NEW DELHI: Soldiers or humble grunts are often forgotten in the rush to clinch arms deals for main-battle tanks, submarines, and fighter jets. Now, after several years of delay, jawans are finally on course to get modular bullet-proof jackets and ballistic helmets with internal communication gear.
The new jackets and helmets will not only better protect the head, neck, chest, groin and sides of soldiers but also allow them to move with greater agility than the heavy obsolete ones they are currently saddled with.
A dozen companies have come forward with their proposals to the Army's tender, under which around 1.5 lakh bullet-proof jackets will be inducted in the first phase, with another 1.8 lakh or so to be acquired in the second round.
"Trials of the jackets, which will be modular in nature, ergonomically designed and fit snugly to provide maximum protection, will soon be held in Rajasthan deserts and Ladakh mountains," said a senior officer. The jackets, each costing around Rs 50,000, will also be tested in the Terminal Ballistics Research Lab in Chandigarh against the more lethal bullets currently being used by terrorists in J&K.
"Being modular, the jackets will provide graded levels of protection for different missions. Their weight will depend on the threat level," he said.
For a "low threat perception" mission, for instance, the jacket will weigh less than 4 kg and have "a trauma pad with all-around soft armour plate, including front, sides, back, collar and neck".
At the other end, in a high threat mission, the jacket will weigh 10.5-11.5 kg, with "hard armour plates" for front, rear, sides, upper arms, groin and throat, capable of protecting against 7.62mm x 39mm mild steel core ammunition fired from an AK-47 from 10 metre.
With Army engaged in intensive counter-insurgency operations in J&K and northeast, soldiers certainly need better head and body armour. In 2010, for instance, the force lost 15 officers, 13 JCOs and 159 soldiers in various operations.
But a soldier's life in India comes cheap. A parliamentary report last year noted the Army was still short of 1,86,138 bullet-proof jackets despite being authorized 3,53,765 new ones way back in March 2004. The situation has not improved much since then, said sources.
The 1.13-million Army does have a futuristic modernization programme for its foot-soldiers, the F-Insas (future infantry soldier as a system), but it's yet to gather steam.
F-Insas basically aims at converting a soldier into "a fully-networked all-terrain, all-weather, weapons platform with enhanced lethality, survivability, sustainability, mobility and situational awareness" for the digitized battlefield of the future.
Under it, infantry soldiers are to progressively get equipment like light-weight integrated ballistic helmets with "heads-up display" and miniaturised communication systems; portable visual, chemical and biological sensors; hand-held computer displays, GPS and video links; "smart" vests with sensors to monitor vital body signs; and lethal firepower with laser-guided modular weapon systems.
