New Delhi: With cyber warfare a key focus, especially with China and Pakistan investing heavily in it, the Army has decided to raise Command Cyber Operations and Support Wings (CCOSW) to help the forces counter enemy capabilities.
The Army has also decided to nominate Lead Directorates and ‘Test Bed’ formations within itself to absorb and validate niche technologies like loitering munitions, swarm drones and electronic warfare, among others.
These were among the key decisions taken by Army commanders during their annual conference held from 17-21 April. The conference saw Army commanders conduct a full review of security preparedness along the borders with Pakistan and China, besides deciding on key issues related to shaping the Army for the future.
A statement released by the Army Thursday said with rapid migration towards net centricity, which entails an increased reliance on modern communication systems, the forum reviewed the requirement to safeguard networks and decided to operationalise CCOSW in the immediate future.
This, sources in the defence establishment say, was necessary because cyberspace has emerged as an important component of the military domain, both in grey zone warfare as well as conventional operations.
”The expansion of cyber warfare capabilities by our adversaries has made the cyber domain more competitive and contested than ever before. The Indian Army today is rapidly migrating towards net centricity, which entails an increased reliance on modern communication systems at all levels,” one source tells ThePrint.
Sources add that the CCOSW will assist formations to undertake mandated cyber security functions to strengthen the Army’s cyber security posture.
The Army in its statement also said that to augment the capabilities of the forces by absorption of niche technologies and equipment, it was decided to nominate Lead Directorates and ‘Test Bed’ Formations to evolve optimal employment philosophies and scaling to facilitate better exploitation pan Army.
Sources explain that a large number and variety of niche tech-enabled equipment are being inducted into the Indian Army. These include a variety of tactical/mini/micro/logistics drones or UAVs, drone swarms, loitering weapons systems, and electronic warfare and anti-drone equipment, among others.
“Owing to the emergent induction of these capabilities, force structures are required to optimally exploit them,” says the source quoted earlier.
Another key change decided upon related to the technical entry scheme for officers.
Currently, a five-year Technical Entry Scheme (TES) model exists for officers’ entry to the Army as BTech graduates. As part of this model introduced in 1999, one-year military training is imparted to these recruits at the Officers Training Academy (OTA), Gaya.
Thereafter, a three-year BTech degree is imparted to them at the Cadet Training Wings (CTWs), followed by one year at the three Engineering Colleges of the Indian Army, namely the College of Military Engineering (CME) in Pune, the Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE) in Mhow and the Military College of Mechanical & Electronics Engineering (MCEME) in Secunderabad.
It has now been decided to institute a four-year (3+1 model), with three years of training focused on technical training at the Cadet Training Wings (CTWs), followed by one year of basic military training at the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Dehradun.
A decision has also been made to provide a significant push to simulator training through procurement of 435 simulators at an estimated cost of Rs 791 crores later this year.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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