INDIAN DEFENCE SYSTEM

India has the fourth strongest military, after China, US and Russia according to
index. The Ministry of Defence was founded on 15th August 1947. Its
headquarter is in New Delhi. Indian’s Defence policy aims at promoting and
sustaining durable peace in the sub-continent and equipping the defence
forces adequately to safeguard from any aggression.
The Supreme Command of the Armed Forces is vested in the President of
India, though the responsibility for national defence lies with the Cabinet. The
Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, which is presided by the Prime
Minister, decides all important matters having a bearing on defence. The
Defence Minister is responsible to Parliament for all matters concerning the
Defence Services. The Ministry of Defence and the three Services Headquarters
exercises all operational and administrative control of the Armed Forces.
The main functions of the Ministry of Defence are – (i) to act as the central
agency to ensure coordination of the three services, (ii) to transmit and
implement government decisions on policy matters to the three services
headquarters and (iii) to obtain financial sanction from Parliament for defence
expenditure.
The three services function under their respective Chiefs of Staff. The three
Services are -
ARMY – The Army is organised into six Commands – Western, Eastern,
Northern, Southern, Central and Army Training Command – each under a
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the rank of a Lieutenant-General. The
Commands are divided into Areas and Sub- Areas. An area is commanded by a
General Officer Commanding of the rank of a Major General and a Sub-Area by
a Brigadier.
The commissioned ranks (from top) are : Field Marshal; General; Lt General;
Major General; Brigadier; Colonel; Lieutenant Colonel; Major; Captain;
Lieutenant.
NAVY – The Navy is organised into four Commands – (1) Western Naval
Command, Mumbai (2) Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam (3) Southern
Naval Command, Cochin (4) Far Eastern Naval Command, Andaman and
Nicobar Islands. The Navy has two Fleets – the Western Fleet and the Eastern
Fleet.
The commissioned ranks (from top) are : Admiral of the Fleet; Admiral; Vice-
Admiral; Rear Admiral; Commodore; Captain; Commander; Lieutenant
Commander; Lieutenant; Sub-Lieutenant; Acting Sub-Lieutenant.
AIR FORCE – The Indian Air Force is organised into seven Commands – (1)
Western Air Command (2) Central Air Command (3) Eastern Air Command (4)
Training Command (5) Maintenance Command (6) South Western Command
(7) Southern Command
The commissioned ranks (from top) are : Marshal of the Air Force; Air Chief
Marshal; Air Marshal; Air Vice Marshal; Air Commodore; Group Captain;
Wing/Comdr; Squadron Leader; Flight Lieutenant; Flying Officer; Pilot Officer.

National Cadet Corps(NCC) in the Armed Forces

The National Cadet Corps is the Indian military cadet corps with its
headquarters at New Delhi. The NCC is a voluntary organization which recruits
cadets from high schools, colleges and universities all over India. Its aims are:
(1) To develop qualities of character, courage, comradeship, discipline,
leadership, secular outlook, spirit of adventure and sportsmanship and the
ideas of selfless service among the youth. (2) To create a human resource of
organised, trained and motivated youth, to provide leadership in all walks of
life including the Armed Forces and always available for the service of the
nation. The NCC is thus mainly of an educational and national building
character. Officers and cadets have no liability for active military service.
A certain percentage of the total intake of candidates for commissioned ranks
in the Army, Navy and Air Force, on the basis of direct entry to the Armed
Forces training institutions, has been reserved for NCC cadets of the three
Services. The NCC consists of three Divisions – (1) Senior Division (2) Junior
Division (3) Girls’ Division. The Senior and Junior Divisions are composed of
three Wings : Army, Navy and Air force. The Army wing has units of the
Armoured corps, the Corps of Engineers, Artillery, the Signal Corps, infantry,
the Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and the Medical Corps. The
Junior Division consists of students of 8th, 9th and 10th class. It is also composed
of Army, Navy and Air Wings.