The Indian Army Armoured Corps is one of the combat arms of the Indian Army. Tracing its origins from the first regiment formed in 1776, the present corps was formed in 1947 from two-thirds of the personnel and assets of the British Indian Army's Indian Armoured Corps. It currently consists of 67 armoured regiments, including the President's Bodyguard.
Centre and School
The Armoured Corps Centre and School (ACC&S) is located in Ahmednagar (now Ahilya Nagar), Maharashtra. In 1921, six Armoured Car companies arrived and in 1924 the Royal Tank Corps School was established at Ahmednagar to train the personnel of the Royal Tank Corps. This school was the forerunner of the Fighting Vehicle School, which began to impart driving & maintenance training. The Fighting Vehicle School along with the Machine Gun School, the training regiments, the recruit training centre, Armoured Corps Depot and Armoured Corps Records were amalgamated to form the present school and centre in 1948.
Armour Day
The Armoured Corps of Indian Army celebrates 'Armour Day' on 1 May. It was on this day in 1938 that Scinde Horse became the first regiment to dismount from their horses and move to tanks. The first equipment inducted were Vickers Light Tanks and Chevrolet Armoured Cars.
Naming Convention of the Armoured Regiments
The naming of the regiments reflects its historical origins. The terms Cavalry, Horse and Lancers, which have been dispensed with in the case of units raised post-independence, are historical legacies from the raising and renaming of these units when part of the East India Company's army and/or later the British Indian Army.
Composition of an Armoured Regiment
An armoured corps regiment is commanded by a Colonel ranked officer, who is known as the Commandant of the Unit. An armoured regiment comprises 3 Sabre Squadrons and a Headquarter Squadron. Each squadron is commanded by a Major ranked officer. He holds the appointment of a Squadron Commander.
An Armoured Regiment has around 45 to 50 tanks in all. Each Sabre Squadron consists of 14-15 tanks and one Armoured Recovery Vehicle. 3 tanks are assigned to the Headquarter Squadron, including that of the commandant. Each squadron consists of four troops, each consisting of 3 tanks.
Black Beret
The officers and troops of Armoured Corps regiments wear the Black Berets as opposed to the rifle green and blue coloured berets which are worn by the regiments of other arms and services respectively. The Black Beret gives the Tankman a distinct identity of their own within the Army fold.
Equipment The Armoured Corps of the Indian Army is currently equipped with the following tanks-
Arjun MBT – Mk.1 variant in use and Mk.1A under order. T-90 – M and S variants with DRDO made upgrades. T-72 – M1 variant with upgrades namely Ajeya MK1/MK2 and Combat Improved Ajeya.
List of regiments
The list of regiments forming part of the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army is as follows. This list is as per unit serial number but not as per the order of precedence of the Indian Army. In that list, The President's Bodyguard is first, but is followed by 16 Light Cavalry, 7 Light Cavalry, 8 Cavalry and 1st Horse. As a matter of tradition, each Armoured Regiment has its own "Colonel of the Regiment", an honorary post for a senior officer who oversees the regimental issues concerning the unit. Name Other Name(s)Raising DateRaising CommanderRaising LocationReferences and notesTankPresident's BodyguardRashtrapati Angrakshak1773Warren HastingsHorse1st HorseSkinner's Horse, The Yellow Boys 23 February 1803Col James SkinnerHansiT-722nd LancersGardner's Horse1809Lt Col William GardnerFarrukhabad, MainpuriT-723rd Cavalry 1822History of the 3rd Cavalry.T-724th HorseHodson's Horse, Flamingoes1857Bvt Maj WSR HodsonPunjabT-725th Armoured Regiment**1 December 1983Lt Col JPS HanspalJodhpurWeb-page on "armoured Corps" at Bharat Rakshak , accessed December 2009.Globalsecurity.org, 5 Armoured Regiment, accessed 23 July 2010T-906th Lancers***1 February 1984Lt Col RS Deol, SMNabhaT-907th Light Cavalry3rd Madras Lancers, 28th Light Cavalry1784T-728th Light CavalryGordon's Horse23 October 1787Maj Henry DarleyArcotT-729th HorseThe Deccan Horse179010th Armoured Regiment16 April 1984Lt Col Kulwant SinghAhmednagarT-7211th Armoured Regiment The Double First, Sprocket Power Risala7 May 1984Lt Col Harjeet Singh Lamba Kaluchak12th Armoured RegimentBarsinghas1 October 1984Lt Col LR VaidKapurthalaT-9013th Armoured RegimentTriskaideca, Nightstrikers21 December 1984Lt Col Balram Singh MehtaAhmednagarT-9014th HorseThe Scinde Horse, Jacob's Horse8 August 1839Capt W WardHyderabad, SindhT-9015th Armoured Regiment1 March 1985Lt Col MD LawMamunT-9016th Light Cavalry3rd Madras Light Cavalry, 27 Light Cavalry, The Carnatic Warriors1776Lt Col J D StevensonArcotT-7217th HorseThe Poona Horse, Fakr-e-Hind15 July 1817Lt. Col J CunnighamSirurT-7218th Cavalry31 January 1842T-7219th Armoured RegimentInvincibles25 March 1985AhmednagarT-9020th Lancers1857/1858; Re-raised 10 July 1956Lt Col Umrao SinghAhmednagarT-7221st HorseCentral India Horse, Mayne's Horse, Beatson's Horse1857Capt Henry Otway Mayne41st Armoured Regiment1 July 1980Lt Col JP SinghAhmednagarT-7242nd Armoured Regiment1 January 1981Lt Col Ranjit Talwar BabinaT-9043rd Armoured RegimentCharioteers1981Lt Col BM KapurAhmednagarArjun Mk144th Armoured Regiment15 December 1981Lt Col DS DhillonAhmednagarT-7245th Cavalry Paintalis Risala16 May 1965Lt Col SK CandadeNew DelhiT-9046th Armoured RegimentThunderbolts1 July 1982Lt Col Prithpal Singh SandhuAhmednagarT-7247th Armoured RegimentPenetrators15 November 1982Lt Col Tejvir Singh SirohiBabinaT-7248th Armoured Regiment1 December 1982Lt Col DS DhadwalMeerutT-9049th Armoured Regiment1 October 1983Lt Col JPS NakaiAhmednagarT-7250 Armoured RegimentFear NaughtJuly 1989Lt Col AK BhatiaAhmednagarT-7251 Armoured RegimentThe Unicorn15 July 1989Lt Col RS GillT-7252 Armoured Regiment1 February 1994Col Jugvir SinghRoorkeeT-7253 Armoured RegimentFalcons1 April 2002 54 Armoured RegimentIronhides 1 July 2010Col Navneet Narayan T-9055 Armoured RegimentAhilyanagarT-9056 Armoured RegimentLionhearts1 October 2011Col Anuj KaliaAhilyanagar T-9057 Armoured Regiment58 Armoured RegimentAwwal Atthawan, The Patiala Risala1 October 2014PatialaT-9059 Armoured Regiment60 Armoured RegimentPanthers2019AhmednagarT-9061 Cavalry1 October 1953Lt Col Phulel SinghGwaliorHorse62 Cavalry31 March 1957Lt Col RS ButaliaAmbalaT-7263 CavalryTresath2 January 1957Lt Col Harmandar SinghAlwarT-7264 Cavalry31 March 1966Lt Col Trevor Lancelot PerryBabina65 Armoured Regiment1 September 1966Lt Col KK KaulAhmednagarT-7266 Armoured Regiment1 September 1966Lt Col Narinder SinghAhmednagarT-7267 Armoured Regiment15 September 1967Lt Col Niranjan Singh CheemaT-7268 Armoured RegimentGladiators1 March 1968Lt Col RN ThumbyT-7269 Armoured Regiment1 October 1968 AhmednagarT-7270 Armoured Regiment11 February 1968Lt Col R ChristianAhmednagarRaised as 70 Guided Missile RegimentT-9071 Armoured Regiment1 January 1971Lt Col BS ChimniAhmednagarT-9072 Armoured RegimentThe Chhamb Knights, The Little Giants1 July 1971Lt Col Inderjit ChopraAhmednagarYoungest armoured regiment of the Indian army to be blooded in war.T-9073 Armoured RegimentThe Desert Rats3 December 1971Lt Col KM DhodyAhmednagarT-9074 Armoured RegimentDesert Hawks1 June 1972 Lt Col KS KhajuriaAhmednagarT-9075 Armoured Regiment12 March 1972Lt Col Vijai SinghSakna Only regiment to be raised on foreign soilLt Gen Kamal Davar takes over as director general mechanised forces, 4 August 2001.Arjun Mk176 Armoured Regiment21 March 1985AhmednagarT-7277 Armoured Regiment1 February 2021Ahmednagar81 Armoured Regiment 1 October 197382 Armoured RegimentToofan-e-Hind1 October 1975Lt Col Moti Lal DharT-7283 Armoured Regiment83 Kavachit Risala / One for al l- All for one1 January 1976Lt Col Ashok JoharAhmednagarT-9084 Armoured Regiment1 July 1976Lt Col Tarif Singh DhiyiaAhmednagarT-7285 Armoured Regiment1 October 1976Lt Col DP SinghAhmednagarT-7286 Armoured RegimentChhiassi1 March 1977Lt Col NS MalikAhmednagarT-9087 Armoured RegimentLightning Streaks Regiment 1 July 1979Lt Col DD Singh Ahmednagar T-7288 Armoured RegimentSeptember 1979Lt Col Iesh RikhyAhmednagarT-7289 Armoured Regiment1 February 1980Lt Col KL BakshiAhmednagarT-7290 Armoured Regiment15 August 1979Lt Col Manjit Singh SawhneyPawan Da Chak ** The original 5th Horse (Probyn's Horse) was transferred to Pakistan in 1947.
*** Original 6th Lancers (Watson's Horse) was transferred to Pakistan in 1947.
Notes
Further reading Cavalry Officers Association . Valour Honour Tradition (Vignettes of the Indian Armored Corps 1773 - 2000. Director General Mechanized Forces, Sena Bhawan, New Delhi 110001. Maj Gen Gurchan Singh Sandhu, PVSM (1987). The Indian Armour- History of the Indian Armoured Corps : 1941 - 1971. Vision Books (incorporating Orient Paperbacks), New Delhi. . Ashok Nath (2009). Izzat: Historical Records and Iconography of Indian Cavalry Regiments, 1750 - 2007. Centre for Armed Forces Historical Research, United Services Institution of India, New Delhi.
External links Army official website Structure of an Armoured Regiment