NEW DELHI: The Indian Army’s Panaka Regiments are to get beefed up with their ammunition as the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) cleared on Wednesday the procurement
The approval involves "two contracts worth approximately Rs 10,000 crore" which are expected to be signed by March this year, said sources in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
There will be two seperate contracts worth Rs 6,050 crore and Rs 4,000 cr o be awarded to the lowest bidders.
Pinaka is multi-barrel rocket-launcher weapons systems with the Indian Army to hold 10 Regiments of it. Four have been raised and six more are to be operationalised.
The Pinaka system can deliver high-explosive pre-fragmented ammunition with a strike range of 45 km and area-denial munitions up to 37 km.
In 2021, as this newspaper reported, in a rare display of its long range offensive artillery capacity, the Indian Army’s units in LAC’s eastern sector showcased Pinaka Multi-barrel Rocket Launcher and Smerch Multi Rocket Launcher.
A battery of six launchers of Pinaka can fire a salvo of 72 rockets in 44 seconds and neutralise enemy assets in an area of 1000m by 800m. Additionally, upgraded version of Pinaka ammunition can land up to a range of 75km with superior precision.
The indigenously developed Pinaka rockets are meant to engage targets up to 38 km at mean sea level but its effectiveness changes in areas like mountains. “At these altitudes, the ranges are enhanced significantly which further augments the deep strike capabilities of the weapon systems.