How the God of war will play a crucial role in conventional warfare and the mountains will see the wrath of the mighty ATAGS in the hour of need.
Recently, the Indian Army has decided to procure more than 300 ATAGS (Advanced Towed Artillery Gun Systems). These 155mm/52 calibre systems have been developed by the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in a joint venture with Pune-based Bharat Forge and Tata Advanced Systems.
1. DEAL OF ATAGS BY THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
Artillery was said as ‘The God of War’ by Joseph Stalin in 1944 is a correct statement, where we can see the enormous, large, and devastating machines change the strategies of the battlefield. On Thursday the Defence Acquisition Council headed by the defence minister of India gave its approval for Acceptance of Necessity for the procurement of these ATAGS. In addition to that as part of Make In India or the Atma Nirbhar Bharat initiative, projects worth more than 70,500 crores have been approved by the Defence Ministry.
2. WHERE DOES INDIAN ARTILLERY STANDS IN WORLD
Image Source: Hindustan Times
The Guns are equipped with high mobility, quick deployability, and auxiliary power mode with a firing range of 40 km. These large calibre gun systems have been designed to achieve precision and deep strike and retain the capability to be programmed and fire Long Range Guided Munitions (LRGM). ATAGS having 3 different rounds to fire the shell gives competition to the US-made M777 howitzers but in the case of India after almost Four Decades they are being designed to replace the 130mm M-46 Russian Guns or the 155mm FH77B Swedish-made Bofors Gun System
3. ADVANCEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY IN DEFENCE
Image Source: Hindustan Times
These war machines are more lethal as compared to the previous gun systems and are easy to function. They have the capabilities like an automatic ammunition handling system that can shoot six successive rounds, can fire in Zone 7 and has a great self-propelled mode. With a towing speed of 60 kmph, the elevation angle of the gun ranges between -3 degrees to + 72 degrees and holds the world record with the longest unassisted projectile range of a maximum of 48 km. Also, the ATAGS has an all-electric drive as stated by the Bharat Forge. Furthermore, the development of ATAGS was started after the M777 Howitzer so it comes with many Advanced Features such as Advanced Communication System and Automatic Control System with Night Capability in Direct Fire mode, and the heavy firing power mode makes it a lethal killing machine in today’s world. Both the M777 Howitzer and the ATAGS will be placed in the Artillery Corps of the Indian Army in a few years which will increase the position of India in the Global Firepower Index which depicts India currently at 4th position out of 140 countries after the US, Russia, and China.
4. TIME WHEN WREATH OF GOD OF WAR WAS UNLEASHED
Image Source: Indian Army Instagram
Induction of these gun systems will give India a strategic advancement of Line of Control (LoC) and Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the eastern and western sectors where the possibility of 2 front warfare is ever ready possible due to the 2 nations one of which is a Failed Democracy, and another has no Democracy. As India has control over the larger part of Siachen so its protection becomes a vital part, as earlier we have seen how the Bofors played a crucial role during the 1999 Kargil war and how the quick decision by the Northern Command of the Indian Army helped to capture the Tololing, Tiger Hill, Batalik sector and Juber Heights from the Pakistani Army dressed as Infiltrators.
