YEAR-END REVIEW – 2010

TRISERVICES/IDS/ISOs/DPSUs/MoD/Welfare

Highlights

            The Strategic Forces Command of the Integrated Defence Staff, which handles the country’s nuclear weapons assets, honed its skills with successful tests of the Agni missiles. Other major events included the starting of digging work for the ambitious Rohtang Tunnel, implementation of Joint Doctrines, fresh orders for the Defence PSUs, new acquisitions proposed by the Government, rescue and Relief in flash flood ravaged Ladakh and the good show by Services personnel during the Commonwealth Games.

Strategic Forces Command (SFC)

            The SFC successfully test fired the Agni A2 Missile from Wheeler Island on 15^th May. With this test the SFC carried out successful launch of all three versions of the Agni in three months.  On 25^th November the SFC launched the medium range Agni-I.

Border Roads Organisation

            Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson, National Advisory Council, laid the foundation stone of the 8.8 kms long Rohtang Tunnel at Manali on 28^th June. Expected to be completed by 2015, the Tunnel will be a step towards making the Leh-Manali Highway an all-weather road. The Rohtang Tunnel is the 18^th Project of the BRO, which celebrated its Golden Jubilee this year.

Manekshaw Centre

The Manekshaw Centre was inaugurated by the President and Supreme Commander Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil in New Delhi on 21^st October. The Centre, spread over 25 acres and boasting of a state-of-the-art Convention Centre, came up at a cost of Rs.64 crores. The prestigious National Defence College, New Delhi celebrated its Golden Jubilee with a seminar at the Manekshaw Centre.

National Defence University

            The Union Cabinet accorded in principle approval on 13^th May to set up the Indian National Defence University in Gurgaon, Haryana. The National Defence College, New Delhi, College of Defence Management, Secunderabad, National Defence  Academy, Khadakwasla and the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington are proposed to be brought under its ambit without dissolving their autonomy.

Joint Doctrines

            Three Joint Doctrines, one for Sub-Conventional Operations, another for Electronic Warfare and the third for Maritime Air Operations, were promulgated on 9^th February. These were aimed to prepare the Armed Forces for battle space as future wars would be fought also in cyberspace. The Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee and Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal PV Naik, released another two Joint Operational Doctrines, one for Perception Management and Psychological Operations and another for Air and Land Operations on 16^th June.

DPSUs/Ordnance Factories

            INS Chennai, the third indigenous destroyer, was launched by Smt. Elizabeth Antony, wife of Defence Minister Shri AK Antony, at Mazagon Docks Limited in Mumbai on 1^st April. The 163 metres long warship, being built under Project 15 Alpha, will be equipped with indigenously developed twin tube torpedoes, rocket launchers and the Brahmos missiles. It is expected to be commissioned into the Navy in August, 2013.

            An anti-submarine warfare corvette for the Indian Navy was also launched at Garden Reach Shipbuilder & Engineers Limited (GRSE), Kolkata during the year.

            The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) of the Ministry of Defence accepted a proposal for procurement of 42 Sukhoi Su-30 MKI aircraft from HAL at Rs.20,107.40 crores and the proposal was sent to the Cabinet Committee on Security. The Government also signed a contract with HAL on 23^rd July for buying 57 Hawk Advanced Jet Trainers, of which 17 will be for the Navy.

            The Government transferred the ailing Hindustan Shipyard Ltd from the Ministry of Shipping to the Ministry of Defence, Department of Defence Production on 23^rd February. The shipyard had run losses to the tune of over 987 crores at the end of 2008-09 financial year.

MoD proposals

            The Government approved Rs.9,175.16 crores worth of nationwide dedicated and security exclusive Optical Fibre Cable network for the three Services.

            The HAL entered into a pact with Russian agencies for joint development of the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) on 21^st December.

            The DAC approved procurement of 16 twin engine Light Helicopters in August and another 14 twin engine shore-based Helicopters for the Coast Guard later in November. Deliveries are scheduled to take place between 2014 and 2017.

            The Ministry of Defence signed a contract with M/s Augusta Westland Ltd on 8^th February for buying 12 AW-101 helicopters for VIP travel. These will replace the ageing Mi-8 at the end of their technical life.

            The government also registered the National Institute for R&D in Defence Shipbuilding (NIRDESH) as an autonomous body with its headquarters in Kozikode, Kerala. A proposal for expansion of Brahmos Aerospace, Thiruvananthapuram was also approved.

Flood Rescue & Relief

Following a devastating cloudburst in Leh-Ladakh on the night of August 4-5, 2010, the Army deployed 41 columns to mount massive Rescue and Relief efforts. Over 30 kms of roads, both on the Leh-Kargil-Srinagar and Leh-Sarchu-Manali routes, were totally damaged in patches and another 20 kms lay blocked due to landslides. The Army provided two IMMARSAT sets for telecom as the BSNL network snapped following the flattening of its towers. The Army set up a Field Hospital as the Civil Hospital was swamped in slush. The runway at the Leh airport, which was covered with more than six inches of slush, was made operational in a day. The IAF undertook 60 sorties of the Cheetah helicopters from Zanskar Valley on 9^th August, evacuating 90 of the 130 stranded people. Carrying out a herculean task, the IAF undertook 245 sorties in all from Chandigarh, Delhi and Pathankot, airlifting 378 tons of relief materials including JCBs, bulldozers and BSNL equipment and 828 passengers over the next few weeks. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) restored 17 of 21 bridges that were washed away in a fortnight. The flash floods killed 175, including 24 Army men while 11 were reported missing.

In July, the Army deployed two Columns in Haryana for flood relief on the Satluj-Yamuna Link Canal at Kurukshetra and repaired a 35-40 feet long breach. In September the Army deployed four columns in the flood-ravaged Uttarakhand and Western Uttar Pradesh. Nearly 140 civilians were rescued in Haridwar, Bijnore, Saharanpur, Moradabad and Rampur districts.

The Army also rendered Rescue and Relief efforts in Kupwara, J&K in July and Kaithal, Haryana. The Army also undertook Relief and Rescue efforts following a train mishap in Birbhum, West Bengal in July while the IAF flew in two Mi-17, one ALH and one Cheetah from Kalaikunda to West Midnapore after a train accident on 28^th May. One AN-32 also carried a surgical team from Jorhat.

The IAF also flew two IL-76 with humanitarian aid to Kyrgyzstan, hit by violence, in July.

DefExpo

            The 6^th DefExpo, the Land and Naval Systems exposition, was held in New Delhi from February 15-18, 2010. More than 650 companies, including 300 from 35 other countries, participated, compared to 450 in the last expo held in 2008. About 25 products were launched in the expo, the largest of its kind in Asia.

Commonwealth Games

            Personnel of the Armed Forces won 25 medals including ten Gold, contributing more than 25 percent of India’s tally of 101 medals at the 19^th Commonwealth Games, held in New Delhi from October 3-14, 2010. Fifty men from the three Services competed in ten events during the Games.

            The Armed Forces also provided day-to-day management of the Queen’s Baton Relay on its 100-day run across the country, bands from the three Services performed during the Opening and Closing ceremonies, Flag Hoisting during medals presentation and the erection of a Bailey Bridge.

Welfare

            The Union cabinet approved on 26^th May a proposal for the expansion of ECHS scheme. Under the proposal 199 new Polyclinics including 17 Mobile facilities and 15 new Regional Centres are to be set up at a cost of Rs.141 crores, thus covering areas with Ex-Servicemen population of less than 2,500. These would be manned by an additional manpower of 2,263 on contractual basis and 315 serving personnel.

            The Government also took a decision to improve the scale of rations to Army troops. Proposals include procurement of Branded Wheat Flour, Special Rations to Troops posted at altitudes more than 12,000 feet and bringing the fresh fruit quota for Personnel Below Officer Rank at par with the Commissioned Officers and hike in Condiment Allowance to take care of inflation and high prices in remote areas.

Visits and International Cooperation

            Defence Minister Shri AK Antony visited the US and South Korea in September, Vietnam in October, Oman in May and Seychelles in July. In Vietnam Shri Antony attended the first ASEAN Plus Eight Defence Ministers’ Meeting where the Hanoi declaration was adopted. In South Korea two MoUs were signed on enhancing cooperation, exchange of delegations, training and joint exercise and another envisaging Joint R&D and development of futuristic defence technologies with the DRDO.

            The Army chief General VK Singh paid a four-day visit to Vietnam in July, Australia in August and Tajikistan in November. The Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma visited Colombo for the 60^th anniversary celebrations of Sri Lanka on 9^th December, where INS Mysore and Tarangini also made port of call. The Director General Coast Guard Vice Admiral Anil Chopra visited Buenos Aires in June to attend the International Heads of Coast Guard Services Forum to mark the bicentennial anniversary celebrations of Prefectura Naval Argedver. He later visited Tokyo to participate in the 10^th ICG-Japan Coast Guard high level meeting and witness combined exercise at Kobe.

            The visiting dignitaries from abroad included the Russian Defence Minister Mr. AE Serdyukov for the 10^th meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation in October, US Secretary of State Dr Robert Gates in January, General (Retd.) James Jones, NSA of the US, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, UK Secretary of State for Defence Mr. Liam Fox, French Chief of Defence Forces Admiral Edouard Guillard, Brazilian Defence Minister Mr. Nelson Jobin and Navy chief Admiral Julio Soares de Moura Neto, Japanese Defence Minister Mr. Toshimi Kitazawa, Bangladesh Army Chief General Md. Abdul Mubeen, Commander-in-Chief of the Israeli Navy Vice Admiral Elizer Marom and a six-member Korean delegation led by Yoon Huk Soo, Deputy Commissioner General, Korean Coast Guard (KCG) for the Fifth ICG-KCG high level meeting on 10^th August.

            The Indian Coast Guard on 10^th August handed over to the Indian Navy a Dornier aircraft for deployment in Seychelles.

            The International Music Festival, held in New Delhi in March, brought together Bands from the Armies of six nations, - UK, France, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, besides India.

Inquiry

            At the directions of the Defence Minister the Army completed a Court of Inquiry into the Sukhna Land Scam. Six Officers were found blameworthy and four others censured. Shri Antony also ordered CBI probe into the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society Scam.

PK/Raman