Indian Army
- This article deals with the modern day Indian Army. For the army before Independence in 1947 which included the British Indian Army, please see Army of India.
The Indian Army (भारतीय सेना Hindi: Bhartiya Sena) is the land force of the Military of India and has the prime responsibility of conducting land-based warfare. The Indian Army maintains the largest active force in the world.
The Indian Army is a well-trained and well-equipped military service, with a troop strength of over a million. It is a completely voluntary service, the military draft never having been imposed in India. The army has rich combat experience in diverse terrains, considering India's diversity on this front, and also has a distinguished history of serving in United Nations peacekeeping operations.
The force is headed by the Chief of Army Staff, currently General J.J. Singh. The highest rank in the Indian Army is Field Marshal, but it is a largely ceremonial rank and appointments are made by the President of India, on the advice of the Union Cabinet of Ministers, only in exceptional circumstances. (See Field Marshal (India)). Field Marshal S.H.F.J Maneckshaw and the late Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa are the only two officers who have attained this rank.
History
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See the British Indian Army for the pre-independence Indian Army.
Upon British India gaining independence in 1947, the British Indian Army was divided into two parts to serve the newly created nations of Union of India and Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Most units went to India, and the rest to Pakistan. Some Gurkha units from the force were also retained in the British Army.
Almost immediately after independence, tensions between India and Pakistan began to boil over. And the first of three full-scale wars between the two nations broke out over the then princely state of Kashmir. Upon the Maharaja of Kashmir's reluctance to accede to either India or Pakistan, an impatient Pakistan sponsored a tribal invasion of parts of Kashmir. The men are alleged by India to have also included Pakistan army regulars. Soon after, Pakistan sent in its troops to annex the state. The Maharaja, Hari Singh, appealed to India, and to Lord Mountbatten -- the Governor General -- for help, but it was pointed out to him that India saw no reason to do so. He signed the Instrument of Accession and Kashmir unilaterally acceded to India (a decision ratified by the former colonial masters but never accepted by Pakistan). Immediately after, Indian troops were airlifted into Srinagar and, in a famous operation, repelled the invaders. An intense war was waged across the state and former comrades found themselves fighting each other. Both sides made some territorial gains and also suffered significant losses, but the Indian Army is generally believed to have had the upper hand when hostilities ceased in 1948.
An uneasy UN sponsored peace returned by the end of 1948 with Indian and Pakistani soldiers facing each other directly on the Line of Control, which has since divided Indian from Pakistani-held Kashmir. Tensions between India and Pakistan, largely over Kashmir, have never since been entirely eliminated.
Indian Army participation in UN peace-keeping Operations
India is the second largest troop contributor to the UN. Presently, the Indian army has dedicated one brigade of troops to the UN's standby arrangements. Through its large, sustained troop commitments India has come in for much praise for taking part in difficult operations for prolonged periods.
The Indian Army has participated in several UN peace-keeping operations, including the ones in Cyprus, Lebanon, Congo, Angola, Cambodia, Vietnam, Namibia, El Salvador, Liberia, Mozambique & Somalia. The army also provided a paramedical unit to facilitate the withdrawal of the sick and wounded in Korea.
After the partition of India, the State of Hyderabad, a princely-state under the rule of a Nizam, chose to remain independent. The Nizam refused to accede his state to the Union of India, although Hyderabad had an overwhelmingly large Hindu population. The following stand-off between the Government of India and the Nizam ended on 12 September 1948 when India's then deputy-Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhai Patel ordered Indian troops to secure the state. Within 5 days of intense fighting, the Indian Army, backed by the Indian Air Force, successfully defeated Hyderabad State forces. The following day, the State of Hyderabad was proclaimed as a part of the Union of India.
Goa, Daman and Diu Operation (1961)
Even though the British and French vacated all their colonial possessions in the Indian subcontinent, Goa, Daman and Diu remained under Portuguese control. In 1961, after repeated Portuguese refusals to negotiate towards leaving, New Delhi ordered a small contingent of its troops to invade the Portuguese territories and secure them. It was called Operation Vijay. Unable to withstand the assault, Portugal signed a truce with India and gave up its control over the small territories, which formally became part of the Indian Union.
Since 1959 Indian Police posts had been pushed forward into territory claimed by the Chinese Government. Small scale clashes broke out as India insisted the border ran along the "traditional" watershed, in effect the British McMahon Line, which China disputed. In 1962 Indian soldiers were ordered to occupy the Thagla ridge near the border between Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh, which formed part of the watershed, but was some three miles to the north of the McMahon line. Tensions rose further when New Delhi discovered that the Chinese had constructed a road through Aksai Chin which India claimed. In September 1962 Chinese troops expelled the Indian soldiers from the ridge. On October 12, Nehru gave orders for the Chinese to be expelled from Aksai Chin. On October 20, Chinese soldiers attacked India in both the North-West and North-East parts of the border, entering the disputed Aksai Chin region along with Arunachal Pradesh in numbers. China then called on the Indian government to negotiate. With no peaceful agreement between the two counties, China unilaterally withdrew their troops from the territory they had occupied. The reasons for the withdrawal are disputed with India claiming logistical problems and diplomatic support from the US and China stating that it was returning to the borders that it had staked its diplomatic claim. The dividing line between the Indian and Chinese forces was christened the Line of Actual Control. A review committee was soon set up by the Indian government to determine the causes for India's defeat. The report apparently faulted much of India's armed forces command and especially the executive government for failures on several fronts. Despite frequent calls for its release this Henderson-Brooks Committee report still remains classified.
A second confrontation with Pakistan happened in 1965, largely over Kashmir. Pakistani dictator General Ayub Khan launched Operation Gibraltar in August 1965, believing an Indian leadership still recovering from the 1962 war with China to be unable to effectively deal with such a military thrust. It proved to be a serious miscalculation for Ayub, who had also banked on the intelligence report claiming that the people of Kashmir would aid the Pakistani war effort. No such rebellion occurred and India responded almost immediately with armoured regiments being deployed to both, counter enemy intrusions, and strike across the border.
Initially, the Indian Army met with considerable success in the northern sector. After launching prolonged artillery barrages against Pakistan, India was able to capture three important mountain positions in Kashmir. However, by the end of the month both sides were on even footing as Pakistan had made progress in areas such as Tithwal, Uri and Punch and India had gains in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, having captured the Haji Pir Pass eight kilometers inside Pakistani territory.
Pakistan launched Operation Grand Slam on September 1, invading the Chamb-Jurian sector. In retaliation, the Indian Army's 15th Infantry Division crossed the International Border on the Western Front on September 6, and attempted to head to Lahore. After suffering some initial reverses, the force managed to cross the Ichhogil canal and come within striking distance of Lahore. Stiff resistance meant the force could go no further and had to later withdraw. The Indian Army had made significant territorial gains on both the Northern and Western fronts. The Indian Air Force, while suffering losses, had also managed to thwart the Pakistani Air Force and provide support to Indian Army movements. Pakistani territory gained by the Indian army was estimated to be between 1500-2000 square kilometers. Much of the success enjoyed by the Indian Army has been attributed to divisional commanders and their innovative leadership. One such famous instance was the foiling of what was probably the most important Pakistani armoured thrust, towards Amritsar in Khem Karan. The brigade commander, Brig. Theogaraj, flooded the sugarcane fields, trapped the superior Pakistani Patton tanks and then proceeded to decimate them, with some help from the IAF (see Battle of Asal Uttar).
Objective details are sketchy but the Pakistani Army appears to have suffered considerable losses after some initial success. It is estimated by neutral observers that Pakistan lost over 250 main battle tanks and nearly 4000 personnel. Equivalent figures for India put its army's losses at over 100 tanks and nearly 3000 personnel. Strategically, the war proved to be a stalemate and the ceasefire on September 23 was followed by talks in Tashkent (brokered by the Soviet Union), where Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and Ayub Khan agreed to withdraw to virtually all pre-war positions.
In 1971, rebellion broke out in East Pakistan, and India was forced to intervene as an estimated 10 million Bangladeshi refugees fled to India. War again came, but this time decisive change was effected. East Pakistan broke away with Indian intervention and became the independent nation of Bangladesh. This was of great help to India, since it no longer had to worry about a two-front war and could concentrate its combat firepower against what had been West Pakistan and the PRC. Under the command of Lt. General J.S. Arora, the Indian army achieved a decisive victory over Pakistan in 1971, taking over 90,000 prisoners of war in the Bangladesh liberation war. Even on the western front, the Indian Army was successful in blocking Pakistan's invasion attempts (see Battle of Longewala) and counter attacked capturing more than 12,000 sq. km of enemy territory.
After 1971, tensions between India and Pakistan simmered, periodically threatening to break out into full-scale war, most notably in 1999 and 2002 in recent years. The 1998 tests of Indian and Pakistani nuclear weapons are seen by many commentators as acting as a restraining influence on both sides. Now that each can destroy the other in a war, according to the theory of deterrence, they are less likely to let tensions escalate.
In mid 1999, Kashmiri insurgents and Pakistan military personnel took control of some deserted, but strategic, Himalayan heights in Indian-administered Kashmir. These had either been vacated by the Indian army during the onset of inhospitable weather conditions, or not occupied on the presumption that it would be foolhardy, for either side, to risk men in such a manner. The intruders took control of several key areas such as the heights overlooking the vital Srinagar-Leh highway, Batalik, Dras and the strategic Tiger Hill. Soon, much of the area surrounding the Kargil heights was occupied.
India, however, quickly responded to the intrusion by launching an assult with a strength of 20,000 troops. Backed by the Indian Air Force, the Indian army managed to regain most of the lost territory within 40 days of intense fighting. The Indian Army launched a major operation, Operation Vijay, which first involved blocking the intruder's supply routes and then attacking the holed intruders from one point to the other. During the intense, often bloody, operation, it is estimated that over 4000 Pakistani troops and irregulars were killed, before Pakistan pulled out of the heights in July 1999. It was a costly campaign for India too as the Indian Army suffered casualties of over 500. The resultant Kargil Review Committee set up by the Indian Government, and headed by strategic analyst K. Subrahmanyam, faulted a serious intelligence failure -- in not detecting the intrusions in time -- and its report has led to several large-scale changes in the national security set-up.
Structure of the Indian Army
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 in insurgent-hit Kashmir and north-east.
The army has a strength of about a million troops and fields 34 divisions. Its headquarters is located in the Indian capital New Delhi and it functions under the command of the Chief of Army Staff (currently General Joginder Jaswant Singh). The COAS is assisted by several other high ranking officers.
Commands
The army operates 6 tactical commands and one training command. Each command is headed by General Officer Commanding-in-Chief with the rank of Lieutenant General. Each command is directly affiliated to the Army HQ in New Delhi.
| Command | HQ Location | Corps | GOC-in-C | |
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| Northern Command | Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir | XIV {14} Corps - Leh, Ladakh; XV {15} Corps - Srinagar, Kashmir; XVI {16} Corps - Nagrota, Jammu | Lieutenant General Deepak Kapoor | |
| Western Command | Chandigarh, Punjab | II {2} Corps - Ambala, Haryana (Strike Corps); IX {9} Corps - Yol, Himachal Pradesh; XI {11} Corps - Jalandhar, Punjab | Lieutenant General Daljit Singh | |
| South Western Command | Jaipur, Rajasthan | X {10} Corps - Bhatinda, Punjab | Lieutenant General K.Nagaraj | |
| Eastern Command | Kolkata, West Bengal | III {3} Corps - Dimapur, Nagaland; IV {4} Corps - Tezpur, Assam; XXXIII {33} Corps - Siliguri, West Bengal | Lieutenant General Arvind Sharma | |
| Southern Command | Pune, Maharashtra | XII {12} Corps - Jodhpur, Rajasthan; XXI {21} Corps - Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh | Lieutenant General B S Takhar | |
| Central Command | Lucknow, Uttar pradesh | I {1} Corps - Mathura, Uttar Pradesh | Lieutenant General Ram Subhramanyam |
- Note: The army also operates a 7th command known as Training Command located in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh || Lieutenant General K S Jamwal
Corps
A Corp is an army field formation responsible for a sector within a Command. There are 3 types of Corps in the Indian Army: Strike, Holding & Mixed. A Command generally consists of 2 or more Corps. A Corp has many more army divisions under its control. The Corps HQ is the highest field formation in the army. The list of these Corps are given against their respective commands.
In addition to this (not to be confused with the Field Corps mentioned above) are the Corps (Departmental) of the Indian Army. The corps mentioned below are the functional divisions entrusted with specific pan-Army tasks.
Combat and Support Arms
Services
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Other Field Formations
- Division: An army Division is an intermediate between a Corp and a Brigade. It is the largest striking force in the army. Each Division is headed by General Officer Commanding (GOC) with the rank of Major General. It usually consists 15,000 combat troops and 8,000 support elements. Currently, 34 Divisions including 4 Rapid Action Divisions, 18 Infantry Divisions, 10 Mountain Divisions, 3 Armoured Divisions and 2 Artillery Divisions make up the Indian Army. Each Division composes of several Regiments and Brigades.
- Brigade: The Brigade is smaller than the Division and is roughly of the same size as that of a Regiment. A Brigade generally consists of 3 Infantry Battalions along with elements of various Combat & Support Arms & Services and is headed by a Brigadier equivalent to a Brigadier General. The Indian Army also has 5 Independent Armoured Brigades, 15 Independent Artillery Brigades, 7 Independent Infantry Brigades, 1 Independent Parachute Brigade,3 Independent Air Defence Brigades, 2 Independent Air Defence Groups and 4 Independent Engineer Brigades. These Independent Brigades operate directly under the Corps Commander (GOC Corps).
- Battalion: A Battalion is commanded by a Colonel and is the Infantry's main fighting unit. It consists of more than 900 personnel.
- Company: Headed by the Major, a Company comprises of 120 soldiers.
- Platoon: An intermediate between a Company and Section, a Platoon is headed by a Lieutenant or depending on the availability of Commissioned Officers, a Junior Commissioned Officer, with the rank of Subedar or Naib-Subedar. It has a total strength of about 36 troops.
- Section: Smallest military outfit with a strength of 11 personnel. Commanded by a Non-Commissioned Officer of the rank of Havildar or Sergeant.
Regiments
See List of Regiment of the Indian Army
Infantry Regiments
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Armoured Regiments
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Artillery Regiments
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Indian Army Staff
Strength
| Indian Army statistics | |
| Active Troops | 1,100,000 |
| Reserve Troops | 800,000* |
| Territorial Army | 200,000** |
| Main Battle Tanks | 4,310+ |
| Artillery | 4,800 |
| Aircrafts | 9 squadrons of helicopters |
| Surface-to-air missiles | 1,200 |
* includes 300,000 1st line troops and 500,000 2nd line troops
** includes 40,000 1st line troops and 160,000 2nd line troops
Rank Structure
The various rank of personnel are listed below in descending order:
- Field Marshal* (applicable only when a state of national emergency is declared)
- General (the rank held by Chief of Army Staff)
- Lieutenant-General
- Major-General
- Brigadier
- Colonel
- Lieutenant-Colonel
- Major
- Captain
- Lieutenant
Note: Not listed are Indian Army's Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs). They rank below Commissioned officers & above Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs).
*So far, there have been only two officers conferred the rank: Field Marshal K M Cariappa -- the first Indian Commander-in-Chief (a post since abolished)-- and Field Marshal S H F J Manekshaw -- a distinguished former Army Chief who led the Army in the 1971 war with Pakistan. (See Field Marshal (India))
Combat Doctrine
The current combat doctrine of the Indian Army is based on effectively utilizing holding formations and strike formations. In the case of an attack, the holding formations would contain the enemy and strike formations would counterattack to neutralize 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.
Equipment
Most of the army equipment is imported, but efforts are on to manufacture indigenous equipment.
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Light Weapons
- Browning Hi-Power FN 35 and GLOCK 17 9 mm pistols
- Heckler & Koch MP5 9mm carbines and the Carbine 1A 9 mm sub-machine guns
- INSAS 5.56 mm assault rifles replacing the FN FAL, 1A1, 1C, AKM and V.58 7.62 mm assault rifles
- INSAS 5.56 mm light machine guns replacing the 7.62 mm FN MAG, Bren L4 and the .50 cal Browning M2HB machine guns
- Dragunov, Mauser SP66 and Heckler & Koch MSG-90 7.62 mm sniper rifles
- AGS-17 Plamya 30 mm automatic grenade launcher
- M40 RCL 106 mm and Carl Gustav 84 mm recoilless rifles
- Igla-19K310 / SA-16 Gimlet replacing the Strela-2M /SA-7b Grail - portable SAM
Combat vehicles
- T-90S Bhishma - main battle tanks (310+) over 1000 T-90S to be manufactured in India
- Arjun Mk1 - main battle tanks (125) - the Arjun might be converted into a 155 mm self-propelled howitzer by fitting the South African T6 turret which has the G5 howitzer fitted.
- Upgraded T-72 M1 Ajeya - main battle tanks (1,900+)
- Vijayanta (1,200) and T-55 (700) main battle tanks being phased out
- PT-76 (amphibious) and AMX-13 light tanks
- Ferret armoured cars
- BRDM-2 amphibious reconnaissance vehicles
- BMP-1 (700) and BMP-2 (900+)Sarath - mechanised infantry combat vehicles relegated the OT-62/64 to mortar carriers.
Artillery
- Agni medium-range ballistic missiles that can attack China and Pakistan and beyond.
- SS-150/Prithvi-1 and SS-250/Prithvi-III - short-range ballistic missiles
- GRAD MBRL Smerch 9K58 - 300 mm multiple rocket launch system
- Pinaka - 214 mm multiple rocket launch system replacing the 122 mm BM-21
- Abbot (105 mm) and M-46 Catapult (130 mm) to be replaced by 4000 new 155 mm self-propelled howitzers. On the short list is the Denel LIW T6 turreted Arjun and the Celsius (Bofors) FH-77AD
- Bofors FH-77B, upgraded Soltam M-46 155 mm towed howitzers
- Soltam M-46 130 mm field guns replacing the 105 mm IFG Mk1/2/3
- D-30 122 mm towed howitzers
- Tunguska M1 - low level air defense system
- Upgraded ZSU-23-4M Shilka self-propelled air defence guns (48)
- Upgraded Bofors L40/70 40 mm AA guns replacing the L40/60
- ZSU-23-2 twin 23 mm AA guns
- Due to delays in the Akash missile program the ZRK-SD Kvadrat / SA-6a Gainful air defence systems is being upgraded (100)
- Due to delays in the Trshul missile program the OSA-AKM / SA-8b Gecko air defence systems is being upgraded (50)
- S-300V / SA-10 Grumble
- Strela-10M3 / SA-13 Gopher - short-range, low altitude SAM
Non-combat vehicles
- Bridge Layer Tank using a T-72 chassis and Kartik Armoured Bridgelayer on a Vijayanta chassis - armoured vehicle-launched bridges
- Multi-Hop and Extended Span Assault Bridges on T-72 chassis
- Sarvatra - 8x8 truck-mounted bridging system
- VT-72B ARV (200+) and WZT-3 ARV (124, 228 to be delivered by 2007) - armoured recovery vehicle replacing the Vijayanta ARV
- BMP-2 Armoured Amphibious Dozer and Engineer Reconnaissance Vehicle (ERV)
- Casspir - mine protected vehicles (165)
- Tata LPTA 1621 TC - 6x6 truck
- Mahindra - light multi-role 4x4
- Rampar - amphibious 4x4
Aircraft
- Dornier Do 228-101 - light transport aircraft
- HAL Dhruv multi-role helicopter
- HAL Chetak
- HAL Cheetah
- SA 315B Lama
- Searcher UAV
- Searcher II UAV
- Heron II UAV
- Harpy UAV
- Nishant UAV
Missiles
- Agni 1, 2 and 3 — intermediate ballistic missile
- BrahMos — supersonic cruise missile
- Prithvi 1 and 3 (Prithvi 2 with the IAF) — short-range ballistic missile
- Akash — surface to air missile
- Astra — air to air missile