In order to enhance the combat capability of the force to optimise budget expenditure, facilitate force modernisation, and address aspirations a new Integrated Battle Groups (IBGs), in the newly raised 17 crops has been raised. The overall transformation saw a reduction in the size of the 1.3 million Army by about a lakh over 4–5 years. The need for the IBG was first acknowledged by Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat in January 2007.
The army has done a few exercises, as to what should be the organisation and structure. The drill was done by the country’s first Mountain Strike Corps. A mega exercise ‘Him Vijay’ was carried out by the 17 corps at a height of around 15,000 feet in Arunachal Pradesh in October last year. India shares nearly 4,000-km-long border with China in the north. In 2017, a 73-day standoff in Doklam was witnessed between the troops of India and China because Indian army stopped the construction of a road in the area by the Chinese Army. Each IBG would be tailor-made based on Threat, Terrain, and Task (3Ts), and resources will be allotted based on the three Ts. The initial IBG’s were deployed along the Pakistan border. Thereafter, they could move along the border with China.
The transformation of the force would include the following:
* restructuring of army headquarters;
* creation of integrated battle groups (IBG);
* the cadre review of officers; and
* review of the terms and conditions of junior commissioned officers and other ranks.
The Cold Start Doctrine
The Cold Start doctrine was put into effect following the failure of the Indian Army to mobilise quickly in response to the December 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament.
In Operation Parakram, it took three long weeks for the Indian military to move 500,000 troops and three armoured divisions along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir. The delay allowed the Pakistan Army to mobilise 300,000 troops, including its own two-strike corps—the Army Reserve North and Army Reserve South—to the contested border.
Lacking strategic surprise, the Indian military withdrew after a 10-month standoff, attributing it to their lack of offensive capability. The creation of the integrated battle groups marks the acceptance of the doctrine.
About Integrated Battle Groups (IBGs)
Integrated battle groups are brigade-sized, agile, self-sufficient combat formations, which can swiftly launch strikes against adversary in case of hostilities. These are battle formations with heavy firepower that combines infantry, armour, artillery, engineers, logistics, and support units to bring together all necessities to fight a war. They are light, low on logistics, and are able to mobilise within 12–48 hours based on the location.
The IBGs will be smaller (having about six battalions), better-equipped fighting units, with elements of air power, artillery, armour, etc., for a swift response. The establishment of these groups will do away with the older formation of troops, which included around eight to ten brigades, each with three to four battalions. However, now, the size of the IBGs falls in between an undersized Army division and brigade (2,400–3,200 troops) in terms of manpower. (A division on average has a strength of around 20,000 troops.) Moreover, an IBG operating in a desert needs to be constituted differently from an IBG operating in mountains.
Thus, the IBGs are more flexible and allow for faster mobilisation of troops—within 12–48 hours, based on the location. IBGs are commanded by officers of the rank of a Major General.
The groups are defensive as well as offensive. While the offensive IBGs would quickly mobilise and launch strikes into enemy territory, defensive IBGs defend vulnerable points where enemy action is expected.
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