New Delhi: The Indian Army relied on its homegrown secure mobile ecosystem called SAMBHAV (Secure Army Mobile Bharat Version) during Operation Sindoor, revealed Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi.
He said upgrades are underway to further enhance the system. Speaking at the AIMA’s 52nd National Management Convention, Gen Dwivedi said, “We are ready for accepting spiral development of equipment. SAMBHAV phone was used in Operation Sindoor for command and communication. We were not using WhatsApp and others. We are now upgrading it to a higher level.”
He described the military offensive that was launched in May against Pakistan in response to April 22 terrorist attack at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir as “an amalgam of soldiers to commanders, scientists, great policymakers; required actions taken in a pre-emptive manner… It was a whole-of-nation approach”.
Earlier in August, Gen Dwivedi had hailed Operation Sindoor as “a landmark intelligence-driven response that redefined India’s counter-terrorism doctrine”. He highlighted that future conflicts would require “boots must share space with bots”, highlighting the blend of conventional strength and modern technology.
SAMBHAV: A Closer Look
First unveiled in January 2024, SAMBHAV embodies the ethos of Atmanirbhar Bharat, functioning as an end-to-end secure mobile ecosystem on modern 5G technology. It allows instant connectivity on the move while maintaining multi-layered encryption.
The system includes M-Sigma, an indigenous alternative to WhatsApp, enabling officers to exchange documents, images and videos securely without risk of leaks.
A defence official told PTI, “Mobile networks are prone to eavesdropping; and therefore, information security of mobiles is at risk of being compromised. An end-to-end secure mobile ecosystem, which is network-agnostic, has been developed to provide secure communication with instant connectivity on the move.”
SAMBHAV was developed in collaboration with national centres of excellence from academia and industry. The platform leverages 5G-ready handsets, multi-tier encryption and indigenous cellular networks to ensure secure communication across operations.
Operational Use & Deployment
Defence sources told ANI that SAMBHAV devices were also used during the last round of military talks with China in October.
Launched last year, around 30,000 devices have now been issued to officers across the force, demonstrating the Army’s commitment to homegrown and secure communication.