Indian tanks, helicopters deployed in Ladakh now part of counter terror drills with US Army.  |  Photo Credit: IANS
Key Highlights
- Both countries created mock terror situations such as in Afghanistan and Iraq to carry out counter-terror operations
- It’s named ‘Zorawar’ after veteran Dogra military commander General Zorawar Singh, who’s popularly known as the ‘Conqueror of Ladakh’
Mahajan (Rajasthan): India and the United States on Saturday conducted a joint military drill at the Mahajan Field Firing Range in the Thar desert, involving Apache helicopters, Mi-17 transport choppers along with troops from both countries in the recreated combat area.
The drill also included the Chinook, a multi-mission helicopter, which was seen carrying armoured transport vehicles and dropping them at designated locations. The ground troops are on the ground and now they are ready for action.
Both countries created mock terror situations such as in Afghanistan and Iraq to carry out counter-terror operations.
As a result of the drills, tanks and fighter jets were also deployed at the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh in wake of the border standoff with China.
Rajasthan’s Suratgarh-based brigade, which is represented by the 11th Battalion of the Sapt Shakti Command of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, carried out mock counter-terrorism operations with Seattle-based troops of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, who are also called the ‘Ghost Brigade’, a name they earned for their stealth operations in Iraq.
“We gained the reputation as Ghost Brigade in early 2003 during first deployment in Iraq. We gained the reputation for quickly and quietly entering enemy town homes in certain areas and we were able to strike and defeat the enemy before they knew what hit them. From then on our motto became ‘Arrive in Silence’,” Major Spencer Garrison of the Ist Stryker Brigade told news agency IANS.
The mock exercise – the 16th edition of Yudh Abhyas – started on February 8 and will conclude on February 21. It’s named ‘Zorawar’ after veteran Dogra military commander General Zorawar Singh, who’s popularly known as the ‘Conqueror of Ladakh’.
