Theatre command recommendations submitted; joint ops centre by May-end: CDS

Work underway to set up geospatial and communication agencies for the armed forces

Three sets of recommendations on reorganising the armed forces under integrated theatre commands have been submitted to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and a joint operations centre aimed at further enhancing jointness and integration is slated to be in place by the end of May, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan said on Monday.

 

At the Major General Samir Sinha Memorial Lecture, organised by the think tank United Service Institution in the national capital, the CDS spoke on ‘Jointness and Theatrisation: Key Challenges and Progress Made’.

 

“… The basic foundation of theatre commands will rest on the concepts of jointness and integration,” said the CDS, adding that the “time-consuming” task of ensuring both has been undertaken with particular focus over the past two and a half years.

 

The geographically defined integrated theatre commands, which will be the most significant military reform in India since Independence, will integrate units from the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force under a single commander, enhancing efficiency by unifying people, assets, infrastructure, and logistics across the three services. The plan includes three such formations: a China-focused northern theatre command, a Pakistan-focused western theatre command, and a maritime theatre command. For its part, China implemented major military reforms in 2015, transitioning from regional commands to a theatre-based structure.

 

“… Creation of theatre commands will lead to faster and more reforms in the armed forces, and we are not waiting for creation of theatre commands to usher in those reforms,” said the CDS, adding that work to expand the Defence Space Agency and the Defence Cyber Agency is already underway, while efforts to establish an organisation for cognitive warfare are also progressing, with the file having been moved and financial clearance secured.

 

The CDS also revealed that work is underway to establish a Defence Geospatial Agency and a Defence Communication Agency. “… Work on all these verticals is continuing in parallel,” he said.

 

A 2047 vision document unveiled by the government in March had included the planned creation of four new specialised tri-services organisations—a Defence Geospatial Agency, a Data Force, a Drone Force, and a Cognitive Warfare Action Force—as part of efforts to build capabilities in response to emerging threats.

 

“The geospatial agency will deal with intelligence, battlefield planning and positioning, navigation and timing capabilities. Analysis using artificial intelligence, cyber capabilities, and the provision of decision-support aids will come under the data force. The drone force will comprise platforms and systems such as the planned unmanned combat aerial vehicles, surveillance drones, swarm drones, and loitering munitions, while the cognitive warfare agency will be in charge of information warfare, countering disinformation and psychological operations, which came to the forefront during Operation Sindoor,” a defence source had told Business Standard at the time of the vision document’s release.