Template:More citations needed Template:Infobox military unit 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.[1]
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.[2][3]
As of 2026, the Indian Army is responsible for the tracking and monitoring of flying objects at a range of Template:Convert and up to an altitude of Template:Convert beyond the Northern and Western borders. Several air command and control centres are being established along the borders. These centres will coordinate 97% of the friendly drone and aircraft activities in the 35×3 km envelope.[4]
History and origin
Pre-independence
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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 Heavy Anti Aircraft regiments and nine were Light Anti Aircraft regiments. Besides the four brigades that were exclusively undertaking air defence tasks, one independent Heavy Anti Aircraft battery and two independent Light Anti Aircraftbatteries 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.[2][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]
Post-independence
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.[14][15][16]
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.[2][7][8][10][12]
Current overview
Band
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.[17]
Regimental insignia
Regimental crest
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 "Template:Lang" in English "Akashe Shatrun Jahi" is imprinted.[2][7][18]
Regimental motto
The sentence "Template:Lang" (Akashe Shatrun Jahi) of Devanagari script, which means "Template:Lang" was adopted as the regimental motto in 1996.[2][7][18]
List of Units
Current equipment
Director Generals
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.
| S.No | Rank | Name | Appointment date | Left office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lt Gen | PK Pahwa, Template:Small | 10 January 1994 | 31 October 1996 |
| 2 | Lt Gen | A Mukherjee, Template:Small | 1 November 1996 | 31 January 2001 |
| 3 | Lt Gen | Naresh Chand, Template:Small | 10 February 2001 | 31 Aug 2003 |
| 4 | Lt Gen | CS Chima, Template:Small | 1 September 2003 | 31 December 2005 |
| 5 | Lt Gen | KS Dogra, Template:Small | 1 January 2006 | 30 November 2008 |
| 6 | Lt Gen | Ram Pratap, Template:Small | 1 December 2008 | 30 June 2011 |
| 7 | Lt Gen | Kuldip Singh, Template:Small | 1 July 2011 | 30 June 2013 |
| 8 | Lt Gen | VK Saxena, Template:Small | 1 July 2013[20] | 31 May 2015 |
| 9 | Lt Gen | Rajiv Bhatia, Template:Small | 1 June 2015 | 31 December 2016 |
| 10 | Lt Gen | AK Sahgal, Template:Small | 1 January 2017 | 31 December 2017 |
| 11 | Lt Gen | PS Jaggi, Template:Small | 1 January 2018 | 8 April 2018 |
| 12 | Lt Gen | AP Singh, Template:Small | 11 May 2018 | 30 June 2021 |
| 13 | Lt Gen | Sunil Puri Goswami, Template:Small | 01 July 2021 | 30 October 2023 |
| 14 | Lt Gen | Sumer Ivan D’Cunha | 31 October 2023 |
President’s Colours
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.[21]
See also
References
- ↑ 21 Different Branches Of Indian Army That Make It Such An Efficient Defence Force. TopYaps(24 June 2015).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Corps of Army Air Defence. Global Security.
- ↑ Indian Armed Forces: Army Air Defence{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Lancer Publishers LLC. ISBN 9781935501732
- ↑ Indian Army to monitor low-altitude airspace along China, Pakistan borders. Hindustan Times(2026-01-27). Retrieved 2026-01-27.
- ↑ Need to Expeditiously Modernise Army Air Defence. Bharat Shakti(22 February 2016).
- ↑ Modernisation of Army Air Defence. Indian Defence Review.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 INDIAN ARMY AIR DEFENCE. Indian Pride Holders Blogspot.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 History. Indian Army. Govt.. of India.
- ↑ Indian Defence Review{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Lancer Publishers LLC(201). ISBN 9781940988245
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 The Indian Army and the End of the Raj: Decolonising the Subcontinent{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Cambridge University Press(2014). ISBN 9780521899758
- ↑ The Indian Army, 1939–47: Experience and Development{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Patrick Rose(2016). ISBN 9781317027645
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 India's Armed Forces: Fifty Years of War and Peace{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Lancer Publishers(1998). ISBN 9781897829479
- ↑ India 2014 Concise{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Kalinjar Publications. ISBN 9789382732891
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedThe Corps of Army Air Defence Celebrates Its Raising Day -PIB - ↑ VSHORADS Decision This Year?nd Forces. www.spslandforces.com.
- ↑ 2nd International Seminar on " Army Air Defence in 21st Century". www.cii.in.
- ↑ The Official Home Page of the Indian Army.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Customs and Traditions. Indian Army. Govt. of India.
- ↑ Director General – Photo Gallery. Indian Army. Government of India.
- ↑ Lt Gen V K Saxena takes over as Director General of Army Air Defence. India Strategic.
- ↑ President of India Awards Colours to Corps of Army Air Defence(2019-09-28). Retrieved 2021-02-22.