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 (
à¤à¤¾à¤°à¤¤à¥€à¤¯ सेना Hindi:
Bharatiya Sena) is the
land force of the
Armed Forces of India and has the prime responsibility of conducting land-based warfare. The Indian Army maintains the 3rd largest active force in the world.
The Indian Army is a well-trained and well-equipped military service, with a troop strength of over one
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 next chief is due to be Lt Gen
Deepak Kapoor, currently the Northern Army Commander). 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)). General
S.H.F.J. Manekshaw and the late General
K.M. Cariappa are the only two officers who have attained this rank.
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Indian soldiers are known as Jawans in Hindi. Shown here are Indian Jawans of the Madras Regiment during the annual Republic Day Military Parade in 2004 |
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 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 currently the 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.
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.
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Pakistani Patton M-48 tanks, captured during the Battle of Asal Uttar, on display near Bhilwand |
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 , 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 state 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 (38,000 Armed forces personnel and 52,000 civilians of West Pakistani origin) 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.
Counter-insurgency activities
The Indian Army has played a crucial role in the past in fighting
insurgents and
terrorists in the nation. The army launched
Operation Bluestar and Operation Woodrose in 1980s to combat
Sikh insurgents. The army, alongwith
Indian Paramilitary Forces, has the prime responsibility of maintaining
law and order in the troubled
Jammu and Kashmir region.
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.
Meanwhile, the
Indian Navy also readied itself for an attempted blockade of Pakistani
ports to cut off supply routes. Later, the-then
Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif disclosed that Pakistan was left with just six days of fuel to sustain itself if a full-fledged war had broken out. As Pakistan found itself entwined in a prickly position, the army had covertly planned a
nuclear strike on India, the news of which alarmed
U.S. President Bill Clinton, resulting in a stern warning to Nawaz Sharif.
[Pakistan 'prepared nuclear strike'] Two months into the conflict, Indian troops had slowly flushed out most of the foreigners retaking most of the ridges it had lost;
[ Bitter Chill of Winter - Tariq Ali, London Review of Books] according to official count, an estimated 75%â€"80% of the intruded area and nearly all high ground was back under Indian control.
[Kargil: where defence met diplomacy - India's then Chief of Army Staff VP Malik, expressing his views on Operation Vijay in an article in The Indian Express.] Following the Washington accord on
July 4, where Sharif agreed to withdraw the Pakistan-backed troops, most of the fighting came to a gradual halt. However, some of the militants still holed up did not wish to
retreat, and the "United
Jihad Council" (an umbrella for all
extremist groups) rejected Pakistan's plan for a climb-down, instead deciding to fight on.
[Pakistan and the Kashmir militants] Following this, the Indian army launched its final attacks in the last week of July; as soon as the last of these "Jihadists" in the Drass subsector had been cleared, the fighting ceased on
July 26. The day has since been marked as
Kargil Vijay Diwas (Victory Day) in India. By the end of the war, India had resumed control of all territory south and east of the Line of Control, as was established in December 1972 as per the
Shimla Accord.
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A combat team composed of T-72M MBTs, T-90S MBTs and BMP-2 IFVs forming up for a training assault on an enemy held position. |
Major Exercises
Operation Parakaram
After the
December 13 2001 attack on the
Indian Parliament, Operation Parakaram was launched under which tens of thousands of Indian troops were deployed along the Indo-Pakistan border. It was carried out in retaliation to the involvemement of Pakistan-backed Kashmiri insurgents in the attack on the Parliament annexe. The operation was the largest military exercise carried out by any Asian country. The operation's prime objective was to prepare the army for any future
nuclear conflict with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan which seemed increasingly possible after the December attack on the Indian parliament.
The main goal of this exercise was to validate mobilisation strategies of the
Ambala-based
II Strike Corps. Air support was a part of this exercise, and an entire batallion of paratroops was paradropped during the conduct of the war games, with allied equipment. Some 20,000 jawans took part in the exercise.
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 is under the overall command of the
Chief of Army Staff (COAS), currently General
Joginder Jaswant Singh.
Commands
The army operates 6 tactical commands and one training command known as ARTRAC. 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. These commands are given below in their correct order of raising, location (city) and their commanders.
| Command | Location | GOC-in-C |
|---|
| - | Southern Command | Pune | Lt Gen Aditya Singh |
| Eastern Command | Kolkata | Lt Gen Arvind Sharma |
| Central Command | Lucknow | Lt Gen O P Nandrajog |
| Western Command | Panchkula (Chandigarh) | Lt Gen Daljit Singh |
| Northern Command | Udhampur | Lt Gen Deepak Kapoor |
| ARTRAC | Shimla | Lt Gen K S Jamwal |
| South Western Command | Jaipur | Lt Gen K Nagaraj |
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Note: Certain information is not given as they are a restricted form of information and are not to be displayed to the public.
Corps
A
Corps 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 corps has many more army divisions under its control. The Corps HQ is the highest field formation in the army.
In addition to this (not to be confused with the Field Corps mentioned above) are the Corps or Arms (Departmental) of the Indian Army. The corps mentioned below are the functional divisions entrusted with specific pan-Army tasks.
Combat and Support Arms#Corps of Signals #Corps of Engineers Centers at Bangalore and Pune.#Regiment of Artillery Center at Devlali near Nasik.#The Infantry Regiments#Regiment of Air Defence Artillery Center at Devlali near Nasik.#Mechanised Infantry Center at Ahmednagar.#Army Aviation Corps#Armoured Corps Center at Ahmednagar.
Services#Army Dental Corps #Army Education Corps Center at Pachmarhi.#Army Medical Corps Center at Pune. #Army Ordnance Corps Centers at Jabalpur and Secunderabad.#Army Physical Training Corps #Army Postal Service Corps #Army Service Corps Center at Bangalore#Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Center at Secunderabad . #Corps of Military Police #Defence Security Corps #Intelligence Corps #Judge Advocate General Department #Military Farms Service #Military Nursing Service #Remount and Veterinary Corps |
Quasi Army Arms :- These are not Army but mainly made of Army personell on deputation.
Rashtriya RiflesNational Security Guards or NSGPioneer CorpsNational Cadet Corps or NCCAssam RiflesOther Field Formations
:*Division: An army Division is an intermediate between a corps 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 Havaldar or Sergeant.Regiments
These are Several battalions or Units under the same formation in a Regiment. For Instance Gurkha Regiment has several battallions. All formations under a Regiment are battalions of the same arms or Corps ( ie Infantry , or Engineers). Regiments are not exactly field formations, in the sense they mostly do not make a formation, all Regiments of the Gurkha's for instance would not fight together as one formation, but can be dispersed over various Brigades or Corps or even Commands.Some of the regiments ( mostly are from the British Indian Army days) are :-
Gurkha RegimentSikh RegimentKumaon RegimentMahar RegimentRajputana RiflesMadras RegimentBengal SappersBombay SappersDogra RegimentMaratha Light InfantryGuardsGrenadiersJat RegimentPunjab Regiment
See List of regiments of the Indian ArmyInfantry Regiments
Parachute RegimentMadras RegimentGurkha RegimentSikh RegimentKumaon RegimentMahar RegimentRajputana RiflesDogra RegimentMaratha Light InfantryGuardsGrenadiersJat RegimentPunjab RegimentArmoured Regiments
Artillery Regiments
Strength
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During a conflict, the air-arm of the Indian army plays a crucial role in providing essential supplies and air cover to the ground forces. Shown here is the Indian Army's HAL Dhruv. |
* 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
: See: Army ranks and insignia of India
The various rank of class one officers 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
*Honorary Captain
*Lieutenant
*Honorary Lieutenant
*Second Lieutenant * This has now been discontinued as a rank.
* 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)) 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.Most of the army equipment is imported, but efforts are being made to manufacture indigenous equipment.
Light Weapons
HandGuns
* FN Browning GP35 9mmx19mm
* SAF(Small Arms Factory) Pistol 1A 9mmx19mm, This is more or less a copy of the Canadian Inglis 9mm
* GLOCK 17 9mmx19mm, The GLOCK-19 along with the 17 is in use with the Special Protection Group (Prime Minister's Security)Sub-Machine Guns and Carbines
* Heckler & Koch MP5A3 9mmx19mm SMG
* Heckler & Koch MP5K 9mmx19mm SMG
* SAF Carbine 1A 9mmx19mm, Indian made Sterling L2A1 SMG
* SAF Carbine 2A1 9mmx19mm, Silenced Carbine
* 9mmx19mm SMGAssault Rifles
* RFI (Rifle Factory,Ishapore) SLR1A 7.62mmx51mm NATO Assault Rifle, This old work horse has now more or less been retired from IA service, most going to the police after reconditioning. Some however, remain in use.
* RFI SLR1C 7.62mmx51mm, full Automatic variant of the SLR for use in APCs
* INSAS 5.56mmx45mm Assault Rifle
* TAVOR TAR-21 5.56mmx45mm, for special forces currently 3000 have been purchased from Israel
* KBK AKS 7.62mmx39mm, Polish AKS47-3
* AK47M1 7.62mmx39mm, all black Bulgarian AK. Most of these have been imported for police and paramilitary forces
* Soviet AKM AKMS 7.62mmx39mm
* East German MPiKM MPiKMS72 7.62mmx39mm (Second hand)
* Romanian MPiKM series 7.62mmx39mm, these are Romanian clones of the earstwhile East German rifles. Only external difference is the marking, finish and wooden instead of synthetic fruniture.
* Czech Vz.58 and Vz.58P 7.62mmx39mmMachine guns
* MG 1B 7.62mmx51mm, Indian made Bren- This is currently being retired.But may remain a while longer because of teething problems with its successor, the INSAS LMG
* MG 2A1 7.62mmx51mm, Indian made MAG 58
* MG 5A 7.62mmx51mm This is the Indian manufactured Co-axial MAG 58
* MG 6A 7.62mmx51mm Another Indian version of the MAG58 specifically designed as a tank commanders gun.
* INSAS 5.56mmx45mm LMG
* FN-Browning M1919 .30Cal, in very limited quantities
* Browning M2 machine gun .50cal, heavy machine gun in very limited numbersSniping Rifles
* Dragunov SVD59 7.62mmx54mmR Sniper Rifle
* Mauser SP66 7.62mmx51mm Sniper Rifle
* Heckler & Koch MSG-90 7.62mmx51mm Sniping Rifle. The H&K PSG-1 sniping rifle serves with the NSG anti-terrorist units while small numbers of the Steyr Mannlicher SSG69 serve with the para-military Border Security Force(BSF)Projectile Launchers
* AGS-17 Plamya 30 mm automatic grenade launcher
* M40 RCL 106 mm
* Carl Gustav 84 mm recoilless rifles
* Igla-19K310 / SA-16 Gimlet replacing the Strela-2M /SA-7b Grail - portable SAMCombat vehicles
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A Arjun tank on display. This a tank developed indigenously and is considered similar to western tanks in terms of design and capability. |
* T-90S Bhishma - main battle tanks (310) over 1000 more T-90S to be manufactured in India
* Arjun Mk1 - main battle tanks (124). The Army has ordered production of this tank and the first batch has already rolled out of the Avadi factory and are currently being put through trials to check the quality control of the production process. The remaining tanks will follow thereafter.
* T-72 M1 Ajeya - main battle tanks (1,900+). 250 T72M1 are being upgraded by the DRDO, India's R&D organization. While requests for proposal for upgrading approximately 1000 other T-72's have been sent to various firms in Israel, Russia, Poland and France.
* Vijayanta (1,200) and T-55 (700) main battle tanks. Vijayanta have been phased out while the T-55 are in the process of being phased out. Some of these tanks will be attached to infantry brigades and battalions, since despite their vintage, the 105mm L7 gun has substantial firepower.
* PT-76 (amphibious) and AMX-13 light tanks have been phased out over 20 years ago.
* 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. The BMP-2 are now being modernized with TISAS (thermal imaging stand alone sights), better fire control, and more modern ATGM armament (Konkurs M).
* An indigenous AFV called Abhay is under development.
*M4 Sherman tanks - sometimes upgraded versions of the US WWII medium tank (no longer in service).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
* Bhim Initial reports that the Arjun hull might be used with a 155 mm self-propelled howitzer by fitting the South African T6 turret which has the G5 howitzer fitted, proved to be misfounded. The SPH would be integrated at Bharat Earth Movers Ltd, which would manufacture additional Arjun chassis & hulls for the purpose. At present, the Bhim SPH program is in limbo, since Denel has been temporarily blacklisted by the Indian Ministry of Defence, while corruption charges are being investigated.
* 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 SAMNon-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 4x4Aircraft
This is a list of aircraft of the Indian Army. For the list of aircraft of the Indian Air Force, see List of aircraft of the Indian Air Force.
* HAL Dhruv multi-role helicopter
* HAL Chetak
* HAL Cheetah
* SA 315B Lama
* Nishant UAVMissiles
* 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| Major Som Nath Sharma | 4th Battalion, Kumaon Regiment | November 3, 1947 | Badgam, Kashmir |
| Lance Naik Karam Singh | 1st Battalion, Sikh Regiment | October 13, 1948 | Tithwal, Kashmir |
| Second Lieutenant Rama Raghoba Rane | Corps of Engineers | April 8, 1948 | Naushera, Kashmir |
| Naik Jadu Nath Singh | 1st Battalion, Rajput Regiment | February 1948 | Naushera, Kashmir |
| Company Havildar Major Piru Singh | 6th Battalion, Rajputana Rifles | July 17/18, 1948 | Tithwal, Kashmir |
| Captain Gurbachan Singh Salaria | 3rd Battalion, 1st Gorkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment) | December 5, 1961 | Elizabethville, Katanga, Congo |
| Major Dhan Singh Thapa | 1st Battalion, 8th Gorkha Rifles | October 20, 1962 | Ladakh, India |
| Subedar Joginder Singh | 1st Battalion, Sikh Regiment | October 23, 1962 | Tongpen La, Northeast Frontier Agency, India |
| Major Shaitan Singh | 13th Battalion, Kumaon Regiment | November 18, 1962 | Rezang La |
| Company Quarter Master Havildar Abdul Hamid | 4th Battalion, The Grenadiers | September 10, 1965 | Chima, Khem Karan Sector |
| Lieutenant-Colonel Ardeshir Burzorji Tarapore | 17th Poona Horse | October 15, 1965 | Phillora, Sialkot Sector, Pakistan |
| Lance Naik Albert Ekka | 14th Battalion, Brigade of the Guards | December 3, 1971 | Gangasagar |
| Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon | No.18 Squadron, Indian Air Force | December 14, 1971 | Srinagar, Kashmir |
| 2/Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal | 17th Poona Horse | December 16, 1971 | Jarpal, Shakargarh Sector |
| Major Hoshiar Singh | 3rd Battalion, The Grenadiers | December 17, 1971 | Basantar River, Shakargarh Sector |
| Naib Subedar Bana Singh | 8th Battalion, Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry | June 23, 1987 | Siachen Glacier, Jammu and Kashmir |
| Major Ramaswamy Parmeshwaran | 8th Battalion, Mahar Regiment | November 25, 1987 | Sri Lanka |
| Captain Vikram Batra | 13th Battalion, Jammu and Kashmir Rifles | July 6, 1999 | Point 5140, Point 4875, Kargil Area |
| Lieutenant Manoj Kumar Pandey | 1st Battalion, 11th Gorkha Rifles | July 3, 1999 | Khaluber/Juber Top, Batalik sector, Kargil area, Jammu and Kashmir |
| Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav | 18th Battalion, The Grenadiers | July 4, 1999 | Tiger Hill, Kargil area |
| Rifleman Sanjay Kumar | 13th Battalion, Jammu and Kashmir Rifles | July 5, 1999 | Area Flat Top, Kargil Area |
* Lt. Nawang Kapadia
* Major Navneet Vats
* Major Rajesh Singh Adhikari, MVC* Military of India
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