CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

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deejay
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by deejay »

ramana wrote:The PM has to impose the CDS on the military. No other way.
IAF has the max reluctance.
IAF's point is not entirely invalid given the small numbers of fighter squadron. It needs the ability to be cross functional across theaters to counter multi front action.

Now, I son't see why IAF cannot have a conditional agreement to this requirement say with a timeline of 2021 or 2025. As far as I see, Dhanoa Sir maybe making last of the IAF's stands against this move.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by ramana »

I agree Theater commands will highly reduce operational flexibility of IAF.

At same time the operational commands should have more bluntness. I think they are working on that.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by negi »

CDS is brainchild of someone who has no idea of how organization works ; integration of any separate entities has to happen organically for them to actually work in cohesion . I mean for a moment even if one assumes we have a CDS to whom all the 3 service chiefs report to in event of some military conflict the 3 services will act, respond and coordinate like the way they do it today CDS or not having a CDS will not make any difference for at most granular level nothing would have changed . However if you mean to actually achieve true tri service integration then lot of protocols and inter services communications will have to be established and fun part will begin when people will realize that there are simply too many redundancies to be removed before an effective tri services integration is to be achieved . Otherwise this non sense is just a project to find out some glamorous or dynamic jernail and appoint him to a post which is supposedly even higher than the service chiefs basically from national interests pov it is a sheer waste of time.

The right way to move forward is not to disrupt the system for the sake of it but instead ask the service chiefs to propose how can they better coordinate and work in synergy , what can they all bring to the table in terms of action plan for responding quickly to threats and coordinating things with relevant service arms . People cribbing here about the babus should realise that CDS in concept itself is nothing but installing a super babu.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by deejay »

@negi, afaik, the whole set up is being proposed, not just the chair.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by Aditya G »

If CDS has to happen, in any shape or form, then it can happen only in modi govt. Parrikar was sure about it but clearly this is difficult to accomplish.

In midst of this of this the question of theatre commands was raised which to me sounds like a way to derail the integration process.

I find the position taken by ACM dhanoa the most practical way to implement CDS
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by jayasimha »

something tells me that the day after CoNS Admiral Sunil Lanba who is current Chairman of the chiefs of staff committee (CoSC) retires,,

CDS will be appointed.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by pattnayak »

Image

Image

Seems there is some movement on the Aerospace, Cyber and Special Forces commands. Looks like we are taking baby steps, but steps none the less.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by Aditya G »

After notebandi and GST, one hopes that military reforms is the next set of deliverables from Modi govt.

Saikat Datta;

https://amp.scroll.in/article/845332/th ... it-succeed
On July 11, in a meeting of the commanders of the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force, the defence secretary let out a long held secret – that it was planning to tweak the existing military hierarchy to bring in new capabilities.

A briefly worded official statement promised a slew of measures that seemed to address the wars of the future. It said that the “defence secretary apprised the audience that the Defence Cyber and Space Agencies and Special Operations Division will soon become a reality”.

These measures seek to bring the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force under one roof, for better operational capabilities for the forces.

The integration of space and cyber warfare as separate divisions and a joint special operations unit is an idea that is at least 40 years too late. It is also one that should have been pushed through at the highest levels of the government, but has only found partial acceptance, even as India is seeing ties with Pakistan as well as China deteriorate.

Long-time coming
According to senior military sources, the decision to set these new structures up came from the National Security Advisor’s office, who had begun work on this soon after the attack on the Army base in Kashmir’s Uri, on September 18. The attack, in which 19 soldiers were killed, is believed to have been carried out by militants who crossed over to India from Pakistan.

While plans were afoot to respond to the Uri attacks, the government was also acutely aware that the Indian military was not prepared to fight modern-age battles and needed urgent reform. It had also been argued that terror attacks like the one in Uri could not be deterred by conventional means and India needed a sub-conventional capability.

The three vice chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force were asked to study these issues and prepare recommendations for the government. While reform of the higher defence management in India, including better coordination between the various divisions of the Armed Forces, has been recommended several times – from the Kargil Review Committee (1999) to the Naresh Chandra Task Force in 2012 – progress has been either tardy or non-existent. The result: an outdated military that has failed to integrate itself as a joint fighting force to fight modern battles.

According to sources, National Security Adivisor Ajit Doval took these lacunae up with the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and the then Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar. As the military headquarters pored over plans, past reports were dug up as reference points. The group came up with the recommendation to finally set up a joint special operations division along with dedicated space and cyber agencies.

For over a decade the need for such joint commands had been repeatedly raised by various quarters. However, inter-services rivalry ensured that these proposals never took off. As a senior military officer pointed out, “…integration of the Ministry of Defence was a key proposal of the Kargil Review Committee. However, resistance from the government, the bureaucracy and surprisingly, the military, never allowed these reforms to take place.”

A senior naval officer, who was part of the plans to set up these new divisions, said, “We are making a small beginning and hoping that this succeeds. There’s a lot of resistance that we still need to overcome”.

The military continues to oppose joint or theatre commands – unified commands of the Army, Navy and Air Force that allow integration and better synergy between the three services. “Let us look at our Eastern borders,” the senior naval officer pointed out. “The Army’s command sits in Kolkata, West Bengal, the Air Force in Shillong, Meghalaya and the Navy in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. How are we supposed to fight as a joint force?” Similar disorganisation exists on the Northern and Western fronts as well.

The tradition-bound Indian military can draw its lessons on the need for an integrated command from the US military, which learnt its lessons from a singular episode in its recent history. In 1980, when 52 US citizens were held hostage in Iran, President Jimmy Carter sanctioned an ambitious rescue plan. Code-named Operation Eagle Claw , the complex plan involved many forces coming together to land secretly 200 miles south of Tehran and rescue the hostages. The operation was a spectacular failure and led to a major reorganisation of the US military. The US Congress passed the Goldwater-Nichols Defense Reorganisation Act in 1986 and the Nunn-Cohen Amendment to the National Defense Authorisation Act 1987, that set up the Joint Special Operations Command, comprising special forces of the US Army, Navy and Air Force.

....
ramana
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by ramana »

I am reading FM Alan Broke War Diaries. He was CIGS during Worlod War II. He coordinated worldwide battles for Great Britain. He had no need for ADS.
Same with Gen George Marshal.
I think this CDS is fake battle by IA to restore primacy eroded by Congress party.

Capable generals to the top post is key.
Rest is all thunder. Not even lightning.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by ShauryaT »

ramana wrote:I am reading FM Alan Broke War Diaries. He was CIGS during Worlod War II. He coordinated worldwide battles for Great Britain. He had no need for ADS.
Same with Gen George Marshal.
I think this CDS is fake battle by IA to restore primacy eroded by Congress party.

Capable generals to the top post is key.
Rest is all thunder. Not even lightning.
While capability will continue to evolve, I view the inability to create a CDS driven command structure as the politician's unwillingness to let ANY serious state institution build strategic execution capabilities. This culture to NOT invest in organizational capabilities is a vestiture of the INC. Time to move away and build up state institution capabilities, defense being the primary one. WW2 was another era. Today's hybrid warfare under a nuke umbrella necessitates a more coordinated approach between political will, goals and objectives, planning and execution across the military spectrum. One can even argue that jointness of armed forces alone is not enough in the kind of environment we live in where the armed forces are not only engaged externally but internal security also. This is the reason we have the NSA take the lead for MI coordination. You also have the matter of resources, with our limited budgets cannot really afford to duplicate capabilities and be disjointed in basic capabilities, say SAM systems, rotary systems, aircrafts, etc.

PS: Not sure if I read your post correctly. If not, apologies. If read correctly, please expand on the fake battle part.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by ramana »

You are adding complexity to a simple problem. None of these things are beyond the capability of whoever gets appointed as the Chiefs of Staff. I think we should learn to move beyond whats available elsewhere and trying to fit square pegs in round holes or vice versa.


Do you dispute the highest commander-in-chief is the President?
The highest military officer regardless of which service he belongs to is the Chiefs of Staff?
The issue is he is also the chief of staff his service.
And hence could be pre-occupied with his service issues.
One way around is to appoint another officer as the head of that service.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by Aditya G »

ramana wrote:You are adding complexity to a simple problem. None of these things are beyond the capability of whoever gets appointed as the Chiefs of Staff. I think we should learn to move beyond whats available elsewhere and trying to fit square pegs in round holes or vice versa.


Do you dispute the highest commander-in-chief is the President?
The highest military officer regardless of which service he belongs to is the Chiefs of Staff?
The issue is he is also the chief of staff his service.
And hence could be pre-occupied with his service issues.
One way around is to appoint another officer as the head of that service.
I respectfully disagree with this Ramana.

The need for a tri-service commander is extremely crucial today as the Nuclear triad is in place. There should be single point command, control and military advise around the storage, training and employment of nuclear weapons. Presently, this is under a tri-service command, which lies outside the 3 chiefs of staff. This anomaly should be rectified with a tri-service chief as suggested by Naresh Chandra committee.

This version of the CDS will thus be over all triservice commands.

There is also a need for a Special Operations Command as by nature the deployment could be in any scenario, in any place and at short notice. History tells us that the best commanders are unable to gather and mobilise quickly due to assets not being at their disposal.

Aside from SOC, there is also scope for a rapid reaction division, whose core will be the 50th Parachute Brigade (Ind.), a LHD and amphib army infantry bde.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by ramana »

Too many commands spoil the broth.
The top most military officer is the Chiefs of Staff.
I don't see the reasom to create new commands.

India is not fighting a global war with theater commands.
It's myth that CDS is needed just because nukes are there.
As for SOC how many troops are there to create such a command? Not even a full division worth.

Let's cut our cloth to our needs.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by ramana »

We make it sound like CDS will give Brahmamantra upadesh!

Nothing like that will happen.
If strategic forces are out of COS then put them under.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by Rakesh »

Ramana, while I agree we need to cut our cloth to our needs, we also need to merge the commands under senior officers based on geographical location. For example, do we really need a Southern Command - HQ in Pune, Southern Naval Command - HQ in Kochi and a Southern Air Command - HQ in Trivandrum?

Both the links below are great for synergised commands.

http://brfrahulm.blogspot.ca/2013/10/un ... s-v01.html

https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/ARMY/tod ... ation.html
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by SaiK »

is it okay to look at from the current shortcomings from existing CnC setup? where and what are we currently lacking? issues with regards to execution and control, operational difficulties, and capability issues, interoperability, and commanding issues, etc? we all know what are the most likely positives when we have a CDS, in terms of CnC.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by ShauryaT »

Case for a Joint Communication Command for the Indian Armed Forces
A new Defence Cyber Agency under the HQ IDS and headed by a Major General or equivalent rank officer is in the process of being established.

• Positive developments are also expected in the creation of the Chief of Defence Staff/Permanent Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee, Joint Operational Commands, Special Forces Command and Aerospace Command.

• It is in this context that the creation of a Joint Communication Command (JCC) is being proposed as a part of the formalization of structures desired for joint war fighting.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by ramana »

Waht is needed is joint ness to fight on land sea and air. Instead Jointness in cyber and space is being enacted. Shows the faultlines.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by chetak »

CDS basically removes the unwanted, unprofessional and essentially self-serving middleman approach of the baboo(n)s in the crucial interface between the Forces and the designated political authority.

This baboo(n) layer adds zilch to the mix as it has no professional competence to contribute anything to the objectives set solely by the political authority and the operations conducted solely by the Forces.

WTF did PN Haskar contribute at simla, when IG foolishly gave away all the hard won battle gains to let bhutto off the hook and left India holding the empty bag??

why did we not settle niggling border issues with the beedis at the same time?? traded some land elsewhere, to widen the chicken's neck and also get perpetual transit rights to the NE?? were they not patriotic?? did they not think of India??

Again, WTF were the baboo(n)s doing?? allegedly, our best and brightest.

They were shitting their collective pants fearing a military coup and this fear was reinforced by the nation wide popularity of the charismatic IA chief Sam Maneckshaw. This is also when these devious baboo(n)s convinced an already paranoid IG to cut the Forces down to size and degrade the status of the Forces in the public perception and that downward trajectory has since been maintained with great gusto and negatively reinforced by every IAS headed pay commission thereafter, including the very last one, the 7th.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by Rakesh »

‘Cruelty’ in uniform & Navy Act 1957
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/opinion/ ... -1957.html
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by vaibhav.n »

No defence for the MoD
http://blogs.economictimes.indiatimes.c ... r-the-mod/
Frustration in the Pentagon is high because India is being, well, India. The inertia, the missed opportunities, the constant roadblocks, the procedural rigmarole, the control freak babus, the paranoia around civil-military separation and, above all, the lack of effective political leadership have brought India’s friends in Washington close to exhaustion.
A degree of ‘India fatigue’ appears to be setting in among US officials. India’s ministry of defence (MoD) has spawned a bank of stories in Washington, each more appalling than the last and all recounted with a tinge of sadness. The latest installment of sorry tales — the MoD missed the deadline for five free courses for Indian military officers at the US National War College. All three services wanted the courses. But mysterious processes at the MoD resulted in the forfeiture of more than $225,000 in US government funds allocated for India. The one-year fellowship is the most sought after by defence personnel from around the world, including India’s neighbours.
Perhaps, the MoD thinks interaction leads to ideological infection. Why else would bureaucrats limit bilateral visits to ‘2 in, 2 out’ — two incoming and two outgoing visits a year per service? If the Indian Navy wants to host a third US delegation in a calendar year, it can’t even if the Naval chief sees a pressing need to discuss matters.

Indian military officers have embarrassingly limited powers to make decisions. They can’t even decide if they can attend a seminar or a conference without MoD clearance. US officials have told me countless stories over the years about how three-star US generals have not been allowed to meet their Indian counterparts. Instead, an MoD or foreign office mandarin takes a seat. This is just stupid.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by Deans »

As far as theater commands are concerned, I buy the IAF's logic to some extent - i.e air assets can be deployed against both Pak and China so why
allot them to a specific theatre ? However, this contradicts the policy of multiple commands the IAF has. Where is the need for a South West command when all the aircraft in the SWAC (barring possibly Pune) have roughly the same reach as the Western command. Also why have an entire command for barely half a dozen fighter squadrons ? Central command also has 6 fighter squadrons under it.
Similarly, does the army really need a SW & Central command ?
There might be a significant amount of integration possible by just reducing commands, instead of integrating services under common commands.

Similarly, can the role of the CDS be that of Combining staff functions (as the expansion of CDS might suggest). Logistics, Medical services & Training are fairly obvious areas for integration under 1 head (there are 3 Lt Gen equivalents heading their respective medical service).
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by Gaur »

^^
Don't know about the rest, but Medical services are already deeply integrated. Doctors from Navy and AF are posted at Army hospitals and vice versa. Though rarely done, it is even possible to get your service changed (Eg: getting shifting from Army to Navy). There is also a Post of DG, Armed Forces Medical Services which heads all 3 (Army, AF, Navy).
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by Deans »

Gaur wrote:^^
Don't know about the rest, but Medical services are already deeply integrated. Doctors from Navy and AF are posted at Army hospitals and vice versa. Though rarely done, it is even possible to get your service changed (Eg: getting shifting from Army to Navy). There is also a Post of DG, Armed Forces Medical Services which heads all 3 (Army, AF, Navy).
Yes, Medical services are the best integrated, but even there, the head of the Medical service of each arm is a Lt Gen or his equivalent, though
they might be reporting to a 3 star DG.
The real gains (better coordination and less flab) will come IMO from integrating Logistics & transport, intelligence & police (we actually have 4 intel branches in the services - the 4th handles overseas intel gathered from military attaches) and training.
Also, services done by civilians can be outsourced - for e.g. Pay & accounts and Military engineering services.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by Cosmo_R »

chetak wrote:
WTF did PN Haskar contribute at simla, when IG foolishly gave away all the hard won battle gains to let bhutto off the hook and left India holding the empty bag??

why did we not settle niggling border issues with the beedis at the same time?? traded some land elsewhere, to widen the chicken's neck and also get perpetual transit rights to the NE?? were they not patriotic?? did they not think of India??

.....
PNH was a complete sucker upper as was TN Kaul and others. What they lacked in intellect, they made up for in arrogance.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by chetak »

Cosmo_R wrote:
chetak wrote:
WTF did PN Haskar contribute at simla, when IG foolishly gave away all the hard won battle gains to let bhutto off the hook and left India holding the empty bag??

why did we not settle niggling border issues with the beedis at the same time?? traded some land elsewhere, to widen the chicken's neck and also get perpetual transit rights to the NE?? were they not patriotic?? did they not think of India??

.....
PNH was a complete sucker upper as was TN Kaul and others. What they lacked in intellect, they made up for in arrogance.
All baboo(n)s are like this onlee. generalist jokers who simply get by doing the same old, same old, every day and passing it off as "administration".

No imagination, just a fierce loyalty to their own perks and entitlements and ever ready to fight turf wars to defend their cardboard kingdoms, and the devil take the hindmost.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by Rahul M »

let's keep the focus on tri-services issues and not on dead bureaucrats.

the IAF objection doesn't hold water, IMHO, assets are moved around among commands all the time, why would it be any different when theatre commands come into being ? there's no reason to assume that a theatre commander would have a list of assets set in stone that cannot be changed. in fact, deciding who needs what is exactly the kind of thing a CDS and his tri-services staff would be expected to do !

the current system is not conducive to combined arms warfare. that is not to say great performance can't still be extracted out of the current system. but, if it happens it will be despite the system, not because of it. it requires a very strong share of luck in the form of extremely competent officers who are also willing to go out of their way to forego years of ingrained service rivalry to achieve that.
creating a system to achieve that objective is much preferable to depending on luck.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by ramana »

Dean's, we need to look at org charts to have clear understanding.
SWAC was created as Western command was found too stretched during 1971 war.

If the theater commands hold all assets, the Chiefs of Staff become central organizations that support matrix deployed forces. This is not what Indian military ethos is.

In 1971 war, Indian notary did work jointly. This was because of lessons learned from 1965 war. In Kargil those were forgotten and led to the 20 day gap.

I still think we should read Filed Marshall Alan Brooke War Diaries. It shows how WWII was fought with out CDS. India has at most a one month war spread over a theater on world wide scale.

CDS is a distraction. First augment the forces.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by Aditya G »

CDS and tri service commands are 2 separate debates. And need not be implemented together.

CDS should be established, and once established the military should further debate about theatre commands.

I agree with IAFs contention on not tying down air assets to theatres.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by Aditya G »

Wake me up when it happens

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/ ... s-4892404/
Five years after they were first proposed by the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is expecting the three new tri-service agencies in the field of cyber warfare, space and special operations to be raised shortly. Their formation was announced by the MoD in July this year, and the proposal is with the government for approval. “The new Defence Minister is also keen on seeing them through, and we are just awaiting requisite approvals from the Law
Ministry and other government departments,” said an official source.


According to sources, the proposals for the three new formations — Defence Cyber Agency, Defence Space Agency and a Special Operations Division — are with other ministries for approval as the resources for them have to come from “accretion and not under save-and-raise”. The approvals are expected “within a couple of months”, said sources, after which these agencies, to be headed by officers of the rank of Major General and equivalent in the Navy and Indian Air Force, will be raised.

The cyber and space agencies will be based out of Delhi, for close coordination with their civilian counterparts, while the Special Operations Division will be based outside the national capital. The Special Operations Division will have components of the Special Forces of the Army, Navy and IAF, and will be equipped and trained together for various external contingencies. The Army currently has Special Forces battalions, Navy has Marine Commandos (Marcos) and IAF has Garud. This division, which will be based at a location which already has training infrastructure, will have two SF battalions at its core, along with teams from Marcos and Garud, sources explained.

Working in close coordination with the National Cyber Security Advisor, the Defence Cyber Agency will be have over 1,000 personnel. These experts will be distributed to various formations of the Army, Navy and IAF, and will focus on non-civilian cyber issues, including safeguarding critical infrastructure.

The Defence Space Agency will have over 200 personnel, who will work closely with ISRO and DRDO for better utilisation and integration of space resources. This includes information sharing from individual satellites, and surveillance from other satellites which can then be shared with the concerned defence service.

In 2012, the Chiefs of Staff Committee had recommended creation of three joint commands — in the areas of cyber, space and special operations — due to their increased relevance in modern warfare. The new joint military doctrine, released earlier this year, also underscores the need to prepare the defence forces for the “emerging triad” of space, cyberspace and special operations for future combat. But it was only in July this year that the Defence Secretary apprised the Unified Commanders Conference that the Defence Cyber & Space Agencies and Special Operations Division would soon become a reality.

While the 2012 proposal envisaged commands to be headed by army commander equivalents, the current proposal is only for agencies to be headed by Major Generals. Sources said the agencies may eventually be upgraded to commands, after they have stabilised in their functioning. As per the 2012 proposal, a Navy officer was to head the cyber warfare command, an IAF commander was to be at the helm of space command and an Army officer would head the Special Forces command. It is expected that the same arrangement for division of agencies between the three services will continue even now.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by ShauryaT »

x-post:
ShauryaT wrote:I guess something like this will fall under a "space command" or is it the exclusive domain of the IAF?

Space: Future Pivot of Strategic Stability?
‘Overall, strategic stability is a complex multi-political and multidisciplinary problem that requires the constant attention of political and military leaders, national experts who research national security issues, and scientists representing different fields. Therefore Strategic Stability concept is rooted in many disciplines/domains, to include International Relations, Political Science, Psychology, military theory and doctrines, weapons and technology, development of forces, C4I2SR. the last three aspects though terrestrial and located essentially at secure locations are now linked to space in a major way hence, ‘space is to be viewed in the context of continuation of terrestrial situation or nuclear stability’.....
Strategic Stability is intertwined with space stability in an extremely complex manner, beginning with early warning to damage measurement by own weapons, making it very vital devise means and methods to understand the complexities and intricacies involved. Space stability can maintain strategic stability unless political stability is disturbed and becomes the overriding factor for movement up the escalation ladder. Very limited understanding has been reached between nations to put in place treaties and agreements to keep space free from o ensive actions which may result in loss of space stability and consequently Strategic Stability. On the contrary, leading space nations are in the race to establish their lead or supremacy before any substantive agreements or treaty is discussed which may preclude to offensive actions in space. This makes it important that progress is made on reaching an understanding before some nations achieve dominant positions akin to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and then dictate terms. China is well ahead of India in space systems, and India too must increase its assets to meet the needs of national security by developing anti-satellite capabilities on priority. This is not difficult since India already has tested its BMD capability, which is more precise and complex vis-à-vis ASAT. In addition, India must keep ready many reserve satellites for launch on demand to cater for losses to first strike. There is an urgent need to develop capabilities for EW against adversaries for non-permanent kills and defence of own assets. Progress is required in cyber warfare to prevent space attacks. Own satellites must now be designed for constellations to ensure continuity under attack and defeat temporary loss of a few satellites. Emerging technologies o er great scope for developing new capabilities that are more resilient and robust and even self-generating, additive manufacturing and advanced materials are some examples. For India, it is extremely important to match China if not be ahead, time is not too far when Chinese assets will be available to Pakistan for the asking or use by China to perform tasks required by Pakistan, including o ensive actions against India’s space assets.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by Aditya G »

https://m.timesofindia.com/india/turf-w ... 513620.cms

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India
Turf wars and lack of political push make for half-baked defence reforms
Rajat Pandit | TNN |
Updated: Nov 5, 2017, 08:13 IST

TNN
File photo used for representation. (Reuters)
HIGHLIGHTS

There is “still no clarity” on the equally crucial and long-pending proposal for a tri-Service clandestine warfare arm or the Special Operations Directorate.

The pivotal reform of creating the post of a chief of defence staff over the three Service chiefs still does not figure anywhere on the horizon.

NEW DELHI: Continuing turf wars among the Army, Navy and IAF, lack of long-term strategic planning and the political leadership's sheer inability to push through genuine defence reforms in the country have led to the finalisation of highly-truncated unified organisations to handle the critical modern warfare domains of space and cyberspace.



To make matters worse, there is "still no clarity" on the equally crucial and long-pending proposal for a tri-Service clandestine warfare arm or the Special Operations Directorate (SOD).

Amid all this, the pivotal reform of creating the post of a chief of defence staff (CDS) over the three Service chiefs, which should be followed by integrated theatre commands in the long-run, still does not figure anywhere on the horizon despite being strongly recommended after the 1999 Kargil conflict.


The defence ministry has sent the proposals for the tri-Service Defence Space Agency and Defence Cyber Agency to the finance ministry for approval before they are placed before the Modi-led cabinet committee on security "in a month or so" for the final nod. "They may be small organisations but they do represent a step forward towards jointness among the Army, Navy and IAF," said a source.

"The Special Operations Directorate proposal has been referred back to the integrated defence staff because clarity is needed on its command and control structure as well as the assets to be placed under it. The Army, for instance, says it will retain control of its Para-Special Forces battalions but will operationally affiliate them to the SOD," he added.

The original proposal for full-fledged commands under Lt-Generals (three-star generals) to handle the rapidly-expanding challenges in space, cyberspace and clandestine warfare in a synergised manner has been gradually whittled down to setting up much smaller tri-Service organisations under Major-Generals (two-star), as was first reported by TOI earlier.

Sources say the Defence Space Agency will essentially be "a marriage" between the existing Defence Imagery Processing and Analysis Centre (Delhi) and the Defence Satellite Control Centre (Bhopal), with just about 100-200 new personnel being added to it.
"It will be a small technology-intensive agency that will work closely with Isro and DRDO. More assets will be brought under it progressively. The Navy, for instance, wants to retain control of its Rukmini (GSAT-7) satellite," said a source.
The existing Defence Information Assurance and Research Agency, in turn, will be upgraded into the Defence Cyber Agency. It will primarily be "defensive" in nature, with "cyber offensives" being left to other agencies under the national security adviser.
"A major issue was sorting out how the cyber agency will work under the country's information technology acts and legal provisions. It will be given flexibility to outsource, hire civilian experts, who will be brought under the Official Secrets Act," said the source.
The SOD, which is still to be finalised, will see the raising of two new Special Forces battalions. The Army (Para-SF), Navy (marine commandos) and IAF (Garud commandos) will continue to retain their own special forces.
Critics say all these are "piecemeal steps" when concrete measures are required to build the country's integrated land-air-sea war-fighting machinery, backed by effective space, cyberspace and special operations geared for the wars of the future.
China, incidentally, is developing potent military space and cyberspace capabilities, ranging from advanced ASAT (anti-satellite) and directed-energy laser weapons to cyber-weapons capable of crippling an adversary's information networks.
India has only two unified commands till now.
........m
Will
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by Will »

Aditya G wrote:CDS and tri service commands are 2 separate debates. And need not be implemented together.

CDS should be established, and once established the military should further debate about theatre commands.

I agree with IAFs contention on not tying down air assets to theatres.

Well there is an argument that a CDS would create an all powerful General. One of the checks in practice in other countries is to have theatre commands where the commanders directly report to the civilian leadership . In our case resources are limited and cant be tied down to theatres. An alternate solution needs to be found but a CDS is imperative.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by Aditya G »

The current version of the CDS is the PCCOSC, which doesn't really create an all powerful general. It does however create a single point command and advise for all triservice commands. It would have been useful to create the office first, and let that channel the creation of the other triservice agencies/commands.
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by ramana »

A blast from the past.

GB reforms before WWI.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esher_Report
ramana
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by ramana »

ramana
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by ramana »

A short note on history of British Army organization. I think.would be useful to understand the IA ethos.

http://nigelef.tripod.com/higherorg.htm
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by jaysimha »

Creation of Defence Chief Post

Creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) was recommended by Group of Ministers in 2001. A decision in this regard was to be taken after consultation with political parties. Subsequently, Naresh Chandra Task Force on National Security recommended creation of the post of Permanent Chairman Chief of Staff Committee in 2012. Both the proposals are simultaneously under consideration of the Government.

Creation of appropriate military command structures is a complex exercise involving operational, technical, logistical and financial aspects, and is reviewed from time to time. Appropriate measures are being taken from time to time to ensure inter-operability between the Services including through joint training and exercises.

This information was given by RakshaRajyaMantriDr.SubhashBhamrein a written reply to Dr. Manoj Rajoria and ShrimatiRiti Pathakin LokSabha today.

NAo/Nampi/Rajib/HS


(Release ID :176297)
ramana
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by ramana »

Arjun Subramaniam on IAF theater commands

https://twitter.com/rhinohistorian/stat ... 0851344384
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Re: CDS, Tri-Services Issues & Integration Debate

Post by Philip »

One more 4 * honcho to head the CDS planned with direct access to the PMO.Then what happens to each chief's access to the PMO? They become second class chiefs.Each chief must have direct access to the PMO not requiring the Def.Sec's permission.As a courtesy he can inform the Def.Sec. for the record. Babudom is increasing even in the services manifold .Look at the number of starred top brass doing less work than their predecessors who were only one-star officers.The DNO of the entire naval ops in '71 was a Commodore! We seem to be replicating the US style of administration in the IN.

The VCs are usually responsible for all ops.Therefore it would be best to have below the current Chairman of the CoS committee, which is rotated amongst the three chiefs, a 3* officer responsible for combined ops . Equiv. to a vice-chief in rank/status.He would be assisted by the vice-chiefs.If theatre commands are introduced, then each command to be headed by a 3* officer.
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