Twenty-six years later, Operation Sindoor proved the effectiveness of joint operations, with the synchronisation of the Indian Air Force’s Integrated Air Command and Control System, the Army’s Akashteer and the Navy’s Trigun.

Now, India plans to establish three Integrated Theatre Commands, with assets and manpower of all three branches in each region under a single commander. 

Before the 17 commands are integrated into three, the Centre is set to form a unified tri-services conventional missile command. 

Lack Of Unified Conventional Missile Command

The strategy of Mutual Assured Destruction is meant only to deter a nuclear attack. Even nuclear powers desist from using nukes against non-nuclear nations. For example, Russia didn’t use a tactical nuke against Ukraine despite several threats.

Therefore, even nuclear powers are investing more in developing missiles that can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads, which will play a major role in a conflict, as evidenced during the Ukraine and Iran wars. 

Ukraine’s main weapons demand from the West has been the Patriot air defence system, the Army Tactical Missile System, and Tomahawks. Iran, with the largest land-based ballistic missile stockpile in West Asia, inflicted massive damage worth billions on US bases in the region.

However, most nations lack a unified tri-service conventional missile command, with their armies, air forces, and navies having independent command of their missile arsenals.

For example, the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) is an independent military branch that comprises both conventional and nuclear land-based ballistic, hypersonic and cruise missiles, and reports only to the CPC’s Central Military Commission.  

Pakistan’s Army Rocket Force Command (ARFC) is a part of the Army, which controls and operates conventional ballistic and cruise missiles.

Even India lacked a unified tri-services command a few days ago. 

One of Operation Sindoor’s highlights was the extensive use of missiles. India used the SCALP cruise missile, BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, Crystal Maze ballistic missile, Rampage stand-off precision missile, and Akash, S-400 (ballistic) and Barak-8 surface-to-air missiles.

However, there was no unified missile command despite synergy between the three branches.

India’s Unified Tri-Service Missile Command 

A year after the operation, India has taken military synchronisation and modernisation to another level. 

The CDS-headed Chiefs of Staff Committee has greenlighted the formation of a unified tri-service Conventional Missile Force (CMF), integrating the capabilities and resources of the Army, Navy and Air Force under a single command. 

After the Centre approves the CMF, all ballistic, quasi-ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missiles will be under one commander — a major shift in India’s military strategy.

Achieving conventional deterrence has become more important, and a unified tri-service missile command is a timely decision by India to utilise its arsenal more effectively.

According to some new reports, the CMF mirrors the PLARF and ARFC. However, India’s conventional missile command is unique in the sense that it integrates the military’s three branches.  

Advantages Of Unified Missile Command

The CMF will be the conventional version of the Strategic Forces Command, which manages and deploys nuclear weapons under the Nuclear Command Authority. 

As missiles play a critical role in conventional deterrence and power projection, the CMF offers several advantages.

First, a unified tri-service conventional missile command leaves no ambiguity about using nukes. 

'No First Use' Nuclear Policy

Though China has a “No First Use” (NFU) nuclear policy, it maintains strategic ambiguity, or conventional-nuclear entanglement, by placing both conventional and nuclear weapons under the PLARF. China, which has the world’s largest land-based ballistic missile stockpile, deploys both conventional and nuclear missiles and dual-capable missiles (DF-15, DF-17, DF-21, DF-26 and HN 1,2,3) in identical mobile launchers, creating uncertainty and more deterrence. 

On the other hand, Pakistan has a “First Use” policy and Full-Spectrum Deterrence against India.

In the case of India, which has an NFU, the CMF’s activation will end ambiguity in a conflict by making it clear that only conventional missiles have been launched.  

Secondly, India has a wide array of missiles, mostly indigenous and a few imported, with the Brahmos and the Barak 8 used by all three branches of the military.

India’s indigenous missile inventory comprises the Agni missile series (I SRBM to V ICBM), Prahaar and Prithvi II (SRBMs), Pralay (quasi-ballistic), Dhanush (ship-launched SRBM), Sagarika/Shaurya (SRBM/MRBM), Nirbhay (cruise missile) and the Long-Range Anti-Ship Hypersonic Missile. 

The integration of this vast arsenal under a single command will not only augment the military’s firepower but also form a layered defence and enhance flexibility in striking targets.

Thirdly, the time to respond to an enemy missile launch or an impending threat will be substantially reduced by eliminating time-consuming inter-service negotiations. As disparate systems of the Army, Air Force, and Navy are connected, decision-making will be accelerated.

Fourthly, the kill chain will be compressed as various sensors (space, cyber, air and naval) and command nodes are integrated, reducing the time to “Find, Fix, Track, Target, Engage, and Assess” the target. For example, if the Air Force locates a target that can be neutralised with an Agni, which it doesn’t operate, the CMF will immediately launch the missile without the need for inter-service communication. 

Fifthly, the CMF will also reduce costs by preventing the duplication of infrastructure, logistics and resources. The missile command can jointly purchase equipment in bulk rather than the three branches doing it separately.

Sixthly, centralised storage and management of missiles will organise disparate supply chains, eliminating the risk of shortage, with the commander always aware of stock. 

Challenges Of Unified Missile Command

A unified tri-service missile command also faces a few challenges, including the problem of autonomy. All three branches have been functioning autonomously for decades while protecting their arsenals. Convincing them to give up their coveted missile arsenals and placing them under a single commander will not be easy.

Secondly, the problem of command and control. Integrating missiles deployed across land, air and sea under one commander will not be easy with local commanders controlling such long-range precision munitions.  

Then there is the problem of interoperability. Every branch has its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) networks. Integrating them to function as a single source of ISR will be complex.

However, the CMF’s advantages outweigh the challenges, which need to be overcome, considering the threat posed by China and Pakistan. The missile command will not only boost India’s long-range strike capabilities but also enhance its conventional deterrence.

(The writer is a columnist with more than two decades of experience in journalism. Views expressed are personal.)