HEADS UP....TOO SLOW, INDIA

I have been silent but I have been watching. I don't know about you guys but I am seeing a disturbing trend in attacks on our security forces. As of now the insurgencies inside our nation has remained relatively low intensity ones when compared to others around the world but things are changing. Though the modus operandi is not new to this world, it is certainly new to India and her security forces. And we have been scrambling to find solutions and SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) to counter these new challenges. The recent attacks involving VBIED (Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices) on convoys and drones dropping bombs inside military installations are definitely the indications that we are about to enter into a new stage of insurgency and counter insurgency tactics.

These type of attacks have been on the rise in the global stage and we curiously have turned a blind eye towards it instead of adapting to the changing circumstances. The insurgent organisations elsewhere have shown sinister ingenuity in warfare, which we are seriously lacking. From using drones as relay and guidance systems for crude cruise missiles to rigging outdated AAM (Air to Air Missiles) to shoot down expensive UCAVs (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles) of world powers, it doesn't stop there they have taken a step further and have gone to create their very own special forces equipped to the brim with top of the shelf technologies. They have done everything and anything to gain tactical and strategic advantage in battlefield without the multi billion dollar defence budget of a country like India. So it begs the question why we are unable to do something that the rag-tag team of insurgents are able to accomplish ?

The world famous adage that 'Experience is the best teacher' is still true the last time I checked, yet we as a country remain stubborn that we will learn only from ours and ours experience only and not from the plentiful experience of others. This makes me wonder what our country is doing by conducting multi-lateral military exercises for experience sharing with other countries while we gladly remain ignorant of the lessons that they have learned from the operations they have undertaken. Case in point would be the Indian Air Force special forces - GARUDS, who unlike other special forces of India are not specifically raised to conduct offensive operations instead their sole purpose is advanced battlefield force protection of Indian Air Force assets and pilot recovery behind enemy lines during a war. We were invited by the Russians to observe their operations inside Syria and we could have deployed the Garuds which would have given them plentiful of first hand experience since the Russians had to deal with aircrafts shot down behind enemy lines and their pilots in need of rescue.

Similarly we could have deployed observers in ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) in Afghanistan and learned from multiple countries and their tier 1 & 2 forces which range from UK's SAS (Special Air Service) & SBS (Special Boat Service), US's Marines & Airborne Rangers, Poland's GROM, France's French Foreign Legion etc...

We could have learned the best practices from both the west and the east and could have developed our own strategies well before the threats reached our borders instead we chose to be in a fool's paradise and drag our feet. Now it's too late to capitalise on these opportunities.

Learning from others experience by closely watching them was superbly exhibited by Russian forces when they started their counter insurgency campaign in Syria. Years of patiently watching and gathering intelligence on American and western anti terrorist operation in Iraq, Afghanistan and the African subcontinent not only helped them in formulating their tactics and equipment but also gave rise to an entirely new special forces of the Russian Federation known as KSSO, which is now considered as their best of the best.

Focusing just on big ticket purchases like fighter jets and submarines won't be enough. It is high time we paid close attention to the tactics employed by others in the various ongoing armed and unarmed conflicts around the globe because if we don't, we will be left behind in the dirt when it comes to the matter of modern warfare.