Royal Australian Armoured Corps

The role of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps is to locate, identify, destroy or capture the enemy, by day or night, in combination with other arms, using fire and manoeuvre.[4]

To perform this role and associated functions RAAC units are organised as either:[5]

Armoured Cavalry – contains one tank, two cavalry and support squadrons which provide mounted close combat, reconnaissance, surveillance and security to a Combat Brigade.[6]

Light Cavalry – contains light cavalry and protected mobility squadrons which provide mounted and dismounted reconnaissance, surveillance, security and protected mobility to a Combat Brigade.

An Australian M1A1 tank during a training exercise

As at January 2020, RAAC units are primarily equipped with the following vehicle types:

• M1A1 Abrams Integrated Management Situational Awareness (AIM SA) Abrams – the Abrams is Australia's Main battle tank (MBT), which equips the Regular Army regiments.
• Australian Service Light Armoured Vehicle (ASLAV) – the ASLAV is Australia's Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle (CRV), which equips the Regular Army regiments.
• M113AS4 – the M113AS4 is an upgraded M113 Armoured personnel carrier (APC) which equips the Regular Army regiment's tank squadrons in support roles.
• M88A2 Hercules – the Hercules is Australia's Armoured recovery vehicle (ARV) which equips the Regular Army regiments.
• Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle – the Bushmaster is Australia's protected mobility vehicle (PMV) used to provide protected lift by the Army Reserve regiments.
• Mercedes Benz G-Wagon 6 × 6 is currently replacing the Land Rover Perentie versions in the Surveillance and Reconnaissance Vehicle (SRV) role in the Army Reserve regiments.

The Australian Army will replace or upgrade all of its AFV over the coming decade.[7] The next generation of AFV will be delivered via a number of projects, these are:

• Land 400 Phase Two: Will replace the ASLAV with a modern Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle and associated family of vehicles. This will be the Boxer multirole armoured fighting vehicle. [8]
• Land 400 Phase Three: This project will replace the M113AS4 armoured personnel carrier and associated family of vehicles with an Infantry fighting vehicle capability which will likely be tracked and turreted with the ability to deploy a full section of infantry.[9] A Request for Tender was released on 24 August 2018, calling for 400 vehicles in infantry fighting vehicle, command and control, joint fires, engineer reconnaissance, engineer section, ambulance, repair and recovery variants. In addition 17 Manoeuvre Support Vehicles are sought.[10]
• Land 907 Phase Two: This project will upgrade the M1A1 AIM SA main battle tank system to an M1A2 standard and upgrade the M88A2 armoured recovery vehicle system to a more capable variant.[7]
• Land 8160 Phase One: This project will deliver an armoured engineering system capability to Army. This may include armoured breaching, bridging and engineering systems.[7]

The School of Armour provides mounted combat training to soldiers in the Australian Army and selected individuals from abroad.[11] It designs and executes both tactical and technical training for armoured crew who specialise in either the Armoured (MBT) or Cavalry (CRV) career streams as well as Armoured Mobility (APC) qualifications. Training at the School of Armour is conducted in the following wings:

• Communications Wing
• Corps Training Wing
• Driving and Servicing Wing
• Gunnery Wing
• Tactics Wing
• Combat Command Wing – tactics training to all of the Australian Army's junior combat officers.

Both male and female soldiers and officers can and do serve within the RAAC as armoured crew.

M113s from the 1st Armoured Personnel Carrier Squadron carrying soldiers of the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment during the Vietnam War

An ASLAV in Afghanistan during 2010

• Libya: 1940–41[13]
• Palestine: 1941[13]
• Cyprus: 1941[13]
• Syria: 1941–42[13]
• Egypt: 1942–43[13]
• Australia: 1941–1945[13]
• New Guinea: 1941–45[13]
• Bougainville: 1944–45[13]
• Borneo: 1944–45[13]
• Japan: 1946–49[13]
• Vietnam: 1965–71[14]
• East Timor: 1999–2010[15]
• Iraq: 2003–08
• Afghanistan: 2006–2012

• Royal Armoured Corps
• US Armor Branch
• Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps
• Royal Canadian Armoured Corps
• South African Armoured Corps
• Royal Australian Armoured Corps Museum
• Royal Australian Armoured Corps Corporation
• Australian Armoured Units of World War II
• List of Australian armoured units
• Tanks in the Australian Army
• M113 armored personnel carriers in Australian service

• Breen, Bob (2000). Mission Accomplished, East Timor: The Australian Defence Force Participation in the International Forces East Timor (INTERFET). Crows Nest, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1865084980.
• Dennis, Peter; Grey, Jeffrey; Morris, Ewan; Prior, Robin; Bou, Jean (2008). The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History (Second ed.). Melbourne: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195517849.
• Handel, P. (2003). Dust, Sand & Jungle: A History of Australian Armour During Training and Operations, 1927–1948, Royal Australian Armoured Corps Museum, Puckapunyal. ISBN 1876439750.
• Hopkins,R.N.L (1978). Australian Armour: A History of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps 1927–1972. Royal Australian Armoured Corps Museum, Puckapunyal. ISBN 0-642-99407-2.
• Mckay, G. and Nicholls, G. (2001). Jungle Tracks- Australian Armour in Vietnam. Allen and Unwin, St. Leonards. ISBN 1876439750.
• Jobson, Christopher (2009). Looking Forward, Looking Back: Customs and Traditions of the Australian Army. Wavell Heights, Queensland: Big Sky Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9803251-6-4.
• McLachlan, MAJGEN Angus, AM (2017). "SITREP: from Commander Forces Command". Ironsides: The Journal of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps. Hopkins Barracks, Puckapunyal, Victoria: The Royal Australian Armoured Corps: 7. OCLC 808384287.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)