India's elite special forces to get major weapons upgrade

Armoury upgrade

From new long-range sniper rifles and man-portable anti-tank weapon systems to high-speed underwater scooters and hand-launched micro drones, India continues to gradually modernise its clandestine warfare arm.

Highly-specialised weaponry

Defence ministry sources on Tuesday said several contracts worth "hundreds of crores" have been inked in recent months to equip the elite special forces of Army, Indian Air Force (IAF) and Navy with more highly-specialised weaponry and equipment from countries like Finland, Sweden, Italy, Russia, Israel and Germany.

"More attention is being paid to the Special Forces after Para-SF commandos conducted the cross-border surgical strikes on terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir in September 2016," said a source.

Lock and load

Contracts for new Finnish Sako sniper rifles, Swedish Carl Gustaf Mark-4 light weight rocket-launchers, Italian Beretta pistols with silencers, for instance, have been inked for the Army's existing nine Para-SF battalions.

Snipers for Navy

Navy's almost 1,000 marine commandos or "Marcos" are inducting Russian VSS suppressed sniper rifles, air-droppable rubberised inflatable boats, remotely-operated underwater vehicles for explosive disposal, combat free-fall parachutes, hands-free power ascenders and opposed boarding equipment. Marcos are slated to get two "midget submarines" or "chariots" under a Rs 2,017 crore project.

What IAF will get

Even as IAF is raising 12 new "flights" of Garud commandos to add to the existing 15 flights with 900 personnel, the force is earmarked to induct new sniper rifles, thermal sights, breaching ammunition and the like. "They have already inducted 65 micro-UAVs under a Rs 27 crore contract," said an official.

But SOC remains missing in action

However, the long-proposed Special Operations Command (SOC), or even its truncated version in the shape of a much smaller directorate, is still nowhere on the horizon.

Several committees, including the Naresh Chandra Taskforce in May 2012, strongly recommended the SOC to bring together disparate special forces under a unified command and control structure to execute strategic operations in tune with national security objectives.

India's special forces

Army has 9 Para-SF battalions and 5 Para (Airborne) battalions (each with 620 soldiers). One more Para-SF unit being raised. Navy has around 1,000 marine commandos (Marcos).

IAF has 15 flights of 900 Garud commandos. Another 12 flights are being raised.

National Security Guards come under home ministry and Special Frontier Force (Establishment-22) are under Cabinet Secretariat.

Source https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/indias-elite-special-forces-to-get-major-weapons-upgrade/armoury-upgrade/slideshow/65053193.cms