Rudra Brigades – India’s Modern Frontier Force

The Indian Army has taken a decisive leap in modernising its northern defences with the deployment of ‘Rudra’ all-arms brigades to Eastern Ladakh and Sikkim, announced by the Army Chief on the Kargil Vijay Diwas on July 26, 2025. These specialised brigades integrate infantry, mechanised units, armour, artillery, special forces, UAVs, sophisticated drones, missiles, loitering munitions, and dedicated logistics support into seamless, self-contained warfighting formations.

Complementing Rudra are Bhairav light commando battalions, Shaktibaan artillery regiments focused on drone and loitering munition warfare, and Divyastra batteries—infantry units equipped with indigenous air-defence systems and drones.

In this week’s Defence Mantra, Nitin Gokhale explains how the Army is restructuring existing formations in a phased rollout aimed to go operational in the coming months, rather than raising new units. The implementation of Rudra formations marks a strategic shift toward agile, high-tech, and integrated combat readiness along the Line of Actual Control, he says.

Agreeing that other Armies including the PLA started transforming several years earlier, and that India’s pace has been gradual compared to other modern armies, Nitin reiterates that the goal is to become a leaner, faster, and technologically superior combat force and India has at least embarked on that path.