Indian MBRLS Pinaka Thread

[abhay rajput]

22 Pinaka Regiments will hold 1.89 lakh rockets.

PDF Contains many more details.

How many do we have now .? Any idea

 

[Bhurki]

22 regiments = 440 launchers = 5280 launch tubes
(3 batteries with 6 launchers each and extra 2 launchers for Hq for a total of 20 launchers)
189,000/5280 = 36 reloads.

I must admit it seems highly unlikely that this number could be achieved even considering favourable quoted prices.
1 incendiary/HE rocket for pinaka-1 was said to cost Rs. 2 million ($30,000).

$30k x 190k = $5.7B, which is a massive amount, considering the entire capital budget for Indian Army in 2020-21 budget was just $4.2B and there's a lot of other capital acquisitions that'll take away money like T90, Arjun, Qrsam, Arty guns etc.

At the very best, i don't see production of these rockets exceeding 10k units per year for atleast next 5 years.
Thats enough armament for raising a total of about 5 regiments or 1/year, including the acquisition costs of the launcher and guidance units ( $300m for 1 regiment)

 

[Chinmoy]

How many do we have now .? Any idea

6 Battery at present . 6 more are on order.

 

[Raj Malhotra]

As per my understanding. Only 4 Regiments of Pinaka have actually been ordered comprising of around 80 launchers. Rockets ordered are 35,000. Even this Order has not been completed by OFB.

 

[saketkr]

I must admit it seems highly unlikely that this number could be achieved even considering favourable quoted prices.
1 incendiary/HE rocket for pinaka-1 was said to cost Rs. 2 million ($30,000).

$30k x 190k = $5.7B, which is a massive amount, considering the entire capital budget for Indian Army in 2020-21 budget was just $4.2B and there's a lot of other capital acquisitions that'll take away money like T90, Arjun, Qrsam, Arty guns etc.

At the very best, i don't see production of these rockets exceeding 10k units per year for atleast next 5 years.
Thats enough armament for raising a total of about 5 regiments or 1/year, including the acquisition costs of the launcher and guidance units ( $300m for 1 regiment)

Why is the Pinaka Rocket so costly, does it have low percentage of indigenous contents! How does the cost match up with equivalent rockets globally?

 

[Chinmoy]

As per my understanding. Only 4 Regiments of Pinaka have actually been ordered comprising of around 80 launchers. Rockets ordered are 35,000. Even this Order has not been completed by OFB.

In 2016 approval for further two batteries had been given.

 

[IndianHawk]

As per my understanding. Only 4 Regiments of Pinaka have actually been ordered comprising of around 80 launchers. Rockets ordered are 35,000. Even this Order has not been completed by OFB.

We have been building 5000 pinaka per year since at least 2014. It was PIB published info back then .

 

[Raj Malhotra]

The aim was to achieve production of 5000 Rockets per annum but manufacturing plant is not complete and is delayed since .... guesss.... 10 years.

 

[IndianHawk]

The aim was to achieve production of 5000 Rockets per annum but manufacturing plant is not complete and is delayed since .... guesss.... 10 years.

Nope they were being produced at 5000 per year according to PIB .

 

[ezsasa]

We have been building 5000 pinaka per year since at least 2014. It was PIB published info back then .

nope, as of 2017-18 parliamentary committee on defence report, funds were being released for upgrading the plant.

there is a discussion of this topic at that time, here at DFI. You can search for it.

 

[Bhurki]

Why is the Pinaka Rocket so costly, does it have low percentage of indigenous contents! How does the cost match up with equivalent rockets globally?

An M270 mlrs rocket costs about $100k
So pinaka's *quoted* price at $30k(i don't expect Infia MIC to be able to deliver the product at this price) is quite a bargain. One Bm30 smerch rocket costs about $50k (no link, but i crunched some numbers back when India bought smerch systems).

The entire guidance system for the rocket is bought from Sagem, France.

 

[Bhurki]

We have been building 5000 pinaka per year since at least 2014. It was PIB published info back then .

Not really. The facility tasked with the production hasn't been able to deliver.

As per my understanding. Only 4 Regiments of Pinaka have actually been ordered comprising of around 80 launchers. Rockets ordered are 35,000. Even this Order has not been completed by OFB.

I back that.
First 2 regiments were ordered back in 2006-07.
Another 2 were were ordered for $460m in 2014-15.
An Rfp for another six regiments has been lying in the books for the last 4 years costing
Rs. 146.3 B ( $2.1B or $350M per regiment)

 

[saketkr]

An M270 mlrs rocket costs about $100k
So pinaka's *quoted* price at $30k(i don't expect Infia MIC to be able to deliver the product at this price) is quite a bargain. One Bm30 smerch rocket costs about $50k (no link, but i crunched some numbers back when India bought smerch systems).

The entire guidance system for the rocket is bought from Sagem, France.

Thanks for replying to my query!

 

[ezsasa]

Cost of Rocket
Pinaka Mk1 - ₹23 Lakh
Pinaka Mk 2 - ₹23 Lakh
Guided Pinaka - ₹70 lakh

edit : year 2008 Removed

 

[BangaliBabu]

Cost of Rocket(2008 price)
Pinaka Mk1 - ₹23 Lakh
Pinaka Mk 2 - ₹23 Lakh
Guided Pinaka - ₹70 lakh

well then, one truck means 12x$100,000 (approx.) = $1,200,000 for Guided Pinaka. But if it performs as it should be, I'm glad with this price. This cheap-also-best-in-the-world-also mentality must go from this year onwards........

 

[Bhurki]

Cost of Rocket(2008 price)
Pinaka Mk1 - ₹23 Lakh
Pinaka Mk 2 - ₹23 Lakh
Guided Pinaka - ₹70 lakh

Thats really expensive per unit cost.
12 years of inflation must have beefed up that cost considerably.
If a guided unit costs $150k and unguided costs $75k today, then for a 1:2 ratio mix of un/guided rockets,
A single reload for a regiment will cost $24M. ( 80 units of guided + 160 units of unguided , 20x12 tubes per regiment)

 

[Bhurki]

well then, one truck means 12x$100,000 (approx.) = $1,200,000 for Guided Pinaka. But if it performs as it should be, I'm glad with this price. This cheap-also-best-in-the-world-also mentality must go from this year onwards........

I wont be surprised if it ends up costing the same as M26(final lot acq price of $100k for guided unit) from M270. Theres chances it'll cost more than that since full rate production can not be achieved with piecemeal orders.

 

[ladder]

Thats really expensive per unit cost.
12 years of inflation must have beefed up that cost considerably.
If a guided unit costs $150k and unguided costs $75k today, then for a 1:2 ratio mix of un/guided rockets,
A single reload for a regiment will cost $24M. ( 80 units of guided + 160 units of unguided , 20x12 tubes per regiment)

I think Indian rockets price is current that is 2016/17. ( Photo taken in 2017)
For comparison, they are using 2008 cost of US counterpart. ( May be sourced from Wiki)

 

[BangaliBabu]

I wont be surprised if it ends up costing the same as M26(final lot acq price of $100k for guided unit) from M270. Theres chances it'll cost more than that since full rate production can not be achieved with piecemeal orders.

In America, the Tomahawk, Hellfire, Excalibur, SeaSparrowSSM, torpedos, Patriot and THAAD missiles all are under full-rate production with incremental improvements, no doubt. But cost of each unit didn't decrease as such including their basic things like radars and sonars. Instead, they increased considerably in spite of achieving full production much early. Good analogy, the F35 production.

Production capacity doesn't decrease costs. Stagnation in tech does. And yes, the Pinaka MLRS are continuously improving even under half-rate production (going by what others are saying).

 

[WolfPack86]

First Pinka rockets produced by private sector successfully test fired

In a major boost for Make in India, the first ever rockets fully manufactured by the private sector have been successfully test fired by the army, signalling that single source dependency on Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) will soon be a thing of the past. The Pinaka rockets were tested at a firing range in Pokharan on Wednesday and achieved the desired results by accurately hitting targets. The rockets have been manufactured by the private sector after a technology transfer agreement with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Sources said that six Pinaka rockets were test fired as part of the final developmental trials. The rockets have been manufactured by Economic Explosives Ltd (EEL) and are the first munition of its kind made by the private sector in India. They are also a success story for DRDO that has been engaging with the private sector to transfer manufacturing technology for home developed systems. In the past, munitions of this class have either been imported or have been manufactured by the public sector, with repeated complaints of failure by the armed forces. As part of the Make in India drive and push for the private sector in defence manufacturing, the Pinaka technology was transferred five years ago, with a decision taken to split further orders evenly with OFB. The army has a large requirement for rockets of this class, which is pegged at over 1,000 units annually. The Pinaka is a home developed multi barrel rocket launcher system that is already in service with the Indian Army. An order for two additional Pinaka regiments has been under process since 2017, which will be made by L&T and Tata Aerospace and Defence for an estimated Rs 4,500 cr. The armed forces have been looking at creating alternate sources for munitions to reduce dependency on OFB that has had a mixed track record. Industry estimates peg that privately manufactured munitions of different variety would cost 20-30% cheaper than the OFB fixed pricing. DRDO has also successfully tested an extended range guided Pinaka rocket that can hit targets at a distance of 75 km, a significant boost from the current range of 40 km.

First Pinka rockets produced by private sector successfully test fired – Indian Defence Research Wing

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