Indian Army Chief’s outrageous admission of Armoured debacle stuns the world: Daily Mail

By Makhdoom Babar
(Additional reporting by Ajay Mehta in New Delhi & Hina Kayani in Rawalpindi)

While the Indians celebrate 62nd Army Day, country’s Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor, just after a couple of weeks of announcing a new war doctrine of Indian army to eliminate Pakistan and China in matter of hours even if it has to fight on simultaneous fronts, outrageously admitted Indian Army’s Armoured debacle and expressed concern about the force's 'night blindness' in the area of Armoured Corps and mechanised infantry. 'My major concern is that night blindness of the army is removed so we are able to fight in the night as in the day,' Kapoor said at New Delhi Yesterday, an admission that stunned the world in the back drop of his two weeks old remarks. The situation also forced Indian Defence Minister Antony to chew his own buts as he had been endorsing and projecting General Kapoor’s announcement regarding the new war doctrine for Pakistan and China Earlier, when his attention was brought to the fact that the Indian Army's tanks have a night vision capability of 20 percent, Pakistan's have 80 percent while China has 100 percent, General Deepak Kapoor admitted this outrageous military debacle by saying: 'You are right.'
'Projects are already in the pipeline to ensure that we have the night vision capability that our adversaries have. It may take three-four years,' Kapoor added. The lack of night vision capability of the Indian Army has affected its fighting capability during the night. The deficiency has been persistent since the Kargil conflict.
On a query about the obsolete artillery of the Indian Army, the army chief said that successive bans have delayed acquisition of new guns for long. 'Artillery is a cause for concern. We need to have better guns. Trials for towed guns are underway. Because of bans the process got delayed. We are now acquiring (ultra light) guns through FMS (Foreign Military Sales) route (from the US),' Kapoor added.

The Daily mail’s investigations into the matter reveal that despite a numerical strength of tanks over Pakistan, Indian army otherwise armoured and infantry capabilities are even below average if compared with Pakistan Army. According to these findings, Indian armoured corps comprises around 4, 059 tanks with a backup of 1, 133 as reserve while Pakistan Army’s Tank strength is 2,401 with a backup of 270 as reserves. However this numerical supremacy of Indian army is outraged with the fact that Indian armoured corps relies mainly on its Main Battle Tank (MBT) Arjun which emerged as a big failure while Pakistan Army’s armoured corps’ main strength has become Al-Khalid MBT which is a great success story, endorsed across the world. But the latest admission of Indian Army Chief about failure of its armoured corps to fight a battle in the night time is an additional and a rather huge disadvantage to the Indian Army and crystal clearly negates the claims of Indian Army Chief regarding smooth victory in case Indian army has to fight a war with Pakistan or China or even both at the same time.
The Daily Mail’s findings further disclose that India’s MBT Arjun is more flab than brawn. More a heavyweight than a performer. A potpourri really, with a French engine, and German seals fitted into an Indian hull and turret. And transporting this heavyweight is going to be another problem, which could limit its operational performance.
These findings further indicate that Arjun has indeed suffered throughout its development, from confusion and inexplicable delays and by imbalances between the Army, the DRDO and the bureaucracy. Pakistan by contrast, has drawn a lesson from the Indian experience and avoided the trap of over lasting her R&D’s indigenous know-how in the development of its MBT Al-Khalid.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Indian Army Chief’s outrageous admission of Armoured debacle stuns the world: Daily Mail

Pakistan offers to sell Kuwait Al-Khalid tanks: Daily Times

NEW YORK: Pakistan has offered to sell its indigenously built Al-Khalid battle tanks to Kuwait to bolster the sovereign Arab emirate’s defence, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Wednesday. Addressing a press briefing following meetings between President Asif Ali Zardari and world leaders on the sidelines of a United Nations meeting on interfaith dialogue, the foreign minister said President Zardari had invited Kuwait to attend the International Defence Exhibition and Seminar, IDEAS-2008, in November, at a meeting with its ruler – Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Zardari said the two countries had a range political, economic and defence ties, but stressed that relations needed to be strengthened further.

Qureshi said the president had also invited the Kuwaiti ruler to visit Pakistan – and the offer was accepted. The minister said Pakistan offered the Al-Khalid tanks to Kuwait describing them as an “attractive purchase because of their price and quality”.

The tank weighs of 46 tonnes and carries three troops. Fitted with a 1,200-horsepower, water-cooled diesel engine and a maximum speed of 70 kilometres per hour, it has a 125-millimetre, smooth bore main gun, a 7.62-millimetre, co-axial machinegun and a 12.7-millimetre, remote-firing anti-aircraft gun. The power-to-weight ratio is 26 horsepower per tonne.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan offers to sell Kuwait Al-Khalid tanks: Daily Times

Official claims big rise in arms exports: Dawn

By Ihtasham ul Haque


ISLAMABAD, July 17: Pakistan's defence exports have tripled to around $300 million because of the quality of its ammunition, anti-tank guided missiles, rocket launchers and shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles.

"Our defence exports have been rising substantially because the arms and ammunition we manufacture meet international standards," Maj-Gen Mohammad Farooq, Director General of the Defence Export Promotion Organisation (Depo), told Dawn.

"We even won a contract in the face of tough competition from developed countries to manufacture parts of Boeing aircraft," he said.

Although he wasn't precise about earnings from arms exports, he said: "It has tripled and it is very good for Pakistan."

He said arms trade was a complex business and it had to be on a government-to-government basis. Pakistan was answerable to the international community in terms of ensuring that the arms did not fall into wrong hands.

He said exports to South Asian, Middle Eastern and African countries had increased significantly.

He said there was a time when the country's defence industry exported only small arms and ammunition, but now their range had diversified and developed countries were also purchasing Pakistan's military hardware.

He said optical instruments like night vision devices, laser range-finders and designators, laser threat censors, artillery armour mortars and ammunition, mine detectors, anti-tank rifles, missile boats, different types of tear gases, fuses of unarmed vehicles, security equipment and sporting and hunting guns were also being manufactured in Pakistan.

"The fuses are being purchased by countries like Italy, France and Spain," he said.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Official claims big rise in arms exports: Dawn