New Delhi: Drawing lessons from the protracted Russia-Ukraine war, the Indian Army is seeking niche technology to beef up its artillery firepower while preparing itself for protracted war, a shift from the concept of short war that it was following.

Sources in the defence and security establishment said that the ongoing war against Ukraine showed the effective use of niche technology, such as loiter munitions, swarm drones or counter drone systems.

The sources said the role of fire power has been reaffirmed as a battle-bearing factor in the war. Nearly 80 percent of the casualties have been due to artillery fire, they said.

Terming firepower as a “battle-winning” factor, the sources said the manoeuvre forces (which perform manoeuvre warfare, seeking to assume ‘favourable position’ to inflict maximum damage) by themselves cannot guarantee “lasting results, and the ability to hold ground by ground forces is limited unless supported by the firepower.

Further, they said the role of the long-range vectors, such as rockets and missiles, in non-contact warfare has been truly established.

With the Russia-Ukraine war showing no signs of ending even after 18 months, sources stressed that it has driven home the point that the Indian Army also needs to be prepared for such operations.

“While the Russians have indigenous war industry, Ukraine has been largely dependent on the West for its all supplies. So, we need to have an indigenous arms industry for both our arms and armament that are based on our own capabilities,” said a source, adding that India also needs to be prepared for the capability of surge in arms and armament.

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Upping the Indian artillery

The sources said it is necessary for the Indian artillery to have a judicious mix of rockets and guns in its inventory. They emphasised that it was no longer a question of either/or when it came to rockets and guns.

One of them added that the so-called precision targeting by Russians using missiles, loitering munitions or even long-range artillery using terminally guided munitions have caused collateral damage, which raises “the need to have better precision and terminally guided munitions in the Indian inventory”.

Stressing on battlefield transparency, the source said it plays a major role because it helps identify the target and engage in real time.

Since the use of new-age weapons helps acquire targets in mere one to two minutes, and helps engage them quickly, denying “change in posture” (of the incoming target), the source said, there was an increasing need to have more effective sensor-to-shooter links, also called the ‘kill-chains’.

The source quoted above said, “We need to have adequate measures for our own force preservation from the counter bombardment of the enemy, which then points at more crucial acquisitions such as self-propelled guns, mounted gun systems and towed guns which are called auxiliary power units wherein they can shoot and scoot.”

The Army is also in the process of inducting 300 Sharang guns. These are up-gunned versions of the existing 130 mm guns. They have been converted to 155 mm guns which gives it longer fire power besides other enhancements.

The Army has also ordered 114 Dhanush guns, based on the Bofors design of which one regiment has already been equipped with these guns.

“By 2026, they should be giving us the balance of five regiments (batches) of weapons,” a source said, adding that the Army has also contracted for more Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher system, delivery of which will start next year.

The Army issued a Request For Proposal last month for the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) gun system. India has also procured 145 Ultra Lightweight Howitzer guns from the US which are operational along the northern borders.

(Edited by Smriti Sinha)

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