The Indian Armed Forces have partly curtailed some of their live training activities in the backdrop of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, News18 has learnt.
As per defence sources, this holds true for certain equipment in use with the Army which sources its spares and ammunition from Russia and Ukraine. This includes T-90 and T-72 tanks, 130mm artillery guns and Smerch rocket launchers, among other artillery and air defence systems.
It is learnt that a few restrictions have also been put in place by the Indian Air Force (IAF) on the training on flying and use of certain Soviet-era armaments.
The IAF had cancelled the ‘Vayu Shakti’ exercise scheduled to be held on March 7 at Rajasthan’s Pokhran field firing range. Last month, it had taken a decision to pull out of the multilateral air exercise Cobra Warrior in the UK that was scheduled for earlier this month.
No immediate restrictions were known to have been imposed by the Navy on training activities on ships.
The Army and the IAF did not respond to queries emailed by News18 on Monday.
While the IAF did not confirm if the cancellation of ‘Vayu Shakti’ was related to any decision with respect to curtailing of training activities, defence sources indicated that similar drills may remain on hold for a few weeks.
Defence sources also said no restriction on use of ammunition has been placed “since the outbreak of war” in Ukraine, adding the war has had “no impact on training of the Indian Army.”
“No restrictions have been placed on use of Ammunition imported from Israel and/or US. We manufacture ammunition for most of the equipment with origins in Russia/Ukraine,” a defence source said.
Asked about the long-term plans to ensure adequate ammunition reserves for Russian and Ukrainian-origin equipment in use with the Army, the sources said the Army has a structured approach to capability building, and stocking of ammunition war reserves is given the importance it deserves.
“Further, due impetus has been given to being ‘Atmanirbhar’ in the field of ammunition manufacturing,” the source quoted above said.
Kind of Restrictions
There were no major restrictions put for training on most small arms, as the ammunition for AK-47 rifles and its variants and INSAS rifles, are manufactured in India.
The American SiG Sauer rifles are compatible with the erstwhile 7.62mm SLR, which is manufactured in India. There is always a certain amount of restriction in place for use of sniper ammunition for training.
According to the defence sources, these restrictions vary between 50% and 100% for different equipment, depending upon the availability of ammunition stored for training purposes and those ammunition which are at the fag-end of their life cycle.
Sources told News18 that procuring large scale missiles for air defence systems—OSA-AK surface-to-air missile system, Russian Kvadrat self-propelled air defence system, Tunguska anti-aircraft weapon system—and Krasnopol artillery ammunition may be a cause for concern.
“If needed, training ammunition can be preserved and used as first line,” one source said.
How Ammo is Classified
The ammunition for various equipment in the Indian Army is classified into first line, second line, war wastage reserve and training. The newest ammunition procured is put into the war wastage reserve and subsequently transferred to the second line, first line and training as they age.
The ammunition used for training is thus the oldest of the lot. In case of any restriction, those nearing their expiration age are first exhausted.
Every year, the Army conducts battle inoculation and live training exercises to attune the soldiers to the feel of war. These have also been cut down due to restrictions imposed on the use of ammunition.
The sources emphasised that, routinely, some restrictions are imposed on training on expensive weapon systems as part of cost cutting measures, irrespective of the country of origin.
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