The 33rd Armoured Division, based at

Hisar Military Station Hisar Military Station, established in 15 November 1982 at Hisar in Haryana state of India, is the base headquarters of the ''33rd Armoured Division'' of Mathura-headquartered ''I Corps'' strike battle formation of Jaipur-headquartered '' Sou ...

, is part of

I Corps I Corps, 1st Corps, or First Corps may refer to: France * 1st Army Corps (France) * I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * I Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French A ...

"Strike Corps" of

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

. I Corps is a battle formation under South Western Command headquartered at

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...

. Indian armoured regiment, the 1 Horse (

Skinner's Horse The 1st Horse (Skinner's Horse) is a regiment of the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army. It traces its origins as a cavalry regiment from the times of the East India Company, followed by its service in the British Indian Army and finally, afte ...

) raised by James Skinner at

Hansi Hansi, is a city and municipal council in Hisar district in the Indian state of Haryana. It appears that at one time Hansi was larger, more prosperous and more important than Hisar. The town has several important buildings of archeological import ...

in 1803 is based at Hissar.

History

Formation

33rd Armoured Division was raised on 15 November 1982 by Major General L. B. Sondhi. It was converted into an Armoured Division in December 1993.

Arjun Tank Trial

Phase II of Arjun

Tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

was conducted at Hisar, Haryana and check was made for medium fording capability.

Component units

Command: South Western Command (Jaipur)

The 33rd Armoured Division is part of

under South Western Command of

. * I Corps, headquartered at

Mathura, Uttar Pradesh Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...

, consists of the following 3 army divisions: **the '' 4th Infantry Division'' (

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

) also called ''Red Eagle'' **the '' 23rd Infantry Division''(

Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

) also called ''Cockerel'' **the ''33rd Armoured Division'' (

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

) * the ''

X Corps 10th Corps, Tenth Corps, or X Corps may refer to: France * 10th Army Corps (France) * X Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars Germany * X Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army * ...

headquartered at

Bathinda, Punjab Bathinda is a city and municipal corporation in Punjab, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of Bathinda District. It is located in northwestern India in the Malwa Region, west of the capital city of Chandigarh and is the fifth l ...

'' consists of **the '' 16th Infantry Division'' (Sudarshan) (

Ganganagar Sri Ganganagar is a planned city and the northernmost city of the Indian States and territories of India, state of Rajasthan, near the international border of India and Pakistan. It is the administrative headquarters of Sri Ganganagar district. ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

) **the '' 18th RAPID'' ( Kota,

) **the '' 24th RAPID'' (

Bikaner Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. Bikaner city is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division. Formerly the capital of ...

). **the ''6th Independent Armoured Brigade, SAND VIPER BRIGADE'' (

Suratgarh Suratgarh is a city and a municipality, just nearby Sri Ganganagar city in Sri Ganganagar district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded by Maharaja Surat Singh (1765 - 1828). Hindi, Bagri and Rajasthani are the widely spoken languag ...

Corps: I Corps (Mathura)

The ''

'' strike corps of the '' South Western Command'', created in 1965 and headquartered at

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...

, consists of the following 3 army divisions: *the 4th Infantry Division (

), also called "Red Eagle" *the 23rd Infantry Division (

, also called "Cockerel" *the 33rd Armoured Division (

)

Division: 33rd Armoured Division, (Hisar)

The 33rd Armoured Division has 5 Brigades (3 Armoured, 1 Artillery & 1 Air Defence brigades). Dot on target division war memorial

Brigade: 5 Brigades of the 33rd Armoured Division

A ''Regiment'' is a homogenous unit specializing in one thing e.g. Armoured (tank), Mechanised (vehicles), Artillery, etc. A ''Brigade'' is multi-functional unit composed of different types of ''Battalions'' from various ''Regiments''. The '33rd Armoured Division' has total 5 ''Brigades'': * the 39th Armoured Brigade (formerly '39th Mechanised Brigade') * the 57th Armoured Brigade (formerly '57th Mechanised Brigade') * the 88th Armoured Brigade (formerly '88th Mechanised Brigade') * the 627th (Independent) Armoured Air Defence Brigade (formerly '627th (Independent) Mechanised Air Defence Brigade') * the 33rd Artillery Brigade It initially consisted of the ''88 Mechanised Brigade'' (was already in existence), the ''39 Mechanised Brigade'' and the ''33 Artillery Brigade'' were also raised on 15 November 1982. The ''57 Mechanised Brigade'' was raised on 1 March 1983. The ''627th (Independent) Mechanised Air Defence Brigade'' became part of the Division's Orbat (

Order of battle In modern use, the order of battle of an armed force participating in a military operation or campaign shows the hierarchical organization, command structure, strength, disposition of personnel, and equipment of units and formations of the armed ...

) on 1 December 1989. Later, all Mechanised Brigades were converted to the Armoured Brigades.

Battalion: each ''Armoured Brigade'' of ''3rd Armoured Division'' has two Mechanised Battalions

*Each of three ''Armoured Brigades'' (39, 57 & 88 ''Armoured Brigades'') in the ''33rd Armoured Division'' comprise **Two ''Armoured Regiments'' ((includes

T-72 The T-72 is a family of Soviet/Russian main battle tanks that entered production in 1969. The T-72 was a development of the T-64, which was troubled by high costs and its reliance on immature developmental technology. About 25,000 T-72 tanks ha ...

s and potentially

T-90 The T-90 is a third-generation Russian main battle tank. It uses a 125mm 2A46 smoothbore main gun, the 1A45T fire-control system, an upgraded engine, and gunner's thermal sight. Standard protective measures include a blend of steel and compos ...

and/or Arjun Tank in future)). This includes the historical ''1 Horse Armoured Regiment'' (

) raised by James Skinner at

in 1803. **2 ''Mechanised Battalions'' (amphibious vehicles e.g.

BMP-2 The BMP-2 (''Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty'', , literally "combat machine/vehicle (of the) infantry") is an amphibious infantry fighting vehicle introduced in the 1980s in the Soviet Union, following on from the BMP-1 of the 1960s. Development hist ...

). * the '' 33rd Artillery Brigade'' comprises three regiments: **1 x

Towed artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the early 20 ...

Regiment (e.g.

Howitzer A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...

), **1 x

Self propelled artillery Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled mo ...

Regiment **1 x LT AD ( Light Air Defence) artillery and was located at Faridkot &

Ferozpur Firozpur, also known as Ferozepur, is a city on the banks of the Sutlej River in Firozpur District, Punjab, India. After the partition of India in 1947, it became a border town on the India–Pakistan border with memorials to soldiers who d ...

. See details of

Artillery of India Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

Notable Soldiers

* late Maj. Gen. L.B.S. Sondhi - founder of 33rd Armoured Division

References

*Orbat.com
Indian Armoured Divisions - vignette, archive
{{Hisar, India topics Military units and formations established in 1982 Divisions of the Indian Army Cantonments of India Hisar (city) 1982 establishments in India