Southern Command launches military exercise

Pune: Pune-based Southern Command on Saturday launched a military exercise in Rajasthan and Gujarat

Pune: Pune-based Southern Command on Saturday launched a military exercise in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Named Dakshin Shakti, the exercise with troops aims to validate the battle readiness and operational effectiveness of troops of Southern Army in an integrated and futuristic battlefield scenario.

National War Memorial at Southern Command in Pune. Southern Command on Saturday launched a military exercise in Rajasthan and Gujarat. (HT FILE)

In addition to conventional military tactics, the exercise will be aimed at stress testing new concepts of war fighting in all domains, including air, space, cyber, electronic and information warfare. A key focus of the exercise would be on exploitation of new and indigenous technologies like advanced light helicopter (weapon system integrated), Dhruv, swarm drones and enmeshing of artificial intelligence to provide a cohesive intelligence, surveillance and recce architecture.

The exercise is conducted against the backdrop of the soon to emerge Integrated Theatre Commands that give major emphasis on tri-service integrated operations. Testing of sensor to shooter grids by employing surveillance and air assets networked with land-based operational and tactical vectors in addition to manoeuvre by mechanised formations would establish Southern Command as a network centric force in a theaterised environment, according to the Southern Command press statement.