Click to play videoThe battle-hardened Indian Army took 20 hours to resolve the hostage crisis in Jammu. Did the lack of appropriate weapons slow it down and endanger the hostages? CNN-IBN goes to the arms bazaar to look for smart weapons, which could sharpen India's counter-terrorist capability.
New Delhi: The biggest challenge for the Indian Army during Wednesday's hostage crisis in Jammu was breaching the house in which the terrorists were holed up.
The problem was the lack of specialised weapons, which could have helped the troops force their way in and confront the terrorists without harming the hostages. Instead, the Army was equipped with weapons that could have brought the house down but killed everyone in the bargain.
The Army’s only option was to outlast the terrorists in order to exhaust their ammunition reserve — a tricky gambit when time was at a premium.
What it desperately needed, but did not have, were the new generation of intelligent weapons for counter-terrorism.
Perhaps, what it needed was a door-breaching rifle-mounted grenade — nicknamed Simon — which can break down doors without endangering the hostages or soldiers who may otherwise have to risk being shot while physically forcing open the door.
Another good choice would have been the Matador shoulder-fired launch system, which can blow a hole in a wall without causing harm to those trapped. The idea is to deny the cover of walls to the enemy.
These are the first set of intelligent weapons designed to counter urban terrorism and to cause collateral damage.
It was, indeed, the pain of losing innocents in hostage situations led to the development of these weapons.
"The concept that inspired Simon was an incident that took place about 10 years ago in which one of the Israeli soldiers was kidnapped. The IDR forces knew that the soldier was there but they had no way no way of getting to him safely," a representative of Rafael Defence Systems, Maria, explains.
While India is arming itself to the teeth for conventional wars, which may never be fought, it has surprisingly chosen to fight protracted low-intensity proxy wars with low technology.
The resultant casualties have failed to move the decision makers sufficiently so far.
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