New Delhi: The Army Commanders’ Conference on Thursday decided to operationalise the Command Cyber Operations and Support Wings (CCOSWs) in view of the expansion of cyber warfare capabilities of the adversaries and the requirements of grey-zone as well as conventional warfare. Defence sources said that these organisations will assist the formations to undertake the mandated cyber security functions to strengthen the cyber security posture of the Indian Army.
Indian Army officials also stated that it has been decided in the Conference that sustenance allowance will be doubled for the welfare of specially-abled children of those soldiers who die in harness. Further, in view of the induction of niche technology and equipments like mini, tactical, swarm and logistics drones, Anti-Drone equipment, the Army Commanders' Conference decided to nominate lead directorates and test bed formations to evolve optimal employment philosophies and scaling to facilitate better exploitation across the force.
Further, in the TES entry scheme for entry of officers, it was decided to transit from the existing 1+3+1 years Technical Entry Scheme (TES) model for to 3 + 1 TES model from Jan 2024 onwards. This change will also accrue benefits of the availability of more number of officers in the units and address officers' shortages. Simulator training is also planned to be given a significant push through procurement of 435 simulators at an estimated cost of 791 crores this year.
It was also discussed that the Thal Sena Bhawan at Delhi Cantt once constructed will not only address the shortage of office spaces but enhance the operational and functional efficiency of the Army Headquarters by bringing all the directorates under one roof. The state-of-the-art building will incorporate a robust, technologically advanced architecture and will be smart, green and future-ready project. It was decided to identify and train selected motivated soldiers for Paralympic Events by training them at Army Sports and Mission Olympic Nodes in nine sporting events.
The latest edition of Army Commanders Conference which was organised for the first time in a hybrid model from April 17-21 saw deliberations over wide-ranging Strategic, Training, Human Resource Development, and Administrative aspects and took key decisions in shaping the Army for the future, the PIB statement read. The Army Commanders and other senior functionaries took stock of the current and emerging security scenarios and reviewed the operational preparedness and readiness of the Indian Army.
