It’s the Army Day once again. A day for every Indian to be proud of and be grateful to the officers and brave soldiers of our armed Services. Whether they belong to the Army, Navy or the Indian Air Force, their contribution to national security, in times of peace, wars and natural disasters, has been stellar.

It is also a time to think about the war fighting equipment with them, or the lack of it, as well as their well being, particularly their post-retirement resettlement, health facilities, and their families.

In terms of equipment, their primary requirement, it appears that the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy have things going for them. Not so, in comparison, for the Army.

For the Air Force, there has been a steady flow of acquisitions: Mi 17 V5 helicopters from Russia, additional SU 30 MKI aircraft and missiles from Russia, Air to Air Mica missiles from the European MBDA, upgrades of Mirage 2000 and Mig 29s, and so on. A decision on the big requirement of 126-plus Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA), for which the European consortium’s Eurofighter Typhoon and French Rafale are in contention, is also around the corner.

For the Navy, although belated, there has been a steady delivery of ships, either from Russia or India’s own shipyards. The Navy is also expecting the nuclear submarine Nerpa and aircraft carrier INS Vikramadita (aka Admiral Gorshkov) from Russia within 2012 as also India’s own aircraft carrier Arihant next year or so.

For the Army, things have gone wrong for one reason or another. Some years back, it acquired shoes – selected by its own officers – which were substandard in withstanding glacial winters. There was also some problem with thermal imagers.

But worst, somehow, all the efforts made by Army to acquire modern artillery guns appear to be jinxed.

There have been trials, selections, accidents like a gun exploding during tests, and cancellations. In some cases, there are reasons beyond one’s control, while according to one serving Lt general, occasionally our process takes time and elements outside the country somehow are able to sabotage the deals. Perhaps so. Equipment denial to an adversary is part of the cold war that always rages.

Does one go by the Rule Book, or do something out of the way? The allegations of Rs 64 crore kickback in the Bofors gun acquisition notwithstanding, the Army leadership and the Government have to make a determined bid to acquire modern, yet easy to operate, advanced artillery guns. The Army also wants helicopters. So be it. Some decisions are needed on NOW basis.

Meanwhile, a big Thank You to all our Officers and Brave Men.