Exercise HimVijay | 12 Sep 2019
The Army is scheduled to conduct a major Exercise ‘HimVijay’ beginning October 2019 in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam with its newly created Integrated Battle Groups (IBG).
- It will witness around 15,000 soldiers in three IBGs, carved out of the 17 Mountain Strike Corps, being tested for mountain warfare in terms of operational viability and logistics.
- The Indian Airforce (IAF) will also participate for airlifting of soldiers and equipment as well as inter-valley transfer.
- The exercise will coincide with the proposed visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping for the second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Integrated Battle Groups
- The IBGs are part of overall force transformation initiated by the Army.
- They are brigade-sized agile self-sufficient combat formations which can swiftly launch strikes against an adversary in case of hostilities.
- The Army is in the process of reorganising its major Corps into the IBGs, though the number of IBGs had not been decided yet.
- Each IBG is tailor-made based on three T’s (Threat, Terrain and Task) and resources will be allotted based on the three T’s. They are tailored to mobilise within 12-48 hrs based on their location.
17 Mountain Strike Corps
- The creation of the Corps was cleared by the Cabinet Committee of Security in 2013.
- These are formed to launch offensive operations against the northern adversary.
- Also known as the Brahmastra Corps, it seems to be China-specific Strike Corps as it is located in close proximity to China.
- These are based at Panagarh, West Bengal.