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Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh virtually inaugurated India's first dedicated Department of Military Medicine at Command Hospital (Central Command), Lucknow, on 29 July 2026
Established under the Directorate General of Medical Services (Army), it will run postgraduate programmes in combat medicine/surgery/trauma care and build Centres of Excellence in HADR and CBRNe medicine
It complements the proposed Global Military Medicine Centre under the Raksha Strategy Vision 2026-30, and sits alongside existing DRDO life-sciences labs (DIPAS, INMAS) that already research soldier physiology and CBRN medicine
Tri-service medical arm of India's Armed Forces; the new department is its principal academic/research/doctrinal hub
India's premier tri-service medical teaching institution, feeding AFMS postgraduate training
Existing DRDO labs researching soldier physiology (DIPAS: high-altitude/extreme environments, est. 1962) and nuclear/CBRN medicine (INMAS)
Military medicine studies the physical and mental stresses that combat and operational environments place on the human body — comparable to how aerospace medicine addresses pilots and astronauts. It spans combat trauma care, field disease surveillance, CBRNe (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, explosive) medical response and disaster/HADR medicine, distinct from civilian specialities because of the extreme, resource-constrained settings involved.
Simple Analogy: Aerospace medicine studies the human body under flight; military medicine studies it under combat.
Existing DRDO life-sciences labs already researching high-altitude/extreme physiology (DIPAS, est. 1962) and nuclear/radiation medicine (INMAS) — natural research partners for the new AFMS department
The department is described as complementing a proposed Global Military Medicine Centre envisioned under this broader defence strategy document
GS Paper 3 > Internal Security/Defence > Military Preparedness
First appearance — new institution
Medical response to Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and explosive threats — one of the new department's core disciplines
Armed Forces Medical Services — the tri-service medical organisation the new department now serves as academic hub for