In a bold reaffirmation of reform ambitions, India’s higher defence architecture is undergoing another wave of restructuring, pushing for deeper integration of its armed services, streamlined decision-making, and a reorientation toward modern, multi-domain warfare.

What’s Changing

• 2025 as “Year of Reforms”: The government has officially designated 2025 as the “Year of Reforms” in defence, signalling a comprehensive push for modernization of the armed forces.
• Empowering the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) & Chief of Defence Staff (CDS): The reforms reaffirm the DMA-CDS structure established in 2019, giving the CDS authority to issue joint orders across the three services, improving coordination in procurement, training, and logistics.
• Establishment of Integrated Theatre Commands: Ground breaking plans are underway to merge the fragmented single-service commands into theatre commands, for example, Northern (China-facing), Western (Pakistan-facing), and Maritime, consolidating land, air, and naval assets under unified command to enhance responsiveness and operational coherence.
• Joint Forces HQ & Multi Domain Planning: A proposed Joint Forces Headquarters under the broader Chiefs-of-Staff Committee aims to bring together defence ministries, space, intelligence, disaster response and other stakeholders — enabling coordinated planning for hybrid threats and multi-domain operations.

Focus on Modern Warfare, Not Just Conventional Strength: The reforms prioritise technology, doctrine and joint operational readiness over legacy structures built for classical large-scale conventional offensives. The goal: adapt to modern threats requiring agility, integration and real-time decision-making.

Modern defence is no longer about isolated strength—it is about unified command, integrated capabilities, and the speed of collective decision-making.

Why This Matters

• From Silos to Synergy: The old paradigm where Army, Navy and Air Force largely functioned independently is increasingly seen as inadequate for contemporary security challenges. Unified commands and streamlined structures promise better coordination, information-sharing, and rapid response.
• Technological & Doctrinal Edge: With a push toward multi-domain operations (land, sea, air, space, cyber), the reforms are designed to prepare India’s armed forces for future warfare’s evolving nature, where speed, flexibility and integration matter as much as firepower.
• Optimised Resources and Faster Decision-Making: Centralised procurement and joint logistics, along with inter-service staffing and training, may lead to more efficient use of resources and faster operational readiness, critical in a volatile strategic environment.
• Clarity of Command: Clearer roles and a unified chain of command should reduce operational ambiguity, streamline decision-making, and avoid overlaps between civil-military authorities (e.g. between DMA and the broader Ministry of Defence).

Challenges & Critical Considerations

• Institutional Resistance & Inter-Service Rivalry: Despite structural changes, legacy culture and entrenched single-service identities may slow down full integration, especially without strong legislative underpinnings.
• Speed of Implementation: While the plans are ambitious, actual finalisation and rollout especially of theatre commands may be slow, potentially delaying the intended benefits.
• Doctrine & Training Gap: Mergers of command must be matched by joint training, updated doctrines, and realistic multi-domain simulations otherwise, new structures risk being nominal rather than functional.
• Balancing Long-Term Vision with Immediate Needs: As India aims for modernisation and integration, it will need to ensure that ongoing defence commitments and readiness are not compromised during the transition.

What Comes Next — What to Watch

• Formal notification and activation of the proposed theatre commands particularly the Northern, Western and Maritime commands.
• Clearer delineation of mandates between DMA, the broader Ministry of Defence, and the newly proposed Joint Forces Headquarters.
• Rollout of joint training exercises, procurement reforms and doctrine updates tailored for integrated multi-domain operations.
• Expansion of technology-driven capabilities (cyber, space, unmanned systems) to complement organisational reforms.