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Indian Army tests 'Air Cavalry' concept

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Indian Army tests 'Air Cavalry' concept
PTI | May 13, 2018, 13:14 IST
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PTI
An Army chopper during 'Vijay Prahar' military exercise at Mahajan Field Firing Range near Bikaner in Rajasthan (PTI Photo)
HIGHLIGHTS

  • This being done by the Indian Army, with an eye on the future, which is focusing on strengthening its combative air assets by procuring attack helicopters.
  • Under the 'Air Cavalry' concept, attack helicopters are fully integrated with tanks and mechanised ground forces.
JAIPUR: The Indian Army has tested in the desert terrain of Rajasthan the military concept of 'Air Cavalry' that was used by the US Army to locate and assault enemy ground forces during the Vietnam War.

To enhance its defence capabilities, the Army tested the concept under which weaponised helicopters carry out combined action against the enemy in coordination with tanks and mechanised ground forces.

This being done by the Indian Army, with an eye on the future, which is focusing on strengthening its combative air assets by procuring attack helicopters.

This is a new concept for the Indian Army and it is aimed at reshaping land battle by defeating the enemy by offensive punch from the air in coordination with tanks on the ground.

"In the recently held offensive exercise 'Vijay Prahar' in Mahajan firing ranges near Suratgarh, the concept of 'Air Cavalry' was tried by the South Western command," defence spokesperson Lt Col Manish Ojha told PTI.

The concept was implemented after a detailed deliberation, sand-model discussions and war gaming.

In normal battle scenario, attack helicopters are called in on requirement basis by forces moving on the ground to launch an attack where the ground forces are not able to neutralise the target due to any reason, including difficult terrain.

Under the 'Air Cavalry' concept, attack helicopters are fully integrated with tanks and mechanised ground forces.

A fleet of armed helicopters simultaneously flies in air and performs a number of tasks, including troop insertion in forward areas, on the spot aerial recce, launching attacks and it proves more powerful and a good speed in the action is achieved.

"This requires a very high degree of precision, coordination and continuous upgradation. It saves time and energy," another senior officer of the SW command said.

"The forces achieve more flexibility and fluidity in an operation and multitasking can be performed more quickly, swiftly and effectively and the ground commanders can act decisively, boldly and offensively," the officer said.

Under this kind of arrangement, attack helicopters can engage targets in the shortest possible time and the mission can be accomplished in a very flexible and effective manner.

This concept can be executed in different kind of terrains depending upon the feasibility.



While the US used this concept in the jungles of Vietnam during the war from 1954-75, India tested it in scorching heat in desert terrain to sharpen its teeth.

The Army is gradually inducting helicopters equipped with ultra-modern sensors and high-precision weapons and therefore a need was felt to use the "Air Cavalry" concept for increasing capabilities in monitoring and protecting both eastern and western borders of the country.

"The Indian Army is focusing on its own combative air assets so there was a requirement that a concept should be in place for the best utilisation of attack helicopters. The helicopters will be used as force multiplier and will increase the potency of ground forces to engage the targets," defence sources said.

The Army's combative air assets will be crucial in the land battles in desert along the western front as well as in the eastern front where the terrain is mountainous, the sources said.

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd is developing Light Combat Helicopter for the Army to meet its requirement for an attack helicopter which can operate at high altitude. The Army will also procure multi-role AH-64 'E' Apache attack helicopter manufactured by American aviation giant Boeing.

The Defence Ministry in August last year had approved the procurement of six most advanced Apache helicopters along with weapons systems at a cost of Rs 4,168 crore which will be the Army's first fleet of attack choppers.

Apaches have played a vital role in international conflicts, including in the Gulf, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.

https://m.timesofindia.com/india/in...leshow/64145758.cms?__twitter_impression=true


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Waiting for these beasts to join in on the exercises.:cheesy:
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Obsolete concept with advent of MANPADS. Air cavalry is sitting duck
 
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you move as fast as your slowest component, if the helicopters move with the tanks, then the helicopters are underutilized. Helicopters are like cavalry of old; protect the flanks, and charge ahead leading attacks. at times they link up with tanks to coordinate an attack on specific targets, but each has its strengths and weaknesses and moves accordingly to maximize operational success.

to counter this growing Indian threat; an increased effort of watching troop and equipment movements should be developed, the exact rallying and combined movement is a hard task, much less coordinating an assault. disrupting such assembles (kinetically or otherwise) and causing chaos in the enemy's OODA loop should be a critical effort of Pakistani Forces.

Quote: While the US used this concept in the jungles of Vietnam during the war from 1954-75, India tested it in scorching heat in desert terrain to sharpen its teeth.

A plausible scenario to test our defense would be two corps of Indian Armour launch an assault through the desert are our least populated areas; and thrust all the way to the Guddu Thermal Power Station (on the Indus river, right where Punjab and Sindh Meet). If successful they plan to fly airborne troops to Sui. Effectively Cutting the country in two and control our oil and gas supplies/pipelines. Two more corps of Armour move in the next day to reinforce the first two. As side shows/distraction skirmishes will happen in the Karachi/Thar Region, and further north in Kashmir and near Sialkot, but the true goal will be to cut the nation in two. being overwhelmed by the 8 Indian corp assault under the cold start doctrine what can Pakistan do.

The key is to strike early, strike fast, and strike hard. The opportunity to destroy these forces was lost when they were assembling on the other side of the border. shooting down enemy forces as they come means you are already on the back foot. Also we should be fearful to strike if they look like their are assembling to strike us. This is where intelligence, spy satellites, and years and years of training for this Eventuality are needed. Peace through Strength.
 
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We can combat the Indian Armour by first knocking out their air defense forces traveling with them. Cruise missiles or fighters with jammers provide EW cover for cruise missiles and NLOS and Glide SDB-2 to knock out the air defense platofrms.

The tanks and artillery can be engaged with swarms of small vehicles with a few NLOS each. Also stealthy Ra'ad cruise missiles armed with sensor fuzed weapons can knock out the various forces concentrated together.

Helicopters can be knocked out by reserve squadrons of F-7PGs. Don't retire these birds, but attach them to the Army. We have 139 F-7PGs (Enough for one squadran to target each of India's 8 Cold Start Corps and their Helicopters); time for a MLU with a new mission; direct support of Army, navy, and Marine missions. They can be upgraded to fire the SD-10 and PL-10 advanced missiles. A small modern AESA and an advanced EW suite can gives these birds the new legs to disrupt any plans the enemy is thinking up. all for a reasonable price and a lot of gusto.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBAEj9dXoAEix9Y.jpg
https://b24.am/thumbnail.php?file=2017AM/spike_189569299.jpg&size=article_large

https://media.defenceindustrydaily.com/images/ORD_NetFires_NLOS-LS_Concept_lg.jpg
 
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The concept of air cavalry has gone down the drain since the proliferation of portable air defense assets and further more air cavalry in the indo-pak scenario is very ineffective as most of the terrain is flat (air cavalry can be best utilized in hilly or areas where ground transportion is hard ) but in the case of indo-pak scenario these areas are heavily militarized making the air cavalry concept ineffective here to.
Now if we come to the high mountain / glacier region the role of aviation is very important but it is limited to only transportation and the use of attack helicopters on specific targets.
Air cavalry in a sense of anti armour role would be the best use of such machines.
 
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This Air cavalry and Indian armor will fall to Pakistani artillery. Helps flying along tanks will be easier to knock out as they will have to travel slower to keep up with the tanks. MLRSs will burn such columns to a crisp. The days of surprise attacks on your enemy are over. With constant monitoring along the border, India cannot swarm us with their large numbers as we will be ready for them before hand. Say India starts moving armor to border on pretext of exercise, it will have to be transported from greater distance as compared to Pakistani armor which sits close to the border.
This is precisely what India wants cold start for. To overcome the time taken to gather their resources and in the mean time, keep Pakistan busy with brigade size attacks.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001–02_India–Pakistan_standoff
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Start_(military_doctrine)
I will not go into details as I am on mobile.
 
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Nonsense.Helicopters using terrain cover(pop up shoot and scoot) and ECM are lethal still.Particularly if co-ordinating with ground based spotters.


He is talking about air cavalry.... like US used in Vietnam....

Off course gun ships have their utility
 
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He is talking about air cavalry.... like US used in Vietnam....

Off course gun ships have their utility

Air cavalry doesn't drop troops in presence of enemy troops but in designated landing zones just beyond forward positions and invaluable in mountain warfare where roads are complex and twisted ,often blocked.
 
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