Army eyes cold weather tents for LAC troops

LEH: With over 30,000 additional troops being deployed in the Ladakh sector to counter the Chinese aggression, the Indian Army is going to place emergency orders for extreme cold weather tents for soldiers on the border.
The need for the tents is being felt as the deployment on the LAC is expected to be prolonged as the senior armed forces officers feel that the stand-off is likely to continue till at least September-October. “Even if the Chinese withdraw from the locations, we cannot take chances for the future as well. The guard will always have to be up and that is why we are going to place orders for thousands of tents for extreme cold weather survival in Eastern Ladakh,” a top Army source said.
“All along the border, apart from weaponry and ammunition, the major focus of our emergency procurement would be on providing for habitat for soldiers,” the source added. The Chinese have already started pitching in their special winter tents and the Indian side, which has similar tents and structures in Siachen, has used some of these in Ladakh but the need is for a large number of these tents, the sources said. The force is looking at both Indian and European markets for such tents as it wants to procure them before the extreme cold weather sets in, they said