Defence
GENERAL KNOWLEDGE
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Defence
Historical Background
A Military Department was created under the Supreme Government of the East India
Company at Kolkata in the year 1776.
The Military Department initially functioned as a branch of the Public Department and
maintained a list of Army personnel. It was abolished in March 1906 and replaced by
two different departments i.e. the Army Department and the Military Supply Department.
In 1909 the Military Supply Department was abolished and its functions were taken by
the Army Department.
The Army Department was renamed as the Defence Department in January 1938. It
became the Ministry of Defence under a Cabinet Minister in August 1947.
After Independence, Ministry of Defence was created under the charge of Cabinet
Minister, and each service was placed under its own commander in chief. In 1955 the
Commander in Chief were renamed as:
The Chief of the Army Staff
The Chief of the Naval staff
The Chief of the Air Staff.
Year Details
A Department of Defence Production was set
1962 up to deal with research, development and
production of defence equipment.
the Department of Defence Research and
1980
Development was created.
the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare
2004
was created.
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The Defence Secretary functions as head of the Department of Defence and is
additionally responsible for coordinating the activities of the four Departments in the
Ministry.
Department Under Ministry of Defence
Department Details
It deals with the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS),
three Services and various Inter-Service
Organisations and also responsible for the Defence
The Department of Defence Budget, establishment matters, defence policy,
matters relating to Parliament, defence cooperation
with foreign countries and co-ordination of all
defence related activities.
The Department of Defence Production is headed
by a Secretary and deals with matters pertaining to
defence production, indigenization of imported
The Department of Defence Production stores, equipment and spares, planning and control
of departmental production units of the Ordnance
Factory Board and Defence Public Sector
Undertakings (DPSUs).
It is headed by a Secretary. Its main function is to
advise the Government on scientific aspects of
The Department of Defence Research
military equipment and logistics and the formulation
and Development
of research, design and development plans for
equipment required by the Services.
It is headed by a Secretary and deals with all
The Development of Ex Servicemen
resettlement, welfare and pensionary matters of Ex
Welfare
-Servicemen.
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Indian Forces
Indian Army.
Indian Navy.
Indian Air Force.
President of India is the Supreme Commander and head of all three above-
mentioned forces.
Indian Army
It is the 2nd largest force in the world after China.
The "Army Day" is celebrated on 15th January every year.
It is headquartered in New Delhi.
The motto of Indian Army is “Service Before Self”.
The first Chief of the Army Staff was Rajendrasinjhi Jadeja.
Headquarter of Seven Indian Army Commanders
Command Headquarter
Northern Command Udhampur
Western Command Chandigarh
South Western Command Jaipur
Southern Command Pune
Army Training Command Shimla
Central Command Lucknow
Eastern Command Kolkata
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Some Important Defence Training Institute of Indian Army
National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla, Pune.
National Defence College (NDC), New Delhi.
College of Defence Management (CDM), Secunderabad.
Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun
Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune.
School of Artillery, Deodali.
College of Military Engineering (CME), Pune
Infantry Schools, Mhow and Belgaum.
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is a well-balanced and capable of operating above, on and under
the surface of the waters, efficiently safeguarding our national interests.
The "Navy Day" is celebrated on 4th December every year.
The motto of the Indian Navy is -“Sham no Varunah”,( It means “Be auspicious unto
us Oh Varuna ).
It is headquartered in New Delhi.
The Chief of the Naval Staff is the commander and the highest-ranking officer in
the Indian Navy.
Ram Das Katari was the fi rst Indian Vice Admiral of Indian Navy.
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Some Important Defence Training Institute of Indian Army
Command Headquarter
Eastern Command Visakhapatnam
Western Command Mumbai
Southern Command Kochi
Some Important Defence Training Institute of Indian Navy
I.N.S Hansa, Goa.
I.N.S Garuda, Kochi.
I.N.S Shivaji, Lonavala.
I.N.S Hamla, Mumbai.
I.N.S Ashwini, Mumbai.
Naval Academy, Goa.
Navy Shipwright School, Visakhapatnam.
I.N.S Agrani, Coimbator.
Indian Air Force
The Indian Air Force was officially established on 8 October 1932.
The "Air Force Day" is celebrated on 8 October every year.
Its headquarter is in New Delhi.
The Motto of Indian Air Force has been taken from the eleventh chapter of the Gita,
the Discourse given by Lord Krishna to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra
during the Great War of Mahabharata.
The motto of Indian Force is "Touch the sky with Glory".
The first Air Chief Marshal of Indian Air Force was Arjan Singh.
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Some of Air Force Commands
Command Headquarter
Eastern Air Command Shillong
South-Western Air Command Gandhinagar
Southern Air Command Thiruvananthapuram
Western Air Command New Delhi
Central Air Command Allahabad
Training Command (Functional Comd.) Banglore
Maintenance Command (Functional Comd.) Nagpur
Some Important Defence Training Institute of Indian Air Force
Helicopter Training School, Avadi.
College of Air Warfare, Secunderabad.
Elementary Flying School, Bidar.
Paratroopers Training School, Agra.
Institute of Aviation Medicine, Banglore.
Air Force Academy Hyderabad.
Commissioned Ranks
Army Navy Air Force
General Admiral Air Chief Marshal
Lieutenant General Vice Admiral Air Marshal
Major General Rear Admiral Air Vice Marshal
Brigadier Commodore Air Commodore
Colonel Captain Group Captain
Lieutenant Colonel Colonel Commander Wing Commander
Major Lieutenant Commander Squadron Leader
Captain Lieutenant Flight Lieutenant
Lieutenant Sub Lieutenant Flying Officer
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Major Operation Carried Out by Indian
Defence
Operation Description
It is the rescue and relief operation in Nepal
conducted by the Government of India and Indian
Armed Forces in the aftershock of the 2015 Nepal
earthquake.
The operation was named Operation Maitri by
Operation Maitri Indian Army
The aircraft Indian Air Force mobilised for the rescue
operation were:
i. Ilyushin IL-76
ii. C-130J Hercules
iii. C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft
iv. Mi-17 helicopters
It was conducted by Indian Armed Forces in 2015
for the evacuation of people from war-hit Yemen.
Operation Raahat
INS Sumitra was deployed to evacuate people and
INS Mumbai and INS Tarkash were sent to provide
protection to the vessel
It was a major standoff between India and Pakistan
Operation Parakram in 2002.
It was the first time in Indian Defense history when
cadets were part of any operation.
Indian Navy attacked over the Karachi port of
Operation Trident Pakistan in the 1971 Indo- Pak war
Indian Navy celebrated Navy day on 4 December to
mark the victory of this operation.
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Operation Description
It was followed after operation Trident in which
Operation Python Karachi port was attacked during Indo- Pak war
1971.
Operation Blue Star was took place in 1984 in
Amritsar and it was one of the biggest internal
security missions undertaken by the Indian Army.
Operation Blue Star was Indira Gandhi's solution to
the haywire going law and order situation in Punjab.
Former PM Indira Gandhi ordered the military
Operation Blue Star
operation to remove Sikh militants who were
accumulating weapons in the Harmandir Sahib
Complex (Golden Temple).
The mission was launched to remove militant
religious leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his
armed followers from the buildings of the Harmandir
Sahib complex in Amritsar, Punjab.
Operation Vijay-1961 The Liberation of Goa from Portuguese
Operation Meghdoot-1984 To capture the Siachen Glacier in Jammu and
Kashmir from Pakistan
To Support Tamil Tigers during the Sri Lankan Civil
Operation Poomalai-1987 War.
It was also known as Eagle Mission 4.
Against the Maldives coup who want to overthrow
Operation Cactus-1988
the government in the island of Maldives.
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Missile in Indian Defence
Name of the Missile Ranges Type
BrahMos 290 km Supersonic Cruise Missile
BrahMos II 500 km Hypersonic Cruise Missile
Barak-8 100-150 km Long Range Surface to Air Missile
Nirbhay 800-1,000 km Subsonic cruise missile
Maitri Missile 25-30 km Short-range surface to air missile
Akash Missile 30 km Medium-range surface to air missile
Helina 7-8 km Anti Tank Guided Missile
New Equipment's of Indian Defence
Equipment Details
It is ATGM, i.e. Anti Tank Guided Missile.
It is fire and forget type of missile.
Spike 2000
It can shot even hidden target.
Its maximum range is around 8 km.
It is also known by the name of SA-21
Growler.
It was developed by the Russian Company
Almaz Antey.
S-400 missile It is modern long range Surface to Air Missile.
It is a type of aerial targets such as aircraft
and cruise missile.
The range of S-400 missile is 250-400km
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Equipment Details
Designed by Marcel Dassault.
It is Omni role fighter.
Special Technology-
1. Multidirectional Radar
2. Passive sensor
3. Reconnaissance pod- It takes photo with
speed of light with precision.
4. Spectra- It is special sensor it has tendency
Rafale fighter to jam enemy radar, decoy signal and gives
missile approach warning. It leaves
electromagnetic pulse.
Weapon installed-
1. Mica Air to Air missile (Range- 50 km)
2. Meteor Air to Air missile (Range-150 km)
3. Scalp Cruise missile (Range- 300 to 500 km)
Laser targeting pod-
Gia Gun- It can shot 3000round/minute
Computer control canard balance plane.
It is also known as “Desi Bofors”.
It is the first Indegineous Artillery Gun.
Dhanush It is developed by the Ordinance Factory
Board.
It’s range is approx 35-40 km.
New Equipment's of Indian Defence
India + Other
Army Navy Air Force
Country
Pitch Black
Australia Austra Hind Ausindex/Kakadu
(Multi-nation exercise)
Bangladesh Sampriti
Hand in Hand/
China Chang Thang
HimVijay
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India + Other
Army Navy Air Force
Country
France Shakti Garuda Varuna
Indonesia Garuda Shakti Samudra Shakti
Japan Dharma Guardian Malabar
Kyrgyzstan Khanjar
Maldives Ekuverin
Nomadic Elephant/
Mongolia
Khan Quest
Nepal Surya Kiran
Russia Indra Indra Nav AVIA- INDRA
Seychelle Lamitye
Sri Lanka Mitra Shakti SLINEX
Yudh Abhyas/Tiger *Malabar/*RIMPAC
USA
Triumph
Ajay Warrior/Vajra
UK Konkan
Prahar
Thailand Maitree/Cobra Gold
South Africa, Brazil IBSAMAR
Prabal Dostyk/
Kazakhstan
Kazind
ASEAN+ Force 18
Malabar Exercise - It is conducted by India and the participating countries are the USA and
Japan.
RIMPAC - This exercise conducted by USA and 26 nations participates in it. This year China
was excluded from the exercise.
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