Greater Noida (Defence Desk), December 16: General Upendra Dwivedi, the Chief Of Army Staff attended the 2nd Land Forces Summit LFS 2024 which also was also attended by the army chiefs and senior generals from Japan, USA, Australia and Philippines.
Experts believe that an event of this magnitude and how it was graced is highly indicative of the fact that land warfare remains priority around the world even in today’s time when technology is what the global powers are relying on.
During the land forces summit, the Indian chief of army staff also gave a brief talk highlighting India’s Security and Strategic Perspective in Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and Multinational Defence Cooperation. The summit saw a congregation of thoughts and ideas aimed at a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific and enhancing Multinational Defence Cooperation for peaceful co-existence.
The kind of participation this summit witnessed is also is being seen as India’s commitment to fostering collaborative relationships with like-minded nations, ensuring a stable and secure Indo-Pacific region.
At the same time it also underlines how global powers are all focused on strengthening their land warfare tactics which also is said to be the basic to any combat.
But what exactly is the land combat?
A land combat, also known as ground combat or ground warfare, is fighting that takes place on the ground surface. It usually involves land forces like infantry, artillery, and combat vehicles. The basic goal of land combat is to win territory by finding, engaging, and neutralizing the enemy.
But even in today’s time of modern and advanced warfare, why land forces have continued to gain several advantages over other forces, is because land forces have the advantage of using the terrain and conceal hazards like mines, booby traps, and obstacles. It also has an upper edge of being able to operate without the need for the highly “nodal” structures of air and maritime forces.
Other than these, land forces can also stockpile large amounts of ammunition that can be protected and can reload, resupply, and refuel in theatre, away from large, vulnerable bases.
They also have an upper hand as they can manoeuvre without overhead intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and global positioning system data.
Some other key aspects that make land combat a preferred and most reliable standard form of combat include the ability to move quickly across different terrains, including tactics like surprise attacks and sabotage, known as guerrilla warfare.
However, in order to understand why it matters even in today’s high-tech world, is because land warfare clearly demonstrates a state’s or society’s resolve to achieve a political objective.
Not only it is the only combat means that can capture, occupy, and hold a position for as long as needed but also have several advantages over other forces, including the ability to maneuver on land, take advantage of terrain, and protect against adversary special operations forces.
It also remains a preferred form of warfare as it is the oldest, most tried and tested and at the same time most complex form of warfare, and has undergone many transitions in conduct over history. Land forces even remain a crucial feature of warfare, as shown by recent wars in Ukraine, Syria, Mali, Yemen, and Nagorno-Karabakh.
Even though recent examples do not include India, but our country too has in its history of wars and combats highly preferred land combat over any other forms of war.
It so also because over the years India has upgraded and enhanced its land combat capacity including a variety of factors, be it the size of its military, its equipment or its strategy.
If we detail these mentions, India has over 1.4 million active personnel in its armed forces, including 1.25 million in the army. It also has a large volunteer army of over 5.1 million people.
India heavily relies over its equipment that it has stockpiled for land warfare as India has been consistently modernizing its equipment, including buying more drones from Israel and the US. In 2020, India signed a deal to buy six Apache attack helicopters from the US, with the first scheduled to be delivered in February 2024.
Even when it comes to strategizing, India’s land warfare doctrine includes the ability to respond to threats on multiple fronts. This involves using inter-theatre reserves with equipment that can be used interchangeably to reinforce the primary front while deterring threats on other fronts.
These are the reasons why despite the fact that India’s armed forces also include a navy, air force, coast guard, and defines security corps, the country’s borders are monitored and patrolled by border forces that are mainly land forces.
Regardless of all the technological development happening every second around the globe, majority of world powers are and have been relying heavily on their land forces. Be or Russia Ukraine or Syria, Iran, Iraq and Gaza, leaving aside some events of usage of air force, majorly the forces from these nations have been engaged in land combat.
Such incidents from around the world speak volumes about why land warfare does and will continue to matter in this ever growing competitive world of combats.
