Pinaka Rocket system
India on Tuesday test-fired the upgraded version of the indigenously developed Pinaka Rocket System. 2 Pinaka guided extended range rockets were test fired in the Pokhran range. Pinaka rockets which were influential in the Kargil war and helped the army destroy a number of enemy posts are now getting state of the art upgrades.
Here are 8 things you need to know about Pinaka
1. Pinaka was first sanctioned by the Ministry of Defence in 1981 in response to Indian Army's growning need for a long range Surface to Surface artillery system and to replace the ageing Russian BM-21 'Grad' launchers.
2. Development of the Pinaka by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) began in 1986 and it was commissioned into the Indian Army in 1994.
3. Pinaka is a 'MBRL artillery system' which places 12 HE rockets on top of a Tatra Truck. All the rockets can be fired simultaniously within 44 seconds or fired independently as per required by the army.
4. The orignal range of a Pinaka rocket was 40km. the recent test fires show the range has now been upgraded to approximately 90km.
5. As of 2014 about 5,000 missiles were being produced every year by the DRDO.
6. The Pinaka played a vital role in the kargil war when they were used to bombard the enemy positions of the Kargil heights.
7. Pinaka battery normally consists of: six launcher vehicles, each with 12 rockets. a battery can launch a total of 72 missles in 44 seconds.
8. The Pinaka is in the process of further improvement. Israel Military Industries teamed up with DRDO to implement its Trajectory Correction System (TCS) on the Pinaka, for further improvement of its CEP. This has been trialled and has shown excellent results. The rockets can also be guided by GPS to improve their accuracy.
