NEW DELHI: The Indian Army’s top brass not only has picked up multiple lessons from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict but has also incorporated them into the future capability plans.
Elaborating on it, sources in the military establishment said that the ongoing conflict reaffirmed the role of firepower, “while Russians fired around 20,000 shells a day, Ukrainians fired around 5,000 shells.”
“Firepower is a battle-winning factor and the role of long-range vectors (rockets) and terminally guided munitions have emerged. Thus, we need to have a judicious mix of rockets and guns in our inventory,” an officer said, adding, “We also need to have more terminally guided munitions.”
Battlefield transparency is another aspect the Army has analysed that it should work about, he said.
“Time between acquiring and engaging targets has decreased from about 10 minutes to about 2 minutes, thus requiring a better kill chain. The war has also taught us about adopting measures for force preservation from the counter bombardment of guns. And with the way we are raising infrastructure, we are doing well,” he added.
"Prolonged operations have driven the fact that we need to be prepared for long-drawn wars and fight them with indigenous systems. In addition, we need to have a capability surge for arms and armaments through indigenous means."
It was in February 2022 that the Russia-Ukraine conflict unfolded, which has seen the use of conventional weapons for a stretched-out period. Lessons emerged, being incorporated into artillery doctrines and capability plans.
The Regiment of Artillery is said to be the second largest arm of the Indian Army, after the infantry. Artillery, with its missiles, guns, mortars, rocket launchers and unmanned aerial vehicles, is also described as an ‘Arm of Decision’.