NEW DELHI: The defence forces will now stock weapons and ammunitions for a 15-day intense war instead of 10 days.
Sanction for the move comes at a time Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a tense, prolonged standoff along the LAC in eastern Ladakh and the government has been talking of enhancing the preparedness for fighting a two-front war.
Confirming the change, a senior Army officer said, “We have been mandated to enhance our critical stocks to 15 (I) levels instead of 10 (I).”
It will take some time, however, to raising the reserves to the required levels as a number of items will have to be procured from the international market.
The armed forces keep an ever-ready stock of weapons and ammunitions, War Wastage Reserve (WWR), for an all-out ‘intense’ war. Lt-Gen (Retd) VK Chaturvedi said at one point of time, the forces had to stock weapons and ammunitions for 40 days, which was later changed to 10 days owing to storage issues and also changing nature of war.
However, a review was initiated by former defence minister Manohar Parrikar. “Post-Uri attack, WWR audit was done under Parrikar to spruce up the stock to the right level,” Lt Gen Chaturvedi.
“With time, indigenous manufacturing of ammunition has also improved along with the storage capability.”
The WWR is decided as per the experience of the previous wars and threat perceptions.