72nd Republic Day: 7 weapon systems to watch out for
India will celebrate its 72nd Republic Day on January 26 with curtailed programmes, shorter route for the parade and much less public participation in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic. A host of modern weapons and communications systems will be on display as they roll down the Rajpath on designated vehicles offering their salute to the Commander-in-Chief President Ram Nath Kovind. Let's look at the military equipment that would be a part of the mechanised columns of Indian Army’s marching contingents on Tuesday
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FollowTank T-90 (Bhishma)
T-90 will be the first column in the Mechanised Columns of the Indian Army. It will be is commanded by Captain Karanveer Singh Bhangu of 54 Armoured Regiment.
The is designed on the Hunter-Killer concept. It is equipped with a powerful 125 mm smoothbore gun with one 7.62 mm co-axial machine gun and a 12.7 mm anti-aircraft gun.
The tank can fire laser-guided missiles and engage targets at distances of up to five Kilometers during the night. It is also capable of moving under water.
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Ballway Machine Pikate(BMP-II)
The Infantry Combat Vehicle (ICV) BMP-II, Sarath is a high mobility Infantry combat Vehicle with potent armament and state of the art night fighting capability. It will be led by Capt Akshay Rastogi of the 3rd Battalion Brigade of the Guards (1st Rajputana Rifles).
BMP is fitted with a 30-millimetre Automatic Gun, 7.62 mm PKT Machine Gun and extremely accurate Konkurs Missile.
The ICV of Indian Army has recently been upgraded with Thermal Imaging Sight Kit (TISK) which gives it a capability to destroy any unknown enemy target up to a distance of four Kilometers at night. It is one of the best amphibious fighting vehicles in the world.
BrahMos Weapon System
861 Missile Regiment’s Captain Quamrul Zaman will lead the BrahMos contingent during the parade. This missile has been developed as a joint venture between India and Russia.
The missile has a maximum range of 400 km which can strike targets deep inside the enemy territory with precision and devastating effect.
The all-weather fire and forget missile is capable of being launched from multiple platforms based on land and sea.
Pinaka Multi Launcher Rocket System
Captain Vibhor Gulati of 841 Rocket Regiment will lead this detachment.
The 214 mm Pinaka MBRL is one of the most advanced rocket systems of the world.
A fully automated system, it can deliver destructive firepower within a short span of time over a large area.
Bridge Laying Tank T-72
The bridge layer tank T-72 is specially designed equipment fitted on T72 chassis after removing its turret and weapons.
It carries a 20 m bridge and has built-in equipment/systems to facilitate launching of bridges over trenches, steep slopes, anti-tank ditches or natural obstacles for making way for advancing fighting forces.
The contingent would be led by 119 Assault Engineer Regiment’s Captain Sachit Sharma and accompanied by 9 Engineer Regiment Captain Amit Gawar.
Samvijay Electronic Warfare System
The Samvijay is a compact and extremely agile Electronic Warfare System which assists in gaining highly valuable signal intelligence from the Electromagnetic Spectrum used by the adversary.
Led by Corps of Signals’ Captain Shubham Sharma of 2 Electronic Warfare Battalion, the system has demonstrated tremendous capabilities as a Force Multiplier to the fighting forces by providing high precision intelligence and insight into adversary’s battle intentions.
Schilka Weapon System
The upgraded Schilka weapon system, equipped with modern radar and digital fire control computers, has the ability to destroy wartime targets for low-level air defence in all-weather, keeping an accurate eye on targets.
The contingent will be led by Captain Preeti Choudhary of 140 Air Defence Regiment (Self Propelled).
