NEW DELHI: Right from the days of Normandy and other landings during World War II, amphibious operations have played a crucial part in modern day warfare.
Though late in the making, the Indian armed forces are now ready with their own amphibious warfare doctrine to take the battle to enemy shores. The "joint doctrine for amphibious operations" will be released by the chiefs of staff committee, comprising Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Air Chief Marshal F H Major and General Deepak Kapoor, on September 9, said sources.
The doctrine has been prepared after four years of hard work by the integrated defence staff (IDS), which even saw Army, Navy and IAF conducting two "major" amphibious exercises in 2005 and 2007 to "test and validate" some of its concepts.
"The glitches in the doctrine were then ironed out. It will now serve as a guide for the planning and conduct of amphibious operations, achieving full synergy in the joint combat power of the three Services," said a source.
The whole direction of a war, after all, can be changed with one properly planned and well-executed amphibious operation, which is basically a military operation launched from the sea with soldiers embarked on ships to effect a landing on a hostile shore.
The Army, incidentally, already has two specifically-earmarked "amphibious brigades", with almost 10,000 soldiers, one based at Thiruvananthapuram, and the other at Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The Navy's "strategic sealift capability", in turn, got a big boost with the induction of the huge 16,900-tonne amphibious transport warship INS Jalashwa , known as the USS Trenton earlier, from US in 2007.
The 173-metre long INS Jalashwa , the second largest Indian warship after the 28,000-tonne aircraft carrier INS Viraat , can transport four landing craft, six helicopters and a battalion of 900-1,000 fully-armed soldiers over long distances.
"The IAF comes in since an amphibious operation will require air cover to warships and landing platform docks carrying soldiers, which are at their most vulnerable during landings," said a senior officer.
"Amphibious operations, which are inherently mobile and flexible, are probably the most complex of all military manoeuvres. They require all types of warships, aircraft, weapons, landing and special forces acting in a well-oiled concerted manner to establish beachheads," he added.
Forces ready with joint amphibious warfare doctrine-India-The Times of India
Though late in the making, the Indian armed forces are now ready with their own amphibious warfare doctrine to take the battle to enemy shores. The "joint doctrine for amphibious operations" will be released by the chiefs of staff committee, comprising Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Air Chief Marshal F H Major and General Deepak Kapoor, on September 9, said sources.
The doctrine has been prepared after four years of hard work by the integrated defence staff (IDS), which even saw Army, Navy and IAF conducting two "major" amphibious exercises in 2005 and 2007 to "test and validate" some of its concepts.
"The glitches in the doctrine were then ironed out. It will now serve as a guide for the planning and conduct of amphibious operations, achieving full synergy in the joint combat power of the three Services," said a source.
The whole direction of a war, after all, can be changed with one properly planned and well-executed amphibious operation, which is basically a military operation launched from the sea with soldiers embarked on ships to effect a landing on a hostile shore.
The Army, incidentally, already has two specifically-earmarked "amphibious brigades", with almost 10,000 soldiers, one based at Thiruvananthapuram, and the other at Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The Navy's "strategic sealift capability", in turn, got a big boost with the induction of the huge 16,900-tonne amphibious transport warship INS Jalashwa , known as the USS Trenton earlier, from US in 2007.
The 173-metre long INS Jalashwa , the second largest Indian warship after the 28,000-tonne aircraft carrier INS Viraat , can transport four landing craft, six helicopters and a battalion of 900-1,000 fully-armed soldiers over long distances.
"The IAF comes in since an amphibious operation will require air cover to warships and landing platform docks carrying soldiers, which are at their most vulnerable during landings," said a senior officer.
"Amphibious operations, which are inherently mobile and flexible, are probably the most complex of all military manoeuvres. They require all types of warships, aircraft, weapons, landing and special forces acting in a well-oiled concerted manner to establish beachheads," he added.
Forces ready with joint amphibious warfare doctrine-India-The Times of India
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