Static GK Quiz: Indian Defence Forces and Missiles

Article 53 of the Constitution vests the supreme command of the defence forces of the Union in the President, and the exercise of that command is regulated by law; commissions to officers are granted in the President's name.

On 15 January 1949 General K. M. Cariappa took charge as the first Indian Commander in Chief of the Indian Army, replacing the last British holder of the post, and the day has been observed as Army Day ever since.

On the night of 4 December 1971 Indian missile boats attacked Karachi harbour in Operation Trident, sinking Pakistani vessels without loss, and the Navy marks the date as Navy Day.

The National Defence Academy is the only academy in which cadets of the Army, Navy and Air Force undergo joint training before moving to their own service academies for pre commission training.

The Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme was approved in 1983 and run under his leadership at the Defence Research and Development Laboratory, which is why he is called the Missile Man of India; it produced Prithvi, Agni, Trishul, Akash and Nag.

BrahMos is built by a joint venture of India and Russia, and its name joins the Brahmaputra of India with the Moskva of Russia; it is a supersonic cruise missile that flies at nearly three times the speed of sound and can be launched from land, ships, submarines and aircraft.

Nag is a third generation fire and forget anti tank missile of the IGMDP, and its helicopter launched version is called Helina.

India keeps two ladders of gallantry awards. Away from the battlefield the order is Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra, so Ashoka Chakra stands highest in peacetime.

The Prime Minister commissioned INS Vikrant at Kochi on 2 September 2022; built by Cochin Shipyard, it is the first aircraft carrier designed and built in India and it carries the name of the older Vikrant that served in the 1971 war.

The Integrated Test Range of the DRDO lies at Chandipur on the Balasore coast of Odisha, and its launch complex on Dr Abdul Kalam Island, earlier called Wheeler Island, off the same coast is used for longer range tests.