Biggest desert exercise undertaken by the Army in last 20 years.
President of India, Pratibha Patil, will review Army exercise Sudarshan Shakti in the Rajasthan desert on December 5. The exercise, which has been mounted by the Southern Army headquartered in Pune, has been touted as one of the biggest military exercises undertaken by the Indian Army in the last two decades.
Speaking to reporters in Pune on Wednesday, southern Army commander Lt Gen AK Singh, said that the exercise has deployed as many as 50,000 soldiers, 500 armoured vehicles including battle tanks, as well as fighter jets and combat helicopters of the Indian Air Force. The exercise is a byproduct of the study on ‘transformational and theatrisation of combat and support services of the Indian Army’ which was drafted by Army chief Gen VK Singh and the southern army commander.
Lt Gen Singh said that the exercise was being spearheaded by 21 Corps of the Southern Army and was being primarily conducted to sharpen the skills of the forces and keep them battle ready.
Earlier in the day, speaking from Rajasthan via a video conference facility, Lt Gen Sanjiv Langer, 21 Corps commander, told reporters that exercise Sudarshan Shakti was helping the Army work together to use the latest technology to create real time situations.
Gen Langer said, “Our computers are connected on a local area network (LAN) and our field commanders are getting an opportunity to take instant decisions.” Gen Langer also said that the field commanders were using satellite technology extensively.
The basic objective of Exercise Sudarshan Shakti was to create a lean and agile fighting force, to exploit technology, to facilitate real time reconnaissance and work in tandem with the air force, added Gen Langer
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