From Pinaka to Bhishma Tank: India to showcase its weapons on R-Day
The BrahMos missile, a joint venture of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya, has a maximum speed of 2.8 Mach (around 3,450 kmph or 2,148 mph) and is difficult to intercept by surface-to-air missiles.
India will showcase its military might as it will mark its 72nd Republic Day on Tuesday during the country's biggest ceremonial parade. Pinaka Multi-Barrel Rocket System, BMP-2, T-90 Bhishma Tank, BrahMos cruise missile and upgraded Schilka Air Defence system are among the weapons that will be showcased during the celebrations this year.
Here is what you need to know:
Pinaka Multi-Barrel Rocket System
The Pinaka is primarily a multi-barrel rocket system (MBRL) system which can fire a salvo of 12 rockets over a period of 44 seconds. One battery of the Pinaka system consists of six launch vehicles, accompanied by the loader systems, radar and links with network-based systems and a command post. The Mark-I version of Pinaka has a range of around 40 kilometres and the Mark-II version can fire up to 75 kilometres.
BMP-2
The Sarath BMP 2 is an amphibian vehicle, with a 7kmph on water. It can go over slopes up to 35 degrees and due to its low weight can be transported by air. There are armoured plates all around it which help in ensuring a high degree of protection to the combatants. It comes with a rapid-fire 7.62 MM medium coaxial machine gun, a 30 MM cannon, and a second-generation homing type anti-tank guided missile.
Read more: R-Day 2021: What’s new, what will be missing in Jan 26 parade
{{/usCountry}}Read more: R-Day 2021: What’s new, what will be missing in Jan 26 parade
{{/usCountry}}T-90 Bhishma Tank
{{/usCountry}}T-90 Bhishma Tank
{{/usCountry}}The T-90S is the latest development in the T-series of Russian tanks manufactured by Uralvagonzavod in Nizhny Tagil, Russia. The locally assembled tanks were christened ‘Bhishma’ and are fitted with the Shtora self-protection system and Catherine thermal imagers from Thales of France and Peleng of Belarus.
{{/usCountry}}The T-90S is the latest development in the T-series of Russian tanks manufactured by Uralvagonzavod in Nizhny Tagil, Russia. The locally assembled tanks were christened ‘Bhishma’ and are fitted with the Shtora self-protection system and Catherine thermal imagers from Thales of France and Peleng of Belarus.
{{/usCountry}}BrahMos cruise missile
{{/usCountry}}BrahMos cruise missile
{{/usCountry}}The BrahMos missile, a joint venture of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya, has a maximum speed of 2.8 Mach (around 3,450 kmph or 2,148 mph) and is difficult to intercept by surface-to-air missiles. The missile’s cruising altitude could be up to 15 km, and the lowest it can fly is 10 metres above the surface. The missile is capable of carrying a conventional warhead (non-nuclear) weighing 200-300 kg. The two-stage missile has a solid propellant booster engine that kicks in the first stage and brings the missile to supersonic speed before separating. After this, the liquid ramjet comes into action and takes the missile closer to Mach 3 in the cruise phase.
{{/usCountry}}The BrahMos missile, a joint venture of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya, has a maximum speed of 2.8 Mach (around 3,450 kmph or 2,148 mph) and is difficult to intercept by surface-to-air missiles. The missile’s cruising altitude could be up to 15 km, and the lowest it can fly is 10 metres above the surface. The missile is capable of carrying a conventional warhead (non-nuclear) weighing 200-300 kg. The two-stage missile has a solid propellant booster engine that kicks in the first stage and brings the missile to supersonic speed before separating. After this, the liquid ramjet comes into action and takes the missile closer to Mach 3 in the cruise phase.
{{/usCountry}}Read more: Shorter parade, age cap on guests: Covid-19 casts a shadow on Republic Day
Schilka Air Defence system
In February 2020, the Indian Army upgraded its Russian Schilka Air Defence system to a modern weapon platform. The up-gradation process included replacing the existing Radar, analogue computer, engine, GTE with state of the art system and addition of air conditioning system for crew comfort. The newly upgraded system also provides drastic improvements in operational performance, accuracies, power consumption and MTBF and enables accurate identification, acquisition and tracking of targets while operating in an ECM environment.
