Army transforming its 382 infantry battalions with new weapons & drone platoons

NEW DELHI: From inducting modern sniper rifles, machine guns, carbines, rocket-launchers, loitering munitions, tank-killing missiles and software-defined radios to raising new `Bhairav’ light commando units and `Ashni’ drone platoons, the Army is now progressively transforming its 382 infantry battalions to meet the myriad challenges of tech-driven warfare.

“Multiple initiatives, institutional measures and technology transformations are being undertaken. The focus is on lethality, mobility, battlefield transparency, situational awareness, survivability, training and restructuring,” director general of infantry Lt-General Ajay Kumar said on Wednesday.


The aim is to equip, upskill and enhance the capability of the humble foot-soldiers, who are often forgotten in the race to acquire big-ticket fighter jets, submarines and howitzers, to “fight as weapon systems”.

The infantry is by far the largest arm of the 11.5 lakh Army. Moreover, boots on the ground will always be relevant because victory in conflicts, be it Russia-Ukraine or Israel-Hamas, will continue to be measured in the amount of land or real estate captured, Lt-Gen Kumar said.

Towards this end, the Army has inked a wide array of deals for ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) drones, kamikaze drones, loitering munitions for precision strikes, night sights, bullet-proof jackets, ballistic helmets, foliage-penetration radars, light specialist and all-terrain vehicles, among others.

The latest is the Rs 2,770 crore contract for 4.2 lakh close-quarter battle carbines, 60% to be manufactured by Bharat Forge and the rest by PLR Systems (Adani Defence-Israel Weapon Industries joint venture). “Deliveries will start in a year and be completed in two years,” Lt-Gen Kumar said.

Similarly, with there being a huge deficiency in new-generation man-portable ATGMs, emergency procurements of a limited number of launchers and missiles are being undertaken till a viable indigenous option is available. One such deal is for 12 Javelin launchers and 104 missiles from the US.

“The recent graduation to the philosophy of `shoot-to-kill’ (from the earlier shoot-to-wound) has also enabled upgrade of assault rifles and light machine guns from 5.56mm to 7.62mm calibre. Vintage sniper rifles are also being replaced with .338 sniper rifles,” Lt-Gen Kumar said.

With drone warfare redefining the nature of conflicts, the infantry is also trial-evaluating nine different types of drones for ISR and `suicide’ missions, in addition to the deals already inked.

This is also in tune with ongoing force restructuring under which all 382 infantry battalions (each has 800 soldiers) have now raised “first person view” Ashni drone platoons as part of the “eagle on the arm” concept. “Each platoon of 20-25 specially trained soldiers will have surveillance as well as short and medium-range loitering munitions,” Lt-Gen Kumar said.

Parallelly, the infantry has also raised the first five `Bhairav’ light commando battalions, each with 250 specially trained and equipped soldiers, to enhance swift strike capabilities along the borders with Pakistan and China, as was first reported by TOI.

“The raising of another four has started. In the next six months, we will have 25 such lean and mean battalions capable of carrying out deep strikes against high-value enemy targets. The aim is to bridge the gap between infantry units and Para-Special Forces,” Lt-Gen Kumar said.

The first five units, equipped with the latest weapons, gadgets and drones, have been placed under the 3 Corps (Dimapur), 12 Corps (Jodhpur) 14 Corps (Leh), 15 Corps (Srinagar) and 16 Corps (Nagrota).

These Bhairav units are in addition to the Army’s 10 Para-Special Forces and five Para (Airborne) battalions, each of which have 620 soldiers selected after arduous training and are equipped with a wide array of specialized weapons and equipment.
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