Maj Gen J.S. Kataria (retd), YSM

The Indian government appointed Gen. Bipin Rawat as the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS ) on 30 December 2020 to head the newly created Department of Military Affairs (DMA). The DMA is designed to coordinate long-term planning, procurement and joint training. It is perceived that  the mandate given to the DMA would enhance jointmanship amongst the three services. The integration of logistics and its amalgamation with the  emerging technology is considered a low hanging fruit for the DMA. A well-knit logistics network would result in saving of critical resources, improve the teeth-to-tail ratio and enhance operational readiness.
India has vast borders with varied terrain.

In the north, exists the Line of Actual Control (LAC ) with China, extending to 3,439 km. In the east, a border of 1,643 km and 4,096 km exists with Myanmar and Bangladesh respectively. To the west, India has 3,323 km of border with Pakistan, inclusive of 1,085 km of Line of Control (LC) in Jammu and Kashmir. There is a long coastline of 7,516 km to the south and west, inclusive of Andaman and Lakshadweep Islands territory. The vastness, coupled with the distances, hostile climatic conditions and under developed state of infrastructure along our borders pose multifarious challenges for the planning and execution of logistics.

Military Facets

Military logistics encompasses planning, procurement, transportation and provision. The current logistics system of our defence forces is a legacy of the past. The adoption of technology to keep in sync with the fast-changing dynamics of the emerging battlefields of future has been slow and tardy. The inventory automation lacks rear and forward linking which leads to lack of complete visibility of logistics functions. This has resulted in our continued dependence on the archaic Push Model rather than the Realtime Response Model.

The weapon