HIT TO KILL: THE ARTILLERY SAGA

At a time when India is increasingly facing the threat of a two-front war on its borders, it will be very apt to conclude that the Indian Army’s artillery modernisation drive requires a tremendous thrust from the government, argues AMARTYA SINHA

- AMARTYA SINHA

On October 20, 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 terrorist camps along with Pakistani fire support bases and bunkers. The 155mm shells 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 BM- 30 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.

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-2 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 two decades, India has now developed the capability to hit pre-designated targets with tremendous precision thus minimising civilian deaths on the other side of the fence.