Army has to sustain equipment readiness at high level:Minister

"Modern Army's equipment readiness has to be always sustained at high levels, in order to meet the demands of a complex and uncertain operating environment," he said at a seminar here.

The Minister was addressing an international seminar on 'Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) in Land Systems: A 21st Century Perspective for Army'.

Singh said maintenance of capital equipment is a critical activity.

"The armed forces need to improve both the efficiency and the effectiveness of their MRO function immensely. Doing this would require fundamental changes to organisation, processes and mindsets," he said.

Singh said by making MRO services available closer to the front line, "the armed forces can reduce redundancy, minimise transportation requirements, maximise economies of scale and improve asset availability."

He said that once efficient MRO processes have been designed and implemented, "the organization must adhere to these processes and seek to improve them in the face of emerging knowledge and changing demand."

The seminar was organised by the Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (EME) and was attended by Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh and a host of senior officials.