Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday dedicated the Military Literature Festival (MLF) 2020 to all great warriors who have attained supreme sacrifice in service of our motherland. Inaugurating the Festival through a virtual ceremony, Rajnath Singh said that it was only befitting that MLF was conceived and conceptualised in Punjab — the land of heroic martial traditions.
“If this festival of celebration of Defence culture and traditions could have come up anywhere, it had to be Punjab,” Rajnath Singh said lauding the organisers for sculpting a viable platform for offering a peep into army culture to our youngsters aspiring to take up Forces as a career.
Regretting his inability to attend the gala event the previous year due to extended Parliament Session, the Defence Minister congratulated the organisers and expressed great satisfaction to see the platform developing into a steady and meaningful means of enhancing greater understanding about matters military amongst our public at large.
“I was keeping track of all the activities including book discussions, panel discussions and daredevil feats being performed by our soldiers at MLF last year,” he revealed.
MLF, the joint initiative of the Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore in collaboration with Western Command, has steadily earned brand presence in the region since inception in 2017.
Underlining the ever-evolving nature of warfare in global scenario, the Defence Minister urged the people, especially youngsters, to acquaint themselves with defence way of life to act as a formidable shield in case of need.
“Today Mobile is as potent a weapon as Missile and our youngsters must leverage and complement our forces by leading research in cyber, biological and information domain,” he added.
Urging the youth to imbue qualities of valour, sacrifice, and determination, he asked them to follow in footsteps of our great soldiers who are living legends and institutions in service of nation.
Reiterating his personal affinity with soldiers, the Defence Minister said that the current MLF essay was additionally special as the nation was celebrating Golden Jubilee of 1971 War against Pakistan.
Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore said that given the rich martial traditions of the region of Punjab, it comes as no surprise that this region is a treasure trove of military events since times immemorial, thus simmering in unlimited tales of military invasions, campaigns and battles with the natural abundance of battlefield heroics, sacrifices and events that’s steered the course of not only the region, but the country as a whole.
AIR FORCE EXPERTS DISCUSS ROLE OF UAVs, PREDATORS
An extensive debate on the air power capability of China, besides the role of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicle), predators (remotely piloted aircrafts) was held on the first day of the fourth edition of Military Literature Festival.
The debate was moderated by former Air Force chief BS Dhanoa, with AVM Arjun Subramaniam.
GP Captain Ravinder Chhatwal and Dr Ming-Shih Shen participating in the discussion.
Former Air Force chief started the talk by discussing about the role of artillery support to the Air Force, and gave an insight of the contours of India bordering China.
He talked about the fighter planes distance from the air base saying that the return of planes to their base to get the fuel refilled is important in a battle.
He compared the distance covered by fighter planes and the distance between airbases.
Strategy of recoup, ability to operate from disperse location, squadron strength, combat experience, base strength and the importance of Himalayas was also discussed during the talk.
Dr Ming-Shih Shen from Taiwan threw light upon the bombers attacking on ground and the importance of artillery on launching the air attack.
He also revealed about the air capabilities of China, new airports coming up in border areas and delay in the manufacturing of large planes due to COVID-19.
Offensive and defensive strategies of China’s Air Force and role of drones, cyber and electronic intelligence were also a part of his talk.
Author of two books based on his personal experiences, Arjun Subramaniam talked about the probability of conflict between India and China.
He talked about the effectiveness of combating war with importance of air power, disruptive strategies, and role of ground power.
GP Captain Ravinder Chhatwal spoke about China’s limitation in warfare against India, support of airfields and innovation in the field of making drones, predator drones and UAVs.
