NEWS
Manoeuvring columns of Army tanks and hovering helicopters in soaring temperatures of May in the desert terrain of northern Rajasthan near Suratgarh simulated an intense battlefield scenario in the joint Indian Army-Indian Air Force Exercise, code named ‘Vijayee Bhava’. The month-long exercise of a simulated battlefield environment involving formations of the Indian Army’s Western Command and the Indian Air Force’s Western Air Command (WAC) was progressively built from the smallest unit upwards to the entirety of a Corps with matching IAF participation at each level that included many-faceted air operations such as offensive air defence, close air support and special airborne and heliborne operations.

VIEWS
The just concluded joint land-air exercise Vijayee Bhava literally meaning ‘blessed to win’ couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time, sending a clear-cut message from India to – at the drop of a hat – sabre-rattling western neighbour. Finding itself totally cornered having been exposed of its duplicity in the Osama bin Laden affair and helpless in the face of a mighty US taking unilateral action in eliminating the world’s most dreaded terrorist; Pakistan – seething with impotent anger against the US violation of its so-called sovereignty – has turned its ire once again against India, threatening it with unmatched consequences for any similar action in rooting out India’s most wanted terrorists hiding (or staying openly) in Pakistan with the blessings of its Establishment. India’s military Chiefs may have merely hinted at having the necessary capability to execute such missions but the response from across the border has been like that of a hissing cobra which has been poked with a stick. It is for this belligerent neighbour, the Indian armed forces need to periodically send appropriate signals of their operational preparedness, deterring it to indulge in any military misadventures. The recent summer exercise, however, served more than just one purpose because of its nature and content.

It is known that the Indian Army, working on a ‘capability based approach’, has embarked on a series of transformational initiatives spanning concepts, organisational structures and absorption of new age technologies particularly in the fields of precision munitions, advance surveillance systems, space assets and network-centricity. The exercise was conducted for trial and evaluation of the new concepts and capabilities of the nominated test bed formations of Ambala-based ‘Kharga’ Strike Corps; the thrust of the transformational initiative being for the Army to emerge as a modern, lean, agile and enabled force. A concurrent aim of the exercise was to integrate the new concepts with that of the IAF which employing new tools and capabilities, has already moved ahead in its quest for total transformation to fight the modern-day war.

On the ground, the exercise aimed at rapid mobilisation involving mechanised formations to check the dynamic processes of operations, both offensive and defensive, integrating concepts of modern warfare that have emerged during the transformation studies of the Indian Army. With the recognition of aerospace power playing a dominant and decisive role in future wars, all air assets were reportedly used in an integrated manner throughout the exercise.