Page 10 - The Indian EYE 020323

OPINION FEBRUARY 03, 2023 | The Indian Eye 10

Integrated Rocket Force for

Indian Defense: A Timely Idea

Courtesy: IDSA

AKSHAT UPADHYAY of warfare will hinge on the effective tion, with AMCA still at the conceptu- nuclear warfighting is neither reached
utilization of the tenets of non-contact alization stage. The key issue is lack of nor crossed.
he recent successful test-firing warfare as part of shaping operations indigenous jet engine technology. On The range of the missile (150–500
of the Pralay surface-to-surface in any military campaign. For this, it the other hand, India already has excel- km) along with the amount of pay-
Tballistic missile and its inclusion is required that India, as stated by the lent expertise in producing both con- load per missile (350–700 kgs) and
into the Defense Acquisition Coun- late Gen Bipin Rawat while interact- ventional and nuclear-tipped missiles. capabilities, i.e., high explosive pre-
cil’s (DAC) final list has given impetus ing with a select group of journalists in Agni, Prithvi, BrahMos, Nag, Pralay, formed fragmentation warhead, Pen-
to the likely creation of an Integrated September 2021, operationalize a mis- Pradyumna, etc., are all examples of etration-Cum-Blast (PCB) and Run-
Rocket Force (IRF). The force, when sile force. The command and control of domestically made missiles in both way Denial Penetration Submunition
created, will fulfil two requirements: the force can initially be vested within the medium and long-range category. (RDPS) ensure that the Army retains
demonstrate India’s non-contact war a single service, i.e., the Indian Army, The Pralay missile is a quasi-bal- the flexibility to target hard targets
waging potential and create an effec- and later can be made rotational. listic, surface-to-surface missile based such as bunkers, communication cen-
tive instrument of deterrence by de- A rotation system will require on sub-systems from a host of al- ters and runways at the operational
nial against China along the Line of common professional military edu- ready-tested DRDO missiles such as ranges of up to 500 km, a distance
Actual Control (LAC). cation (PME) system, an analysis of the exoatmospheric interceptor mis- which will yield maximum advantages
The Chief of the Army Staff, Gen- which is beyond the purview of the sile Prithvi Defense Vehicle (PDV) due to the proximate deployment of
eral Manoj Pande, in his latest press current text. There are many reasons and the Prahaar tactical missile. The the PLA in both Eastern Ladakh and
conference held on 12 January 2023, for this. First of all, there is a need to composite propellant comes from Arunachal Pradesh.
as part of the annual Army Day cel- establish the rationale behind consol- the Sagarika family of missiles being In fact, as per an analysis by a
ebrations, commented that “though idating a long-range vector force, on developed for the Indian Navy. The veteran Indian Army officer, the IRF
unpredictable, the situation at the the lines of the Chinese PLA Rock- range of Pralay is 150–500 km and its can be organized on the lines of six
northern borders is stable and under et Force (PLA RF). The strikes in recent successful test launches and sector-based rocket missile forces
control”. The Army Chief was refer- Uri and Balakot, and the actions at the induction of 120 missiles is like- with one focusing on Pakistan, four
ring to the confrontational deploy- Kailash range, have reinforced the ly to become the focal point for the on China and one kept in reserve.
ment of the Indian Army and the Chi- dictum that an operational space exists creation of an Indian IRF. This is the The idea is to move beyond the tradi-
nese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) between two nuclear armed adversar- only conventional tactical battlefield tional conceptualization of artillery as
along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh. ies for waging warfare, that does not missile likely to be fielded by India, supplementing infantry-predominant
The challenge for India, along the cross into the nuclear domain. Such apart from the BrahMos supersonic operations to a more central role with
3400 kms LAC, is twofold: create op- operations have shown that the sta- cruise missile. rockets and tactical missiles forming
tions for deterrence by denial opera- bility–instability paradox, as it obtains The creation of a Rocket/Missile the vanguard of a new and potent
tions against the PLA, without invoking today in the dyads of India–Pakistan force by India as separate from the Indian non-contact warfare capabil-
the use of heavier conventional forces and India–China,4 does not hold true. Strategic Forces Command (SFC) is ity. It is now important to see how a
and keep the conflict localized. The The so-called “window of opportuni- required for creating conventional de- likely structure of IRF will emerge.
second is to have in reserve adequate ty” exists for accurate surgical strikes terrence and exploiting the windows The PLA RF’s organization, structure
long-range combat firepower which in a manner that strategic stability is of opportunity at the tactical and op- and objectives may serve as one of the
can be used for localized asymmetry. maintained. erational levels. Pralay is likely to be templates.
An Integrated Rocket Force There is also a question of indig- one of the major pivots for the still- The PLA RF comprises nine bas-
(IRF) serves both these purposes. enization. India faces challenges with to-be-formed force, which can create es which are either Corps or Corps
The idea of IRF is timely since there producing fighter aircrafts at scale. retaliatory as well as pre-emptive op- Deputy Leader grade. While Bases
is an increasing recognition within the The LCA programme has just started tions for the Indian Army against Chi- numbering 61 to 66 are meant for bal-
Indian Armed Forces that the future getting off its feet in terms of produc- na and ensure that the threshold for Continued at next page... >>

www.TheIndianEYE.com