Food served
to soldiers at high altitudes doesn’t suit their palate, reveals a new army
report that has called for replacing it with something that tastes better. The
report predates a video clip in which a BSF jawan raised questions about
poor meals, but it does link troop motivation to food quality.
The 119-page
report, compiled by the Army Design Bureau (ADB), lists 50 problems that need
to be quickly addressed to provide the best protection to frontline soldiers
and develop cutting-edge weaponry for battlefield triumphs.
The report on
Future Core Technologies and Problem Statements acknowledges the challenges that
soldiers face, ranging from vulnerability of their body armour, outdated night
fighting gear, problems with winter clothing to lack of situational awareness
systems to keep them updated during operations.
In his maiden
press conference as army chief, General Bipin Rawat on Friday touched on the
report promising that frontline soldiers would be equipped with world-class
gear and the force was collaborating with the country’s top academia and
industry to fix the problems.
The army says
high-calorie food, improvised for Indian tastes, is required to improve the
operational efficiency of soldiers at high altitudes.
“Presently,
troops deployed in high altitude areas are being issued tinned food and some
‘meals ready to eat (MRE)’ but these are not adhering to Indian tastes and have
issues related to shelf life,” the report says.
It goes on to
add that supply of food that suits their palate will “tremendously enhance the
motivation levels” of soldiers. The report cites the examples of other
countries that provide soldiers food conforming to their tastes. It also
suggests the possibility of using edible packing material to get rid of
disposal problems. The army hopes to come up with a solution within a year.
The body armour
used by soldiers offers them limited protection, a concern flagged by General
Rawat. The army chief said the bullet proof jackets worn by soldiers provide
protection in the front and back but leave them vulnerable on the sides and
neck.
Fewer soldiers
would have been killed in operations if they were equipped with superior body
armour. The ADB says the existing bullet-proof jackets are heavy, uncomfortable
and fall short of international standards.
The bullet proof
headgear or ‘patka’ is not only heavy at 1.7kg but also exposes soldiers to risks
as it covers only the sides and leaves the top exposed. The report states the
forehead plate caters for ballistic protection from 7.62 mm ammunition, but the
side plates provide protection “only from 9 mm” fire. It lays down a time frame
of two to three years to fix the problem.
The army has
stepped up efforts to buy new bullet proof vests and ballistic helmets for
soldiers who carry out more than a hundred operations daily in Jammu and
Kashmir.
General Rawat
said an army team, headed by deputy chief Lieutenant General Subrata Saha, has
held 25 rounds of interactions with the industry and academia from Indian
Institutes of Technology and other centres of excellence to involve them in
finding solutions for the force’s needs.
Indian soldiers
may be deployed on the Siachen glacier, the world’s coldest and highest
battlefield, but the army is still struggling to provide them quality winter
clothing.
The report says
the winter clothing used by the army is cumbersome, restricts freedom of
movement and makes it difficult for soldiers to carry loads or use equipment
such as radio sets. Soldiers have been forced to buy light-weight clothing from
the market for their survival, the report highlights.
Inaccurate
sniping is another typical problem at high altitudes. Soldiers can’t engage
targets with precision in the absence of world-class sniper scopes. The report
says sniper fire has been found to be inaccurate due to terrain and weather
conditions and new scopes with inbuilt distance and crosswind correction need
to be bought within four years.
Source :- Hindustan Times
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