Local 155mm ammunition, broader production vendor base: Army counters supply issues amid Russia-Ukraine war

The range of the standard Pinaka rocket is 38 km, while the range of the Guided Extended Range will be 75 km. However, futuristic plans include rockets with ranges up to 120, 180 and 300 km.

Briefing journalists on Thursday, Lt Gen Kumar said the Army has taken several steps to counter the supply chain issues thrown up by the ongoing global conflicts, particularly the Russia-Ukraine war.

This, he said, includes emphasising the indigenous production of a range of ammunition while also expanding the vendor base by including several private and public sector firms that can produce ammunition.

“Earlier, we were dependent on one agency for production of 155mm ammunition. Now, under the Make in India project, production of all types of 155 mm ammunition has been thrown open to the public and the private sector and the response has been good,” he said.

He added that in October and November, the Army will carry out trials of different types of 155 mm ammunition through private and public sector companies.

The ammunition manufacturing, he said, will not only include shells but also bi-modular charge systems and the fuses in front of the shell.

Besides this, the production and induction of futuristic ammunition are also on the cards for the Army. This includes nubless ammunition — used by major global armies — a proposal to procure which was cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) last year.

“A number of projects are underway to increase our capability in precision-guided and terminally guided ammunition,” he said.

In September last year, a top officer had said that the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has highlighted the need to have a judicious mix of rockets and guns in the Army’s artillery inventory, to acquire more precision targeting weapon systems and niche technologies and the criticality of a robust battlefield transparency.

The officer had also said that there is a need for adequate measures for “force preservation” or to protect the Indian forces from counter-bombardment of the enemy during a war and thus the requirement for more quantities of self-propelled guns, mounted guns systems or towed guns with auxiliary power units with a shoot and scoot capability.

Such key lessons from the war had emerged for the Indian artillery which are now being incorporated into its doctrines and capability development plans.

Lt Gen Kumar also said contracts for a range of artillery guns are at an advanced stage and could be concluded within this financial year. For instance, the DAC had already granted clearance to procure 100 additional K9 Vajra self-propelled Howitzers and further processes are on at present.

Additionally, he said, the trial reports of the advanced towed artillery gun systems or ATAGS are under evaluation and a contract is expected to be signed soon to procure 300 of those gun systems.

The Army has already signed a contract for the Dhanush guns with Jabalpur-based Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited (AWEIL), and Army teams located there are closely monitoring the progress of development of the Dhanush and the Sharang gun systems.

The 155mm guns will be the standard calibre of all artillery guns in line with worldwide trends going forward, the officer said.

Earlier, officials had said that while the western front requires more mounted gun systems and self-propelled gun systems, the towed gun systems with a shoot-and-scoot capability would be more apt for deployment along India’s mountainous northern borders.

Referring to the Pinaka rocket system as one of the world’s best rocket systems, Lt Gen Kumar said these rocket systems are versatile as they can fire a variety of ammunition, and that is where its efficacy comes in the battlefield.

“Trials are going on for the guided extended range of the Pinaka rockets, the high-altitude trials have been promising and the trials at the plains will be held next month. If these trials are successful, we hope to conclude the contract in quick time,” he said. The Army has five regiments of Pinaka rocket systems in service, while five additional regiments are on order.

Additionally, the Army is also looking at signing a contract to procure pre-fragmented explosives. These are a type of warhead containing pre-formed fragments that are ejected at high speeds when the warhead detonates, thus penetrating targets. Further, the Army might also soon procure area denial munition systems — weapons that limit the freedom of movement of opposing forces within a specific operational area and can be anti-tank and anti-personnel as well.

As per officers, the Army is at different stages of inducting niche technology equipment such as loiter munitions, swarm drones, runway-independent remotely piloted aircraft, latest weapon locating radars and battlefield surveillance radars.

The plan for ‘mediumisation’ with indigenous guns is likely to be completed by the year 2042, officers had earlier said.