Indian Para-SF vs Pakistan’s SSG commandos – The comparisons are inevitable.
The Indian Para-SF has generally been praised for its agility and ability to penetrate deep into enemy territory and achieve challenging missions, while the Pakistani SSG, or Special Services Group, has been lauded as a battle-hardened unit that has demolished the staunchest of enemies.
On 29 September 2016, India announced that it conducted “surgical strikes” against terror launch pads across the Line of Control in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, and inflicted “significant casualties”.
Indian Army commandos, not the elite Para-SF, went 38 kilometers deep inside Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and claimed to have demolished seven terror launch pads and transit camps of militants. All were reportedly within two to three kilometers of the Line of Control (LoC). The surgical strikes were carried out in Bhimber, Hotspring, Tattapani, Kel, and Lipa sectors on Pakistan’s side of the LoC.
However, Pakistan also has a similar commando force, the SSG. The EurAsian Times compares the Indian Para-SF with the Pakistan SSG commandos and evaluates how the special forces of India and Pakistan match or mismatch each other.
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1) India’s Para Commandos (Para-SF)
The Para-SF heritage dates back to World War II, with the creation of the 50th Parachute Brigade in October 1941. 9 Para SF, raised in 1966 as the 9th Parachute Commando Battalion. The first para commando battalion was raised in 1966, and by 1968, it was split into two battalions: 9 Para (Special Forces / SF) and 10 Para.
According to the experts talking to the EurAsian Times, “9 Para was meant for Jammu and Kashmir, whereas 10 Para was meant for border operations in Rajasthan.”
The first test of the Para SF came with Operation Mandhol in the western sector during the 1971 war over Bangladesh. Pakistan had artillery guns positioned near Mandhol village in Poonch, and 9 Para SF were tasked with the mission to destroy them. The Indian elite commandos carried out the operation, completing it in less than 24 hours.
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The 2015 Myanmar operation was carried out by 21 Special Forces, set up in the 1990s from the 21st battalion of the Maratha regiment.
Training of Indian Para SF
The initial training to become a Para SF commando is 3.5 years, the longest anywhere, but the training is also a continuous process. In the Special Forces, members receive both basic and advanced training.
They are taught specialized modes of infiltration and exfiltration, either by air (combat freefall) or sea (combat diving). Some trainees return to PTS to undergo the free-fall course, which requires at least 50 jumps from altitudes up to 33,500 feet (10,200 meters) to pass. Both High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) and High Altitude High Opening (HAHO) techniques are learned.
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The Parachute Regiment presently has nine Special Forces, five Airborne, two Territorial Army, and one Counter-Insurgency (Rashtriya Rifles) battalions in its fold. The initial phase is a three-month probationary training period with a physical fitness and aptitude test, and it is so rigorous that more than 80% of applicants drop out.
Those who successfully complete the test are subjected to a five-week-long process called ‘hell week’ where commandos are put through extreme sleep deprivation coupled with the most difficult physical tasks, like shooting a target 25 meters away with a man standing next to it. These commandos are even capable of firing while lying down, standing, running full-sprint, even backward, and looking into a mirror – with a reaction time of 0.27 seconds.
The para commandos are being trained with almost every type of infantry weapon required for particular missions: from high-end automatic pistols to assault rifles like small arms guns, machine guns, sniper rifles, rocket launchers, etc.
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Pakistan’s SSG and SNG
The Pakistan Army Special Service Group (SSG), also called the Maroon Berets, is the special operations force of the Pakistan Army tasked with their five primary missions: foreign internal defense, reconnaissance, direct actions, counter-terrorism, and unconventional warfare– their most important mission.
The Special Services Group (SSG) boasts of proven combat experiences in Yemen, India, and Afghanistan. In 2010, 300 commandos of the SSG assisted Saudi Arabia and Yemen in combating the Houthis in the region.
In October 2009, SSG commandos stormed an office building and rescued 39 people taken hostage by suspected Taliban militants after an attack on the army’s headquarters.
The Special Service Group Navy of Pakistan performs some of the country’s most secret missions. The members of the group are regularly sent to the US Navy SEALs for training. With a dropout rate of 80-90 percent, the group has one of the most stringent training routines in the world.
Training of SSG
The training courses in the Pakistani SSG emphasize strong physical conditioning and mental fitness, including a strategic-thinking quiz and a 36-mile march in 12 hours.
The curriculum of the basic military training course included mastery of Judo and Karate, special weapons training, military navigation, and handling and disarming of chemical explosives, as well as survival skills training.
There are schools of special warfare that trainee soldiers choose from: Snow and High Altitude School, Mountain Warfare School, Airborne Warfare School, Desert Warfare School, Sniper School, and Frogman School.
These schools offer advanced training courses that run for an additional 25–30 weeks, and only personnel who have successfully passed out are awarded badges in their specialized fields by their respective school faculty. The dropout rate in the SSG (Army) is 85 to 90 percent due to the extremely rigorous training process.
The SSG has equipped itself with the latest and most advanced weapons. It has a wide array of tools to suit its needs. It includes the famed Heckler and Koch submachine guns, sniper weapons, G3S, and Finnish Tikka bolt actions. Pistols in use are Austrian 9mm Glock 15, the Beretta M9 (M92F), the SIG Pro 226, apart from the latest FN-Herstal P90 SMG – reserved for very high-risk applications.
Verdict: SSG vs Para-SF
There is no official agency or ranking system that can compare the Indian Para SF with the Pakistani SSG commandos. Neither the special forces have really come face-to-face, unless in covert operations, which are unknown to the EurAsian Times.
Based on secondary research by the EurAsian Times, the general consensus is that the Indian Para-SF are elite, well-trained, highly motivated, and heavily equipped commandos who undergo one of the world’s hardest training programs. The raw energy, determination, and fearlessness of the Para-SF are incomparable.
The Pakistan SSG commandos demonstrate raw energy, fearlessness, and a brute approach. The SSG commandos, however, are definitely more battle-hardened than the ParaSF and see a lot of action, while the Indian commandos are unquestionably better trained and equipped but see very little action, despite being used in Kashmir for counter-insurgency operations.
Guest Post By Syed Shafiq, Pakistan
