The newly announced, Joint Special Operations Command (J-SOC) should not take ‘more than five years’ to take real shape. Slated to be under the Integrated Defence Services headquarters, the joint command will include the existing special forces of the Indian army, navy and air force. This was stated by a senior military official of the IDS HQ to the Millennium Post recently.
The tasks in this interregnum are developing the ‘overall operations philosophy, ‘operational command structure,’ and the mechanics of creating a ‘joint command’ intermingling the three services.
‘It needs the required focus and the required resources,’ the officer said. But he debunks the thought that it will need the central government to allocate ‘fresh funds.’ Saying that the joint command will be dominated by the army, the main resources that are readily deployed by the force for use of their special commandoes, primarily the para commandoes, will be transferred to the joint commandoes.
For example, the new C-130J aircrafts, which is now under the Indian Air Force, will have to be transferred to the J-SOC, the official said.
Also the new inductions of the more specialised equipments will be sourced by the army. The basic structure of the command will be evolved out of the command framework of the army. The forces will use the existing training establishments of the special forces. But if a need is felt, new institutions will be established.
The preliminary work for developing papers on these parameters has begun at the IDS HQ. These documents will be circulated amongst the individual service headquarters and their opinions sought.
Considering that these services will have to eventually cede control over men and materiel, the task of creating a consensus will not be easy. The force structure of the J-SOC will include, besides the Paras, and Para Special Forces, the Marine Commandos of the navy and the Garud commandos of the air force. The ‘Ghatak’ special forces of the infantry battalions of the army will also be assimilated within the J-SOC. The long overdue Command, will have a major role to play in the non-conventional and fourth generation warfare.
The three new joint commands were announced in October last: the other two are aerospace and cyber security commands. With the addition of these three, the total number of commands under IDS HQ has risen to five.
The other two existing joint commands are of the Special Forces, who are tasked to wage nuclear and missile warfare, and the Andaman and Nicobar command that oversees the operations in the Indian Ocean. Both these commands being very secretive and very little are known about the various activities that include, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
The tasks in this interregnum are developing the ‘overall operations philosophy, ‘operational command structure,’ and the mechanics of creating a ‘joint command’ intermingling the three services.
‘It needs the required focus and the required resources,’ the officer said. But he debunks the thought that it will need the central government to allocate ‘fresh funds.’ Saying that the joint command will be dominated by the army, the main resources that are readily deployed by the force for use of their special commandoes, primarily the para commandoes, will be transferred to the joint commandoes.
For example, the new C-130J aircrafts, which is now under the Indian Air Force, will have to be transferred to the J-SOC, the official said.
Also the new inductions of the more specialised equipments will be sourced by the army. The basic structure of the command will be evolved out of the command framework of the army. The forces will use the existing training establishments of the special forces. But if a need is felt, new institutions will be established.
The preliminary work for developing papers on these parameters has begun at the IDS HQ. These documents will be circulated amongst the individual service headquarters and their opinions sought.
Considering that these services will have to eventually cede control over men and materiel, the task of creating a consensus will not be easy. The force structure of the J-SOC will include, besides the Paras, and Para Special Forces, the Marine Commandos of the navy and the Garud commandos of the air force. The ‘Ghatak’ special forces of the infantry battalions of the army will also be assimilated within the J-SOC. The long overdue Command, will have a major role to play in the non-conventional and fourth generation warfare.
The three new joint commands were announced in October last: the other two are aerospace and cyber security commands. With the addition of these three, the total number of commands under IDS HQ has risen to five.
The other two existing joint commands are of the Special Forces, who are tasked to wage nuclear and missile warfare, and the Andaman and Nicobar command that oversees the operations in the Indian Ocean. Both these commands being very secretive and very little are known about the various activities that include, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.