Modernisation of artillery has been neglected for over two decades. This despite the lessons learnt during the Kargil conflict of 1999, in which artillery firepower had undeniably paved the way for victory.
Limitations of manoeuvre
Firepower and manoeuvre are generally considered the two complementary
sides of the tactics coin. During future conventional conflict on the
Indian Sub-continent, large-scale manoeuvre will not be possible in the
mountains due to the restrictions imposed by the difficult terrain and
in the plains against Pakistan due to the need to avoid escalation to
nuclear levels. Hence, India's firepower capabilities need to be
enhanced by an order of magnitude, especially in terms of
Precision-Guided Munitions (PGMs). This will require substantial
upgradation of the firepower capabilities of India's armed forces.
Ground-based firepower resources comprising artillery guns, rockets and
missiles and aerially-delivered firepower consisting of fighter-bomber
aircraft and attack helicopters, both must be qualitatively as well as
quantitatively augmented. Similarly, sea-to-land attack capabilities
must also be enhanced.
Modernisation of the artillery has been neglected for over two decades,
despite the lessons learnt during the Kargil conflict of 1999, in which
artillery firepower had undeniably paved the way for victory.
Approximately 400 pieces of the 155 mm/39-calibre FH-77B Bofors
howitzers were acquired over 25 years ago. Though India paid for the
designs, the guns were never manufactured locally as commissions were
alleged to have been paid and Bofors brought down a government.
Since then, no new guns or howitzers have been introduced into service.
The artillery is now equipped with obsolescent weapons and equipment
like the 105 mm Indian Field Gun (IFG) that needs immediate replacement.
The artillery also requires large quantities of precision guided
munitions (PGMs) for the destruction of hard targets such as tanks and
bunkers and a potent real-time reconnaissance, surveillance and target
acquisition (RSTA) capability. And, in view of their performance in
Afghanistan and Iraq, the time has come to add UCAVs armed with PGMs to
the artillery's arsenal. Only then will it be possible to achieve future
military objectives, including the destruction of the adversary's war
machinery.
Large-scale overhaul
Under
the army's Field Artillery Rationalisation Plan (FARP) formulated in
1999, the Regiment of Artillery had decided to standardise the calibre
of its guns at 155 mm so as to ensure commonality of ammunition. The
artillery plans to acquire a total of 2,820 guns of all types to replace
obsolescent guns and to equip the new regiments that will form part of
17 Corps, the Mountain Strike Corps now under raising. The modernisation
plan had been stymied by the blacklisting of some firms in the fray.
One example is that of the project for the acquisition of 180 pieces of
155mm/52-caliber wheeled self-propelled (SP) guns.
The tender was cancelled after the trials were completed. The contenders
included Rheinmetal Defence of Germany and Konstrukta of the Slovak
Republic. Fresh tenders were issued and the proposals received are being
reviewed. The primary contenders now are the Teckwin 'K-9 Thunder' of
Samsung, South Korea and the Russian Rosoboronexport's tracked gun,
which is an upgraded 155 mm version of the 152 mm MSTA-S SP Gun.
The single largest artillery acquisition will be of 1,580 pieces of
towed 155 mm/52-calibre guns over a period of 12 to 15 years. Of these,
400 guns are to be imported and the remaining 1,180 produced in India
with transfer of technology (ToT). Over the last eight to 10 years,
several request for proposals that were floated for this project were
cancelled due to the corrupt practices being followed by some companies.
New tenders were floated for 155 mm/52-calibre long-range guns for the
plains and trials have been underway since October 2013. Trials are also
reported to be in progress for 100 pieces of self-propelled guns for
the desert terrain. 180 pieces of 130 mm M46 Russian guns have been
upgraded to 155mm/45-caliber with kits supplied by Soltam of Israel. The
maximum range of the gun has gone up from 27.5 to 39 km. Another 300
guns are proposed to be upgraded in due course.
Taking to long to decide
The MoD is also considering the acquisition of 145 pieces of 155
mm/39-calibre M777 howitzers of the US-based MNC BAE Systems for the
mountains through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route from the US in a
government-to-government deal. However, the deal is reportedly stuck
for want of agreement on the offsets obligations and upward revision in
the price intimated to Congress by the US government from $647 million
to $885 million. Also, as India has taken too long to decide, some of
the factories involved in the manufacture of various components of the
M777 have begun to close down. If this acquisition falls through, the
process will have to begin afresh.
Indigenous efforts to manufacture 155 mm howitzers include that by the
Ordnance Factories Board to produce a 45-calibre 155 mm howitzer. This
project was initially based on the designs for which Transfer of
Technology (ToT) was obtained from Bofors in the 1980s, but has matured
into an indigenous design during development.
Technical trials
The DAC approved a proposal from the OFB to manufacture 144 pieces of
155 mm/45-calibre howitzers with the option to acquire another 400
provided the prototypes successfully meet the army's GSQR in user
trials. The prototype of the OFB gun is undergoing technical trials.
Meanwhile, the DRDO has embarked on its own venture to design and
develop a 155 mm howitzer in partnership with a private sector company.
The acquisition of 814 truck-mounted guns that has been approved by the
Defence Minister recently will be undertaken under the “buy and make in
India” category with ToT. While the first 100 guns will be imported, the
remaining 714 will be produced in India. The total project cost is
estimated to be Rs 15,750 crore.
Several Indian companies are known to be interested in the indigenous
design and development of modern artillery systems in conjunction with
overseas partners. Bharat Forge (partner Elbit of Israel), Tata Power
SED (Denel, South Africa) and L&T (Nexter, France) are likely to bid
for this contract when the RfP is issued by the MoD.
Rocket launchers
Progress
on the multi-barrel rocket launcher front has been better than that in
the acquisition of tube artillery. A contract for the acquisition of two
regiments of the 12-tube, 300 mm Smerch multi-barrel rocket launcher
(MBRL) system with 90 km range was signed with Russia's Rosoboronexport
in early-2006. The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile (Mach 2.8 to 3.0),
with a precision strike capability, very high kill energy and maximum
range of 290 km, was inducted into the army in July 2007.
These terrain-hugging missiles are virtually immune to counter measures
due to their high speed and very low radar cross section. The
indigenously designed and manufactured Pinaka multi-barrel rocket system
is likely to enter service in the near future. These three weapon
systems together will provide a major boost to the artillery's ability
to destroy key targets at long ranges. However, a surface-to-surface
missile (SSM), with a range of 500-600 km, so that it can be fired from
the plains on targets in Tibet, is the missing link in planning for a
future war in the mountains.
Counter-bombardment capability
The counter-bombardment capability of the Army also needs to be
upgraded. At least about 40 to 50 weapon-locating radars (WLRs) are
required for effective counter-bombardment, especially in the plains,
but only 12 AN-TPQ 37 Firefinder WLRs have been acquired from Raytheon,
USA, under a 2002 contract worth US$200 million. Defence PSU Bharat
Electronics Limited is reported to be assembling 28 WLRs.
These radars will be based primarily on indigenous components with very
little import content and are likely to be approved for introduction
into service after extensive trials that are ongoing. The radar is
expected to match the capabilities of the Firefinder system and will
have a detection range of about 40 km.
Artillery modernisation must be given a major boost so that the Army's
firepower is enhanced quickly to the levels required to ensure victory
on future battlefields. In conjunction with aerially delivered
firepower, the artillery is the only combat arm that can cause
degradation and destruction of the adversary's combat potential and
ultimately break his will to fight.
Any further delay in the implementation of artillery modernisation plans
will be extremely detrimental to national security interests. If the
new projects that are now in the pipeline are pursued vigorously,
artillery modernisation will once again begin to gather steam.
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