Speaking at the Special Forces Seminar, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik said that it was important for both the political and military leadership to understand that there would be “fewer wars and more conflicts” and only a welltrained and thinking force could deal with such threats

A two-day semina r on “Special Forces: Challenges & Opportunities” was held in New Delhi on March 10-11. The event was organised jointly by SP Guide Publications and the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS), a think-tank of Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff of India’s Ministry of Defence.

Deliberations

The very nature of multi-service integration required for the successful outcome of Special Forces operations was evident from the mixed array of speakers, both from India as well as abroad. It was in the fitness of things that Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) was invited to inaugurate the seminar. During his inaugural address, Naik underlined the urgency of strengthening the Special Forces in the country as asymmetric warfare by transnational elements, both planned and rogue, was on the rise. Realities in today’s context were becoming more and more threatening and required special assets for specialised missions. Special Forces truly belonged to this category of being able to achieve disproportionately large outcomes with relatively much smaller forces, thus living up to the tenets of fourth generation warfare. He emphasised the need to preserve autonomy of such forces and their unconventional use as that was the essence of their employment. He stressed the need for the Indian armed forces to plan, equip and train for the full spectrum of challenges implying a wide range of capabilities to fight conventional wars under the nuclear hang on one hand to low intensity conflicts including counter-terrorism on the other. He said that it was important for both the political and military leadership to understand that there would be “fewer wars and more conflicts” and only a well-trained and thinking force could deal with such threats. Naik called for a national vision with regard to the deployment of Special Forces in different scenarios and for building the infrastructure for integrated joint operations.

Eminent speakers from all three services—serving and retired—and some from abroad recounted their experiences vis-à-vis Special Forces operations and presented their views. There was categorical unanimity that terror threats were on the rise in India but the model to deal with such asymmetric threats would have to be devised in India itself while taking into account experiences of other countries. There was also a unanimous view that Special Forces operations are invariably joint operations and therefore call for the setting up of appropriate infrastructure to ensure detailed joint planning and exhaustive joint training for smooth and efficient execution of special operational tasks.

Comments

In India, operations by Special Forces, is not a new phenomenon with each service having raised, equipped and trained their own respective Special Forces units. The Indian Army for example, has approximately 10 battalions of Para-Commando (SF) units distributed amongst its operational commands for special operations. Similarly, the Indian Navy has its Marcos (Marine Commandos) force. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has also raised its own paracommando force called Garuds albeit, arguably, with much greater multi-tasking capabilities. While all three services have equipped their Special Forces reasonably well, there is no case for overlooking the need for continuous upgradation of their equipment to be able to meet the challenges of ever emerging new threats. The IAF, in addition, has other specific roles such as air transportation and para-dropping of Special Forces of all three services as well as heliborne infiltration/extrication of Special Forces elements for special tasks in specific areas including behind the enemy lines.