LEH: In another step towards strengthening the Indian security grid at the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, tense for the last three years, the Indian Army has developed a mobile application to provide detailed weather projections to the military personnel posted in the region.
The Indian Army and the China’s People Liberation Army are amid a long standoff in the eastern Ladakh sector for three years, after the deadly clashes between the two armies in the Galwan Valley of Ladakh.
Ever since, the union government has launched a series of initiatives to equip the Indian Army better in the ongoing tensions along Line of Actual Control.
Now, a mobile application to provide detailed weather projections to the military personnel has been developed and will be launched this week.
“The Vice-Chief of Indian Army, Lt General Suchindra Kumar will launch the Anuman application on Friday, May 19, in New Delhi, which will provide detailed weather projections to the military personnel deployed at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), especially in the eastern Ladakh Sector,” officials said.
The application has been developed by the National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) after it signed an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Indian Army in November last year.
The application will prove a game changer as these weather inputs are critical for the commanders on the ground and will help them plan and carry out operations, said a senior officer.
For collecting observations along the Northern Borders, the Indian Army will support NCMRWF. In future, this body will provide customised products for the Indian Army for higher-resolution weather forecasts which will help troops and other components along the border with China.
Regularly, the NCMRWF will share data with the Indian Army Artillery Units to “temper its weapon platforms before firing projectiles through the Earth’s atmosphere.” This will further empower the Artillery units to fire more precisely and accurately.
The Anuman app has come as the latest step in a series of measures undertaken by the Defence Ministry and Indian Army since 2020 to transform the Army for future challenges.
Losing the total weight by 45%, new Zorawar Light Tanks powered with niche technologies like Artificial Intelligence, drone integration, active protection system and high degree of situational awareness, are going to become the face of the India’s response along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh to facilitate quicker deployment and movement in high-altitude battle zones, the Army officials had informed last month.
The Indian Army is all set to induct as many as 700 such tanks, double its initial estimate, to counter the Chinese PLA, which has been trying to establish hotspots against it not only in Ladakh, but also in Arunachal Pradesh and other areas along the LAC.
While India has been searching for a light tank since 2009, the process only was hastened after the border stand-off with China began in 2020 in Ladakh and has continued ever since.
The Indian Army had to deploy bigger tanks like the T-72 and the T-90 after the deadly border clash with China, both weighing around 45-46 tons.
“Their heavy weight makes these tanks very difficult to be put to optimum use in mountainous areas. The manoeuvrability and transportation is restricted. Then there are problems with their usage in the extreme cold weather of Ladakh as well as limitations on depression and elevations on their heavy 120-mm guns, preventing them from engaging targets on hilltops or in valleys,” said a senior Army official.
In March, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had chaired a high-level meeting which decided to take up the projects in Ladakh at the top priority for their early completion in view of the heightened tension with China along the Line of Actual Control.
In the same month, the Centre had announced that it would enhance the telecom infrastructure in the border areas of Ladakh and other parts of the country along the LAC to provide the Indian troops stationed there better connectivity services.
As many as 1000 border outposts and intelligence posts will be benefitted with strong 4G connectivity in the border areas, with the total cost of the project pegged at Rs 2000 crore.
The Indian and Chinese troops are locked in a standoff for the past three years at certain friction points in eastern Ladakh even as the two sides completed disengagement of troops from several areas following extensive diplomatic and military talks.
The ties between the two countries nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades. As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process in 2021 on the north and south banks of the Pangong lake and in the Gogra area.
