British Army Infantry
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The British Army Infantry Corps comprises 55 battalions of Infantry, from 32 Regiments. It forms a flexible organisation, taking on a variety of roles including armoured, mechanised, jungle, desert and mountain fighting.
The majority of the infantry is divided into six administrative divisions:
- The Guards Division - the five regiments of guards.
- The Scottish Division - the remaining Scottish infantry regiments.
- The King's Division - the infantry regiments from the North of England.
- The Queen's Division - the three large infantry regiments.
- The Prince of Wales's Division - the infantry regiments from Wales and the west of England.
- The Light Division - the light infantry and rifle regiments.
Additional to the regiments in these six divisions are the Royal Irish Regiment, Parachute Regiment, Royal Gurkha Rifles and Royal Gibraltar Regiment, as well as the Special Air Service.
Types of infantry
Within the British Army, there are four main types of infantry:
- Armoured Infantry - armoured infantry are equipped with the Warrior armoured personnel carrier, a tracked vehicle that can deploy over all terrain.
- Mechanised Infantry - mechanised infantry are equipped with the Saxon armoured personnel carrier, a wheeled vehicle that can be deployed over rough terrain, but is primarily a road vehicle.
- Light Infantry - light infantry are not equipped with armoured vehicles, and are designed to hold an area.
- Air Assault Infantry - air assault infantry are trained to be deployed using helicopters.