NEW DELHI: India’s maiden Joint Doctrine on Special Forces, released by General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Defence Staff, has set out guiding principles, operational concepts and interoperability frameworks for the special forces missions.
The Army, Navy and IAF have their own special operations troops and set-up and this document is to lead towards greater synergy and interoperability.
Enlisting the roles and tasking for the Special Forces the range of high-impact missions against enemy forces, according to the newly released Joint Doctrine on Special Forces (JDSF), include capturing enemy commanders, rescuing Indian prisoners of war and hostages, conducting air ambushes near enemy airfields, disrupting national civil and high-level military command and control systems, and striking high-value targets to cripple the enemy's economy. The JDSF was released during Ran Samvad event last week at Indore.
The significance of the Special Forces (SFs) is underlined due to their employment in conventional, sub-conventional and emerging domains has become integral to achieving national security objectives. These specially trained troops carry out high-risk operations that require advanced skills and tactics in hostile, denied, or politically sensitive environments.
Special Forces (SF), owing to their agility, strategic reach and mission-specific capabilities, are uniquely suited to generate disproportionate operational effects through precision engagement, deep insertion and unconventional operations.
Adding to the roles, which have been outlined in the joint doctrine, also include the collection and reporting of environmental data – meteorological and hydrographic, for strike planning by aircraft, and maritime platforms.
“Special Forces can also carry out reconnaissance of essential entry points for operations, such as Combat Beach Reconnaissance (CBR) before an amphibious landing or reconnaissance of landing, drop zones prior to a heliborne or an airborne operation. Special Forces can reach and communicate with civilians and indigenous forces to gather information,” the joint doctrine says.
The doctrine also mentions that the SF troops are to carry out post-strike damage assessment, including damage inflicted by their own weapon systems on targets of strategic or operational significance for ascertaining requirements of repeated targeting.
In Low Intensity Conflict Operations (LICO) environments (terrorism, insurgency, etc), the Special Forces can operate for protracted periods in hostile territory to conduct a succession of offensive actions, including sabotage against key enemy installations, communications and vital supplies.
In Unconventional Warfare, the Special Forces, due to their unique skills, which include the ability to operate independently in small teams for prolonged durations and linguistic, cultural orientation, are suited for covert military operations.
Since they are primarily employed to engage the critical targets, the joint doctrine has also laid down a few strategic and tactical objectives for the Special Forces.
The doctrine, enlisting further roles, also emphasised the troops to expose the enemy's deception plans, isolate enemy military commanders from their forces, degrade enemy air defence control & reporting (C&R) systems, degrade or destroy operational level C2 (Command and Control) systems and destroy critical logistics installations.
“To minimise duplication and enhance effectiveness, they can be trained jointly on advanced skills. Existing Special Forces Training Schools of the three Services need to be upgraded to Joint Service Training Institutes (JSTIs).
“This can be done without transferring the command and control from the lead service and by optimising existing infrastructure with assets and resources from all the Services.”
Need for Joint SF Doctrine
It is the evolving nature of conflict which necessitates a joint doctrinal framework, “While each Service continues to function within the purview of its respective doctrinal constructs for SF”, feels CDS.
“This Joint Doctrine for Special Forces Operations articulates a unified philosophy encompassing principles, capabilities and employment strategies for SF across land, maritime and air domains. It is envisaged as a foundational reference to facilitate joint planning, execution and capacity building for Special Forces in consonance with emerging roles and missions of the 21st century.”
The doctrine provides a strategic and operational-level framework while maintaining the flexibility for adaptation to service-specific roles. It must, however, remain a living document—subject to periodic review and realignment with the evolving threat matrix, technological advancements and operational experience.
The TNIE has been reporting earlier about the Armed Forces Special Operations Division (AFSOD), established in May 2019. It was the new structure already created and has been mentioned in the doctrine. AFSOD comprises the Special Forces of the Army, Navy and the Air Force, under HQ IDS as a seminal step in enhancing tri-service synergy and integrated employment of SF.
As per the TNIE’s earlier reports, AFSOD initially will have about 3,000 Special Forces commandos from the Parachute Regiment of the Army, MARCOS of the Navy and the Garud Commandos of the Air Force.
AFSOD comes under HQ IDS, the point organisation for jointmanship in the Ministry of Defence, which integrates policy, doctrine, war fighting and procurement. HD IDS is headed by the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC), under the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan.
At the helm of the joint tri-service organisation is HQ IDS, for higher management of defence in the Indian Armed Forces, which leads multiple initiatives aimed at furthering the integration and jointness among the Services.
General Anil Chauhan, in his Forward to the Joint Doctrine, attributed the need for this document as “The character of modern warfare is in a constant state of flux, marked by rapid technological advancements, expansion of battlespace across traditional and non-traditional domains and emergence of hybrid threats across the spectrum of conflict.”
“In this evolving operational environment, the necessity for specially trained, motivated and equipped troops capable of executing high-risk missions under adverse conditions is unequivocal.”, wrote CDS