Opinion: Indian rocket force must be based on its artillery divisions

Recent wars between Russia-Ukraine and USA-Iran’s have fundamentally altered paradigms of military power and its application. The extensive use of Drones, Rockets, Artillery and Missiles in these wars has triggered a debate in India.

The creation of a dedicated Indian Rocket Force is gaining traction. It is however in a state of hazy uncertainty and poor imagination. Rather than reactively mimicking the structures of our adversaries, India must develop a force which is tailored to suit it requirement and is based on existing strengths. We must not reinvent the wheel. India does not have the bandwidth to handle a new system in time space and financially.The Indian Rocket Force cannot be driven solely by availability of hardware. It must be grounded in a concept and operational philosophy. To put it in perspective, Pakistan’s newly minted Army Rocket Force focuses on removing its blind spot which got exposed in Op Sindoor - deterrence and deep strike in the conventional domain. China’s PLARF projects nuclear ambiguity and anti-carrier (A2/AD) capabilities for its Pacific theater.

The Russian force is purely nuclear and strategic in nature. India’s requirements are far more nuanced.Any Indian Rocket Force must achieve five conceptual goals. Firstly: it must have Conventional Deterrence capability to prevent our adversaries from embarking on a misadventure through the promise of overwhelming precision fire. Secondly, it needs to have Capability to Strike Deep using its long-range vectors - current and futuristic.

Thirdly rocket forces of other countries are in silos not conducive to battlefield synergy.

In this context, India needs a force that can Reinforce the Firepower requirement of frontline troops during contact battles. It must provide additional firepower from battalion to corps commanders during contact battles. Fourthly, the force must promote, enhance or enable Maneuver by or generate Maneuver By Fire in seemingly static battlefields.

The principle is to restore maneuverability to the battlefield. It also involves horizontal escalation as witnessed in Iran. The force must enable India’s strategic goals being achieved without direct troop engagement. Fifthly, the force must be multiplicative and complementary, not divisive. It should promote jointness between the Army, Navy, and Air Force, acting as a force multiplier rather than become a competitor for resources.The force revolves around two pillars – Firepower and ISR. Firepower in contemporary warfare rests on DRAM - Drones, Rockets, Artillery, and Missiles. However, one must realize that though modern warfare has segregated these elements, they are not separate entities but have always been part and parcel of Regiment of Artillery in thought and deed for over a quarter of a century now in India. Any attempt to disaggregate them is pure foolishness as it violates two basic principles of war – Concentration of Force and Economy of Effort.

This is specially being highlighted since some myopic vested interests in Army have believed in the principle of “Divide and Rule” to accrue benefit to their “lanyard” buddies. This has always been to India’s detriment. We are suffering for it already. Enough of such nonsense. If we are Generals, we need to look over our lanyards and regimental loyalties and work for the nation.The second pillar of this force as mentioned earlier is ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance).

Without "eyes" in the form of advanced sensors, speedy communication and networking, firepower is "blind". An effective "kill chain" is the seamless pairing of the “sensor” and “shooter” through impenetrable networks. The age-old process of seeing, acquiring, and hitting a target remains a fundamental requirement.

This requires integrating space links, electronic warfare (EW) capabilities, and persistent UAV surveillance to ensure that long-range vectors can strike with precision.Very happily, India does not need to start from scratch. It already possesses a "gold mine" in its three Artillery Divisions, which have been in existence for over 25 years. These divisions already have all the elements and structural DNA of a rocket force – 155/130 mm guns, Grad, Pinaka and Smerch MBRLs and Brahmos missile regiments. They have the communication and networking architecture with a streamlined command and control system.

This capability existed long back when the author commanded ant Artillery Division. If these divisions are now equipped with latest /upgraded missiles, ammunition, UAVs and some other specially purposed equipment we have a rocket force in place. Hard to believe? It is there in the open for all blind men to see.

It is as easy and simple as that. Of course, there is a need to inject modern technology and equipment into the system and staff it jointly.To truly secure its borders and maritime interests, India needs to expand from three artillery divisions to eight or nine. These should be strategically stationed to cover both the northern and Western Fronts, as well as our maritime borders including Andaman and Nicobar Islands. If Andaman & Nicobar Islands must become the unsinkable aircraft carrier of menace as the Chinese have long feared, an artillery division in the Andamans— suitably equipped with long-range missiles and one which can provide a potent A2/AD (Anti-Access/Area Denial) capability is the answer.A cool and sane analysis will indicate that the hurdle is not financial or physical, but mental. For long the Artillery Division has been treated as a reinforcing entity within the confines of a cops battle rather than an organization of national power projection. Time to shed this myopic and outdated thinking which rests on the faulty premise that Artillery is a Support Arm. In fact, if anything, repurposing the Artillery divisions with a new concept as explained will be a huge jump in operational capability at strategic level.

It will also save the government exchequer from incurring huge costs of raising a duplicative “Rocket Force”. It will also promote jointness and contribute to theaterisation. If India can overcome its "failure of imagination" one gets "more bang for the buck”. One last point, to achieve anything of what has been stated, Indian Army must stop stuffing NCC with high calibre Artillery officers. Get the Gunners on the job. They made India proud in Kargil and During Op Sindoor. They will deliver again and again.