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PGMs are weapons directed against pinpoint targets. Fired from land, sea, air and outer space, they have been in use since the Second World War but came into prominence primarily during the Vietnam War. Richard Hallon of Australia Air Power Studies Centre described it as the most important development of the twentieth century. Major General Fuller, a reputed strategic analyst considered accuracy of aim as one of the five recognisable attributes of weaponry, the other four being range, striking power, volume of fire and portability. The current PGMs are capable of fulfilling all these parameters, effectively thereby destroying a target with speed thereby breaking the enemy’s will to fight.
Use of PGMs in Wars
Attempts to use PGMs date back to the First World War. Thereafter, the efforts continued in the Second World War as also the Korean War but the breakthrough occurred during the Vietnam War when persistent efforts to destroy the Thanh Hoa Bridge, which connected North and South Vietnam, failed, despite numerous bombings by the United States Air Force. It took almost five years to destroy the bridge by Laser Guided Bombs (LGBs) from the F-7 aircrafts of the US Navy thereby severing the critical road link between North and South Vietnam.
The First Gulf Warsaw the effective use of PGMs. Here, the Air Land Battle concept of General William Westmoreland was changed to attacks on Centre of Gravities as postulated by Colonel Warden of the US Air Force. Currently the United States has conceptualised the Air Sea Battle, which is extrapolating the targets to an attempt to undertake an amphibious operation followed by capture of land targets. The First Gulf War witnessed the collapse of the command and control as also logistics system of the Iraqis.
The next war where PGMs were used extensively was the Bosnian conflict of 1999 where pilots flying the B 2B stealth bombers took off from bases in the United States and were briefed about targets enroute. PGMs during this conflict were a total success. Thereafter the Second Gulf War, Libya, Afghanistan and the sporadic conflicts between the Israelis vis a vis the Hamas and Hezbollah have frequently seen the use of PGMs.
Drone attacks have been extremely effective in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen. Recently the Second in Command of Al Qaeda, Said El Shaheri was killed in a drone attack in Yemen. The percentage of PGMs used by the United States in Vietnam was a mere 0.2 per cent. This increased to 8 per cent in the First Gulf War, 35 per cent in the Kosovo Conflict and 56 per cent in the Second Gulf War, Afghanistan and Libya.
Types of PGMs
There are numerous types of PGMs, which can be fired from air, sea, outer space and land. In as much as air is concerned we have air-to-air missiles, joint direct attack munition (JDAM), LGBs, unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) firing Hellfire fire and forget missiles, air to ship missiles, air to ground missiles and loitering missiles. The Navy has similar missiles, which can be fired from ships and submarines.
The Army has primarily three types of PGMs. One is the course corrected, area effect warhead like Excalibur and Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System. The next is the Sensor Fuzed, which is Shoot to Kill like SADARM and Bonus. The third version is Terminally Homing or hit to kill which is designated on to the target by Krasnopol. The Precision Guidance Kit (PGK) which often takes the form of Course Correction Fuzes which are fitted on the nose of a projectile and can give a Circular Error of Probability around 50 metres.
Usage of PGMs by Other Countries
All NATO countries, Russia, China, Australia, South Korea and PakistanPGMs use PGMs extensively. The United States has taken a conscious decision to raise the stocking levels to 50 percent. The usage of PGMs is based on the nature of target. In order to ensure that a PGM is effective, it is extremely important to accurately locate the target. Therefore, target location by devices like satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), aerostats, battlefield surveillance radars (BFSRs) and long-range reconnaissance and observation system (LORROS) is essential to provide accurate inputs which are gainfully employed to optimise target intelligence.
Employment of PGMs in India
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has successfully used LGBs as also PGMs from Mirage 2000 Litening Pods for attacks on Tiger Hill and Muntho Dhalo. The IAF is inducting PGMs in adequate measure to meet its operational commitments. These include air to air, air to ground, ground to air and ground to ground munitions. The Navy is similarly inducting a wide variety of PGMs, which can be fired fromships, submarines and from the air by naval aviation assets.
The Indian Army currently has Krasnopol, which is suitable for employment in plains and hilly terrain. Further, India reportedly has terminally guided munitions with Smerch rockets. The BrahMos Cruise Missile has a low circular error ofprobability (CEP) and can be utilised for surgical strikes.Efforts are on to acquire Fire and Forget antitank guided missiles (ATGMs) for our tanks, infantry and attack helicopters. The percentage of actual holdings is miniscule to the actual requirement.
Precision attacks are required against critical targets such as terrorist camps, bridges, command and control centres, air defence guns and missile locations, bridging columns, tanks and artillery equipment. There is a need to have a direct hit or be as close to the target depending on the nature of target. Accordingly, there is a need to have adequate numbers with the Indian Army to meet its commitments in the tactical, operational and in combination with the Air Force in the strategic domain. There is a definite requirement of our guns and rockets having a mix of Course Corrected, Sensor Fuzed and Terminally Homing ammunition. It is pertinent to note that the Long Term Integrated Perspective Plan (LTIPP) and Technology Perspective & Capability Roadmap (TPCR) state the requirement of PGMs with a CEP of 3 metres.
While our targeting capability needs improvement through better Command, Control, Communication, Computers, Information, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4I2 SR), our engagement capability needs to be enhanced with PGMs. Detailed study needs to be undertaken to decide the percentage based on our targets and weapon matching. Operationally the issue needs to be addressed at the earliest to match our adversaries who are in the process of equipping themselves with this weaponry.
Maj Gen P K Chakravorty, VSM, (Retd), is a NCR based defence analyst.
Views expressed are personal
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