Indian Defence Forces and Missiles: Static GK and PYQs

Defence is the most reliable scoring area of static general knowledge, because the facts do not change: the commands and their headquarters, the academies, the days each service observes, the gallantry awards in their order of precedence, and the missiles with their type and role. A paper setter can build a whole set of questions out of them, and every SSC, Railway, NDA, CDS and State paper does.

Who commands the armed forces

The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the armed forces under Article 53 of the Constitution, but the power is exercised through the Council of Ministers, with the Ministry of Defence as the executive department. The post of Chief of Defence Staff was created in 2019 and the first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, took charge on 1 January 2020; a new Department of Military Affairs was set up in the Ministry of Defence at the same time. Each service has its own chief of staff. The highest ranks, Field Marshal in the Army, Admiral of the Fleet in the Navy and Marshal of the Air Force in the Air Force, are honorary five star ranks: Field Marshal has been conferred on K. M. Cariappa and S. H. F. J. Manekshaw, and Marshal of the Air Force on Arjan Singh.

The commands and their headquarters

Where officers are trained

• National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla near Pune, the joint academy for cadets of all three services.
• Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, and the Officers Training Academy, Chennai, for the Army.
• Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala in Kerala, and the Air Force Academy, Dundigal near Hyderabad.
• Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun, for school level cadets.
• Defence Services Staff College, Wellington in Tamil Nadu, and the National Defence College, New Delhi, for mid career and senior officers.

The days and the mottoes

The motto of the Indian Army is Service Before Self, of the Navy Sham No Varunah, meaning may the Lord of the waters be auspicious to us, and of the Air Force Nabha Sparsham Deeptam, translated as Touch the Sky with Glory.

Gallantry awards in order

• Wartime gallantry, in descending order: Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra and Vir Chakra.
• Peacetime gallantry, in descending order: Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra.
• All six were instituted on 26 January 1950, and the first Param Vir Chakra was awarded posthumously to Major Somnath Sharma for the defence of Srinagar airfield in 1947.
• Distinguished service awards include the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal, with the Sena, Nao Sena and Vayu Sena Medals for individual devotion to duty.

Ships, submarines and the yards that build them

INS Vikramaditya, rebuilt from the Russian carrier Admiral Gorshkov, and INS Vikrant, the first indigenous aircraft carrier, commissioned at Kochi on 2 September 2022, are the two carriers of the Navy. INS Arihant is the first indigenously built nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine. The defence shipyards are Mazagon Dock in Mumbai, Cochin Shipyard in Kochi, Garden Reach Shipbuilders in Kolkata, Goa Shipyard and Hindustan Shipyard in Visakhapatnam. Research and production rest with the Defence Research and Development Organisation, founded in 1958 with its headquarters in New Delhi, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in Bengaluru, Bharat Electronics Limited and Bharat Dynamics Limited in Hyderabad.

The missiles of India

The Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme was approved in 1983 and led by Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. It produced five missiles: Prithvi, Agni, Trishul, Akash and Nag.

Missiles are tested at the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Odisha and from Dr Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast. In Mission Shakti, on 27 March 2019, India destroyed a satellite in low earth orbit with an interceptor, demonstrating anti satellite capability.

Central Armed Police Forces and the Coast Guard

• Assam Rifles, raised in 1835, is the oldest paramilitary force of India.
• Central Reserve Police Force, the largest of the CAPFs, traces itself to 1939 and took its present name in 1949.
• Border Security Force was raised in 1965, the Central Industrial Security Force in 1969, the Indo Tibetan Border Police in 1962 and the Sashastra Seema Bal in 1963.
• The National Security Guard, the federal contingency force, was raised in 1984.
• The Indian Coast Guard, established in 1978, is the only one of these under the Ministry of Defence; the CAPFs come under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Joint exercises to remember

• With the United States: Yudh Abhyas with the army, Vajra Prahar for special forces and Malabar at sea, which also includes Japan and Australia.
• With Russia: Indra. With France: Shakti on land, Varuna at sea and Garuda in the air.
• With the neighbours: Surya Kiran with Nepal, Sampriti and Bongosagar with Bangladesh, Mitra Shakti and SLINEX with Sri Lanka, Ekuverin with the Maldives and Hand in Hand with China.
• Others often asked: Dharma Guardian with Japan, Ajeya Warrior with the United Kingdom, Nomadic Elephant with Mongolia, Maitree with Thailand, Garuda Shakti with Indonesia and SIMBEX with Singapore.