Information and Communication Security

0200-0230

Thimphu, Bhutan Province

me: da whr r u?
B: home
 u?
me: me too
B: i got ligament tear da
me: how??????????
B: my right thumb....while playin basketball
me: damn now how do u write nething?
B: i cant
me: damn now how abt s8? wht u gonna do? whn will it be alryt?
B: two more weeks
 will have viva series
me: thn no probs?
ok
B: got good marks in fir

The sudden loss of connection with his friend did not worry Jibin. After all internet is not as good everywhere in the world. However when repeated attempts at buzzing his friend who is on an exchange program with a foreign university did not work Jibin raised the chat window. He tried to raise chats with some other friends who are online and it all worked out, except for those of his friends who are abroad. Jibin did not however pay much heed to it and when he came back after making some coffee around 20 minutes later, a cousin of his working abroad had pinged him for a chat. Without worrying much about the seeming loss of communications some time back, Jibin went back to his chats.

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Urumqi, Xinjiang Province

The phone is ringing. The man wakes up and groggily switches on the bedlamp and fumbles to pick up the telephone receiver.
“Hello, who is this?”
“Sir, this is Mandhar Kanth calling from Jaffna Branch Office. We have a serious situation here. There has been an accident on the assembly plant and four employees are injured.”
The bad news from a major branch office of the Tatra Automative Works jolted Yevgeny Filat, the Vice President (Productions) of TAW. Sitting up on the bed he checked the time on the bedside alarm and asked,
“Yes Kanth, I am listening. What happened down there?”
“Sir, the crane for the engine block assembly yard had one of its chains break and the engine block came crashing down on the assembly floor. The four injured are the assembly line movers. Condition of one is critical and the other three also have some serious injuries. We have sent them to the hospital, however the assembly line is now halted. We have 10 more units of the order from Ceylon Tea Corporation pending which we have to deliver by tomorrow.”
“Is there no way you can speed up the schedule?”
“No Sir, we are as of now fixing the crane, however that in itself is two hours of work lost. We have also sent for replacement staffers from other shifts but they also would not be here for another three hours. It is not possible to complete the order tomorrow itself.”
“Okay, I will place a call to the Ceylon Tea Corporation myself informing about the delay, meanwhile…….”
The sudden beeping sound of termination of connection annoyed the Yevgeny however he brought up the number from caller list and dialed it again. Again no connection. By now he was getting more and more annoyed and tiptoing softly to avoid waking up his sleeping wife, Yevgeny went to his study to turn on his laptop to call Mandhar Kanth via the company intercom portal. Again an inexplicable fault is preventing Yevgeny to initiate communications with the Jaffna Branch. He then called the Tatra Corporate Communications Center in downtown Urumqi and ordered them to set up a secure satellite communications line. After an excruciating 15 minute delay, the connection was made with Jaffna branch and Filat could complete relaying the instructions to his subordinate official.

------------------------------------------------------------------------


Shaukat Afzal is driving his truck carrying a consignment of vegetables from Pollachi to Palghat when the Coimbatore FM radio station he loved to listen to suddenly went off the air. Though he tried to switch to all other FM and MW channels in his truck’s radio console, all of them gave the same static. Cursing his old truck’s radio system, Shaukat switched on the rackety old tape player to listen to some Tamil film music.

------------------------------------------------------------------------


Heng Bao is sleeping by the counter in the 24 hours Fuel Station on the road between New Delhi and Jaipur while the television in the corner of his booth is flickering at mute. At 2AM the scheduled news program was disrupted and only static was seen on the TV. If Bao had tried switching to other channels the same static would have been seen. Even when the channels came back at 2.30 Heng Bao did not notice anything, engrossed as he was in a very deep sleep.

------------------------------------------------------------------------


Similar communication outages occurred all over Cochin. It would also be experienced by any person from a foreign country on trying to initiate communications with people in Cochin. Just as inexplicably as the communication breakages occurred, precisely 30 minutes later, it was reestablished.

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Bangalore, Karnataka Province

The routine Communication Security Protocol Testing was successfully completed by the Section 323 personnel along with the National Communications Database, National Reconnaissance Agency and Strategic Reconnaissance Agency. At a single command from Gen. Mohammad Faraz of Royal Cochin Police Force at 0145, all communication channels to outside of Cochin had been blocked. In the concerted action, overrides placed with all the cellphone networks, Internet Service Providers, Landline telephone service providers, radio stations and television stations. All commercial communication satellites would also be subjected to inexplicable jamming while over Cochin airspace for these thirty minutes, seeming like a software glitch. During this thirty minute period of communications blackout, the National Reconnaissance Agency’s electronic intelligence satellites and network of terrestrial antennae would sweep for any sort of electromagnetic signal traversing the Cochin skies. Complete communication blackout would be thus enforced and ensured. After the routine test, the communication systems were reset with most citizens of Cochin hardly noticing what happened. 

Local Area Attrition Defense Policy

"Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen. My name is Lt. Gen. Shankar Iyer, Chief of Army Staff, Royal Cochin Defense Forces. Today you, Municipal Commissioners of Ministry of Interior, officers of Royal Cochin Police Forces, National Defense Corps planning officers, Border Guard Brigade Commanders and staff of General Staff High Command are here to enumerate the Attrition Land Defense Doctrine for our nation."

"This week you would be creating the planning structure for our multi-layered defense structure. Currently our Border Guards are the principal defense layer. Each Border Guards Brigade has a defensive depth of 50 km during which they have emplaced adequate defenses to stop a massed assault as well as area assault. However the General Staff High Command cannot depend on a single layer of defense. We need better doctrine and systems to ensure the defense of our nation."

"War is an uncertain business. All our plans may get invalidated at the point of commencement of conflict. However that does not mean, we should not plan for those contingencies we can foresee and prepare for. Our current defense posture is designed to repulse multiple front assault by using the Border Guards to delay the invasion and then use the Royal Cochin Army formations to perform counter offense against the enemy formations. Now this doctrine is perfectly suited if and when we are invaded by an army of comparable size to Royal Cochin Army. It also lends greater thrust on high mobility warfare conducted within our borders by our premier strike forces. This doctrine was enough when Royal Cochin Army had one of the largest armies in the region and our strategic security was more secure."

"However what would happen if we were invaded by forces that grossly outnumber us? The Royal Cochin Army no longer has the absolute superiority in numbers that we enjoyed until the secession of Kazakhstan and Kyrghyztan. The Global strategic politics has also evolved in such a manner as it is possible that we may be faced with grossly outnumbering forces. In such a case depending on high mobility warfare alone would not be enough, we must prepare our nation to fight a high intensity attrition warfare as well."

"It is not possible to have defense structures like Border Guard Brigades spread out throughout the Kingdom. Such a policy would be a gross waste of our resources and man power. They would also be tactically unsound. It would spread our conventional and regular forces far too thinly, a situation that brings Napoleon's admonition on smuggling to memory. It is also pointless to create fortifications reminiscent of Maginot Line or Atlantic Line. No, what we need are more simpler, but more effective fortifications, that are easier to construct, and inexpensive in terms of men or material. This should be a defense network that can be maintained easily during peace time, with no unnecessary constraints on national economy or cause any grievance to our population."

"This is the policy as has been devised by Royal Cochin Army, Ministry of Interior and Royal Cochin Police Forces. The National Defense Corps formations in every Province and in every Municipality would be tasked to identify various potential axis of attack that could come upon their locality. City, Town and Village based defenses are what we are planning for. We should make every village as a point of attrition. Every center of population must be capable of supporting defensive operations. We must conceptualize a hostile force which would be massively over numbering us, we must slow their advance, we must be able to wage an attrition warfare so intense that they quit their invasion. For this every center of population must become a fortress in effect, complete with basic defensive structures, passive defenses and active defenses, called a Local Administrative Area Defense (LAAD)."

"NDC personnel along with Municipality Officials shall construct numerous Reserve Arsenals which shall be concealed structures with sizable weapons stores. Sizable quantities of fire arms for squad defenses, heavy machine guns, infantry mortars, Anti Tank Guided Missiles, MANPADS, Anti Vehicle and Anti Personnel Mines, field radios, demolition explosives and large quantities of infantry grade ammunition. All these weapons are to be drawn from respective QMC depots in the area. The major QMC depots could be identified by enemy and even destroyed, but the tools for defense must be scattered for ready use. Warehouses should also be maintained with structural materials for road blocks, hedge hogs, Caltropes, Barbed Wire, Sand bags and armor for pill box defenses. These stores would be maintained by the local NDC personnel along with the Municipality and Police officers of the area. These sites must also be made aware to the local Border Guard Brigades and any regular army formations. All help would be provided to conceal these depots using maskirovska. The NDC units must also prepare defense strategy so that in the event of a national emergency the required buildings in the area can easily be fortified s centers of resistance."

"Apart from these stores of local administrative area defense units (LAAD), NDC are also expected to establish District level Artillery Reserve Battalions (DARB). In every District concealed depots for the fielding of one full Battalion of 155mm Towed Guns must be established. These depots would comprise of the guns, tow trucks and sufficient ammunition and fuel for 45 days of continuous fighting. These DARB would also have integrated Air Defense Units to protect the artillery battalion comprising of a Company of Anti Air Artillery, tracked and wheeled."

"This would be the preliminary defense structure for the Attrition Defense Policy. The reserve personnel comprising the National Defense Corps wont be manning and operating these defenses, their operation would continue to be the mandate of service personnel of Royal Cochin Army. The National Defense Corps's principal duty would be as a support infrastructure for the combat operations which would be conducted by Royal Cochin Army units which would be assigned to these sectors. Only in case of incapacitation of these regular units can the local NDC units take over. The combat efficiency and tactical expertise of Royal Cochin Army units is not expected to be attained by the reserve duty personnel of National Defense Corps. However the local area expertise, tactical intelligence and terrain knowledge of the NDC personnel in these LAAD would be extremely important for sustained operations by the RCA units which is not expected to have local area awareness for effective defense. So both these formations would be mutually supportive but would have their own area of expertise."

"Now detailed information regarding tactics and procedures for this policy would be taught to you in this week. Accordingly you must supervise the establishment of these defenses in your assigned LAADs. Your dedication and work is absolutely essential for the all encompassing defense of our nation. Reserve personnel of NDC who report for their active duty would henceforth be trained in this policy so that during their weeks of service they learn how to properly integrate with regular units to mount an effective defense of their LAAD."

"So best of luck, Gentlemen. Let us work hard to secure our nation." 

War Memorial

The 21 gun salute reverberated across the Parade Grounds in the city of Cochin as a honor guard composed of all combat wings of Royal Cochin Defense Forces, fired off their guns in unison to mark the start of the ceremony.

In the chilly morning of this somber day the King of Cochin, his cabinet secretaries and the military chiefs of staff were standing in attention as they were paying tributes to the fallen warriors who gave Cochin its freedom and integrity.

In the center of the Parade Ground a Grey silk shroud covered a massive monument. Once the guns were silent The King and the service chiefs marched towards the shroud to the beats of the King's Guards band which was playing the National Anthem.

As the procession came to a halt so did the band.

The King reached up and pulled the shroud off.

And thus the National War Memorial was formally submitted to the nation.

The massive granite obelisk was engraved with the names of the nearly 300,000 soldiers who had died in service of the Kingdom. More than half of them had died in offensive warfare and that was the burden upon the shoulders of the King. As a young officer in the armored corps of the nation Rama Varma had personally seen the horrors and futility of war. Thus while drawing and shedding blood in defense of the Kingdom under the reign of his uncle, the previous monarch, Rama Varma had sworn that never again shall Cochin be expansionist in nature.

Today he had the chance to finally put his horrors at ease. The names of his comrades from Echo company went through his mind also the the ghastly images of a tank burning and the sight of a young man desperately trying and failing to climb out of the hatch of a stricken tank while being devoured by flames from a sea of burning diesel and dismembered by shrapnel from exploding ordinance. 

He could still remember sharply the final image of the young Peter looking at his Commander before the tank finally exploded in a fountain of flames.

Tonight he had a chance to lay his old nightmares to rest.

Also looking at the monument with an unfocused eye was his elder cousin and the commander of his regiment during the war, now Commander of Royal Cochin Defense Forces, Gen. Mahesh Varma. He too was remembering the voices and faces of people long dead.

This was the least a grateful Kingdom and its King could do for the glorious martyrs who laid down their life in the line of duty.

As the King and his generals walked back to their vehicles tears were shed ,some solemnly , some copiously, but not an eye was dry.

Vice Adm. KP Marakkar was remembering the groan of a hundred sailors drowning to death in a sunken destroyer which his submarine had torpedoed. As the Captain of his attack submarine he had listened to the sonar while his enemy was sinking. The sounds of strangling emanating from a hundred young extinguished lives had reminded him that no, war is never acceptable. He proceeded to sink more ships as the CO of his submarine and later as CO of the submarine squadron but he never forgot the gravity of actions he was doing.

Air Vice Marshal Praveen Kumar was remembering the fateful May Day when he led his squadron of fighters against the deadline enemy aerial blitzkrieg. He could remember the shrieks of his wingman Bronco who was shredded in his seat by Vulcan gunfire. Nor could he forget the bleeding face of his Navigator Jumper while they ejected as a desperate missile shot by a dead fighter homed in on their engines and blew merely yards away from their wings. Jumper was his best friend and was eager to meet his young daughter who was born merely day ago. He never saw his daughter.

The senior enlisted personnel who stood guard at the Memorial understood and were grateful for the tears of their commanders. They too had known the horrors of war and were glad to see that their commanders and King understood it as well. 

The King shook hands with the Command Sergeant Majors and Chief Boatswain's Mates from all services who comprised the Memorial Guard and with a sad but lightened heart returned to the Palace. 

Anti Air Defense Doctrine

Anti Air Defense Doctrine

The Anti Air Defense Doctrine comprises of an Outer Area Defense and Inner Area Defense. Outer Area Defense involves the defensive network of warly warning radars and a interdiction Air Defense Batteries arrayed around the border regions of the Kingdom. The Outer Area Defense has already expostulated as per Integrated Defense Policy of dividing the nation into three sectors, with each sector having interlinked radar networks with strategic depth. The Outer Area Defense's radar networks consists of 200 NM range, XL12 radars and 400 NM range XL117 radars. The interconnecting networks of these radars provide a nearly impregnable Air Defense Barrier along the borders of the nation. 

XL12 and XL117 as stationary radar installations and hence are liable to be targeted in an Anti Radiation attack as a precursor to deep penetration strikes on the Kingdom's territory. Thus these are reinforced along the borders by a secondary layer of radars operated by each Border Guard Brigade consisting of a Battalion of Mobile Radar trucks per Brigade and Aerostats which provide a low level air defense potential.

The detection capabilities of the OAD radar network is complemented by batteries of Surface to Air Missiles comprising of SD5, SD4, SD3, SD2 and SD2R air defense missiles. OAD has 5 batteries of each of these missiles discretely and stealthily installed per Border Guard Brigade sector. These installations are naturally camouflaged fixed installations which would receive targeting and terminal guidance from the Air Defense Network and would not have independent guidance systems to prevent them being targeted due to their radiation parameters. These fixed RCAF defense batteries would be reinforced by the mobile SAM batteries maintained by the Border Guard Brigades for tactical low level air defense.

The Outer Area Defense is reinforced by the Inner Area Defense which defines Air Defense in the interior zones of the Kingdom. IAD involves 60 km range XL27 radars which would be installed every 2500 square kilometers in the Kingdom. This network again involves a design such that any specific land area would be covered by at least 2 XL27 radars to facilitate triangulation and redundancy. The XL27 radars are automated facilities that would be remotely controlled by Zonal Air Defense Commands in each Province of the Kingdom. The operation of these radars would also be governed by Air Defense Network. These uniform radar concentration is reinforced by concentrated radar coverage in certain Air Attack Corridors determined by RCAF which are atmospherically and strategically optimum for an air attack on a territory. This includes mountain passes, mountain ranges, strategic hills near cities etc. IAD also involves Aerostat mounted radars for special protection of high density population regions, such as cities, towns etc.

The offensive form of IAD consists of Surface to Air Missile batteries located around every major city and town, power stations, power grid components, major industrial, scientific and commercial facilities, vital logistic and transport corridors and vital defense establishments. High population centers and above mentioned target types would also have automated CIWS batteries arrayed around them in ringed defensive perimeters. IAD includes defense of Astra rail gun batteries.

The third layer of Air Defense is the Strategic Defense Network consisting of HAWK Over the Horizon radars installed at 5 locations in the Kingdom of Cochin, the 5 Bright Star locations and the Anti Ballistic Missile Batteries located around major population, industrial and defense centers.

The concentration of these large number of radars and Air Defense systems would be imperfect without the Air Defense Network. This is a high bandwidth information pathway that connects every single radar and every single offensive weapon platform in the Kingdom. This highly automated protocol has been developed by Strategic Command, Royal Cochin Air Force and Varma Institute of Fundamental Research. This communication network depends on a physical layer consisting of optical fiber cables in reinforced pathways, secure satellite burst communications and Integrated Military Communications Network. Air Defense Network is a form of cloud computing whereby every single radar is a node and an integrated air defense status is created by the network. It is not necessary for all the radars to be online at any time. The information gained by any single radar is simultaneously passed on to the ADN grid by which every radar gets the picture. The protocol is an intelligent system which randomly activates and deactivates radars in the network so that any single radar may not lend itself to be targeted by a hostile force. The random switching nature of ADN also lends it a pulsating nature. The multiple layered defenses means that the redundant defenses would be activated only when the primary defenses in the sector has been destroyed. This destruction would in any way alert the Air Defense Network which can call in reinforcements from RCAF's fighter regiments assigned to the Air Defense Zone.

Threats detected are engaged by the the SAM batteries whose missiles receive targeting information not from a single radar but from the communication network itself. This communication with the missile is maintained either through the launcher itself or through MILCOM network which exists independent of ADN. Thus even if one or more radars in the region is shut down, the missile would continue to be tracked and receive targeting from the other defense communication infrastructure in the Kingdom. The Air Defense Network can also work with airborne and maritime radar platforms with ease. To prevent its incapacitation during EMP attack, all ADN assets have been protected by Class A Silver Shield Protocol and only Silver Shield rated switching gear and hardware have been used.

While XL class of radars use Ionosonders, and Phased Array technology with electronically controlled wave guidance, Hawk Radars use 12MW powered multistatic radar, creeping waves and electromagnetic surface waves for its operations.

Ultimately Anti Air Defense Doctrine is created not to defend against an overwhelming airborne attack on its own, but to provide warning that such an attack is taking place to RCAF Command and provide as much attrition as it can. The Air Defense Network has proven its robustness in several air defense exercies and simulations and survivability against wide spectrum EMP attacks conducted by High Energy Research Institute. 

The doctrine and its components are available for sharing with the valued allies of the Kingdom of Cochin.

Integrated Defense Policy

Integrated Defense Policy
Royal Cochin Defense Forces

As Commanded by His Highness Kerala Varma, the King of Cochin , Royal Cochin Defense Forces has the primary mandate with regards to the defense of the realm.

The Integrated Defense Policy comprised of Territorial, Maritime and Aerial Defense of the nation. The various individual policies are the mandates of various branches of the RCDF, however are required to perform in an integrated manner at all times. While several aspects of the Integrated Defense Policy has already been enumerated by various responsible branches, certain aspects have rooms for improvements, hence the promulgation of the new policy directives.

The defense of the realm has been divided into three zones of action, Maritime Defense, Himalayan Defense and Xinjiang Defense. This is due to the unique geographical nature of these Zones of Action. 

Maritime Defense Zone comprises the coastal provinces of India from coast of Gujarat to Chittagong in Bengal Province, Lakshadweep - Maldives Administration, Andaman - Nicobar Administration and Baloch Province.

Himalayan Defense Zone refers to the plain regions of India, from Gujarat to Assam Province, the Himalayan areas of Tibet and Kashmir.

The Xinjiang Defense Zone refers to the Xinjiang Province and the National Capital Territory.

With regard to Terrestrial defense of the Kingdom, the prime mandate goes to the Border Guards Directorate of RCDF. Border Guards has an already robust constitution and effective defense policies with regards to facing an attack from land. There is unlikely to be any changes to the Border Guard Doctrine or Terrestrial Defense Doctrine.



With regard to Maritime Defense, its application lies exclusively in the Maritime Defense Zone in India. This defense is to be a multi-layered system which is flexible, practical, robust and effective. The onus is on economical passive defenses at the front end defenses,ie, a network of tidal wave generators along the appropriate coastal areas so that the tidal power of the waves can be generated for electricity. Established a few meters off the coast line, these generators would generate adequate electric power for local communities, provide storm shelter, as well as provide calmer channels for local fishing industries to pass through into open seas. The design and layout of these tidal power generators would be such that they would create an effective passive defense against hostile amphibious operations. Local Area Attrition Defense groups organized by National Defense Corps would also ready stockpiles of hedgehogs to be deployed in times of crisis. 

Further offshore, at distances of 12 NM, 23 NM, 47 NM, 55 NM from coast lines there would be layers of mines and ISLMM Torpedoes, with mine free channels designated by Royal Cochin Coast Guard. RCCG has the mandate of maintaining these mine fields with waters beyond 60 NM the responsibility of Royal Cochin Navy. Commercial ships transiting Cochin waters would get channels of sailing assigned to them by the Royal Cochin Navy and Royal Cochin Coast Guard through Ministry of Transportation, Department of Shipping.

The network of mines and the passive defense structure provided by tidal power generators is expected to be a delaying factor and not a stopping factor with regards to a determined amphibious assault. Active counter measures in any case would be provided by the network of Astra rail gun systems located every 50 NM along the coast of the Kingdom. The 200 NM range offensive weapons is expected to give an adequate attrition to any enemy force and batteries of POSID AShMs established every 50 km by RCCG stations is expected to give fixed long range defense solutions. A network of Aerostats arrayed around the coast is also expected to provide early warning and targeting capabilities to the weapons platforms. The Astra Systems would be protected by individual AAD batteries and Strategic Command Combat soldiers. They would be further supported by the proposed Static Area Defense Platforms, which are static batteries of 155 mm field guns, installed and operated as camouflaged structures and operated by the National Defense Corps personnel.

All this would be augmented by the Air Defense Network's layers of radars. A total of 47, 200 NM XL12 radars and 6, 400 NM XL117 radars are currently operational in this Zone as part of the Air Defense Doctrine which would contribute to improve the Maritime Defenses.

If and when the Maritime Defenses are breached the mandate for defense rests upon Royal Cochin Army.

In Himalayan Defense Zone, the terrestrial defense is the mandate of the Border Guards and the air defense that of Royal Cochin Air Force. A total of 19, 200 NM XL12 radars and 5, 400 NM XL117 radars are currently operational in this Zone as part of the Air Defense Doctrine.

In Xinjiang Defense, due to the location of Cochin City and number of potentially hostile neighbors, the defense is deemed the highest priority. A total of 27, 200 NM XL12 radars and 5, 400 NM XL117 radars are currently operational as part of the Air Defense Doctrine in this one single province alone.

The Air Defense Doctrine envisions interspersed layers of XL12 and XL117 radars with the HAWK Strategic Radars to provide Air Defense Warning. Dedicated Anti Air Defense Batteries would be stationed along side Border Guard defenses and around all vital industrial and population centers. All vital buildings would have dedicated mobile AAA companies assigned. To support the AAA batteries would be installed primary, secondary and tertiary CIWS systems. Aerial Warning Aerostats would be deployed in all border regions, at the rate of one per 50 kilometers and one per 100 kilometers staggered 60 kilometers to the rear. In terms of conflict Air Defense Doctrine would also make use the the AWACS regiments of HALOBs and MERATs of Royal Cochin Air Force. Threats detected by the Air Defense Doctrine would be interdicted by the Royal Cochin Air Force.

The Integrated Defense Policy is aimed at making any offense against the Kingdom of Cochin a painstaking and costly affair for an aggressor and to negate opportunities for tactical surprise to the aggressors. Using a variety of active and passive defense doctrines, the Kingdom is hoping to establish a multi-spectrum defense solution so that any single form of attack will not cripple our defense. The Integrated Defense Policy is designed by conceptualizing a worst case scenario wherein, the Kingdom of Cochin faces attacks from multiple fronts, ie, a minimum of 8 fronts and an undisclosed maximum. Integrated Defense Policy is not an infallible doctrine and would be subject to revisions as per changing strategic climates, defense necessities and improving military technologies.

MARITIME DEFENSE ZONE

Resized to 74% (was 1360 x 747) - Click image to enlarge

HIMALAYAN DEFENSE ZONE

Resized to 74% (was 1360 x 747) - Click image to enlarge

XINJIANG DEFENSE ZONE

Resized to 74% (was 1360 x 747) - Click image to enlarge

Airborne Deployment Exercise

HAMI, XINJIANG

The Third Airborne is deploying for its Divisional Combat exercises. The Regimental Headquarters of the Marakkar's Airborne at Hami is seeing a flurry of activity with the troops and equipment being driven towards Auxiliary Air Base Hami.

Mission Objective : Secure and occupy NTC Achalpur against Division size infantry force through airborne assault.

SCOUT

The first phase of the mission started with an RCAF Merat being boarded by a platoon of 16 RCSF trained Special Forces scouts. The Merat marked as a transport aircraft lifts off for the long flight towards Maharashtra. The Air Defense aspect of the exercise is not however being tested now.

At 75000 ft altitude above NTC Achalpur, the red warning lights suddenly turned green and the jump master helped each of the 16 commandos to jump out into the inky black night. Assisted by their radium lit altimeter and wrist held GPS the 16 paratroopers maintained their controlled free fall making adjustments to their horizontal vectors by changing their body postures. The webbed jump suits also helped gain a greater degree in control over their flight. Wearing NVG/Thermal/Optical goggles they maintained formation watching and correcting flight as a team. With their Submachine guns safed and strapped tight across their chest, the paratroopers opened their parachutes at 3000 ft above the estimated ground level. Now was their most vulnerable part of operation. They hoped they would not be seen by any hostiles on the ground.

Trusting to their luck that there be safe ground, the 16 commandos landed. The scout leader landed first and his thermal signature on ground enabled the rest of the platoon to make terminal corrections to their descent. One soldier landed on a large rock and fractured his legs. Holding back a scream, the agonized soldier squawked over the encrypted radio asking for assistance. The Captain commanding the platoon and the platoon medic rushed to him and gave him temporary palliative while mending the legs as best as possible using splits. The rest of the platoon spread around the small jungle clearing where they had landed. 

Divisional Intelligence and Reconnaissance had plotted this clearing as most apt for the assault. The scout force had to gather tactical intelligence for the next wave of soldiers who would be waiting for the go order at Hami.

Leaving their stricken colleague to be the radio man, the platoon spread out. They had to scour the territory and make sure that any hostile activity is detected and plan for neutralizing them readied.

Two hours later, they detected a jungle patrol post manned by a team of 5 hostiles with possible radio connectivity. Leaving the scout teams to monitor patterns and gain any tactical intelligence, the team reported back to the Division.

FIRST WAVE

The 4th Assault Brigade of the Third Airborne Division is boarding the HALOBs at the AAB Hami. The 3000 strong Brigade force is currently deployed on a massive airborne assault. With dual mission of parajumping and air cavalry, the assault brigades of the Royal Cochin Ary's Airborne Divisions are trained in both. Each of the 10000 combat soldiers in an Airborne Division has to be para qualified. 

Airborne deployment of an entire brigade along with its equipment is no slight matter. Fully 2 regiments (100 Nos) of HALOBs are tasked to this operation. Each HALOB can carry 100 fully equipped parajumpers, thus 30 HALOBs are devoted to the paratroopers alone, with the remaining 70 tasked to airdrop the heavy equipment needed by the Brigade to hold the ground and prepare the way for the next stage in deployment.

Meanwhile back at NTC Achalpur, 4 commandos have staked out the jungle patrol post, 4 have maintained stationed around likely points of assault and the remaining soldiers have readied remote controlled thermal flares and radio beacons along the clearing with special IR markers denoting hard ground, bad for landing. Soon their combat radio chirped to life and the GO signal was received. 

There was no point in subtlety at this point, the roar of scores of HALOBs is unmistakable for any peaceful purposes. As soon as the GO signal was received the jungle patrol post was attacked and its personnel neutralized. As each Halob passed through a certain designated corridor at 30,000 ft altitude, the parajumpers ran out trusting to the Static Lines to deploy the parachutes. Each Halob would take a semi circular track for the airborne delivery starting from 30,000 ft and ending at 35,000 ft thus ensuring the the flights following them would not be disturbed. The course lasting for a total of 120 seconds would see all 100 parajumpers exiting the aircraft, followed two minutes later by the next HALOB on the same course. Thus in two hours a force of 3000 heavily armed Airborne troops landed in the jungle clearing, immediately setting out to improve their perimeter to make way for the successive brigades. However at this time this brigade is still infantry in nature and its full potency can only be delivered by the heavy equipment now being air dropped by the remaining HALOBs on the course. 

With a Company sized force remaining to oversee the airdrop and prepare a logistics base, the brigade would be assisted by the scout commmandos to expand the defensive perimeter. Until their heavy equipment arrived in a few hours, they would not be able to do any assault but could defend from an attack in limited manner. 

Meanwhile 35,000 ft up, the rear bay doors are opening up for the first squadron of 15 HALOBs as their palletized cargo are being dropped by the jumpmasters. The leading parachutes pull the pallets, 5 to a HALOB from the cavernous hold of the transport aircraft. Altitude activated lines open the parachutes automatically and special air drop specialists on the ground guide the remote controlled control station of the parachutes by timely adjustments. The pallets dropping on the ground are carefully recovered by the logistics company, who proceed to deploy out the field mortars, field guns, ammunition, food and water in these pallets. The engineer company meanwhile use the clearing equipment from a few of these pallets to expand the jungle clearing.

PHASE THREE

Phase three of the assault involves the landing of heavy equipment and remaining brigades. The jungle strip which is now widened and cleared by the engineer company now sees the first of Metacs and GH44s landing, bringing the BMP3s, BTR90s, BRDMS and the Piranha and Blackhawk helicopters. Another day would see the clearing made still larger and HALOBs bringing more heavy weaponry and MH53s.

GH44 Aerial Artillery Platform would soon join the assault which would be launched by the Airborne Division.

From the first scout landing to full Divisional formation would take a total of 14 days in combat conditions. 

Border Guards

Tashkurgan , Xinjiang

"So, Major Chen, how long would the Number Two Battery be out of commission? Will it be up and running for the inspection coming next month," Col. Sidharth Somnath, Commanding Officer of the 17th Border Guards Brigade asked his Strategic Command Liaison. The 17th Border Guards Brigade is tasked within defending the Tashkurgan sector in Xinjiang Province on the borders with Kriegsland. With a doctrine to defend 200 km of terrestrial borders, the Brigade's commanders are now conferring in the Brigade HQ at Tashkurgan town.

"Sir, the magnetizing coils of the Number One Gun has to be replaced. We are awaiting the supplies to be sent from Quarter Master Command, which is expected to reach this week. Once it arrives, we need two weeks for replacement and recalibration, so we may not be able to make the inspection." Maj. Chen replied.

"Hmm, well I guess there is nothing we can do about that. Now Capt. Ashfaq, why is there the delay in completion of BADS maintenance? What is the status now?"

"Sir, 89 Bali ADS in the entire Sector have to be replaced. The Company discovered the faulty ones through the remote diagnosis we conducted last week. Due to some terrain difficulties, we have been unable to access all of them soon enough," Capt. Ashfaq, the acting Commander of the Engineers Company answered.

"Terrain? You are a sapper aren't you? Captain, this is my last warning, I give you 10 days, to get the BADS system working. Didn't you receive the consignment from QMC? Then why the delay. No more excuses about terrain. If you want get some Mountain trained soldiers from the Assault Brigade and just complete the damn work. Now what is next? Yes, Artillery. So Peter, when are you leaving for the Fire Ex?" Col. Somnath asked.

"Day after tomorrow. By that time the II Battalion would return. It is really been a long time since I got the grime into my tunic, Sir," Lt. Col. Peter Samuel, Commander of the III Artillery Battalion answered.

"Grime, dont make stupid jokes like that , Peter. You Arti guys never get any grime on your neat and tidy uniforms. That is for assault grunts like us. Anyway best of luck. Now, Admin. Yes." The Colonel said wearily wiping a mock perspeiration off his brow.

"Colonel Sir, you can't escape it, part of your job description to take care of Admin matters." Maj. Raman Naik, the Personnel and Admin Officer said.

"Dont remind me, Naik. So let us get to it."

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The swift breeze of the Pamirs ruffled the Tundra Uniforms of Capt. KK Menon as he surveyed his horizons with a high powered binoculars. The 2/3/1/17 Platoon of the 17th Border Guards Brigade is deployed at this particular border check post as per routine deployments. Capt. Menon's platoon arrived at this sector 2 days earlier for a 7 day force patrol in this particular section, where the Engineers Company were maintaining the Bali ADS systems deployed. A buffer of 300 meters is maintained from the International borders, with every inch of the area levelled and sighted for delivering massive firepower. Now that in this area the electronic and automated defenses are temporarily blinded the platoon has been deployed to assume the job normally undertaken by units much insensitive to the weather.

"Sergeant, how are the men doing?" Capt. Menon asked.
"Sir, they are cold but alert. I had brought extra caffeine candies and Toblerone bars for the men from Pantry." Sgt. Biswas Sinha answered. 
"Excellent, Biswas. Do you have a spare with you now?"
"Always Sir," the Sergeant grinned and reached inside his BDU pockets to retrieve a bar of Dark Chocolate Toblerone bar.
"Ummm. Thank you, Sergeant," the Captain said enjoying the chocolate and viewing the wide vistas abundant before him. One never knew if these mountains would some day teem with enemy soldiers intent upon invading his Motherland, but if they ever came, he would be the first line of defense. It was his and his comrades' jobs to gain the valuable slowing time so that the more stronger Army forces can be assembled to beat back the enemy. Well trained in Mountain Warfare at Tok's Mountain Warfare School, Capt. KK. Menon is looking to be soon promoted to he ranks of Major. 

The Border Guards is no job for the faint hearted or the weak. Posted in the most bleakst outposts of the Kingdom, Border Guards had to brave all elements and guard the nation 24x7x365. The 1st Assault Infantry Battalion of the 17th Border Guards Brigade is composed of 1000 combat soldiers who are often separated into various platoons and companies spread all over their sector. They come together only for the rare Bada Khaanas and during times of war. The motto of Border Guards is "You have to fight, you dont have to return alive."

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"Hand me that 13/14" spanner," the Private yelled, from the front of the truck.
"Here, Chou. And stop yelling, I am the Sergeant here, not you," the Sergeant replied handing over the spanner after ferreting through the toolbox kep open beside the road.
Straightening up momentarily, the Private said, "Yo Sarge, if you want you can pull rank with me, but unless you noticed I am the only one here who knows how to fix a truck. So either help me out here, or we can all have a jolly time waiting for a tow truck. He he he, now get me a smoke, Sarge," the Private said grinning before bending over the truck engine.
"That kid, I am going to kill him, as soon as this bloody truck gets going," the Sergeant muttered softly while searching his pockets for his pack of Kings.
"Give him a break, Sarge. Loud mouth he is, but a damn fine soldier too. Though I wonder where he learned to fix vehicles so well," a Corporal chimed in.
"Knowing him, he may have studied it by stealing trucks, the cheeky fellow," the Sergeant laughed.
"Hoy, Sarge, come here for a second. Just check if the pin is fixed right?"

The Tatra 4x4 truck is stranded on a road in the Tashkurgan Sector. Part of the I Artillery Battalion, the Royal Cochin Army truck is towing a 155mm Field Gun to its new deployment position. Having just returned after the half yearly Live Fire Exercise at the National Training Center at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, the Battalion is now proceeding to its fresh three week deployment position. However on the way, one of the trucks, towing one of the 40 155mm Field Guns broke down and now is being repaired. This time was also taken by the gunnery crew to replace the firing on their cannon. Comprising of 40 155mm Field Guns, 15 155mm Self Propelled Guns and 5 MRLS, the three Artillery Battalions are the main power of the Border Guards Brigade which are essentially Field Artillery Brigades with beefed up infantry and engineering battalions.

Now with the truck almost fixed this gunnery crew can rejoin their Battalion in their preplanned launch position where there are hardened shelters and sizable ammunition stores waiting for them. There are scores of such preplanned artillery centers between which the Battalions would cycle at the time of war.

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"Movement in Sector 15789/17."
"Yeah, that is Lt. Shilpa Stanley and her team, repairing those Balis."
"No, this is something different. This is at the forward edge of the minefield. I sense multiple seismic anomalies, looks like human plus animal transients."
"Oh? Okay, let us call them up. Corporal, raise Lt. Stanley." "Lt. Stanley, this is Sgt. Sisupal. Sir, we need you to activate the cameras of the leading edge of Sector 15789/17. We sense foot movements over there. Over."
"Read you loud and clear, Over."

"Looks like another of those shepherds have crossed over onto the minefields. Isn't that the last Bali pod?"
"Yes,Sir."
"Then let us contact that shepherd and tell him to get to the Border Check post. No reason why he or his sheeps should ge blown off for no reason."

The last of the Bali ADS pods, mines, automated weapon mounts and sensory devices in the Sector had been repaired by this detachment. The sensors are all monitored by the Engineer Battalion technicians in locations in the rear. Now that the Sector has been serviced the detachment is moving to another sector.

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"Wheeeeeeeeeee"
Capt. Rasul Sheikh could not help himself from screaming in delight even though he had done it many times earlier. Speeding up at several feet per second, Capt. Sheikh could feel the awesome pull of the electric motor upon his waist as he was pulled up the tethered cable ladder.
After seemingly a long time Capt. Rasul Sheikh felt an arm grabbing hold of his shoulder.
"So Lieutenant, how is the radar coming along?"
"Working rather well now, Captain. Now come on up, I could hear you screaming all the way up."
"Well these aerostats bring out the child in me," Capt. Sheikh said laughingly as he followed Lt. Naresh Singhal into the gondola. 
"Here is a cup of coffee for you, fresh ground from original Courg beans," the Lieutenant said grinning.
"You definitely know how to entertain, any chance for something stronger?" The Captain asked in the same spirit.
"Captain, isn't that Haraam for you? Well some days when the Aerostat is automated I bring out a bottle of the finest and most aged. It is awesome sitting on top of the the balloon or on the Gondola cage and enjoying a drink. Too bad we dont have time for that now."
"True, so how are the radar systems and optical systems coming along?"
"The passive receivers are proving themselves to be very effective. The entire body of the aerostat is configured as a massive antenna so we are receiving a wide spectrum of intercepted transmissions including Short Wave, Medium Wave and milli meter wave signals. The telescopes and the optical targeting system is also working perfectly, though the occasioanal cloud cover makes optics useless and I have to depend on the TerraScan radar to get vision."
"So how often do you have to come up here, Naresh?"
"Hardly sir, most of my time is spent sitting either at the Recon station or in the ground support vehicle. The Aerostat is pretty much a standalone automated system. It can even navigate itself through ground controls if the tethers break. Besides you know how easy it is to get up and down. The electric winch makes things very easy. It too is controlled from the support vehicle. So Capt. Sheikh do you judge the systems as ready?"
"Yes, Lt. Singhal, now let me try and get that drink from you."

Equipped with Aerostats and S-RECOs the 6th Aerial Surveillance Company is the long range eyes and ears of the Brigade.

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"Target coordinates?"
"Acquired."
"Battery elevation?"
"Set."
"Battery Azimuth?"
"Set."
"Power throughput?"
"Set on Guns 1,2 and 3."
"Magnetisation status?"
"89%."
"Very well, load projectile."
"Projectile readied, Sir."
"Fire."

At this last command the tungsten-graphite projectile would be injected in between the magnetizing coils of Gun 1, followed by Gun 2 and then followed by Gun 3. As soon as the first projectile cleared the final vacuum lock of the barrel of Gun 1, the second projectile is being fed to it. Within a minute, the Battery would have fired 9 warheads.

"Okay, so the battery is now fully functional. Inform Col. Somnath that the Number One Battery has been verified as fully functional."

Located fully 100 kilometers from the borders, the Number Two Battery of the 17th Border Guards Brigade is located ideally to strike along a large sector of the border providing redundacy to myultiple Sectors.

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"Now that is what I call a nasty weather to fly."
"Nasty? I thoroughly loved it, the winds were simply superb."
"Yeah, right. And you are the one who enjoys those rides of death at the Cochin Disney Land so much. Speak for yourself I am only glad that I did not puke inside my seat."
"Mate, this is why you are the gunner and I am the pilot. Come on, learn to enjoy the flight of the Daredevil."
"Say Devil and I will accept, silly berk."
The aviators are part of the 8th Helicopter Company, part of the 17th Border Guards Brigade. With a TOE of 10 Blackhwks, 5 MH53, 5 Bell 212, and 10 Piranha attack helicopters , the Company provides air mobility to the Brigade. An RCAF Metac AAP is also usually attached with the company, though that unit is currently undergoing routine maintenance.

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"PEDAL ON THE METAL, YOU FOOL. THINK YOU ARE DRIVING IN A FUNERAL? DRIVE FASTER OR THIS IS GONNA BE YOUR FUNERAL, CORP," the swears of the Sergeant ringing in his ears caused the sergeant to floor his BRDM as plumes of fire, dust and shrapnel are rising all around them from the massive artillery barrage. Finally after painstakingly long time of dodging and erratic driving, the BRDM screached to a halt near a bunker from which a platoon of soldiers ran out. Barely had they strapped in that the BRDM raced off to the next pick up point. They could see some smoking BRDMs littered around them and thanked heavens that they are still running. 

After 15 more minutes of driving through barrage, the BRDM finally stopped at a flag.

"Well done Sergeant Palak, excellent timing. Also congrats Corp. Thangavelu, excellent driving. Now go on, there s chow waiting for you at the camp."

At the Regimental Training Grounds of the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment outside Cochin City, elements from the 9th Armored Scouts Company of the 17th Border Guards Brigade is training for Combat evacuation of Infantry and Artillery personnel. With a TOE of 25 BMP3s and 30 BRDMs the Company's principal role is in evacuating the beleaguered soldiers of the Brigade in case of a determined assault on their positions by an enemy. Hence the hours of high intensity training these Scouts do.

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With an area of 6,355,201.85 sq.km and a total border perimeter of 14,303.93 km, fully 9,500 km of it are terrestrial borders bordering nations, friendly, neutral and occasionally hostile. Defending them during times of peace and war is the job of Border Guards Directorate, which is comprised of 48 Brigades, with each brigade responsible for secuding 200 km of the border. With a combined assault infantry strength of just 48000 soldiers, Border Guards is a principally Heavy Artillery Brigade with additional Infantry and Engineer Battalions. The job of these Brigades is not to prevent a determined enemy attack, but to gain valuable time for the Royal Cochin Defense Forces to organize a truly weighted and measured counter attack.