TIME FOR A ROBUST ARTILLERY FORCE

At a time when India is increasingly facing a multi-front challenge on her borders, it is quite evident that the Indian artillery modernisation programme needs a massive thrust from the government, argues

- AMARTYA SINHA

Following an intelligence tipoff in October 2019, the Indian Army launched massive artillery strikes across the Line of Control in Kashmir. The targets, located 40-50 km deep inside Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), consisted of four major Islamic terrorist camps along with Pakistani fire support bases and bunkers. The 155mm rounds fired from Bofors Haubits FH-77and Dhanush howitzers scored deadly and accurate hits on the pre-designated high-value targets.

The mobilisation of 155mm heavy artillery guns along with very high calibre 214mm Pinaka and 300mm BM30 Smerch multi-barrel rocket launchers (MBRL) on the border carried a clear message to Islamabad that India was ready to up the ante at a very short notice, in case of further provocations. A similar message was also conveyed to China after the Galwan Valley clashes in 2020 and the ensuing standoff at the LAC, when India mobilised heavy artillery systems on the border.

While medium machinegun engagements, mortar bombardment and usage of ATGMs (anti-tank guided missiles) for strafing border posts and bunkers have been quite frequent since the NDA government took over in 2014, large cross-border artillery exchanges were a rarity since the end of the 1971 India-Pakistan war. But with tremendous improvements in navigation and guidance systems of artillery shells and missiles in the last three decades, India has now developed the capability to hit pre-designated targets with tremendous precision thus minimising the possibility of civilian casualties on the other side of the fence.