Indian Army Arms: Combat Arms, Combat Support Arms and Services

How the Army Groups Its Arms and Services

The Army's official Arms and Services page lists eight arms first, in this order: the Armoured Corps, the Regiment of Artillery, Army Air Defence, the Army Aviation Corps, the Corps of Engineers, the Corps of Signals, Mechanised Infantry and Infantry. After them come the corps that serve the force (Army Service, Medical, Dental, Ordnance, EME, Remount and Veterinary, Educational, Military Police, Pioneer and Postal Service), the Territorial Army and the Defence Security Corps.

That page does not print the words "combat" or "combat support". The split in the NIOS military studies text, and in PIB's own wording, is this:

The Arms in One Table

One row per arm. "Raised" is the date the Army or PIB gives; where an arm has two dates (an origin and a separate-corps date), both are shown. Centres are as the Army's own site and PIB's list of defence training establishments give them.

One trap sits behind the table: the Artillery and the Engineers share the motto "Sarvatra" (Everywhere), so a motto alone will not tell them apart.

The Combat Arms: Armoured Corps, Infantry, Mechanised Infantry

Armoured Corps

In battle: the Armoured Corps replaced the horse cavalry and is the Army's shock force. NIOS says tanks are its main weapons, and that it covers the infantry while they attack enemy positions. PIB's Armour Day release (2017) names the fleet as the T-72 Ajeya, T-90 Bhishma and Arjun. Equipment: main battle tanks and weapon systems. One fact: Armour Day, 1 May, marks the mechanisation of the Indian cavalry in 1938, with the Scinde Horse the first regiment to convert. See our note on the Jabalpur tank overhaul line.

Infantry

In battle: NIOS calls infantry the fighting troops who attack and occupy ground, and the most important and largest branch of the fighting forces. It is built from regiments (see regiments), whose battalions sit in brigades (brigades and battalions). Equipment: infantry weapons. One fact: Infantry Day on 27 October marks the first Army infantry troops landing at Srinagar airport in 1947 (PIB); PIB called the 2025 observance the 79th Shaurya Diwas.

Mechanised Infantry

In battle: infantry that rides into action in tracked infantry combat vehicles, so that it can keep up with the tanks and fight from or beside the vehicle. PIB says its centre is the home of "all technical and tactical aspects" of infantry combat vehicles, and trains soldiers of every arm that uses them. Equipment: tracked infantry combat vehicles, covered with the tanks on the weapons pages. One fact: the Mechanised Infantry Regimental Centre was raised at Ahmednagar on 2 April 1979 and was re-designated the Mechanised Infantry Centre and School on 17 September 2021 (PIB, 2 Apr 2024; the Army's page says 17 November 2021).

The Combat Support Arms

Regiment of Artillery

In battle: it supplies the Army's firepower, destroying enemy defences and giving the infantry fire cover to take ground (NIOS). Some defence writers call it the Army's second-largest arm after the infantry, but the Army publishes no strength table, so do not quote a share. Equipment: artillery guns, plus rockets such as Pinaka; our note on loitering munitions and artillery shows where the arm is heading. PIB's 30 June 2026 list of the outgoing chief's reforms names Shaktibaan regiments and Divyastra batteries among the initiatives progressed. One fact: Gunners' Day, 28 September, marks the raising of 5 (Bombay) Mountain Battery in 1827; PIB says the battery has served without a break, which is why its raising day is the Gunners' Day. The motto is "Sarvatra Izzat-O-Iqbal".

Corps of Army Air Defence

In battle: the Army's page says it protects Army assets from aerial threats and is embedded with the battle outfits, using air-surveillance radars, air-defence missiles and air-defence guns. Equipment: the Akash family and the older guns are on the weapon systems page. One fact: PIB's raising-day releases say its origin is 1939, that raising began 15 September 1940 at Colaba, Mumbai (the Army's history says 14 September), and that after independence it stayed in the Regiment of Artillery and "bifurcated as a separate arm on 10 Jan 1994". The motto is "Akashe Shatrun Jahi", which PIB translates as "Shoot the Enemy in Air". The college is at Gopalpur, Odisha.

Army Aviation Corps

In battle: the Army's helicopter and drone arm: it observes the enemy, moves troops and stores, and now flies armed helicopters. The Army's history starts with Air Observation Post flights (first Indian flight, August 1947); Chetak helicopters came in March 1969 and Cheetahs in 1971; the Corps came into being on 1 November 1986 and went straight into Operation Pawan. The Army's training-school page says the arm "has graduated to combat roles" with the Rudra helicopter and has taken over command of remotely piloted aircraft; PIB (Nov 2022) calls it "a decisive third dimensional manoeuvre arm". Equipment: Army Aviation. One fact: the training school at Nashik was raised on 1 September 2003.

Corps of Engineers

In battle: the Army says the Corps has four constituents: Combat Engineers, the Military Engineer Services, the Border Roads Organisation and Military Survey. In war the combat engineers build bridges, tracks and helipads for own forces and deny them to the enemy with minefields and demolitions. Equipment: bridging and mine-clearing kit sit under engineering, not the headline weapons pages. One fact: PIB gives the raising year as 1780, the Madras Sappers, and says the Madras, Bengal and Bombay groups merged on 18 November 1932, now Corps of Engineers Day. Major R R Rane won the Param Vir Chakra in the 1947-48 Kashmir fighting for opening a passage through minefields.

Corps of Signals

In battle: it gives the Army its combat communications and its peacetime static networks (PIB, 15 Feb 2024). PIB's history says the raising of the 31st and 32nd Divisional Signal Companies at Fatehgarh on 15 February 1911 marked the raising of the Corps. One fact: the motto "Teevra Chaukas" is rendered "Swift and Sure" in PIB's 2024 release and "Swift and Secure" in its older history, and NIOS gives "Intense Alertness", so learn the Hindi words, not one English rendering.

Intelligence Corps

Press raising-day reports count the Corps from 1 November 1942, though some give 1940. Its training school and depot is at Pune (PIB's list). Which group it belongs to is where the books disagree.

How the Arms Fight Together

No arm fights alone. In the NIOS account the tanks cover the infantry as it attacks, the guns give fire cover, the engineers open the route and the signals carry the orders, while Air Defence screens the group and aviation looks deep into enemy ground. A formation is the mix: a brigade mixes battalions from several arms, and the divisions page shows how armoured, mountain and RAPID divisions blend them. The corps then holds several divisions with their own arms troops.

The current reform is about blending earlier. The Raksha Mantri used the Integrated Battle Group at Jabalpur on 27 August 2026 as the example of tanks, infantry, artillery, drones and air power working as one system (PIB), and the seven commands hold the formations that carry the arms. For the Army beside the Navy and Air Force, see tri-services.

Exam pins

Asked in past papers

Three past-paper questions land on this page's ground: where an arm trains, what Army Aviation flies, and who built a gun.

Practice MCQs (with answers)

1. In the NIOS military studies text, which of these is a combat arm?
   1. Artillery
   2. Mechanised Infantry
   3. Corps of Signals
   4. Corps of Engineers
2. On 10 January 1994 which arm became separate from the Regiment of Artillery?
   1. Army Aviation Corps
   2. Mechanised Infantry
   3. Corps of Army Air Defence
   4. Corps of Engineers
3. Gunners' Day, 28 September, marks the raising of which unit?
   1. 5 (Bombay) Mountain Battery
   2. 1 Sikh
   3. The Madras Sappers
   4. 31 Divisional Signal Company
4. Corps of Engineers Day, 18 November, marks which event?
   1. Raising of the Madras Sappers in 1780
   2. Founding of the College of Military Engineering in 1943
   3. Independence in 1947
   4. The merger of the three Engineer groups in 1932
5. Where is the Combat Army Aviation Training School?
   1. Mhow
   2. Ahmednagar
   3. Nashik
   4. Gopalpur
6. Which of these is NOT one of the four constituents of the Corps of Engineers named on the Army's site?
   1. Combat Engineers
   2. Military Engineer Services
   3. Border Roads Organisation
   4. Army Postal Service

Where to Go Next

Go next to Army services for the logistic corps and regiments for the infantry families. The training centres are covered with the other schools on training establishments, and corps days sit on defence days and dates. See career in the Indian Army for how a commission leads to an arm. At SSB, "which arm would you choose and why?" is a standard question, so read our SSB interview tips with this page open. Revise in the CDS/OTA study material and the NDA study material, and our CDS/OTA coaching batches cover defence GK with PYQ drills and weekly tests.