Indian Army Artillery

Okabe Rintarou

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View attachment 170220
Spot and ID the gun.

Have no frickin clue how anyone can get that thing on that rock, unless it was helicopter. Its not an M777, and tbh it doesn't even look like the 105mm Indian Field Gun, but those are the only two choices based on where that thing is. So I'd go with the 105.

Makes sense to place the gun there though. Very difficult to hit it with counter battery.

EDIT: Wait, could it be they got it there by diassembling, hauling on mules and then assembling on spot?
 

mist_consecutive

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Have no frickin clue how anyone can get that thing on that rock, unless it was helicopter. Its not an M777, and tbh it doesn't even look like the 105mm Indian Field Gun, but those are the only two choices based on where that thing is. So I'd go with the 105.

Makes sense to place the gun there though. Very difficult to hit it with counter battery.

EDIT: Wait, could it be they got it there by diassembling, hauling on mules and then assembling on spot?
105mm IFG

This is probably a showpiece like you see in front of the gate of military cantonments. Keeping it atop the rock is just flex, there is no operational sense in keeping it there.
 

Okabe Rintarou

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This is probably a showpiece like you see in front of the gate of military cantonments. Keeping it atop the rock is just flex, there is no operational sense in keeping it there.
Yeah, a closer look does show how that rock is too rocky for artillery emplacement. So it is probably a showpiece or flex like you said. But in other cases, it does make sense to perch artillery atop such narrow ridge lines because enemy's counter-battery CEP increases drastically. Remember that Western dude rebutting Balakote strikes? He made a similar argument about how missing by a meter in plains would actually translate to missing by tens of meters in mountain terrain. Although displacing/scooting from that such a narrow and steep ridgeline would be difficult. So its a trade-off.
 

WolfPack86

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M777, centrepiece of army’s deployment in Arunachal
The Dinjan base in Assam is one of the army’s nerve centres of operations along the China border across which the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has ramped up military activity

TEZU (ARUNACHAL PRADESH):
A light howitzer imported by India from the US has emerged as the centrepiece of the army’s weapon deployment along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh to counter the Chinese military build-up, with the gun’s tactical mobility - it can be transported by Chinook helicopters - giving the army multiple options for a firepower boost in remote areas, officials familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

The M777 ultra-light howitzers have given the army the capability to move heavy firepower with ease across multiple valleys in Arunachal Pradesh, said Major General MS Bains, the commander of Dinjan-headquartered 2 Mountain Division whose elements (including the guns) are deployed along LAC.

The Dinjan base in Assam is one of the army’s nerve centres of operations along the China border across which the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has ramped up military activity, amid the lingering border standoff in eastern Ladakh, the officials said.

Dinjan has a decades-old Chinese link - it was the centrepiece of the largest airlift during World War II when US aircraft flew dangerous missions from this base and over the Himalayas to deliver supplies to Kunming in China against the Japanese in the Burma campaign.

Dinjan now provides critical support to the army’s deployments along LAC, including operating the Israeli-origin Heron unmanned aerial vehicles for strategic and tactical missions and armed helicopters equipped with anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

The forces under Bains’ command include artillery units with M777s that can be swiftly deployed and redeployed in mountains. To be sure, the guns are deployed in Ladakh too.

The mobility of a weapon system is a game-changer in mountains, said military affairs expert Lieutenant General DB Shekatkar (retd). “We can place the M777 at the desired place for the desired effect any time,” he added.

India ordered 145 howitzers from the US for $750 million in November 2016. M777 manufacturer BAE Systems delivered 25 ready-built howitzers and the remaining guns have been/are being built locally in collaboration with Mahindra Defence under the Modi government’s Make in India initiative.

The 155 mm/39-caliber howitzers have a range of up to 30km, but it is capable of striking targets at ranges of more than 40 km in some areas where the geography allows the shells to fly in rarefied air.

Built with titanium and aluminium alloys, the howitzers weigh 4,218 kg. In contrast, 155mm towed guns weigh twice as much. The Indian Air Force’s CH-47F Chinook helicopters can carry the howitzers as an underslung load for swift deployment in high-altitude areas.

India has also deployed the 155 mm FH 77 BO2 guns, better known as Bofors, in Arunachal Pradesh.

The army has deployed several modern weapons and platforms, ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) systems, high-tech sensors and radars, UAVs and modern communication equipment in the eastern sector, the officials said.

The army, which has focused on counter-insurgency operations in the North-east for decades, has carried out an overarching reorientation of its forces to sharpen its focus on LAC in the eastern sector, even as induction of new weapons and systems, capability building and a strong infrastructure push form the bedrock of its strategy to counter challenges along the border with China, Hindustan Times reported on Thursday.

Capability building along the China border tops the government’s priorities.

In August, defence minister Rajnath Singh handed over to the army indigenously developed military hardware including assault boats for patrolling Pangong lake in Ladakh, new battle gear to make troops more lethal, high-mobility protected vehicles, remotely piloted aerial systems, detection equipment and gear for improved communication.
 

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