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Research on Joint Commission

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General


Zubair Mehmood Hayat, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar
Javed Bajwa, Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral Zafar Mehmood Abbasi
and Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan
had an important meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan at the Prime
Minister’s Office (PMO) on Wednesday.

It has been officially stated in the PMO’s brief statement that the “security
situation of the country including professional matters pertaining to armed
forces of Pakistan were discussed during the meeting.”

Well-placed sources told The News that the huddle, the first of its kind ever
since the new government has assumed the rein of authority, had discussion
covering wide range subjects of national security. The performance and role
of the valiant armed forces during the last month’s India’s provocative
actions on ground, air and sea were deliberated and they cherished the state
of alertness and preparedness of the three services. Their response to enemy
was also appreciated during the showdown.

The people across the country admirably stood on the occasion shoulder to
shoulder with the armed forces. Officially, no word has been given in 40
words statement, but the sources confided that the huddle decided to
maintain state of alertness as long the forces on the side are not returned to
the post mid-February deployment.

In case the adversary opted to commit mistake yet another time, the reply
would be harsher and befitting. The political and military leadership decided
to celebrate Pakistan Day on Saturday with great fervour and enthusiasm.

The armed forces will continue to be vigilant during the days of the Pakistan
Day’s celebrations since the armed forces undertake magnificent parade and
display of the defence capabilities of the country in the federal capital on the
day. The commanders of the armed forces were in full uniform and putting
on combat fatigue.

Monitoring desk adds: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has asked its government
to urgently purchase more missiles amid growing Pak-India tensions, while
it is going to acquire the heavy lift Chinook helicopters that can transport
artillery guns in high altitudes, reports foreign media.

A government source said: “These missiles have a certain life. While stored
in a canister, this is counted in terms of the age of the system in years but
when fighters are operationally deployed, the life of the missile depends on
the number of sorties being undertaken. So we need fresh replenishments.”

The Indian army also moved up emergency purchases of stock-up


ammunition. The India army has provided advanced sniper rifles to its
troops posted along the Line of Control (LoC).

The heavy-lift Chinook helicopters were first proposed in 2006. Four of the
15 helicopters to be purchased will be commissioned on March 25 amid
heightened tensions with Pakistan.

The heavy lift helicopters will add to the Indian army's battle capabilities as
they can transport troops and the newly inducted M777 Howitzer guns to
higher reaches in combat locations. The CH-47 Chinook is an American
helicopter manufactured by Boeing and India inked a $3 billion (around Pak
Rs420.42 billion) deal in 2015.

Though used in support of the army, the helicopters will be operated by the
IAF. The IAF had been using the Mi-26 heavy lift helicopters since 1987.
The addition of these helicopters is expected to give a boost in India's
capabilities particularly keeping in mind the requirement of quick
mobilisation of troops in higher reaches along the LoC and the China
frontier along with artillery guns. The first batch of the four helicopters will
be based in Chandigarh in Indian Punjab bordering Pakistan’s Punjab.
In its latest report on capital acquisitions by the IAF the Comptroller and
Auditor General (CAG) had discussed several reasons that led to the delay
of these helicopters being procured. The CAG also raised questions on the
choice of Chinook since its parameters were lower than the Mi-26.

"Audit noted that though the existing Mi-26 helicopters were to be replaced
with new HLH, the parameters formulated for procurement were much
lower. The max pay load capacity was reduced to 11,000kg as against the
20,000kg of Mi-26 helicopters. Seating capacity was also reduced to 45
troops as against the 82 troops of Mi-26 helicopters. The max underslung
load was reduced to 10,000kg as against the underslung load capacity of
20,000kg of Mi-26 helicopter," the CAG stated in its report.

The other Chinook helicopters are likely to be delivered by March 2020


allowing India to deploy them both for Pakistan and China operations. Later
this year, the IAF is also expected to induct the Apache attack helicopters
keeping in mind the two front threats of China and Pakistan.

Meanwhile, after ordering 72,400 assault rifles from the US under the fast
track procedure (FTP), the Indian army is now looking to take the same
route to equip its soldiers with 16,000 new light machine guns (LMGs).

The FTP can be invoked in cases where “undue/unforeseen delay” in buying


weapons is seen to be adversely impacting the military’s capacity and
preparedness, said one of the officials cited above.

“Indian army teams will visit weapon manufactures in several countries


including the US, Bulgaria and South Korea in the coming weeks to initiate
the LMG purchase. Tenders for buying LMGs have been scrapped in recent
years as only a lone vendor met the army’s requirements, delaying the
projects,” said the second official. A single-vendor situation is a strict no-no
under India’s arms purchase policy.

“Previous attempts to buy LMGs have not come to fruition. It’s important to
compress the acquisition process as is being done under the FTP route. It’s a
critical shortfall in capability that is now being addressed on priority,” said
former army vice chief Lieutenant General (R)AS Lamba.

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