Army to have Apache attack choppers in Mountain Strike Corps on China border

would involve raising of around 50,000 troops for it.

The new corps may have the Apache attack choppers as the Defence Ministry has given permission to the Army for having a separate case for procuring the American-manufactured helicopters,sources told PTI here.

The Army and the IAF were engaged in a tussle for control

over the attack helicopter fleet in which the government

decided in favour of the former.

The two forces then contested for the 22 Apache attack

choppers being procured from the US by the IAF but the Defence Ministry decided that they would remain with the IAF and the future assets would be given to the Army.

The government has given permission to the Army for

pursuing a separate Foreign Military Sales-route procurement on the issue,they said.

Under the plans,the new strike corps will have two

Mountain Infantry divisions including around 18 infantry

battalions along with independent brigades of artillery,air

defence and elements of combat engineers and mechanised

forces. The corps will take around six years to be raised along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and new formations would be raised from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh.