128 Air Defence Missile Regiment is an

Air Defence Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface (Submarine#Armament, submarine-lau ...

regiment of the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

Formation

The regiment was raised on 1 April 1951 as a territorial army regiment at

Arakkonam Arakkonam () is a railway town in the Ranipet district, state of Tamil Nadu. Included within the Chennai metropolitan area, Chennai Metropolitan Area since 2022, Arakkonam is a major suburb of the state capital city Chennai, with a population ...

, Tamil Nadu. The first commanding officer was Lieutenant Colonel Atma Singh Pannu, MBE.

History

At the time of its formation, the regiment was equipped with Bofors 40 mm L-60 anti-aircraft guns. The unit served at Arakkonam,

Ferozepur Firozpur, (pronunciation: ɪroːzpʊr also known as Ferozepur, is a city on the banks of the Sutlej River in the Firozpur District of Punjab, India. After the Partition of India in 1947, it became a border town on the India–Pakistan bor ...

and Madhopur. On 15 September 1973, the unit was converted into a regular air defence regiment. It was equipped with L/70 guns and SFM radar. It served in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

Udhampur Udhampur (ˌʊd̪ʱəmpur) is a city and a municipal council in Udhampur district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters of Udhampur District. Named after Raja Udham Singh, it serves as the district capit ...

Jamnagar Jamnagar () is a city and the headquarters of Jamnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. The city lies just to the south of the Gulf of Kutch, some west of the state capital, Gandhinagar. The city was the capital of Nawanagar State, Na ...

, Ferozepur,

Srinagar Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...

and

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

. The war cry of the regiment is ''Ek Sau Atthai Karo Chadhai, Ek Sau Atthai Do or Die''. On 31 March 2024, another test of Akash missiles were carried out successfully 128 AD Missile Regiment.

Operations

The regiment has taken part in the following operations- * Indo-Pak War (1965): Operation Riddle- The regiment was the first Territorial Army unit to see action. It was deployed in the

Jammu Jammu () is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute ...

and

Akhnoor Akhnoor is a town and municipal committee, near city of Jammu in Jammu district of Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It lies 28 km away from Jammu city. Akhnoor is on the bank of the Chenab River, just before it enters the ...

area. * Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: Lance Havildar Kans Raj was awarded the

Vir Chakra The Vir Chakra (pronunciation: ʋ iː ɾ a tʃ a kɾa, ) is an Indian wartime military bravery award presented for acts of gallantry on the battlefield, on land or in the air or at sea. It is third in precedence in wartime gallantry awards and ...

for shooting down a

F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

. *Bombay Police Riots: 1982 * Bhiwandi Thane Riots: 1984 * Operation Trident: 26 January 1987 to 15 April 1987. *Operation Rakshak: 1987 to 1992 * Operation Vijay: 26 May 1999 to 31 October 1999. *

Operation Parakram Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

: 17 December 2001 to 18 December 2002. *

Operation Rakshak Indian Army operations in Jammu and Kashmir include security operations such as Operation ''Rakshak'', which began in 1990, Operation ''Sarp Vinash'' in 2003 and Operation ''Randori Behak'' in ''2020''. Other operations include humanitarian m ...

: July 2003 to July 2006.

Honours and awards

*The regiment was awarded the Director General Army Air Defence's (DGAAD) unit appreciation award during its tenure in Srinagar for its use of air defence guns in direct firing role at the Line of Control (LoC). *In addition to the Vir Chakra won during the 1971 war, the regiment has been awarded 13 COAS Commendation Cards, 2 VCOAS Commendation Cards and 8 GOC-in-C Commendation Cards. *The regiment participated with its Akash

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...

s in the Republic Day parades of 2019, 2020 and 2022.

References

{{reflist Military units and formations established in 1951 Air defence regiments of the Indian Army