ELECTIONS '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

Restructured infantry ready for nuke weapons

The Indian infantry has been reorganised into the new 4-B model and is now fully geared for conventional wars against a nuclear backdrop and the much-in-vogue low intensity conflicts, Director General (Infantry) Lieutenant General Shankar Prasad said on Tuesday.

Lt Gen Prasad said the new model could accommodate the latest technologies.

The restructuring, which has taken place at the battalion level, provides enhanced fire power, upgraded surveillance, increased anti-tank capability and enhanced mobility - all with only a slight increment in manpower.

The exercise, he elaborated, had been to achieve the mentioned results with more or less the existing manpower.

The DG was speaking in view of the approaching Infantry Day on October 27, when the first infantry soldier landed in the Kashmir valley in 1948 to push back the raiders from across the border.

Lt Gen Prasad said the reorganisation of the infantry battalion was done as part of the overall modernisation process that the army is undergoing. The idea is to keep pace with the latest organisational structure and weapons training.

''In a modern day battlefield, it is vital to get a good and early impression of the enemy," he said, "The restructuring is fully geared for the purpose.''

Under the new arrangement, battalions deployed on counter-insurgency duties would have their own intelligence-gathering sections. Besides, a special software is also being developed for the efficient processing of information, which would be automatically passed on to all battalions concerned.

Model 4-B would mean a substantial increment in each battalion's holdings of weapons. Communication systems at the platoon and company level would also be upgraded and they would have in-built security equipment. This would be vital for the ongoing proxy war in Kashmir, as most counter-insurgency actions are undertaken by small squads.

In line with Model 4-B, the directorate general of infantry has also developed a new training programme, wherein recruits would be trained in both conventional and counter-insurgency operations at the regimental centres.

Greater emphasis would be given on physical training, and special stress-management methods would be employed, Lt General Prasad said.

Speaking about the Kashmir situation, he said the Indian army has established a grid of modern surveillance equipment all along the Line of Control and, with its help, succeeded in repulsing infiltration.

He said the grid comprised ground sensors, battlefield surveillance radars and thermal imagers.

The director general said since it was not possible to cover the entire LoC, stretching hundreds of kilometres, the army had identified stretches more prone to infiltration and brought them under 24-hour surveillance.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report