In a move that will boost the ability of the Indian Army to deliver overwhelming firepower quickly and at long range, the force, which already has six Pinaka regiments, has added one more.
A Pinaka regiment is an artillery unit of the Indian Army equipped with Pinaka rocket launchers, responsible for operating, controlling, and deploying the Pinaka system during combat.
According to a media report, the Indian Army, which is expanding its artillery capabilities, especially on the western and northern frontiers, will add another one by the end of this year.
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Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Pinaka Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher is a rocket artillery system used by the Indian Army for long-range, high-volume battlefield firepower. The high-mobility truck-mounted weapon can destroy enemy troops, artillery positions, bunkers, and logistics hubs over a large area in a very short period of time.
“The seventh regiment has already been operationalised. The eighth has been raised and has received more than half its equipment. It is currently undergoing conversion and should become operational before the end of the year,” The New Indian Express quoted a source as saying.
Two additional regiments from the batch of six that were ordered in 2020 are expected to be operationalised next year, taking the total number of Pinaka regiments in service to ten, the report further said.
In 2020, the government had signed a ₹2,580 crore deal with Bharat Earth Movers Ltd, Tata Power Company Ltd., and Larsen & Toubro for the six Pinaka regiments, consisting of 114 launchers with an automated gun aiming and positioning system (AGAPS), 45 command posts, and 330 vehicles to be operationalised along the northern and eastern borders.
