WTF? Why? I seriously hope that Gen Rawat's statement was taken out of context. I almost can't believe he would do this. Maybe he said something along the lines of "We are also developing our Rocket Forces to counter China's PLARF".
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I don't see any reason for separating Rocket Artillery and Missile Units from the Regiment of Artillery. These assets are already concentrated in Artillery Divisions. They need similar SATA assets, which again falls under Regiment of Artillery. So what now? Are we going to separate Guns and Rockets/Missiles and SATA as well into different Arms of the Army? Even if he is envisaging a doctrinal shift, there is no need for separate Arms. He can simply raise Artillery Formations that are all Rocket Heavy and are available to each IBG, maybe in form of a Composite Rocket Battalion with two batteries of Pinaka and one battery of Smerch/Pinaka 2. Make it part of the Artillery brigade of each IBG.
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What purpose does this achieve?
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Could they not have added those elements to the Armoured Corps or is it one of those "smart" moves to play regiment politics within the forces?
No not Armoured Corps. Rocket Arty is part of Regiment of Artillery. Mostly found in our four Artillery Divisions.
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I believe the Rocket forces are similar to the Soviet way
What Soviets did was termed "manuever by fire." Indian Army does the same using its Artillery Divisions that are heavy on Rocket and Missile assets. No need for a separate force.
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To counter PLA 2nd artillery corps now renamed something.
Just raise dedicated Rocket Artillery or Missile formations tied to long range SATA assets for counter-battery against the PLA Rocket Force. No need to create own separate Rocket Force even if we acquire 100 new Rocket Regiments for this.
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PLA having a separate Rocket Force is mostly a legacy issue for them. Would be foolish to blindly copy. More importantly, we need a separate Command (forget having a separate force) for Special Operations, Cyber and Space. Right now we only got agencies for these. That is where the priorities should lie.
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Just to clarify, "Agency" means headed by a 2-star rank, "Command" means headed by 3-Star rank and "Force" means headed by a Four Star rank (Basically a new Service Branch). Which is why when the tweet quotes General Rawat as saying "a new dedicated Rocket Force", I think its something taken out of context. General Rawat would have to be crazy to suggest an "Indian Rocket Force" as a new Service Arm of the Indian Armed Forces.