BOOK YOUR COPY NOW! August-September 2019 Volume 16 No. 4 `100.00 (India-Based Buyer Only) SP’s ND Military AN SP GUIDE P UBLICATION 192 GUNNERS Yearbook 2019 SP’s DAY SPECIAL For details, go to page 7 WWW.SPSLANDFORCES.COM ROUNDUP THE ONLY MAGAZINE IN ASIA-PACIFIC DEDICATED to LAND FORCES IN THIS ISSUE >> LEAD STORY PAGE 4 Artillery Ammunition and Missiles: Destruction Power of Artillery Modernisation of Artillery: Bigger Bang During 1850, solid shot, which was for the Buck spherical in shape, and black powder were standard ammunition for guns. Howitzers ‘Future battlefield will be characterised by short and intense engagements requiring fired hollow powder-filled shells which were ignited by wooden fuses filled with slow- integrated and coordinated employment of all fire power resources including burning powder. precision and high lethality weapon systems in a hybrid warfare environment.’ Lt General Naresh Chand (Retd) PAGE 6 Indian Artillery Celebrates 192nd Gunners Day LT GENERAL NaresH CHAND (Retd) Artillery Rationalisation Plan 2000 in 1987 got embroiled in kickbacks and The Artillery is presently engaged in There had been no acquisition of guns corruption. This lead to large voids in fire modernising in terms of equipment and Role of Indian Artillery for the Indian Artillery since 1987 when power when on the other hand the war sce- support systems under ‘Make in India’ The artillery has always been a battle win- the acquisition of 39-calibre 155mm FH- nario visualised a two front war. This dic- initiative of the Modi Government. ning factor as it can shower death on the 77B howitzers from Sweden’s AB Bofors tated that the strength of artillery should troops in the open and also Lt General P.C. Katoch (Retd) destroy bunkers with deadly PAGE 9 accuracy. This was clearly Strategic Partnership for ‘Make in India’ evident in Kargil where the In order to achieve the goal of self-reliance Indian Artillery pulverized through ‘Make in India’, it is necessary to Pakistan bunkers, kept their invest in long term indigenous capabilities heads down and made the through special partnership model. task of assaulting Indian infantry easier. Jayant Patil Modernisation of Indian PAGE 10 Artillery is based on the Wishing You a Happy Equipment for Law Enforcement for envisaged role in the current Minimum Invasive Violence and future battle milieu. The Modern day law enforcement personnel role could be defined as the Gunners’ Day have to operate in a more transparent integrated and coordinated society with increasingly complex laws of employment of all avail- the land which include human rights where able firepower resources to they are subject to greater accountability. shape the battlefield and to Lt General Naresh Chand (Retd) degrade the enemy in con- tact and in depth battle to PAGE 12 achieve decisive victory of Defeat the Night with Image Intensifiers the enemy. The fire power Sensor fusion combines image intensifier could include all types of and thermal imaging technologies into one guns, mortars, missiles and device. Such a combination enables a user where required the Indian to view the image in much greater part of Air Force. the light spectrum which spans from visible Future battlefield. to near-infrared to long-wave infrared and The future battlefield will be to see the image in the visible and thermal characterised by short and spectrum. intense engagements; non- Lt General Naresh Chand (Retd) linear battles; simultane- ity of operations; increased On the 192nd Gunners’ Day, we reaffirm our PAGE 14 battle field transparency; commitment to support the Indian Artillery’s 20 Years of DSEI: Latest Land Warfare integrated and coordinated quest for modernisation and bespoke Developments employment of all fire power solutions. At BAE Systems, we are delighted Out of six zones that make up the DSEI resources including pre- to have begun delivering the M777 Ultra event, the Land Zone stood out with a vast cision and high lethality Lightweight Howitzer enabled by assembly, array of innovative industrial advancements weapon systems in a hybrid integration and testing in country. throughout the event. warfare environment. The Ayushee Chaudhary battle will be fought under baesystems.com the shadow of a nuclear, PLUS biological and chemical News in Brief 15 warfare threat. 4/2019 SP’s LAND FORCES 1 >> LEAD STORY This issue coincides with the the modernisation of Artillery has the same time the fire power in arms fair in the world wrapped a Gunner’s Day which is celebrat- accelerated at a faster pace, af- the hands of these citizens has successful 20th year, held from ed on September 28 every year. ter decades of stagnation. The become more lethal. This leads September 10 to 13, 2019, in The origin of the raising day is next article is on Artillery ammu- to the perennial vexed question of London. We have a report on traced back to formation of the 5 nition which includes ammuni- the degree of force to be applied. this biennial event is a principal Mountain Bombay (now Mumbai) tion for guns, rockets, mortars; The Law Enforcement profession event that brings together gov- Battery on September 28, 1827. and missiles. The current thrust probably first began with “an eye ernments, national armed forces, The motto of the Regiment of is on Precision Guided Muni- for an eye” however modern day industry leaders and the global Artillery is Sarvatra Izzat-o-Iqbal tions (PGM) which is a guided law enforcement personnel have defence and security supply (Everywhere with Honour and munition designed to precisely to operate in a more transparent chain on an unrivaled scale. Glory).Thus this issue is dedi- hit a specific target. The termi- society with increasingly complex Then there is the usual news cated to the Regiment of Artillery nal guidance unit is designed to laws of the land which include hu- digest and flag postings. We which also includes a message sense emitted or reflected elec- man rights and greater account- wrap this edition with wishing from Lt General K. Ravi Prasad, tro-magnetic radiation. During ability. In India the main threat is a Happy Gunners Day on Sep- Director General Artillery. the Cold War period, the Soviet terrorism/low intensity conflict op- tember 28th. May you succeed The lead article is on mod- Union’s superior tank force pre- erations in J&K, terrorism in other in every battle with Honour and ernisation of Regiment of Artil- sented a serious conventional states and Left Wing Extremism. Glory. We also wish our discern- EDITORIAL lery. Modernisation of any arm threat to US and NATO forces In such an operating environment ing readers happy Dussehra and will be based on its role in the in Europe which was partly off- the selection of equipment and Diwali. modern battlefield. For Artillery it set by US nuclear weapons but weapons requires deep reflection could be defined as the integrat- the requirement was to provide a and intense training. In modern ed and coordinated employment non-nuclear offset which started battle field it is very important of all available firepower resourc- the evolution of PGMs. to defeat the night with modern es to shape the battlefield and Then there is an interesting technology thus read all about it to degrade the enemy in contact article on equipment (including in this issue. and in depth battle to achieve weapons) for Law Enforcement Defence & Security Equip- decisive victory of the enemy. Agencies as these agencies are ment International (DSEI), one of JAYANT BARANWAL During the last couple of years, dealing with own citizens and at the largest and most significant Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Photographs: BAE Systems, SP Guide Pubns be such that it could support a two front war dure’ in Defence Procurement Procedure fought simultaneously. (DPP)-2016. The revised procedure has Seeing the alarming state of the nation’s been finalised after a series of consultations firepower capability, Gunners after a hiatus held with industry and is aimed ‘better bang of thirteen years came up with the Field for the buck’. Artillery Rationalisation Plan (FARP) in 2000. As part of FARP, 155mm calibre was Current Status of FARP made the standard gun system for Indian BAE Systems’ M777 155mm/39 Cali- Artillery. Accordingly, ‘Artillery Profile’ was bre Ultra Lightweight Howitzers (ULH). conceived and promulgated with emphasis The M777 is the world’s first 155 mm How- on Mediumisation’ of Artillery. The plans itzer weighing less than 10,000 lbs (4,218 were rather ambitious and involved the kg). Selected by the US Marine Corps and acquisition of about 3000 plus guns by US Army as their next generation Medium 2025 at an estimated cost of $8 billion. Artillery weapon, designated M777, the These guns included: gun has undergone an engineering and l 1,580 towed gun systems (TGS) manufacturing development programme l 814 mounted gun systems (MGS) in the US. M777 is now in full rate pro- l 100 self-propelled howitzers (SPHs) duction for the US Armed Forces. The con- l 145 BAE Systems M777 155mm/39 tract for procurement of 145 numbers of calibre lightweight howitzers for the 155mm/39 calibre ULH was signed with mountains US Government in November 2016. These Expect for M777, all other gun systems howitzers are being procured under US For- were of 155mm/52 calibre or 45 calibre. eign Military Sales Programme. As per the Existing inventory was to be upgraded to contract, US Government will deliver 25 add to the numbers. fully formed howitzers from USA/UK and balance 120 howitzers will be assembled in The Blue Print for 3000 Guns India. The delivery of these howitzers will be Following aspects are part of the strategy: completed over a period of four years.