Joint defence operations during Operation Sindoor were only a “glimpse” of how India’s future theatre commands will function, according to Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, who on Friday noted that theatreisation will be the country’s most important defence reform.
Addressing ANI’s National Security Summit in the national capital today, the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (CSIC) explained the need for theatre commands. “We have to understand why we are saying that theatreisation is the new reform we need, and why it is going to be the most important defence reform we are looking at. We are moving from jointness to integration, and now towards theatreisation,” he said.
The aim, he said, is to clearly divide responsibilities between force development and force application. “What we want to achieve is a clear segregation between force development and force application. Force development will become the responsibility of the service headquarters, and force application will become the responsibility of the theatre commander,” Air Marshal Dixit said.
He stressed that modern warfare now spans multiple domains, including cognitive warfare, cyber and space, which need to be brought together under a theatre concept. “This is needed because warfare now takes place across multiple domains and multiple fronts. You need the capability of each service or each vector to be used at the same time and in a planned manner… All of this has to be brought together, and that can only be done through the theatre concept,” the CSIC Air Marshal Dixit said.
He added that the Indian Air Force will continue to operate in its domain, but operations will be far better integrated. “The roles and missions it performs will continue, but everything will be much better integrated with the land and naval domains, as well as cyber. The effect of each strike or mission will be much greater.”
Speaking about Operation Sindoor, the CSIC said the joint functioning of the CDS and the three service chiefs during the operation showed only the beginning of what theatre commands will eventually deliver. “There will be a theatre ops room where all information will come in. The theatre commander will be able to take decisions based on it… What you saw during Sindoor was only a glimpse, and it was possible because we have been working on integration and jointness for the last four to five years,” Air Marshal Dixit said.
Air Marshal Dixit said he also spoke about the importance of creating asymmetry in future conflicts. “To understand asymmetry, you have to see how wars are won. To win any war, you have to create asymmetry… In the 1971 war, the Tangail paradrop created a huge asymmetry,” he said.
He added that traditional domains like land and sea are now largely matched between major powers, and asymmetry will come from new domains and better integration. “One way is through integration. The way we integrate land with the Air Force, or the Air Force with cyber–this is how we will create asymmetry. If we create asymmetry earlier than the adversary, we will win.”
(With inputs from ANI)
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