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New Delhi: Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane reported Sunday (May 10, 2020) that his force plans to introduce Integrated Battle Groups (IBGs) along the borders with China and Pakistan for rapid attacks in case of a war situation. Speaking to the PTI news agency, the General stated that a “bed test” had been completed for it, but the deployment has been delayed for the foreseeable future due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
“The deployment of IBGs has been delayed due to the outbreak of the pandemic and the need to divert critical resources towards containment efforts,” the army chief told PTI.
“However, I can assure you that we will deploy IBGs within the required timeframe as conceptual work has already been established and extensive testing has already been done prior to the outbreak,” he said.
An IBG is a mix of infantry, artillery, air defense, tank, and logistics units, as part of a change in combat capability.
Each IBG will be modeled based on specific operational requirements that will take into account the topography of the land and perceptions of threats. There will be at least 5,000 soldiers in each IBG led by a Major General.
However, he noted that there could be some disruptions to defense production and acquisition due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but he calls it a temporary phase. Indigenous manufacturing will be affected, he said, its magnitude will be much less.
In October 2019, prior to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India, the Indian Army had conducted the “Him Vijay” exercise in Arunachal Pradesh primarily to test these IBGs and test their effectiveness in combat situations in mountainous terrain .
All IBGs will be theater-specific, meaning a unit deployed in the deserts of Rajasthan will have teams and forces trained for desert warfare, while those deployed in the mountains will be adequately equipped and trained.
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