The Royal Armoured Corps

TACTICAL AND TECHNICAL EXPERTS IN MOUNTED MANOEUVRE

The Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) provides the armour capability of the British Army. It combines speed, momentum, firepower and reconnaissance capabilities with armoured fighting vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank and Jackal Fighting Vehicle.

Facts & Figures

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Active From

4 April 1939

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Role

Armoured Corps

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Specialism

Fighting Vehicles

Our Skills

We are physically and mentally prepared to succeed in complex and continually changing conditions, determined to seize and exploit fleeting opportunities and tactical and technical experts in all forms of mounted manoeuvre, from horses to tanks.

  • Armour
  • Armoured Cavalry
  • Light Cavalry
  • Ceremonial

Current Deployment

Our Regiments are serving in different countries around the world.

Our People

We have a strong ethos that enables our officers and soldiers to exploit the capabilities of their fighting vehicles and the speed of manoeuvre to outwit, outfight and outlast the enemy through shock action and reconnaissance.

Our Location

Home of the Royal Armoured Corps.

Bovington Garrison (including Lulworth) is the point of origin of the RAC.

Get direction

Each member of the crew contributes to the Commander's situational awareness. Johno, 22

The Regiments of the Royal Armoured Corps form the core of the British Army’s Mounted Close Combat capability.

The 10 Regular and 4 Reserve Regiments are descendants of the famous Cavalry Regiments who rode into battle on horseback and of the Royal Tank Regiment, who manned the very first tanks during the Great War (World War 1).

As one of the two Combat Arms, along with the Infantry, they are primarily focused on close combat through “closing with and destroying the enemy”.

Their core roles are Armour, Armoured Cavalry and Light Cavalry, as well as the ceremonial duties carried out by the Regiments of the Household Cavalry.

The Regiments of the Royal Armoured Corps are descendants of the famous Cavalry Regiments who rode into battle on horseback as heavy or light horsemen; and of the Royal Tank Regiment who manned the first tanks during the Great War.

  1. 1939

    The Corps was created by combining Cavalry units and the Royal Tank Corps (renamed Royal Tank Regiment).

  2. 1939-1944

    As other Cavalry and Yeomanry units became mechanised, the Corps was enlarged.

  3. 1944

    The Reconnaissance Corps was absorbed into the Royal Armoured Corps.

  4. 1978

    HQ Armour Centre Opened

  5. Today

    The Corps has 14 Regiments, 10 Regular and 4 Reserve.

  • Household Cavalry

    Hyde Park Barracks, Knightsbridge, LONDON SW7 1SE 0207 414 2550

  • 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards

    Robertson Barracks, Swanton Morley, Dereham, NORFOLK NR20 4TX 01362 62 7802

  • Royal Scots Dragoon Guards

    Waterloo Lines, Leuchars Station, St. Andrews, Fife KY16 0JX 01334 85 6253

  • Royal Dragoon Guards

    Alma Lines, Catterick Garrison DL9 3AQ 01748 87 3305

  • Queen's Royal Hussars

    Assaye Barracks, Tidworth (0044) 01980 651257

  • The Royal Lancers

    Cambrai Lines, Munster Barracks, Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire DL9 3PZ 01748 87 3348

  • King's Royal Hussars

    Aliwal Barracks, Tidworth, SP9 7BB 01980 650816

  • Light Dragoons

    Gaza Barracks, Catterick, North Yorkshire DL9 4AU 01748 872801

  • Royal Tank Regiment

    Kirkee Rd, Tidworth SP9 01929 403360

  • Royal Yeomanry

    Fulham House, Fulham SW6 3JS 020 7384 4644

  • Royal Wessex Yeomanry

    Allenby Barracks, Bovington, Wareham, Dorset BH20 6JA 01929 402024

  • Queen's Own Yeomanry

    Fenham Barracks, Barrack Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4NP 01912 393127

  • Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry

    Redford Barracks, Edinburgh EH13 0PP 0131 310 5571

What happens at Initial Trade Training?

Equipment

Challenger 2 Tank

331 Challenger 2 main battle tanks currently in active service

Combat vehicles

Warrior

388 Warrior infantry fighting vehicles currently in active service

Combat vehicles

Bulldog & FV430 series

409 Bulldog & FV430 series currently in active service

Combat vehicles

Jackal 2

Rapid Jackal 2 is a high mobility weapons platform, with a unique air-bag suspension system allowing rapid movement across varying terrain

Reconnaissance vehicles

Coyote TSV

6x6 Extra two wheels gives a heavier vehicle, which can act in support of the Jackal 2 to transport supplies and equipment over similar terrain

Reconnaissance vehicles

Panther

Up in the air Weighing 7-tonnes, the Panther is air transportable and can be underslung beneath a Chinook helicopter.

Protected patrol vehicles

SCIMITAR ARMOURED RECONNAISSANCE VEHICLE

Agile The Scimitar armoured fighting vehicle's exceptionally low ground pressure and small size make it useful where the terrain is hostile and movement is difficult

Reconnaissance vehicles

Wolfhound

TSV This heavy-armoured truck is part of the Tactical Support Vehicles (TSV) group along with the Husky and the Coyote.

Protected patrol vehicles

RWMIK Land Rover

800km The RWMIK has the capacity to support itself and its crew over 800km.

Protected patrol vehicles

In the news

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Land Combat Power Visit 2018 - Day 1

The British Army Land Combat Power Visit features a demonstration of combat power including an armoured assault onto an urban objective.

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QDG take the lead on battlefield exercise

Troops from 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards have spearheaded a massive battlefield exercise as part of a multinational NATO force in Poland.

All British Armed Forces roles now open to women

Read more

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