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Corps of Army Air Defence

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Corps of Army Air Defence
Regimental crest
Active1939 (1939) – present day
Country British India (1939-1947)
 India (1947-present)
Allegiance United Kingdom
 Republic of India
Branch British Indian Army
 Indian Army
TypeArmy Corps
RoleAir Defence Warfare
SizeAround 85,000 soldiers and 6,000 officers.
Part of Indian Army
Motto(s)Sanskrit: आकाशे शत्रुन् जहि
English: Annihilate the Airborne Enemy
Regimental colors   
Sky blue & Red
AnniversariesJanuary 10[1]
EngagementsWorld War II
1947 Indo-Pakistani War
Sino-Indian War of 1962
Indo-Pak War of 1965
Indo-Pak War of 1971
Kargil War
WebsiteIndian Army Official Site
Commanders
Director General of Corps of Army Air DefenceLieutenant General Sumer Ivan D’Cunha
Insignia
Regimental flag

The Corps of Army Air Defence (abbreviated as AAD), is an active corps of the Indian Army and a major combat support arm tasked with air defence of the country from foreign threats. The AAD is responsible for the protection of Indian air space from enemy aircraft and missiles, especially below 5,000 feet.[2]

The history of the AAD dates back to 1939 during the times of the British Raj in India. The corps actively took part in the Second World War fighting on behalf of the British Empire. Post independence, the corps has participated in all the wars involving India, starting from the 1947 Indo-Pakistani War to the 1999 Kargil conflict.

The corps enjoyed autonomous status from 1994, after the bifurcation of the Corps of Air Defence Artillery from the Army's Regiment of Artillery. A separate training school, the Army Air Defence College (AADC), was established to train its personnel.[3][4]

History and origin

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Pre-independence

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Mounted ZU 23 MM Twin Gun
Tunguska Mount System
OSA- AK Weapon System
Akash surface to air missile

Air Defence Artillery in India was first established by the British Government ruling India in 1939, at the start of World War II to counter the growing aerial threat from the Axis powers, especially from the Japanese in East Asia. A small number of Indian troops were initially trained to use 3-inch Ack-Ack guns and in the later stages of the conflict to operate Bofors 40 mm L/60 guns. The trained troops formed part of the anti-aircraft batteries of the Hong Kong and Singapore Royal Artillery (HKSRA) to counter the Japanese air threat in South-East Asia. They were also assigned to Indian artillery formations. In the early 1940s, several anti-aircraft units and training establishments were established throughout the country with Indian personnel being posted into these establishments from the infantry and artillery regiments.[5]

By 1942, the air defence branch had grown considerably with eighteen operational anti-aircraft regiments, of which nine were High Altitude Airship regiments and nine were Low Altitude Airship regiments. Besides the four brigades that were exclusively undertaking air defence tasks, one independent High Altitude Airship battery and two independent Low batteries were also in existence, with two training centres established to train the personnel in anti-aircraft warfare. By the end of 1944, this had reached a total of thirty three air defence artillery units. However, after actively taking part in the second world war on behalf of the British Empire, many of these were disbanded.[3][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]

Post-independence

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In October 1993, the Army Staff made a decision to remove all air defense units from the Indian Army Regiment of Artillery. The regiment had been recommended to bifurcate to remove all the AAA and aerospace missile defence formations so that on their basis a new service branch would be created to focus on air defence artillery. With the separation of the air defense from the Regiment, the Corps of Air Defence Artillery came into existence on 10 January 1994. The headquarters of the corps, the Directorate General of Air Defence Artillery, came into force the same day. Subsequently, the air defence wings and branches of the artillery present at various command headquarters throughout the country were bifurcated into the corps from the respective artillery units and regiments. Autonomous status was awarded to the Air Defence Guided Missile School at Gopalpur and the Air Defence Wing of the Artillery Centre, Nasik Road Camp was inducted into the Air Defence Guided Missile Centre. The day on which the Corps of Air Defence Artillery emerged as an autonomous corps of the Indian Army, 10 January, is celebrated as the raising day annually at air defence centers throughout the country.[1][14][15]

The Air Defence & Guided Missile School and Centre and the Corps of Air Defence Artillery were rechristened as the Army Air Defence College (AADC) and the Corps of Army Air Defence in 1998 and April 2005 respectively.[3][7][8][10][12]

Current overview

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Band

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The regimental military band was raised in 1995 at the AAD Centre. To date, it takes part in various national and international functions. Its string ensemble the "Celestial Sentinels", was raised in November 2001. A pipe band is maintained by Army Air Defence College in Gopalpur.[16]

Regimental insignia

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Regimental crest

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The Mukherjee Committee assigned the task of the designing the regimental crest to the National Institute of Design (NID), at Ahmedabad. After a series of reviews, modifications and improvements, finally the crest designed by Vijay Singh was adopted.

The crest depicts the neo-facet of the corps. It portrays a missile in silver tint, with radar antennae in gold colour fixed on the either side. At the bottom, the motto "आकाशे शत्रुन् जहि" in English "Akashe Shatrun Jahi" is imprinted.[3][7][17]

Regimental motto

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The sentence "आकाशे शत्रुन् जहि" (Akashe Shatrun Jahi) of Devanagari script, which means "Kill the Enemy in the Sky" was adopted as the regimental motto in 1996.[3][7][17]

List of Units

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Further information: List of Corps of Army Air Defence Units

Current equipment

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Further information: List of equipment of the Indian Army § Air Defence System

Director Generals

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The office of Director General of Corps of Army Air Defence serves as the general headquarters to the corps. The position was first created when the Corps of Army Air Defence was bifurcated from the Regiment of Artillery on 10 January 1994. The post is generally held by a three-star general. It was first held by Lieutenant General PK Pahwa. Individual AAD Brigades, Regiments and Battalions come under operational command and control of the Army Corps, Divisions and Brigades that they are a part of.

List of Previous Directors General of Corps of Army Air Defence[18]
S.No Rank Name Appointment date Left office
1 Lt Gen PK Pahwa, PVSM 10 January 1994 31 October 1996
2 Lt Gen A Mukherjee, PVSM, AVSM 1 November 1996 31 January 2001
3 Lt Gen Naresh Chand, PVSM 10 February 2001 31 Aug 2003
4 Lt Gen CS Chima, PVSM 1 September 2003 31 December 2005
5 Lt Gen KS Dogra, PVSM, AVSM**, VSM 1 January 2006 30 November 2008
6 Lt Gen Ram Pratap, PVSM, AVSM, VSM 1 December 2008 30 June 2011
7 Lt Gen Kuldip Singh, PVSM, AVSM 1 July 2011 30 June 2013
8 Lt Gen VK Saxena, PVSM, AVSM, VSM 1 July 2013[19] 31 May 2015
9 Lt Gen Rajiv Bhatia, AVSM 1 June 2015 31 December 2016
10 Lt Gen AK Sahgal, AVSM, VSM 1 January 2017 31 December 2017
11 Lt Gen PS Jaggi, AVSM 1 January 2018 8 April 2018
12 Lt Gen AP Singh, AVSM 11 May 2018 30 June 2021
13 Lt Gen Sunil Puri Goswami, VSM 01 July 2021 30 October 2023
14 Lt Gen Sumer Ivan D’Cunha 31 October 2023

President’s Colours

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President of India, Mr Ram Nath Kovind awards 'Colours' to Corps of Army Air Defence

The President of India Mr Ram Nath Kovind awarded the President’s Colours to the Corps of Army Air Defence at Gopalpur Military Station on 28 September 2019 on completion of 25 years as an independent arm.[20]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "The Corps of Army Air Defence Celebrates Its Raising Day". Press Information Bureau. Government of India-Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  2. ^ Rishabh Mishra (24 June 2015). "21 Different Branches Of Indian Army That Make It Such An Efficient Defence Force". TopYaps. Archived from the original on June 25, 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ a b c d e "Corps of Army Air Defence". Global Security. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  4. ^ Bharat Verma; BK Pandey; GM Hiranandani. Indian Armed Forces: Army Air Defence (1st ed.). Lancer Publishers LLC. ISBN 9781935501732.
  5. ^ Major General P K Chakravorty (Retired). "Need to Expeditiously Modernise Army Air Defence". Bharat Shakti. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  6. ^ Ram Pratap. "Modernisation of Army Air Defence". Indian Defence Review. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  7. ^ a b c d "INDIAN ARMY AIR DEFENCE". Indian Pride Holders Blogspot. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  8. ^ a b "History". Indian Army. Govt.. of India. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  9. ^ Air Marshal Anil Chopra; Vice Admiral AP Revi; Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee; Lt Gen VK Saxena; Maj Gen AK Mehra; Maj Gen PK Chakravorty; Danvir Singh; Maj Gen AK Chadha (201). Indian Defence Review (31.1 ed.). Lancer Publishers LLC. ISBN 9781940988245.
  10. ^ a b Daniel Marston (2014). The Indian Army and the End of the Raj: Decolonising the Subcontinent. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521899758.
  11. ^ Routledge (2016). The Indian Army, 1939–47: Experience and Development (1st ed.). Patrick Rose. ISBN 9781317027645.
  12. ^ a b Ashok Krishna (1998). India's Armed Forces: Fifty Years of War and Peace. New Delhi: Lancer Publishers. ISBN 9781897829479.
  13. ^ India 2014 Concise. Kalinjar Publications. ISBN 9789382732891.
  14. ^ "VSHORADS Decision This Year?nd Forces". www.spslandforces.com. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  15. ^ "2nd International Seminar on " Army Air Defence in 21st Century"". www.cii.in. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  16. ^ "The Official Home Page of the Indian Army".
  17. ^ a b "Customs and Traditions". Indian Army. Govt. of India. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  18. ^ "Lt Gen V K Saxena takes over as Director General of Army Air Defence". India Strategic. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  19. ^ "President of India Awards Colours to Corps of Army Air Defence". 2019-09-28. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
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