One of the greatest military leaders of all time Napoleon said,“Great battles are won with artillery.” It is true and been proven time and again. Artillery is a class of heavy military weapons which are used to engage and attack the enemy from distance. It was the Mughal emperor Babur who introduced artillery in India. Since then, the big guns have seen a lot of modernization with introduction of futuristic technologies.
Artillery in India has played a huge role in various battles. The Jaivan Cannon, present in Jaipur, was the biggest cannon of its time (1720). Fast forward to 21st century, it was in Kargil were the big guns changed the game. So here, we are going to see the mighty artillery weapons used by the Indian Army.
Artillery of Indian Army:
In Indian Army, the Regiment of Artillery controls and operate all the artillery guns and systems. Various equipment held by this regiment can be broadly classified into Mortars, Field Artillery, Medium Artillery, Self-propelled Artillery and Surveillance equipment.
Mortars
It is usually a lightweight, lightweight, portable weapon, consisting of a smooth-bore metal tube centered on a base plate with a lightweight bipod/tripod mount. The different mortars used by Indian Army are:
- OFB E1 51mm
- OFB E1 81mm
- OFB E1 120mm
- L16 81mm mortar
Field Artillery
105mm Indian Field Gun
Origin: Indian
Developer: Armament Research and Development Establishment (DRDO)
Towed gun
Max Firing Range: 17.2 kms
Medium Artillery
130mm M-46 Field Gun
Origin: Soviet
Developer: MOTZ (Russia), Soltam (Israel) and OFB (India)
Towed gun
Max Firing Range: 27.5 kms
Variants: Upgunned Soltam 155mm, IOB Sharang 155mm (indegineous)
155mm Haubits FH77
Origin: Swedish
Developer: Bofors
Towed and vehicle mounted
Max Firing Range: 24 kms
Variants: FH77 A, FH77 B and Archer (self propelled)
155mm Dhanush Howitzer
Origin: Indian
Developer: Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited
Towed and vehicle mounted on Tatra truck
Max Firing Range: 38 kms
155mm M777 Howitzer
Origin: United Kingdom
Developer: BAE Systems, UK
Towed and tank mounted
Max Firing Range: 24 kms
Currently deployed in the front with China
155mm Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System
Origin: Indian
Developer: Armament Research and Development Establishment (DRDO)
Towed gun
Max Firing Range: 48 kms
Self-propelled Artillery
K9 Vajra
Origin: South Korean
Developer: Agency for Defence Development and Samsung Aerospace Industries; produced by L&T in India
Armament: 155mm main gun and 12.7mm HMG as secondary weapon
Crew: 5
Max Firing Range: 18-54 kms
Surveillance equipment
IAI Heron UAV
Origin: Israel
Developer: Israel Aerospace Industries
Medium-altitude long endurance UAV
Endurance: 52 hours upto 10.5 kms
Indian Army has 4 of these on lease
Weapon Locating Radar ‘Swathi’
Origin: Indian
Developer: Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (DRDO) and Bharat Electronics Ltd.
Range: Artillery → 2-30 km
Rockets → 4-40 km
Mortars → 2-20 km
