A Trial

Background

            Every equipment in the Army is introduced into Service only after User/Field Trials are conducted on them by the Field Army in all three terrains – the mountains, plains and the deserts. These trials are apart from the elaborate scientific laboratory trials by the DGQA. The tests that DGQA conduct are mind-boggling. To the manufacturers and suppliers of the equipment, it is, therefore, a nightmare. They test them in a temperature range from +50⁰C to -50⁰C, enclosing them in a hot chamber, in an ice chamber, sandblasting them, and so on and so forth for a specified number of days. The idea is that the general equipment has to withstand all terrains and all climatic conditions in which the Army operates. Field Army trials, on the other hand, are live, on the actual usage. All tests and trials are to meet the Qualitative Requirements (QR) as laid down.

The Case

            There was a ‘Nissan Carrier One Ton’, a truck in the Army those days. This was powered by a six-cylinder, 4000 cc Petrol engine, giving about 5 KMPL. It was manufactured by Vehicle Factory Jabalpur, under collaboration with Nissan. In the early '80s, AHQ wanted to modernise her engine. An engine offered by Hindustan Motors was shortlisted. This engine landed with my Battalion in the deserts for the desert trials in ‘84, after the trials in mountains and plains. I was tasked to conduct the time-bound trials. (It is important to note that all activities of the Field Army are time-bound). At this juncture, I must mention that one is not privy to the results of tests conducted by any other.

The Trial

            I picked a small team comprising vehicle mechanics, electricians and an expert desert driver and set about the task on a specified schedule. We fitted sand tyres and the new engine on a 1Ton and took her out into the deserts every now and then for conducting the trial. We drove her in the severest conditions of the desert. On the normally deserted desert roads, cross-country (off-road), over the sand dunes, over the roughest desert scrub, risking dry blind wells so common in our deserts. We drove at snail’s pace, drove at break-neck speeds. During the sudden desert rains, we scrambled and took the vehicle out, night or day. We took her out when the Sun was at his fiercest. We took her out at the dead of the night. We went for long-long drives. 

The Findings

            There was one aspect in our findings, which baffled us. The temperature gauge seemed to show an abnormally high degree. Any other engine could have burst at that high a temp. This one was cool, literally, putting a cucumber to shame! We checked, re-checked and checked again. No sweat for the engine or its behaviour. Then it became a challenge between the engine and us. We said, let’s see how high the temp can go. We drove for hours non-stop. The gauge went up and up, but the engine was impervious. The engine seemed to be laughing at us and independent of the temp gauge. At last, we surrendered. Our effort to burst the engine did not succeed. If it had, would I have been up for a court-martial, I do not know. I mean you can’t take certain things, personal.

The Report

            Overall trial completed, and I prepared my report. I especially highlighted the high temp as shown by the gauge and the indifference of the engine to it. I gave out the details of the trials and all the readings thereof, of the entire trial period, with all the charts and graphs. I recommended the engine to be introduced into Service.

The Missile

            Soon enough, a missile of a letter landed on my table, from the concerned section of the Army HQ. The letter asked me how I could recommend an engine which was overheating so much. The alacrity in the reaction of AHQ was a surprise. You see, AHQ being at a very high altitude, their response is ordinarily slow, like that of a sloth. Those who have applied for a favour from them know it well. In this case, they missed the whole point. The engine was NOT overheating; only the temp gauge was berserk!

            In my reply, I suggested that an expert on vehicles may be sent to experience the incongruity. And they did.

The Kill

            There is an organisation known as VRDE (Vehicle Research Development Establishment), at Ahmednagar. They are part of DRDO. We, the die-hard Field Army fellows, did not much care for DRDO, for, as far as we were concerned, they never delivered anything in time, if at all, worth the money sunk on them. Never mind what MOD says.

            A Bengali Scientific Officer, a junior ranked fellow, landed up one day. This is another thing. If they had to deal with me, a Major, they should have sent someone, of equivalent seniority. No, they think a junior chap from the civilian organisations of the MOD is good enough to deal with an Army Officer senior to him. Well, we welcomed him and gave him the appropriate accommodation, much to his chagrin. He thought, maybe, he would be accommodated in the Officers Mess! Perhaps he was briefed so and possibly about the hospitality of the Mess Bar as well. As if!

            I made a schedule for him to observe and study the engine’s behaviour in the deserts. He had an open time frame. No hurry and that was good. This fellow had never seen a desert, being in the cosy confines of laissez-faire offices. From such confines, they think they can dictate terms to us, who bear it all in the harshest of conditions.

            I decided not to go with him, as it was redundant. I briefed my team. They would take him and put him through the mill. In the Army, Officers and Jawans understand each other very well. We have a lot of bonhomie and camaraderie, even under all the command and control set up. My team read my unspoken words. Here was someone who had come with the intent to insult all the hard and genuine work we did.

            They took him out the next day, after breakfast. They spent the whole day, out in the open, in the blazing desert Sun. No break or rest, except for tea and lunch. They drove in all manners that put the jeebies in the scientist. They managed to include a puncture somewhere along. In our entire trial period, we had never had a puncture. They asked him to lend a hand in changing the sand-tyred wheel. He had to! They continued till dark and drove cross-country in the dark as we do in our exercises, without the headlights. Driving like that as we habitually do without bearings, can unnerve anyone. You feel totally directionless, which can disorient.

The Finale
            Next morning the scientist who walked into my office was a different one. Hair dishevelled, body bent at an angle backwards, the hip supported by a hand, face pale, lips dry and eyes hollow. Overall, he was a ghost. I took out his schedule for the day. Before I could spell it out, he said “Sir, I will sign wherever you want me to. I fully endorse your report. I would like to leave tomorrow”. Just about twelve hours in the desert and he died a dozen times. Do not distrust the experts in the Field.

Tailpiece: The iconic One Ton and her cousin, the very smart, high-powered, efficient, legendary and lovely Jonga (Nissan Patrol), made by VFJ again, with the same six-cylinder engine, soon vanished from the Army’s stable. The Jonga - an acronym for Jabalpur Ordnance and Gun carriage Assembly - was such a versatile Jeep that could make all others of the type, wimps. Till date, they have not found an appropriate replacement for this vehicle. That is her class! It is one of those One Tons that Dhoni bought recently but was publicised big time and wrongly as the Jonga, a huge shame. An example of how we have to suffer the insufferable media! Jonga was such a vehicle; it could even be driven up a tree!