PHOTOS: Indo-Russian Joint Exercise INDRA 2010


Photos by Naresh Kumar / MoD Photo Division

34 thoughts on “PHOTOS: Indo-Russian Joint Exercise INDRA 2010”

  1. Very nice. For the first time our soldiers actually look well-equipped compared to their foreign counterparts. In particular I'm glad to see those old WW2-era steel bucket helmets have been replaced with modern Kevlar.

    Let's hope these improvements have taken place across the board and are not just for show in this exercise.

  2. seriously, the best dressed indian troops I've seen in an exercise.. even though the head gear is a little funny.

  3. Is this the special armored suit that the Russians were supposed to be wearing, which covers 80% of the body from bullets and light shrapnel?

  4. Tavor rifle,new Helmet,Indian Army lukin different,i think the bullet prof jackets r also lukin btr!!
    Is it Para's?
    whatevr i m luvin it!!!

  5. Those helmets look horrible. They might as well be those steel buckets they used to wear with cloth camo wrapped around them. Now that I look at them, they probably are! They cover next to nothing. Why can't they read something about modern helmet designs that cover the head properly. The Nazi's had better helmets 70 years ago than we do today. It's a disgrace. The radio looks stupid too. One guy has it, from what I can tell, and it's open, uncamoflaged, and liable to get damaged. They seem to have decent boots at least. The camo patterns are old, but they should do for now. We need to get modern digital camo, at least for the special operations units. This is a mountain division, btw.

  6. Hello Shiv, do tell us which division these guys belong to… are they paras?

    other posters – can you guys help with the info if shiv is busy… just want to know if they are paras or any other elite division of our army

  7. the russian soldier's ears are protected by his helmet whereas although the helmet looks better for IA soldiers and probably is…their ears are not protected

  8. My god, i have to say, attention to detail people have is commendable. i actually had to see the fotos again to understand these comments!!! cheerz!!!

  9. looks good but hey wished the head gear can be changed to look a bit more smarter ………….may be modernize slightly with a modern communication device rather than walkie talkies,,,,,,,,,,,,no offense intended.

    GOD BLESS you Indian army in your duties!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    really value what u guys do!!!!!!!!!

  10. The helmets look similar to what the Brit Royal Army uses. The ears are unprotected so comm equipment like headphone-mic can be used without any hindrance. Mil helmets have been designed to give min protection to ears like the German WW2 Stahlhelm and the type used by the Russians (during this exercise) and the US Army. Anything is better than the parka that is still being used.

    My 2 cents!

  11. It is indeed the helmet used by British Army. It seems our IA is using Motorola walkie talkies. They can lose these in the heat of the battle. They need to checkout communication eqp used by US, UK, Russian armed forces. Though it is often overlooked, but a proper communication eqp can be a matter of life or death for the soldier.

    We need to adopt the Stahlhelm type helmets which have been adopted by all major armed forces which includes China, USA, South Africa and from these pics it seems the Russians have also started favoring them.

  12. After the collapse of USSR, this is probably the 1st time Russia and India are holding such major exercise.

    Both these countries are natural partners. India and Russian ties must go beyond military, political and economic spheres.

    If Russia, South Africa, Egypt,Germany, Brazil and India join forces; such an alliance can bring a lot of stability to the "New world order".

  13. It seems all our cussing has finally started yielding results.

    We need to keep in mind that during wars or such exercises, the soldier has to go without bath for weeks and in extreme climates which range from dense humid forests, to freezing cold mountains and to scorching deserts. We can checkout the cloth used by US Army which factors in these aspects. It seems we have finally got rid of those WWII DM boots.

    Making knee and elbow pads a part of the dress will go a long way in improving the efficiency of our soldiers. IA should also think of equipping our soldiers with proper gloves and eye protection gear.

  14. The patka helmet that our guys use is a multilayer laminate and provides excellent protection. And for all you keyboard and chairborne commandos, our guys use these helmets where it matters, out in the field, killing piglets and arranging their appoitnment with the houris. So cut out the chatter,

  15. Why have they hogtied this guy with mountain ropes???? Why have they not used plastic handcuffs? Man, when are we going to learn? Even after participating in so many joint exercises with the best armed forces, it seems our soldiers don't have basic eqp.
    Which professional army uses Motorola Walkie talkies?
    And we are talking about building 5th Gen planes, nuke subs etc. etc.

  16. @Anon 10:18

    Plastic Handcuffs!The IA has been fighting insurgents and jehadis long before the west discovered the war on terror.
    Look at the terrain and the nature of the CI ops being carried out.This is not cops nor is this some flat urban landscape.The hard core terrorists are committed and tough.They will jump off like a jackrabbit with your plastic handcuffs and disappear into the terrain at the slightest opportunity.Chasing someone in hostile territory is no fun and dangerous.The rope gives additional anchor to pull down in case the guy is up to some tricks.Besides like the goats and dogs these terrorist are its appropriate they are leashed up like that!!!!
    Leave the fighting to the professionals who put their lives on the line for us.Us armchair generals have the luxury of fantasy and push of the reset button in our video games.

  17. My dear Anon 11:22 PM,

    Plastic handcuffs are very similar to the plastic strips that are used to secure your luggage when you travel by air.

    US is using them in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    You want to tie terrorists like goats and dogs in case they are upto some tricks? Will you tell them "tommy noooo"???

    You also want our soldiers to travel with coils of ropes to literally tie down terrorists??

  18. Well a definite improvement in gear, but still needs a lot of mordernization. I am diggin the Tavors, i must say. Addition of knee pads, elbow pads, slip resistant gloves and goggles(like their Ruski counterpart) is a must. Also, does anyone have any info on what kind of body armour our boys are using? can you shed some light on this Shiv.

  19. Our soldiers are well equipped indeed. The concept is light and effective gear. The walkie talkie is to be dispensed and a high frequency hands free communication set needs to be provided. This is British SAS style helmets. The MARCOS use a more fuller helmet. The TAVOR is definitely a classic weapon and is highly stable in extremes. With regard to tying by rope ist a standard practice and found to be more effective than just hand cuffing.

  20. Guys,

    Is it my eyes or the russians have similar head gear to what the Wehrmacht had in WWII. Why do the indian soldiers look scared? The rifle looks great but seems to be too big for one of the scared soldiers.

  21. Going by the comments of some of the posters you would believe that our armed forces are a bunch of losers who get thulped by every other thug, terrorist or army in the world — just because our army does'nt 'look right'. Well, I would like to remind those honourable commentators that army/armed forces have held our country together since 1947 with .303s and SLRs and sundry other 'jugaads'. Yes, our army doesn't have ballistic helmets and knee pads like the SWAT — but our army has held onto Kashmir with an iron grip for 60 years inspite of numerous attempts by the 'well-dressed' and 'well-equiped' Pakistan Army. Yes, our army doesn't have radios with fancy earpieces — but this is the force that braved the chinese onslaught with .303s and LMGs. So what I'm saying is that just because our jawaan doesn't sport the 'right stuff' doesn't mean that he can't deliver the goods. One only has to look at the record of the most 'good-looking' and 'well-equipped' army in the world, in Vietnam and Iraq and elsewhere to see what I'm talking about. Anyways, do keep writting these silly comments… luckily the 'scared' jawaan on the ground won't hear you and he'll continue doing his job just like he has been doing for the past 63 years. Jai Hind.

  22. anony at 7.02….ur right…but the point is that since are guys are so good they deserve better equipment…..that's all i am saying……they deserve much better than the crap they normally get..and true they can whip any opponent with the same equipment or even less…

  23. Anon 7.02 PM

    Just bcoz our soldiers can fight well, it is not the excuse to under equip them. This "jugaad" mentality is the bane of India. The very idea of practicing with one of the best armed forces is to know their best practices. There is little point in holding such exercises if we revert back to status quo after the exercises are over.

    All are comments are having an effect. These guys are far better equipped than what we have seen earlier.

    These eqp are not fancy stuffs, but to make the hard life of a jawan a little bit more comfortable. If we keep mum, things will remain pretty much the same.

  24. @Anon1:11
    They do not need coils of 100 meter climbing ropes.If you have seen videos of these exercises, the troops carry lengths of rope for multiple uses.One use demonstrated in a video was on how a rope is tied on any dead/wounded terrorist to pull/turnover the body from a distance to set-off any booby -trap or AP Mine concealed/designed to go off as soon as a body is disturbed.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJL1PbC9EIA&feature=related

    As i said Plastic restraints have their uses in set up where the suspect can quickly be bundled in vehicles and transported off as in Iraq.A motivated jehadi in a jungle has to be tied up and marched a distance,perhaps kms before safety is reached.If he responds to 'no-tommy', that will be an added bonus.

  25. To Anony @ 7.02 and anony at 8.06 – Its not machine that matters but the man behind it. Its agolden saying proved by the Indians in all wars. However its would better to give our boys the best.

  26. To Anony @ 7.02 and anony at 8.06 – Its not machine that matters but the man behind it. Its agolden saying proved by the Indians in all wars. However its would better to give our boys the best.

  27. Plastic handcuffs are very similar to the plastic strips that are used to secure your luggage when you travel by air….US is using them in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    Need we say add anything about how ineffective they have been in controlling the insurgency?

  28. Anon 12.45 AM

    The insurgency is Iraq is over and USA is pulling out. Need we say anymore how effective they are? Why would you and world's best airlines repose so much faith on a thin strip of plastic which secures all your worldly possessions when you take a long journey?

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