stealth aircraft is regarded as major breakthrough for China which is otherwise mostly reliant on Russian aircraft including advanced versions of Sukhois. India is yet to make stealth aircraft which can penetrate through enemy radars. The J
Read more

Where Is Article 370 Now!!!!, That Rohingyas And Bangladeshis Are Being Settled In Jammu And Ladakh ???

Image
Jammu is up in arms against the authorities. This time, it is not against discriminatory policies being pursued by the successive Kashmir-dominated and Valley-centric governments in Jammu & Kashmir since 1947, but against the settlement of Rohingyas from Myanmar in Jammu and Ladakh, both strategically vital for national security. According to the late Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the number of Rohingya Muslims living in different parts of Jammu city and around it, was 5,107 in 2010 (AINS, 10 October 2015). And, as per Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s June 2016 Assembly statement, there were 13,400 Rohingyas and Bangladeshis living in camps in Jammu. She said “Bathindi Ka Plot is home to the highest number of Rohingya Muslims” (The Hindustan Times, 5 December 2016). The break-up of Rohingyas settled in the state is as follows: Jammu – 5,086, Jammu’s Samba district – 634 and Ladakh – 7,664. The total number is 13, 334. The Jammu Chamber of C
Read more