Napoleon famously said God fights on the side with the best artillery.

In the Indian
context this was proven correct when the FH-77B 155 mm/39-caliber towed howitzer
pounded the Pakistanis positions into submission during Kargil war played and a
decisive role in winning the war against Pakistan. After India won the war many in the
Indian armys top brass stated that without the crucial role played by the artillery the
conflict would have lasted far more longer and the cost of victory would have been
far too higher both in men and machines.

Lieutenant General Krishan Pal,PVSM, UYSM, VSM & Bar -GOC, 15 Corps said
The Infantry had started taking the Bofors as their section weapon. It was an
Artillery battle. The credit for victory goes to the Artillery.

Major General Mohinder Puri -GOC, 8 Mountain Division said

The large-scale built up of Artillery and its employment in a concentrated manner
completely pulverised the enemy and caused heavy casualties.

Joseph Stalin famously said that artillery was "the God of War". This is indeed true
as the majority of combat deaths during mankinds most destructive wars like the
Napoleonic Wars and the World Wars were caused by Artillery.

Unfortunately the state of Indian artillery has only deteriorated over the years due to
New Delhis inability to acquire even a single artillery gun since the Bofors scam
broke in the late 1980s. This incompetency by the government has slowly lead to
Pakistan closing the gap between India and Pakistan as far as artillery is concerned.

Comparison of Indian vs Pakistani Artillery as of Jan. 2017

Towed Artillery
 INDIA

Towed OEM Origin Ammunition Caliber- Range Qty Status

Artillery (mm) Length (KM)

S-23 180mm 48.8 30.4 100 Most likely

OAO PO USSR
retired
"Barrikady"

Haubits Bofors Sweden 155mm 39 21 200 Active

FH77/B

M-46 USSR 155mm 45 39 180 Active

MOTZ
M1954
upgraded by
Soltam/ OFB

M-46 MOTZ USSR 130mm 52 27.5 720 Active

M1954

D-30 PJSC USSR 122mm 35 15.4 550 Most likely

retired

Indian OFB India 105mm 37 20 1700 Active

Field gun
MK 1,2,3

Light Field OFB India 105mm 37 20 700 Active

Gun

Total Strength of Indian towed artillery - 4150

Of which

Heavy Artillery - 480

Medium Artillery - 1270

Light Artillery - 2400

PAKISTAN

Towed OEM Origin Ammunition Caliber - Range Qty Status

Artillery (mm) Length (KM)

M115 GM USA 203mm 25 16.8 28 Active

Panter 155 MKEK/HIT Turkey 155mm 52 30 72 Active
Taxila

M-198 Rock Island USA 155mm 39 22.4 148 Active

Arsenal

M-114 Rock Island USA 155mm 23 16 144 Active

Arsenal

M59 Long - USA 155mm 50 23.7 30 Active

Tom

Type 59 Norinco China 130mm 52 27.5 410 Active

Type 54 Norinco China 122mm 21 11.8 490 Active

Type 60 Norinco China 122mm 52 24 200 Active

D30 Norinco China 122mm 35 15.4 143 Active

M101 Rock Island USA 105mm 22 15.4 250 Active

Arsenal

M56 Yugo Import Yugoslavia 105mm 31 13.1 113 Active

OTO Melara OTO Melara Italy 105mm 14 10 50 Active

Mod 56

QF 25 Royal UK 88mm 24 12 1000 Active

pounder Ordnance

Type 56 Norinco China 85mm 55 15.6 200 Active

Total strength of Pakistani Towed Artillery - 3278

Of which

Heavy Artillery - 422

Medium Artillery - 1243

Light Artillery - 1613

Total Indian Towed Artillery strength stands at 4150 vs Pakistans 3278, on paper that
is, in reality however, Indias fleet of S-23 180mm and D-30 122mm are retired or are
currently in the process of being retired as state run OFB no longer manufactures the
required Ammunition used in these guns. Actual Strength of Indian towed artillery is
3500 vs Pakistans 3278, this doesnt look like a great scenario for a nation which
wants to maintain a conventional firepower superiority against its main regional rival.
Pakistan can bring the full might of its 3,278 strong artillery force while India will have
to divide artillery between the Chinese and Pakistani borders to prevent any
misadventure by either power.

Heavy Artillery

While Indias heavy guns, 203 mm, are out of action Pakistan fields a few dozen of
203mm gun as POF manufactures the required ammunition that are used in these
guns.

On the 155mm artillery front Indian army has failed to achieve a significant edge over
its Pakistani counterpart.

India posses a total of 380 155mm guns compared to 394 155mm Guns of Pakistan.
Whats interesting is that India originally acquired a grand total of 410 155 FH77/B
guns from Swedish defense giant Bofors along with adequate tech transfer, but only
200 of them survive. The reason why India lost more than half of the FH77/B 155mm
fleet was due to cannibalization of a large number of guns in order to obtain critical
spare parts to run the remaining fleet. This clearly points out the inability of state run
OFB to indigenize the Bofors gun and how Nehru-Gandhi corruption damaged
Indias defense preparedness. The 155mm M-46 fleet, upgraded by Soltam-OFB,
has stood the test of the time and is one of the most reliable artillery guns in Indias
arsenal.

Pakistan will continue to enjoy a numerical advantage over India as far the 155mm
class of artillery is considered as the Induction of homegrown Dhanush gun is slow
and other major artillery programs are well behind schedule while Pakistan based
Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT) produces 30+ MKEK Panter 155mm guns a year with
technology transfer from Turkey.

Medium Artillery

India has always maintained an edge against Pakistan in the medium artillery
department, but as of today the Indian army has decommissioned all of its 122mm
guns, In light of this development Indian army has fallen far behind against Pakistani
counterpart in the Medium artillery department. As of today India has about 720 M46
130mm medium guns left in service, whereas Pakistan's 130mm M46 clones and
122 mm variants stand at a staggering 1,243 guns, 523 guns more than India.

Pakistan will continue to expand its lead over India in Medium Artillery as the
remaining M46 130mm guns are converted to 155mm standard and there are no
plan to induct new guns in the Medium artillery segment.

Light Artillery

Light Artillery is the only area where Indian army possess a clear edge over its
Pakistani counterpart. India possess over 2400 Light guns as compared to
Pakistans 1643 guns. The Indian light artillery is entirely made up of homegrown
guns, this has resulted in high rates of availability and most of the fleet remaining
intact over the years, unlike what happened to the FH77/B 155mm fleet of guns.
Light Artillery is an area where the Indian army completely outclasses its Pakistani
counterpart in Range,Quantity and Quality. The success of Indian light artillery
demonstrates the importance of a domestic Military Industrial complex able to supply
adequate equipment to the security forces.

Conclusion

New Delhis Artillery Force is in a very bad shape, Bureaucratic delays, unrealistic
GSQRs set by the army, corruption at the top levels of government &the ministry of
defense and incompetent defense ministers are some of the reasons why Indian
artillery is in such a bad shape. New Delhi needs to move fast as half of the medium
artillery has been retired, and more than half of the Bofors 155mm fleet has been
cannibalized in search of spare parts, both the Army and the Government need to
expedite the process of acquiring new Artillery . Success story of the 105mm light
Artillery has already set the precedence for Indian Army to follow local production of
artillery system to be replicated in the 155mm category.
The Pakistani Heavy and Medium gun combined strength will at around 1800-2000
guns if the current induction programs remain on schedule. To maintain a
conventional edge against Pakistan the army will need at least 6000 guns, since a
significant amount of artillery will also be deployed on the Chinese front.
Indian armys artillery force is in a very bad shape, on the medium artillery front half
of our fleet of medium guns are out of action due to our inability to produce the
required ammunition, as far as the 155mm is concerned more than half of the
FH77/B 155mm fleet has been cannibalized to obtain critical spareparts in order to
keep the rest of Bofors fleet operational. The Indian Army needs to induct thousands
of new guns if it wants to obtain any kind of edge over its Pakistani counterpart.
Indias ability to successfully develop, manufacture, maintain and upgrade its own
105mm light artillery guns should encourage the army to develop in house solutions
in the 155mm category, systems like DRDO ATAGS, OFB Dhanush will play a very
important role in the modernization of Indian Artillery.

Self Propelled Artillery

Self Propelled Artillery platform comes with its own propulsion system. They are
equipped with guns of a usually higher caliber than tanks, most have 155mm, but are
positioned on a higher angle for bombardment of long-range targets. Unlike tanks,
the armor of an SPA is effective only against small-arms fire and shrapnel since they
are not designed for frontal engagements like tanks. SPA is most useful in mobile
conflicts where its shoot-and-scoot ability is a major advantage over towed artillery.
If you thought the condition of towed artillery is bad then wait till you read this
section

INDIA

Self OEM Origin Ammunition Caliber Range Quantity Status

Propelled (mm) Length
Artillery
2S1 KTP USSR 122mm 35 15.4 100 Most
Gvozdika Likely
Retired
FV433 Vickers UK 105mm 37 20 65 Being
Abbot SPG replaced

Total 165
0 Operational

PAKISTAN

Self OEM Origin Ammunition Caliber Range Quantity Status

Propelled (mm) Length
Artillery

M110 GM USA 203 25 16.8 60 Active

M109A2 United USA 155mm 39 22 150 Active

Defense
 LP

M109A5 United USA 155mm 39 22 115 Active

Defense
LP

Total 325
325 operational

The Pakistani Army as of Jan 2017 has a grand total of 325 Self propelled Guns
(SPGs), quite an impressive force for an army that size and keeping in mind the
Pakistani threat perception. Compared to this the Indian army fields a grand total of
ZERO guns, on paper Indian Army has 165 SPGs but in reality all of the 165 SPGs
have been retired or forced to retire. The 2S1 Gvozdika 122mm Self Propelled
Howitzers has been withdrawn from service due to lack of required ammunition, OFB
no longer produces the 122mm ammunition, and the British Vickers FV433 Abbot
SPG too has been retired due to lack of spareparts.

In order to effectively counter both Chinese & Pakistani forces India must maintain a
force of at least 1000 Self Propelled Guns. This will allow the Indian Army to deploy
adequate assets on both the Chinese and Pakistani fronts and minimize the risk of
any Chinese or Pakistani misadventure, not to forget Self Propelled Guns are very
important for strategies like Cold Start to succeed. Unfortunately ,the two indigenous
projects to fill up the SPG category, BHIM SPG & Arjun Catapult were scrapped due
to various reasons.
Fortunately, the Indian army has finally selected a proven platform to replace its
obsolete SPGs, the K9 Vajra - Techwin-L&T SPG will be inducted in the Indian Army
as soon as the deal is cleared by the cabinet committee on security and an
agreement is signed with the OEM. The remaining gap will be fulfilled by a Mounted
Gun System, unfortunately despite clearing the proposal to acquire 814 mounted
guns way back in 2014 there has been very little progress on this front.

Conclusion

The Indian Self Propelled Artillery is lying in ruins and Pakistan has completely
outclassed us in this department. Mismanagement of existing platforms like the 2S1
Gvozdika and scuttling of homegrown SPG solutions like the BHIM SPG & the Arjun
Catapult has resulted in India falling far behind Pakistan. If the Indian Army and the
Government is serious about maintaining a real conventional superiority over
Pakistan then it must expedite the process of acquiring new SPGs. Long pending
deals like the acquisition of 814 Mounted Gun Systems needs to be fast tracked.
Solutions offered by the private sector should also be explored, the 105 ultra-light
gun-GARUDA mounted gun system by Bharat Forge is a shining example of how
private sector can help revitalize Indias artillery.

Rocket Artillery

Rocket artillery, when it first appeared as an effective weapon was during WW II, it
was mainly useful for area saturation bombardment. The Soviet Red Army used its
Katyusha multiple rocket launchers very effectively to stop the German advance.
They could deliver a high volume of fire in a short period of time but were less
accurate than conventional artillery and could not provide sustained, accurate fire
support. Some of today's rocket artillery systems like the Russian Smerch or US
MRLS are more sophisticated: highly accurate, long-ranged and capable of
delivering a variety of munitions. The moral shattering effect which Russian Rocket
Artillery, Katyusha, had on advancing German troops during the Second world war
played a very important role in instilling the fear of god in the minds of German
soldiers.

INDIA

Multi barrel OEM Origin Ammunitio Barrels Range Quantity Status

Rocket n (mm) (km) (Units)
launcher
System
BM-30 Splav Russia 300mm 12 90 62 Active
Smerch State Will be
Research replaced by
and Pinaka Mk3
Production
Enterprise

Pinaka MBRL OFB, TATA India 214 12 40 54 Active

Mk 1 SED, L&T Will be
supplemented
by Mk 2

BM-21 Splav USSR 122mm 40 30 150+ Active

State Will be
Research replaced by
and Pinaka
Production
Enterprise

Total 266
All Active

PAKISTAN

Multi OEM Origin Ammunitio Barrels Range Quantity Status

barrel n (mm) (km) (Units)
Rocket
launcher
System

A-100E China China 300 10 100 36 Procured Active

Academy of from China,
Launch unknown
Vehicle number
Technology assembled
locally

KRL 122 Kahuta Pakistan 122 30 40 40 Active

Research
Laboratories

Azar ----- China & 122 24 40 50+ Active

(Type 83) Pakistan

Total 126
All Active

Rocket Artillery is one area of Artillery where India is racing ahead of Pakistan. The
Indigenously developed Pinaka MBRL Series is well on its way to replace all of the
Soviet/Russian systems in Indias inventory. The Pinka system has impressed the
army so much that it plans to induct more than 22 regiments of Pinaka MBRL in its
arsenal. The Pinka Mk2 with extended range of 60 KM is currently in trials & the
Pinaka Mk 3 is being developed to replace the Russian Smerch system in future.
The only Pakistani MBRL system which should concern India is the A-100E system
of Pakistan which has a higher range than anything that Indian army currently fields.

Conclusion

Rocket Artillery acts as a force multiplier and is great for tactics like Shoot and Scoot,
massive destruction of an area when the exact location of the enemy is unknown. In
doctrines like Cold Start where the main objective of the military is to deliver heavy
punishment to enemy forces the role of Rocket artillery cannot be underestimated.
The success of the Indigenously developed systems like the Pinaka MBRL and
Indian Light Artillery systems highlights why it is important for New Delhi to invest in
an Indian Military Industrial Complex.

Overall the state of Indian Artillery is not so good, due to decades of policy
paralysis, inaction and mismanagement by the Government and the Army, India has
fallen behind its Pakistan. This gap in capabilities will take years, perhaps decades,
to fulfill. Unfortunately the price of this incompetence will have to paid in blood if war
breaks out tomorrow. The Government and the Army need to work on war footing if
they want to regain the lost Artillery edge that won them Kargil.

Recommendations
Making Artillery great again

Revive the Arjun Catapult project with an improved version of the M46
gun. India has around 720 M46 130mm guns in its arsenal which can easily
be converted to 155mm standard with the help of private sector partners
Ministry of defense should recognize the capabilities of companies like
Bharat Forge which have developed world class products like the Bharat 52,
Garuda 100mm

: Along with the current acquisition plans another approach to plug the gap for the
High Mobility artillery would be to re-evaluate the Arjun Catapult with the
Metamorphosis 155mm gun, as the prototype of the system with the same gun with
the 130mm version exists and has been tested. With more than 700 M46 guns
available for upgrades, and mounting system available, a re-engineered catapult with
155 mm M46 gun on one of the best cross country chassis, would be a efficient
solution. Given that road map of Indian army only has 100 tracked units an additional
200 tracked catapults would be a lethal solution to provide artillery cover to fast
moving infantry and armored brigades.

Light Mobile Artillery - The effectiveness of the 105mm light field gun is renowned
within the Indian army circles. Kalyani Group is offering such a solution with the
Garuda, which is a highly mobile system and uses the OFB LFG as its primary gun.
A mounted version of the 105 mm gun on a wheeled platform can provide a highly
mobile light artillery out fit which can keep up with the ultra fast moving Regimental
battalions of the Brigade of Guards.

With inputs from

http://www.indiandefencereview.com/spotlights/battle-winning-role-of-the-gunners-in-
kargil-war/

http://www.pof.gov.pk/products/Artillery_Ammunition/

http://ofb.gov.in/index.php?wh=A-E-P-C&lang=en#subclass3

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/china/a100.htm

http://indianarmy.nic.in/
https://www.pakistanarmy.gov.pk/