Royal Australian Armoured Corps
Encyclopedia
The Royal Australian Armoured Corps (RAAC) is a corps in the Australian Army
. The corps was formed on 9 July 1941 as the Australian Armoured Corps to provide personnel to use Armoured Fighting Vehicles. It is the senior arms corps within the army and was granted the Royal prefix in 1948. Units of the RAAC include tank regiments, reconnaissance regiments and armoured personnel-carrier regiments.
M113 – the M113 is an armoured personnel carrier
that served in the light armoured and armoured reconnaissance roles primarily with Reserve forces, it is now used in support roles in some Regiments.
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
. The corps was formed on 9 July 1941 as the Australian Armoured Corps to provide personnel to use Armoured Fighting Vehicles. It is the senior arms corps within the army and was granted the Royal prefix in 1948. Units of the RAAC include tank regiments, reconnaissance regiments and armoured personnel-carrier regiments.
Current units
- Regular Army
- 1st Armoured Regiment – Armoured
- 2nd Cavalry Regiment – Reconnaissance
- B Squadron, 3rd/4th Cavalry Regiment – Light Armoured
- 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment (Queensland Mounted Infantry)2nd/14th Light Horse RegimentThe 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment is a regiment of the Australian Army and forms part of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps. The regiment was formed in 1952 though sentimentally traces its lineage to 1860...
– Reconnaissance
- Army Reserve
- 1st/15th Royal New South Wales Lancers1st/15th Royal New South Wales LancersThe 1st/15th Royal New South Wales Lancers is a current Australian Army Reserve Light Cavalry Regiment. The regiment is based at Lancer Barracks in Parramatta, New South Wales. The regiment has recently re-equipped with 4x4 Land Rover patrol vehicles as part of the conversion to a Light Cavalry ...
– Light cavalry / Reconnaissance - 3rd/9th Light Horse (South Australia Mounted Rifles)3rd/9th Light Horse (South Australian Mounted Rifles)The 3rd/9th Light Horse is a Reserve light cavalry regiment of the Australian Army based in Adelaide...
– Light cavalry / Reconnaissance - 4th/19th Prince of Wales's Light Horse4th/19th Prince of Wales's Light HorseThe 4th/19th Prince of Wales's Light Horse is a cavalry regiment of the Australian Army. The regiment in its current composition was formed in 1948 when the Citizens Military Force was re-raised after the completion of the demoblisation process following the end of the Second World War and it was...
– Light cavalry / Reconnaissance - A Squadron, 10th Light Horse Regiment – Light cavalry / Reconnaissance
- 12th/16th Hunter River Lancers12th/16th Hunter River LancersThe 12th/16th Hunter River Lancers is an Australian Army Reserve light armoured regiment. The Regiment was formed on 1 May 1948, although it draws its lineage from units that were originally formed in the 1880s. It is currently a Light Cavalry Scout unit and equipped with Bushmaster Protected...
– Light Armoured
- 1st/15th Royal New South Wales Lancers
Equipment
The RAAC is primarily equipped with three types of vehicle:- M1A1 Abrams – the Abrams is Australia's main battle tank (MBT), and equips 1st Armoured Regiment.
- ASLAVASLAVThe Australian Service Light Armoured Vehicle , is an Australian version of the Light Armoured Vehicle designed and manufactured by General Dynamics Land Systems Canada for the U.S. Marines. The initial design was the MOWAG Piranha 8x8, however the vehicle was re-designed to meet North American...
– the ASLAV is a variant of the LAV II vehicle designed specifically for the Australian Army, and is used in the armoured reconnaissance role with 2nd Cavalry Regiment and 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment.
- BushmasterBushmaster IMVThe Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle or Infantry Mobility Vehicle is an Australian-built wheeled armoured vehicle. It was originally designed by Irish company Timoney Technology Ltd under a licence agreement with Perry Engineering in Adelaide; that licence was sold, with permission granted by...
– the Bushmaster IMV is an Australian-built wheeled armoured vehicle that is used in the Infantry Mobility role with the 3rd/4th Cavalry Regiment as well as the Cavalry role with the 12th/16th Hunter River Lancers.
- Landrover – Re-equipped Land Rover 6x6 LRPV used in the Light Cavalry/Reconnaissance role of the Reserve forces.
M113 – the M113 is an armoured personnel carrier
Armoured personnel carrier
An armoured personnel carrier is an armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield.APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles , or mortars...
that served in the light armoured and armoured reconnaissance roles primarily with Reserve forces, it is now used in support roles in some Regiments.
Deployments
- JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
(British Commonwealth Occupation ForceBritish Commonwealth Occupation ForceThe British Commonwealth Occupation Force , was the name of the joint Australian, Canadian, British, Indian and New Zealand military forces in occupied Japan, from 21 February 1946 until the end of occupation in 1952...
) : 1946–1949 - South VietnamSouth VietnamSouth Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
: 1965–1971 - SomaliaSomaliaSomalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
: 1993 - RwandaRwandaRwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
: 1994 - East TimorEast TimorThe Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
: 1999 – Present - IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
: 2003 – Present - AfghanistanAfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
: 2006 – Present - Solomon IslandsSolomon IslandsSolomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
: 2007 - Present
See also
- List of Australian armoured units
- Royal Armoured CorpsRoyal Armoured CorpsThe Royal Armoured Corps is currently a collection of ten regular regiments, mostly converted from old horse cavalry regiments, and four Yeomanry regiments of the Territorial Army...
- Royal Canadian Armoured CorpsRoyal Canadian Armoured CorpsThe Royal Canadian Armoured Corps is the armoured branch of service of the Canadian Army, including regular force and reserve regiments.-History:...
- Royal New Zealand Armoured CorpsRoyal New Zealand Armoured CorpsThe Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps is the overall umbrella grouping of Regular Force and Territorial Force units equipped with armoured vehicles in the New Zealand Army. The corps was formed in 1942 as the New Zealand Armoured Corps, before being given the Royal prefix in 1947...
- Australian Armoured Units of World War IIAustralian Armoured Units of World War IIArmoured units made a relatively small, but important, contribution to Australia’s war effort during World War II. While Australia formed three armoured divisions and two independent armoured brigades during the war, Australian armoured units only saw action as independent regiments and companies...