Army Vice Chief cites need for integrated national logistics network

In a speech at a seminar, Vice Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General CP Mohanty said India needs to have a national logistics network, combining civilian and military resources, to deal with any crisis situation in the future effectively. Expressing his views on operation logistics, Mohanty said the entire operation has to be networked to connect frontline soldiers and all service providers with a click of a button. In order to do so, the operations have to be modelled on telemarketing on the lines of Amazon, Flipkart, Big Basket, among others, said Mohanty. The Army Vice Chief also emphasised on the use of the best technologies to enhance India's military capabilities to confront various challenges, including along the western and northern borders. Mohanty said the incorporation of automation to reduce inventory, artificial intelligence for better predictive maintenance, blockchain for more efficient logistics supply chain management, fuel cells for energy management are some of the issues that are being looked at. He said a frontline commander in the thick of a battle could not afford to contact multiple service providers. According to Mohanty, all services such as food, fuel, warlike stores, weapons, ammunition, casualty evacuation, medical services, repair and recovery of vehicles and equipment have to be integrated into one large web. It would involve multiple warehousing facilities, transportation by land, air and water, workshops, hospitals with round-the-clock transparency, said Mohanty. He stated the requirement of nurturing jointness and integration, particularly in the evolution of joint logistics structures, has been accorded priority. Image SourceAlso Read: Covid logistics: Inox Air Products joins Railways in oxygen Ro-RoAlso Read: Trends this year in logistics and supply chain