The Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) is currently a collection of ten regular regiments, mostly converted from old horse cavalry regiments, and four Yeomanry regiments of the Territorial Army. It provides the armour capability of the British Army, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Tank and the Scimitar Reconnaissance Vehicle.

History

The RAC was created on 4 April 1939, just before World War II started, by combining the cavalry wing (cavalry units that had mechanised), and the Royal Tank Corps (which was thereupon renamed the Royal Tank Regiment within the new corps). As the war went on, many other units became mechanised and joined this corps. In 1944, the RAC absorbed the Reconnaissance Corps .

Units

The Royal Armoured Corps is divided into those regiments that operate main battle tanks (armoured regiments) and those that operate reconnaissance tanks (formation reconnaissance regiments) - in the regular army there are five armoured regiments and five FR regiments:

• Regular Army
  • 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards - Formation Reconnaissance
  • The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys) - Armoured
  • The Royal Dragoon Guards - Armoured
  • The Queen's Royal Hussars - Armoured
  • 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) - Formation Reconnaissance
  • The King's Royal Hussars - Armoured
  • The Light Dragoons - Formation Reconnaissance
  • The Queen's Royal Lancers - Formation Reconnaissance
  • 1st Royal Tank Regiment - NBC
  • 2nd Royal Tank Regiment - Armoured

The 1st Royal Tank Regiment forms approximately 2/3 of the regular establishment of the Joint NBC Regiment.

The Household Cavalry Regiment (consisting of the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals) is not part of the RAC, although it fulfils a similar function. The Household Cavalry Regiment constitutes the fifth formation reconnaissance regiment.

• Territorial Army
  • The Royal Yeomanry - NBC/MBT crew replacement
  • The Royal Wessex Yeomanry - MBT crew replacement
  • The Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry - MBT crew replacement
  • The Queen's Own Yeomanry - Formation Reconnaissance

Related Units

This unit is allied with the following:

• Royal Canadian Armoured Corps
• Royal Australian Armoured Corps
• Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps

See Also

• Structure of the British Army

External link

• Royal Armoured Corps homepage