On Wednesday, India successfully test-fired Pinaka MRLS (Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher System) which is indigenously developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The successful test flight was carried out from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur, off the coast of Odisha.
Pinaka will be developed by the Indian Army which will cover the range between 60 to 90 kilometres. Pinaka rockets are a part of the multi-barrel rocket launcher systems which are already being used by the Army and have been successfully deployed in operations in both China and Pakistan.
DRDO in a statement said
A total of six rockets were launched in quick succession and the tests met complete mission objectives,
All the flight articles were tracked by range instruments such as telemetry, radar and Electro Optical Tracking Systems (EOTS) which confirmed the flight performance
Adding to the above statement, one of the senior DRDO officials stated
The enhanced Pinaka has been developed to counter the People’s Liberation Army threat in East Ladakh with the Chinese deploying large number of rocket regiments in support of artillery guns. The rocket regiments are central to Chinese war fighting for saturation bombardment of the targets. The enhanced Pinaka and guided Pinaka have both been cleared for deployment on the borders,
India last year successfully tested Pinaka Mk-1 rockets with a range of 36 km. The latest range of 70-90 km version will fill a critical gap of hitting not so far targets as per requirements of the Indian Army.
Read, Also |
In the present situation, these missiles testing will be an irritating and in one aspect an indication to Indian enemies of its strength. Especially, China and Pakistan are the main targets for India while deploying such attacking artillery at borders. One of the Chinese media has already indicated that Indian pro-active steps will lead to more breaching of relations between the two.