What are defence competitive exams?

Defence competitive exams in India fall into three big buckets: UPSC officer-entry exams like NDA/NA and CDS, direct service-entry exams like AFCAT, Agniveer and Coast Guard tests, and officer/enrolled-personnel recruitments for the Navy and Coast Guard. Most of them are national-level, and many combine a written exam with physical tests, medical tests, or SSB/selection-board stages.

Major defence exam families at a glance

Exam family	Type	Stages	Output / job	Pay / salary	Scope
UPSC NDA/NA	Objective written + SSB	Written exam → SSB/interview → medical	Commissioned officer entry into Army, Navy, Air Force wings and INAC	Rank-based officer pay after commissioning	National
UPSC CDS	Objective written + SSB	Written exam → SSB/interview → medical	Officer entry into IMA, INA, AFA, OTA	Officer pay after commission	National
AFCAT	Objective written + AFSB	AFCAT → AFSB → medical	Flying Branch, Ground Duty Technical, Ground Duty Non-Technical, NCC special entry	Flying Officer pay on commission; training stipend fixed	National
Indian Army Agniveer CEE	Objective written + rally	CEE → physical rally → medical	Agniveer / soldier-level entry under Agnipath	Agnipath customized package	National
Indian Navy Agniveer SSR/MR	Objective written + PFT + medical	Stage I written → Stage II physical/medical → induction	Agniveer SSR / MR (sailor/enrolled personnel)	Customized package from ₹30,000 to ₹40,000 per month by year	National, shortlisting state-wise
Indian Navy officer direct entry / INET	Objective written + SSB	INET written → SSB → medical	Navy officer in Executive / Technical / Education branches	Officer rank pay after commission	National
Indian Coast Guard CGEPT	Objective written + PFT + medical	Stage I written → Stage II PFT & medical → Stage III docs	Navik (GD), Navik (DB), Yantrik	Navik GD/DB and Yantrik pay as per ICG pay page	National
Indian Coast Guard CGCAT	Objective written + PSB/FSB + medical	Stage I online exam → PSB → FSB → medical → induction	Assistant Commandant officers	Assistant Commandant basic pay ₹56,100	National

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UPSC NDA/NA

Item	Details
What it is	UPSC’s exam for admission to the Army, Navy and Air Force wings of NDA and the 10+2 Naval Academy course. The 2025 notice says admission is through the written exam followed by intelligence and personality test by SSB.
Type	Objective written exam with negative marking. The notice explicitly warns of negative marking for objective papers.
Number of stages	Written exam → SSB/personality test → medical.
Posts you get	Commissioned officer training entry into Army, Navy, Air Force, and the Indian Naval Academy course.
Pay	After commissioning, pay follows service officer rank scales and allowances. Indian Navy officer pay starts at Sub Lieutenant Level 10, and IAF AFCAT officers start as Flying Officers at Level 10 with MSP and allowances; Army officer pay follows the same defence matrix framework after commissioning.
Scope	National. UPSC published NDA/NA 2025 as a one-day exam.

NDA/NA syllabus

Subject	Main topics
Mathematics	The UPSC archive shows Mathematics as a separate paper for NDA/NA, and the 2025 archive lists Mathematics and GAT question papers.
General Ability Test	English, general knowledge, science, current affairs, and broad school-level reasoning/content as reflected in the GAT paper archive.

Question style

NDA is school-level but competitive, with objective papers and a direct move to SSB for qualified candidates. The UPSC archive also shows answer keys and cutoffs for NDA/NA, which is useful for PYQ-based practice.

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UPSC CDS

Item	Details
What it is	UPSC’s officer-entry exam for IMA, INA, AFA and OTA, including SSC women non-technical course. The 2025 notice lists those courses and says selection is through written exam followed by SSB.
Type	Objective written exam with negative marking.
Number of stages	Written exam → SSB/personality test → medical.
Posts you get	Army, Navy, Air Force, and OTA officer entry.
Pay	After commissioning, officer rank pay and allowances apply; Navy officer pay starts from Sub Lieutenant scale, and IAF officer pay starts from Flying Officer scale after commission.
Scope	National.

CDS syllabus

Paper	Main topics
English	Grammar, vocabulary, comprehension, sentence correction, cloze, basic language ability. UPSC’s archive lists English as a CDS paper.
General Knowledge	Current affairs, history, polity, geography, economy, science. UPSC’s archive lists General Knowledge as a CDS paper.
Elementary Mathematics	Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, mensuration, statistics. UPSC’s archive lists Elementary Mathematics as a CDS paper.

Question style

CDS is a straightforward objective defence exam with a strong school-to-graduation level mix, and the final merit depends on written performance plus SSB.

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AFCAT

Item	Details
What it is	Air Force Common Admission Test for Flying Branch, Ground Duty Technical, Ground Duty Non-Technical, plus NCC special entry route. The 2026 notification says selected candidates join as Group ‘A’ Gazetted Officers.
Type	Objective written exam in English only.
Number of stages	AFCAT written exam → AFSB interview/testing → medical → merit.
Posts you get	Flying Officer route in Flying Branch and officer entry in Ground Duty Technical / Non-Technical branches.
Pay	The 2026 notification says Flight Cadets receive a fixed stipend of ₹56,100 per month during one year of training; on commissioning, Flying Officer pay is ₹56,100–₹1,77,500 at Level 10 with MSP ₹15,500, plus branch-based allowances.
Scope	National. AFCAT is conducted twice yearly.

AFCAT syllabus

Section	Main topics
English	Comprehension, sentence error, sentence completion, synonyms/antonyms, cloze, idioms, sentence rearrangement, substitution, one-word substitution.
General Awareness	History, geography, sports, national/international organisations, art & culture, personalities, environment, polity, economy, science, current affairs, defence.
Numerical Ability	Decimal fraction, time and work, averages, percentage, profit and loss, ratio and proportion, SI/CI, time and distance, area/perimeter, probability, number system/series, mixture/allegation, clocks.
Reasoning & Military Aptitude	Verbal and non-verbal reasoning, military aptitude.

Question style

AFCAT is a 2-hour, 100-question, 300-mark objective test, with +3 for correct and -1 for wrong answers. The official notice says the IAF may fix qualifying marks separately by subject or branch.

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Indian Army Agniveer CEE

Item	Details
What it is	Army recruitment under the Agnipath scheme for Agniveer categories such as GD, Technical, Clerk/Store Keeper Technical, Tradesman, Soldier Technical Nursing Assistant, Sepoy Pharma and related entries. Current 2026 coverage says the notification was released on joinindianarmy.nic.in and the recruitment is for 25,000+ vacancies.
Type	Objective CEE followed by physical rally, medical and document verification.
Number of stages	Online CEE → recruitment rally / physical tests → medical → final merit.
Posts you get	Agniveer soldiers in different Army trades/categories.
Pay	Under the Agnipath model, the common service package is a customized monthly package starting around ₹30,000 in year 1 and rising to ₹40,000 in year 4, with Seva Nidhi on exit; this structure is the common Agniveer model across the services.
Scope	National. The online application runs through the Indian Army recruitment portal.

Army Agniveer syllabus

Category	Main topics
GD / general categories	Maths, general science, reasoning, GK and post-specific basics, with level varying by category. The recent recruitment coverage says the CEE is computer-based and the selection includes different category-wise posts.
Clerk / SKT	Written test plus trade/typing-adjacent requirements at later stages depending on category and notice.

Question style

Army Agniveer is a selection-heavy defence entry: the written exam opens the door, but physical fitness and medical standards decide the real outcome.

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Indian Navy Agniveer SSR and MR

Item	Details
What it is	Agniveer enrolment into the Indian Navy as SSR and MR. The official site says recruitment is stage-wise and conducted through written exam, PFT and medical examination.
Type	Objective written exam in bilingual format, plus physical fitness and medical stages.
Number of stages	Stage I written/INET-based screening → Stage II physical fitness and medical → induction. The official recruitment timeline page shows Stage I INET and Stage II for Agniveer batches.
Posts you get	Agniveer SSR and Agniveer MR, with roles like sailors, chefs, stewards and related enrolled-personnel duties.
Pay	The official Navy page says Agniveers receive a customized package of ₹30,000 per month in year 1, rising to ₹40,000 in year 4, with 70% in hand and Seva Nidhi at exit.
Scope	National, with stage-II shortlisting described as state-wise in the official timeline PDF.

Navy Agniveer syllabus

Entry	Main topics
SSR	Science, Mathematics, English, General Awareness. The official instructions say the paper is objective, bilingual, 60 minutes, and at 12th level.
MR	Science & Mathematics, General Awareness. The official instructions say it is objective, bilingual, 30 minutes, and at 10th level.

Question style

SSR is 12th-level and MR is 10th-level. The official Navy instructions also say candidates must pass in all sections as well as in aggregate.

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Indian Navy officer direct entry / INET

Item	Details
What it is	Indian Navy officer entry through written exam plus SSB. The official selection procedure page states that INET is a computer-based written exam, conducted twice a year, and that written qualifiers are interviewed by SSB.
Type	Objective written exam + SSB.
Number of stages	Written exam → SSB → medical → merit.
Posts you get	Executive, Technical and Education branch officers, plus direct-entry officer streams listed on the Navy portal.
Pay	Indian Navy officer pay starts at Sub Lieutenant Level 10, ₹56,100–₹1,77,500 with MSP ₹15,500, and officers may receive allowances such as flying, submarine, sea-going and technical allowances.
Scope	National.

INET syllabus

Section	Main topics
English	Reading, grammar, comprehension, vocabulary.
Reasoning & Numerical Ability	Basic reasoning and quantitative aptitude.
General Knowledge	Defence, current affairs, general awareness.
General Science & Mathematical Aptitude	Science concepts and math aptitude.

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Indian Coast Guard CGEPT: Navik GD, Navik DB, Yantrik

Item	Details
What it is	Indian Coast Guard recruitment for enrolled personnel. The official CGEPT portal lists Navik (GD), Navik (DB) and Yantrik as the enrolled-personnel entries.
Type	Objective written exam, then physical fitness and medical stages. The portal has separate links for Stage-I written exam and Stage-II PFT & medical.
Number of stages	Stage I written → Stage II PFT & medical → Stage III document verification. The downloads page explicitly lists Stage I, Stage II and Stage III documents.
Posts you get	Navik (GD), Navik (DB), Yantrik.
Pay	ICG’s official pay page says Navik GD and Navik DB start at Basic Pay ₹21,700 (Pay Level 3), while Yantrik starts at Basic Pay ₹29,200 (Pay Level 5) plus Yantrik pay ₹6,200 and allowances.
Scope	National. The official portal is the CGEPT recruitment system under C-DAC / Coast Guard recruitment.

CGEPT syllabus

Category	Main topics
Navik (GD)	Maths, reasoning, science, English, GK, plus stage-wise physical and medical standards. The portal exposes mock tests and the official selection pages for enrolment.
Navik (DB)	Domestic-branch focus with similar foundational written plus physical/medical route.
Yantrik	Trade/technical knowledge plus the common written and physical route. The portal lists Yantrik as a separate enrolled-personnel entry.

Question style

The official portal provides mock tests and sample papers, which is useful for exact pattern practice.

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Indian Coast Guard CGCAT: Assistant Commandant

Item	Details
What it is	Officer entry into the Indian Coast Guard. The official portal lists Assistant Commandant branches including GD, Technical and Law.
Type	Objective written exam followed by selection boards and medical. The portal shows Stage I online exam, Stage II PSB, Stage III FSB, Stage IV medical and Stage V induction.
Number of stages	Stage I CGCAT online exam → PSB → FSB → medical → induction.
Posts you get	Assistant Commandant in GD, GD P/N, women SSA, CPL-SSA, Technical Mechanical, Technical Electrical/Electronics, Law.
Pay	Assistant Commandant starts at Basic Pay ₹56,100.
Scope	National.

CGCAT syllabus

Section	Main topics
CGCAT online exam	Branch-specific officer aptitude and knowledge. The portal exposes sample question papers for officer non-technical, technical electrical, and technical mechanical streams.
PSB / FSB	Selection-board stages for officer testing and assessment.

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Official websites and update sources

Purpose	Website
UPSC NDA/CDS and archives	UPSC previous question papers and exam notices.
AFCAT	careerairforce.gov.in and afcat.edcil.co.in; the IAF portal posts notifications, syllabus, practice test, and results.
Army Agniveer	joinindianarmy.nic.in recruitment portal.
Navy Agniveer / officer entries	joinindiannavy.gov.in official site, notifications, selection procedure, and pay pages.
Coast Guard	joinindiancoastguard.cdac.in and indiancoastguard.gov.in recruitment pages.

Previous papers, solutions, and practice websites

Type	Sites
Official previous papers	UPSC archive includes NDA, CDS, CAPF, and many other defence-related papers.
Official practice / sample papers	IAF AFCAT official site has an online practice test and syllabus page.
Official practice / sample papers	Indian Navy Agniveer written-exam instructions include sample question paper links.
Official practice / sample papers	ICG CGCAT portal provides mock tests and sample papers for officer streams.
Practice tests with solutions’ explanations	MEKJ-Govt: learn by taking tests and earn money as well from scoring.
Third-party solved papers / mocks	Testbook, Adda247, Oliveboard, Defence Guru and similar defense-exam platforms. For example, Testbook has current Army Agniveer coverage and test-series pages.

Reusable topic overlap across defence exams

Common topic block	Reusable across
Maths / numerical ability	NDA, CDS, AFCAT, Army Agniveer, Navy Agniveer, Navy INET, Coast Guard CGEPT, Coast Guard CGCAT
Reasoning / military aptitude	CDS, AFCAT, Navy INET, Coast Guard officer/enrolled tests, Army Agniveer
English	CDS, AFCAT, Navy INET, Navy Agniveer SSR, Coast Guard officer entry
General awareness / current affairs	NDA, CDS, AFCAT, Navy INET, Coast Guard, Army Agniveer
Physical fitness	Army Agniveer, Navy Agniveer, Coast Guard enrolled personnel, officer medical/fitness stages
SSB / board interview	NDA, CDS, Navy officer entry, AFCAT, Coast Guard officer entry