Indian Army's 'Rudra' all-arms brigades reflect change, not rehash

While building on earlier initiatives such as the Integrated Battle Group concept, experts emphasise that the shift should be recognised as a distinct evolution

The Indian Army’s reorganisation into new frontline formations — the ‘Rudra’ all-arms brigades, ‘Bhairav’ light commando battalions, and ‘Shaktibaan’ artillery regiments — marks the latest stage in a two-decade effort to reshape land warfare. This aims to shorten the interval between political decision-making and military action, and to respond to the “new normal” established by Operation Sindoor and doctrinal changes by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA). 

While building on earlier initiatives such as the Integrated Battle Group (IBG) concept, experts stress this is a distinct evolution — aligning force structure, technology, logistics, command and control, and doctrine to create an agile military able to operate across the spectrum of next-generation warfare. 

‘No Clear Frontier Remains’ 

Explaining the rationale for the new formations announced by Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Upendra Dwivedi on the 26th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas (July 26), Lt Gen Dushyant Singh (Retd), Director General (DG) of the Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), cites three drivers: post-Operation Sindoor, any act of terror will be treated as war, requiring 24/7 readiness; evolving operational concepts demand agility; and the western and northern fronts are more fluid, exemplified by Pakistan’s threat to place the Simla Agreement in abeyance. “The IBGs were intended for positional deployment, but taken together, these developments mean there is no longer a clearly defined frontier — even the depth is now vulnerable.” 

The DG CLAWS says the 1.15-million-strong Army is not entirely abandoning its deployment matrix. Instead, lessons from modern weapons and tactics — loitering munitions, guided artillery, electronic warfare, and drone-enabled intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) — used in the May 7 strikes on terrorist targets in Pakistan and subsequent engagements are being applied through the new formations. The ‘Rudra’ all-arms brigades will be formed by converting a number of existing Army formations — most of its current brigades being infantry — without the need for fresh recruitment, given the Army’s 250-plus brigades, each with over 3,000 soldiers. “The conversion to all-arms units — akin to combined arms brigades (CABs) in other militaries — will create self-contained formations integrating infantry, mechanised infantry, armour, artillery, air defence, engineers, special forces, UAVs, and logistics,” he explains. 

A former Army corps commander says combat elements such as air defence and electronic warfare are typically centrally organised and controlled, serving multiple formations, but the nature and tempo of modern warfare no longer allows them to converge only in combat. “‘Rudra’ brigades will give each formation a complement of these elements to fight independently in battle.” 

He adds that command and control will be streamlined: “A formation of more than 3,000–4,000 personnel is difficult to manage on a fast-paced battlefield, indicating that divisions are no longer the ideal size. A modern-day corps should ideally comprise agile IBGs for both offensive and defensive use,” He adds that the PLA, possibly learning from the United States Army’s experience with IBGs during the first Gulf War, adopted the CAB concept. “The four-year standoff along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, which began in early May 2020, revealed the greater agility of the PLA CABs.” 

The DG CLAWS explains that the Rudra formation is designed not just for swift responses to enemy aggression, but also to facilitate pre-emptive action. “During the December 2022 Yangtse clash in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang region, we knew the PLA was moving and deployed ahead. This created an impenetrable front,” he says. The ‘Rudra’ brigades and ‘Bhairav’ commando battalions will be ideally suited to such roles. He also underlines that the ‘Rudra’ brigades will be tailored for their areas of responsibility, depending on terrain, altitude and other factors. 

“The Army has been considering the IBG concept — proposed formations of roughly 3,000–4,000 soldiers, configured as combined forces of infantry, tanks, artillery, air defence, signals, engineers, and other supporting units — for over a decade now. The concept has been incrementally developed, tested and validated in field exercises,” says the former corps commander, adding, “At present, a few IBGs exist, but largely in name.” As of January 2025, the final government nod for the IBG project was still being sought. He notes that the ‘Rudra’ all-arms brigades represent a major and much-needed evolution of the IBG concept. The DG CLAWS shares this view, but stresses that the character of warfare has shifted considerably since the IBG’s inception, which was shaped by lessons from the 2001–2002 Operation Parakram standoff and revisited after the PLA’s introduction of CABs in 2017. “The current reorganisation incorporates many of the technological advances shaping contemporary warfare and expected to influence future conflicts.”

 

‘Kill Chain Compressed to Mere Minutes’

 

The DG CLAWS points out that the Ukraine–Russia war has seen the kill chain — the process of identifying, targeting, engaging, and destroying a threat — compressed from about half an hour to roughly three minutes. He stresses that the ‘Shaktibaan’ artillery regiments, along with ‘Divyastra’ surveillance and loitering munitions batteries, are all the more crucial amid accelerated military decision-making. One regiment typically fields 18 guns. 

 

“Faced with drone swarms, artillery must be more mobile than ever, necessitating embedded ISR,” he says.

 

‘Shock Troops for Greater Impact’ 

 

The DG CLAWS explains that the ‘Bhairav’ light commando battalions will bridge the gap between the elite Ghatak platoons — 20–30-soldier units within the army’s infantry battalions that act as force multipliers — and the ten Para (Special Forces) battalions. “The commando battalions will free the Para (Special Forces) for strategic tasks, while providing lower formation commanders with a faster, more readily available, yet near-equivalent option for greater impact — from neutralising terrorists to conducting behind-enemy-lines missions.”

 

The former corps commander estimates ‘Bhairav’ battalions at 200–300 personnel, versus 800-plus soldiers in a regular infantry battalion. While he recognises the advantage of their operating alongside the ‘Rudra’ brigades, he stresses, “The rationale behind this structural innovation requires more clarity in terms of their role and employment.”

 

The DG CLAWS sees the reorganisation as part of the Army’s Decade of Transformation (2023–2032). “Reorientation has been ongoing, or the effects during Operation Sindoor wouldn’t have been seen. Implementation is now being accelerated, with the COAS providing clear direction for the process.” He cites emergency procurement powers — with a tranche of up to Rs 40,000 crore cleared for the three branches after the May 10 pause on Operation Sindoor — and higher budget utilisation as key enablers.

 

At least one report states that two Rudra brigades are set to become operational in the coming months. With momentum building, the former corps commander says the Army’s broader reorganisation is inevitable as India’s military doctrine adapts to the demands of the modern battlefield. “Better assessments of resource availability may be needed to implement these changes, and the overall philosophy on force employment and desired battle effects may also require fine-tuning.”