Indian Army To Deploy First Integrated Battle Group Along India-Pakistan Border By 2019 End

The Indian Army is set to deploy its first Integrated Battle Group (IBG) along the India-Pakistan border by the end of this year, Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat has said, reports Hindustan Times.

According to the report, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has cleared the reorganisation of the IX corps, based in Yol of Himachal Pradesh, to form tthe IBGs to be deployed along country’s western border.

The IX corps, a part of the Chandimandir, Haryana-based Western Army Command, was raised in 2009 and is of the youngest corps of the Army.

The combat potential restructuring of the Army will happen “selectively from sector to sector”, said General Rawat, who is the prime mover of the one of the biggest reorganisations of the Army.

Explaining the rational behind the exercise, General Rawat said, “The international border portion of J&K Kashmir will see reorganisation first followed by others, making the Indian army a leaner and meaner fighting unit,”

Unlike the traditional fighting units of the Army Corps each comprising at least three brigades, the IBGs are smaller, meaner, self-contained fighting units, including elements of artillery, air power and armour.

The IBG, commanded by an officer of the rank of Major General, will have 6-8 battalions depending on the terrain where it is deployed and the purpose for which it has been raised. The composition of the IBGs will vary depending on the “task” and the “order of battle,” said a senior Army officer.

“The IBGs, on an average, would comprise 20,000- 25,000 men,” the officer was quoted in the report as saying.

Although each IBG will be a self-contained fighting unit, it can also draw logistical support from other formations. In all, the Indian Army plans to form and deploy 11 -13 IBGs to protect country’s western and eastern borders.