EXCLUSIVE! Eye on China, Indian Army is raising two more Pinaka regiments along LAC
Training for these regiments is underway, with completion expected in six months. The Pinaka system, manufactured by private sector entities like Tata Group and Larsen and Toubro, is designed to rapidly deliver firepower against critical targets. Anish Kumar reports
FollowThe Indian Army has begun the process of raising two new regiments of indigenously developed and produced Pinaka Multiple Launch Rocket System along the northern borders with China to bolster its artillery firepower capability. A part of six sanctioned Pinaka regiments, the 214-mm multi-barrel rocket launch system will be deployed in the northern borders with China amid the ongoing border standoff along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.Â
Sources in the defence establishment said that the training of the personnel for these regiments are underway. The process would be completed in the next 6 months. Currently, the Indian Army has four Pinaka regiments operating along the western border with Pakistan and the northern border with China. In artillery, a unit is also called a regiment.Â
In 2018, the defence ministry’s highest decision-making body -- the Defence Acquisition Council had given clearance for six additional Pinaka regiments and in 2020 the ministry signed contracts with Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), Tata Power Company Limited and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) for its supply to the Regiment of Artillery at an approximate cost of Rs 2580 crore.
All the six regiments were supposed to be raised by 2024. However, sources said that the process for raising only two is on and be completed in the next few months. These six Pinaka Regiments comprise 114 launchers with Automated Gun Aiming & Positioning System (AGAPS) and 45 Command Posts to be procured from TPCL and L&T and 330 Vehicles to be procured from BEML.
Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher systems are manufactured by two leading private sector entities, including Tata Group and Larsen and Toubro (L&T).
Know about Pinaka system
Each regiment has three batteries of six Pinaka launchers, each capable of launching 12 rockets with a range of 40 km in a space of 44 seconds. Aiming to phase out the Russia-origin Grad BM-21 rocket system, the Indian Army requires 22 regiments of Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launch systems, with automated gun-aiming and positioning systems, and command posts as well.
In the long-range rocket artillery, the indigenously developed Pinaka will be going to be the mainstay in the Indian Army’s firepower arsenal. The Pinaka system is meant to rapidly deliver a large volume of firepower against critical targets in sensitive areas.
Equipped with quick response capabilities and relatively high pointing accuracy, it can efficiently engage time-sensitive enemy targets within a short timeframe.
Export potential
Amid Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, India has delivered an order of four Pinaka batteries worth Rs 2,000 crore to Armenia. There are several countries which have evinced interest in this system, include Indonesia and Nigeria.
