New Delhi: In keeping with the government’s avowed aim of Atmanirbhar Bharat in defence sector, an Indian private sector defence equipment manufacturer Economic Explosive Ltd (Solar Group) has proposed to develop a “High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS)” multiple rocket launcher system similar to the ones used by the US army.
The HIMARS has come into limelight after it was deployed by the Ukrainian forces in the Russo-Ukraine war recently, which has clearly shifted the momentum and in the process turning the tide in favour of Ukraine in the fight against Russia. The Russians have nothing equivalent to the HIMARS.
The manufacturer of this rocket, US defence company Lockheed Martin describes the M142 HIMARS as having “shoot and scoot” capability, referring to the fact it is a highly mobile weapons system that can fire and retreat at speed, reducing the chance of being targeted by the enemy.
Currently the Indian Army has the Soviet/Russian BM-30 Smerch which is a heavy self-propelled 300 mm multiple rocket launcher. The system is intended to defeat personnel, armoured, and soft targets in concentration areas, artillery batteries, command posts and ammunition depots.
The army also operates the BM-21 Grad a self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher. The complete system with the BM-21 launch vehicle and the M-21OF rocket is designated as the M-21 field-rocket system and is more commonly known as a Grad multiple rocket launcher system.
Indian army has focused on the mobility philosophy and has hence developed the indigenous Pinaka MBRL which uses 214mm instead of 300mm rocket like the ones used in BM-30 and is mounted on a 8X8 BEML made truck chassis. The advanced guided version of the MBRL consists of 8 rockets in total installed on 2 pods, whereas the unguided version has 12 rockets in total.
Solar Group’s Economic Explosive Ltd has submitted a proposal to MoD for the developing a HIMARS kind of a rocket system which will carry only one pod. The system will have a range of 250 km surface-to-surface rocket. The MBRL may use the improved version of the Prahaar solid-fuel road-mobile tactical ballistic missile which has since been designated as Pranash by DRDO. It is designed to carry a conventional high explosive warhead or clustered munition, and significantly the missile is powered by single-stage solid propellant motor. This missile can be launched within 2–3 minutes without any preparation, providing significantly better reaction time than liquid-fuelled missiles.
Pranash is being developed to provide a cost-effective, quick-reaction, all-weather, all-terrain, highly accurate battlefield support tactical weapon system.
