Indian Army: Difference between revisions

!Few of known Subordinate Unit(s)/ Formation(s)

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|'''Headquarters, Indian Army'''

|New Delhi

|50th Independent Parachute Brigade

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|'''Central Command'''

|Lucknow

|6th Mountain Division

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|'''Eastern Command'''

|Kolkata

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|'''Northern Command'''

|Udhampur

*

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|'''Southern Command'''

|Pune

*

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|'''South Western Command'''

|Jaipur

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|'''Western Command'''

|Chandimandir

*

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|'''Army Training Command'''

|Shimla

Not to be confused with the field corps listed above, the corps mentioned below are divisions entrusted with specific pan-Army tasks.

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|Multiple centres

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==== Armoured Corps ====

There are 65 armoured regiments in the Indian Army. These include the President's Bodyguard and the 61st Cavalry as well as the following historic regiments dating back to the nineteenth century or earlier: 1st (Skinner's) Horse, the 2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse), the 3rd Cavalry, the 4th (Hodson's) Horse, the 7th Light Cavalry, the 8th Light Cavalry, the 9th (Deccan) Horse, the 14th (Scinde) Horse, the 17th (Poona) Horse, the 15th Lancers, the 16th Light Cavalry, the 18th Cavalry, the 20th Lancers and the 21st (Central India) Horse. A substantial number of additional units designated as either "Cavalry" or "Armoured" Regiments have been raised since Independence.

==== Mechanised Infantry ====

There are 50 mechanised infantry battalions in the Army. Of these, 10 are for reconnaissance and support battalions (5 wheeled and 5 tracked) and 40 are standard mechanised infantry battalions (10 wheeled and 30 tracked).

The Standard and Recce & Support Tracked battalions are equipped with BMP-2 while the Wheeled ones are equipped with Jeep (mounted ATGM launchers) and BRDM-2. The recce and support battalions also included 4 ATGM battalions (including 17 Guards battalion). These were later converted to R&S battalions.

==== Infantry ====

Upon its inception, the Indian Army inherited the British Army's organisational structure, which is still maintained today. Therefore, like its predecessor, an Indian infantry regiment's responsibility is not to undertake field operations but to provide battalions and well-trained personnel to the field formations. As such, it is common to find battalions of the same regiment spread across several brigades, divisions, corps, commands, and even theatres. Like its British and Commonwealth counterparts, troops enlisted within the regiment are immensely loyal, take great pride in the regiment to which they are assigned, and generally spend their entire career within the regiment.

Most Indian Army infantry regiments recruit based on certain selection criteria, such as region (for example, the Assam Regiment), caste/community (Jat Regiment), or religion (Sikh Regiment). Most regiments continue the heritage of regiments raised under the British Raj, but some have been raised after independence, some of which have specialised in border defence, in particular the Ladakh Scouts, the Arunachal Scouts, and the Sikkim Scouts.

Over the years there have been fears that troops' allegiance lay more with their regiments and the regions/castes/communities/religions from which they were recruited, as opposed to the Indian union as a whole. Thus some "all India" or "all class" regiments have been created, which recruit troops from all over India, regardless of region, caste, community, or religion: such as the Brigade of the Guards (which later converted to the Mechanised Infantry profile) and the Parachute Regiment.

Given the rise in drone warfare, the Indian Army included drone platoons to each of its infantry battalions.

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|2013

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==== Artillery ====

As an integral part of nearly all combat operations conducted by the Indian Army, the Regiment of Artillery has a history of being a major contributor to its military success. During the Kargil War, it was the Indian Artillery that inflicted the most damage. Over the years, five artillery officers have gone on to the Army's highest post as Chief of Army Staff.

For some time, the Regiment of Artillery commanded a significantly larger share of the Army's personnel than it does now, as it was also responsible for air defence artillery and some aviation assets. The 1990s saw the formation of the Corps of Army Air Defence and the coalescing of all aviation assets into the Army Aviation Corps. The arm is now focused on field artillery and supplies regiments and batteries to each of the operational commands. The home of the Regiment is in Nashik, Maharashtra, where their headquarters is located, along with the service's museum. The School of Artillery of the Indian Army is located nearby, in Devlali.

==== Corps of Army Air Defence ====

The Corps of Army Air Defence (abbreviated AAD) is an active corps of the Indian Army, and a major combat formation tasked with the air defences of the country from foreign threats. The Corps is responsible for the protection of Indian air space from enemy aircraft and missiles, especially those below 5,000 feet.

== Personnel ==

The Indian Army is a voluntary service, and although a provision for military conscription exists in the Indian constitution, conscription has never been imposed. As of 1 July 2017, the Indian Army has a sanctioned strength of 49,932 officers (42,253 serving, being 7,679 under strength), and 1,215,049 enlisted personnel (1,194,864 serving, being 20,185 under strength). Recently, it has been proposed to increase the strength of the army by more than 90,000, to counter the increasing presence of Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, in 2020 the army had a strength of 1,237,000 active personnel and 960,000 reserve personnel. Of those in reserve, 300,000 are first-line reserves (within 5 years of active service), 500,000 are committed to return if called until the age of 50, and 160,000 were in the Indian Territorial Army, with 40,000 in regular establishment. This makes the Indian Army the world's largest standing volunteer army.

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फील्ड मार्शल

जनरल

लेफ्टिनेंट जनरल

मेजर जनरल

ब्रिगेडियर

कर्नल

लेफ्टिनेंट कर्नल

मेजर

कैप्टन

लेफ्टिनेंट

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An Indian Army paratrooper with the 50th Parachute Brigade jumps from a helicopter

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| rowspan="2" | '''Indian Army'''

* <abbr>v</abbr>

* <abbr>t</abbr>

* <abbr>e</abbr>

| colspan="8" |'''No insignia'''

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The new uniforms would not be available in the open market. The uniforms will be barcoded and QR coded to maintain their uniqueness and will be available only through the ordnance chain or military canteens. To control random proliferation, they will come in over a dozen pre-stitched standard sizes. The new uniform will be made available in a phased manner to the nearly 1.2 million personnel of the Indian Army.

=== Medals and awards ===

==== Technical Entry Scheme (TES) ====

The Technical entry scheme (TES) is a specialized route for 10+2, students who have opted Physics, Chemistry and Maths as their main subjects; to join the Army as engineering officers in technical branches. Candidates applying for TES shall be unmarried male indian citizens, aged 16½ to 19½ years, and must have passed 10+2 with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics with at least 60% aggregate, and appeared in Joint Entrance Examination - Main with 85-90 percentile score. Unlike NDA or CDSE, TES has no written exam and selection is based on academic performance, SSB evaluation and final medical tests.

== Equipment ==

Most of the army equipment is imported, but efforts are being made to manufacture indigenous equipment. The Defence Research and Development Organisation has developed a range of weapons for the Indian Army, including small arms, artillery, radars, and the Arjun tank. All Indian military small-arms are manufactured under the umbrella administration of the Ordnance Factories Board, with principal firearm manufacturing facilities in Ichhapore, Cossipore, Kanpur, Jabalpur, and Tiruchirapalli. The Indian Small Arms System (INSAS) rifle, which has been successfully deployed since 1997, is a product of Rifle Factory Ishapore, while ammunition is manufactured at Khadki, and possibly at Bolangir.

=== Aircraft ===

The Army Aviation Corps is the main body of the Indian Army for tactical air transport, reconnaissance, and medical evacuation, while the Indian Air Force's helicopter assets are responsible for assisting army troop transport and close air support. The Aviation Corps operates approximately 150 helicopters. The Indian army had projected a requirement for a helicopter that can carry loads of up to 750 kilograms (1,650 lb) to heights of 7,000 m (23,000 ft) on the Siachen Glacier in Jammu and Kashmir. Flying at these heights poses unique challenges due to the rarefied atmosphere. The Indian Army will induct the HAL Light Utility Helicopter to replace its ageing fleet of Chetaks and Cheetahs, some of which were deployed more than three decades ago.