{"id":40911,"date":"2024-05-13T07:03:46","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T01:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=40911"},"modified":"2025-10-04T11:39:44","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T06:09:44","slug":"integrated-commands-structure-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/integrated-commands-structure-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Integrated commands structure plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in News?<\/li>\n<li>What is Theaterisation of Armed Forces?<\/li>\n<li>Theatre commands and India<\/li>\n<li>Current command structure in India<\/li>\n<li>What are the recent steps taken by India towards theaterisation?<\/li>\n<li>Proposed organisational structure for integrated theatre commands \u2013 key highlights<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why in News?<\/h2>\n<p>The Armed Forces have finalized the structure for making integrated theater commands. They are now considering appointing a Vice Chief of Defence Staff and a Deputy Chief of Defence Staff.<\/p>\n<h2>What is Theaterisation of Armed Forces?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Theaterisation is a concept which seeks to integrate the capabilities of the three services &#8211; army, air force and navy \u2013 in order to optimally utilise their resources for wars and operations.<\/li>\n<li>A <strong>theatre command\/unit<\/strong> will be created by integrating elements\/assets from all the three services.\n<ul>\n<li>Simply put, a theatre command deploys elements of the three services under a single, unified command structure.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Each command is assigned a specific geographical region, combining resources of the three services for operational roles.<\/li>\n<li>As of now, almost all major countries like China, Russia, the US, the UK and France work on a theatre command concept.\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>For example, <strong>China\u2019s Western Theatre Command<\/strong> looks after the entire borders with India.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Theatre commands and India<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>Kargil Review Committee<\/strong>, the Naresh Chandra Committee and the Group of Ministers had called for structural changes in higher defence management.<\/li>\n<li>It was the <strong>Shekatkar committee<\/strong>, which had recommended the creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and theatre commands.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Current command structure in India<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>At present, India has 17 single service commands and only two tri-service commands.<\/li>\n<li>The 17 single service commands are divided as:\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>Army \u2013 7 commands; Airforce \u2013 7 commands; Navy \u2013 3 commands<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>The two tri-service commands<\/strong> are: Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC), and The Strategic Force Command (handles the nuclear weapons).\n<ul>\n<li>The Andaman and Nicobar command is a full-fledged command raised as a tri-service command in 2001.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What are the recent steps taken by India towards theaterisation?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Proposal to createa national defence committee<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>There is a proposal for theatre commanders under a national defence committee <strong>likely to be headed by the Defence Minister<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Inter-Services Organisation (Command, Control and Discipline) Act 2023<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The act empowers the commander-in-chief and the officer-in-command of inter-services organisations with disciplinary and administrative powers over personnel from the other services serving in them.<\/li>\n<li>Limited cross-postings between the Army, Navy and IAF have already been implemented to promote jointness.\n<ul>\n<li>Restructuring of the headquarters and the subsequent postings will take place after the final approval from the govt.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>First tri-service common defence station<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>In March 2024, the decision was taken to transform Mumbai into the first tri-service common defence station.\n<ul>\n<li>A common defense station would merge all Army, Navy, and Air Force facilities, like logistics and maintenance, under one leadership.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>It was also decided to set up additional joint logistics nodes across the country to boost integration in logistical needs and streamline their supply chains.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Proposed organisational structure for integrated theatre commands \u2013 key highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Organisational structure for the creation of integrated theatre commands is ready<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The Armed Forces have finalised the organisational structure for the creation of integrated theatre commands.<\/li>\n<li>However, the organisational structure plan may be finetuned after it gets government approval.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Appointment of a Vice Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The Vice CDS is likely to be an officer of the rank of General or equivalent.<\/li>\n<li>He is expected to look after strategic planning, capability development and procurement-related matters.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Appointment of a Deputy CDS\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The Deputy CDS is likely to be an officer of the rank of Lieutenant General or equivalent.<\/li>\n<li>He will be responsible for operations, intelligence and will coordinate the allocation of assets between theatres.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Creation of commands<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The proposal entails creation of the <strong>western theatre command<\/strong> headquarters in Jaipur where the Army\u2019s South Western Command is located.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>northern theatre command<\/strong> is likely to be in Lucknow.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>maritime theatre command<\/strong> is likely to have its base in Coimbatore. It will involve the IAF\u2019s Prayagraj-headquartered Central Command and its Southern Air Command based in Thiruvananthapuram.\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>Earlier, the plans were to set up the maritime theatre command headquarters in Karwar.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Plan is to create three adversary-based theatre commands<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The overall plan is to establish three adversary-based theatre commands:\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>one facing Pakistan,\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>another opposite China, and\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>a maritime theatre command to tackle maritime threats outside the coastal borders of the country.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Role of three service chiefs<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The three service chiefs will be responsible for raising, training and sustaining the individual services.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>It is not known yet whether they will continue to retain some operational roles \u2013 the three theatre commanders will be responsible for operations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>No additional manpower is likely to be enrolled<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>No additional manpower is likely to be enrolled for the creation of the theatre commands.<\/li>\n<li>Only readjustments within organisations will be carried out to meet the requirements of the theatre commands.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Q.1. What is Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC)?\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p>The Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) is a tri-service command of the Indian Armed Forces, based in Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It was established in September 2001 to protect India&#8217;s strategic interests in Southeast Asia and the Strait of Malacca.<\/p>\n<h2>Q.2. What is Strategic Forces Command (SFC)?<\/h2>\n<p>SFC is responsible for the management and administration of the country&#8217;s tactical and strategic nuclear weapons stockpile. It was created on January 4, 2003.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/integrated-commands-structure-plan-looks-at-vice-cds-dy-cds-with-clear-roles-9324441\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Integrated commands structure plan looks at Vice CDS, Dy CDS with clear roles<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/pib.gov.in\/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1946667\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">PIB<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/india-news\/rajnath-singh-announces-setting-up-of-joint-theatre-commands-of-triservices-101658658809337.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Hindustan Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Theaterisation is a concept which seeks to integrate the capabilities of the three armed services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":40912,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-40911","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}