Devlali (Maharashtra), September 27
To add more punch to the firepower of artillery, the Army has decided to upgrade its 130 mm guns to the level of 155 mm Howitzer guns, popularly known as Bofors guns, with the help of an Israeli consortium.

This ambitious plan of the Indian Army is expected to be completed in a phased manner before the end of the 10th Defence Plan, highly placed sources in the Artillery Regiment said here today.

The upgradation of the 1800-odd 130 mm guns to the level of Bofors guns will enhance manifold the firepower of the Artillery, which along with the Infantry Regiment was instrumental in evicting Pakistani regular soldiers who had occupied high-altitude mountain peaks and ridgelines in Kargil.

Addressing the visiting newspersons on the eve of the Artillery Regiment’s 174th Raising Day, Commandant of the School of Artillery, Lt-Gen Avtar Singh said “upgradation of 130 mm guns to 155 mm is going on as per schedule.”

While he refused to reveal the timeframe for the completion of the upgradation project, sources told The Tribune that an initial order for the supply of 120 gun barrels for the upgradation of 130 mm guns had already been placed with an Israeli consortium ‘Soltem’.

“The Israeli consortium has already delivered six gun barrels out of the initial lot of 120 and rest of the 114 barrels are expected to be delivered to the Gun and Shell factory, Jabalpur, once the testing of the upgraded version is carried out to the satisfaction of the Artillery Regiment,” a source said.

The upgradation of the 130 mm guns to the 155 mm level will enhance the firepower of the guns from the present 27 km to 37 km, almost at par with the Bofors guns which won us the battle in Kargil a couple of years ago.

The Artillery Regiment, which is the second largest arm of the Army constituting almost one-sixth of its total strength, is now engaged in realignment of its strategy and training programmes to face the challenges posed by a battlefield scenario emerging due to nuclearisation of our neighbourhood.

“We are studying various aspects of the nuclear scenario and honing our skills for it...We know the requirements and are devising a strategy,” Lt-Gen Avtar Singh told the visiting newspersons at the School of Artillery here.

“The nuclearisation of our neighbourhood and increased role of information technology in management and conduct of future wars have given rise to new challenges. There is a need to train our human resource in a manner so that it is adequately equipped and prepared to discharge its duties optimally in any future ‘high tech’ conflict,” he said.

On the possible induction of ‘Pinaka’, multi-barrel rocket launchers, Lt-Gen Avtar Singh maintained that “Pinaka is in the advanced stage of development and further improvements are being carried out.”

The induction of the indigenously developed Pinaka was test-fired during the Kargil war, but failed to meet the specifications.

Refusing to buy the idea that resource-crunch has severely affected the weapons buildup programme of the Artillery, Lt-Gen Avtar Singh asserted that “the Indian Army has adequate equipment, in terms of numbers and technology.”

However, he pointed out that the Artillery Regiment would continue to play a major role in winning future battles along with the other arms of the Indian Army.