Srinagar, Aug 25: The paramilitary Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) received a shot in the arm as two new and sophisticated vehicles are being inducted for operational purposes.
The vehicles are Wheeled Armoured Amphibious Platform (WhAP) and Critical Situation Response Vehicles (CSRV).
These vehicles would be provided gradually to CRPF battalions deployed in Kashmir.
Besides law and order situation, CRPF has been actively carrying out anti-terror operations in Union Territory,
WhAP VEHICLE
The sophisticated WhAP vehicle is capable of operating on land and also in marsh areas and streams using their water jets.
The 8X8 vehicle has been jointly built by TATA and DRDO and can carry 12 equipped soldiers, including the driver.
Weighing about 25 tons, the WhAP is powered by a Cummins ISX 600 engine developing 600hp.
“The introduction of this vehicle should allow the CRPF to have a modern combat vehicle,” a senior CRPF officer said.
The armoured vehicle developed by Tata and the DRDO with the support of the British firm SUPACAT has carried out a series of tests over the past year across the country and more particularly in the region of Ladakh in which the LAC (Line of Actual Control) marking the border between China and India is located.
CSRV VEHICLE
The CSRV can accommodate at least three commandos and be raised to reach the upper floors of a building while shielding them in counter-terror operations in urban areas of Kashmir.
The hard armour at CSRV’s front can also be used to break walls and provide an entry into a building for security personnel.
Presently, CRPF officials said they have two CSRVs and one of them was used in Pulwama during an encounter last time where two terrorists refused to surrender and continued to fire indiscriminately at the security forces.
The two were hiding in a Masjid and were also allegedly involved in the killing of two migrant workers last year.
The vehicle is provided with a hydro-pneumatic hammer for ramming and breaching the compound boundary wall structure.
It also helps in the demolition of any obstruction like tin sheet boundary at perimeters.
The armoured platform at the front of a CSRV accommodates armed soldiers to engage any target.
“The platform can be raised or elevated with hydraulic power to provide an aerial view to the soldiers to effectively engage the enemy,” CRPF officials said here. “Raising a platform before engaging a target helps at times when they find it unsafe to enter a building from the ground floor.”
Officers said that it was a force multiplier.
“The government has focused a lot on the modernisation of weapons and other devices for the force. We now have some of the best gadgets,” they said.
Meanwhile, CRPF is organising the demo of these two vehicles on Saturday in a CRPF location at Letpora in Pulwama district of south Kashmir.
