The Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) is the armoured arm of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 and the Warrior tracked armoured vehicle. It includes most of the Army's armoured regiments, both the Royal Tank Regiment and those converted from old horse cavalry regiments. In September 2024, it comprised fourteen regiments: ten Regular Regiments; four Army Reserve. Although the Household Cavalry Regiment (the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals) provide an armoured regiment, they are not part of the RAC.
Contents
History
The RAC was created on 4 April 1939, just before World War II started, by combining regiments from the cavalry of the line which had mechanised with the Royal Tank Corps (renamed Royal Tank Regiment). As the war went on and other regular cavalry and Territorial Army Yeomanry units became mechanised, the corps was enlarged. A significant number of infantry battalions also converted to the armoured role as RAC regiments. In addition, the RAC created its own training and support regiments. Finally, in 1944, the RAC absorbed the regiments of the Reconnaissance Corps.
Present day
Regiments
The Royal Armoured Corps is divided into regiments which operate main battle tanks (Armour), those in reconnaissance vehicles (Armoured Cavalry), and those in Weapons Mount vehicles (Light Cavalry). Of these, three regiments are designated Dragoon Guards, two as Hussars, one as Lancers and one as Dragoons. The remaining regiment is the Royal Tank Regiment. In the regular army, there are three armoured regiments, three armoured cavalry regiments and three light cavalry regiments. In the army reserve, there is one armoured regiment and three light cavalry regiments.
Being a corps, the RAC is made up of several independent regiments, but the corps does control a few separate units which include:
Training and Staff
AFV Training Group
Regimental Headquarters, Royal Armoured Corps
The Armour Centre, Bovington Camp
Royal Armoured Corps Training Regiment, at Allenby Barracks, Bovington Camp
Regular Army
1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards (QDG) - Light Cavalry – 3rd Deep Reconnaissance Strike Brigade
Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (SCOTS DG) - Light Cavalry – 7th Light Mechanised Brigade
Royal Dragoon Guards (RDG) - Armoured Cavalry – 20th Armoured Brigade
Queen's Royal Hussars (QRH) – Armour – 20th Armoured Brigade
Royal Lancers (RL) - Armoured Cavalry – 3rd Deep Reconnaissance Strike Brigade
King's Royal Hussars (KRH) – Armour – 12th Armoured Brigade
Basing
Tidworth - Kings Royal Hussars; Royal Tank Regiment, The Queen's Royal Hussars (The Queen's Own and Royal Irish)
Catterick - Royal Lancers; Light Dragoons
Battlesbury Barracks, Warminster - Royal Dragoon Guards
Swanton Morley - 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards
Leuchars - Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
London & Midlands - Royal Yeomanry
South of England - Royal Wessex Yeomanry
North of England - Queen's Own Yeomanry
Scotland & Northern Ireland - Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry
The Band of the Royal Armoured Corps was the single band representing the RAC provided by the Royal Corps of Army Music. This was formed in 2014 by the amalgamation of the Heavy Cavalry and Cambrai Band, and the Light Cavalry Band. The Band of the Royal Armoured Corps is stationed at Catterick. However, as part of the 2019 reorganisation of the CAMUS, the band was merged into British Army Band Catterick.
Overseas and Associated Units
In addition to its British-based regiments, the Royal Armoured Corps also included several overseas Crown units that were incorporated into its order of battle. These included:
Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers) — a locally raised Crown regiment of the Hong Kong Garrison, affiliated with the Royal Armoured Corps from the early 1960s and formally incorporated into its order of battle under the Royal Hong Kong Regiment Regulations 1970 (L.N. 190/70). The regiment operated under the operational command of the Commander British Forces Hong Kong and was subject to the Army Act 1955 and Queen’s Regulations. Officers were commissioned in the name of the Sovereign, and the unit formed part of the British Forces Overseas Hong Kong until its disbandment in 1995.
Reorganisations
Delivering Security in a Changing World (2004)
The reorganisation of the Army announced in 2004 led to significant changes to the Royal Armoured Corps. Reorganisation that began in 2003 would see three armoured regiments removed from Germany to the UK, with one re-roled as an FR regiment. In addition, three Challenger 2 squadrons will be converted to Interim Medium Armour Squadrons, while each FR regiment will gain a Command and Support Squadron.
As part of the reorganisation, postings will be realigned:
UK based regiments
Catterick: Armoured Regiment (RDG) (1 Armoured Infantry Brigade), Formation Reconnaissance Regiment (QRL) (1 Armoured Infantry Brigade)
Tidworth: 2 x Armoured Regiment (2RTR, KRH), (1st Mechanized Brigade, 12th Mechanized Brigade,)
Swanton Morley: Formation Reconnaissance Regiment (LD) (Theatre Troops)
Warminster: Training/Demonstration squadron (A Squadron, RTR)
Honington: Armoured Regiment (1RTR)
Bovington: HQ RAC
Germany based regiments
Sennelager: Armoured Regiment (QRH), Formation Reconnaissance Regiment QDG (20 Armoured Brigade)
Strategic Defence and Security Review (2010)/Army 2020
In 2012, following the Strategic Defence and Security Review of 2010, specific proposals about the make up of the future British Army were announced under the title Army 2020. These proposals were intended to reduce the size of the army to around 82,000. The Royal Armoured Corps was to be reduced by a total of two regiments, with the 9th/12th Royal Lancers amalgamated with the Queen's Royal Lancers to form a single lancer regiment, the Royal Lancers, and the 1st and 2nd Royal Tank Regiments joined to form a single Royal Tank Regiment.
The Royal Armoured Corps will also see a shift with one third of its regiments operating as armoured regiments with main battle tanks, another third as formation reconnaissance regiments and a final third as light cavalry using Jackal vehicles. Armoured regiments would consist of Type 56 regiments, each with three Sabre Squadrons (comprising 18 Challenger 2 Tanks each) and a command and recce squadron. Armoured Cavalry or formation reconnaissance regiments would also have a command and recce squadron and three Sabre Squadrons; which will initially be equipped with Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked), and then with Future Rapid Effect System Scout vehicles. Jackal regiments will be part of the Adaptable Force, comprising three Sabre Squadrons (each with 16 vehicles). These regiments will be paired with a Yeomanry regiment.
The new structure of the Reaction Force will see three armoured regiments, each assigned to a new "Armoured Infantry Brigade", alongside a formation reconnaissance regiment (renamed as "armoured cavalry"), two armoured infantry battalions and a heavy protected mobility battalion. These six regiments will fall operationally under what will become known as the "reaction forces", which will be the army's high readiness force. The remaining three regiments will be located with the remainder of the regular army under what has been term the "adaptable forces", which will provide a pool of resources to back up operations conducted by the "reaction forces".
This new basing plan on 5 March 2013 gave an overview of where the regiments will be based. All RAC regiments will be UK based, with the 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards moving to Swanton Morley, The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards moving to the Leuchars area, the Queen's Royal Hussars to Tidworth, the Royal Lancers settling in Catterick, the Light Dragoons in Catterick, and the Royal Tank Regiment to Tidworth.
Future Soldier (2021)
In November 2021, the UK Government published Future Soldier, the planned reform of the British Army following its integrated defence and security review. Part of this would see a reorganisation of the regiments of the Royal Armoured Corps.
1st (UK) Division is the UK's primary land element for operations outside the European theatre, as well as operations supporting NATO's flanks. It consists of four infantry-centered brigades - two of these contain regular light cavalry regiments, while a third serves as a parent formation for units of the Army Reserve.
4th Light Brigade
Light Dragoons (Light Cavalry)
7th Light Mechanised Brigade
Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Light Cavalry)
19th Light Brigade
Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry (Army Reserve)
Queen's Own Yeomanry (Army Reserve)
3rd (UK) Division is the UK's main reaction force, intended to act as a lead formation alongside NATO, and primarily consists of a pair of armoured brigades containing the army's armoured and armoured cavalry units, and a third brigade containing the remainder of the army's armoured cavalry units tasked primarily with reconnaissance for deep fires from MLRS systems.
12th Armoured Brigade
King's Royal Hussars (Armoured Cavalry)
Royal Tank Regiment (Armour)
Royal Wessex Yeomanry (Army Reserve)
20th Armoured Brigade
Related units
This unit is allied with the following:
Royal Canadian Armoured Corps
Royal Australian Armoured Corps
Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps
Kor Armor Diraja (Royal Armoured Corps) - Malaysia
Bangladesh Army Armoured Corps
Pakistan Armoured Corps
Colonels Commandant (Cavalry)
Colonels Commandant were:
1939– vacant
1947 F.M. The Rt Hon Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG, GCB, DSO
1947– Gen. Sir Richard McCreery, GCB, KBE, DSO, MC
1950–?1952 Gen. Sir Charles Keightley, GCB, GBE, DSO
1958– Gen. Sir Charles Keightley, GCB, GBE, DSO
1968– F.M. Sir Richard Hull, KG, GCB, DSO
1974– F.M. The Rt Hon Richard Carver, Baron Carver of Shackleford, GCB, CBE, DSO, MC
1977–1980 Gen. Sir Jack Harman, GCB, OBE, MC, ADCGen
1980–1982 Gen. Sir RobertFord, GCB, CBE
1982–1985 F.M. Sir John Stanier, GCB, MBE, ADCGen
1985–1988 F.M. Sir Nigel Bagnall, GCB, CVO, MC
1988–1993 Gen. Sir Brian Kenny, GCB, CBE
1993–1995 Gen. Sir Jeremy Blacker, KCB, CBE
1995–1999 Lt-Gen. Sir Robert Hayman-Joyce, KCB, CBE
1999 Maj-Gen. David Jenkins, CB, CBE
2000–2004 Maj-Gen. Peter Gilchrist, CB
2004– Maj-Gen. Richard Shirreff, CB