Army troops vulnerable as transport crisis rages in Siachen

Indian troops stationed at the world’s highest battlefield amid freezing winters and summers are in for a bad ride. Dependent on ultra light choppers for their food supply, ammunition and emergency evacuations during winter months, the Indian Express reports that Army personnel stationed at the Siachen Glacier may face problems since the Army is faced with a dearth of high-altitude choppers due its failure to procure new ones. [caption id=“attachment_1342301” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of an army personnel at Siachen. AFP[/caption] This comes despite the government knowing the desperate need to get new choppers in place. “Besides dropping food and ammunition to troops posted at altitudes of over 20,000 feet, the choppers are the only lifeline during extreme weather when land routes shut down. These light choppers are also the only mode of emergency evacuation from high altitude,” says the Indian Express report. In the last nine months, two Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) have crashed, reflecting the vulnerability of the existing fleet. ALHs were used because the Cheetah fleet that has been used for over two decades has reached the end of its life. “The entire Cheetah fleet of the Army and Air Force has almost reached the end of its service life, with replacements hard to be found given that the original equipment manufacturer has ceased to manufacture new parts,” the report says. Further, the emergency alternative – Cheetal choppers, which were the intended replacements, have failed high-altitude tests. Despite being the lifeline of soldiers deployed on Siachen Glacier, the UPA-II government failed to clear an Army’s proposal from five years ago to procure around 200 light helicopters due to the ongoing CBI inquiry into the VVIP chopper scam part of which AgustaWestland is being investigated. Read the full report here.