In a first, Army officers cross-posted to IAF, Navy missile units

New Delhi: For the first time as part of integrating the three armed forces at the cutting-edge level, Army officers have been cross-posted to Indian Air Force (IAF) and Navy units having common weaponry. The cross deployment is a major step towards forming joint theatre commands which is top in the priority of the Government.

A batch of nearly 40 Indian Army officers will be posted to the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Indian Navy in an effort to ease the armed forces into the creation of integrated theatre commands.

A defence source said, Army officers have been cross-posted to BrahMos missile units of the IAF and Navy (on warships). The orders were for officers at the level of Major and Captain in the Regiment of Artillery, which operates BrahMos.

They said, these are among the first steps towards the creation of joint fighting forces. All the three services operate BrahMos, the country's premier missile that can travel at hypersonic speed to a distance in excess of 400 km. The Air Force has ground-based BrahMos units while Sukhoi 30-MKI fighter jets too have been modified to carry the missile.

Joint theatre commands seek to integrate the resources of the three forces, create synergy and cross–service cooperation based on the threats the country faces in its neighbourhood.

The Centre formed the post of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) in January 2020 as a push towards the theaterisation process, with the aim of improving tri-service effectiveness and the integration of the three forces' combat capabilities.

In the recent past, two new divisions—Defence Space Agency and Defence Cyber Agency—were created as tri-service organisations and have cross-posting of officers from all the three services.

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