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Gp Capt. TP Srivastava "Response"
I am afraid there are no 'SILOS' from which Indian Military is operating during peace and war. Such beliefs are borne out of presumptuous imagination based on inputs given to PM by Military Officers and other self proclaimed experts.
I am an admirer of PM Modi. He has led the country with superb foresight in all spheres except Military, which has been completely messed up by his government.
Be it the issue of totally unwanted and undesirable supercession, which brought Bipin Rawat into prominence. In his entire service career Bipin had never opined/written on Theatre Command structure. even as CoAS he had never, not even once, advocated changes in military structure.
OROP issue is yet another issue messed up without reason or rationale. Let me add that totally 'unsoldierlike' behaviour of sitting on Dharna and Court case led by Army three/two star general was/is unofficerlike. However Modi govt is to be squarely blamed for allowing situation to get out of hand. Finance was/is a non issue.
Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India is merely a slogan. Obviously persons who are close to him feed him info on military matters which are either convoluted, wrong or fed with a motive. I am absolutely certain that not one of my communication has ever reached Modi's eyes/ ears. Because if it had I am certain he would have reacted differently. For instance let me challenge DRDO/HAL to produce TEDBF and LCA Mk II with specifications that I have listed in next TEN YEARS. But PM is told that it will happen in 2026 and he believes it !
"Vinaash Kale Vipareet Buddhi "
One cannot change the destiny.
An American soldier wrote this after Vietnam War;
“We the unwilling, led by the unqualified to kill the unfortunate, die for ungrateful”.
One can never predict future. But I can see a similar epitaph being written. In short India simply cannot 'afford' Theatre Command structure. Resources required in Theatre Command structure would be many times more than regional command structure. Bipin Rawat's insane proposal to have an operational Air Defence Command by 30th June, 2020 was a howler. For records if we want to provide 24x7 cover at low level in an area of 100 km radius with Parliament House as centre (area 31400 sq km), we would require 36 Radar units, each radar churning for eight hours non stop followed by 16 hours of cooling/maintenance. Do we know how many low level radars IAF has today?
Bipin Rawat wanted 18 million sq km to be surveillanced by one AD Theatre Command (4500 km E-W X 4000 km N-S). Effects of such insane decisions will/may not be immediate. Yet another example; Airlift capability of IAF is limited. IAF leadership over the years has used this scanty resource to perfection. Most of such capability will probably go to Northern Theatre Command to meet Leh - Ladakh commitment. What about rest of commands? Knowing Army's philosophy of 'OWNERSHIP', the resources would be locked up in North Comd. IAF is the only Air Force in the world which airlifts more load annually than entire
Berlin Airlift. Facts do not lie. Imaginary and transient beliefs do.
IF SOMEONE DESIRES, PLEASE SEND IT TO PM, RM AND ANYONE ELSE DEEMED FIT.
About the Author
Gp Capt. Tej Prakash Srivastava has served in Iraq and is a graduate of both DSSC and AWC. He was Directing Staff at DSSC and Chief Instructor at College of Air Warfare. He Served at Air HQ, commanded a MiG-21 Sqn and headed the IAF establishment of Strike Corps during 'Operation Parakram'. He has authored a book titled 'Profligate Governance – Implications for National Security'. He has written extensively on international and strategic affairs and Defence Procurement Procedures. The IAF officer graduated from the NDA in June 1970 and trained at AFA with 107th Pilots Course. He can be reached at Email: [email protected]
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(Views expressed are the author's own and do not reflect the editorial stance of Mission Victory India)
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