Ex-officer says Indian Army facing ammo shortage in event of war with Pakistan very worrying

Retired major general S. R. Sinho has expressed concern of the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) warning that Indian armed forces could run out of ammunitions if intense fighting with Pakistan or any other neighbouring country were to take place in the immediate future.

"There has been an article which has come out in the press saying that if there is any intense fighting with Pakistan or neighbouring countries, we will run short of ammunitions", said Major General (retired) Sinho.

"If there is an intense war with Pakistan, India would be left with just 15-20 days' ammunition (heavy weapons bombs, like motor bombs, aircraft bombs, etc). In the Kargil War (1999), this is exactly what had happened. India felt that its lazer bombs used for accurate firing from aircrafts were quickly depleting. These bombs are highly technical and not produced in large numbers and cannot be retained for

a long time. If there is no war for twenty years, these heavy bombs, RTE bombshells and tanks will get damaged and will have to be allowed to go to waste as part of training. In such a situation, our country can feel the shortage of ammunition", Sinho told ANI.

In its report critical of India's defence sector, CAG brought out a report on ammunition management that pointed out that the army faced a massive ammunition shortage with reserves that would barely last twenty days of intense fighting. The army needs to build up its war wastage reserves for more number of days.