In yet another boost to ‘Make in India’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully tested the Extended Range Pinaka (Pinaka-ER) Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher System at the Pokhran Range in Rajasthan, said the Union Defence Ministry on Saturday.

“The DRDO, along with the Army, conducted series of performance evaluation trials of these industry produced rockets at field firing ranges during the last three days,” the Defence Ministry said in a press release. “In these trials, enhanced range Pinaka rockets were test-fired at different ranges with various warhead capabilities. All the trial objectives were met satisfactorily”.

What is Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher system?

The Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher has been developed by the DRDO, the Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE) and the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) for the Indian Army. Pinaka Mark-I had a range of 40 km and its enhanced version could fire missiles up to 60 km.

The Mark-II and Mark-II ER have a range of 60 km and 90 km respectively. Each Pinaka battery consists of six launcher vehicles that are loaded with 12 rockets. The DRDO claims that one Pinaka battery can wipe out targets in 8 sq.km area.

How the upgraded Pinaka system is different from previous versions?

The upgraded Pinaka system or Pinaka-ER has a longer range with reduced length compared to the earlier versions of the rocket launcher.

The post How the upgraded Pinaka rocket system is different from previous variants appeared first on Defence News India.