Army to have dedicated cyber operations wing

New Delhi, April 27

The Army today announced changes to adapt niche technologies and to have dedicated cyber operations cell to secure its own networks. The changes were among the decisions taken at the Army Commanders’ Conference (April 17-21), an Army spokesperson said.

Nod to new entry scheme

• Commanders okayed a new technical entry scheme (TES) for officers. This will be enforced from January 2024
• The existing TES to the Army for BTech graduates is five-year education model introduced in 1999
• It has now been decided to have a four-year model, with one year of military training at the IMA, Dehradun

With the Army increasingly relying on network-based operations and on modern communication systems, the Commanders reviewed the requirement to safeguard networks and decided to operationalise the ‘Command Cyber Operations and Support Wings’.

Sources said the expansion of cyber warfare capabilities by adversaries had made the cyber domain competitive. These organisations would assist the field formations to undertake cyber security measures. Also to augment the capabilities for absorption of niche technologies and equipment, the conference decided to ‘Test Bed’ the selected equipment at the identified formations. A variety of niche tech-enabled equipment are being inducted into the Army, including multiple drones, loitering weapon systems, electronic warfare, anti-drone equipment.

The Army Commanders – the Army Chief General Manoj Pande, Commanders of various commands and senior officers at the headquarters – also okayed a new technical entry scheme (TES) for officers. This will be enforced from January 2024.

The existing TES to the Army for BTech graduates is five-year education model introduced in 1999. It has now been decided to have a four-year model, with three years of technical training followed by one year of military training at the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun.

With common training at the IMA, a combined merit list of technical and non-technical officers will be produced. As of now, technical officers get placed in the merit list after the non-technical officers. In a much-needed human resource measure, ,

It was also decided to double the sustenance allowance to the children of those soldiers who die in harness through the Army Group Insurance Fund (AGIF).

The Commanders also took stock of the current and emerging security scenarios and reviewed the operational preparedness and readiness of the Indian Army.