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Armed forces now ready to fight natural disasters

It’s a new year and a new beginning for the Indian armed forces. They are recalibrating their acquisition plans to deal with relief and rehabilitation requirements that follow natural disasters.

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NEW DELHI: It’s a new year and a new beginning for the Indian armed forces.  They are recalibrating their acquisition plans to deal with relief and rehabilitation requirements that follow natural disasters.

The change in policy follows the experience of the armed forces in dealing with the aftermath of tsunami that struck the southern coast on December 26, 2004.

 The forces found themselves inadequately equipped to deal with rescue and rehabilitation missions due to the lack of appropriate transport vehicles and machines.

While the Indian Navy is planning to undertake an ambitious Rs2,000 crores project to build its own Landing Platform Dock (LPD), besides buying an old American Amphibious Transport Dock (ATD), the Indian Air Force is planning to buy 80 multi-utility medium-lift helicopters. The Indian Army on its part is looking at inducting more Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH).

By undertaking the project to build its own LPD, or Amphibious Transport Dock, the navy hopes to substantially increase its capability to carry relief material and personnel. Sources say the entire project would be based on French Mistral class design and built at the Garden Reach Shipyard, Kolkata.

While the LPD would substantially increase the Navy’s ability to respond swiftly to disasters like tsunami in the region, it would also give a fillip to its fighting ability.
An LPD combines the abilities of three different traditional ships: landing ship, tank landing ship and attack cargo ship. It could also be turned into a local command and control centre.

The ATD, USS Trenton, is a massive ship with a displacement of over 17,000 tonnes. It can not only carry 1,000 soldiers at a time, but also transport heavy equipment and several helicopters, besides other items, to a disaster site.

“Trenton would not only provide us with a huge landing platform, but would also give us a detailed idea of the design and operation of such a system,” says a senior navy officer. The ship, he added, would be in service for about 15 years after it is inducted. The ship can be converted into a floating hospital and an offshore helipad during emergencies.

The IAF is planning to buy 80 multi-utility medium-lift helicopters that could be deployed for transporting men and material during disasters. This year the IAF airlifted 54,000 people and flew over 1,500 tonnes of relief material to disaster hit areas, mainly Jammu and Kashmir that came under a thick snow cover. The IAF also flew four times the normal number of sorties.

The IAF also plans to induct many more ALHs that are being manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Besides, an Indo-Russian joint venture would provide it with next-generation transport aircraft that could transport around 20 tonnes of material during a disaster.

The army is also looking at inducting more ALHs. But sources said that more than equipment the army is looking at ways to reduce its response time to disasters.
Says a senior army officer: “We do not wait for written orders from civil authorities when disaster strikes. We just move in and help as soon as possible.”

That is what army units in Kashmir did immediately after the recent earthquake.

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