Indian Army to move air defence units closer to Pakistan border

According to various reports and official sources, the Indian Army is planning to deploy a number of its air defence units close to the border to thwart aerial threats emanating from Pakistan.

The move comes after reports reveal that around 300 Pakistani tanks continue to be deployed along the border in the strategic Shakargarh sector.

“Some of the fighting formations including air defence and other defensive formations are now planned to be moved closer to the borders,” top Army sources said as quoted by the news agency ANI.

“With these air defence units deployed closer to the border, we would be able to tackle any possible aerial strike from enemy side and thwart it close to the border itself,” they said.

The sources said the location of the air defence units deployed in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Gujarat and Rajasthan were reviewed by the force and it was felt that a number of them can be moved to forward locations to thwart enemy aerial strikes close to the borders itself.

Air defence unit of the Army comes under Corps of Army Air Defence (AAD) currently led by Lt General AP Singh. The force is set to receive the latest MR-SAM air defence system which has been produced by the DRD-Israel joint venture.

Its current weapon systems include the DRD-Israel joint venture MR-SAM, indigenous Akash air defence missile systems, Bofors 40 mm gun, and other older generation weapon systems like S-125 Neva/Pechora, 2K22 Tunguska and others.