Rakesh wrote:Wow, I am sure BRF oldies remember how many artillery competitions were held in the past 20 years of BR's existence. And now to see this. A truly amazing day for India. A pretty interesting facebook excerpt on the use of artillery during the Kargil War...for some weird reason I am not able to copy the text from the link below. Sorry!
Facebook LINK
Rediff original articleManish_P wrote:Rakesh sir, here you go
#Know_your_hero
28 September, Artillery day, we are honored to make a post about one of the finest artillery officer of our time and a war hero of Kargil war - Maj Gen (R) Lakhwinder Singh (USM), Yuddha Sewa Medal
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The role of artillery in the battlefield during the Kargil war cannot be forgotten and will forever be etched in golden letters.
India’s victory in Operation Vijay was not achieved without major sacrifices. Three valiant officers and 32 brave soldiers of the Regiment of Artillery laid down their lives in the true spirit of Izzat-O-Iqbal. The problem faced by the Gunners was the rarefied air and strong wind currents in the upper atmosphere, the accuracy of the Bofors gun, especially over longer distances of 20 km or more, caused problems.
For this exceptional and exemplary valour and grit in heroic battles in Kargil, the chief of the army staff honoured 11 Infantry battalions, three units of Regiment of Artillery namely 141 Field Regiment, 197 Field Regiment and 108 Medium Regiment and two Reconnaissance and Observation Squadrons of the Army Aviation with special award of Unit Citations.
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Maj Gen (R) Lakhwinder Singh was the commander of Artillery Brigade of India's 8 mountain division and known for few innovative tactics and pioneering 100 guns concept
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What he did was akin to using a sledgehammer to shell a peanut. After all when he has a powerful gun like Bofors, capable of hurling over 40 kg of deadly explosive to a distance of over 30 km, ever been used like a sharpshooter to knock down well-entrenched enemy soldiers sitting on top of peaks? Or which recent battle has seen over 100 artillery guns both big and small lined up and fired simultaneously to pulverise the enemy in a small target area into submission?
In a war the ends usually justify the means. Singh unabashedly admits that he took a page out of history to use what even his Corp Commander Krishan Pal describes as one of the most innovative artillery tactics to win a war.
He remembers reading how famous warriors like Babar and Ranjit Singh employed rows of master gunners to fire cannonballs directly at the enemy. His logic: if such simple tubes could be utilised in controlled direct firing then why not sophisticated gun systems?
So he first tried out the technique during the battle for Tololing. A battery of six guns were lined up and told to make direct hits at targets on top of the peak where Pakistani intruders were holed up. It made the final assault by the infantry much easier - casualties were lower too - to give India its first major victory in the Kargil war.
Yet it was on a neighbouring peak called Point 5140 where Singh's brigade demonstrated how an ancient war tactic still held good. Singh ordered all available guns, including Bofors, 105 mm field guns and 120 mm mortars, to line up.
In all they numbered over 100. He then told his gunners to fire them continuously at the positions held by Pakistanis on the heights. Singh even had rockets launched against them. So effective was the firepower that the infantry was able to regain the positions without a single casualty.
With the infantry getting more confident of the artillery's prowess it was even willing to cut down the safety margins and take some daring risks. Normally the soldiers stay at least 350 m away from a spot towards which the shells are directed. But with the guns proving so accurate they would call for shelling even when they ventured to within 50 m of the targeted enemy positions.
It was night when the brigade targeted Tiger Hill and the entire sky lit up like Diwali as they resorted to nonstop firing for several hours. The pounding saw the Pakistani soldiers running for cover though many of them were killed by the deadly fusillade. Intercepts of conversations had one of them saying: Hell has fallen on us.
The continuous firing made the infantry's task of capturing the hill much easier. Major-General Mohinder Puri, general officer commanding of the 8 Division, acknowledges that it was the preponderance of the artillery fire that helped us score many victories.
Credit - India today and Rediff
http://www.rediff.com/news/column/defen ... 150726.htm
And one last one from Lt. Gen H.S. Panag(R)How artillery helped India win the Kargil war
July 26, 2015 13:53 IST
Accurate and sustained firepower against Pakistan during the Kargil War helped Indian soldiers to reduce the enemy to rubble, notes SD Goswami, defence spokesperson, ministry of defence.
The role of artillery in the battlefield during the Kargil war cannot be forgotten and will forever be etched in golden letters.
India’s victory in Operation Vijay was not achieved without major sacrifices. Three valiant officers and 32 brave soldiers of the Regiment of Artillery laid down their lives in the true spirit of Izzat-O-Iqbal. Pakistan lost is estimated 69 officers and 772 OR, mainly of Northern Light Infantry. Over 1,000 Pakistani soldiers were wounded.
The young company commander and artillery’s Forward Observation Officers led from the front by personal example and thus motivated their troops to perform outstanding acts of gallantry. For this exceptional and exemplary valour and grit in heroic battles in Kargil, the chief of the army staff honoured 11 Infantry battalions, three units of Regiment of Artillery namely 141 Field Regiment, 197 Field Regiment and 108 Medium Regiment and two Reconnaissance and Observation Squadrons of the Army Aviation with special award of Unit Citations.
By honouring these regiments the army acknowledged the immense part played by all the units of the Regiment of Artillery in the gallant fight to re-capture Indian territory from Pakistan intruders.
Despite the controversy over its induction, 155mm FH 77-B Bofors performed remarkably well and was mainstay of artillery in the operations. Its maximum range of 30 km enabled deep strikes on the enemy’s gun positions, administrative installations, ammunition dumps, and headquarters, besides neutralizing forward positions held by the intruders. By moving up these guns, 105mm field guns, 160mm and 120mm Mortars and 122mm GRAD BM 21 Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher’s into forward guns positions for ‘direct’ fire on enemy localities, literally under the nose of the enemy and thereby inviting certain enemy artillery fire onto themselves, the gunners exhibited unparalleled courage in battle.
The gun positions came under heavy enemy counter-bombardment from time to time, many a times causing serious casualties. But the gunners there stood fast and continued to respond to the requirements of the Battery Commander/ Observation Posts. It was unique in the history of 286 Medium Regiment that all its 18 guns barrels wore out their life in 25 days since Operation Vijay commenced. They continued to fire as extensively with newer guns that they received from 163 Medium Regiments while operations were on.
The Kargil conflict once again established beyond doubt that artillery firepower plays a major part in achieving victory on the modern battlefield. Accurate artillery fire reduces the enemy’s defences to rubble. Sustained artillery fire gradually wears the enemy’s resistance and ultimately breaks their will to fight. By systematically degrading the enemy’s fighting potential before a physical assault is launched, the artillery helped to reduce the casualties suffered by assaulting infantrymen. Throughout the offensive phase of Kargil conflict, artillery was called upon to respond to emerging situations and it did so with alacrity and telling lethality. The infantry battalions involved in the fighting were the first to acknowledge the immense debt of gratitude that they owe to their artillery comrades.
The Indian artillery fired over 2,50,000 shells, bombs and rockets during the Kargil conflict. Approximately 5,000 artillery shells, mortar bombs and rockets were fired daily from 300 guns, mortars and MBRLs while 9,000 shells were fired the day Tiger Hill was regained.
During the peak period of assaults, on an average, each artillery battery fired over one round per minute for 17 days continuously. Such high rates of fire over long periods had not been witnessed anywhere in the world since the World War II. Even during the World War-II, such sustained artillery firing was not common at all.
The men at the guns had blisters on their hands from carrying and loading shells and cartridges. Very few of them got more than a couple of hours of sleep in every 24 hours cycle. They had no time for proper meals and were often themselves under enemy artillery fire. Yet, they carried on relentlessly. No soldiers better than these exist anywhere in the world. Last but not the least artillery was, in fact, the prime killer since 80 per cent of the casualties suffered by the enemy were on account of artillery fire.
There were limited gun areas available for conventional deployment. Perforce, recourse had to be taken to split the batteries, often in two’s and three’s. At places there was a height differential of almost 40 to 50 feet between the first and sixth fun of a battery. On the other hand, there were occasions when guns had to be deployed wheel-to-wheel.
In the final analysis, while all arms and services contributed significantly to the concerted effort to evict the Pakistani regulars from Kargil sector, the victory belonged to the indomitable courage and selfless devotion to duty of the Indian infantryman and the overwhelming firepower of the artillery and the Indian Air Force.
SD Goswami
The total casualties suffered by us during the Kargil War were 527 killed (out which 462 were due to actual combat) and 1363 wounded. This includes casualties of all troops in the Kargil battle zone. Approximately 30 Infantry Battalions took part in the operations. Assuming that 90 % casualties were from the Infantry, on an average each battalion suffered 16 killed 41 wounded ie just 6 % of the unit strength of approximates 800 personnel. Pakistan suffered approximately 453 killed and 665 wounded out of approximately 5000 soldiers in battle ie about 20% of the total strength. Pakistani casualties were unusually high due to our much higher artillery fire power.
Approximately 70% of our casualties were due to Pakistani artillery and mortar fire despite the meagre resources employed. These figures should have led to a serious debate with respect to the structure, organisation and equipment of our infantry battalions. Also, that better mortar and artillery locating systems were required for counter bombardment to neutralise enemy mortars and guns.
