The artillery wing is set for structural changes under which Surveillance and Target Acquisition (SATA) batteries will be reorganised into regiments to support the pivot and strike formations, Army chief General Manoj Pande has said.
Currently, SATA batteries within the Regiment of Artillery function at the level of a company. They will function at the level of a battalion after the changes are introduced.
“The SATA regiments will be equipped with the latest generation remotely piloted aircraft, loiter munitions and swarm drones,” he said in the inaugural ‘General SF Rodrigues Memorial Lecture’.
The Mountain Strike Corps will now be supported by independent SATA batteries, the Army chief said. Giving an overview of the modernisation plan, he said that the Army is working to shift towards the 155mm/52 caliber gun systems which are considered globally as the standard for enhanced firepower.
Gen. Pande said that 145 M777 Ultra Light Howitzers (ULH) had already been procured from the US, with seven regiments currently operationalised. The Light Artillery Regiments are now being converted into the ULH regiments, he added. While 100 K9 Vajra have already been inducted, there are plans to procure another 100 such howitzers, he said, referring to the push for indigenous pursuits. The Army “aimed at improving the reach, firepower and reactant capability along the northern borders” with additional rocket and missile units, he said.
