Lessons from Yemen war

Lessons from Yemen war

  The Arabs successfully completed the Air campaign in Yemen, and now they moving the ground units for final assault on enemy positions, by looking How Saudi Successfully destroyed strategic ground targets without losing any air crafts in the Combat, Truth is most of the Yemeni Air forces and Air defense units are out of actions, due to lack of spare parts and maintenance, also their Air defense  networks also out of action except some manpad units and AAA batteries, so The Arab Air forces easily gets the Air superiority in Yemeni airspace within the 24 hours of first strike, plus the  intelligence support from US and Saudi Special forces,

   Before the Strike, the Saudi Air force used the RE 3A ELINT plane to conduct large surveillance mission across the Yemeni Soil, and acquired target positions and strategic points, at the mean time the Egyptian, US navy ships starts naval blockade along with the Saudi and GCC Navy's, by cutting Iranian Resupply to the Houthi Forces,  after getting some thousand of target co ordinates, the Saudi Air force Fighters like Typhoon and F 15 E Multi role Fighters starts bombing the pre designated targets, the Saudi forces flown above the AAA shells range to escape from the ground fire, also there is no reports of infrared homing Manpad strike against the Saudi fighters, It's believed that the defensive and electronic countermeasure systems in the advanced 4.5 generation fighters easily spoof the manpads.

    The Saudi Airforce First strike designated all strategic positions like Airports Runway, civil and military Radar networks, supply dumps and fuel Storage Tanks, because of small in size the Yemeni strategic positions are all destroyed in the first 24 hours, The Saudi's used the Tornodo Ground attack Strike Fighters along with F 15 E Fighter escorts, One F 15 E lost due to Mechanical malfunctions, and Crew rescued by the US Navy, another one Morocco  F 16 crashed in enemy zone and the pilot executed by the Houti's, This shows Saudi's are not willing to conduct Search rescue of Downed Pilots,

    After month of serious Bombing, now the small Arab state the UAE leads the Ground offensive by deploying large amount of latest AMX Lecrelc Main Battle Tanks, BMP 3 infantry Fighting vehicles and Large number of Mine protected vehicles for Troop transport, also the Saudi Special Forces deployed in the Airports to secure any Resupply coming from the friendlies, the Aden Port also under control by the Arabs, where the UAE Ships unloads the Cargo of Ground offensive Vehicles, but they didn't start the ground offensive till now, and still the Saudi Fighters Bombing some missed Houti positions.

   The Lesson from this warfare is simple, You need large amount of air to ground smart munitions to attack enemy positions, for that you need a good number of smart weapon stockpile and good launching platform, even if the Houti forces gets their hands in the Yemeni MiG 29, the Saudi's can easily shoots it down, because of Saudi's support planes, likes the E 3 sentry airborne control plane, even the E 3 can stay out of the Yemeni air space,but still it can scan entire Yemeni Airspace for activities,

    Also during the strike the Houthi forces managed to get the SCUD's missiles and launched several missiles into Saudi, nearly 80% of them intercepted by the Saudi patriot missile Batteries, but one or two hits the Saudi bases killing key commander, the Houti's don't have any chemical weapons if they have Chemical warheads then it's a major breakthrough if launched towards Saudi Positions,

    The Saudi's managed to fortified their Borders, which stops the Houti infiltrations into Saudi soil, But Houti managed to shell Saudi Border City Najran, damaging infrastructure and killing several Saudi and foreign workers.

    Till now the Saudi's attacked pre designated Target positions from the Air, but never conducted any Special operations inside Yemen, even zero number of Helicopter raid, so they don't have any option of how the Asymmetric warfare looks like, So in coming days the GCC states could start the Ground offensive and see how a Normal civilian quickly transform into a armed militia, and how can the GCC ground forces manages to score the Victory. 

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The C 17 Globemaster

The C 17 Globemaster

   

LCA Tejas loaded into C 17

   Primarily designated as a heavy lifter but performing various other operations this aircraft has time and again proved its might operating under various Air forces. The aircraft in talk is the Boeing C-17 Globe Master originally developed for the United States Air force by the McDonnell Douglas. The development of the C-17 started in 1980 with USAF planning to replace the aging Starlifter fleet. The first aircraft was delivered to to USAF on 14th July 1993. 

     The first C-17 operational squadron cherished the 17th Airlift Squadron  became operational on 17th January 1995. USAF alone operates 223 C-17 and has termed the C-17 project as one of the best success stories in the history of Military inventions. McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing, which later got the C 17 cleared for Export. C 17 is also operated by United Kingdom, EU counties like and also by Middle Eastern countries.

     The Indian government selected the C-17 for fulfilling its very heavy lift transport aircraft requirement. In 2010 India raised a requested for procuring 10 C-17s under the Foreign Military Sales program by US, the US soon responded positively to this request and granted its consent for selling 10 aircraft's.  In February 2011, the Indian government signed a deal with Boeing for arming the Indian Air Force with 10 C-17 under a $4.1 billion deal. A clause for procuring six additional aircraft's was also included in the deal.

     Apart from the US Air force, the Indian Air force is the largest operator of the C 17 fleet. The Air force is yet to enforce the clause for procuring 6 additional C-17. C-17 have proved their might by serving the force in the frontline when the need has raised and have also been part of all major humanitarian missions the Indian government has involved itself in. 

     The active production of these heavy lifters have come to a grinding halt with Boeing deciding to close down its Long Beach facility which was responsible for producing these aircrafts. With only 15 airframes of C-17 remaining in the world open for export clauses it is high time the IAF enforces its clause for procuring additional number of C-17. 

    The might of these C-17 was proved again in the recently concluded ‘Operation Rahat’ where these heavy lifters flew several sorties to Djibouti evacuating nearly 3000 evacuees from the war torn Yemen.  The C-17 can be used to airlift troops and supplies at one go and at a very short notice can be converted for a strategic air drop mission. But India showcased was a rare feature of the C-17, IAF installed comfortable seats in a 5+2 configuration and thus used the aircrafts at its best for the humanitarian mission.






      The Australian and the Arabs are lobbying strongly for procuring two each of this heavy lifter and the Canadian government is known to be actively pitching for a single piece of this heavy lifter. If the lobbying is accepted by Boeing and the sale is granted only 10 airframes will be left across the globe. With C17 being an integrated part of the IAF missions its time the Indian government exercises the clause under the tender and opts for another 6 C-17. This move will arm the IAF with aircraft that can serve the nation in a two string front. 

 

IAF C 17 during Op Rahat, 5+2 Seat config

Editor Karthik Kakoor

Update Yemen Evacuation

 Update Yemen Evacuation

On board INS Sumitra Naval Officers checking Papers of Indian Nationals

We  have some Good News of First Batch of Evacuation, the Detailed Timeline and Photos Below 

11.Minister of State Gen VK Singh greets Indian nationals evacuated from Aden to    Djibouti ( 13.00 IST)

10.INS Sumitra with 349 Indians docked in Djibouti Port, Minister of State GEN vk Singh Meets them ( 1-4-2015, 12.30 IST )

9. Ist IAF C 17 Landed in Djibouti (1-4-2015, 11.35 IST)

8. Second IAF C 17 leave from Hindon at 6am IST on 1st April Heading towards Djibouti

7. Minister of State Landed in Djibouti at 5am Djibouti local time to ensure smooth evacuation of Indians

6. First IAF C 17 leave from Hindon at 4am IST on 1st April 2015 Heading towards Djibouti

5. Indian Flotilla on the way to Aden

4. Leave from Aden Heads towards Djibouti

3. Successfully boarded into OPV. Total 350 Indians along with 40 other Nationals

2. Situation in Aden port worsening due to Hotui advance towards the port

1. INS Sumitra get permission to dock Aden port

 Photos from Defense Spokesperson Twitter feed

Bring Back our Peoples from Yemen

Bring Back our Peoples from Yemen

INS Jlashwa Amphibious Ship on the way to Gulf of Aden to Assist Indians

It's again in the Middle East. It's again the coup. But Indians way over the sea for work from Engineering to Medicine. and Kerala is the Lead State that most of them in Gulf States. most of them in Gulf states for Medical works and Engineering. It's early 2006 when India Launched a Mission to Bring Back our Citizens from Lebanon. and we did it and we safety bring back to our Brothers to India. Then in 2011 it's again a chaos situation and we have thousands of Indians inside Libya. This time too we evacuate our Peoples safely. again in 2014 when ISIS mess in Iraq. we almost airlifted some 3000 Indians include majority of Nurses. while Flights doing Sorties, Ships near to the Arabian Gulf will provide close Show off.

But this time in Yemen, It's bit late when India announced Travel emergency to Yemen. Late February and Strict advice only after Mar 25. and Told the Indians get any flight and come back to India. damn worst statement, if we are working in abroad the Passport and other Documents are Kept by the Company, and the company won't provide it quick when situation worsens. even if such conditions one can't find the exact person who having peoples passports and documents. when Operation Deceive Storm started by Arab Countries. then only our Yemen mission on Roll. and The Kerala Govt pressure also make the decision faster.  whether they pressed or not the govt already have plans to evacuate Indians from Yemen.

The first Plan is The Government will setup mission center in Sana where 3000+ Indians stranded another one in Aden where 700+ Indians stranded. here if you have passport  you can get the pass to board Indian Mission Quickly, if not you need a Identity card which proves you are Indian, then only they will issue pass and allow to board Indian Mission. Second would be Evacuate Since airspace were closed by Saudi's and Contentious AA fire over Yemen makes worse for Flights, so India plans another way, the first Plan is Board Peoples from Aden Port via Shop and drop them to the nearby friendly territory Djibouti. In Djibouti another Indian Mission board the peoples into Aircraft and bring them to Mumbai India. so here they need ships and small crafts. for this mission India  need Warships or Merchant ships escorted by warships, But India send two of it ships into Gulf of Aden Last day only   (28 march) one of the ship can carry some 1500 Personnel other would provide close escort. But the ship scheduled to arrive by Gulf of Aden by April first only.

So our peoples need by safe till April First. second would be Board Indians into Buses and Bring to Najran Saudi Arabia, but this plan will not works because of Houti mass near Saudi border and the Known Roads are not safe during such Conventional Warfare.so this plan shelved. but Yesterday the Saudi's did a Special Mission to evac some UN officials along with foreign an Western diplomats. Those Officials evacuated from Yemen through Flights without doubts the role of US intelligence during this rescue cum Evac Mission. on the same day a Flight from Yemeni Air Line bordered with 80 Indians landed in Djibouti, that shows our Mission in Yemen Working.

That was later confirmed by Indian Officials and Minister of External Affair, with serious of Negotiation India gets Three hours permission to use the Yemeni Air space to evac the Indians. this also confirmed by External Affairs Minister. the Yemeni Airspace still sounded by large Caliber AA rounds. which is not a good Idea to fly low. That means it cause Problem during Landing and Take off due to the Low altitude. But I sure some Friendly Air Force will provide cover to our 3 hour Air space protection to  Evac our Peoples. which can be started by March 30.

INS Makar the Hospital ship of Indian Navy