Indian Army – Comprehensive Exam Notes

Chief and Commands

• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Current top leadership
  • COAS (Chief of the Army Staff): Gen. Manoj Pande
  • Vice-Chief: Lt Gen Baggavalli Somashekar Raju
• Total field commands: $7$
  • $6$ Operational + $1$ Training Command
• Operational Army Commands (with HQ & present GOC-in-C)
  • Eastern Cmd: Kolkata — Lt Gen Rana Pratap Kalita
  • Central Cmd: Lucknow — Lt Gen Yogender Dhimri
  • Northern Cmd: Udhampur — Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi
  • Southern Cmd: Pune — Lt Gen JS Nain
  • South-Western Cmd: Jaipur — Lt Gen Amardeep Singh Bhinder
  • Western Cmd: Chandimandir — Lt Gen Nav Khanduri
• Training Command (ARTRAC): Shimla — Lt Gen S.S. Mahal
• Independent elite formation
  • Parachute Brigade: Agra (directly under COAS)

Organizational Structure of Field Forces

• Army Headquarters → COAS (Rank: General, ★★★★)
• Operational Command
  • Commanded by GOC-in-C (Army Commander)
  • Rank: Lieutenant General, ★★★
• Corps
  • Cmd by GOC (Corps Cdr)
  • Rank: Lieutenant General, ★★★
  • Comprises $3–4$ Divisions
• Division
  • Cmd by GOC (Div Cdr)
  • Rank: Major General
  • Comprises $3–4$ Brigades
• Brigade
  • Cmd by Brigade Cdr
  • Rank: Brigadier
  • Made of $3$ Battalions + support
• Battalion / Regiment
  • Cmd by CO
  • Rank: Colonel
  • Contains $4$ Rifle Companies
• Rifle Company
  • Cmd by Company Cdr
  • Rank: Lt Col / Major
  • Has $3$ Platoons
• Platoon
  • Cmd by Platoon Cdr (a JCO)
  • Contains $3$ Sections
• Section
  • Cmd by Section Cdr (Havildar)
  • Smallest element: $10$ soldiers
• Static Formations
  • Area HQ — Lt Gen
  • Sub-Area — Maj Gen
• Training Establishments
  • Category-A: Lt Gen
  • Category-B: Maj Gen / Brigadier

Rank Structure (from highest to lowest)

• Field Marshal (ceremonial, 5-star)
• General
• Lieutenant General
• Major General
• Brigadier
• Colonel
• Lieutenant Colonel
• Major
• Captain
• Lieutenant
• JCOs & NCOs:
  • Subedar Major, Subedar, Naib Subedar
  • Quartermaster Havildar, Havildar
  • Naik, Lance Naik
  • Sipahi (Sepoy)

Three Broad Categories of the Indian Army

1. Combat Arms — face-to-face fighting troops
2. Combat Supporting Arms — provide direct operational support
3. Services — logistics & administrative backing

Combat Arms

1 . Armoured Corps ("King of Battle")

• Regiment cmd by Colonel
• Historic unit: $17$ Poona Horse (earned $2$ PVCs)
• Current MBTs
  • $T ext{-}72$ Ajeya
  • $T ext{-}90$ Bhishma (night-capable)
  • Arjun Mk-I & Mk-II (speed \approx70\,\text{km\,h^{-1}})

2 . Mechanised Infantry

• $27$ Battalions
• Platforms
  • BMP series IFVs
  • BTR-60, BTR-70 APCs

3 . Infantry ("Queen of Battle")

• Regiment headed by Colonel
• Normal strength: $20$ battalions per regiment
  • Exceptions:
  • Gorkha Regt — $39$ battalions
  • Parachute Regt — $17$ battalions
• Personal weapons & squad systems
  • Pistols: SIG Sauer P226, Glock-19, Micro-Uzi
  • Carbines/SMGs: SAF Carbine
  • Assault Rifles: FN-SCAR, Steyr AUG, IMI Galil, M4A1, INSAS, $AK ext{-}47 / 103 / 203$
  • Support: Hand grenades, RCL Mk-II & Mk-III

Combat Supporting Arms

1 . Regiment of Artillery ("God of War")

• Provides indirect fire, force multiplier
• Weapon classes
  • Field Guns, Howitzers, Mortars
• Unit types
  1. Light Regt — $120\,\text{mm}$ mortars
  2. Field Regt — Indian Field Gun & Howitzers
  3. Missile Regt — Agni, Prithvi, BrahMos
  4. Rocket Regt — $214\,\text{mm}$ Pinaka MBRL, Self-propelled Guns (SPGs)

2 . Army Air Defence (raised $1939$)

• Key missile systems: S-400 Triumf, S-300 VM, Barak-8, Spyder, Prithvi ADS

3 . Corps of Engineers (since $1777$)

• Battlefield functions: mine-lay/clear, bridging, water supply, recon
• Equipment
  • T-55 Kartik ABL
  • MT-55 bridge-layer
  • T-72 BLT
  • Mobile/floating bridges
  • DRDO DAKSH bomb-disposal robot

4 . Corps of Signals (since $1911$)

• Motto: "Swift and Sure" (transcript: Swift & Alert)
• Assets
  • Mobile Base Transceiver Stations
  • Transportable Satellite Terminals

5 . Army Aviation Corps (raised $1986$)

• Attack helos: HAL Light Combat Helicopter, HAL RUDRA
• Utility: HAL Cheetah, Chetak, Dhruv

Services (Logistics & Support)

• Army Service Corps — rations & transport
• Army Ordnance Corps — stores, clothing, ammo
• Corps of EME — equipment maintenance
• Intelligence Corps
• Army Medical Corps
• Corps of Military Police
• Remount & Veterinary Corps
• Judge Advocate General’s Dept
• Pioneer Corps
• Army Education Corps
• Army Postal Service Corps
• Military Nursing Service
• Territorial Army
• Defence Security Corps

Special Forces: The Parachute Regiment

• Airborne infantry battalions: $5,6,7,23,29$ PARA
• PARA (SF) battalions: $1,2,3,4,9,10,11,12,21$ (SF)
• Distinction
  • PARA (Airborne) — seize & hold ground, operate in company/battalion groups
  • PARA (SF) — small-team, deep-strike, SR, DA, unconventional warfare

Gallantry Awards

Wartime Gallantry

• Param Vir Chakra (PVC)
• Maha Vir Chakra (MVC)
• Vir Chakra (VrC)

Peacetime Gallantry

• Ashok Chakra (AC)
• Kirti Chakra (KC)
• Shaurya Chakra (SC)

Distinguished Service – Wartime

• Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medal (SYSM)
• Uttam Yudh Seva Medal (UYSM)
• Yudh Seva Medal (YSM)

Distinguished Service – Peacetime

• Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM)
• Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM)
• Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM)

Tri-service commendations

• Sena Medal (SM) — Army
• Nau Sena Medal (NM) — Navy
• Vayu Sena Medal (VSM) — Air Force

Param Vir Chakra Awardees (chronological)

• Indo-Pak $1947–48$
  • Maj Somnath Sharma (Kumaon)
  • L/Naik Karam Singh (Sikh)
  • 2/Lt Rama Raghoba Rane (Bombay Sappers)
  • Naik Jadunath Singh (Rajput)
  • C/Hav Maj Piru Singh Shekhawat (Rajputana Rifles)
• UN Congo $1961$ — Capt Gurbachan Singh Salaria (1/11 Gorkha)
• Sino-Indian $1962$
  • Maj Dhan Singh Thapa (8 Gorkha)
  • Sub Joginder Singh (Sikh)
  • Maj Shaitan Singh (Kumaon)
• Indo-Pak $1965$
  • CQMH Abdul Hamid (Grenadiers)
  • Lt Col Ardeshir Tara pore (Poona Horse)
• Indo-Pak $1971$
  • L/Naik Albert Ekka (Brigade of Guards)
  • Fg Offr Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon (IAF 18 Sqn)
  • 2/Lt Arun Khetrapal (Poona Horse)
  • Maj Hoshiar Singh Dahiya (Grenadiers)
• Siachen $1987$ — Nb Sub Bana Singh (J&K LI)
• Op Pawan (Sri Lanka) $1987–90$ — Maj Ramaswamy Parameshwaran (Mahar)
• Kargil $1999$
  • Lt Manoj Kumar Pandey (11 Gorkha)
  • Gren Yogendra Singh Yadav (Grenadiers)
  • Rfn Sanjay Kumar (13 J&K Rifles)
  • Capt Vikram Batra (13 J&K Rifles)

Tri-Service Officer Rank Equivalence

• General | Admiral | Air Chief Marshal
• Lieutenant General | Vice Admiral | Air Marshal
• Major General | Rear Admiral | Air Vice Marshal
• Brigadier | Commodore | Air Commodore
• Colonel | Captain | Group Captain
• Lieutenant Colonel | Commander | Wing Commander
• Major | Lt Commander | Squadron Leader
• Captain | Lieutenant | Flight Lieutenant
• Lieutenant | Sub-Lieutenant | Flying Officer

Important Days & Current Chiefs

• Army Day: $15$ January
• Kargil Vijay Diwas: $26$ July
• Vijay Diwas (1971 victory): $16$ December
• Shaheedi Diwas (Martyrs Day): $23$ March
• Chief of the Air Staff: Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari
• Chief of Naval Staff: Admiral R. Hari Kumar

Drones & UAVs

• UAV = Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (no cockpit, unarmed)
  • Uses: thermal imaging, mapping, aerial recce
  • In service: Searcher Mk-I/II, Nishant, Rustom (indigenous)
• Drone (armed UAV)
  • Ex: Predator XP (endurance $\approx35\,\text{hrs}$)
  • Future procurement: American RQ-1 Predator
• Note: In military parlance, all drones are UAVs; armed vs unarmed differentiates usage.

Artillery: Howitzers vs Field Guns

• Howitzer
  • High-trajectory (elev up to $70^\circ$)
  • Medium velocity, direct & indirect fire
  • Ideal for mountainous "crest-clearance" roles
• Field Gun
  • Flatter trajectory (elev $\le45^\circ$)
  • High velocity, primarily direct fire
  • Suited to plains & long-range engagements
• Key distinction formula: $\theta<em>{Howitzer} > \theta</em>{Field\,Gun}$

PARA (Airborne) vs PARA SF

• PARA (Airborne)
  • Battalion-strength drops, seizes & holds objectives temporarily
  • Operates in coordination with larger formations
• PARA (SF)
  • 6–12-man teams, deep-penetration
  • Focus: strategic SR, surveillance, target designation, Direct Action, unconventional warfare
  • Higher degree of mobility & independent ops capability

Future Developments

Integrated Battle Groups (IBG)

• Concept: Agile, brigade-sized but self-contained strike forces
• Strength: $\approx5000$ troops (between Brigade $3000–3500$ & Division $10000–12000$)
• Mix of arms & services: infantry, artillery, engineers, signals, air defence etc.
• Indian Army plans to reorganise into $12$ IBGs for rapid response

Integrated Theatre Command (Tri-Service)

• Unified geographic commands combining Army, Navy, Air Force assets
• Single Theatre Commander reports to Chiefs of Staff Committee
• Goals
  • Enhanced jointness, faster decision loops
  • Reduced duplication of resources
  • Asset pooling based on threat perception (e.g., maritime vs northern land theatre)
• Current status: proposal stage; existing commands still service-specific