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Better late than never. The Indian army can finally march on its own software. The Defence Research and Development Organisation and the Indian Army are developing PC-based war games to train officers and men for battle situations.

Lieutenant General Vijay Oberoi, general officer commanding-in-chief, Army Training Command, has said 'Shatranj', a software to train men at the battalion level, has been developed and commissioned.

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Also, very soon, another software, 'Sangram', would be at the disposal of the Army Training Command to train officers and men at the division level.

By next near a comprehensive war game at the core level would be used by training institutes of the army, he claimed.

The indigenous development of these technologies would help the army cut costs because the officers and men directly learn on computers, reducing dependence on field exercises and training that involve expensive equipment.

Oberoi claimed that the army and the DRDO have put in extensive research for developing these war games that give the cadet a feel of the real battlefield.

"Tomorrow's war will be an IT war," he declared. "The army has already undertaken an extensive computerisation programme that is being carried out in a phased manner."

He said that the aim for the next millennium is to make all officers and men computer literate. Another initiative of the army is to build an intranet, interconnecting all its establishments and camps in the country.

Oberoi said that the defence services might also jointly own a satellite. Recently there have been talks regarding this with the Indian Space Research Organisation.

Oberoi, who is also a colonel of the Maratha Light Infantry Regiment, was in Belgaum to attend the 11th Post-War Reunion Ceremony at the Maratha Light Infantry Regimental Centre.

UNI

Earlier:

• The Thinking Soldier
  General Ved Prakash Malik is breaking a tradition of tech isolation. The IT industry can now do army hacks.

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