The Armoured Corps ( ur, ﺁرمرڈ كور) of the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the Partition of British India, which occurred as a result ...

is a combat branch tasked with

armoured warfare Armoured warfare or armored warfare (mechanized forces, armoured forces or armored forces) (American English; see spelling differences), is the use of armored fighting vehicles in modern warfare. It is a major component of modern methods of ...

. Equipped with more than 3,742

main battle tanks A main battle tank (MBT), also known as a battle tank or universal tank, is a tank that fills the role of armor-protected direct fire and maneuver in many modern armies. Cold War-era development of more powerful engines, better suspension sys ...

, the corps is headquartered in the garrison town of

Nowshera, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Nowshera (; ; ps, نوښار, ''pr.'' ''Nowkhār'' ) is the capital city of Nowshera District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is the 78th largest city in Pakistan and ninth largest city in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. ...

. The corps has only administrative control of its component regiments. The regiments are deployed in a number of field formations including two armoured divisions, two mechanised divisions, and a number of independent armoured brigades. The corps has a history going back to September 1773, when its oldest unit, the

Governor General's Bodyguard The Governor General's Bodyguard was a cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army. The regiment was, in effect, the Indian equivalent of the Household Cavalry of the British Army. History The regiment was first formed in 1773 as the Governor ...

, was raised in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. The corps maintains a number of units , who earned fame in numerous wars and engagements as part of the British Indian Army including in the two World Wars. At the time of the

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

inherited six armoured regiments from the old British Indian Army. Since then, the corps has expanded into more than forty regiments. Many of these new regiments have also earned accolades for their performance in wars fought with India. The corps played a minor role in 1947-48 and a major role in the 1965 and 1971 wars with India. Later on, the Corps played a crucial part in terms of deterrence when the Pakistani Army has mobilised repeatedly in the face of various Indian build-ups on the border. These include

Operation Brasstacks Operation Brasstacks was a major combined arms military exercise of the Indian Armed Forces in Rajasthan state of India, that took place from November 1986 to January 1987 near Pakistan border. As part of a series of exercises to simulate th ...

in 1986-87 and

Operation Parakram Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

in 2001-02. The Corps also took part in

Operation Zarb-e-Azb Operation Zarb-e-Azb (Pashto/ ur, ALA-LC: ) was a joint military offensive conducted by the Pakistan Armed Forces against various militant groups, including the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the ...

against terrorist groups in the North-Western part of Pakistan. The Corps has a major presence along the India-Pakistan border and a minor presence along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Regiments in the Corps

President's Bodyguard The President's Bodyguard (PBG) is an elite household cavalry regiment of the Indian Army. It is the senior-most regiment in the order of precedence of the units of the Indian Army. The primary role of the President's Bodyguard is to escort and ...

* 4th Cavalry (Valiants) *

5th Horse The 5th Horse is an armoured regiment of the Pakistan Army. It was previously known as the 5th King Edward's Own Probyn's Horse, which was a regular cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1921 by the amalgamation of the 11 ...

(Probyn's Horse) * 6th Lancers (Fateh Khem Karan) * 7th Lancers * 8th Cavalry (Izz-Ul-Khail) * 9th Horse (The Arabian Horse) *

Guides Cavalry The Guides Cavalry (Frontier Force) is an armoured regiment of the Pakistan Army which was raised in 1846 as The Corps of Guides. During more than a hundred and fifty years of military service, the regiment has earned the reputation of one of ...

(Frontier Force) *

11th Cavalry (Frontier Force) The 11th Cavalry (Frontier Force), is an armoured regiment of the Pakistan Army. It was previously known as the 11th Prince Albert Victor's Own Cavalry and was a regular cavalry regiment of the old British Indian Army. It was formed in 1921 by th ...

12th Cavalry (Frontier Force) The 12th Cavalry Sam Browne's Cavalry (Frontier Force) is an armoured regiment of Pakistan Army. It was formed in the British Indian army in 1922 by the amalgamation of 22nd Sam Browne's Cavalry (Frontier Force) and 25th Cavalry (Frontier Force) ...

13th Lancers The 13th Lancers is an armoured regiment of Pakistan Army. It was formed in 1923 as 13th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers by the amalgamation of 31st Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers and 32nd Lancers. On Partition of India in 1947, the regiment w ...

(Spearheads) * 14th Lancers (Zarb-e-Ghazi) *

15th Lancers The 15th Lancers (Baloch) is an armoured regiment of the Pakistan Army. It was formed in 1922 by the amalgamation of the 17th Cavalry and the 37th Lancers (Baluch Horse).Ahmad, Lt Col RN. (2010). ''Battle Honours of the Baloch Regiment''. Abbottaba ...

(Baloch) * 16th Horse (Al-Mugheerat) *

17th Lancers The 17th Lancers (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1759 and notable for its participation in the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. The regiment was amalgamated with the 21st Lance ...

* 18th Horse *

19th Lancers The 19th Lancers is an armoured regiment of the Pakistan Army. Before 1956, it was known as 19th King George V's Own Lancers, which was a regular cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1922, by the amalgamation of 18th King ...

* 20th Lancers (Haideri)20th Lancers is associated with the Punjab Regiment. * 21st Horse (Murtajiz) * 22nd Cavalry (Death or Glory) * 23rd Cavalry (Frontier Force) *

24th Cavalry (Frontier Force) The 24th Cavalry (Baloch) is a regiment of the Pakistan Army, raised on June 12, 1962. It was one of the armoured regiments assembled and trained following independence to meet Pakistan's growing defense needs. The officer selected to train and co ...

(Chargers) * 25th Cavalry (Frontier Force) (Men of Steel) * 26th Cavalry (''Mustangs'') *

27th Cavalry The 16th Light Cavalry is a regiment of the Armoured Corps, a primary combat arm of the Indian Army. Prior to India gaining independence from the British in 1947, it was a regular cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was formed in 177 ...

(Ribat-ul-Khail) Steeds of war * 28th Cavalry * 29th Cavalry (''Tigers'') * 30th Cavalry (''Bold Till Death'') * 31st Cavalry (''Sprocketeers'') * 32nd Cavalry (''Conquerers'') * 33rd Cavalry (''Fortunes with the Bold'') * 34th Lancers (''Dragoons'')(''Tawakkal-Ullah'') * 35th Cavalry * 36th Cavalry * 37th Cavalry (Ribat-us-Sehra) * 38th Cavalry * 39th Cavalry * 40th Horse (''Sind'') * 41st Horse (''Frontier Force'') (''Karakash'') * 42th Lancers * 43rd Cavalry (''al-Zarib'') (Raised 2015) * 44th Cavalry (''Hell on Wheels'') (Raised 2016) * 45th Horse (''Alambardar'') * 47th Cavalry * 51st Lancers (''Silver Eagles'') * 52nd Cavalry * 53rd Cavalry (''Golden Eagle'') * 54th Cavalry (''Hizbullah'') * 55th Cavalry * 56th Cavalry (''Raad ul Harb'') * 57th Cavalry * 58th Cavalry Alzarrar

Equipment

Armoured Corps regiments are equipped with the following: *The VT4 is a Chinese third-generation MBT specifically made for export. *The

Al-Khalid The Al-Khalid ( ur, —, literally "The Eternal Tank") is a Pakistani main battle tank developed by Heavy Industries Taxila since the 1990s. It is based on the Chinese Type 90-IIM tan, whose original prototype was developed by China Nort ...

main battle tank is a joint Sino-Pakistani production with a 125 mm smoothbore gun. *The T-80UD is of Ukrainian origin with a 125 mm smoothbore gun. * The

Al-Zarrar The Al-Zarrar ( Urdu: الضرار), is a third generation main battle tank (MBT), currently in the services of the Pakistan Army since 2004. The tank is named after Muslim warrior Zarrar bin Al-Azwar. It is a highly upgraded version of Pakis ...

is a heavily upgraded version of the Chinese

Type 59 tank The Type 59 (; industrial designation: WZ-120) main battle tank is a Chinese-produced version of the Soviet T-54A tank, an early model of the ubiquitous T-54/55 series. The first vehicles were produced in 1958 and it was accepted into service ...

equipped with a 125mm smoothbore cannon, ERA, and many more modern equipment. *The T-85III is an upgraded version of the Chinese T-85AP with a 125 mm smoothbore gun. *The

Type 69 tank The Type 69 () and Type 79 () are Chinese second generation main battle tanks. Both were developments of the Type 59 medium tank (a locally produced Soviet T-54A) with technologies derived from T-62. They were the first indigenously develope ...

is a Chinese MBT with a 105 mm gun.

References

External links

Pakistan Armoured Corps
on www.regiments.org {{Authority control Pakistan Armoured Corps Nationstate armoured warfare branches Military units and formations established in 1947 1947 establishments in Pakistan Armour

Regiments in the Corps

Equipment

See also

References

External links