‘More than enough’ troops deployed along LAC: Officials | India News

NEW DELHI: Ahead of another round of top-level military talks with China on Monday, the Indian defence establishment says there are “more than adequate” number of Army troops deployed in eastern Ladakh, while the IAF is also maintaining a “robust posture” with combat air patrols and induction of new weapon systems like Israeli drones that can carry missiles and bombs.

“The forward-deployed air and ground forces, backed by reserves in the rear, are well-poised to tackle any contingency along the 3,488-km LAC, be it eastern Ladakh or Arunachal Pradesh. Force-sustenance measures are well in place,” a source told TOI on Sunday. “Also, there are now two China-specific mountain strike corps (1 Corps and 17 Corps) that undertake summer deployments along the LAC,” he said.

While there is the ongoing diplomatic-military push through talks for China to agree to troop disengagement at Depsang and Demchok in eastern Ladakh, followed by de-escalation and de-induction, nothing is being left to chance due to the “adversary’s duplicitous behaviour in the past”, he added.
The Army has deployed a whole host of artillery weapons along the LAC, which range from the old 155mm Bofors and new M-777 ultralight howitzers and ‘winterised’ K-9 Vajra self-propelled tracked guns to Pinaka and Smerch multi-launch rocket systems for long-range high-volume firepower.

Similarly, apart from combat air patrols by Sukhoi-30MKI, Rafale and MiG-29 fighters, the IAF has majorly strengthened its air defence network with various radars and surface-to-air guided weapons with ranges extending up to almost 100-km in forward locations in eastern Ladakh, another source said.
In addition to ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) missions flown by fighters, the IAF is also operating a large number of drones to monitor enemy activities across the LAC.
The latest addition is the induction of four advanced satellite communication-enabled Israeli Heron Mark-II drones at a forward air base in the northern sector. These all-weather medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) drones, which can stay airborne for over 35 hours at a stretch, will also be equipped with missiles and ‘smart’ bombs.
After initially being caught off-guard by the People’s Liberation Army’s multiple intrusions into eastern Ladakh in April-May 2020, which were followed by the violent Galwan clashes on June 15, the defence establishment swung into action to address the challenge in the forbidding high-altitude terrain.
The IAF, for instance, airlifted over 68,000 soldiers, 90 tanks, 330 BMP infantry combat vehicles, scores of artillery guns and other weapon systems with C-17 Globemaster-III, 130J Super Hercules and other aircraft to Ladakh. “The strategic airlift load amounted to around 9,000 tonnes within a very short time-span,” the source said.
The defence establishment has also worked hard to somewhat reduce the huge border infrastructure differential with China. The runway at the high-altitude Nyoma advance landing ground, which is less than 50-km from the LAC in eastern Ladakh, for instance, is now being extended and strengthened to ensure it can handle fighter jets like Sukhoi-30MKIs and MiG-29s.