Royal Australian Armoured Corps

Australian Armoured Corps Royal Australian Armoured Corps
Active	9 July 1941 – Present
Country	Australia
Branch	Australian Army
Type	Corps
Role	Armour
Size	4 Regular Regiments 5 Reserve Regiments
Commanders
Colonel-in-Chief	HRH The Prince of Wales

The Royal Australian Armoured Corps (RAAC) is a corps of the Australian Army. The corps was formed on 9 July 1941 as the Australian Armoured Corps to provide personnel to use Armoured Fighting Vehicles. The corps has its origins in the Australian Tank Corps, which was formed in 1928.^[1] The RAAC is the senior arms corps within the army and was granted the Royal prefix in 1948. Units of the RAAC have included tank, reconnaissance and armoured personnel-carrier regiments.^[2]

Current units

• Regular Army
  • 1st Armoured Regiment – Armoured / Reconnaissance
  • 2nd Cavalry Regiment – Armoured / Reconnaissance
  • 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment (Queensland Mounted Infantry) – Armoured / Reconnaissance
  • School of Armour – Training Regiment
• Army Reserve
  • 1st/15th Royal New South Wales Lancers – Light cavalry / Reconnaissance
  • 3rd/9th Light Horse (South Australia Mounted Rifles) – Light cavalry / Reconnaissance
  • B Squadron, 3rd/4th Cavalry Regiment – Inactive
  • 4th/19th Prince of Wales's Light Horse – Light cavalry / Reconnaissance
  • A Squadron, 10th Light Horse Regiment – Light cavalry / Reconnaissance
  • 12th/16th Hunter River Lancers – Light Armoured

Equipment

The RAAC is primarily equipped with five types of vehicle:

• M1A1 Abrams – the Abrams is Australia's main battle tank (MBT), and equips the 1st Armoured and 2nd Cavalry Regiments.
• ASLAV – the ASLAV is a variant of the LAV 25 vehicle designed specifically for the Australian Army, and is used in the armoured reconnaissance role with the 1st Armoured, 2nd Cavalry and 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiments.
• M113AS4 – the M113AS4 is an upgraded M113 armoured personnel carrier and equips the 1st Armoured, 2nd Cavalry and 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiments.
• Bushmaster PMV – the Bushmaster is used to provide protected lift by the light cavalry regiments.
• Land Rover Perentie – 4x4 and 6x6 versions of the Land Rover are used in the reconnaissance role by the light cavalry regiments.

Deployments

• Japan: 1946–49
• Vietnam: 1965–71
• East Timor: 1999–Present
• Iraq: 2003–08
• Afghanistan: 2006–Present

See also

• List of Australian armoured units
• Tanks in the Australian Army
• The Lancer Band
• Royal Armoured Corps
• Royal Canadian Armoured Corps
• Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps
• Australian Armoured Units of World War II

Notes

1. Jobson 2009, p. 118.
2. Dennis (et al) 2008, p. 461.

References

• Dennis, Peter; Grey, Jeffrey; Morris, Ewan; Prior, Robin; Bou, Jean (2008). The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History (Second ed.). Melbourne: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195517849.
• Jobson, Christopher (2009). Looking Forward, Looking Back: Customs and Traditions of the Australian Army. Wavell Heights, Queensland: Big Sky Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9803251-6-4.