By IANS
New Delhi : Some 400 crack paratroopers from the Indian and Russian armies will participate in a joint airborne drill that begins at the chillingly cold riverine plains of Pskov in Russia on Tuesday.
Codenamed Indra-2007, this will be the second in a series of joint drills that began in the deserts of Rajasthan in October 2005.
With counter-terrorism as the theme of the 10-day drill, the special airborne forces of the two countries would simulate “joint planning and conducting air and ground manoeuvres to neutralize, under a UN mandate, a concentration of international terrorists in a third country”, a defence ministry release said.
The manoeuvres will be conducted under the aegis of Russian 76 Airborne Division and involve a plethora of state-of-art battle equipment as well as a large number of fixed and rotary wing aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
“The manoeuvres will be conducted in three phases, culminating in a realistic simulated joint operational exercise involving surveillance, acquiring and assessing of intelligence,” the release said.
“The exercise will involve multi-directional mass airborne insertion and tactical para drops, regrouping into joint task forces and joint teams – followed by a series of counter-terrorist operations,” the release added.
The manoeuvres will involve a cross-country hike over approximately 100 km after the airdrop, assault crossing of a river obstacle, destruction of terrorist hideouts, and extrication from the target area into neutral territory.
“The exercise has been structured so as to enhance inter-operability and maximize mutual learning from each others’ rich combat experiences,” the release noted.
The Indian airborne forces from the Parachute Regiment will not only get an opportunity to showcase their combat skills “but will also enrich themselves from the experiences, operational concepts and tactical designs and methodologies of their Russian counterparts”, the release said.
Joint command and control at all levels will also help the two forces in refining processes, procedures and drills so as to enhance inter-operability.
“All this will lead to maximizing operational effectiveness. Indra-2007 will pave the way for further up scaling of military cooperation in terms of scope, content and enhanced participation in the years to come,” the release added.
The exercise will be under the overall control of Lt. Gen. N.I. Ignatov, commanding general of the Russian 76 Airborne Division and be witnessed by the Indian Army chief, Gen. J.J. Singh.
“The Indian armed forces, despite heavy internal commitments, remain battle ready to take on multiple external security commitments, beyond borders, in various regions and terrains across the globe, in collaboration with friendly forces of many nationalities,” the defence ministry release said.