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| Army to have chopper squadron | | |
Friday, September 22, 2006 (New Delhi):
The Indian Army realised the need to have a dedicated chopper squadron specially trained to operate with the Special forces many years ago.
Now, the wish is about to come true the Special Forces are about to get their own dedicated helicopter squadron.
In 2001 Sierra Leone more than 300 Indian Peacekeepers were be-seiged by RUF Rebels.
An audacious heli-borne rescue mission was launched by the Indian Special Forces. The helicopters used were Chinooks from the SAS.
Very soon the special forces will fly in their own state-of-the-art ALH helicopters.
But what is crucial is that men in Olive Green will be in the cockpit. The Army and the Air Force have had problems in joint services operations in the past.
This specialist squadron now is from the Army's own aviation corps.
"You need the crew to understand what Special Forces operations mean, to identify with the men and so their being from the Army is crucial," said Lt Gen V G Patankar (Retd).
The Army had wanted six heavy-lift helicopters for long distance operations as well but for now even these medium-lift ALHs represent a quantum leap in capacity.
The squadron will soon be deployed in the Kashmir valley to support the para-teams serving there.
"It is a big leap the number of options for the battlefield commanders go up. You can now think of many different methods to achieve your war aims," said General Patankar, retd GOC 15 corps.
This is the first small step in the development of the Indian Special Forces from a tactical force to one, which would give the Army a truly strategic strike option.
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