At present, India is confidently among the top ten world powers in terms of its military potential. The armed forces of India are inferior to the armies of the United States, Russia and China, but are still very strong and numerous. There could be no other way in a country with a population of about 1.3 billion people. In terms of military spending in 2014, India ranked 7th in the world - $ 50 billion (data from the Stockholm Peace Research Institute). More than 1.3 million people serve in the Indian armed forces (3rd place in the world). Speaking about the Indian armed forces, it is worth remembering that India is the world's largest importer of weapons (as of 2012), and also possesses nuclear weapons and their means of delivery.
In addition to the direct armed forces, India has a variety of paramilitary formations, in which about 1.1 million people serve: national security forces, special border forces, special paramilitary forces. As of 2015, the population of India is 1 billion 276 million people (the 2nd largest population in the world, after China). At the same time, the country's mobilization resources are estimated at at least 270 million people, of which 160 million are fully fit for military service.
The armed forces of India are designed to organize the defense of the Republic, to protect the freedom and independence of the country, it is one of the most important weapons of political power. The personnel of the Indian armed forces have a high level of moral, psychological and combat training and serve on a contract basis; there is no compulsory conscription in India. For India, due to the huge population and the difficult ethno-confessional situation, the recruitment of the armed forces by conscription is simply not possible.
Speaking of the Indian armed forces, it can be noted that they are relatively young. The armed forces of the independent Republic of India appeared only in 1947. At the same time, they were formed on the basis of military contingents, which withdrew to the country when it was divided into two British dominions - the Indian Union and Pakistan. At the same time, the Indian armed forces included units with personnel professing Hinduism and other religions with the exception of Islam, and Muslim military personnel were included in the Pakistani army. The official date of the formation of the national armed forces of India is August 15, 1949.
A feature of the Indian Armed Forces is very close cooperation with the Russian military-industrial complex. The Indian army is armed with a huge amount of military equipment and weapons produced by the Soviet Union and Russia. For example, it is not Russia at all, but India that has the largest fleet of T-90 tanks in the world. At the same time, both countries are actively cooperating in the military-technical sphere, carrying out joint development of various weapons. Currently, India is the most important importer of Russian weapons, at the same time, the country cooperates quite closely with the UK, France and, more recently, with the United States.
Currently, Russian-Indian cooperation is exclusive. And the point is not that India has been buying arms from Russia for decades. Delhi and Moscow are working together to create modern weapons systems, and quite unique ones, such as the Brahmos missile or the 5th generation fighter jet - FGFA. The leasing of a nuclear submarine also has no analogues in world practice (Russia leased the Nerpa nuclear submarine to India for 10 years); the USSR had a similar experience in this area in the 1980s with India.
At the same time, India has its own military-industrial complex, which is able to produce weapons and equipment of all classes, including nuclear weapons and delivery vehicles. However, this is more in theory, since weapons models created in India itself, as a rule, have lower tactical and technical characteristics in comparison with foreign counterparts, and their development has been going on for decades. The most striking example in this regard is the Indian tank "Arjun", the development of which lasted about 37 years. The samples of equipment collected in the country under foreign licenses are not the most reliable either. For example, as experts note, the high accident rate in the Indian Air Force may be associated with this factor. However, despite all of the above, India has everything to become one of the world's main superpowers in the 21st century.
Land Forces of India
The ground forces of India are the most numerous component of the country's armed forces, serving at least 1.1 million people (there are 990 thousand reservists). In its composition, the ground forces have a Training Command (headquarters in Shimla), as well as 6 territorial commands - Central, North, West, South-West, South and East. At the same time, the 50th Airborne Brigade, two regiments of the Agni MRBM launcher, one regiment of the Prithvi-1 launcher of the OTR and four regiments armed with Brahmos cruise missiles are directly subordinate to the Indian Ground Forces headquarters.
The Indian ground forces include 12 army corps headquarters, 36 divisions (18 infantry, 3 armored, 4 rapid deployment divisions, 10 mountain infantry and one artillery). In addition, the SV has 15 separate brigades (5 armored, 7 infantry, two mountain infantry and one parachute), as well as 12 air defense brigades, 3 engineering brigades and 22 helicopter squadrons of army aviation.
Indian T-90
India currently has a fairly impressive tank fleet, which is mostly equipped with modern vehicles. The army has delivered 124 tanks of its own design "Arjun", it is planned to supply another 124, while work is underway on a modernized version of "Arjun-2". Also, the troops have 1250 modern Russian MBT T-90, it is planned to produce another 750 of these tanks under license. Also in stock up to 2,400 Soviet MBT T-72M, which have been or are being upgraded. In addition, up to 1100 old Vijayanta tanks of our own production (British Vickers Mk1) and up to 700 Soviet T-55 tanks are in storage.
Unlike tanks with other weapons, things are much worse. Most of the other Indian armored vehicles are outdated. The country has about 100 BRDM-2, about 1200 BMP-2 and up to 300 different armored personnel carriers. Currently, the BMP-2 fleet is being modernized. In 2006, 123 vehicles were converted into the BMP-2K version, armored vehicles are assembled under a Russian license in India, while the Indian Ministry of Defense plans to purchase another 149 BMP-2K.
Most of the Indian artillery is also obsolete. The troops have up to 100 self-propelled self-propelled guns "Catapult" - 130-mm howitzer M-46 on the chassis of the "Vijayanta" tank, about 80 more such vehicles are in storage. There are also 110 Soviet 122-mm self-propelled guns 2S1 "Carnation" and 80 British 105-mm self-propelled guns "Abbot". It is curious that in September 2015, India held a tender for the purchase of 155-mm self-propelled guns, the victory in which was won by the South Korean K9 Thunder artillery system, which bypassed the Russian Msta-S self-propelled guns. This South Korean self-propelled gun is definitely a success on the international market, it was also chosen as the main one in the Turkish armed forces. The production of the K9 Thunder self-propelled guns will be deployed in India, it is reported that the armed forces will purchase at least 500 such self-propelled guns.
BMP-2 of the Indian army
In addition, there are about 4, 3 thousand towed guns of various calibers in service, more than 3 thousand in storage and about 7 thousand mortars. There are practically no modern samples among them either. At the same time, since 2010, India has been trying to acquire 145 light 155-mm M-777 howitzers from the United States, the deal has been discussed for 5 years, but it seems that in May 2015 the matter got off the ground and the howitzers will be delivered to the country.
The situation with the MLRS is similar in terms of the availability of new samples. India has about 150 Soviet BM-21 Grad (122 mm), 80 self-developed Pinaka MLRS (214 mm) and 62 Russian Smerch systems (300 mm). At the same time, "Pinaka" and "Smerch" can be attributed to modern multiple launch rocket systems.
Also in service with the ground forces are about 250 Russian-made Kornet ATGMs, 13 Namika self-propelled ATGMs (Indian Nag ATGMs on the BMP-2 chassis), in addition there are several thousand Soviet and Russian ATGMs "Malyutka", "Fagot", "Competition", "Storm", French ATGM "Milan".
Upgraded Indian MBT "Arjun"
The backbone of the army air defense is the Soviet / Russian air defense systems "Strela-10" (250), Osa (80), "Tunguska" (184), "Shilka" (75), as well as the Indian short-range air defense systems "Akash" (300). The army aviation has about 300 helicopters, almost all of which are of Indian production.
Indian Air Force
In terms of the number of aircraft, the Indian Air Force is in fourth place in the world, behind the United States, Russia and China. At the same time, the Air Force has about 1,800 aircraft of all types, including about 900 combat vehicles. About 150 thousand people are serving in the Indian Air Force. Organizationally, they are an integral part of the combined service of the armed forces - the Air Force and Air Defense (Air Defense). The country's air force has 38 headquarters of aviation wings and 47 squadrons of combat aviation, the country has a development network of airfields.
Past and Present of the Indian Air Force, MiG-21 and Su-30MKI
The Indian Air Force headquarters consists of the following departments: operational planning, intelligence, combat training, electronic warfare, meteorological, financial and communications. Also subordinate to the headquarters are 5 air commands and one training (headquarters in Bangalore), which supervise the air force units in the field: Central (Allahabad), West (Delhi), East (Shillong), South (Trivandrum) and South-West (Gandhinagar).
A serious problem of the Indian Air Force for many years has been the high accident rate. From the early 1970s to the early 2000s, the Indian Air Force lost an average of 23 aircraft and helicopters each year. At the same time, the largest number of flight accidents occurred in the Soviet MiG-21 fighters, which were produced in India, and for a long time formed the basis of its fleet. In the Indian Air Force, these aircraft have earned a reputation for "flying coffins" and "widowmakers". From 1971 to April 2012, 482 of these fighters crashed in India (more than half of the 872 MiG-21s received by India). At the same time, at least 150 of these machines remain in service, 120 of which are planned to operate at least until 2019.
In general, the Indian Air Force is based on Soviet / Russian-made aircraft and helicopters. Attack aircraft were represented by Soviet MiG-27s (113 aircraft), most of which were planned to be decommissioned in 2015, and approximately 120 by British Jaguar fighter-bombers. All of these aircraft were licensed in India and are obsolete today.
Su-30MKI
The situation is much better with fighter aircraft. The Air Force has about 220 modern Russian Su-30MKI, their total number will be increased to 272. In terms of the number of Su-30 fighters in service, the Indian Air Force bypasses the Russian Air Force. Also in service there are 62 MiG-29 fighters, all of them have been upgraded to the MiG-29UPG (53) and MiG-29UB-UPG versions. In addition, there are 50 French Mirage-2000 fighters and 11 more such training vehicles. It is planned to modernize them to the level of "Mirage 2000-5", which will extend the period of their operation for another 20 years. In addition, the Indian Air Force begins to receive a light multi-role fighter of the fourth generation of its own design - HAL Tejas; since 2014, 14 fighters have been built, including prototypes. In total, it is planned to build about 200 such aircraft for the Indian Air Force, which should completely replace the MiG-21 and MiG-27.
India also has AWACS aircraft, there are three Russian A-50EI and three DRDO AEW & CS aircraft of a joint Indian-Brazilian development. There are also three American Gulfstream-4 electronic reconnaissance aircraft, six Russian Il-78 tanker aircraft, and 6 more European Airbus A330 MRTTs will be delivered.
In transport aviation, there are 17 Il-76MD, 105 An-32, some of the aircraft have been modernized since 2009 in Ukraine, the rest will be modernized directly in India. At the same time, India plans to replace all Soviet Il-76MDs, which have been in operation for more than 28 years, with the latest American C-17 Globemaster III transports. In 2010, a contract was signed for the purchase of 10 such aircraft, with a possible option to purchase another 6 aircraft. The first aircraft was handed over to the Indian Air Force in January 2013.
Light multirole fighter HAL Tejas
The Air Force is armed with about 30 combat helicopters, including 24 Russian Mi-35s, 4 of its own production "Rudra" and 2 LCH. In addition, about 360 multipurpose and transport helicopters are in operation, including a large number of Soviet Mi-8 and Russian Mi-17, Mi-17V5, and Mi-26.
Indian Navy
India's naval forces include the navy, naval aviation and special forces. Currently, about 58 thousand people serve in the fleet, including about 1, 2 thousand in the marines and about 5 thousand in the naval aviation. In service there are more than 180 ships and 200 aircraft. For the basing of warships, the Indian Navy uses three main naval bases - Kadamba (in the Goa region), Mumbai and Vishakhapatnam. At the same time, the Navy includes three commands - Western (Bombay), Southern (Cochin) and Eastern (Vishakhapatnam).
The Indian submarine fleet includes one SSBN "Arihant" of its own design with 12 K-15 SLBMs (range 700 km), it is planned to build 3 more submarines of this type. At the same time, the missile launch range is rather modest. Also on lease is one Russian nuclear submarine "Nerpa" of project 971, which received the Indian name "Chakra". In addition, 9 Russian Project 877 Halibut diesel submarines and 4 German Project 209/1500 submarines are in service. Also, the construction of 3 modern French submarines of the "Scorpen" type is underway, a total of 6 such submarines are planned to be built.
On the deck of the aircraft carrier Vikramaditya.
Currently, the Indian fleet has two aircraft carriers - Viraat (formerly British Hermes) and Vikramaditya (former Soviet Admiral Gorshkov). In addition, the construction of two own aircraft carriers of the Vikrant class is underway. The Indian naval aviation has 63 carrier-based fighters - 45 MiG-29K (including 8 combat training MiG-29KUB) and 18 Harrier. The MiG-29K fighters are designed to arm the Vikramaditya aircraft carrier (the air group consists of 14-16 MiG-29K and 4 MiG-29KUB, up to 10 helicopters) and the Vikrant and Harriers type aircraft carriers under construction are used on Viraat.
Anti-submarine aviation is represented by old Soviet Il-38 - 5 aircraft, Tu-142M - 7 aircraft (one in storage) and three modern American P-8I (12 were ordered in total). In addition, the Indian naval aviation has 12 Russian Ka-31 AWACS helicopters, 41 anti-submarine helicopters, including 18 Soviet Ka-28 and 5 Ka-25, and 18 British Sea King Mk42V.
Talvar-class frigate
The surface forces of the fleet are quite variegated. There are 9 destroyers: 5 of the Rajput type (Soviet project 61), 3 of our own Delhi type and one of the Kolkata type (2-3 more destroyers of this type will be built). Also in service are 6 modern Russian-built frigates of the Talvar class (project 11356) and 3 even more modern self-built frigates of the Shivalik class. The Navy has the newest corvette Kamorta (from 4 to 12 units will be built), 4 corvettes of the Kora type, 4 of the Khukri type, and 4 of the Abhay type (Soviet project 1241P). It should be noted that all destroyers, frigates and corvettes (except for Abhay) of the Indian fleet are armed with modern Russian and Russian-Indian sea-based cruise missiles and anti-ship missiles Caliber, Bramos, X-35.
Nuclear Forces of India
In the structure of the Indian armed forces, a special structure was created to manage the existing nuclear forces - the NCA (Nuclear Command Authority), the Nuclear Command Administration. Moreover, this governing body is not only military, but also military-political. This command deals with nuclear planning in the interests of defense, and is also responsible for the adoption and implementation of decisions on the use of nuclear weapons to repel external aggression, headed by the Prime Minister of the country.
The SFC - Strategic Forces Command, which was created in 2003, is the Military Operations Directorate directly subordinate to the NCA and the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the Indian Armed Forces Committee. This command is responsible for coordinating the actions of the nuclear components of the country's ground forces and the country's air force, represented by units of the ground forces equipped with ground-based ballistic missiles and aviation squadrons armed with aircraft carrying nuclear bombs. In the foreseeable future, the SFC will take control over the emerging naval strategic nuclear forces of India.
Most of India's nuclear missile potential is concentrated in the ground forces, which have two regiments of 8 launchers for Agni medium-range ballistic missiles. In total, presumably, India has 80-100 Agni-1 missiles (700-900 km), up to 20-25 Agni-2 missiles (2000-3000 km) and a number of extended-range ballistic missiles of the Agni-type. 3 "(3500-5000 km). Also in the only regiment of operational-tactical missiles "Prithvi-1" (150 km) there are 12 launchers for these missiles. All of these missiles can be carriers of both conventional warheads and nuclear ones. The carriers of nuclear weapons in the Indian Air Force can be both Russian Su-30MKI fighters and the French Mirage-2000.
According to experts, today India has a limited stock of nuclear warheads, in a combat-ready state - about 30-35 charges. At the same time, the country has a certain number of ready-made components for completing new charges. It is believed that if necessary, India will be able to produce another 50-90 nuclear warheads rather quickly.
