India implementing number of major initiatives to modernize army, taking into account experience of russia's war against Ukraine

India has taken a number of major initiatives aimed at reformatting its armed forces in the wake of nearly three years of full-scale invasion of Ukraine by aggressor country of russia.

Forbes writes about it.

The publication notes that India is in a precarious position, having a northwestern border with Pakistan and a northeastern border with China. It has historically strained relations with both countries.

So, India and Pakistan fought four wars, the last of which happened in 1999. Their relationship is now openly hostile, fueled by territorial disputes and ceasefire violations.

With China, India also has many territorial disputes along the more than 2,000-kilometer long border. These disputes originate in the 60s of the last century and periodically lead to clashes, the last of which occurred in December 2022.

The publication writes that India has accelerated the modernization of its artillery systems. Like Ukraine, India is converting its heavy artillery to the 155 mm caliber used by most Western countries.

The Indian arsenal already has several 155-mm artillery pieces purchased from Great Britain and Sweden.

The Indian Army is also looking to replace its 105 mm guns located along the Pakistani border with newer 155 mm howitzers.

The war between russia and Ukraine showed the importance of using unmanned aerial vehicles. However, India's drone fleet is extremely limited. It consists of a small number of Israeli Heron UAVs.

To increase its unmanned potential, India is implementing several initiatives at once, which include both the purchase of American MQ-9 Reaper drones and the development of its own systems.

We will remind, in April 2024, Politico wrote that russia lost India as the largest importer of weapons and military equipment.

We also reported that after launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, russia wanted to open electronics factories in India to continue manufacturing high-tech weapons under sanctions.

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