Foreign dignitaries and Defence Attaches of 60-65 countries will witness the might of the Indian Army and the Air Force in the Rajasthan Desert on March 19.
New Delhi, Mar 13 : Foreign dignitaries and Defence Attaches of 60-65 countries will witness the might of the Indian Army and the Air Force in the Rajasthan Desert on March 19.
Breaking away from tradition, the Army and the Air Force is set to project the 'Manoeuvre Warfare Doctrine' of the Armed Forces in a 'fire and manoeuvre' combat exercise, codenamed "Brazen Chariots", to be conducted at the Pokhran field firing range in Western Rajasthan.
The exercise is aimed at putting mechanized formations through their paces in a simulated, deep offensive scenario in desert terrain, said Major General Vijay Narula, Additional Director General, Public Information.
The exercise will provide the foreign observers with an opportunity to witness the military assets and capabilities of the Indian armed forces, Major General Narula added.
Asked about absence of Pakistan from the list of foreign observers, he said that confidence-building measures with Pakistan are not really through that is why they are not participating.
Major General Narula said that China, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar Bangladesh, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, etc are some of the countries sending their observers to witness the exercise.
Foreign observers from US, UK, Canada, Nigeria are also sending their observers for Brazen Chariot, he added.
The exercise is being jointly conducted by one of the desert formations of the Army, and it will along with the IAF, will put to test an array of their latest weapon system acquisitions.
The state-of-the-art missile firing tanks T-90 (Bhishma), all-weather Air Defence Gun Missile systems, Searcher Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) besides other electronic sensors and surveillance equipment will participate in the exercise.
The army has mobilised over 37,000 troops from the 21 Corp and fielded its cutting edge weapon systems for the exercise to address the dynamic changes sweeping today's battle space.
The IAF would closely support the surface forces with the induction of airborne troops, provide logistical support while its frontline fighter aircraft, including the Su-30 MKI, Jaguar, MiG-27, MiG-21 Bison and armed helicopters, would unleash their firepower to devastating effect.
The airborne assault capability of the IAF would be demonstrated wherein Army troops and equipments would be air dropped from IL-76 and AN-32 aircraft.
The combat exercise will also include the deployment of a comprehensive communication and data linking systems incorporating Battlefield Surveillance System (BSS) and Force Multiplier Command Post (FMCP).
The exercise will see the Army's Southern Command and IAF's South Western Command join hands to demonstrate and practise "synergised air-land operations in a mechanised and digitised environment", with the basic focus being on launching "swift offensive multiple-thrusts" to strike deep behind enemy lines. By Praful Kumar Singh
ANI