Long-range rockets have proved their combat effectiveness in the Ukraine-Russia war by targeting high-value enemy assets at a lower cost.
Director general artillery, Lt Gen Adosh Kumar, said the aim is to increase the range of the in-service Pinaka systems by almost four times to meet operational requirements.
“Pinaka has been the success story of the atmanirbharta (self-reliance) drive. The equipment has been extensively exploited and has added more punch and lethality to artillery’s arsenal. More regiments of Pinaka are being inducted,” he said, ahead of the Gunners Day celebrations.
Modernisation efforts are progressing at a “pace like never before”, he said, adding that several major inductions, including additional K9 Vajra self-propelled artillery guns and the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun (ATAG) system, are in the pipeline.
Lt Gen Kumar in particular expressed hope that the ATAG programme – an indigenously designed and developed artillery gun being made by both Bharat Forge and Tata – will reach the contractual signing stage within this financial year.”K9 Vajra gun system is ideal for mechanised operations. Dhanush guns are an electronic upgrade of Bofors guns, while the Sharang gun system has been upgunned from 130 mm to 155 mm calibre. More numbers of K9 Vajra, Dhanush and Sharang gun systems are being inducted in near future,” he said, adding that a key focus is on acquisition of hypersonic missiles and development work is in progress at the Defence Research and Development Organisation.To give teeth to its precision strike capability, the army is also procuring a range of medium range loiter munitions, swarm drones and runway independent remotely piloted aerial systems.
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