The Indian Army redesigned its vehicle.
New Delhi: China has deployed its PLA Army, Air Force and rocket force in Tibet on the other side of the LAC. Indian Army has also deployed its rocket force at the entire LAC and during the Republic Day parade, India will showcase a new avatar of the Indian Army’s multi-barrel rocket launcher.
To give more strength to the old grade, the Indian Army redesigned its vehicle. According to the report, the launchers of the Grad are currently fully fit for firing. The 6 x 6 carrier on which this system was installed was outdated hence the Indian Army changed the vehicle and replaced it with Ashok Leyland’s Super Stallion 6 x 6 truck.
Each rocket weighs about 65 kg. When 40 rockets are fired one after the other, the maximum pressure is taken by the vehicle. This new vehicle of Grad also has a shocker lock due to which the tires of the vehicle get jammed. The BM-21 Grad launcher that appeared on Kartavya Path is old but the carrier is completely new.
About 4 decades ago, India purchased Grad from Russia. It also helped India win the Kargil War. Talking about its firepower, it can hit targets up to 50 km away. A 122 mm rocket is fired in it. The system consists of 40 launch tubes.
It can fire 40 rockets in just 20 seconds. That’s 2 rockets every second. The rocket travels at a speed of 2520 km per hour, i.e. more than 2 Mach. The system can be easily loaded twice.
Rockets can be loaded into a stationary launcher, but the entire launcher tube can be removed from the truck and placed on another loaded launcher vehicle. If this work is manual then it takes 30 minutes, and if the machine is used then the rocket is ready to fire again in just 15 minutes.
The Indian Army has 5 units. Each unit has three batteries and each has six launchers. Each unit also has some reserve launchers. In total, there are close to 150 Grad rocket launchers. The cost of a rocket of BM-21 is said to be around Rs 5-6 lakh.
The Pinaka rocket launcher is indigenous. One battery of Pinaka has 6 firing units, i.e. launchers. There are 12 tubes in a launcher, i.e. there are a total of 72 rockets in a battery. All these rockets are launched in just 44 seconds. Immediately after launching, the launchers change their location and then become armed again.
The Pinaka has a range of 38 km. Firing the entire battery simultaneously can completely destroy the enemy’s 1000 X 800-meter area. One round of this is said to be around 25-30 lakh rupees. Each rocket weighs 278 kg.
At present, the Indian Army has 4 regiments of Pinaka. Each regiment has three batteries and each has six launchers. By 2027, the number of its regiments in the army will be 10. Work on a new avatar of Pinaka is also underway. The Pinaka Extended Range has been successfully tested. Its range is being increased from 37 km to 75 km. Work is to be done to increase its range to 120 and 300 km.
Russia’s ‘Smerch’ is the longest hitting rocket launcher in the Indian Artillery Regiment. Its 3 operational regiments are with the Indian Army. Its firepower is more than 90 km. It has four launchers in one battery. Each launcher has 12 tubes, i.e. a battery has 48 rockets.
All these rockets will leave the tube in just 40 seconds. One battery of Smerch can destroy any target in the enemy’s 1200 X 1200-meter area. Talking about the price of its rocket, it is said to cost about Rs 90 lakh to Rs 1 crore.
