What Is Pinaka Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher System? India's 'HIMARS' Impresses France, Armenia

The Pinaka MBRL is developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation and produced by agencies including Solar Industries, Larsen and Toubro, Tata and Ordnance Factory Board companies. The rocket system can hit targets at 75 kilometres and beyond with its multiple variants.

Lockheed Martin's High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) is a long-range, mobile, precision fire launcher. US army is all set to have it in their fleet. HIMARS carries a six-pack of GMLRS rockets, two Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM) or one ATACMS missile, and is designed to launch the entire MLRS family of munitions. Pinaka is often termed India's HIMARS for its accuracy and capability.

These Indigenous Rocket Launchers have been designed around critical subsystems which themselves have been designed and developed in the country. Pinaka Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) is a battle-proven all-weather, indirect area fire Artillery Weapon System designed. 

Pinaka Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher's mission is to deliver a large volume of fire within a very short time against critical and sensitive area targets. The quick response and relatively high pointing accuracy of the Launcher enable it to deliver a large volume of fire against critical and time-sensitive enemy targets, within a very short time. 

The Launcher System is supported by four hydraulically actuated outriggers at the time of firing. The cradle, a platform for clamping the pods, is pivoted to the revolving base and has two pods mounted side by side. Each pod contains six launcher tubes, for loading the rockets, stacked in a 2X3 matrix.

The Pinaka rocket system boasts a "shoot and scoot" capability with advanced auto-levelling and stabilization, allowing it to swiftly relocate after firing to avoid counter-battery fire. It can unleash a powerful salvo of 12 rockets in just 44 seconds, with highly precise positioning accuracy, maintaining one milliradian accuracy in both azimuth and elevation. The system is capable of programming all 12 rockets within a maximum of 20 seconds, facilitated by an onboard inertial navigation system that ensures accurate and rapid deployment. 

India has been pushing the indigenous systems for export markets and the Narendra Modi government has been able to achieve success in expanding exports by three times since it came to power in 2014. France is the second largest importer of Indian defence equipment after the US with a lot of electronics items going there from India.