Soldiers from the Indian Army and US Marines wait to board amphibious assault vehicles in the well deck of the amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans (LPD 18) during a joint exercise off the coast of San Diego on April 14.
Photo by US Navy Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Gabriel Owens
The Indian soldiers can't swim? Oh boy…
hey shiv.. helmets which are soldiers are wearing ,are they ballistic grade,,,
high time we had our own marines…
btw, we are armed with insas…pathetic!!….
sadness..
Very interesting comments ..Is the INSAS reliable ? .. dont just ask the guys who fire them in peaceful environs .. ask the specialists .. indigenisation is all very well .. but will it get our men and women massacred.
Ballistically tolerant gear .. helmets and jackets .. have we learnt our vessels or are our Babus still in denial .. let them at-least use their foreign trips to learn a little more to protect our security personnel?..
Marines .. more then the men .. let us atleast work towards giving our men equipment that will last and work in a dense marine environment .. is the INSAS the cure all in restricted ship-spaces and in dense salt-laden environments .. would our weapons work efficiently in a piracy-at-sea scenario?
Very interesting comments ..Is the INSAS reliable ? .. dont just ask the guys who fire them in peaceful environs .. ask the specialists .. indigenisation is all very well .. but will it get our men and women massacred.
Ballistically tolerant gear .. helmets and jackets .. have we learnt our vessels or are our Babus still in denial .. let them at-least use their foreign trips to learn a little more to protect our security personnel?..
Marines .. more then the men .. let us atleast work towards giving our men equipment that will last and work in a dense marine environment .. is the INSAS the cure all in restricted ship-spaces and in dense salt-laden environments .. would our weapons work efficiently in a piracy-at-sea scenario?
1. For god's sake, loose the moustache. They look 40 years old.
2. Those are so not proper combat fatigues. And not worn properly and not the right sizes for them.
3. Army needs to revamp the PBORs. We have fine officers but the army now stands at 1.5 million. We just can't afford to train and modernize so many troops. Need to downsize to 700,000 and only recruit the best. Pay them well and equip them well.
4. What regiment is that? Definitely not Rajput, Dogra, Gurkha, Grenadiers etc. What unit is that?
5. Is the army facing a shortage of PTIs? Do they have PROPER PTIs?
are these guys nuts…
having a yellow PFD..in blue water it will come out so bright and will be a good target for shore based artillary..
(1) Very imaginative comments.
(2) Obviously love of imports prevailing over sound common sense.
(3) The Indian military looks mean and tough, their US counterparts appear ungainly, large, stocky and slow.
(4) The mustaches are necessary.
(5) Suggestions regarding the application of INSAS in salt laden air should be absorbed by DRDO. Is the Kalishnikov such capable?
(6) The yellow color of the life jacket is meant to attract attention in case of drowning. How do you know that Indian soldiers cannot swim?
(7) The Indian military should reach the 2.3 billion number equivalent to the Chinese. Please remember the world around us.
(8) All our military regiments are effective – equally potent. If not, we should immediately equip and train them thus.
(9) Constructive comments are very welcome – keep them coming. You all are extremely wonderful. Jai Hind!
@ Parth– These guys r there to conduct a military exercise… not for a walk on the ramp for a beauty pageant… what matters is their capability and not their appearance…
@ Anonymous(12:18) we dont want a casualty in a military exercise now do we?? they wear yellow PFD so that if someone gets drowned or lost he can b spotted and rescued easily…
I agree,
It seems that the army has put together gear for those soldiers who are to exercise with the US marines.
A few things stand out:
1. Bright Yellow colored life jackets! Those should have been green camo colored, it seems that the army procured them off the shelf for just this exercise hence brand new (typical third world syndrome – the army and MOD does not equip the soldiers adequately, but come a exercise with a developed country's armed forces and H&D forces them to hurridly procure some ill fitting equipment for the exercise – which is taken away right after the said exercise never to be seen again)
And what's with the live vests on the soldiers? Can't they swim? The army has all these swimming pools in each cantonement. What do they do with them? Are they only for the officers and their families to enjoy? Why isn't every Indian armed forces soldier a good swimmer?
2. It seems that India will NEVER procure a reasonable helmet for its troops. That is the same design of helmet that soldiers wore during WW1 ! The US marines helmet has attachments for NVG as can be seen. The Indian army doesn't even envisage NVG with troops.
3. I don't find the soldiers possession of the INSAS to be wrong. But I find the bright brown color to be irritating. It makes the rifle stand out. The furniture should be black or dark green for better camouflage. It defeats the purpose that the soldier is attired in a camouflaged uniform, but the rifle butt is bright orange-brown! The light weight INSAS with the transparent magazine is a major upgrade over the earlier FN-FAL. If the army feels this is good enough for now then so be it. The rifle has proven itself in Siachen and Kargil.
4. Those DM boots are as heavy as they get. One might as well chain a pair of cement blocks on the soldiers feet! You can't expect a soldier to be able to swim with those DM boots on! Those shoes again are unchanged since WW2. Time the MOD babooze get in touch with domestic manufacturers and develop light weight comfortable boots for the soldiers. The US solder's boots are also designed for some basic level of protection against small explosions and shrapnel injury. Not sure what level of protection the thick leather and thick rubber sole of the DM boot offers.
The reignment seems to be either the Mahars or the Bihar.
You can see the soldiers eying the american soldier's gear!
Do the americans have pistols strapped on their thighs?
Moustache is the sign of manhood for many ethnic communities like rajputs,marathas,etc.And hence should not be treated with disrespect.
Insas is a good rifle with a small calibre bullet. The bullet calibre has to be increased for 'one shot one kill' or its ballistic design has to be changed to cause maximum injury 'to kill' on impact.
Insas is based on 'injure the opponent to maximum extent but do not kill him' prinicple . Hence, the rifle or/and its bullet need redesigning.
THE qaulity control and environmental testing for INSAS needs serious updates to make it a world class rifle.
@ Anonymous at 1041hrs and others.
First, let go of your opinionated thoughts and read carefully.
Have you ever served? If you had any military training experience you would know what proper combat clothing is(and you would not post under anonymous). The ones that the Indians are issued is not, it's worse than WW-2 British Indian Army stuff. It is just not real combat clothing. Just a pair of shirts and trousers.
The material has to have a degree of IR suppression and fire resistance. It should be the right size and fit. It should be comfortable and tough at the same time.
I was personally issued WebTex gear, go to their website to see what proper example of combat clothing. It's not just about looking cool, it's a necessity. And armies across the world DO PAY ATTENTION to how smart their kit looks. A good looking uniform makes people want to join, soldiers carry themselves differently and boosts their confidence and morale. And every army carries it's 'image and identity' with it and the uniform is identified with that.
The real stuff costs a minimum of $200 for a Combat Jacket/Smocks and $100 for combat trousers. Another $200 or more for the combat boots. These are not fashion accessories, they are absolutely necessary. Ask a soldier who has to wear the same thing in the jungle for days at a stretch in the rain walking through bogs and stuff and running 20 miles a day. You also have to sleep in the same thing in your sleeping bag. Be a little sensitive to the soldiers before nullifying others comments because they are degrading 'indigenous' equipment.
If the Jawans' equipment was world class, the officers wouldn't buy their own would they?
I'm worried about the helmets and shoes of our Men.
When will we wakeup to it.
May be a bit of research.
I'm sure we can get one of our lab's to look into this.
LMAO at bright yellow life jackets. It is as if the Indian Army is helping the enemy to detect and shoot the soldiers. Look at those horrible black leather shoes, and contrast them with comfortable Oakleys the US soldiers are wearing. LOL at the plastic helmet also.
Our officers are so incompetent it leaves me speechless. They are only concerned with stealing land and acquiring bribes, so what if the soldier dies in combat. God help this country if we ever go to war against China, we would be slaughtered so badly it would make the Arabic invasion of India look like a playground fight.
For all the 'geardo' loving armchair generals!!
Lighten up!!!
While the IA is not up to the fantasy list of the latest boy toys,but they are soldiers and damn good one at that.
Al the IA boys need, is a good leader, a bit of food and orders.
They ask little more.
What they have can off course be improved.
But its not as what they have been given is totally useless.
Most of our boys have come from a far more tougher environment of rural India and real life.
You see some of our tribal soldiers,no fancy texes or webetexes or such fancy stuff required.
He may look skinny,but he will go distances and carry weights over terrain far rougher than any fancy geardo sporting jock can dream of!!!!
And he will do it on a meal of rice and dal and some local chicken or even less!!!
No frozen meat patties required by him!!!!
Very few armies do so much while asking for so little.
Respect them.
Anon @ 12:26 PM
Of course we respect the soldier, it is the incompetent and unimaginative officers which leave a lot to be desired. They feel that war is all about making sacrifices (aka getting our own killed) rather than effectively killing people from the other side.
Do not try to sugar coat obvious deficiencies, otherwise there will be no improvement.
Bottom line:
-Indian Army has the best men
– But the worst equipment and personal clothing/gear is no exception
God dammit give our boys the gear they deserve!!!
Our soldiers look weak and ugly in comparison to the yanks. When you are exercising with the best armed forces you gotta send your best. Is this our best????
If you look at the body language of the yanks, it seems they are maintaining a distance or showing their backs to our soldiers.
Get real ppl, appearance matters a lot, even in the armed forces. No wonder armed forces all over the world have uniforms which will put a peacock to shame.
IA smarten yourself up.
last anynoy:
we dont need to flatter the yanks..they are cowards!! and only depend upon tech..
man to man our 'ugly' soldiers can whip any yank if they had the same equipment. period.
Anonymous @ 10:15 AM
They are not models to bother about ugliness.
Infact more the enemy underrates you the better.
They are certainly not models, but people looking like impoverished coolies decked in bright yellow life jackets won't inspire much confidence either. Just remember, these pics will be published worldwide, and people will form an opinion about us depending on what they see.By trying to gloss over what's very apparent, you are helping India stay behind. Just like our Doordarshan.
We don't want the world to think that our army is an army of coolies.
Nobody cares about what an armyman looks like. The real value these guys will show will be in real combat, not in videogames. You want gloss , go for bollywood movies.
FYI to all the glamor thirsty suckers, in a war enemies bullets don't have a preference for the smart looking over the not so ones.. so think realistic and stop living a life of lies..