Indian Army Divisions, their badges and equipment

[Tanmay]

This thread will track equipment belonging to different divisions from their badges. All information is from publicly released media only.

 

[Tanmay]

Before I start, lot of the information is sourced from Bharat Rakshak (https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/ARMY/heraldry/26-Div-Badges.html) and VatsRohit (Click to go to his blog)

He did some phenomenal work on that blog. Without that it wasnt possible for layman like me to understand military formations

https://vatsrohit.blogspot.com/2012/12/artillery-divisions-in-indian-army_22.html

Artillery Divisions in Indian Army - An Analysis-Part 2

Introduction In last post on the topic of artillery divisions in the Indian Army, I tried to spell out my understanding on the phi...

vatsrohit.blogspot.com

But some information is old, so I am updating.

We have three Strike Corps (I Corps, II Corps and XXI Corps) facing pakistan and one Strike Corps (XVII Mountain Strike Corps) facing China

Each strike corps has one Armoured Division and one Artillery Division

1st Armoured Division (Airawat Division ) @Patiala
Part of II 'Kharga' Corps, Ambala

.

31st Armoured Division (White Tiger Division ) @ Jhansi
Part of XXI 'Sudarshan Chakra' Corps, Bhopal

33rd Armoured Division (Dot Division ) @Hisar
Part of I Corps, Mathura






We have three Artillery Divisions

40th Artillery Division @ Ambala
Part of II 'Kharga' Corps, Ambala

41st Artillery Division (Agnibaaz Division) @ Pune
Part of XXI 'Sudarshan Chakra' Corps, Bhopal

42nd Artillery Division @ Alwar
Part of I Corps, Mathura






As you will notice XVII Corps facing China doesnt have an Armoured Division (not needed there probably) or Artillery Division (I guess it will be raised)


Now we begin our story

 

[Tanmay]

Step 1: Watch Republic Day Parade announcement, they announce the regiment name
Step 2 : See the formantion sign on truck


Smerch MBRL

India bought around 42 Smerch launchers from Russia
1 Regiment = 12 Smerch Launchers
So we have 3 Smerch Regiments ( 3 regiments x 12 launchers ) with total 36 launchers and probably 6 Smerch launchers in training/reserve at Deolali Artillery School

551 Rocket Regiment (Smerch) of 40th Artillery Division
(2008 Republic Day, division sign 'Cannon with Missile' zoomed in on truck)

1812 Rocket Regiment (Smerch) of 40th Artillery Division (Division sign visible 'Cannon with Missile')
(Republic Day 2016)

1872 Rocket Regiment (Smerch) of 42nd Artillery Division
(Republic Day 2012, 2014, Division Sign 'Rocket with diagonal flash' visible)





As you can see the 41st 'Agnibaaz' Artillery Division has never been spotted with Smerch at Republic Day Parade.
And 551 Rocket Regiment hasnt been seen for a long time.
Also 40th Artillery Division seems to have 2 Smerch Regiments (551 and 1812 Regiments)..

VatsRohit says in his blog .......

But Lo and behold !!

Eastern Command started celebrating Republic Day at Kolkata.

551 Rocket Regiment (Smerch) was displayed with Eastern Command Insignia in 2020 Republic Day Parade @ Kolkata

So 43rd Artillery Division has NOT been created yet (as formation sign is of Eastern Command)











So I deduce that

40th Artillery Division = 1812 Rocket Regiment (Smerch)
42nd Artillery Division = 1872 Rocket Regiment (Smerch)
Eastern Command = 551 Rocket Regiment (Smerch)

Or

Soe reorganisation has happened and one regiment no longer has 12 launchers to allow for 4 regiments of Smerch. Or a few batteries have been loaned to Eastern Command

 

[Tanmay]

Pinaka MBRL

Only 2 regiments of Pinaka were inducted (2 more on order,6 more planned).

This means that only 2 Artillery Divisions were given Pinaka.

1880 Rocket Regiment (Pinaka) of 41st 'Agnibaaz' Artillery Division
Republic Day Parade 2013

1890 Rocket Regiment (Pinaka) of 42nd Artillery Division
Republic Day Parade 2011, 2015



Hoever in 2020, the 1880 Rocket Regiment (Pinaka) made an appearance at Eastern Command Reuplic Day Parade in Kolkata with Eastern Command Insignia

It was present even in 2018 and 2019, but unsure of the Regiment

 

[Tanmay]

Now moving on to Brahmos

04 Brahmos Regiments have been inducted by Indian Army.
All three Artillery Divisions (40th, 41st and 42nd Regiments) have one regiment of brahmos each.
Eastern Command has the fourth Brahmos Regiment

861 Missile Regiment (Brahmos) of 40th Artillery Division
Republic Day Parade 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017

881 Missile Regiment (Brahmos) of 41st 'Agnibaaz' Artillery Division
Republic Day Parade 2013, 2015, 2018

1889 Missile Regiment (Brahmos) of 42nd Artillery Division
Republic Day Parade 2016



Now a funny thing happens,
In 2019 Eastern Command displayed 1889 Missile Regiment (Brahmos) with its own insignia during Kolkata Republic Day Parade

In short, Wikipedia and VatsRohit incorrectly labelled the Brahmos Regiments as

• [*]861 Regiment (BrahMos Block I, deployed in north Rajasthan area)
  [*]862 Regiment (BrahMos Block II, deployed in south Rajasthan area)
  [*]863 Regiment (BrahMos Block II)
  [*]864 Regiment (BrahMos Block III, ordered for Arunachal Pradesh area)
  [*]

The correct Brahmos Regiments are

861 Missile Regiment (Brahmos) = 40th Artillery Division
881 Missile Regiment (Brahmos) = 41st 'Agnibaaz' Artillery Division
1889 Missile Regiment (Brahmos) = 42nd Artillery Division

The fourth Brahmos regiment hasnt been displayed in any parade as of 2020

 

[Tanmay]

Two Regiments of K9 Vajra SPG have been shown in 2019 and 2020 Republic Day Parade

2nd Medium Regiment
Republic Day 2019

Notice the White Tiger insign on Yelow background, hence we can say that its a part of
31st Armoured Division (White Tiger Division ) @ Jhansi (Part of XXI 'Sudarshan Chakra' Corps, Bhopal)

269 Medium Regiment
Republic Day 2020
No insignia (idk what tha means, but many tanks etc do come without any insignia too)

 

[Tanmay]

Army : Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME)

K9 Vajra SPG @ Defence Expo 2020, Prayagraj belonging to EME School

 

[Rajpal s]

Very informative i have seen these insignia of elephant and a virticle missile on many trucks around ambala as i frequently go there but clueless about these insignia .keep it up .

 

[Rajpal s]

How many regiments an artilary div comprise in indian army structure ?

 

[Tanmay]

36th RAPID (Sagar, Madhya Pradesh)

T-90s belonging to 36th RAPID (probably 2020 Army Day celebrations)

4th 'Red Eagle' Infantry Division was to be converted to 4th RAPID

T-90s belonging to 4th RAPID at Defence Expo 2020, Prayag/Allahabad

 

[Tanmay]

How many regiments an artilary div comprise in indian army structure ?

I am quoting Vats Rohit and expanding it Click Here for Link

To quickly summarize the above, the ORBAT of an artillery division looks something like below:

2 x Gun Brigades
------- Medium Regiments (eg: 155 mm Bofors Regiment)
------- Field Regiments (eg: 105mm LFG)
------- Light Regiments (eg: 120mm Mortar)
1 x Rocket Brigade
------- with 1 or 2 Rocket Regiments
1 x Missile Brigade
------- with 1 or 2 Missile Regiment
1 x SATA Regiment


Each Regiment has 3 Batteries
Each Battery is 6 guns/ Launchers. (So each regiment has 18 gunsllaunchers)

Except Smerch Regiment which has 12 launchers
Missile Regiment of Brahmos has 4 launchers

 

[Tanmay]

View attachment 53775
36th RAPID (Sagar, Madhya Pradesh)

T-90s belonging to 36th RAPID (probably 2020 Army Day celebrations)

4th 'Red Eagle' Infantry Division was to be converted to 4th RAPID

T-90s belonging to 4th RAPID at Defence Expo 2020, Prayag/Allahabad

The 'Red Eagle' Division (4 RAPID) insignia can be seen on the armoured buldozer during Kanpur train crash,2016

 

[Tanmay]

Lets see Arjun tank

Division Sign/Patch of : 18th RAPID – Kota (GANDIV DIVISION)






Defence Expo 2002
Arjun of 18th RAPID – Kota (GANDIV DIVISION)

This is Fleur De Lis

Easliest photos with the sign of 'Fleur de Lis' Brigade aka 2 (Independent) Armoured Brigade

Below pic with 'Fleur de Lis' sign is being circulated now. Me thinks its an old pic.

Division Sign/Patch of : 24th RAPID – Bikaner (RANBANKURA DIVISION)






2010 Republic Day:
Arjun of 43 Armoured Regiment of 24th RAPID – Bikaner (RANBANKURA DIVISION)

Division Sign/Patch of : 12th RAPID – Jodhpur (GOLDEN AXE DIVISION)






2013 Republic Day Parade :
Arjun of 75 Armoured Regiment of 12th RAPID – Jodhpur (GOLDEN AXE)

 

[Abhay Rajput 02]

I am quoting Vats Rohit and expanding it Click Here for Link

To quickly summarize the above, the ORBAT of an artillery division looks something like below:

2 x Gun Brigades
------- Medium Regiments (eg: 155 mm Bofors Regiment)
------- Field Regiments (eg: 105mm LFG)
------- Light Regiments (eg: 120mm Mortar)
1 x Rocket Brigade
------- with 1 or 2 Rocket Regiments
1 x Missile Brigade
------- with 1 or 2 Missile Regiment
1 x SATA Regiment


Each Regiment has 3 Batteries
Each Battery is 6 guns/ Launchers. (So each regiment has 18 gunsllaunchers)

Except Smerch Regiment which has 12 launchers
Missile Regiment of Brahmos has 4 launchers

So we have just 16 launchers of brahmos.?
What about this article

Army to have 2 more regiments of Brahmos missile: Manohar Parrikar

The Defence Minister was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the commissioning ceremony for the 50th batch of medical graduates of all three forces.

m.economictimes.com

Either your information is wrong or Parrikar got it wrong.
Quote from the article
Two more regiments of the short-range supersonic cruise missile, Brahmos, will be inducted into Army within next fifteen days, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said here today.

"The process of induction of two more regiments (of Brahmos missile) in the Indian Army is in the final stage and within 15 days, these regiments will be inducted in Indian Army," he said.
Army is already equipped with three regiments of Block III version of Brahmos missiles. The proposed induction will upgrade its air defence capabilities."
Something is fishy don't you think.

 

[Tanmay]

So we have just 16 launchers of brahmos.?
What about this article

Army to have 2 more regiments of Brahmos missile: Manohar Parrikar

The Defence Minister was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the commissioning ceremony for the 50th batch of medical graduates of all three forces.

m.economictimes.com

Either your information is wrong or Parrikar got it wrong.
Quote from the article
Two more regiments of the short-range supersonic cruise missile, Brahmos, will be inducted into Army within next fifteen days, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said here today.

"The process of induction of two more regiments (of Brahmos missile) in the Indian Army is in the final stage and within 15 days, these regiments will be inducted in Indian Army," he said.
Army is already equipped with three regiments of Block III version of Brahmos missiles. The proposed induction will upgrade its air defence capabilities."
Something is fishy don't you think.

I may be wrong, but here is it

Most reports stated and I believed that
1 Regiment = 3 Batteries
1 Battery = 4 Launchers
Therefore 1 Regiment = 3 battery x 4 launcher x 3 missiles = 36 missiles


But I have not come across concrete proofs (like official Brahmos posters) depicting a Regiment with 3 batteries or 12 launchers
Only official depiction is of 4 (or 6) launchers with 3 missiles each.

Some reports support the same

Sources said the Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by PM Narendra Modi, cleared this fourth BrahMos regiment at a cost of over Rs 4,300 crore. The regiment consists of around 100 missiles, five mobile autonomous launchers on 12x12 heavy-duty trucks and a mobile command post, among other hardware and software.

Read more at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...ofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst


Further regarding Parikar's statement, I have only analysed info thats publicly visible. In this case parade recordings. From that I stated that 1889 regiment has moved from South Western Command to Eastern Army Command.

Reposting my post from another Brahmos thread


2016 : 1889 Missile Regiment (Brahmos) appears for first time in republic day parade
Formation Sign is of 42nd Artillery Division under 1 Corps (Mathura)

May 2017: South Western Command / 1 Corps (Mathura) test Brahmos in Andaman

Jan 2019: 1889 Missile Regiment appears at Kolkata Republic Day under formation sign of Eastern Army Command

May 2019 : Eastern Command conducts test


Me thinks that the 1889 Brahmos Regiment was/is loaned or transferred from South Western Command/ 1 Corps to Eastern Command /17 Corps

Also note that the 2017 test was of Block 3 which was needed in mountains.
The 1 Strike Corps which operates in plains of Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujrat didnt need this capability at all.
The eastern command does need that ability.

 

[Abhay Rajput 02]

I may be wrong, but here is it

Most reports stated and I believed that
1 Regiment = 3 Batteries
1 Battery = 4 Launchers
Therefore 1 Regiment = 3 battery x 4 launcher x 3 missiles = 36 missiles


But I have not come across concrete proofs (like official Brahmos posters) depicting a Regiment with 3 batteries or 12 launchers
Only official depiction is of 4 (or 6) launchers with 3 missiles each.

Some reports support the same


Read more at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...ofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst


Further regarding Parikar's statement, I have only analysed info thats publicly visible. In this case parade recordings. From that I stated that 1889 regiment has moved from South Western Command to Eastern Army Command.

Reposting my post from another Brahmos thread


2016 : 1889 Missile Regiment (Brahmos) appears for first time in republic day parade
Formation Sign is of 42nd Artillery Division under 1 Corps (Mathura)

May 2017: South Western Command / 1 Corps (Mathura) test Brahmos in Andaman

Jan 2019: 1889 Missile Regiment appears at Kolkata Republic Day under formation sign of Eastern Army Command

May 2019 : Eastern Command conducts test


Me thinks that the 1889 Brahmos Regiment was/is loaned or transferred from South Western Command/ 1 Corps to Eastern Command /17 Corps

Also note that the 2017 test was of Block 3 which was needed in mountains.
The 1 Strike Corps which operates in plains of Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujrat didnt need this capability at all.
The eastern command does need that ability.

I am pretty sure by now we have close to 100 launchers in total. And more than 1000 missiles for army not counting navy. If navy is counted then i don't know . As I don't know anybody in navy. Each regiment have different number of launchers and there reload missiles. 1st regiment had the lowest number of 5 launchers , 2nd regiment 18-24 launchers and 3 Rd regiment close to 24-30 launchers. 4th regiment close to 24-30 launchers. Parrikar ji was speaking at army event and I am sure he didn't get it wrong besides my article link is from 2018 but the event happened at 2016. There are many articles about that on net. So adding 2 regiment he simply means what you are saying I think, aka 24 launchers in total.

 

[Tanmay]

I am pretty sure by now we have close to 100 launchers in total. And more than 1000 missiles for army not counting navy. If navy is counted then i don't know . As I don't know anybody in navy. Each regiment have different number of launchers and there reload missiles. 1st regiment had the lowest number of 5 launchers , 2nd regiment 18-24 launchers and 3 Rd regiment close to 24-30 launchers. 4th regiment close to 24-30 launchers. Parrikar ji was speaking at army event and I am sure he didn't get it wrong besides my article link is from 2018 but the event happened at 2016. There are many articles about that on net. So adding 2 regiment he simply means what you are saying I think, aka 24 launchers in total.

I think he wanted to say two batteries of the 4th regiment? That would make more sense.


I was also interested in Land Based Brahmos units that IAF operates. Rarely does anyone speak or hear of them. But google ssearch is messed up because all results are of Thanjavur Sukhoi squadron having brahmos

IAF calls them Brahmos SSM (surface to surface missile)

Army has regiments/batteries, Air Force calls them Squadrons/Flights



One such Brahmos SSM Squadron is based in Abmala

Listen around 2:35

Seen here during 2016 visit by preisdent at Ambala

I believe that there are three such squadrons,
one in north east
one in west
one in south west

 

[Tanmay]

https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...allenge-iaf-official/articleshow/54487562.cms

After the induction of two SU-30 MKI squadrons, now a squadron of Akash Missile has been introduced to the Tezpur Air Force base, while Brahmos missiles would be inducted into the base in the near future, Defence spokesperson Tezpur Lt Col Sombit Ghosh said.

So one land based IAF Brahmos SSM squadron will be based at Tezpur.

 

[Abhay Rajput 02]

I think he wanted to say two batteries of the 4th regiment? That would make more sense.


I was also interested in Land Based Brahmos units that IAF operates. Rarely does anyone speak or hear of them. But google ssearch is messed up because all results are of Thanjavur Sukhoi squadron having brahmos

IAF calls them Brahmos SSM (surface to surface missile)

Army has regiments/batteries, Air Force calls them Squadrons/Flights



One such Brahmos SSM Squadron is based in Abmala

Listen around 2:35

Seen here during 2016 visit by preisdent at Ambala
View attachment 54142

I believe that there are three such squadrons,
one in north east
one in west
one in south west

Read this article of 2010 to get an idea how difficult is to find exact number of Brahmos launchers. Each regiment have different numbers of launchers and missiles. The number of brahmos isn't in open because some of the Brahmos missiles are nuclear tipped. It's a mess what I would like to call.
Ofcourse IAF too have brahmos along with Prithvi missiles but these are different from army numbers. If you count in total army and airforce - I would again say more close to 100 launchers in service and 1000+ missile. Total order for brahmos has crossed 32000 crore in 2018. I don't know if navy + airforce orders are included in this. But I think they are.

 

[fire starter]

Read this article of 2010 to get an idea how difficult is to find exact number of Brahmos launchers. Each regiment have different numbers of launchers and missiles. The number of brahmos isn't in open because some of the Brahmos missiles are nuclear tipped. It's a mess what I would like to call.
Ofcourse IAF too have brahmos along with Prithvi missiles but these are different from army numbers. If you count in total army and airforce - I would again say more close to 100 launchers in service and 1000+ missile. Total order for brahmos has crossed 32000 crore in 2018. I don't know if navy + airforce orders are included in this. But I think they are.

and people say we have less number of cruise missiles against China.