SPI General Knowledge · Free notes
Defence and Armed Forces: SPI General Knowledge
Defence and Armed Forces has 21 questions in the SPI bank, four of them from the 2022 paper, and 16 are EASY. For a cadet's entrance this is home ground: the questions stay almost entirely with facts that do not change, such as ranks, titles, past wars, mottos and the kind of a missile, and none asks who holds a post today. Ranks alone carry eight of the 21, all read off one table of the three services, so that table comes first and everything else hangs on it.
The handout has every subtopic, worked example, formula and trap with answers shown. The formula sheet is the chapter’s formulas and traps alone, on one page.
Subtopic notes
Ranks and Equivalent Ranks
8 questionsThe officer ranks of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force set side by side, so that any rank can be matched across the services or placed above and below its neighbours.
Command, Wars and Traditions
8 questionsWho commands India's armed forces and how the Ministry of Defence is organised, the chiefs and operations of India's wars, and the days, mottos, academies and firsts of the three services.
Aircraft, Ships and Missiles
5 questionsThe aircraft, aircraft carriers and missiles the bank asks about: what kind of machine each is, which country made it, and what makes the Indian-made ones special.
Formula & revision sheet
0 formulas · 7 reference tables · 15 gotchas across all subtopics — the exam-eve cheat-sheet
Formula & revision sheet
0 formulas · 7 reference tables · 15 gotchas across all subtopics — the exam-eve cheat-sheet
Reference tables (2)
Matching a rank across the three services10 rows
| Army | Navy | Air Force |
|---|---|---|
| Lieutenant | Sub Lieutenant | Flying Officer |
| Captain | Lieutenant | Flight Lieutenant |
| Major | Lieutenant Commander | Squadron Leader |
| Lieutenant Colonel | Commander | Wing Commander |
| Colonel | Captain | Group Captain |
| Brigadier | Commodore | Air Commodore |
| Major General | Rear Admiral | Air Vice Marshal |
| Lieutenant General | Vice Admiral | Air Marshal |
| General | Admiral | Air Chief Marshal |
| Field Marshal | Admiral of the Fleet | Marshal of the Indian Air Force |
Rank order, the chiefs and the five-star ranks3 rows
| Service | Head's title | Head's rank | Five-star rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Army | Chief of the Army Staff | General | Field Marshal: Manekshaw, Cariappa |
| Navy | Chief of the Naval Staff | Admiral | Admiral of the Fleet: never given |
| Air Force | Chief of the Air Staff | Air Chief Marshal | Marshal of the IAF: Arjan Singh only |
Watch out for (5)
- Two Captains→ Matching a rank across the three services
- Group Captain is not Captain→ Matching a rank across the three services
- Commodore and Air Commodore→ Matching a rank across the three services
- Five stars are honorary→ Rank order, the chiefs and the five-star ranks
- Flying Officer is below Flight Lieutenant→ Rank order, the chiefs and the five-star ranks
Reference tables (3)
Supreme command, the CDS and the Ministry of Defence5 rows
| Post or body | Who or what |
|---|---|
| Supreme Commander | The President of India |
| Chief of Defence Staff | Four-star officer; chairs the Chiefs of Staff Committee |
| Department of Military Affairs | Headed by the CDS (since 2020) |
| Department of Defence | Headed by the Defence Secretary |
| First CDS | General Bipin Rawat, from 1 January 2020 |
Chiefs in India's wars and named operations8 rows
| Operation | Year | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Operation Vijay | 1961 | Liberated Goa |
| Operation Trident | 1971 | The Navy's attack on Karachi; Navy Day is 4 December |
| Operation Meghdoot | 1984 | Secured the Siachen Glacier |
| Operation Blue Star | 1984 | The Golden Temple, Amritsar |
| Operation Pawan | 1987 | The Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka |
| Operation Cactus | 1988 | Stopped a coup in the Maldives |
| Operation Vijay | 1999 | Kargil war (the Air Force's part was Operation Safed Sagar) |
| Operation Black Tornado | 2008 | The NSG against the attackers in Mumbai |
Days, mottos, academies and firsts4 rows
| Service or body | Day | Motto or note |
|---|---|---|
| Indian Army | 15 January | Army Day: Cariappa took command in 1949 |
| Indian Navy | 4 December | Sham No Varunah |
| Indian Air Force | 8 October (founded 1932) | Nabhah Sparsham Deeptam |
| Indian Military Academy, Dehradun | Founded 1932 | Valour and Wisdom |
Watch out for (6)
- The President, not the Prime Minister→ Supreme command, the CDS and the Ministry of Defence
- CDS for military affairs, Secretary for defence→ Supreme command, the CDS and the Ministry of Defence
- Two Operation Vijays→ Chiefs in India's wars and named operations
- Manekshaw is 1971, not 1965→ Chiefs in India's wars and named operations
- Navy water, Air Force sky→ Days, mottos, academies and firsts
- First woman Air Marshal, not first pilot→ Days, mottos, academies and firsts
Reference tables (2)
Aircraft and aircraft carriers9 rows
| Name | Kind | Made by |
|---|---|---|
| Tejas | Light combat aircraft | India (HAL) |
| Rafale | Combat aircraft | France (Dassault) |
| Su-30MKI | Combat aircraft | Russian design, built in India by HAL |
| MiG-21 | Combat aircraft | Soviet Union |
| Chetak, Dhruv | Helicopters | India (HAL) |
| C-17 Globemaster | Heavy transport aircraft | United States |
| INS Vikrant (2022) | First indigenous aircraft carrier | India (Cochin Shipyard) |
| INS Vikramaditya | Aircraft carrier | Bought from Russia |
| INS Virat | Aircraft carrier, now retired | Bought from Britain |
Ballistic and cruise missiles6 rows
| Missile | Kind |
|---|---|
| BrahMos | Supersonic cruise missile, India and Russia |
| Agni | Surface-to-surface ballistic, long range |
| Prithvi | Surface-to-surface ballistic, short range |
| Dhanush | Ship-launched form of Prithvi, ballistic |
| Akash | Surface-to-air |
| Nag | Anti-tank |
Watch out for (4)
- Indian-made is not Indian-used→ Aircraft and aircraft carriers
- Virat was bought, Vikrant was built→ Aircraft and aircraft carriers
- BrahMos is cruise, not ballistic→ Ballistic and cruise missiles
- Agni and Prithvi are ballistic→ Ballistic and cruise missiles
Question weightage by concept
7 concepts · 21 questions — where the marks actually sit, so you know what to drill first
Question weightage by concept
7 concepts · 21 questions — where the marks actually sit, so you know what to drill first
| Concept | Qs | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Rank order, the chiefs and the five-star ranks | 5 | 24% |
| Matching a rank across the three services | 3 | 14% |
| Concept | Qs | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Chiefs in India's wars and named operations | 3 | 14% |
| Days, mottos, academies and firsts | 3 | 14% |
| Supreme command, the CDS and the Ministry of Defence | 2 | 10% |
| Concept | Qs | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Aircraft and aircraft carriers | 3 | 14% |
| Ballistic and cruise missiles | 2 | 10% |
Test yourself on a real paper
Sit a past SPI paper, timed and marked the way the exam marks it. You see your score and every answer the moment you finish. Free to start.