JSOU, Will Irwin: A Comprehensive and Proactive Approach to Unconventional Warfare

Underdeveloped and under-equipped, India's special forces in dire need of attention of defence ministry - Firstpost

"First, any SOF is only as good as its equipment. This is true of the armed forces as a whole, but is particularly applicable to the SOF. An army division, for instance, may ‘manage’ a situation by weight of sheer numbers and tight command in a given geographical area. The SOF cannot. An SOF unit can hardly do deep penetration operations if it doesn’t have the platform to get there. It cannot even do a short strike if it doesn’t have the necessary high-end weapons to strafe a terrorist hideout. Second, an SOF operation is only as good as the intelligence available. The tragedy of the Jaffna University helidrop in October 1987, when a covert operation to get the LTTE leadership failed miserably due to defective intelligence, comes to mind."

Trials On For AC Jackets For Indian Special Forces: Manohar Parrikar

Trials On For AC Jackets For Indian Special Forces: Manohar Parrikar. Though the government has not said what material the jackets would be made of and the kind of technology used, former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has confirmed that trials are on. The air-conditioned jackets will help soldiers keep cool during operations 

HIGHLIGHTS 

• Jackets for special force soldiers operating in hot areas for long hours 
• Government hasn't mentioned the material or technology used for jackets 
• The US army already uses AC jackets worn underneath body armour

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Government invites bids to procure 4×4 Armoured vehicles for IAF’s Garud Special Forces. – Indian Defence Research Wing

The Ministry of Defence, Government of India has invited bids to procure approximate Qty 50-60 Armoured Vehicles for IAF along with its associated equipment from Indian vendors indented to be used by Guard Special Forces which is the special forces unit of the Indian Air Force deployed to secure Airbases Around the country and also carry out offensive operations behind enemy lines .

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Why Indian special forces are way behind the US Navy seals? Defence Minister Parrikar clears emergency modernisation plan of weapons but our commandos need more | Daily Mail Online

"Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar cleared a Rs 300- crore proposal to buy critical equipment for the Indian Army's Special Forces, but sources say the elite units will continue to lag by a distance from their American and Israeli counterparts. The plan includes purchase of over 1,100 automatic assault rifles, 1,000 freefall parachutes, sniper rifles, machine guns and lightweight rocket launchers for the army's nine battalions of Special Forces troops. "

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Countering the Separatist Mind-Set: An Analysis of ‘Eid-ul-Zuha 2011’

Author: TWI

As is the annual norm around Eid-ul-Zuha, the supporters of Mr Syed Ali Shah Geelani, leader Tehreek-e-Hurriyat and Chairman Hurriyat Conference (G), were found to be distributing a booklet containing his opinion on ‘India’s oppression of Kashmir’. This 37-page booklet, in Urdu, first surfaced in 2011 titled, ‘Eid-ul-Zua 2011’, and was released by the secessionist leader on 03 Nov 2011, a few days prior to the Muslim festival of Eid-ul-Zuha[1]. A severely abridged version is also routinely provided to tourists at the various hotspots in Kashmir. Ostensibly, the aim of the booklet was to allow a larger audience for his anti-India tirade. It is, and reads like, the text of a speech. With the authorities habitually disallowing him a public namaz on the festival, he stays confined to his Hyderpora house. Faced with the peril of his speechwriter’s effort being laid waste, perhaps a book-release was the sole available choice, which he exercised. The booklet serves as a good sample of Geelani’s thought-process and deserves a closer scrutiny.

Indian Response to Asymmetric Threats: The Case of Af-Pak

Author:  TWI

'India has unfortunately become the "sponge" that protects us all. India's very proximity to Pakistan, which has developed into the epicenter of global terrorism during the last thirty years, has resulted in New Delhi absorbing most of the blows unleashed by those terrorist groups that treat it as a common enemy along with Israel, the United States, and the West more generally...'[1]

- Ashley J Tellis

The above statement is an oft-quoted observation that captures the inability of India to respond effectively to the challenge of terrorism afflicting it with sickening regularity. To the layman, the nation, in the face of grave losses in life, material and reputation inexplicably refuses to acknowledge the strategic impact of the ever-growing irregular and hybrid threat that is engulfing regions of the world. India’s counter to the threats it faces can be labelled reactive at best, despite the aggressiveness associated in social media with the National Security Adviser[2] and the Prime Minister. The much touted cross-border raid against NSCN militants[3] is too little, too late; but a heart-warming event nevertheless. However, can India call Pakistan’s bluff on the West?