Indian military leaders have noted how the Chinese successfully used tunnel defenses against the Japanese forces during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Even as de-escalation talks continue, it appears that the Indian Army is also continuing to dig in—but whether such fortifications will prove useful in a shooting war is another issue. The remote plains of the Ladakh Valley have been described as excellent tank country and the tunnels could be easily flanked like the Maginot Line on the French border with Germany.
After dismissing the news that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) employed microwave energy weapons against the troops stationed near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) earlier this year, the Indian Army announced that it has begun to employ “tunnel defenses” to pre-empt any “transgression” from the Chinese forces.
It was August 29–30 that Indian Army soldiers along with Special Front Force personnel occupied the position at the LAC south of Pangong Tso lake on the Kailash Range ridgeline for the first time since 1962. Despite some claims that the PLA used the microwave energy weapons to drive off the Indian forces, the Indian Army maintains that it not only has maintained its presence at that forward position, but it has taken a page from the Chinese military playbook by digging in.
The Hindustan Times reported that Indian military leaders have noted how the Chinese successfully used tunnel defenses against the Japanese forces during the Second Sino-Japanese War, while also how the Vietcong utilized similar tactics against American forces during the Second Indo-China War (Vietnam War). Tunneling efforts were also employed by the Japanese on Iwo Jima and other islands, while the North Koreans also used tunnels during the Korean War and has continued to build up its Tunnels of Aggression, which feature electrical lighting, weapon-storage and sleeping accommodations.
The PLA has also built tunnel shelters to house aircraft at Lhasa airbase and underground pens to house nuclear ballistic missile submarines in the Hainan Islands in...Even as de-escalation talks continue, it appears that the Indian Army is also continuing to dig in—but whether such fortifications will prove useful in a shooting war is another issue. The remote plains of the Ladakh Valley have been described as excellent tank country and the tunnels could be easily flanked like the Maginot Line on the French border with Germany.
After dismissing the news that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) employed microwave energy weapons against the troops stationed near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) earlier this year, the Indian Army announced that it has begun to employ “tunnel defenses” to pre-empt any “transgression” from the Chinese forces.
It was August 29–30 that Indian Army soldiers along with Special Front Force personnel occupied the position at the LAC south of Pangong Tso lake on the Kailash Range ridgeline for the first time since 1962. Despite some claims that the PLA used the microwave energy weapons to drive off the Indian forces, the Indian Army maintains that it not only has maintained its presence at that forward position, but it has taken a page from the Chinese military playbook by digging in.
The Hindustan Times reported that Indian military leaders have noted how the Chinese successfully used tunnel defenses against the Japanese forces during the Second Sino-Japanese War, while also how the Vietcong utilized similar tactics against American forces during the Second Indo-China War (Vietnam War). Tunneling efforts were also employed by the Japanese on Iwo Jima and other islands, while the North Koreans also used tunnels during the Korean War and has continued to build up its Tunnels of Aggression, which feature electrical lighting, weapon-storage and sleeping accommodations.
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The PLA has also built tunnel shelters to house aircraft at Lhasa airbase and underground pens to house nuclear ballistic missile submarines in the Hainan Islands in...
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1 comment:
The real issue with the Maginot Line was that it could be bypassed. If India keeps this in mind and either builds enough fortifications to not leave an exposed flank or more importantly only considers these as hardened redoubts to protect personnel from the microwave attacks that China is using BEFORE they actually attack, it may not be a bad idea. Worst case is it wastes labor and money.
It definitely should not be considered a defense all of its own, however. Trench warfare has been superseded by maneuver-although note that it didn't totally eliminate the fox hole and the bunker.
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