The Army and the IAF on Monday kicked off a major “airborne insertion and combat” exercise along the frontier with China in eastern Ladakh, which will see paratroopers practise capturing territory “behind enemy lines” and then “link up” with their advancing tanks, while attack helicopters destroy hostile mechanised forces.
The three-day exercise, with hundreds of pre-acclimatised troops and heavy weapon systems at an altitude of over 14,000 ft and -20°C is meant to convey yet another “clear message” to China after the Agni-V missile test last week to “desist from any misadventures along the northern borders”, said sources.
The combat manoeuvres come amid the deadlock in the 18-month military confrontation in eastern Ladakh, with China refusing to even complete the stalled troop disengagement at Patrolling Point-15 in the Hot Springs-Gogra-Kongka La area at the 13th round of corps commander-level talks on October 10.
With any de-escalation in the much more intractable faceoffs at Charding Ninglung Nallah track junction at Demchok and the strategically-located Depsang Plains also not on the horizon, India and China are set to keep their 50,000 troops each along with tanks, howitzers and surface-to-air missile systems forward deployed for the second consecutive winter in the harsh high-altitude area.
“If they (People’s Liberation Army) are there to stay, we are there to stay, too,” Army chief General M M Naravane had recently said.
The Indian exercise began on Monday with over 200 para-special force soldiers from the Agra-based Shatrujeet Brigade, along with specialist vehicles, missile detachments and other heavy loads, being inserted into the “drop zone” in eastern Ladakh by C-130J Super Hercules and AN-32 aircraft from five different “mounting bases” in the country.
“The aim was to validate rapid response capabilities, inter-theatre move, precision standoff drops, rapid grouping and capture of designated objectives with speed and surprise. The air-drop was particularly challenging due to the sub-zero temperatures and rarefied atmosphere in the super high-altitude terrain,” said a source.
Over the next two days, the paratroopers will “hold” the captured territory in the simulated exercise, while ‘enemy tanks’ are neutralised by attack helicopters like the newly-inducted Apaches. “Friendly” main-battle tanks and infantry combat vehicles, in turn, will move forward to link up with the paratroopers holding ground.
