Section 4

|Level 18|General|–|Cabinet Secretary|

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<mark>IMPORTANT DEFENCE RELATED TERMS</mark>

<mark>Difference between Service Specific Command, Integrated Theatre Command and</mark> Integrated Functional Command

<mark>The Indian armed forces, currently have a total of 17commands, which are specific to the three services, i.e. Army, Navy and Air Force. Each of these commands is headed by a 3-star rank</mark> military officer (Lt General/ Vice Admiral /Air Marshal).

<mark>These 17 commands are not co-located at the same station and their areas of operational</mark> responsibility are also not contiguous.

<mark>Army has 07 commands:</mark> <mark>Northern, Eastern, Southern, Western, Central, South-western and</mark> Army Training Command (ARTRAC).

Navy has 03 commands: Western, Eastern and Southern

<mark>Air Force has 07 air commands:</mark> <mark>Western, Eastern, Southern, Central, South-western and</mark> Training Command and Maintenance Command.

<mark>The overall coordination of the operations of commands is carried out at the level of the</mark> respective Service Headquarters through the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC).

<mark>The COSC is headed by the senior most Service Chief who is designated as Chairman, COSC. He is expected to simultaneously perform both the roles, i.e. of Chief of his Service as well as</mark> the Chairman, COSC.

<mark>In order to bring about greater synergy between all the three services during operations, an</mark> <mark>integrated theatre command is being proposed, which would envisage a unified command of the three services, under a single commander, for geographical theatres that are of security</mark> concern.

<mark>Hence, joint training of troops from all the three services, equipment profile based on the geographical requirements of that theatre and the logistic resources required to support the operations will be placed at the disposal of the theatre commander, so that he does not have to</mark> look over his shoulder when the operations are in progress.

<mark>Thus, the difference between a Service specific command (present model) and a theatre command (proposed model) is that in the service-specific commands model, respective service chiefs control the operations of their service (army, navy, air force) through the army</mark> commanders of each individual service command.

<mark>Point to be noted here is that the three services are expected to fight an integrated battle during operations. In order to overcome this challenge, integrated theatre commands are being</mark> proposed.

<mark>The integrated theatre commands will promote cohesiveness and seamless efficacy as the</mark> resources of all the three services will be under one theatre commander.

<mark>Presently, there are two tri-service commands, namely, the Strategic Forces Command and</mark> Andaman and Nicobar Command.

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<mark>The example of an integrated theatre command is the Andaman and Nicobar Command, which was formed in 2001, following the Group of Ministers’ report on national security, after the Kargil</mark> War.

<mark>The example of an Integrated Functional Command is the Strategic Forces Command, which</mark> was created in 2003 to look after the delivery and operational control of India’s nuclear assets.

<mark>It differs from an integrated theatre command by way of not being responsible for any specific geographic area or a designated role for a particular theatre and can be assigned a role without any reference to a geographical area of responsibility. Hence, it is not called an integrated</mark> theatre command but an integrated functional command.

<mark>There is a proposal to raise other integrated functional commands, such as the cyber,</mark> aerospace and Special Operations commands, for which the government approval is pending.

<mark>Difference between Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) & the Integrated Defence Staff</mark> (IDS)

<mark>The Chiefs of Staff Committee was appointed on 01 October 2001. The primary aim of setting up the COSC was to fulfil the need of providing an institutionalised framework for Defence</mark> Management at the highest level.

<mark>All the three service chiefs, i.e. Army, Navy, Air Force and the chief of the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) compose the Chiefs of Staff Committee. The Scientific Adviser to the Minister of</mark> Defence is invited to attend, if and when required.

<mark>The member of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, who has been the longest on the Committee, holds the appointment of the Chairman of COSC. The present Chairman of Chiefs of Staff</mark> Committee is Navy Chief, Admiral Sunil Lanba.

<mark>The Chiefs of Staff are the authority for advising the Defence Minister and normally through him the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs on all military matters which require ministerial</mark> consideration.

<mark>As brought out above, the senior most chief from any of the three services assumes the appointment of the chairman of COSC. Hence, there is no permanency in this “single point contact” agency, which was created with the view to bring about synergy in tri-service operations. Also, the tri-service command is headed by a three-star officer junior to the military</mark> chiefs who are four-star.

<mark>The</mark> <mark>Integrated Defence Services (IDS)</mark> <mark>is in effect the principal functional arm and Secretariat to the Chiefs of Staff Committee. It was created by the Government on 23 November 2001, based on the recommendations of the Group of Ministers which was set up in 2000 (post-Kargil)</mark> to review India's defence management.

Difference between Ballistic Missile and Cruise Missiles

<mark>A</mark> <mark>Ballistic missile</mark> <mark>follows a free-fall or ballistic trajectory to deliver one or multiple warheads at</mark> the target end. Ballistic missiles are primarily intended for use against ground targets.

<mark>The missile is only briefly guided during the initial phase and most of its trajectory is unpowered</mark> and governed by gravity and air resistance.

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<mark>The long-range ICBMs spend most of their flight out of the earth’s atmosphere (hence, ballistic missiles can achieve longer ranges than the cruise missile of the same size) and re-enters the atmosphere in its terminal phase. The short-range ballistic missiles, however, stay within the</mark> earth’s atmosphere.

<mark>The initial phase is powered by either a liquid or solid fuel rocket and the flight of a ballistic</mark> missile includes three phases:

• (a) Boost phase , where the rocket generates thrust to launch the missile into flight.

• (b) Midcourse phase , where the missile coasts in an arc under the influence of gravity, and

(c) Terminal phase , in which the missile descends towards its target.

<mark>Prithvi, Dhanush and the Agni are examples of ballistic missile held with India. Pakistan</mark> inventory has ballistic missiles such as Hatf, Ghauri and Shaheen.

<mark>In contrast a</mark> <mark>Cruise missile</mark> <mark>is an aerodynamically guided missile that remains within the earth’s atmosphere, flying at approximately a constant speed throughout its flight and is used</mark> against terrestrial targets.

<mark>The cruise missiles are powered by more economical jet engines instead of rocket motors as in the case of ballistic missiles, which requires large amount of fuel, making the launch vehicles of</mark> ballistic missiles larger and easier to detect and intercept.

<mark>The accuracy, and circular error probability of a Cruise missile is better than the Ballistic missile. It is for this reason that the cruise missiles are used to attack high value targets at long ranges,</mark> like ships, command and communication centres, bridges and dams.

<mark>Cruise missiles are designed to deliver large warheads over long distances using ramjet engines with high accuracy. It is capable of travelling at supersonic or subsonic speeds, has</mark> inbuilt navigation system and fly at extremely low altitude trajectory to avoid detection.

<mark>The cruise missiles are overall cheaper, more mobile, accurate and versatile as compared to the ballistic missiles. However, the ballistic missiles have greater terminal speed and become</mark> difficult to be intercepted at that stage.

<mark>BrahMos, Shaurya and Nirbhay are examples of Cruise missiles held with India. Pakistan currently has three cruise missiles, air-launched Ra’ad, ground-launched Babur and sea-</mark> launched Zarb.

Difference between and Rocket and a Missile

<mark>Rockets are commonly used as propulsion for missiles, with or without in-flight guidance systems. Hence, a rocket can be defined as a missile or spacecraft which acquires high speeds</mark> from a rocket engine. Normally, rockets lack in-flight guidance system.

<mark>In case we put an explosive warhead on top of a rocket, and launch it at a target the whole assembly becomes a missile. Hence, a missile can be defined as a self-driven munitions system that is powered by a rocket. All missiles such as Ballistic or Anti-tank missiles usually</mark> have an inbuilt guidance system.

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Difference between a Gun, Cannon and a Howitzer

<mark>Cannon is a general term that refers to any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellants to launch a projectile. Field guns and howitzers are both,</mark> types of cannons.

<mark>The howitzers have a lower muzzle velocity, limited range and could have high deflection error. The howitzers are employed in the mountains because of its ability to fire at high angle (greater</mark> than 45 degrees) and clear the mountain crests.

The guns have a higher muzzle velocity and a flatter trajectory, thus giving it greater range.

<mark>Differences between: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), Drones and Remotely Piloted</mark> Vehicle (RPV)

<mark>UAVs are basically planes that do not have a cockpit, hence no pilot. UAVs rely on a preprogrammed flight plan for remotely sent heading changes. It is the on-board computer of the plane that actually controls it and reacts to changing conditions in order to reach the desired</mark> location.

UAVs are being extensively used for aerial reconnaissance, mapping, etc.

<mark>The Indian armed forces have been operating UAVs for more than a decade now, initially the Searcher Mark I, was obtained, followed by the Searcher Mark II which could operate at an altitude ceiling of 15,000 ft and finally the Heron, from Israel which can operate at an altitude</mark> ceiling of 30,000 ft. Besides the Nishant UAV developed by the DRDO is also in service.

<mark>The indigenously developed Rustom-I and Rustom-II, by DRDO will replace/supplement the</mark> Heron UAVs in service with the Indian armed forces.

<mark>The term “drone” was originally applied to pilotless airplanes used in target practice. These are machines/vehicles that are piloted through pre-programmed computer software or a remote</mark> pilot. Hence, a Drone can also be called an Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV).

<mark>Drones are semi-autonomous vehicles that may be incorporated in larger spacecraft to expand</mark> its launching capabilities.

<mark>The subtle difference that has emerged during recent times is that the UAVs are invariably unarmed and used mostly for surveys, mapping, visual and thermal imaging of a region and other less lethal tasks, whereas, Drones are generally armed with lethal weapons and have more of military application like inflicting casualties to militant leaders and destruction of their</mark> war waging machinery.

Thus, any flying drone has to be a UAV, but not every UAV has to be a drone.

<mark>Example of drone is the US origin Predator XP being procured by India It can remain airborne</mark> for 35 hours at a stretch and is equipped with lethal air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles.

<mark>The Predator XP can take to the skies in any weather condition, day/night and strike predesignated targets with pin-point accuracy from a height of 26,000 feet. Besides, it can provide effective intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability using high-definition</mark> radar and electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) coverage along our borders.

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<mark>The DRDO is also working on using the American RQ-1 Predator template for the Rustom program and convert a robust surveillance UAV into a combat drone in the form of Rustom-H.</mark> The same is underdevelopment and will have a great deal of mission flexibility.

<mark>Lastly, the Remotely Piloted Vehicle (RPV) is a type of UAV with similar basic design and structure. However, in case of a RPV, the pilot is not really eliminated but just relocated to a</mark> remote and safe location.

<mark>The RPV still functions like a typical airplane, and the pilot still has a cockpit with all the necessary controls except that the inputs provided by the pilot are now transmitted to a military</mark> satellite which then sends it to the RPV.

<mark>Therefore, it can still be tasked with missions that are typically done by piloted planes, like</mark> surgical strikes on high value, high risk targets, without any risk to the pilot.

<mark>Difference between Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), Polar Satellite</mark> Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV)

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)

<mark>PSLV is meant to launch</mark> <mark>small size satellites</mark> <mark>into a</mark> <mark>geostationary transfer orbit</mark> <mark>. India developed this capability for launch of Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites into Sun</mark> synchronous orbits on 20 September 1993.

PSLV has launched more than 100 satellites into a variety of orbits.

Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)

<mark>GSLV is meant to launch</mark> <mark>heavy satellites</mark> <mark>like the INSAT series, with a payload of 500 tons and</mark> above into a low earth orbit .

<mark>India is amongst a handful of other countries, like USA, Russia, France, Japan, and China that possess the ‘cryogenic engine technology’, essential for the launch of these heavy satellites.</mark> On 05 January 2014, GSLV D5 successfully launched GSAT-14 into its intended orbit.

Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV)

<mark>It may be understood that, 80 per cent cost of the launch vehicles is structural while only 20 per cent is spent on fuels or expendables. RLV can help save the structural costs by 10 times, as</mark> their body can be used for future missions too.

<mark>However, the exact cost saving can only be assessed, when it can be estimated as to how</mark> many missions a single RLV can handle or it can be reused for.

<mark>The Indian Space Research Organization conducted the test trial of its Reusable Launch</mark> Vehicle (RLV-TD) on 23 May 2016.

<mark>It has taken five years for a team of 600 scientists at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram to build the RLV at a cost of Rs 95 crore. The final cost of development</mark> will only get revealed, once the RLV becomes operational in about ten years’ time.

<mark>ISRO has predicted that the much cheaper RLV is likely to replace PSLV in about a decade. However, the GSLV might continue to be operational for a few more years, as it is substantially</mark> cheaper than the PSLV.

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Difference between a Rocket and SCRAMJET Technology

<mark>A rocket is an engine that propels an object by combustion, where both, the propellant and oxidizer are contained in the engine, as opposed to being input from outside (e.g. the oxygen</mark> does not come from the surrounding air or water).

<mark>However, the Super Sonic Combustion RAM Jet or SCRAMJET engine takes in oxygen from the atmosphere as its fuel, thus, reducing the overall weight of the rocket and increasing its</mark> efficiency.

<mark>This new rocket, also called the Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV), lifted-off a weight of 3,000 kg during its testing by ISRO from Sriharikota, off the coast of Andhra Pradesh, on 28</mark> August 2016.

<mark>The successful testing of SCRAMJET, has placed India amongst the only two other nations who</mark> posses this technology, i.e. America and Australia.

<mark>The aim of ISRO is to place this new rocket alongside the Re-Usable Launch Vehicle (RLV) to make rocket launches more affordable. Currently it costs around $20,000 to send one kg of matter into space and this new technology could bring down launch costs by as much as ten times.</mark>

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IMPORTANT MILITARY OPERATIONS

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AIRFORCE AND NAVY EXERCISES OF INDIA WITH OTHER COUNTRIES

2017