Artillery 'decisive arm' in battlefield: Army Chief

New Delhi, May 10 (ANI): Chief of Army Staff General Vijay Kumar Singh on Monday described artillery as the decisive arm in a battlefield.

General Singh said that the role of artillery has been proved beyond doubt in the US war in Iraq and in the Kargil war a decade ago in India

"During the Kargil episode, the artillery firepower became a battle-winning factor in ensuring that the will of the enemy was seriously degraded. For, desired degradation is well appreciated," said General Singh at the International Seminar on Artillery Technology organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

General Singh also said that with induction of latest weapon systems, Indian army has achieved a long-range destruction capability.

"We have already inducted equipment like BrahMos missiles, Smerch, and Pinaka (Russian-made artillery systems) and achieved a fair amount of long-range destruction capability," he added.

Meanwhile, Director General Artillery, Lt. Gen. Kammula Ramchandra Rao, admitted that Indian artillery technology still needs to catch up with the changing demand of modern warfare, but added that even in the present form, it is capable of taking on any adversary.

"We can certainly take on any of the adversaries in the present form. The artillery will not lag behind. There is adequate amount of life in the equipment that is there. Yes, we got to catch up because the process of modernization is such that while some equipment, which is in service, some is phasing out, some should be the modern equipment," said Lt. Gen. Rao.

"So, I am very sure we will be able to catch up. It is not as alarming as we are really listening. There are problem areas, I cannot say there are no problem areas, but I am very positive that we will be able to catch up," he added. (ANI)