Indian Army Gears Up For 'Trishakti Prahar': A Massive Combat Exercise To Test New-Gen Weapon Systems, Tech And War Strategies

The Indian Army is set to conduct a massive combat exercise to test new-generation weapon systems, technologies, and validate concepts in long-range firepower, battle-readiness and force-preservation.

The exercise also aims to validate lessons learnt from the Russia-Ukraine war.

Preparations are underway in the western front in Rajasthan for the 'Trishakti Prahar' exercise of the 21 Corps, which is one of the four major "strike formations" of the Indian Army, Times of India reported citing sources.

The final phase of the exercise will take place in the first half of November. The exercise will see the participation of over 30,000 troops, T-90S and Arjun main-battle tanks, a variety of howitzers, choppers, and other equipment.

"Fighter jets, Apache attack and Chinook heavy-lift helicopters and other aircraft from the IAF and Navy will also be there,” a source was quoted as saying by ToI.

During the war game, various capabilities such as integrated air-land and combined arms operations, swift mobilisation, and deep-strike offensive capabilities, including“degradation by long-range vectors and precision high-volume strikes” supported by intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), and electronic warfare capabilities.

Another important focus area will be improving mobility and effective shoot-and-scoot capabilities, which were learned from the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

In addition, armed swarm drones and kamikaze drones will also be utilised during the war game.

The ongoing military confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh has prompted the Army to make large emergency procurements.

These include niche technologies such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs/drones), precision-guided missiles, loiter munitions, counter-drone systems, communication systems, and automatic spectrum monitoring systems.

The Trishakti Prahar exercise will serve as a test-bed for several of these newly-inducted weapon systems and technologies.

“Parallelly, a large number of cases for modernization and technology-infusion are also underway to ensure an agile future-ready force, incorporating niche technologies through indigenous solutions,” he added.

The Russia-Ukraine war has highlighted the crucial need for self-reliance in defence production, technologies, and research and development. It has emphasized the importance of resilient supply chains to sustain the military.

In addition, the war has also emphasised the necessity to prepare for multi-domain wars of longer durations.

"Earlier, the dominant thought was that conflicts will be short, intense and swift,” a senior officer was quoted as saying by ToI.

The ongoing tensions along the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control have prompted the Army to reposition a significant number of additional forces and firepower to the frontier with China.

The Army, which consists of 14 corps with around 40,000 to 70,000 troops each, has taken steps to rebalance its resources.

In the first three EP tranches, there were a total of 68 deals worth Rs 6,600 crore.

In the fourth tranche, an additional 49 schemes worth Rs 7,600 crore have been signed.

According to another source quoted in the report, there are also 34 other schemes worth around Rs 7,000 crore that are in the final stages.