Army's New Strike Force: First Commanders Take Charge of Integrated Battle Groups | EXCLUSIVE

New Delhi: For the first time, the Indian Army has posted Commanders for its newly raised fighting formations — the Integrated Battle Groups (IBGs). Sources confirmed to Times Now that four new General Officers Commanding (GoCs) of the newly operational Integrated Battle Groups, the IBG commanders and a Commander of the Fire Support Group (FSG) took charge on Wednesday. Two Major Generals were already functioning as division commanders. A Major General-rank officer will command the IBGs."There are a total of five IBGs and one FSG as part of the Brahmastra (17) Mountain Strike Corps, which have been operationalised as part of the larger plan to make the force modern, agile and future-ready," a source said. "Since the Mountain Strike Corps (MSC)

had two divisions with three brigades each under them, two IBGs have the GoCs of those divisions as their Commanders."The IBGs will also have a Brigadier-rank officer as Chief Operations Officer (COO) under the Commander, sources added. "In a normal division, a Brigadier-rank officer functions under the GoC and is called the Deputy GoC." A Corps in the Army is commanded by a Lieutenant General (Lt Gen).The newly operationalised offensive formations "are part of the transformation plan of the Indian Army to make its structure and organisation meet modern warfare requirements, shorten the decision-making loop, and reduce reaction time," sources said.These new raisings were operationalised after a major test-bedding exercise that has been ongoing since 2019. For now, the MSC will pilot these formations, with expansion to other formations planned only after long-term analysis."Operational efficacy is the sole goal expected from these formations. Only once they're found successful will more IBGs be raised in other formations, with tweaks based on threat, task and terrain," a source said.The IBGs will include elements from all arms of the Indian Army, enabling them to conduct offensive operations independently. "These formations will have troops from all arms, support arms and services, with manpower numbering between 5,000 and 6,000 personnel."They will draw elements from Infantry, Armoured, Artillery, Engineers, Signals, Air Defence and other arms and services, and will be ready to move within 12 to 48 hours of receiving an order — functioning as a self-contained, cohesive fighting formation. For comparison: a standard Indian Army Brigade comprises 3,000–3,500 troops, and a Division comprises 10,000–12,000 personnel.Apart from the five IBGs, the Fire Support Group will add firepower as per ground requirements and assigned tasks. "FSGs, also to be commanded by a Major General, will carry heavy, long-distance, precision-attack firepower to shift the balance during ground operations."