Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi has said the government has approved the long-pending proposal for setting up Integrated Battle Groups (IBGs). The first such unit is planned to come up under the China-focused 17 Mountain Strike Corps.This is part of the reorganisation of the Army’s battle architecture. The Army’s restructuring was launched after the 2020 border crisis with China and Operation Sindoor last year.Addressing the media at his annual press conference on Tuesday, General Dwivedi said, “A large number of government sanction letters for organisational changes have been approved over the past 14-15 months, including the path-breaking IBG of 17 Corps and the raising of aviation brigades.”As per the plan, the two division-size formations of the Mountain Strike Corps would be converted into four IBGs to be headed by a Major General-rank officer, the Army Chief said.The IBGs are envisioned as agile, brigade-sized combat formations having integrated elements of all arms depending on the operational terrain it is set up for.In case of conflict, the IBGs will be capable of launching swift operations against the enemy. As per the earlier plan, each IBG will have a strength of around 5,000-plus personnel, which will be larger than a brigade (3,000-3,500 troops) but smaller than a division (10,000-12,000 troops).The IBGs will have elements from the infantry, artillery, armoured units, engineers, signals, air defence, and other arms and services and can launch an operation within 48 hours when tasked.Explaining the restructuring, General Dwivedi said the focus was on reviewing organisational structures to enhance multi-domain combat potency.Already the Army has restructured and set up Rudra Brigades for high-tempo multi-domain operations. Light commando battalions — Bhairav Battalions — have also been raised.Also the Army is in the process of raising Shaktibaan Regiments and Divyastra Batteries of artillery. The ‘Shaktibaan’ regiment will use loitering ammunition and swarm drones and will be pre-positioned at specific locations along the western frontier with Pakistan and the northern front with China.The Divyaastra batteries will carry long-range artillery guns, surveillance drones and anti-drone systems backed by AI-based fusion centres collating real-time data.