For the first time, American and Russian-origin tanks will take on each other on Indian soil as the US and Indian troops get ready to hold the Exercise Yudh Abhyas in the Mahajan field firing ranges in Rajasthan next month.
The Indian side will field its Russian-origin T-72 and BMP Infantry Combat vehicles whereas the Americans will come with their M1 Abram tanks and Stryker ICVs for the wargames, Army officials said to defencenow.com.
During the exercise, the Americans are also going to display the ICV firing capabilities of the Javelin anti-tank guided missiles, which have been offered to India by the US under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route.
This is the first time that America is deploying its tanks on Indian soil for an exercise.
Apart from fielding three tanks, the US will also deploy around 200 men accompanied by armoured personnel carriers for the wargames, they said.
In the last edition of the exercise, the American Army had brought its Stryker infantry combat vehicles which were being inducted into war operations in Afghanistan.
After the 'Yudh Abhyas in March', Indian infantry troops from the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles regiment will fly to California to engage their American counterparts in exercise 'Shatrujeet'.
130 troops from the 19 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles battalion will fly to California in April and engage in counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism drills there for the exercise, sources said.
The Special Forces of the two countries will also test their skills in a mountain exercise codenamed 'Vajra Prahar'.
60 troops from American Special Forces and an equal number of them from the Indian Army's 3 Para (Special Forces) will take part in a wargame in Chaubatia in Uttarakhand in August this year in mountain terrain. |