- published: 30 Nov 2015
- views: 12846
The Indian Armed Forces (Devanāgarī: भारतीय सशस्त्र सेनाएं, Bhāratīya Saśastra Sēnāēn) are the military forces of the Republic of India. They consist of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Indian Coast Guard , supported by Paramilitary forces (Assam Rifles and Special Frontier Force) and various inter-service institutions such as the Strategic Forces Command.
The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. The Indian Armed Forces are under the management of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), which is led by the Union Cabinet Minister of Defense.
As of 2010, the Indian Armed Forces have a combined strength of 1,325,000 active personnel and 1,155,000 reserve personnel. In addition, there are approximately 2,289,000 paramilitary personnel, making it one of the world's largest military forces.
The Indian defense budget was US$48.6 billion during FY2012, at about 2.5% of GDP,, with additional spending on infrastructure in border areas and for paramilitary organizations.
The Indian armed forces are undergoing rapid modernization, with investments in such areas as a missile defense system and a nuclear triad. India's arsenal includes nuclear weapons with a triad of delivery mechanisms. In recent years, India has been the world's leading arms importer, accounting for more than 9% of global imports. Russia, Israel, and to some extent, France, are the primary military suppliers of Indian armed forces. The country’s capital expenditure for defense equipment may reach US$112 billion between 2010 and 2016. Since 1962, the IAF has maintained close military relations with Russia, including cooperative development on programs such as the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) and the Multirole Transport Aircraft (MTA).
The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external and internal aggressors. In some countries paramilitary forces are included in a nation's armed forces. Armed force is the use of armed forces to achieve political objectives.
The study of the use of armed forces is called military science. Broadly speaking, this involves considering offense and defense at three "levels": strategy, operational art, and tactics. All three levels study the application of the use of force in order to achieve a desired objective.
In most countries the basis of the armed forces is the military, divided into basic Armed services. However, armed forces can include other paramilitary structures. For example, according to the Lithuanian law on organisation of system of national defence and military service (version actual from November 11, 2004), the Lithuanian armed forces in case of war also include border guards, public police service, parts of Lithuanian Riflemen's Union and guerrillas.