The Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) is currently a collection of ten regular regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

s, mostly converted from old horse cavalry regiments

Cavalry regiments of the British Army

There are currently nine regular cavalry regiments of the British Army, with two tank regiments provided by the Royal Tank Regiment, traditionally classed alongside the cavalry, for a total of eleven regiments. Of these, five serve as armoured regiments, and five as formation reconnaissance...

, and four Yeomanry

Yeomanry

Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Territorial Army, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units may serve in a variety of different military roles.-History:...

 regiments of the Territorial Army. It provides the armour capability of the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Tank

Challenger 2 tank

FV4034 Challenger 2 is a British main battle tank currently in service with the armies of the United Kingdom and Oman. It was designed and built by the British company Vickers Defence Systems . The manufacturer advertises it as the world's most reliable main battle tank...

 and the Scimitar

FV107 Scimitar

FV107 Scimitar is an armoured reconnaissance vehicle used by the British Army. It is very similar to the FV101 Scorpion but mounts a high velocity 30 mm L21 RARDEN cannon instead of a 76 mm gun. It was issued to Royal Armoured Corps, Armoured Regiments in the Reconnaissance role...

 Reconnaissance Vehicle.
The RAC was created on 4 April 1939, just before World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 started, by combining the cavalry wing

Cavalry wing

The term cavalry wing in military history was used to refer to the cavalry units positioned on either of the army flanks when deployed for battle, predominantly during the period from the Middle Ages to the French Revolutionary Wars....

 (cavalry

Cavalry

Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

 units that had mechanised), and the Royal Tank Corps (which was thereupon renamed the Royal Tank Regiment

Royal Tank Regiment

The Royal Tank Regiment is an armoured regiment of the British Army. It was formerly known as the Tank Corps and the Royal Tank Corps. It is part of the Royal Armoured Corps and is made up of two operational regiments, the 1st Royal Tank Regiment and the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment...

 within the new corps).