Pakistan Army Armoured Corps Explained

Unit Name:Pakistan Armoured Corps
Country: Pakistan
Role:Combat and combined arms administrative and staffing oversight.
Size:52 regiments[1]
Garrison:Nowshera Cantonment, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan.[2] [3]
Garrison Label:HQ/Garrison
Nickname:AC
Men of Steel[4]
Colors:Red and Yellow
Colors Label:Color identification
Battles:Military history of Pakistan
Anniversaries:1947
Commander1:Maj-Gen. Zafar Iqbal Marwat
Commander1 Label:Director-General
Notable Commanders:Lt. Gen. Shah Rafi AlamGeneral Jehangir Karamat
General Shamim Alam Khan
Lt-Gen Nadeem Zaki Manj
Lt-Gen Hameed Gul
Lt-Gen Gul Hassan Khan
Maj-Gen. Bilal Omer Khan
Lt Gen.Shaheen Mazhar Mehmood
Identification Symbol Label:War flag

The Pakistan Army Armoured Corps is a military administrative and combined arms service branch of the Pakistan Army.

Headquartered in Nowshera, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan, the corps is commanded by its director-general, Major-General Zafar Marwat as of 2023.[5]

Overview

The Pakistan Army's armored corps was commissioned as an administrative corps from the partition of the former British Indian Army's Armoured Corps– there were six regiments that formed the basis of the Armoured Corps.[6] [7]

During the early years, the British Army officers played a crucial role in running the military operations from the Nowshera Cantonment which remains till this day Armoured Corps' headquarter.[8] Until 1956, the training and field manuals were based on British Army but later adopted U.S. Army's field manual and training, which is continue to be practiced by armoured corps' training school.[9] The School of Armor and Mechanized Warfare trains cadets and officers to be a part of the Armored Corps at the Nowshera Cantonment.[10] The Armored Corps is commanded by the director-general who is usually at two-star active duty rank, Major-General, working directly under the Chief of the General Staff at the Army GHQ in Rawalpindi.[9]

The Armoured Corps only has an administrative control over its combat strike brigades and such brigade teams are employed in numbers of strike maneuver corps to defend the national borders of Pakistan from the foreign threats.[11] [12] [13] [14]

Until 2001, the armoured corps was focused towards opposing Indian advances in the east but later stationed its interests in western border to prevent foreign threats coming from Afghanistanr.[15]

Regiments in the Corps

Equipment

Armoured Corps regiments are equipped with the following:

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. The armoured regiments are composed of one battalion each.
  2. Web site: Commanders must focus on training of all ranks, says COAS . The News . 12 November 2021 . 24 January 2022 .
  3. Web site: COAS General Bajwa Visited Armored Corps Regimental Centre Nowshera And Installs New Colonel Commandant of Armoured Corps . pakdefense.com . 14 November 2021 . 24 January 2022 .
  4. Web site: The Men of Steel. The News. 6 September 2015. 24 January 2022.
  5. Web site: Commanders must focus on training of all ranks, says COAS . The News . 12 November 2021 . 24 January 2022 .
  6. Book: Roy . Kaushik . The Army in British India: From Colonial Warfare to Total War 1857 - 1947 . 17 January 2013 . A&C Black . 978-1-4411-7730-8 . 14 December 2023 . en.
  7. Riza, Maj Gen Shaukat. (1989). The Pakistan Army 1947-49. Rawalpindi: Services Book Club
  8. Book: Cheema . Pervaiz I. . Riemer . Manuel . Pakistan's Defence Policy 1947-58 . 22 August 1990 . Springer . 978-1-349-20942-2 . 14 December 2023 . en.
  9. Book: Alam . Shah . Pakistan Army: Modernisation, Arms Procurement and Capacity Building . 2012 . Vij Books India Pvt Ltd . New Delhi, India . 9789381411797 . 116 . 14 December 2023.
  10. Web site: PAKISTAN ARMY . PAKISTAN ARMY . 2022-04-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220425204205/https://www.pakistanarmy.gov.pk/School-of-Armour-and-Mechanized-Warfare.php . 2022-04-25 . live . 2022-05-04.
  11. Web site: Armoured Corps . Pakistanarmy.gov.pk . 24 January 2022 .
  12. Web site: India escalations . Pakistanarmy.gov.pk . 24 January 2022 .
  13. Web site: Pakistan army launches 'major offensive' in North Waziristan . BBC News . 15 June 2014 . 24 January 2022 .
  14. Web site: Pak's all-out offensive against Taliban kills 177 militants . Deccan Herald . 16 June 2014 . 24 January 2022 .
  15. Web site: Pakistan Army Armoured Corps makes Military history, unprecedented World Record. Times of Islamabad. 7 January 2019. 24 January 2022.
  16. The President's Body Guard was formed at independence from the Governor General's Bodyguard, which was raised in 1773 under the name of Governor's Troop of Mughals at that time. In 1956 its name was changed to President's Bodyguard from when Pakistan became a republic. It is the senior-most armoured regiment of Pakistan Army.
  17. Web site: BADGES – ARMOURED CORPS. pakarmymuseum.com. 12 January 2018.
  18. Web site: Spirits Rekindled – Joint Staff Pakistan Day Parade - 2015 . Tariq . Sardar Muhammad . Asif Jehangir . Raja . Hilal: The Pakistan Armed Forces Magazine . 9 December 2022.
  19. 5th Horse is the successor to the 1st Sikh Irregular Cavalry (Wales's Horse), and the 2nd Sikh Irregular Cavalry, both raised in 1857.
  20. 6th Lancers is the successor to The Rohilkhand Horse raised in 1857, and the 4th Sikh Irregular Cavalry raised in 1858.
  21. Web site: The Gazette of Pakistan. Part II. . Government of Pakistan . 26 February 2020 . 12 December 2022.
  22. The Guides Cavalry (Frontier Force) is the successor to the Corps of Guides raised in 1846.
  23. 11th Cavalry (Frontier Force) is the successor to 1st and 3rd Regiments of Punjab Cavalry, both raised in 1849.
  24. 12th Cavalry (Frontier Force) is the successor to 2nd and 5th Regiments of Punjab Cavalry, both raised in 1849.
  25. 13th Lancers is successor to the 1st and 2nd Native Troops of Bombay Cavalry, raised in 1804 and 1816 respectively.
  26. 15th Lancers is successor to the Muttra Horse and 7th Bombay Cavalry, raised in 1857 and 1885 respectively.
  27. Web site: Public Tenders page 1 . Public Procurement Regulatory Authority . 8 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221208204642/https://www.ppra.org.pk/organizations.asp?PageNo=1 . 8 December 2022.
  28. Web site: The Gazette of Pakistan. Part II. . 201 . Government of Pakistan . 3 June 2020 . 16 December 2022.
  29. 19th Lancers is successor to the 2nd Mahratta Horse (Tiwana Horse) raised in 1858, and Fane's Horse raised in 1860.
  30. 20th Lancers is associated with the Punjab Regiment.
  31. Web site: Public Tenders page 2 . Public Procurement Regulatory Authority . 8 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221208211612/https://www.ppra.org.pk/organizations.asp?PageNo=2 . 8 December 2022.
  32. 25th Cavalry (Frontier Force) stopped the Indian Army armoured thrust during the Battle of Chawinda in 1965. The regiment was given the sobriquet " Men of Steel" by the then Army Chief of Staff.
  33. Web site: The Gazette of Pakistan. Part II. . Government of Pakistan . 16 December 2020 . 12 December 2022.
  34. Web site: The Gazette of Pakistan. Part II. . 108 . Government of Pakistan . 21 April 2021 . 16 December 2022.
  35. Web site: The Gazette of Pakistan. Part II. Notifications issued by the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Defence Production . 492 . Government of Pakistan . 9 September 2020 . 12 December 2022.
  36. 33rd Cavalry is the only Pakistani armoured regiment which has five battle honours to its credit post-independence.
  37. Web site: The Gazette of Pakistan. Part II. . 505 . Government of Pakistan . 23 September 2020 . 16 December 2022.
  38. Web site: The Gazette of Pakistan. Part II. . 1 . Government of Pakistan . 1 January 2020 . 16 December 2022.
  39. Web site: The Gazette of Pakistan. Part II. . 243 . Government of Pakistan . 16 June 2021 . 16 December 2022.
  40. Web site: The Gazette of Pakistan. Part II. . 21 . Government of Pakistan . 27 January 2021 . 13 December 2022.