CDS (I) 2022 General Knowledge · Question 107 of 120

Correct — C, Rocket launcher systems. Both names belong to the Indian Army's artillery rocket arm. Pinaka is a multiple launch rocket system developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, with the Armament Research and Development Establishment as system coordinator across seven DRDO laboratories; the launcher rides on a truck chassis and fires a salvo of rockets in seconds. Its first regiment was raised in February 2000 and its combat debut came in the Kargil conflict of 1999. Smerch is the Russian BM-30, a heavier long-range system the Army bought to give its rocket regiments more reach. The two are named together because they do the same job at different weights, and because Pinaka in its longer-ranged versions was conceived to eventually replace both the BM-21 Grad and the BM-30 Smerch in Indian service.

• (a)Cruise missiles — A cruise missile flies a guided, powered, air-breathing course to a specific target — BrahMos and Nirbhay are the Indian examples. Pinaka and Smerch fire unguided or area-guided rockets in salvo to saturate a zone, which is a different weapon class with a different purpose.
• (b)Nuclear-powered submarines — Nuclear-powered submarines in Indian service go under the Arihant class and the leased Akula-class boats. Neither Pinaka nor Smerch is a naval platform of any kind; both are land-based artillery.
• (d)Weaponised drones — Weaponised drones are unmanned aerial vehicles carrying munitions or acting as loitering munitions. Pinaka and Smerch have no aircraft component — they are truck-mounted launchers firing ballistic rockets.

A multi-barrel rocket launcher is area-fire artillery. Instead of one heavy shell placed precisely, it puts a large number of rockets into a target zone in a very short burst, then moves before counter-battery fire can find it. That combination of volume and mobility is what makes it valuable, and it is why such systems are grouped separately from guns and from guided missiles. Pinaka is India's indigenous entry in the class, its range extending across successive marks from about 37.5 km for the Mark I to 60 km for the Mark II, 75 km for the guided version and 120 km for the longest-ranged rocket in the family.

Defence terminology items in this paper are usually answered by pattern rather than by detail: names that appear together in a headline almost always belong to the same weapon class. Pinaka and Smerch is one such pairing, and the way to be sure of the class is to remember that Pinaka is a DRDO product and Smerch a Russian import, so the shared feature cannot be nationality — it has to be role. The word Smerch, Russian for whirlwind, is also a hint that it is an area weapon rather than a precision one. A candidate who takes the pair as missiles falls into the commonest trap in this section, which is treating everything with a rocket motor as a missile; the working distinction is guidance and mission, not propulsion. Since the exam Pinaka has continued to move up in range and precision, which is what the longer-ranged marks of the family are for.

• Pinaka is a multiple launch rocket system developed by the DRDO for the Indian Army, with ARDE as system coordinator.
• The first Pinaka regiment was raised in February 2000, and the system saw action in the Kargil conflict of 1999.
• Pinaka's range runs from about 37.5 km for the Mark I through 60 km for the Mark II and 75 km for the guided version to 120 km for the longest-ranged rocket in the family.
• Smerch is the Russian BM-30, a heavy long-range multiple rocket launcher operated by the Indian Army.
• Pinaka was designed to eventually take over from the BM-21 Grad and the BM-30 Smerch in Indian service.

• Calling any rocket-powered weapon a missile. Guidance and mission define the class, not the motor.
• Assuming a jointly reported pair must share a country of origin. Pinaka is Indian and Smerch is Russian; what they share is the role.
• Confusing Pinaka with Prithvi or Pralay, which are ballistic missiles rather than rocket artillery.

As a what-do-these-terms-refer-to item, as a system-to-category match, or as a statements question on Pinaka's developer and range.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Pinaka, in the news in connection with the Indian Army's artillery, has been developed by

  • (a)Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
  • (b)the Defence Research and Development Organisation
  • (c)Bharat Electronics Limited
  • (d)the Indian Space Research Organisation

  Answer(b) the Defence Research and Development Organisation — with the Armament Research and Development Establishment as system coordinator across several DRDO laboratories.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following is a cruise missile rather than a rocket artillery system?

  • (a)Pinaka
  • (b)Smerch
  • (c)BrahMos
  • (d)Grad

  Answer(c) BrahMos — a guided, powered cruise missile. Pinaka, Smerch and Grad are all multiple rocket launcher systems.