NSG Plans two Ultramodern Commando Units of Black Cats

December 28, 2011

The National Security Guard (NSG)

Set up in 1984
India’s federal contingency deployment force mainly to tackle terrorism situations, which were beyond the control of state police and other central police forces.
Known as Black Cat commandos
NSG is a task-oriented force and is meant for use only in exceptional conditions.

In the beginning, the NSG was trained to handle anti-hijack and rescue operations in hostage situations. It was supposed to provide support to the central paramilitary forces in dealing with anti-terrorist activities. In 1986-87, it was also entrusted with VVIP security, anti-sabotage checks at venues of VVIP public meetings and anti-hijack duties in domestic and international flights. Many NSG personnel are seconded to the Special Protection Group (SPG) which guards the Prime Minister. It is also deployed in bomb detection and disposal and it is responsible for collecting data on bomb explosions in the country.

Organization structure

NSG operates under the oversight of the home ministry and it is headed by a director general level official from the Indian Police Service. It is mainly divided into two groups — Special Action Group (SAG) and Special Rangers Group (SRG). SAG draws its members from the Indian Army and it is the offensive wing of NSG. SRG, on the other hand, draws its member from central police organisations and is primarily used in a supportive role to the SAG. As physical fitness is a very important criterion, the NSG always maintains a young profile. All NSG commandos work on deputation. After serving for 3 to 5 years, they are sent back to their parent organisations.

Training Center

The NSG training centre is located at Manesar in Gurgaon, Haryana. Basic training course lasts for 90 days and only those who complete the entire course successfully are induced into the NSG. Apart from the recent Mumbai terror attacks, the NSG since its inception has been involved in several high-profile operations. The NSG carried out two operations — Black Thunder I & II — to clear the Golden temple of Khalistani militants in 1986 and 1988.

During Operation Ashwamedh, which was conducted in 1994, it released 141 passengers of a hijacked Indian Airlines Boeing 737 at Amritsar airport by storming the plane and killing the hijacker. In the 2002 Akshardham Temple attack by terrorists, NSG ended the siege and rescued 50 people who were trapped in the temple. Apart from this, the elite force has been involved in several operations undertaken in J&K, which range from rescue in hostage situations to conducting pro-active strikes against militants.

Inspired by the US Navy Seal’s Operation Neptune Spear
to eliminate Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, National Security Guard (NSG) of India plans to raise two ultramodern commando units of around 1,600 personnel within the next five years.

Here is what these ultramodern black cat commandos will have:

Modern armour, thermal imaging, lightweight bullet-proof Jacket, fire resistant overall and night-vision devices.
Body wearable computers to process data available from scene of action to the command centre and back
Modern communication system including GPS to receive direct command from leader and send back for network operation capability
Highly nutritious food to survive for 48 hours in isolation.
High precision and light weight weapons for varying ranges, including guns that can shot around corners.

This hi-tech kit adds 10-15kg to the commando’s weight. It has been reported that first batch of NSG’s two ultra-modern commando units has already started receiving training at Manesar
^{Training center of NSG}. Government might have to spend between Rs 3 crore and Rs 4 crore for a group of 6-7 commandos.

Offensive Training Pekiti-Tirsia Kali

Please note that some commando will get “Pekiti-Tirsia Kali“, which is a new form of martial art from Philippines. Presently, our commandos are trained to be both defensive and to go offensive. But in this form of martial arts, there is no defence as compared to judo or karate. It is only offence and the commando aims to eliminate the opponent from the word go. Even the defensive move is in the form of attack.

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