Artillery: News & Discussion

[rohitvats]

Rohitvats, I was hoping you'd read the post. Thanks. 881 seems to be a new sequence - the other Brahmos units being 861, 862, etc. Perhaps this regt is equipped with a new block of B'mos?? Any idea whats up?

You're welcome. Anything related to ORBAT raises my antennae...

Coming to Brahmos numbering - I don't think we have 86X series. Numbers I have are 861 and 881 Missile Regiments which have been in existence since 2012 at least. Third Regiment was forming as of last year with the advanced version to take out targets in mountainous areas.

Frankly, IA's numbering of it's Rocket and Missile Regiments doesn't seem to follow a pattern - at least, not discernible to mango man like me.

[abhik]

How is it too heavy?

5.4 tons v/s 3.4 tons of M777.

Is there a requirement that it will have to be below x kg?

[Philip]

I don't know whether this report was posted earlier ,or any of the allegations in it.Food for thought.

How the Indian Army lost its Catapult
January 11, 2015 Rakesh Krishnan Simha

By mating a Russian howitzer with a locally built tank chassis, India was on the verge of developing its own long-range artillery. But suddenly and inexplicably the new gun was scuttled.

India’s ambition to become a great power has never been matched by its willingness to spend hard cash on its military. The previous government in particular ran defence preparedness into the ground by keeping the military starved of operational funds, with A.K. Antony probably deserving the title of Pakistan’s best defence minister ever.

The critical howitzer shortage facing the Indian Army is a glaring example of the Indian leadership’s cavalier approach towards defence. While New Delhi splurges on shameful extravaganzas such as the Commonwealth Games, the Indian Army has not purchased a single artillery gun since the Bofors scandal broke in the late 1980s.

Artillery is a key element of warfare. For the decisive Battle for Berlin in 1945, the Russians threw a total of 41,600 guns and mortars at the Germans. Alex Popov of the 5th Shock Army wrote: “The amount of equipment deployed for the Berlin operation was so huge I simply cannot describe it and I was there.” Marshal Georgy Zhukov wrote in his memoirs that it was the rain of three million shells that broke German resolve to hold on to Berlin at all costs. “As prisoners later told us, the great artillery barrage at night was what they had least expected,” he wrote.

Similarly, in the 1999 Kargil War it was the Bofors 155mm gun that sent the Pakistanis scurrying from their positions in the high mountains. Because of its long range, accuracy, high rate of fire and mobility, the Indian Army was able to take out Pakistani positions quickly based on real time intelligence inputs.

Despite the critical impact of artillery systems in war, India hasn’t replaced the over 200 (of the original 410) Bofors guns that have been lost due to attrition and cannibalisation.

Quick fix

But even as the bureaucrats and politicians fiddled, the army brass resorted to Indian jugaad (innovative fix) in order to keep the artillery forces battle ready. Going by the adage that the army fights with the weapons it has rather – than the weapons it wants – the Indian Army asked the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) to use available assets to develop a self-propelled gun (SPG).

In order to fulfil the interim and immediate requirements of the army, the DRDO’s Combat Vehicle Research & Development Establishment (CVRDE) developed an SPG by mating the Russian built M-46 130mm howitzer with the Arjun MK-I tank chassis. This new artillery system, which was on show at Defexpo 2014 is known as the Arjun Catapult MK-II.

The Catapult has side and front armoured walls protecting the gun compartment, providing the crew with armour protection of STANAG level II. Its main weapon, the M-46, was originally a manually loaded, towed 130mm howitzer. Manufactured in Russia in the 1950s, it was one of the longest range artillery systems around, with a range of more than 27 km.

But curiously, after 100 of the Arjun Catapults were produced, the army did not ask for further enhancements to the system and today India continues to seek high calibre artillery systems from foreign vendors.

Because of the army’s about turn, the DRDO team working on the gun has lost development continuity. Weapons get better with each successive iteration, and in fact the Arjun Catapult MK-II is an improvement on the Catapult MK-I fashioned in the early 1980s by mounting the M46 gun onto the Indian-built Vijayanta tank.

There were other spinoffs from the project. Private defence contractors like Tata, L&T and Bharat Forge were involved in locally upgrading the M46 guns to 155mm, which increased the range from 26 km to 39 km.

These private players were also developing their own 155mm howitzers in collaboration with overseas defence companies, while also collaborating with the DRDO’s Armament Research & Development Establishment in Pune to design a 155mm Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System with a 50-km strike range.

All plans were nixed by the cancellation of the Catapult and the new government’s decision in November 2014 to purchase 155 mm guns with a range of 40 km under the “Buy & Make Indian” programme. The plan is to acquire 814 guns for the Indian Army – 100 would be acquired off the shelf while the remainder of the 714 guns would be made in India.

So instead of developing a gun with a 50 km range, the army is shooting for an artillery system with a much lower range. It happens only in India.

The real big guns

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that the only people to gain from the DRDO’s failure are foreign manufacturers.
Indeed, it is intriguing that DRDO projects such as the Agni series intermediate range ballistic missiles (which are banned from the international export market) have been extremely successful, while others such as tanks, aircraft, helicopters and short range missiles (all of which are readily available) are rejected by the defence forces for not being up to scratch.

But then how can any weapons platform attain world class standards if it is not accepted by the military, if the designers do not get feedback, if the engineers and scientists are demoralised. The first generation of any weapon will have faults because weapons are tested in extreme environments. To repeatedly fail them at the first sign of trouble points to sabotage.

For, let’s be clear about one thing. The Indian Army’s primary enemy is the Pakistan Army, not the US Army. We do not need world class weapons to fight a corrupt, slothful and incompetent army that has lost four wars against India. We need affordable and rugged weapons that can be produced in large numbers and easily replaced during wartime.

And think about it. If India can send a successful interplanetary probe to Mars, discover water on the Moon, build nuclear powered submarines and develop supersonic missiles such as the BrahMos, then the rejection of the home made Catapult is clearly suspicious.

Perhaps the dodgiest case is that of the Arjun tank, which has been under development for nearly 40 years. In 2008 the DRDO had to install a black box in the indigenous battle tank following an alleged attempt to "sabotage" its engine. The instrument was installed after the Indian Army termed the winter trial of the Arjun tank a "failure".

According to a DRDO official, "The German company Renk AG supplying the engines for the Arjun tank stumbled upon the tinkering with its engines after a complaint from the Indian Army that the tank's gear box failed during its winter trials. Following this we have installed an instrument similar to the data recorder or black box in aircraft that would record all the information related to the engines.”

The then minister of state for defence (production) Rao Inderjit Singh also hinted at a conspiracy. “The possibility of sabotage needs to be examined,” he said. “The engines fitted in the tanks were German and were performing well for the past 15 years. I wonder what has happened to them overnight.”

Nearly every weapon produced by DRDO has been rejected by the defence forces, forcing the government to release funds for imports. Take the Augusta Westland scandal. Initially, former air chief marshal S.P. Tyagi was under investigation for allegedly tweaking the technical requirements of VVIP helicopters. Later it transpired that the specifications were changed prior to Tyagi’s tenure on the orders of Brajesh Mishra, the National Security Adviser, who was reporting directly to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The scandal shows that it is in the interests of a clique comprising the military brass, politicians and middlemen to scuttle indigenous defence projects. R.S.N. Singh, a former military intelligence officer who later served in the Research & Analysis Wing, writes in Canary Trap about the “Chandigarh Gang” that surfaced as the “mainstay of the international arms lobby” during the decade long UPA rule. “This gang is not necessarily in Chandigarh alone, but nevertheless is centered around it,” Singh writes. “It comprises some retired officers, politicians, journalists and prominent newspapers.”

http://in.rbth.com/blogs/2015/01/11/how ... 40743.html

[Victor]

5.4 tons v/s 3.4 tons of M777.

Is there a requirement that it will have to be below x kg?

AFAIK, the main requirement is the ability to carry the gun, its ammo and crew to Himalayan peaks with a helicopter. 2 tons lighter means the gun can be located x thousand feet higher, increasing range by y miles and with z more rounds of ammo. The other factor is cost and I wonder if this is a great concern when we are jockeying for advantage against the chinese, specially with only 145 or so guns.

[Singha]

imo even the M777 will mostly be hauled by road if ever inducted. supplying ammo by air to a place where no roads exist is just not possible with the firing rates of todays guns.

so even the st kinetics will work, as does the fh77b

[Thakur_B]

imo even the M777 will mostly be hauled by road if ever inducted. supplying ammo by air to a place where no roads exist is just not possible with the firing rates of todays guns.

so even the st kinetics will work, as does the fh77b

Fh77B is 11.5 tons. DRDO ATAGS is supposed to be 12 tons. Even when helicopter lifts are not possible one has to think of transportation by AN32 and C-130, where they can carry more M777 per sortie than any other type. Even if restricted by size, the payload advantage will allow carriage of more ammunition per sorties.

[Singha]

sir when you want to unleash a multi regimental co-ordinated fire to break up cheen combined arms divisional level thrusts , one is talking of 1000s of rds unloaded / hr .... good roads are the only thing that hacks it in such scenario. for 'routine' cross border shelling anything will do.

if we ever want to hold on to the tiny sliver of aksai chin we have left ie daulat beg oldie, we need atleast a summer road to that place for heavy trucks to haul and stockpile ammo and rockets.

[rohitvats]

I don't know whether this report was posted earlier ,or any of the allegations in it.Food for thought.

How the Indian Army lost its Catapult
January 11, 2015 Rakesh Krishnan Simha

By mating a Russian howitzer with a locally built tank chassis, India was on the verge of developing its own long-range artillery. But suddenly and inexplicably the new gun was scuttled.

India’s ambition to become a great power has never been matched by its willingness to spend hard cash on its military. The previous government in particular ran defence preparedness into the ground by keeping the military starved of operational funds, with A.K. Antony probably deserving the title of Pakistan’s best defence minister ever.

The critical howitzer shortage facing the Indian Army is a glaring example of the Indian leadership’s cavalier approach towards defence. While New Delhi splurges on shameful extravaganzas such as the Commonwealth Games, the Indian Army has not purchased a single artillery gun since the Bofors scandal broke in the late 1980s.

Artillery is a key element of warfare. For the decisive Battle for Berlin in 1945, the Russians threw a total of 41,600 guns and mortars at the Germans. Alex Popov of the 5th Shock Army wrote: “The amount of equipment deployed for the Berlin operation was so huge I simply cannot describe it and I was there.” Marshal Georgy Zhukov wrote in his memoirs that it was the rain of three million shells that broke German resolve to hold on to Berlin at all costs. “As prisoners later told us, the great artillery barrage at night was what they had least expected,” he wrote.

Similarly, in the 1999 Kargil War it was the Bofors 155mm gun that sent the Pakistanis scurrying from their positions in the high mountains. Because of its long range, accuracy, high rate of fire and mobility, the Indian Army was able to take out Pakistani positions quickly based on real time intelligence inputs.

Despite the critical impact of artillery systems in war, India hasn’t replaced the over 200 (of the original 410) Bofors guns that have been lost due to attrition and cannibalisation.

Quick fix

But even as the bureaucrats and politicians fiddled, the army brass resorted to Indian jugaad (innovative fix) in order to keep the artillery forces battle ready. Going by the adage that the army fights with the weapons it has rather – than the weapons it wants – the Indian Army asked the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) to use available assets to develop a self-propelled gun (SPG).

In order to fulfil the interim and immediate requirements of the army, the DRDO’s Combat Vehicle Research & Development Establishment (CVRDE) developed an SPG by mating the Russian built M-46 130mm howitzer with the Arjun MK-I tank chassis. This new artillery system, which was on show at Defexpo 2014 is known as the Arjun Catapult MK-II.

The Catapult has side and front armoured walls protecting the gun compartment, providing the crew with armour protection of STANAG level II. Its main weapon, the M-46, was originally a manually loaded, towed 130mm howitzer. Manufactured in Russia in the 1950s, it was one of the longest range artillery systems around, with a range of more than 27 km.

But curiously, after 100 of the Arjun Catapults were produced, the army did not ask for further enhancements to the system and today India continues to seek high calibre artillery systems from foreign vendors.

Because of the army’s about turn, the DRDO team working on the gun has lost development continuity. Weapons get better with each successive iteration, and in fact the Arjun Catapult MK-II is an improvement on the Catapult MK-I fashioned in the early 1980s by mounting the M46 gun onto the Indian-built Vijayanta tank.

There were other spinoffs from the project. Private defence contractors like Tata, L&T and Bharat Forge were involved in locally upgrading the M46 guns to 155mm, which increased the range from 26 km to 39 km.

These private players were also developing their own 155mm howitzers in collaboration with overseas defence companies, while also collaborating with the DRDO’s Armament Research & Development Establishment in Pune to design a 155mm Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System with a 50-km strike range.

All plans were nixed by the cancellation of the Catapult and the new government’s decision in November 2014 to purchase 155 mm guns with a range of 40 km under the “Buy & Make Indian” programme. The plan is to acquire 814 guns for the Indian Army – 100 would be acquired off the shelf while the remainder of the 714 guns would be made in India.

So instead of developing a gun with a 50 km range, the army is shooting for an artillery system with a much lower range. It happens only in India.

The real big guns

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that the only people to gain from the DRDO’s failure are foreign manufacturers.
<SNIP>

The above has to be the most stupid article ever...'India was on the verge of developing SP Gun because we mated M-46 to Arjun chassis'? Complete BS.

I'm glad that someone decided to pull the plug on this system...That article is nothing but a rant w/o any grounding in facts. IA ordering 815 MGS - which is a separate category under FARP - is said to be reason behind them not ordering more Catapult MkII? And the part about BF and L&T working on M-46 upgrade has nothing to do with Catapult MkII but is a separate program.

The only reason this article was written with whining about DRDO+indigenous development because a system based on 'Russian' equipment was not developed further and Russians have no play in most of FARP tender.

[Pratyush]

I have never understood the persistent fetish of fighting a war with the PRC with helo born ammo resupply for the 155s on the BRF. The only solution to the logistics problem is to built up stocks during peace time (Hope that they don't get taken out in the first few days).

Or have all weather good quality roads with plenty of bridging equipment for culverts (if that's the term). With the ability to drive trucks with 5 or 10 load. Right up the rear of the battle zones.

[vaibhav.n]

Just my 2 paisa....

One of the many reasons Mountain Divisions have an extra complement of Combat Engineers and Logistic Troops in the form of GREF RCC(Road Const Coy)/BCC(Bridge Const Coy) and Civ GT Battalions.

On the Dirang-Tawang-Bumla axis for example, culverts would need back-up bailey bridges deployed to maintain road heads. AFAIK a single truss bailey which dot the entire stretch are in the MLC 20 Class (Non-reinforced). Nothing beyond a couple of 10 tonners are going to pass through that at a time. You have also to take into consideration that all equipment must first cross the passes at Sela (14,000ft) to gain access to the Bomdila valley and later Bumla (17,000ft) IIRC.

A superior road connectivity with tunnels etc to connect valley floors (which is being constructed now) would go a long way in compressing deployment and resupply times than fancy helipads which at those altitudes are highly reliant on prayers and good weather.

[member_22906]

^^
You are right and I got the basic drift, but a minor nitpick.

Bomdila comes before Sela (if you are approaching from Misamari, Assam). Bumla would be after Sela & Tawang

[vaibhav.n]

Sorry....I meant Bomdir.

[Singha]

we could definitely use SFW AT & HE bomblets dropped from pinaka rockets. quite useful & economical in targetting high value armour and logistical nodes/convoys on a 1-800 basis.

we certainly will not be able to deliver the amt of shells into staging areas in the mountains the way we can in the plains. so economy and smartness is best.

if Obama is keen on some defence JVs this could be one area to bring up.

also the IA had floated a tender for some 9 EMB145/G500 type jets to house SAR/GMTI radar platform. no word or trace of that since the news of tender.

[Thakur_B]

we could definitely use SFW AT & HE bomblets dropped from pinaka rockets. quite useful & economical in targetting high value armour and logistical nodes/convoys on a 1-800 basis.

we certainly will not be able to deliver the amt of shells into staging areas in the mountains the way we can in the plains. so economy and smartness is best.

if Obama is keen on some defence JVs this could be one area to bring up.

also the IA had floated a tender for some 9 EMB145/G500 type jets to house SAR/GMTI radar platform. no word or trace of that since the news of tender.

There was also a move to mount GMTI radars on Dhruv. That too disappeared without a trace. UK is looking to retire its Sentinel aircrafts, IAF should make a move on them. They are essentially brand new, delivered in 2008 only.

[Victor]

We seem to keep forgetting that the ULH is a very small, specialized order 100% for the mountain strike corps aimed 100% at China, not for any lob-shells-over-the-border corps, not even for a mountain corps. MSC is an aggressive formation based on high mobility so it can go anywhere, even where there are no roads, and not give any clues on where it will strike. So there will be no dug-in positions or thousands of shells. Shoot and scoot onlee.

[Cosmo_R]

@Pratyush ^^^ "I have never understood the persistent fetish of fighting a war with the PRC with helo born ammo resupply for the 155s on the BRF. The only solution to the logistics problem is to built up stocks during peace time (Hope that they don't get taken out in the first few days). "

For my part I have never understood this whole Tibetan plateau, massive tank battles and air combat stuff.

The PRC will attack to give us a bloody nose and show us our place. We must be prepared to have a massively disproportionate conventional response followed by a red line: we are willing to go nuclear and you have more to lose than we (the Nixon "crazy man" in the 1973 Sinai war strategy).

The nuke red line strategy works for NOKO and it works for pakiz.

It's optics. Any such incident will last 2 days and you fire everything you've got to give the other guy a bloodier nose.

This is not going to be 1962 nor is it going to be a 2 week affair.

But we have to plan for it. No tentative escalations. You attack, we explode (stuff on you). Plus change the nature of our engagement on Tibet and Sinkiang.

[Singha]

that would indicate the entire front needs to be militarized on the scale of the Korean DMZ or the old east german border, with a 155mm piece poking its ugly snout of caves and holes every 10m
someone presses a button and 5000 artillery pieces start unloading at max rate in general direction of cheen.

but it cannot be done over such hostile terrain and 2000km of front.

[member_28971]

I'm pretty sure their will be a lot of utilities for M777, due to its light wieght. Even during piece time it will be transported using road network as far as possible. But Having a Helo borm artillery will give the army a lot of choice for firing positions. Road can go as far as near the mountains in most cases, so Army will have to settle for positions behind the mountains, but if Helo drop is possible then Army can have position near the top or across the slope in more spread out manner, which gives better survival chances during counter fire. I'm quite sure that right now the Army is not having that many Artillery pieces on the mountains excepts for 105mm LFG.

Also during the attrition battles/forward movement across the Chinese border, such Artillery will give more advantage of quickly moving them to better firing positions. In war one can not always hope to stand/hold in the same positions always.

[sivab]

Livefist @livefist · 11h 11 hours ago

India's @DPIDRDO Pinaka Mk.2 multi-rocket system successfully tested last month. Range upped from 38km to 60km!

[Picklu]

Which Mirakkel causes the range of Pinaka to increase by more than 50%? Is there a change in dimension of the rockets or fuel composition? Will be new rockets be compatible with old pinaka or will they need new launcher/loader/other support systems?

The nation wants to know. Modi jawab do.

[A Sharma]

DRDO Newsletter

On Pinaka2

The rocket incorporates a high performance solid rocket propulsion system and advanced stabiliser system with six flat fin configuration developed by ARDE. The energetic propellant has been developed by High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL), Pune. Pinaka Mk-II uses in-service warheads and fuzes and existing ground systems with minor modifications in Launcher, Loader Cum Replenishment (LCR) vehicle, Replenishment vehicle (RV) and Battery Command Post. Demonstration of the strike capability of Pinaka Mk-II rocket beyond 60 km is a landmark in the field of unguided rocket artillery.

Another milestone was reached when turbo generator- based Electronic Time Fuzes for artillery rockets developed in-house functioned satisfactorily, meeting the designed parameters during the dynamic trials. Flight performance of the entire mission, covering from low range to high range along with turbo generator based ET Fuze was captured by telemetry and tracking radars of PXE and ITR achieving all the mission objectives.

[John]

Which Mirakkel causes the range of Pinaka to increase by more than 50%? Is there a change in dimension of the rockets or fuel composition? Will be new rockets be compatible with old pinaka or will they need new launcher/loader/other support systems?

Same dimensions' as Pinaka.

[ravip]

Mk2 has some rdx base propellent. Giving it more range.

[John]

Back when prahaar was first tested there was lot of chest beating from the other side that it was counter Nasr. But as I said it is pinaka mk 2 and ii that are true counter, a salvo of them would cheaply take out any hidden tactical ballistic missile launchers. Easily making Nasr missile obsolete one reason unkil went away from Tbm as Soviets started packing hundreds of mrl across the border.

[Singha]

india has generally been lagging behind in propellants compared to state of art...if one looks at range of RAM and essm...

[Pratyush]

Is the Mk2 rocket compatible with the original launcher vehicle.

[srai]

Is the Mk2 rocket compatible with the original launcher vehicle.

DRDO Newsletter

On Pinaka2

The rocket incorporates a high performance solid rocket propulsion system and advanced stabiliser system with six flat fin configuration developed by ARDE. The energetic propellant has been developed by High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL), Pune. Pinaka Mk-II uses in-service warheads and fuzes and existing ground systems with minor modifications in Launcher, Loader Cum Replenishment (LCR) vehicle, Replenishment vehicle (RV) and Battery Command Post. Demonstration of the strike capability of Pinaka Mk-II rocket beyond 60 km is a landmark in the field of unguided rocket artillery.

Another milestone was reached when turbo generator- based Electronic Time Fuzes for artillery rockets developed in-house functioned satisfactorily, meeting the designed parameters during the dynamic trials. Flight performance of the entire mission, covering from low range to high range along with turbo generator based ET Fuze was captured by telemetry and tracking radars of PXE and ITR achieving all the mission objectives.

[John]

india has generally been lagging behind in propellants compared to state of art...if one looks at range of RAM and essm...

If you compare current generation of missiles' they are quite comparable Singha. ESSM range is similar to Barak-8 and AAD if modified for Anti aircraft purpose should have range in upwards of 150km+.

[member_28932]

The original offer for 145 M777 guns increased by about $ 200 million, when the potential order from India got delayed, citing re-start cost of the assembly plant. Wonder how much the guns will now cost, if assembly line doesn't only have to be re-started, but also has to be shifted to India.

The answer actually lies in the news report itself. The offer would probably be valid if we plan to purchase atleast 450 guns, instead of 145 as per the original plan. Offcourse the plant would be used to offer guns to other potential customers around the world, as well, if we plan to buy a minimum of 450 guns.

Good artillery guns seem to be well within the capabilities of DRDO and some of the Indian private sector players. In my opinion, no need to buy any more guns from any foreign company.

Exactly,

and they are bringing manufactured barrels from US to assemble with other parts so we are not getting critical barrel manufacturing technology and metallurgy as well.

[pankajs]

Sitanshu Kar ‏@SpokespersonMoD Mar 20 New Delhi, Delhi

155-mm artillery guns made by Ordnance Factory Board are at trials stage: Def Min @manoharparrikar

[member_28990]

This is the 155/45 concept right? Wonder what happened to the Kalyani concept.

[Thakur_B]

Sitanshu Kar ‏@SpokespersonMoD Mar 20 New Delhi, Delhi

155-mm artillery guns made by Ordnance Factory Board are at trials stage: Def Min @manoharparrikar

That is top notch dilly dallying. The orders were supposed to be placed in October 2014.

[Singha]

Was about to say it. Perhaps another round of winter nd summer trials was ordered.

But with namo on the throne they can whine and paw but
Onlee bajra roti and dal is on menu.

No pizza or steak shall be served.

[pankajs]

We are fast approaching the 1st anniversary of the this gov taking over. Modi and Parrikar are about done with getting an insiders view of their respective domain.

Things have already started moving with the GOI suggesting HAL to up the production Infra to churn out 16 LCAs per year. Many critical decisions taken and more in the offering. Expect the pace to pick up.

The RM was very clear about goalpost shifting, etc with regards to domestic weapons. Expect him to now start asking the top defense brass and MOD babus tough questions on procurements.

BTW, did anyone notice his war wastage comments. I would suggest folks listen to that comment very carefully. In that innocuous comment is a hint of things to come.

[Vipul]

DRDO exploring possibility of increasing range of Pinaka MBRL.

The Armament and Combat Engineering Cluster wing of DRDO, Pune is exploring the possibility of increasing the range of Pinaka Multi Barrel Rocket Launch System ( MBRL) from 40 km to 60 km, a top official said here today.

"The trials are in the process at the cluster, which will be followed by field based trials," Anil M Datar, the distinguished scientist and ACE Director General told reporters on the sidelines of a graduation day function at the Sri Ramakrishna Engineering College here.

On ongoing projects, Datar said that ACE is engaged in making weapons for the next six to 10 years, considering the technological advancements.
He said ACE was working to get more accuracy to target in guided rockets, even as manual labour is reduced and automation increased.ACE was also in the process of developing a quick launcher portable bridge that can move along with the equipment, Datar said.

Earlier addressing the graduates, Datar said there was a huge gap between defence technology in India and that found worldwide and called for steps to bridge it. Further research was essential for improving existing systems and developing new ones, he said.

Datar stressed the need for educational institutes to impart the latest knowledge to enable young engineers develop technologies for advanced weapons systems to make the nation self reliant in critical defence technology systems.

Any war strategies are directly related to availabilityand efficiency of weapons, he said, adding that in thechanging scenario, global wars
and space wars may become a reality.

[Sanjay]

pankajs, what were his war wastage comments ?

[Neshant]

Rocket artillery

[aadiverma]

Also speaking of the Kalyani product and a tad off topic as a newbie pooch...if memory serves correctly...didn't the BSF also ask for better artillery equipment (i forget if it was on news or newspaper eons ago)..wouldn't this fit into the BSF requirements?

[Nikhil T]

ET Slideshow: Dhanush - India's 155mm artillery gun in trial stages

The Army wants 414 such guns. They have been upgraded to 45-calibre from the original 39-calibre to give the new howitzer a 38-km range compared to the 30-km of the original Bofors gun.

Both the Army and OFB, in fact, are 'quite excited' about Dhanush, which they claim performs '20-25% better' than the original Bofors gun in virtually all parameters like range, accuracy, consistency, low and high angle of fire and shoot-and-scoot ability.

'Dhanush is around 80% indigenous now. It costs just about Rs 14 crore apiece. Only its APU (auxiliary power unit), electronic dial sights and a few other small items are imported.,' an official has told TOI.

Hope they conclude the trials quickly and start rolling these out like sausages.

[Gyan]

Hope the Services don't do a LCA or Arjun on Dhanush.