Long Range Rockets in India

Syllabus: GS3/Defense and Security

Context

• Recently, the Indian Army aims for long-range Rockets and futuristic ammunition, after building on the lessons from the Ukraine war and the offensive in Gaza by Israel.

About the Extended Range Rockets

• The Indian Army is looking at long-range rockets and looking to extend the range of the indigenous Pinaka Multi-Barrel Rocket Launch System (MRLS) rockets up to 300 kms in coming times.

• Trials are underway for guided extended-range Pinaka rockets. These rockets promise improved accuracy and can cover distances of up to 75 kilometres and beyond.
• The Indian Army has approved the procurement of the Pralay tactical ballistic missiles (with a range of 400 km) and Nirbhay subsonic cruise missiles (with a range of 1000 km).
• DRDO was in the process of developing hypersonic missiles for the defence forces of the country.

Artillery Transformation

• The Indian Army has a roadmap to standardise all its artillery guns to the 155mm calibre. It streamlines logistics, maintenance, and training.
• The High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), similar to what the US supplied to Ukraine, also uses guided rockets. The Indian Army is keen on adopting similar technology to maximise precision and effectiveness.

Nirbhay Missile – It is a Long Range Subsonic Cruise Missile capable of deep penetration into adversary territory to strike high value targets with precision. – It is being adopted for launch from sea and air platforms.  – India is in the list of select few countries having capability to design and develop this class of cruise missiles. ‘Pralay’ Missile – It is a surface-to-surface short-range (350-500 km), surface-to-surface ballistic missile with a payload capacity of 500-1,000 kg. Pinaka Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) – It is an all-weather, multi-barrel artillery weapon system to deliver a large volume of fire within a very short time against critical and sensitive area targets.  – It has quick response time and relatively high pointing accuracy.

Source: TH