Indian Army Order of Battle

Indian Army during World War I order of battle

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Today, the command complements to the nation's efforts in countering the most serious challenge to her security, namely, the scourge of terrorism and proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir. Troops of the Northern Command have been manning the highest battlefield in the world at Siachen. The average altitude of the posts varies from 15, to 23, ft here. The battle is not just against the enemy but also sub zero conditions, extreme wind chill, deep crevasses frost bite and hypoxia.

Operation Vijay was possibly Northern Command's finest hour. It was a unique operation marked with unparalleled bravery, guts, determination and sacrifice beyond the call of duty. This command has played a crucial role in fighting against the proxy war that began in Over 18, terrorists have been killed, more than 80 tons of explosives and almost 40, weapons have been recovered.

The command also took the onus of fencing the Line of Control to curtail the levels of infiltration and exfiltration. The greatest battle that the Northern Army has been fighting is for the hearts and minds of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. A sum of over Rs. This year there has been a quantum jump in the scope and scale of this operation. Trials are underway to use water mills in the villages as microhydel plants. If successful, these plants could usher in a mini revolution at the grassroots level.

The XIV Corps is the field formation that is responsible for Ladakh and Kargil, and is responsible for intelligence about enemy positions near the Line of Control. The Kargil operation in was primarily the responsibity of the 8 Mountain Division, the formation that was rushed there after the intrusions were detected in May Of the 16 battalions involved in the war, only 10 were employed at Kargil. The 4th, 5th and 8th Indian Divisions distinguished themselves in a series of hard-fought campaigns.

A time came when the British 8th Army depended on the 4th Division to crack up Axis formations in their long and final retreat. Even before war was declared, elements of the Indian Army were deployed overseas. During August , one Indian brigade had moved to Egypt and one to Malaya. In May , the end of the phoney war in France followed by the declaration of war on Britain by Italy on 8 June stirred up the situation in North Africa. Right from the outbreak of war, 4 Indian Division was the first to be deployed in the deserts of North Africa.

Italian East Africa was important as it abutted onto the Red Sea and Italian ships and submarines based at Massawa could interfere with shipping through it. Seeing additional troops, the Italians withdraw from the forward position mid January and on 19 January the British crossed the border in pursuit. Bhagat won a Victoria Cross for continuous mine cleaning operations under enemy fire from 1 to 4 February This officer was the first Indian Officer to be awarded the coveted Victoria Cross.

The destruction of Italian army had compelled the German to reinforce this front. On 31 March Rommel launched his attack and by 11 April he had invested Tobruk. The 3rd Indian motor Brigade that had held on to Mechili till 8 April had delayed the German advance. It was into this situation that 4 Indian Division arrived back from East Africa. Wavell launched a counter attack on 15 June, in the face of superior German tanks. The attack failed and General Auchinleck now replaced Wavell. Auchinleck assumed command of the now reinforced 8th Army and launched an offensive in November The British offensive was stalled and Rommel struck over the frontier into the British rear positions, causing near panic.

Rommel took the second offensive and forced the British to withdraw. The 8th Army fought fiercely at Gazala and brought the battle to a stalemate. The force pressed on long the coastal road, and the armour closed the trap at Beda Fomm. Arora , the three corps of the Indian Army, which had invaded East Pakistan, entered Dhaka and forced Pakistani forces to surrender on 16 December , one day after the conclusion of the battle of Basantar. By the time of the signing, 11, Pakistani soldiers were killed-in-action while India suffered 3, battle-related deaths.

In , the Simla Agreement was signed between the two countries and tensions simmered.

However, there were occasional spurts in diplomatic tensions which culminated in increased military vigilance on both sides. The Siachen Glacier , though a part of the Kashmir region, was not officially demarcated on maps prepared and exchanged between the two sides in As a consequence, prior to the s, neither India nor Pakistan maintained any permanent military presence in the region.

However, Pakistan began conducting and allowing a series of mountaineering expeditions to the glacier beginning in the s. By the early s, the Government of Pakistan was granting special expedition permits to mountaineers and United States Army maps deliberately showed Siachen as a part of Pakistan.

India, possibly irked by these developments, launched Operation Meghdoot in April An entire battalion of the Kumaon Regiment was airlifted to the glacier. Pakistani forces responded quickly and clashes between the two followed. Pakistan made several unsuccessful attempts to regain control over Siachen. In late , Pakistan mobilised about 8, troops and garrisoned them near Khapalu, aiming to capture Bilafond La.

During the battle, about 23 Indian soldiers lost their lives, while more than Pakistani troops perished. India continues to maintain a strong military presence in the region, despite extremely inhospitable conditions. The conflict over Siachen is regularly cited as an example of mountain warfare.

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The Indian Army has played a crucial role in the past, fighting insurgents and terrorists within the nation. The army, along with some paramilitary forces , has the prime responsibility of maintaining law and order in the troubled Jammu and Kashmir region, led specifically by the Northern Command. Allied with the work of the Northern Command and its peace time activities is "North Tech Symposium", an annual event, with the aim of providing a viable platform for knowledge diffusion on relevant, contemporary military technologies available as commercial off the shelf COTS worldwide.

In , India carried out nuclear tests and a few days later, Pakistan responded with more nuclear tests giving both countries nuclear deterrence capability, although India had tested one hydrogen bomb which Pakistan lacked. Diplomatic tensions eased after the Lahore Summit was held in However, the sense of optimism was short-lived since in mid Pakistani paramilitary forces and Kashmiri insurgents captured the deserted, but strategic, Himalayan heights in the Kargil district of India.

These had been vacated by the Indian army during the onset of the inhospitable winter and were supposed to be reoccupied in spring. The regular Pakistani troops who took control of these areas received important support, both in the form of arms and supplies, from Pakistan. Once the scale of the Pakistani incursion was realised, the Indian Army quickly mobilised about , troops and Operation Vijay was launched. However, since the heights were under Pakistani control, India was at a clear strategic disadvantage.

From their observation posts , the Pakistani forces had a clear line-of-sight to lay down indirect artillery fire on NH 1A, inflicting heavy casualties on the Indians. Point , which had the nearest view of the NH 1A, was successfully recaptured by Indian forces on 14 June. Though most of the posts in the vicinity of the highway were cleared by mid-June, some parts of it near Drass witnessed sporadic shelling until the end of the war.

The Battle of Tololing , among other assaults, slowly tilted the combat in India's favour. Nevertheless, some posts put up a stiff resistance, including Tiger Hill Point that fell only later in the war. As the operation was fully under way, about artillery guns were brought in to clear the infiltrators in the posts that were in the line-of-sight.

At many vital points, neither artillery nor air power could dislodge the outposts manned by the Pakistan soldiers, who were out of visible range. Following the Washington accord on 4 July, where Sharif agreed to withdraw Pakistani troops, most of the fighting came to a gradual halt, but some Pakistani forces remained in positions on the Indian side of the LOC. In addition, the United Jihad Council an umbrella for all extremist groups rejected Pakistan's plan for a climb-down, instead deciding to fight on.

By the end of the war, India had resumed control of all the territory south and east of the Line of Control, as was established in July per the Shimla Accord. By the time all hostilities had ended, the number of Indian soldiers killed during the conflict stood at , [79] while more than regular members of the Pakistani Army were killed. India has been the largest troop contributor to UN missions since its inception. So far India has taken part in 43 Peacekeeping missions with a total contribution exceeding , troops and a significant number of police personnel having been deployed.

Operation Brasstacks was launched by the Indian Army in November to simulate a full-scale war on its western border. The exercise was the largest ever conducted in India and comprised nine infantry, three mechanised, three armoured and one air assault division, and included three independent armoured brigades. Amphibious assault exercises were also conducted with the Indian Navy.

Brasstacks also allegedly incorporated nuclear attack drills. It led to tensions with Pakistan and a subsequent rapprochement in mid Indian Army tested its network centric warfare capabilities in the exercise Ashwamedha. The exercise was held in the Thar desert, in which over , troops participated. The seventh edition of Yudh Abhyas is currently underway since 5 March in two locations under the South Western Command. The Command Post Exercise has an engineer brigade headquarters with its planners from both sides, while the Field Training Exercise comprises troops of the 2nd Squadron 14th US Cavalry Regiment from the 25th Infantry Division, Hawaii, along with a platoon of Strykers, and a similar sized Indian Army contingent of mechanised infantry.

The event is all the more interesting as a number of key surveillance, communications and Improvised Explosive Devices detection and neutralisation technologies, available to both sides have been fielded in the exercise. Army-Pacific sponsored a bilateral training exercise with the Indian army, 3—17 May , that focused on the two countries' cultures, weapons training and tactics.

Exercise Shakti is an ongoing series of joint exercises between the Indian and French armies since Exercise Shakti is conducted to practice and validate anti-terrorist operations and drills in snowbound and mountainous areas. The second joint military exercise between the two countries was held in September with the first one being held in India in October The theme of the exercise is to conduct platoon level joint counter insurgency operations in high altitude mountainous terrain under the UN Charter, thus emphasising the shared concerns of both countries about global terrorism.

An added aim of the exercise is to qualitatively enhance knowledge of each other's military procedures thus increasing the scope for interoperability and better responsiveness to a common threat. The twelve-day exercise with the French Army is scheduled to be conducted in multiple modules in order to achieve complete integration between the two contingents at every stage. On first week of April the Indian Army launched a massive summer exercise in the Rajasthan desert involving over 50, troops and several hundred artillery guns and infantry combat vehicles as part of its efforts to shore up its battle worthiness on the western front with Pakistan.

The exercise, code-named "Shoorveer", was being conducted by the Jaipur-based South Western Command and ended in the first week of May. This was the largest ever exercise conducted by Indian army since The collective training started with honing of basic battle procedures and tactical drills at a tactical level. A number of field firings were carried out to check the accuracy and lethality of the weapon systems. A large number of innovations and modifications carried out by units and formations to enhance combat power were tested in the field.

The troops built on the training momentum gradually, with increased combat tempo to set the stage for a major joint army-air force exercise in the later part of the exercise. In May the Indian army started testing the preparedness level of its units and to validate new age technology, battle concepts, organizational structures and networked operations. Code named Exercise Rudra Akrosh, the war games were aimed at validating the operational and transformational effectiveness of various formations under the Western Army Command.

It included various summer training manoeuvres where approximately 20, troops tested battle skills with state-of-the-art weapons systems in complete integration with the fighter and transport aircraft provided by the Indian Air Force. Besides interacting with the soldiers and officers co-ordinating the war games, Lt Gen Ghosh witnessed various battle manoeuvres by infantry troops, mechanised infantry, tanks, artillery, Heli-borne troops and surveillance equipment. Recently, the Jaipur-based South Western Command—also known as Sapta Shakti command—conducted its summer war games with more than 50, troops, latest weaponry and air assets.

The Indian Army has been conducting training exercises with the Mongolian Army. The first exercise took place in , and these exercises have since been taking place every year. In , the exercise took place in Belgaum , and in June , they were held in Mongolia. The aim of the exercises is to enhance counter insurgency and counter terrorism operations, and conduct peacekeeping operations under the mandate of the United Nation.

In April , the Indian Army conducted a major exercise called "Shatrujeet" with the elite Mathura-based Strike Corps in the desert area of the Mahajan field firing range in Rajasthan. The capability to strike deep into enemy territory in an integrated air-land battle environment was evaluated. The focus of the exercise was to achieve co-ordination among all the forces in a nuclear, biological, chemical warfare scenario so as to deliver a quick, lethal strike against the enemy.

The operationally-oriented exercise was focused on validating integrated theatre battle fighting concepts by incorporating new age technologies, weapons platforms and systems, as well as long-range precision targeting vectors. Initially, the army's main objective was to defend the nation's frontiers. However, over the years, the army has also taken up the responsibility of providing internal security, especially against insurgencies in Kashmir and the Northeast.

The current combat doctrine of the Indian Army is based on effectively utilising holding formations and strike formations. In the case of an attack, the holding formations would contain the enemy and strike formations would counter-attack to neutralise enemy forces. In the case of an Indian attack, the holding formations would pin enemy forces down, whilst the strike formations attack at a point of Indian choosing. The Indian Army is large enough to devote several corps to the strike role. Currently, the army is also looking at enhancing its special forces capabilities.

With the role of India increasing, and the requirement for protection of India's interests in far-off countries become important, the Indian Army and Indian Navy are jointly planning to set up a marine brigade. The troops are organized into 40 Divisions in 14 Corps.

The army operates six operational commands and one training command. These commands are given below in their correct order of raising, location city and their commanders. Besides these, army officers may head tri-service commands such as the Strategic Forces Command and Andaman and Nicobar Command , as well as institutions like Integrated Defence Staff.

Not to be confused with the Field Corps mentioned above, the corps mentioned below are the functional divisions entrusted with specific pan-Army tasks. The Indian Territorial Army has battalions affiliated with different infantry regiments and some department units which are either from the Corps of Engineers, Army Medical Corps or the Army Service Corps. They serve as a part-time reserve. On 4 June , the chief of staff announced that the Army was planning to open combat positions to women, who would first be appointed to positions in the military police.

Indian Army - Order of Battle

These include the following historic regiments dating back to the nineteenth century or earlier: A substantial number of additional units designated as either "Cavalry" or "Armoured" Regiments have been raised since Independence. During the late 70s, as part of Indian Army modernisation, there was an urgent need to re-calibrate the Indian Mechanised Forces by forming of Mechanised Infantry units to further the shock-action, fire-power, flexibility and mobility of Armoured formations to include ground-holding ability. Thus, the Mechanised Infantry Regiment was born by careful selection of existing Infantry battalions based on operational performance.

As the need for more Mechanised battalions grew, the elite Brigade of The Guards were also converted to the Mechanised profile. 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 regiments continue the heritage of regiments raised under the British Raj, but some have been raised after independence. Some regiments raised after independence have specialised in border defence, in particular the Ladakh Scouts , the Arunachal Scouts and the Sikkim Scouts. Infantry regiments in the Indian Army are: The Regiment of Artillery is the second largest arm of the Indian Army, constituting nearly one sixth of the Army's total strength.

Originally raised in as part of the Royal Indian Artillery of the British Indian Army , the Regiment is now tasked with providing the Army's towed and self-propelled field artillery , including guns, howitzers, heavy mortars, rockets and missiles. 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 Indian military success.

Indian Army - Order of Battle | Indian Defence Forum

During the Kargil War , it was the Indian Artillery that inflicted the most damage. 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 defense artillery and some aviation assets. 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.

After undergoing consistent failures to import or produce modern artillery for three decades, [] [] the Regiment of Artillery is finally going ahead with procurement of brand new mm and mm artillery guns. The Indian Army Corps of Engineers has a long history dating back to the midth century.

The earliest existing subunit of the Corps 18 Field Company dates back to while the Corps officially recognises its birth as when the senior most group of the Corps, the Madras Sappers were raised.

A group is roughly analogous to a regiment of Indian infantry, each group consisting of a number of engineer regiments. The engineer regiment is the basic combat engineer unit, analogous to an infantry battalion. Indian Army Corps of Signals is a corps and the arm of the Indian Army which handles its military communications. The Corps of Army Air Defence abbreviated as AAD is an active corps of the Indian Army and a major combative formation tasked with air defences of the country from foreign threats.

The AAD Corps is responsible for the protection of Indian air space from enemy aircraft and missiles, especially below 5, feet. Post independence, the corps has participated in all the wars involving India , starting from the Indo-Pakistani War to the Kargil conflict. The corps enjoyed autonomous status from , after the bifurcation of the Corps of Air Defence Artillery from the Army's artillery regiment. The MI as it is commonly referred to was constituted in and was initially created to check corruption in the Army's own ranks.

With time, its role has evolved into cross border intelligence, intelligence sharing with friendly nations, infiltrating insurgent groups and counter-terrorism. In the late s, the MI was embroiled in the Samba spy scandal wherein three Indian Army officers were falsely implicated as Pakistani spies. The organisation has since emerged from the scandal as a prime Intelligence organisation of the Indian Army. As of , the MI has seen many of its roles taken away in a turf war with the newly created National Technical Research Organisation and the Defence Intelligence Agency. The Indian Army is a voluntary service, and although a provision for military conscription exists in the Indian constitution , it has never been imposed.

This makes the Indian Army the world's largest standing volunteer army. Indian Army officers are continually put through different courses and assessed on merit throughout their career, for promotions and appointments. Substantive promotions up to lieutenant colonel or equivalent are based on time in service whereas those for colonel and above are based on selection, with promotion to colonel also based on time served. The Indian Army camouflage consists of shirts, trousers and cap of a synthetic material.

Shirts are buttoned up with two chest pockets with buttoned up flaps. Trousers have two pockets, two thigh box pockets and a back pocket. The Indian Army Jungle camouflage dress features a jungle camouflage pattern and is designed for use in woodland environments. The Indian Army Desert camouflage, which features a desert camouflage pattern, is used by artillery and infantry posted in dusty, semi-desert and desert areas of Rajasthan and its vicinity.

The forces of the East India Company in India were forced by casualties to dye their white summer tunics to neutral tones, initially a tan called khaki from the Hindi word for "dusty".

This was a temporary measure which became standard in the Indian service in the s. The Indian Army uniform standardises on dun for khaki. The modern Indian Army wears distinctive parade uniforms characterised by variegated turbans and waist-sashes in regimental colours. Traditionally, all rifle regiments the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, the Garhwal Rifles, all Gorkha Rifles, and the Rajputana Rifles as well as the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry wear rank badges , buttons and blackened wire embroidered articles of uniform in black instead of the usual brass or gold colour as the original role of the rifle regiments was camouflage and concealment.

The medals awarded by the President for gallantry displayed away from the battlefield, in order of precedence, are- Ashoka Chakra , Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra. The role of women in the Indian army began when the "Indian Military Nursing Service" was formed in , and nurses fought in World War I and II where Indian Army nurses either died or were taken prisoner of war or declared missing in action, this includes nurses who died when SS Kuala was sunk by the Japanese Bombers in 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 ranging from 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.

In , Army chief General Bikram Singh said that if given sufficient budget support, the Indian Army might be able to acquire half the ammunition needed to fight in a major conflict by the next year. 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 the army troop transport and close air support.

It operates around helicopters. Flying at these heights poses unique challenges due to the rarefied atmosphere.

On 13 October , The defence minister has given the control of attack helicopters to the Indian Army from the Indian Air force. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about the Indian Army since For the earlier period, see Military history of India. It has been suggested that Samman Guard be merged into this article. Discuss Proposed since July List of regiments of the Indian Army Military operations of India. Indo-Pakistani War of and Kashmir conflict. Indo-Pakistani War of Indian Army United Nations peacekeeping missions. List of exercises of the Indian Army.

List of regiments of the Indian Army. Military academies in India. Directorate of Military Intelligence India. Army ranks and insignia of India. Called as Jemadar until An Indian Army paratrooper with the 50th Parachute Brigade jumps from a helicopter. Awards and decorations of the Indian Armed Forces.

Equipment of the Indian Army and List of active Indian military aircraft. Military of India portal. Retrieved 13 August Archived PDF from the original on 29 December Retrieved 20 December

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