What are Integrated Battle Groups? – Burning Issues – Free PDF Download

INTRODUCTION

•  Preparing for the changing character of warfare across the world, the Indian Army will be ready with more than a dozen Integrated Battle Groups
• However due to COVID-19, Government delayed the Integrated Battle Group idea but now Army Chief said IBG will soon be operational

COLD-START DOCTRINE

•  In recent years, India has increasingly made its ‘Cold Start’ doctrine public, and the strategy assumes significance in the backdrop of the terror attacks at Uri and Pulwama.
• In 2017, Indian Army Chief Bipin Rawat had acknowledged in an interview the existence of the ‘Cold Start’ military doctrine, which is essentially a limited-war strategy designed to launch a strategic counter-attack in Pakistani territory swiftly without, in theory, risking a nuclear escalation.

THAT’S WHY INTEGRATED BATTLE GROUP

• China and Pakistan are both nuclear states. Pakistan as a policy has enunciated that it will use nuclear weapons the moment India threaten its green belt or its nuclear arsenals or if it feels that Pakistan is going to suffer major losses during a war.
• Therefore, it is important for India to not breech Pakistan’s nuclear threshold during war. It is for this reason that the concept of IBG is being formulated.

INTEGRATED BATTLE GROUP

• IBGs are brigade-sized, agile, self-sufficient combat formations, which can swiftly launch strikes against an adversary in case of hostilities.
• Each IBG will be headed by a Major General and comprise around 5,000 troops.
• They will be able to mobilise within 12-48 hours based on the location.
• The size of these battle groups will be bigger than a Brigade and smaller than a Division.

CURRENT SITUATION

• The various corps are equipped and organized to constitute ‘strike corps’ for offensive role and ‘holding corps’ to maintain territorial integrity of own international border.
• These units have a specific role while they are a part of a particular formation (strike/ holding) Their roles varies with time and during operations, they are grouped together. Hence, their integration and synergy may fall short of the expectations
• Further, it was observed during OP Parakram, when India planned to launch an offensive into Pakistan after the terrorist attack on Parliament on 13 December 2001 that it took more than two weeks of time to mobilize and reorganize troops into battle groups for launching across the border.

•  THE IBGS WILL HAVE BOTH OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE ROLES.

2 IBG CONFIGURATION: OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS

• The configuration for offensive roles will have a high quantity of mechanised elements such as tanks.
• Such elements ensure more power and manoeuvrability when punching through enemy lines.
• This configuration is likely to be for the army’s strike corps, which are used during offensive operations across the border.
• The army currently has four ‘strike corps’, mainly comprising of large numbers of tanks and artillery guns.

DEFENSIVE OPERATIONS

• The second configuration for defensive roles will have a higher number of infantry or troops, mainly due to the requirement of holding ground.
• This is likely to be used for the army’s 11 ‘holding corps’, which support the strike corps and defend territory.
• Such corps are smaller than a strike corps and have lesser mechanised elements.

TERRAIN AND THREAT SPECIFIC

• Terrain of India- Pakistan border vary from a hot desert in Rajasthan, Rivers in Punjab and Mountainous terrain in J&K. Different terrain have different threat, require different training and different equipment.
• The Army cannot have a one –size-fits-all formula. So IBGs will be terrain as well as threat specific

EFFECTIVENESS OF IBGS

•  Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India in October, the Indian Army carried out the “Him Vijay” exercise in Arunachal Pradesh primarily to test the effectiveness of the IBGs in mountain combat exercise

CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF

•  IBGs were first proposed in one of the four studies regarding the reorganisation of the Army, which was recommissioned in 2018 by now CDS Bipin Rawat
•  IBGs will also help CDS in reducing revenue expenditure of army and increasing productivity
• Indian has the second largest army in the world and their continuous dedication to serve the country and to constantly upgrade themselves will make them better day by day
• Integrated Battle Group is just another milestone in its journey.

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