Indian MoD Awards $352.4M Contracts to Local Firms Under Pinaka Project
Indian Ministry of Defence has awarded local defence contractors BEML, Tata Power and Larsen & Toubro contracts worth INR 2580 Crores ($352.4 million) to provide Pinaka multibarrel rocket launcher (MBRL) system.
“Acquisition Wing of Ministry of Defence has today signed contracts with Bharat Earth Movers Ltd. (BEML), Tata Power Company Ltd. (TPCL) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) for supply of Six Pinaka Regiments to the Regiment of Artillery of the Indian Army at an approximate cost of INR 2580 Crore,” Indian MoD said in a statement August 31.
These Six Pinaka Regiments comprise 114 Launchers with Automated Gun Aiming & Positioning System (AGAPS) and 45 Command Posts to be procured from TPCL and L&T and 330 Vehicles to be procured from BEML.
These Six Pinaka Regiments will be operationalised along the Northern and Eastern Borders of the country. Induction of Six Pinaka Regiments is planned to be completed by 2024.
“BEML is proud to support the ‘Make in India’ project for supply of 330 BEML Heavy Duty Trucks for the Pinaka regiments. The company has bagged orders worth ₹842 Crore from Ministry of Defence. Another step towards Atmanirbhar Bharat,” BEML spokesperson said in a Twitter statement Monday.
Recently, India quadrupled production rate of indigenous Pinaca rockets by building an automated assembly line at Ordnance Factory, Chandrapur.
Pinaka multi-barrel launcher system
Pinaka is built by the private sector after a technology transfer agreement with state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). It is a multifaceted system integrating high energy propulsion, sub-munition warheads, servo-controlled launcher configuration and fire control computer.
The MBRL system is mounted on 8×8 BEML truck. Each battery is composed of six launcher vehicles, six loader-cum replenishment vehicles and two command post vehicles. Each launcher vehicle carries two pods, housing a total of 12 rockets.
The indirect fire artillery rocket system is capable of firing free flight as well as guided Pinaka rockets. The free flight rockets can engage targets up to 37.5 km (Pinaka Mk-I) and 60 km (Pinaka Mk-II) range whereas guided Pinaka rocket can engage targets located deep into enemy territory up to a range of 75 km with high precision.
A battery of six launchers can fire a salvo of 72 free flight rockets in 44 seconds. Over 7.2 tons of payload in the form of lethal warheads can be delivered by the system which can effectively neutralize a target area of 1000m x 800m.
The rockets can be fitted with wide range of warheads including pre-fragmented high explosive, anti-tank bomblet, anti-tank minelet warhead, anti-personnel mines, incendiary practice and pilot shot. The pre-fragmented warhead delivers 25% to 30% more destructive power than the conventional warhead. The HMX-based composition is used in anti-tank bomblets / minelets to achieve 150mm armour penetration.
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