| Unit Name: | Corps of Army Air Defence |
| Dates: | – present day |
| Country: | (1939-1947) (1947-present) |
| Allegiance: |  United Kingdom |
| Branch: | |
| Type: | Army Corps |
| Role: | Air Defence Warfare |
| Size: | Around 85,000 soldiers and 6,000 officers. |
| Motto: | Sanskrit Sanskrit: आकाशे शत्रुन् जहि |
| Colors: | Sky blue & Red |
| Colours Label: | --> Regimental colors |
| Battles: | World War II 1947 Indo-Pakistani War Sino-Indian War of 1962 Indo-Pak War of 1965 Indo-Pak War of 1971 Kargil War |
| Anniversaries: | January 10[1] |
| Website: | Indian Army Official Site |
| Commander1: | Lieutenant General Sumer Ivan D’Cunha |
| Commander1 Label: | Director General of Corps of Army Air Defence |
| Identification Symbol Label: | Regimental flag |
The Corps of Army Air Defence (abbreviated as AAD), is an active corps of the Indian Army and a major combat support arm tasked with air defence of the country from foreign threats. The AAD is responsible for the protection of Indian air space from enemy aircraft and missiles, especially below 5,000 feet.[2]
The history of the AAD dates back to 1939 during the times of the British Raj in India. The corps actively took part in the Second World War fighting on behalf of the British Empire. Post independence, the corps has participated in all the wars involving India, starting from the 1947 Indo-Pakistani War to the 1999 Kargil conflict.
The corps enjoyed autonomous status from 1994, after the bifurcation of the Corps of Air Defence Artillery from the Army's Regiment of Artillery. A separate training school, the Army Air Defence College (AADC), was established to train its personnel.[3] [4]
Air Defence Artillery in India was first established by the British Government ruling India in 1939, at the start of World War II to counter the growing aerial threat from the Axis powers, especially from the Japanese in East Asia. A small number of Indian troops were initially trained to use 3-inch Ack-Ack guns and in the later stages of the conflict to operate Bofors 40 mm L/60 guns. The trained troops formed part of the anti-aircraft batteries of the Hong Kong and Singapore Royal Artillery (HKSRA) to counter the Japanese air threat in South-East Asia. They were also assigned to Indian artillery formations. In the early 1940s, several anti-aircraft units and training establishments were established throughout the country with Indian personnel being posted into these establishments from the infantry and artillery regiments.[5]
By 1942, the air defence branch had grown considerably with eighteen operational anti-aircraft regiments, of which nine were High Altitude Airship regiments and nine were Low Altitude Airship regiments. Besides the four brigades that were exclusively undertaking air defence tasks, one independent High Altitude Airship battery and two independent Low batteries were also in existence, with two training centres established to train the personnel in anti-aircraft warfare. By the end of 1944, this had reached a total of thirty three air defence artillery units. However, after actively taking part in the second world war on behalf of the British Empire, many of these were disbanded.[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
In October 1993, the Army Staff made a decision to remove all air defense units from the Indian Army Regiment of Artillery. The regiment had been recommended to bifurcate to remove all the AAA and aerospace missile defence formations so that on their basis a new service branch would be created to focus on air defence artillery. With the separation of the air defense from the Regiment, the Corps of Air Defence Artillery came into existence on 10 January 1994. The headquarters of the corps, the Directorate General of Air Defence Artillery, came into force the same day. Subsequently, the air defence wings and branches of the artillery present at various command headquarters throughout the country were bifurcated into the corps from the respective artillery units and regiments. Autonomous status was awarded to the Air Defence Guided Missile School at Gopalpur and the Air Defence Wing of the Artillery Centre, Nasik Road Camp was inducted into the Air Defence Guided Missile Centre. The day on which the Corps of Air Defence Artillery emerged as an autonomous corps of the Indian Army, 10 January, is celebrated as the raising day annually at air defence centers throughout the country.[14] [15]
The Air Defence & Guided Missile School and Centre and the Corps of Air Defence Artillery were rechristened as the Army Air Defence College (AADC) and the Corps of Army Air Defence in 1998 and April 2005 respectively.
The regimental military band was raised in 1995 at the AAD Centre. To date, it takes part in various national and international functions. Its string ensemble the "Celestial Sentinels", was raised in November 2001. A pipe band is maintained by Army Air Defence College in Gopalpur.[16]
The Mukherjee Committee assigned the task of the designing the regimental crest to the National Institute of Design (NID), at Ahmedabad. After a series of reviews, modifications and improvements, finally the crest designed by Vijay Singh was adopted.
The crest depicts the neo-facet of the corps. It portrays a missile in silver tint, with radar antennae in gold colour fixed on the either side. At the bottom, the motto "Sanskrit: आकाशे शत्रुन् जहि" in English "Akashe Shatrun Jahi" is imprinted.[17]
The sentence "Sanskrit: आकाशे शत्रुन् जहि" (Akashe Shatrun Jahi) of Devanagari script, which means "English: Kill the Enemy in the Sky" was adopted as the regimental motto in 1996.
The office of Director General of Corps of Army Air Defence serves as the general headquarters to the corps. The position was first created when the Corps of Army Air Defence was bifurcated from the Regiment of Artillery on 10 January 1994. The post is generally held by a three-star general. It was first held by Lieutenant General PK Pahwa. Individual AAD Brigades, Regiments and Battalions come under operational command and control of the Army Corps, Divisions and Brigades that they are a part of.
| 1 | PK Pahwa, | 10 January 1994 | 31 October 1996 | ||
| 2 | Lt Gen | A Mukherjee, | 1 November 1996 | 31 January 2001 | |
| 3 | Lt Gen | Naresh Chand, | 10 February 2001 | 31 Aug 2003 | |
| 4 | Lt Gen | CS Chima, | 1 September 2003 | 31 December 2005 | |
| 5 | Lt Gen | KS Dogra, | 1 January 2006 | 30 November 2008 | |
| 6 | Lt Gen | Ram Pratap, | 1 December 2008 | 30 June 2011 | |
| 7 | Lt Gen | Kuldip Singh, | 1 July 2011 | 30 June 2013 | |
| 8 | Lt Gen | VK Saxena, | 1 July 2013[19] | 31 May 2015 | |
| 9 | Lt Gen | Rajiv Bhatia, | 1 June 2015 | 31 December 2016 | |
| 10 | Lt Gen | AK Sahgal, | 1 January 2017 | 31 December 2017 | |
| 11 | Lt Gen | PS Jaggi, | 1 January 2018 | 8 April 2018 | |
| 12 | Lt Gen | AP Singh, | 11 May 2018 | 30 June 2021 | |
| 13 | Lt Gen | Sunil Puri Goswami, | 01 July 2021 | 30 October 2023 | |
| 14 | Lt Gen | Sumer Ivan D’Cunha | 31 October 2023 |
The President of India Mr Ram Nath Kovind awarded the President’s Colours to the Corps of Army Air Defence at Gopalpur Military Station on 28 September 2019 on completion of 25 years as an independent arm.[20]