# Indian Army Armoured Corps

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.
* Arjun MK1 firing on the move at Pokaran Field Firing Range.
* Indian Armoured Corps in a Sherman III tank in the Middle East, March 1944.
* A Sherman tank of the Indian Armoured Corps on the road to Rangoon, Burma Campaign.
* The Vijayanta - main battle tank of the Indian Army between 1965 and the early 2000s.
* Tanks of the Indian Army Armoured Corps and BMP-2 IFVs during a training exercise in 2006.
* MBT Arjun MK1A
* MBT Arjun MK1
* T-90 tank
* T-72 tank
* Armoured Corps Centre and School, Ahmednagar

## 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 Date | Raising Commander | Raising Location | References and notes | Tank |
| President's Bodyguard | Rashtrapati Angrakshak | 1773 | | | | Horse |
| 1st Horse | Skinner's Horse, The Yellow Boys | 23 February 1803 | Col James Skinner | Hansi | | T-72 |
| 2nd Lancers | Gardner's Horse | 1809 | Lt Col William Gardner | Farrukhabad, Mainpuri | | T-72 |
| 3rd Cavalry | | 1822 | | | | T-72 |
| 4th Horse | Hodson's Horse, Flamingoes | 1857 | Bvt Maj WSR Hodson | Punjab | | T-72 |
| 5th Armoured Regiment** | | 1 December 1983 | Lt Col JPS Hanspal | Jodhpur | | T-90 |
| 6th Lancers*** | | 1 February 1984 | Lt Col RS Deol, SM | Nabha | | T-90 |
| 7th Light Cavalry | 3rd Madras Lancers, 28th Light Cavalry | 1784 | | | | T-72 |
| 8th Light Cavalry | Gordon's Horse | 23 October 1787 | Maj Henry Darley | Arcot | | T-72 |
| 9th Horse | The Deccan Horse | 1790 | | | | |
| 10th Armoured Regiment | | 16 April 1984 | Lt Col Kulwant Singh | Ahmednagar | | T-72 |
| 11th Armoured Regiment | | 7 May 1984 | Lt Col Harjeet Singh Lamba | Kaluchak | | |
| 12th Armoured Regiment | Barsinghas | 1 October 1984 | Lt Col LR Vaid | Kapurthala | | T-90 |
| 13th Armoured Regiment | Triskaideca, Nightstrikers | 21 December 1984 | Lt Col Balram Singh Mehta | Ahmednagar | | T-90 |
| 14th Horse | The Scinde Horse, Jacob's Horse | 8 August 1839 | Capt W Ward | Hyderabad, Sindh | | T-72 |
| 15th Armoured Regiment | | 1 March 1985 | Lt Col MD Law | Mamun | | T-90 |
| 16th Light Cavalry | | 1776 | | | | T-72 |
| 17th Horse | The Poona Horse, Fakr-e-Hind | 15 July 1817 | | Sirur | | T-72 |
| 18th Cavalry | | 31 January 1842 | | | | T-72 |
| 19th Armoured Regiment | Invincibles | 25 March 1985 | | Ahmednagar | | T-90 |
| 20th Lancers | | 1857/1858; Re-raised 10 July 1956 | Lt Col Umrao Singh | Ahmednagar | | T-72 |
| 21st Horse | Central India Horse, Mayne's Horse, Beatson's Horse | 1857 | Capt Henry Otway Mayne | | | |
| 41st Armoured Regiment | | 1 July 1980 | Lt Col JP Singh | Ahmednagar | | T-72 |
| 42nd Armoured Regiment | | 1 January 1981 | Lt Col Ranjit Talwar | Babina | | T-90 |
| 43rd Armoured Regiment | Charioteers | 1981 | Lt Col BM Kapur | Ahmednagar | | Arjun Mk1 |
| 44th Armoured Regiment | | 15 December 1981 | Lt Col DS Dhillon | Ahmednagar | | T-72 |
| 45th Cavalry | Paintalis Risala | 16 May 1965 | Lt Col SK Candade | New Delhi | | T-90 |
| 46th Armoured Regiment | Thunderbolts | 1 July 1982 | Lt Col Prithpal Singh Sandhu | Ahmednagar | | T-72 |
| 47th Armoured Regiment | Penetrators | 15 November 1982 | Lt Col Tejvir Singh Sirohi | Babina | | T-72 |
| 48th Armoured Regiment | | 1 December 1982 | Lt Col DS Dhadwal | Meerut | | T-90 |
| 49th Armoured Regiment | Falcons | 1 October 1983 | Lt Col JPS Nakai | Ahmednagar | | T-72 |
| 50 Armoured Regiment | Fear Naught | July 1989 | Lt Col AK Bhatia | Ahmednagar | | T-72 |
| 51 Armoured Regiment | The Unicorn | 15 July 1989 | Lt Col RS Gill | | | T-72 |
| 52 Armoured Regiment | | 1 February 1994 | Col Jugvir Singh | Roorkee | | T-72 |
| 53 Armoured Regiment | | 1 April 2002 | | | | |
| 54 Armoured Regiment | | 1 July 2010 | | | | T-90 |
| 55 Armoured Regiment | | | | | | T-90 |
| 56 Armoured Regiment | Lionhearts | 1 October 2011 | | | | |
| 57 Armoured Regiment | | | | | | |
| 58 Armoured Regiment | Awwal Atthawan, The Patiala Risala | 1 October 2014 | | Patiala | | T-90 |
| 59 Armoured Regiment | | | | | | |
| 60 Armoured Regiment | Panthers | 2019 | | Ahmednagar | | T-90 |
| 61 Cavalry | | 1 October 1953 | Lt Col Phulel Singh | Gwalior | | Horse |
| 62 Cavalry | | 31 March 1957 | Lt Col RS Butalia | Ambala | | T-72 |
| 63 Cavalry | Tresath | 2 January 1957 | Lt Col Harmandar Singh | Alwar | | T-72 |
| 64 Cavalry | | 31 March 1966 | Lt Col Trevor Lancelot Perry | Babina | | |
| 65 Armoured Regiment | | 1 September 1966 | Lt Col KK Kaul | | | T-72 |
| 66 Armoured Regiment | | 1 September 1966 | Lt Col Narinder Singh | Ahmednagar | | T-72 |
| 67 Armoured Regiment | | 15 September 1967 | Lt Col Niranjan Singh Cheema | Ahmednagar | | T-72 |
| 68 Armoured Regiment | Gladiators | 1 March 1968 | Lt Col RN Thumby | Ahmednagar | | T-72 |
| 69 Armoured Regiment | | 1 October 1968 | | Ahmednagar | | T-72 |
| 70 Armoured Regiment | | 11 February 1968 | Lt Col R Christian | Ahmednagar | Raised as 70 Guided Missile Regiment | T-90 |
| 71 Armoured Regiment | | 1 January 1971 | Lt Col BS Chimni | Ahmednagar | | T-90 |
| 72 Armoured Regiment | The Chhamb Knights, The Little Giants | 1 July 1971 | Lt Col Inderjit Chopra | Ahmednagar | Youngest armoured regiment of the Indian army to be blooded in war. | T-90 |
| 73 Armoured Regiment | The Desert Rats | 3 December 1971 | Lt Col KM Dhody | Ahmednagar | | T-90 |
| 74 Armoured Regiment | | 1 June 1972 | Lt Col KS Khajuria | Ahmednagar | | T-90 |
| 75 Armoured Regiment | | 12 March 1972 | Lt Col Vijai Singh | Sakna | Only regiment to be raised on foreign soil | Arjun Mk1 |
| 76 Armoured Regiment | | 21 March 1985 | | Ahmednagar | | T-72 |
| 77 Armoured Regiment | सशस्त्र शौर्य पराक्रम | 1 February 2021 | | Ahmednagar | Newly Raised | |
| 81 Armoured Regiment | | 1 October 1973 | | | | |
| 82 Armoured Regiment | Toofan-e-Hind | 1 October 1975 | Lt Col Moti Lal Dhar | | | T-72 |
| 83 Armoured Regiment | 83 Kavachit Risala / One for al l- All for one | 1 January 1976 | Lt Col Ashok Johar | Ahmednagar | | T-90 |
| 84 Armoured Regiment | | 1 July 1976 | Lt Col Tarif Singh Dhiyia | Ahmednagar | | T-72 |
| 85 Armoured Regiment | | 1 October 1976 | Lt Col DP Singh | Ahmednagar | | T-72 |
| 86 Armoured Regiment | Chhiassi | 1 March 1977 | Lt Col NS Malik | Ahmednagar | | T-90 |
| 87 Armoured Regiment | Lightning Streaks Regiment | 1 July 1979 | Lt Col DD Singh | Ahmednagar | | T-72 |
| 88 Armoured Regiment | | September 1979 | Lt Col Iesh Rikhy | Ahmednagar | | T-72 |
| 89 Armoured Regiment | | 1 February 1980 | Lt Col KL Bakshi | Ahmednagar | | T-72 |
| 90 Armoured Regiment | | 15 August 1979 | Lt Col Manjit Singh Sawhney | Pawan 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.