The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint services academy of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force train together before they go on to respective service academies for further pre-commissioning training. The NDA is located in Khadakwasla, Pune, Maharashtra. It is the first tri-service academy in the world.
The alumni of NDA include 3 Param Vir Chakra recipients and 12 Ashoka Chakra recipients. NDA has also produced 27 service Chiefs Of Staff till date. The current Chiefs Of Staff of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force are all NDA alumni.
The NDA campus is located about 17 km south-west of Pune city, north-west of Khadakwasla Lake. It spans 7,015 acres (28.39 km) of the 8,022 acres (32.46 km) donated by the Government of the former Bombay State. The site was chosen for being on a lake shore, the suitability of the neighbouring hilly terrain, proximity to the Arabian Sea and other military establishments, an operational air base nearby at Lohegaon as well as the salubrious climate. The existence of an old combined-forces training centre and a disused mock landing ship, HMS Angostura, on the north bank of the Khadakwasla lake which had been used to train troops for amphibious landings, lent additional leverage for the selection of the site. Aptly, NDA is also located in the hunting grounds of the legendary Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, with the Sinhagad Fort as a panoramic backdrop.
Applicants to the NDA are selected via a written exam conducted by the UPSC, followed by extensive interviews by the SSB covering general aptitude, psychological testing, team skills as well as physical and social skills, along with medical tests. Incoming classes are accepted twice a year for semesters starting in July and January. About 4,50,000 applicants sit for each written exam every year. Typically, about 6,300 of these are invited to interview. The minimum age should be 16 and half years and maximum age should be 19 and half years.
Applicants who join the Air Force through the flying branch also go through a test called Computerized Pilot Selection System or CPSS for short. About 340 cadets are accepted to the academy each semester. About 90 cadets are accepted for the Air Force, 42 for the Navy and 208 for the Army.
Cadets who are accepted and successfully complete the program are sent to their respective training academies for one year of training before granting of commission: army cadets go to Indian Military Academy (IMA) at Dehradun, air force cadets to Air Force Academy (AFA) at Dundigal, Hyderabad, and naval cadets to Indian Naval Academy (INA) at Ezhimala, Kerala.
As per the nationality standards set by UPSC for NDA 2019, Candidates must have:
NDA test has two sections- Mathematics (300 marks) and General Knowledge (600). The time duration for each paper is 2 hours and 30 minutes.
The syllabus for NDA written test will comprise two sections- Mathematical Ability and General Ability. The questions in NDA will be asked from topics and concepts of 10+2 level.
