India now ready for Cold Strike? Indian Army's Rudra Brigade validates the ability to hit hard and fast

The Rudra Integrated All Arms Brigade of the Indian Army, which integrates Infantry, Armoured, Mechanised Infantry, Artillery, Air Defence Artillery, and Engineers, has successfully undergone full operational validation during the 'Akhand Prahar' military exercise.

Designed to enhance combat readiness and operational flexibility, and structured for multi-domain warfare, the newly-formed brigade is capable of executing joint operations with a high degree of coordination and effectiveness.

Southern Army Commander Lt Gen Diraj Seth, on Wednesday, expressed satisfaction with the performance of the brigade, saying the exercise demonstrated the capabilities of the unit.

"It (the Rudra Brigade) has proven its readiness and operational effectiveness, showing that it is fully capable of handling multi-domain tasks in future operations," Lt Gen Diraj Seth has been quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

According to him, with the formation of the brigade, the time has come for India to shift the  approach from the 'Cold Start Doctrine' to the 'Cold Strike Doctrine.'

Cold Start vs Cold Strike

Designed as a limited war strategy to launch a retaliatory conventional strike against Pakistan in the event of an act of provocation by the country, before the international community could intercede, Cold Start seeks to inflict significant damage on the Pakistan defence forces while denying Islamabad a justification to escalate the clash to the nuclear level. 

The Cold Strike doctrine, meanwhile, refers to the readiness of the Indian security forces across domains. 

According to Lt Gen A.B. Shivane, Cold Strike is "India’s preemptive, multi-domain deterrence philosophy, shaped by real-time intelligence, information dominance, and strategic orchestration. It thrives not on brute invasion but on cognitive disruption, precise degradation, and narrative control. It is war as deterrence, not destruction; assertion, not adventurism."

Rudra Brigade and Cold Strike

Lt Gen Diraj Seth said, "There used to be a doctrine called the Cold Start Doctrine, in which the Army would mobilise and then be ready in the operational area. But now the time has come to transform the Cold Start Doctrine into the Cold Strike Doctrine with the Rudra Brigade." 

 

According to him, the Rudra Brigade will always be ready to carry out the given task with full capability and to have an effective impact on the enemy. "I am satisfied with their performance. I am confident that with the land manoeuvres they have shown, they will be capable of handling all tasks successfully," he added.

Defence