The Hindu : Army raising second artillery division

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 02, 2002

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Army raising second artillery division

By Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI MAY 1. The Indian Army is currently raising its second artillery division to ensure better deployment of this powerful fighting arm in the plains. The process began about two months ago and is expected to be completed soon. The new division will basically have medium guns, rockets, surveillance and target acquisition regiment and, possibly, missiles. It will be headquartered at Pune, say Defence Ministry sources.

While the 40th artillery division, India's sole `pure' artillery division, is deployed in the Northern Command, the 41st division is being raised in the Southern Command to provide a better punch in the Gujarat area. The idea of raising undiluted artillery divisions was proposed some time ago but it took shape only about five years ago with the formation of the 40th division. Incidentally, Pakistan is said to have embraced the concept earlier and to possess two or even three artillery divisions some of whose units were effectively used during the Kargil war. The two artillery divisions are expected to enable a quick switching of flanks to confuse the enemy as well as ensure better coordination by making optimum use of the resources in the plains where it is a battle-winning factor.

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