INDIAN ARMED FORCES CHIEFS ON
OUR RELENTLESS AND FOCUSED PUBLISHING EFFORTS

SP's Land Forces - Issue 5 - 2020

Issue Features

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  LEAD STORY
  Infantry: Future Trajectory and Restructuring
  By Lt General Pradep Bali (Retd)

  The geopolitics of South Asia and expansionist neighbours necessitates India to maintain a large standing army with primarily a ground holding role.

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  INFANTRY SPECIAL
  The Ultimate Arm - Infantry
  By Lt General Dushyant Singh (Retd)

  Indian history of warfare is heavily dominated by the infantry. History abounds with exemplary bravery of Infantry men. Infantry units have won 61 Victoria Cross, 808 Military Cross and 54 Battle Honours preindependence.

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  INFANTRY SPECIAL
  The Infantry and its Regimental System
  By Lt General Pradep Bali (Retd)

  The various infantry regiments are rooted in an identity based on ethnicity and geographical grouping together of soldiers from similar backgrounds and who speak the same or similar language or dialects.

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  INFANTRY SPECIAL
  Role of Infantry - Chinese Aggression in Ladakh
  By Lt General P.C. Katoch (Retd)

  Not many would be aware of the risks and tribulations, the soldiers face in difficult areas of Ladakh including in the Siachen Glacier area and the Saltoro range aside from the biting cold and inhospitable terrain.

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  INFANTRY SPECIAL
  The M134D Dillon Aero Gatling Gun System
  By SP’s Correspondent

  Dillon Aero’s M134D is the only fully tested, qualified, and combat-proven 7.62mm Gatling Gun system available in the market today. Supplied to U.S. Special Operations Forces from 1989 onwards, the M134D is designed, produced, and supported by an ISO 90001:2008 certified company.

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  INFANTRY SPECIAL
  The Dire Need for Indian FICV
  By Lt General J.K. Sharma (Retd)

  On January 26, 2020, The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Manoj Mukund Naravane stated that Army is making efforts to push it’s 10 year-old plan to acquire 2,600 future infantry combat vehicles (FICV) for the Indian Army at a cost of around Rs. 60,000 crore by 2026-27.

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  INFANTRY SPECIAL
  FICV for Indian Army
  By Lt General P.C. Katoch (Retd)

  The FICV were earlier planned to be inducted into the Army in year 2025 but looking at the current state of affairs, induction may be prolonged easily by few more years.

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  TECHNOLOGY / MUNITIONS
  Loitering Munitions - Meeting the Challenge of Time-Sensitive Targets
  

  In modern battlefields, spotting the enemy in time and acting on realtime information has become a critical capability. The precise location of the enemy in modern combat is not always known...

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  MOUNTAIN WARFARE
  Inducting New Light Tanks
  By Lt General J.K. Sharma (Retd)

  The strategic prudence lies in exploiting country’s own bandwidth to equip our armed forces with indigenous light tank which will transmit a far stronger message of indigenously equipped self-reliant nation

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  NEWS IN BRIEF
  Defence Minister Rajnath Singh releases DRDO Procurement Manual 2020
  

  To encourage more participation of Indian industry, including Start-ups and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Defence Research & Development (R&D) for achieving ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh...

• NEWS IN BRIEF
  Flight Testing of DRDO’s Laser Guided ATGM
  

  The indigenously developed Laser Guided Anti Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) was successfully test fired on October 1, 2020 defeating a target located at longer range. The test was conducted from MBT Arjun at Ahmednagar.

• 

  Appointments
  

  Ministry of Defence, India appointed V.L. Kantha Rao, a 1992 batch IAS officer of MP cadre, as the next Director General (Acquisition) in the defence ministry...
  The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet also named Rao’s successor in the Department of Defence Production. Sanjay Jaju...

• 

  Editorial
  By Jayant Baranwal, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

  Indian Army just celebrated the Infantry Day on October 27. This was the day in 1947, soon after independence, when troops of Indian Infantry landed in Srinagar to defend India from the invading tribals who were supported by the Pakistan Army.