Republic Day Parade: Evolution of Indian Army uniforms and weaponry to be displayed

The evolution of Indian Army uniforms and weaponry will be on show at this year’s Republic Day parade, according to Major General Alok Kakkar.

At the Republic Day Parade-2022 (RDP-2022) as part of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrating India’s 75th year of independence, three marching contingents of the Indian Army will wear uniforms and carry rifles from previous decades, while one contingent will wear the new combat uniform and carry the latest Tavor rifles, he said.

He added at a news briefing that the Indian Army will have six marching contingents at RDP-22.

Each marching contingent during RDP-22 will have 96 troops instead of the typical 144 to ensure that the COVID-19 procedure is properly observed.

According to Alok Kakkar, the Indian Army’s first marching contingent, consisting of Rajput regiment troops, would wear 1950s uniforms and carry.303 rifles.

The second marching group, made up of Assam regiment troops, will be dressed in Indian Army uniforms from the 1960s and will be armed with.303 rifles.

Soldiers from the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry unit, who would constitute the third marching contingent, will wear the Army’s 1970s uniform and wield 7.62-millimetre self-loading weapons, he said.

The fourth and fifth marching contingents, he claimed, will come from the Sikh Light Infantry and the Army Ordnance Corps Regiment, respectively. These troops will wear the present Army uniform and use 5.56 mm Insas rifles.

According to him, the sixth contingent would be made up of troops from the Parachute Regiment who will wear the new battle uniform that was presented earlier this month and wield Tavor weapons.

He added there will be 14 marching contingents in total: six Army, one Navy, one Air Force, four Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), two National Cadet Corps (NCC), one Delhi police, and one National Service Scheme (NSS).