Frontier India Strategic and Defence - News, Analysis, Opinion

Written on September 19, 2008 – 10:23 pm | by Frontier India Strategic and Defence |

For the first time in over 60 years soldiers from the Indian Army have been training with British troops on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. Nearly 140 men from the Punjab-based 16 Mechanised Infantry Battalion (16 Mech Inf Bn) are currently on exercise with 3rd Battalion (Staffords) The Mercian Regiment (3 MERCIAN).

The soldiers have been taking part in two exercises – Exercise Lions Strike, the culmination of the Combined Arms Tactics Course at the Land Warfare Centre,Warminster, that provides training for Combat and Combat Support Arms sub-unit commanders; and Exercise Wessex Warrior, a five-day exercise conducted against an opposing force, in this case provided by 3 MERCIAN and 16 Mech Inf Bn.

“]The role of 3 MERCIAN, as the Land Warfare Centre Battle Group, is to assist and support the training of all Army units on Salisbury Plain Training Area. The Battalion uses its expertise to provide fighting troops to test exercising units and if necessary crew a wide variety of military vehicles.

The Indian soldiers from Bravo Company, 16 Mech Inf Bn, arrived at the end of August from their base in Patiala, Punjab, and will remain in the UK for a month, based on Salisbury Plain. Commanded by Major Ganesh Raghavan, the Company is trained to operate in a wide range of challenging environments including deserts, mountains and plains.

The regiment uniquely operates in the high altitude areas of Ladakh and Sikkim as well as specialising in amphibious, heliborne and airborne operations. The soldiers have participated in United Nations peacekeeping operations in Somalia, Angola and Sierra Leone.