fatman17
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wali is prince or it could be his name vali is a afghan name
Pakistan Army Information
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nair
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thanks, but i am interested to know the word "nair"..... Because it is associated with a caste in Kerala
Inception-06
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related to the topic "recoilless gun"
Still in service mounted on Jeeps, in service as firesupport for Troops in FATA
Troops get training at this gun:
Wasif Saleem
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Can you please upload the pictures and little bit of info of all the insignia/badges or army uniform? I'm trying to collect all those. Thanks!
fatman17
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available on the net.....goggle karo....
Interceptor2014
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So will PA be looking to reduce the number of Army men??? and how much?
fatman17
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why.....???
Inception-06
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related to the topic "recoilless gun"
Still in service mounted on Jeeps, in service as firesupport for Troops in FATA:
But many 106mm AT Guns are also now replaced by the HJ-8 Bakthar Shikan !
Troops get training at the AT gun:
Still in service mounted on Jeeps, in service as firesupport for Troops in FATA:
But many 106mm AT Guns are also now replaced by the HJ-8 Bakthar Shikan !
Troops get training at the AT gun:
fatman17
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very profound indeed....
fatman17
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DEFENCE NOTES
50 YEARS OF THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY
Columnist Col (retd) EAS BOKHARI goes overthe history of artillery in the Pakistan army
The Pakistani share of the artillery was less than a score units at partition, and these were a rag tag collection of polyglot nature - and could hardly fit in any tactical or strategic plan. - not to talk of self sufficiency. These units, if these could be called as such, had to be accepted and inducted in the Pakistan Army.
Over a period of time the regiment has grown almost over 100 units - even though the regiment has shed the anti aircraft elements to form Air Defence component of the Pakistan Army. This short presentation deals with the growth of the artillery regiment over a period of time - and brings out some of the episodes which presumably the official history of the regiment would not include - being more of personal nature.
It is to be noticed that the British shibboleth that Artillery is a technical arms and the coloured 'natives' are not quite capable of being good gunners was shattered (and artillery was never only the domain of the white man). In this they have proven terribly wrong and the regiment has made tremendous progress both in the equipment side as well as the handling and gunnery (technique) side. As would be seen - as a Third World country Pakistan had to induct a variety of equipments - and therefore it was necessary to unify the system of gunnery. In the early stages - the British used the FPS (Foot Pound Second) system, the American had the mil / radian system, and the Soviet system was based on rukhs. All this had to be unified for application on all equipment. Pakistan's changing over to metric system helped in this process too in a big way.
The single barelled artillery might have reached at a stage of optimum development - and as a concluding part of this presentation I have tried to say a few words of the artillery of 21st century, and the fate of single barelled gun which has been our work horse for a long time and is still going strong specially in third world countries.
It is anachronistic that during the Second World War, the Britishers did not induct very many 'natives' in the technical arms and surprisingly artillery was considered a technical arm and perhaps beyond the natives. Of course, there were a few Muslim officers who were commissioned in the artillery arm, and no doubt they later proved to be officers of very high calibre, and rose to General's rank.
One spin-off of this was that when the Pakistan Artillery started expanding and more guns were made available, there was a shortage of gunner officers and officers from other arms had to be inducted in the Royal Pakistan Artillery (as it was called at the time of partition) to make up the deficiencies. The 'Royal' stigma remained with us for quite some time.
Such lateral inductees were sometimes referred to as 'Sheikhs' by those who were basically or originally gunners.
I have here a word or two about the British attitude. I fail to understand how they very conveniently forgot that the earliest extant document mentioning 'cannon' is one in Arabic and it is dated 1304. (See Oman's A history of the Art of War, 1924. Vol II. p-2II). And then, the Britishers conveniently forgot that perhaps the first practical artillery man was a Muslim. Here is a quotation from Gen JFC Fuller's Armament and History, a book written by a famous British general, which deals with the evolution of armament. He writes on PP-87-88 thus It was however at the siege of Constantinople in 1453 that the cannon proved itself to be the dominant arm. On April 5, Mohammad II, the first great gunner in history, at the head of an immense army, appeared before the city and planted his cannon opposite its triple land wall. There, on the 12th, amidst the beating of drums and shouting of thousands of excited men, the first great historical bombardment opened. Of it Mijatovich says, Since the creation of the world, nothing like it had been heard on the shores of the Bosphorus: The cannons however were slow - though dreadful - and they could fire but seven times a day.
Mohammad's more effective weapons were the Bombards cast by a Hungarian or Wallachian cannon founder, Urban. They projected stone shot thirty inches in diameter weighing from 1,200 to 1,500 pounds. Two such stone balls of 46 inch diameter still exist in Constantinople.
So by 1948, there were only a few artillery units in Pakistan and of course their Indian designations were changed. These units were not more than twelve, including the Survey Battery.
The regiment has expanded manifold and as I had mentioned, the 'Royal' taboo has been shed. It is much-simpler and meaningful to call the arm as Pakistan Artillery which it is called now. Perhaps the basic artillery unit is a field regiment, which is supposed to provide close fire support to infantry/armour units. The purpose here is to describe life in a field regiment as it existed then. This could be compared by the gunner/other readers with the present set-up too.
The earlier commanding officers and Commanders Army GP Royal Pakistan (AGRPA) were Britishers. Some of these officers were highly competent but some had been drawn from the Reserve Army.
Although I had joined 4 Field Regiment (its Indian number was 5 Field) in the border area, soon after the hostilities ended our unit moved to Quetta and was housed in pucca barracks - known as White Barracks - and white these were.
Sometimes I have brooded that no army officer can miss a posting to Quetta. An officer, particularly a good officer must go there. There you have the Infantry School, the Tactical Wing, the Staff College and a host of other institutions. A good officer must go through these at some stage of his career. At one time even 'war courses' were run at the Command and Staff College Quetta. I think we were about four 'youngsters' who went to 4 Field and we were posted to different batteries. At that time a field regiment had three batteries - each with two troops and each troop had four guns, i.e., a total of 24 pieces per unit. Each troop was an independent firing sub-unit, and with some trick the entire unit, i.e., 24 guns, could also be concentrated on a target. With the present-day US system and with the reduction of guns per unit to 18, the unit concentration has become extremely easy and time efficient.
The British were known for making things complex and sometimes without any rationale. Their gunnery system was based on the 'Pivot Gun' system in which a single gun was considered the pivot and rest concentrated on or distributed from it. And this pivot gun was directed on to the target. The present system is the Battery Centre system which is much easier involving no 'windowing' of data for others. It is much more direct and accurate.
While we are on the subject of gunnery and ballistics, I found that the senior British artillery officers were incorrigibly ignorant about the prowess of young Pakistani artillery officers, and were more used to 'rankers', who had served them well and were now battery commanders. It had been somehow drummed in to their thinking that Pakistani gunners were mediocre.
I was taken for an interview with our Brigadier. A tall (6 ft 7 inches) and weather-beaten man, he was professional down to his toes. He asked me just one question. The question was, What is Log Zero? Promptly I said Infinity, and he had no more questions to ask me. On my first interview with my Battery Commander I was asked to punctuate the following sentence:
That that is that is that and that that is not that is not that. I think I made a mess of it and put in unnecessary punctuation marks. I leave this to the readers to do it (It needs just two and no more).
I was a little amazed when I went to the ranges (for course shooting). This was an era of observed shooting, i.e., shooting while the target was in sight. (Now much is done by prediction and other sophisticated methods). The OP Officer had a terrible task as he even had to work out the gun data. This is ridiculous, but it was the practice then and as a result it was a common sight that the first round was not seen anywhere near the target. And then a long process of creeping towards the target would start which was neither time -nor ammunition-effective.
I was startled when one Major (in the good books of the British) would throw some dust and see its fallout, i.e., direction it went, and then in a mystical fashion worked out something which he claimed was the right correction of the moment. Such jugglery and magic work somehow impressed the Britishers, though it was an outright hoax and inaccurate method of finding the correction due to wind speed, density and other weather conditions as it did not relate to the atmosphere where the projectile was actually travelling.
The field regiment was equipped with the good old 25 pounder field gun-a good piece which had seen service in the Second World War. It is still used for ceremonial purposes and for operational purposes in certain sectors. The original gun had a platform on which it could easily be traversed, and then had a trailer hooked on to it in which the ammunition was carried. All this was pulled by what the Britishers fondly called the FAT (Field Artillery Tractor). It was not a tractor in the sense in which we perceive it. It was in fact a vehicle with a winch and usually a Chev or a Ford in which the crew and their paraphernalia travelled.
The British were fond of issuing innumerable number of tools on each gun. Some of these were never used during my entire stay in the unit and they just existed because they were there. These should have been in some workshop or EME unit. I suppose they expected the illiterate driver of the FAT to repair it in emergency. It was expecting too much from him.
The trailer of course had a good point that it provided some sort of articulation to the gun during travel but it made the radius of turning quite long and was tactically unacceptable.
I am not a historian of artillery, but have had the opportunity of seeing the Regiment burgeoning and coming of age over a period of time. I suppose this presentation will fit well in the 50 years Celebrations of Pakistan which, I understand, are continuing in the country during the year. Unfair as the distribution was of the territory at the time of partition, the distribution of military assets was equally irrational. In the case of artillery Pakistan got a ragtag of units of field, anti-tank, anti-aircraft and medium guns. All these were, of course, of British origin and had seen the Second World War. Some of the pieces were, perhaps, in the last quarter of their life (the life of a gun is measured, i.e., the barrel in terms of EFCs - Effective Full Charges fired, and each barrel has four quarters of life).
Neither the units were to their full TO&E (Tables of Organisation and Equipment), nor their battle worthiness could be guaranteed. Precisely, the units were not more than a dozen or so and consisted of the following:
1 Mountain Regiment. Much later it was converted into an SP Regiment the change from mules to tank was really remarkable.
2 Field Regiment: It was meant to provide direct support to infantry. The unit was equipped with 25 pounder guns, which we still have, but are now normally used for firing salutes.
3 (SP) Field Regiment: It was only partially SP and had some towed guns too. The equipment with the unit was the same good old 25 pounder.
4 Field Regiment: Another regiment which was supposed to support infantry. I was lucky to serve this regiment where I was assigned to a battle tested 5 (Nowshera) Battery. We had 25 pounders and at that time the regiments were equipped with 24 guns per unit (the present holding of units is 18 guns).
5 Heavy AA (Anit-Aircraft): This unit, as its very name implies, was for AA use and was equipped with 3.7 inch Heavy AA GUN.
6 LAA: This unit was another AA unit and was equipped with 20/40 mm AA guns for use against low flying aircraft.
7 Field Regiment: It was another field regiment equipped like 2 and 4 Field.
8 Medium: This regiment was the only heavy calibre unit and was equipped with the British 5.5 mm gun (I understand the Indians still have this equipment and they did use this against us in the 1965 War. Of course, now they have the Bofors and the Soviet 130 MM). I had a short stint in this unit and its gun towers were always a problem. These were neither reliable nor powerful enough to tow the gun for sustained periods. Even the distance from Peshawar to Nowshera ranges could take many hours by road, and was too much for these vehicles (Macks).
9 and 10 Anti-Tank units were equipped with 6 pounder direct hit anti-tank gun. As we will see later these equipments were not retained by artillery and became organic to infantry.
11 Field Regiment and 12 Medium Regiments were to be raised by milking existing field regiments and eight medium regiment. Luckily we had portions of a locating battery. That's about all the artillery assets we had in 1984. These assets were loosely grouped and located and controlled by AGRPAs (Army Group Royal Pakistan Artillery). The name of the formation was very high sounding but it could hardly effect any control over the firepower as some of the basic infrastructure for the HQ was missing, I mean communications et al. There was one at Karachi, one at Multan and one, I suppose, at Peshawar, all too far-flung, but that was the best that could be done.
I remember we had neither any spares for our equipment to start with nor was there enough ammunition. Some of the core artillery outfits like the Artillery Centre and the Artillery School were left in India at Muttra and Deolali. So we had to start from scratch. Artillery Directorate and the School of Artillery were hastily organised, and so was the Artillery Centre at Attock.
The artillery units were required to take part in Kashmir operations and for good part of the year in 1947, 48 and 49 remained on border duty. It was only after the ceasefire in 1949 when they got some respite to move to a peace station and start re-equipment and retraining. In a way, this very early initiation to war-like conditions proved good to most of us who were later to serve the regiment in various capacities.
Most of the commanding officers at that time, perhaps all, were British officers and some of them were least interested in their commands (there were exceptions like Cols Milne and Jervis and Brigadier Crawford who were downright professionals). The units, i.e., the field regiments, as I have mentioned above, had 24 guns and three batteries, i.e., each battery had a troop of four guns. In those days it was considered a great feat, which, I later thought, was a mere taboo to concentrate the fire of the whole regiment, i.e., of the 24 guns, as it involved six troops command posts and three battery command posts. Besides the Regimental HQ at a desired point. The gunnery was cumbersome. The British always thought, and quite erroneously, that Pakistanis would not make good gunners, and gunnery and ballistics were the British domain. This shibboleth was debunked later in the 1965 War when we were able to produce concentrated fire (point concentrations) within no time wherever we wanted. And even young officers could bring down the fire of the entire regiment if they were authorised (and most of them in support of infantry and armour were so authorised).
It was not the until the mid fifties that the Regiment got a real boost as far as the expansion was concerned - and with the coming of the American Military Aid - a number of Field and SP units were raised and thus a fair amount of balance had been achieved and enough artillery was available for the field formations (existing then).
All the same I cannot say that every unit or a formation had proper organic artillery in spite of the American aid. To give an example the 6 Armoured Division which had the task of stopping the Indian onslaught in the Sialkot Sector - had just one artillery unit - i.e. the First SP to support its units. Luckily after the abortive Akhnur operations - entire 4 Corps Artillery was put in support of 6 Armoured Division. Such sort of adhoc arrangements were very common - and the affiliations changed rather frequently. This of course was not good - but it could not be helped due to paucity of guns.
By end 1965 - the number of units was just about 40 - and the last i.e. 40 Field Regiment was booty from Chamb - where the Indians had left their 25 Pounders intact before fleeing the place.
After this there has been a regular expansion - and some deletion too in terms of AA and Anti tank guns which no more formed the part of the Regiment of Artillery. For obvious reasons of security I cannot list the entire orbat of the regiment-but I can say with full conviction that there is no real shortage of artillery presently and all formations of the army have organic artillery available, to them, and affiliations are almost permanent. Of course like the armour (T-59s and others), artillery has received a very considerable Chinese equipment to make present holdings and expansion possible.
The Artillery is not a dashing and flamboyant arm like the armour nor does it work eyeball to eyeball with the enemy like the infantry. The Artillery works quietly from a respectable distance and saturates the battlefield with firepower - which is its main contribution to battle. Present day artillery covers a large range of weapons like guns, howitzers, mortars and rockets - some of these weapons have organic and auxiliary power units (APUs) for quick displacement.
Artillery is essentially a neutralisation weapon - though some Indian experts in the Indian Artillery Schools (field) Deolali, feel that modern artillery can be equally effective as a destructive weapon for the engagement of hardened and pin-point targets. Pakistan artillery apparently has no such claims as this claim besides other things would need an amendment in the Artillery Training Pamphlets. The concept, however, needs a detailed examination as the Pakistan Artillery presently possesses some of the weapons which are best in the world for the engagement of pin-point targets.
One only has to see some of the new artillery products and their ammunition especially by Bofors and others to get a glimpse of the future artillery trends and the technology involved in their production and use. This short presentation brings out some of the modern/futuristic trends in artillery weapons and ammunition.
At the very outset I must spell out the trends in artillery during the 1970s and 1980s. These were:
- Increased mobility due to the incorporation of auxiliary propulsion units (APUs), on the guns or the equipping of guns with organic propulsion, i.e., self-propulsion (SP) mode.
- Increased range with 'base-bleed' shells and increased muzzle energy.
- Increased fire power via multiple warhead technique and rocket artillery.
- Increased lethal and other effects at the target end due to more efficient ammunition.
Artillery development has not stagnated since the end of World War II and considerable development has taken place in the equipment side. A comparison of the performance of 155 MM Artillery of Post WW II period and the next generation of the same equipment is something like this:
Post WWII
Next Generation
Range
16 Km/24 KM
30 Km
Barrel Length
23 Calibres
52 calibres
39 Calibres
Muzzle Velocity
(39 Calibres)
827 m/s
950-1000 m/s
With Base Bleed
Range
30 Km
40 km
So we can see the performance difference which will be brought about with slender ammunition - (which has minimum base drag - and air resistance retardation effect) and due to greater muzzle velocity and increase in barrel length.
Although it was the Soviets who first used the rocket artillery in WW II, this mode of artillery fires is getting quiet fashionable these days (in spite of its weapon dispersion and inadequate war-head technology). In terms of target area saturation rocket artillery appears to have an edge (density wise) over conventional artillery.
The NATO forces have inducted one of the most effective Rocket system in the world. Officially known as Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS), the system has a calibre of 227 mm, and the weight of the rocket used therein is 308 Kg. This basic load consists of 644 small bomblets (the same as the 155mm Cargo ammo M483). These bomblets may have limited effect against really hard targets - all the same their range is about 30 Km or so.
The fire power quantitatively of a NATO division will be impressive. The division as such has 9 Launchers - with each firing 12 rockets (each with 644 bomblets) per minute. The delivery of bomblets per minute at the target comes to 9 x 12 x 644 or 69552 bomblets which amounts to almost 1 bomblet per m2 over an area of 300x300 metres (as occupied by a division). This may appear to be overkill but such a density is almost essential against hard targets like armour or other well protected targets.
The trend, however, is to have a mixture of rockets and barrelled artillery. Rocket artillery which has its roots in multiple warhead technology is likely to be further developed towards target seeking warheads to eliminate its present day dispersion. The environment parameters of such a warhead will be favourable for the rocket as a carrier.
Some stunning developments are likely to occur in the development of ammunition. It is generally considered that the FH 77-B Bofor 155mm (400 of which are presently held by India) - and which presently uses propellant charge of approximately 13 Kg will now need a charge weight of 19 Kg to achieve a range of 40 Km. Some of the more sophisticated propellants that may become usable in field artillery systems in future could be:
- The modular propellant charges (combustible). These may be operational within 10 to 20 years time.
- Liquid propellants may be in vogue by the year 2010 or so.
- It is hoped that the next generation of propellants will be more insensitive than the present powders - and by about 10 years time LOVA - powder will be available which has a high ignition temperature and which does not burn at atmospheric pressures.
The next important development will be in the projectiles. As always, it will be governed by the threat scenario - and technical developments. There should be no doubt that the number of armoured vehicles will increase in the future battle field i.e., the targets to be dealt by the artillery will become harder and harder. Consequently, to be effective against such targets, the artillery shall will have to be a carrier shell rather than the conventional ground burst shell presently in vogue with most of the armies. In fact, this type, i.e., the HE (High Explosive) shells have least potential for future development in view of the changing battle field scenario.
Some improvement in the HE shell can be effected by the base bleed technology which increases range considerably - but this may be at the expense of HE content. The Bofors HEER (High Explosive Extra Range) shell is one of the examples in which a slim shell is used. Even the fillings of the future shell may be PBX and not TNT and that may be used probably after 1995 or so.
As indicated before, the possibilities of the cargo shell will be exploited to the maximum and this shell may have bomblets, mines, illuminating/smoke cannisters - and sensor modules incorporated in it.
Yet there are more sophisticated projectiles such as the Smart ammunition - which is sensor equipped and which can identify armoured vehicles. Its warhead consists of EFP (Explosively Formed Projectile) with an effect over a distance of more than 100 metres. The US artillery has developed such ammunition for 203 and 155 mm calibres and call it SADARM (Sense & Destroy Armour). Still more sophisticated projectiles known as the Intelligent Ammunition are also being developed - which, in fact, terminally guided projectiles ( a motorless missile). This shell is inactive in a ballistic trajectory, and is activated in a target seeking phase at the end of the trajectory, acquires the target, homes on to it and finally initiates the warhead when it hits the target.
UNITS ALLOWED TO PAKISTAN
Artillery
Designation in India.....Designation in Pakistan.....Remarks
21 Mountain Regt .......I Mountain Regt.....................3.7 Inch Howitzer
3 Field Regt ................2 Field Regt ..........................25 Pounders
4 Field Regt ................3 (SP) Field Regt ..................Two batteries self . Propelled 25 Pdrs
5 Field ........................4 Field Regt ...........................25 Pounders
33 Anti Tank Regt .........7 Field Regt ..........................25 Pounders
38 Medium Regt ............8 Medium Regt .....................5.5 Inch Howitzer
18 HAA Regt ..................5 HAA Regt ..........................3.7 Inch HAA Guns
25 LAA Regt ..................6 LAA Regt ...........................40mm LAA Guns
2 Survey battery .............13Survey Battery ...................Survey, Flash spotting and Sound Ranging Troops.
At the cost of some repetition and due to some security constraints - it is not possible for me to provide the entire artillery orbit here - suffice it to say that adequate artillery fire support can be provided to all the formations - to which adequate artillery support is organic and on call. I should say there was some shortages which had come out during the large Ex 'Zarbe-Momin' - but I find that these are being made up. One sector which was weak was the SP Medium which now is perhaps the only sector in which we are even better than India - and India is much scared of Pakistani (US Provided) Medium guns. We might as well induct more of Multiple Rockets Launchers for area saturation tactical tasks. Such pieces were found extremely useful by the Americans and the Allies during the 1991 - Gulf War.
A brief summary of holding of weapons i.e., artillery assets of India and Pakistan as per Military
Balance 1996-97 is as below:
Pakistan
Towed Artillery - 1,580 pieces including
155MM M-59 30
MII4 60
MI98 114
203
MM MII5 - 26
SP Artillery - 240 pieces including
I55MM I09 A-2 150
203 MM MII0 A2 40
MRL I22 MM - 45
Mortar 8I MM - 500
Mortar I20 mm 225
India
Towed Artillery 4175 (with 600 in stores) including Bofors I55 MM FH 77B- 4I0
SP Artillery - above 105 mm Calibre - 100 plus 70 in store (M-46)
MRL I22 mm I50
214 mm Pinacha - being developed.
Mortars 8I mm - to 160mm total of 1200
Finally it is indeed encouraging and confidence giving that the Pakistan Artillery is a potent arm and possesses all such support assets which can provide timely and effective support to the supported arms at all times. The artillery as I have said earlier is somewhat self effacing arm - but a time has come when I should assert itself and demand the same place amongst the fighting arms as armour or infantry.
Of late the Indian artillery is poised for this place and surely during the 1991 Gulf War - SP artillery and Multiple Rocket Launchers played havoc with the Iraqis - and later there was hardly anything left to be fought for - and the Allied Armour was able to make massive encircling movements and thus make Iraqi positions untenable. The present artillery technique i.e., resection from satellites and target acquisition with UAVs makes engagements a real pleasure. It can be quick and lethal - and surely accurate and cost effective in ammunition. The Pakistan artillery is fast getting acquainted with these modern technologies.
Further Reading
1. The Pakistan Army - 1947-49 Maj Gen Shaukat Riza.
2. Armament & History. Gen JFC Fuller.
3. The Military Balance 1996-97, IISS - London.
DJ
old article from 1997 but still a interesting read....
50 YEARS OF THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY
Columnist Col (retd) EAS BOKHARI goes overthe history of artillery in the Pakistan army
The Pakistani share of the artillery was less than a score units at partition, and these were a rag tag collection of polyglot nature - and could hardly fit in any tactical or strategic plan. - not to talk of self sufficiency. These units, if these could be called as such, had to be accepted and inducted in the Pakistan Army.
Over a period of time the regiment has grown almost over 100 units - even though the regiment has shed the anti aircraft elements to form Air Defence component of the Pakistan Army. This short presentation deals with the growth of the artillery regiment over a period of time - and brings out some of the episodes which presumably the official history of the regiment would not include - being more of personal nature.
It is to be noticed that the British shibboleth that Artillery is a technical arms and the coloured 'natives' are not quite capable of being good gunners was shattered (and artillery was never only the domain of the white man). In this they have proven terribly wrong and the regiment has made tremendous progress both in the equipment side as well as the handling and gunnery (technique) side. As would be seen - as a Third World country Pakistan had to induct a variety of equipments - and therefore it was necessary to unify the system of gunnery. In the early stages - the British used the FPS (Foot Pound Second) system, the American had the mil / radian system, and the Soviet system was based on rukhs. All this had to be unified for application on all equipment. Pakistan's changing over to metric system helped in this process too in a big way.
The single barelled artillery might have reached at a stage of optimum development - and as a concluding part of this presentation I have tried to say a few words of the artillery of 21st century, and the fate of single barelled gun which has been our work horse for a long time and is still going strong specially in third world countries.
It is anachronistic that during the Second World War, the Britishers did not induct very many 'natives' in the technical arms and surprisingly artillery was considered a technical arm and perhaps beyond the natives. Of course, there were a few Muslim officers who were commissioned in the artillery arm, and no doubt they later proved to be officers of very high calibre, and rose to General's rank.
One spin-off of this was that when the Pakistan Artillery started expanding and more guns were made available, there was a shortage of gunner officers and officers from other arms had to be inducted in the Royal Pakistan Artillery (as it was called at the time of partition) to make up the deficiencies. The 'Royal' stigma remained with us for quite some time.
Such lateral inductees were sometimes referred to as 'Sheikhs' by those who were basically or originally gunners.
I have here a word or two about the British attitude. I fail to understand how they very conveniently forgot that the earliest extant document mentioning 'cannon' is one in Arabic and it is dated 1304. (See Oman's A history of the Art of War, 1924. Vol II. p-2II). And then, the Britishers conveniently forgot that perhaps the first practical artillery man was a Muslim. Here is a quotation from Gen JFC Fuller's Armament and History, a book written by a famous British general, which deals with the evolution of armament. He writes on PP-87-88 thus It was however at the siege of Constantinople in 1453 that the cannon proved itself to be the dominant arm. On April 5, Mohammad II, the first great gunner in history, at the head of an immense army, appeared before the city and planted his cannon opposite its triple land wall. There, on the 12th, amidst the beating of drums and shouting of thousands of excited men, the first great historical bombardment opened. Of it Mijatovich says, Since the creation of the world, nothing like it had been heard on the shores of the Bosphorus: The cannons however were slow - though dreadful - and they could fire but seven times a day.
Mohammad's more effective weapons were the Bombards cast by a Hungarian or Wallachian cannon founder, Urban. They projected stone shot thirty inches in diameter weighing from 1,200 to 1,500 pounds. Two such stone balls of 46 inch diameter still exist in Constantinople.
So by 1948, there were only a few artillery units in Pakistan and of course their Indian designations were changed. These units were not more than twelve, including the Survey Battery.
The regiment has expanded manifold and as I had mentioned, the 'Royal' taboo has been shed. It is much-simpler and meaningful to call the arm as Pakistan Artillery which it is called now. Perhaps the basic artillery unit is a field regiment, which is supposed to provide close fire support to infantry/armour units. The purpose here is to describe life in a field regiment as it existed then. This could be compared by the gunner/other readers with the present set-up too.
The earlier commanding officers and Commanders Army GP Royal Pakistan (AGRPA) were Britishers. Some of these officers were highly competent but some had been drawn from the Reserve Army.
Although I had joined 4 Field Regiment (its Indian number was 5 Field) in the border area, soon after the hostilities ended our unit moved to Quetta and was housed in pucca barracks - known as White Barracks - and white these were.
Sometimes I have brooded that no army officer can miss a posting to Quetta. An officer, particularly a good officer must go there. There you have the Infantry School, the Tactical Wing, the Staff College and a host of other institutions. A good officer must go through these at some stage of his career. At one time even 'war courses' were run at the Command and Staff College Quetta. I think we were about four 'youngsters' who went to 4 Field and we were posted to different batteries. At that time a field regiment had three batteries - each with two troops and each troop had four guns, i.e., a total of 24 pieces per unit. Each troop was an independent firing sub-unit, and with some trick the entire unit, i.e., 24 guns, could also be concentrated on a target. With the present-day US system and with the reduction of guns per unit to 18, the unit concentration has become extremely easy and time efficient.
The British were known for making things complex and sometimes without any rationale. Their gunnery system was based on the 'Pivot Gun' system in which a single gun was considered the pivot and rest concentrated on or distributed from it. And this pivot gun was directed on to the target. The present system is the Battery Centre system which is much easier involving no 'windowing' of data for others. It is much more direct and accurate.
While we are on the subject of gunnery and ballistics, I found that the senior British artillery officers were incorrigibly ignorant about the prowess of young Pakistani artillery officers, and were more used to 'rankers', who had served them well and were now battery commanders. It had been somehow drummed in to their thinking that Pakistani gunners were mediocre.
I was taken for an interview with our Brigadier. A tall (6 ft 7 inches) and weather-beaten man, he was professional down to his toes. He asked me just one question. The question was, What is Log Zero? Promptly I said Infinity, and he had no more questions to ask me. On my first interview with my Battery Commander I was asked to punctuate the following sentence:
That that is that is that and that that is not that is not that. I think I made a mess of it and put in unnecessary punctuation marks. I leave this to the readers to do it (It needs just two and no more).
I was a little amazed when I went to the ranges (for course shooting). This was an era of observed shooting, i.e., shooting while the target was in sight. (Now much is done by prediction and other sophisticated methods). The OP Officer had a terrible task as he even had to work out the gun data. This is ridiculous, but it was the practice then and as a result it was a common sight that the first round was not seen anywhere near the target. And then a long process of creeping towards the target would start which was neither time -nor ammunition-effective.
I was startled when one Major (in the good books of the British) would throw some dust and see its fallout, i.e., direction it went, and then in a mystical fashion worked out something which he claimed was the right correction of the moment. Such jugglery and magic work somehow impressed the Britishers, though it was an outright hoax and inaccurate method of finding the correction due to wind speed, density and other weather conditions as it did not relate to the atmosphere where the projectile was actually travelling.
The field regiment was equipped with the good old 25 pounder field gun-a good piece which had seen service in the Second World War. It is still used for ceremonial purposes and for operational purposes in certain sectors. The original gun had a platform on which it could easily be traversed, and then had a trailer hooked on to it in which the ammunition was carried. All this was pulled by what the Britishers fondly called the FAT (Field Artillery Tractor). It was not a tractor in the sense in which we perceive it. It was in fact a vehicle with a winch and usually a Chev or a Ford in which the crew and their paraphernalia travelled.
The British were fond of issuing innumerable number of tools on each gun. Some of these were never used during my entire stay in the unit and they just existed because they were there. These should have been in some workshop or EME unit. I suppose they expected the illiterate driver of the FAT to repair it in emergency. It was expecting too much from him.
The trailer of course had a good point that it provided some sort of articulation to the gun during travel but it made the radius of turning quite long and was tactically unacceptable.
I am not a historian of artillery, but have had the opportunity of seeing the Regiment burgeoning and coming of age over a period of time. I suppose this presentation will fit well in the 50 years Celebrations of Pakistan which, I understand, are continuing in the country during the year. Unfair as the distribution was of the territory at the time of partition, the distribution of military assets was equally irrational. In the case of artillery Pakistan got a ragtag of units of field, anti-tank, anti-aircraft and medium guns. All these were, of course, of British origin and had seen the Second World War. Some of the pieces were, perhaps, in the last quarter of their life (the life of a gun is measured, i.e., the barrel in terms of EFCs - Effective Full Charges fired, and each barrel has four quarters of life).
Neither the units were to their full TO&E (Tables of Organisation and Equipment), nor their battle worthiness could be guaranteed. Precisely, the units were not more than a dozen or so and consisted of the following:
1 Mountain Regiment. Much later it was converted into an SP Regiment the change from mules to tank was really remarkable.
2 Field Regiment: It was meant to provide direct support to infantry. The unit was equipped with 25 pounder guns, which we still have, but are now normally used for firing salutes.
3 (SP) Field Regiment: It was only partially SP and had some towed guns too. The equipment with the unit was the same good old 25 pounder.
4 Field Regiment: Another regiment which was supposed to support infantry. I was lucky to serve this regiment where I was assigned to a battle tested 5 (Nowshera) Battery. We had 25 pounders and at that time the regiments were equipped with 24 guns per unit (the present holding of units is 18 guns).
5 Heavy AA (Anit-Aircraft): This unit, as its very name implies, was for AA use and was equipped with 3.7 inch Heavy AA GUN.
6 LAA: This unit was another AA unit and was equipped with 20/40 mm AA guns for use against low flying aircraft.
7 Field Regiment: It was another field regiment equipped like 2 and 4 Field.
8 Medium: This regiment was the only heavy calibre unit and was equipped with the British 5.5 mm gun (I understand the Indians still have this equipment and they did use this against us in the 1965 War. Of course, now they have the Bofors and the Soviet 130 MM). I had a short stint in this unit and its gun towers were always a problem. These were neither reliable nor powerful enough to tow the gun for sustained periods. Even the distance from Peshawar to Nowshera ranges could take many hours by road, and was too much for these vehicles (Macks).
9 and 10 Anti-Tank units were equipped with 6 pounder direct hit anti-tank gun. As we will see later these equipments were not retained by artillery and became organic to infantry.
11 Field Regiment and 12 Medium Regiments were to be raised by milking existing field regiments and eight medium regiment. Luckily we had portions of a locating battery. That's about all the artillery assets we had in 1984. These assets were loosely grouped and located and controlled by AGRPAs (Army Group Royal Pakistan Artillery). The name of the formation was very high sounding but it could hardly effect any control over the firepower as some of the basic infrastructure for the HQ was missing, I mean communications et al. There was one at Karachi, one at Multan and one, I suppose, at Peshawar, all too far-flung, but that was the best that could be done.
I remember we had neither any spares for our equipment to start with nor was there enough ammunition. Some of the core artillery outfits like the Artillery Centre and the Artillery School were left in India at Muttra and Deolali. So we had to start from scratch. Artillery Directorate and the School of Artillery were hastily organised, and so was the Artillery Centre at Attock.
The artillery units were required to take part in Kashmir operations and for good part of the year in 1947, 48 and 49 remained on border duty. It was only after the ceasefire in 1949 when they got some respite to move to a peace station and start re-equipment and retraining. In a way, this very early initiation to war-like conditions proved good to most of us who were later to serve the regiment in various capacities.
Most of the commanding officers at that time, perhaps all, were British officers and some of them were least interested in their commands (there were exceptions like Cols Milne and Jervis and Brigadier Crawford who were downright professionals). The units, i.e., the field regiments, as I have mentioned above, had 24 guns and three batteries, i.e., each battery had a troop of four guns. In those days it was considered a great feat, which, I later thought, was a mere taboo to concentrate the fire of the whole regiment, i.e., of the 24 guns, as it involved six troops command posts and three battery command posts. Besides the Regimental HQ at a desired point. The gunnery was cumbersome. The British always thought, and quite erroneously, that Pakistanis would not make good gunners, and gunnery and ballistics were the British domain. This shibboleth was debunked later in the 1965 War when we were able to produce concentrated fire (point concentrations) within no time wherever we wanted. And even young officers could bring down the fire of the entire regiment if they were authorised (and most of them in support of infantry and armour were so authorised).
It was not the until the mid fifties that the Regiment got a real boost as far as the expansion was concerned - and with the coming of the American Military Aid - a number of Field and SP units were raised and thus a fair amount of balance had been achieved and enough artillery was available for the field formations (existing then).
All the same I cannot say that every unit or a formation had proper organic artillery in spite of the American aid. To give an example the 6 Armoured Division which had the task of stopping the Indian onslaught in the Sialkot Sector - had just one artillery unit - i.e. the First SP to support its units. Luckily after the abortive Akhnur operations - entire 4 Corps Artillery was put in support of 6 Armoured Division. Such sort of adhoc arrangements were very common - and the affiliations changed rather frequently. This of course was not good - but it could not be helped due to paucity of guns.
By end 1965 - the number of units was just about 40 - and the last i.e. 40 Field Regiment was booty from Chamb - where the Indians had left their 25 Pounders intact before fleeing the place.
After this there has been a regular expansion - and some deletion too in terms of AA and Anti tank guns which no more formed the part of the Regiment of Artillery. For obvious reasons of security I cannot list the entire orbat of the regiment-but I can say with full conviction that there is no real shortage of artillery presently and all formations of the army have organic artillery available, to them, and affiliations are almost permanent. Of course like the armour (T-59s and others), artillery has received a very considerable Chinese equipment to make present holdings and expansion possible.
The Artillery is not a dashing and flamboyant arm like the armour nor does it work eyeball to eyeball with the enemy like the infantry. The Artillery works quietly from a respectable distance and saturates the battlefield with firepower - which is its main contribution to battle. Present day artillery covers a large range of weapons like guns, howitzers, mortars and rockets - some of these weapons have organic and auxiliary power units (APUs) for quick displacement.
Artillery is essentially a neutralisation weapon - though some Indian experts in the Indian Artillery Schools (field) Deolali, feel that modern artillery can be equally effective as a destructive weapon for the engagement of hardened and pin-point targets. Pakistan artillery apparently has no such claims as this claim besides other things would need an amendment in the Artillery Training Pamphlets. The concept, however, needs a detailed examination as the Pakistan Artillery presently possesses some of the weapons which are best in the world for the engagement of pin-point targets.
One only has to see some of the new artillery products and their ammunition especially by Bofors and others to get a glimpse of the future artillery trends and the technology involved in their production and use. This short presentation brings out some of the modern/futuristic trends in artillery weapons and ammunition.
At the very outset I must spell out the trends in artillery during the 1970s and 1980s. These were:
- Increased mobility due to the incorporation of auxiliary propulsion units (APUs), on the guns or the equipping of guns with organic propulsion, i.e., self-propulsion (SP) mode.
- Increased range with 'base-bleed' shells and increased muzzle energy.
- Increased fire power via multiple warhead technique and rocket artillery.
- Increased lethal and other effects at the target end due to more efficient ammunition.
Artillery development has not stagnated since the end of World War II and considerable development has taken place in the equipment side. A comparison of the performance of 155 MM Artillery of Post WW II period and the next generation of the same equipment is something like this:
Post WWII
Next Generation
Range
16 Km/24 KM
30 Km
Barrel Length
23 Calibres
52 calibres
39 Calibres
Muzzle Velocity
(39 Calibres)
827 m/s
950-1000 m/s
With Base Bleed
Range
30 Km
40 km
So we can see the performance difference which will be brought about with slender ammunition - (which has minimum base drag - and air resistance retardation effect) and due to greater muzzle velocity and increase in barrel length.
Although it was the Soviets who first used the rocket artillery in WW II, this mode of artillery fires is getting quiet fashionable these days (in spite of its weapon dispersion and inadequate war-head technology). In terms of target area saturation rocket artillery appears to have an edge (density wise) over conventional artillery.
The NATO forces have inducted one of the most effective Rocket system in the world. Officially known as Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS), the system has a calibre of 227 mm, and the weight of the rocket used therein is 308 Kg. This basic load consists of 644 small bomblets (the same as the 155mm Cargo ammo M483). These bomblets may have limited effect against really hard targets - all the same their range is about 30 Km or so.
The fire power quantitatively of a NATO division will be impressive. The division as such has 9 Launchers - with each firing 12 rockets (each with 644 bomblets) per minute. The delivery of bomblets per minute at the target comes to 9 x 12 x 644 or 69552 bomblets which amounts to almost 1 bomblet per m2 over an area of 300x300 metres (as occupied by a division). This may appear to be overkill but such a density is almost essential against hard targets like armour or other well protected targets.
The trend, however, is to have a mixture of rockets and barrelled artillery. Rocket artillery which has its roots in multiple warhead technology is likely to be further developed towards target seeking warheads to eliminate its present day dispersion. The environment parameters of such a warhead will be favourable for the rocket as a carrier.
Some stunning developments are likely to occur in the development of ammunition. It is generally considered that the FH 77-B Bofor 155mm (400 of which are presently held by India) - and which presently uses propellant charge of approximately 13 Kg will now need a charge weight of 19 Kg to achieve a range of 40 Km. Some of the more sophisticated propellants that may become usable in field artillery systems in future could be:
- The modular propellant charges (combustible). These may be operational within 10 to 20 years time.
- Liquid propellants may be in vogue by the year 2010 or so.
- It is hoped that the next generation of propellants will be more insensitive than the present powders - and by about 10 years time LOVA - powder will be available which has a high ignition temperature and which does not burn at atmospheric pressures.
The next important development will be in the projectiles. As always, it will be governed by the threat scenario - and technical developments. There should be no doubt that the number of armoured vehicles will increase in the future battle field i.e., the targets to be dealt by the artillery will become harder and harder. Consequently, to be effective against such targets, the artillery shall will have to be a carrier shell rather than the conventional ground burst shell presently in vogue with most of the armies. In fact, this type, i.e., the HE (High Explosive) shells have least potential for future development in view of the changing battle field scenario.
Some improvement in the HE shell can be effected by the base bleed technology which increases range considerably - but this may be at the expense of HE content. The Bofors HEER (High Explosive Extra Range) shell is one of the examples in which a slim shell is used. Even the fillings of the future shell may be PBX and not TNT and that may be used probably after 1995 or so.
As indicated before, the possibilities of the cargo shell will be exploited to the maximum and this shell may have bomblets, mines, illuminating/smoke cannisters - and sensor modules incorporated in it.
Yet there are more sophisticated projectiles such as the Smart ammunition - which is sensor equipped and which can identify armoured vehicles. Its warhead consists of EFP (Explosively Formed Projectile) with an effect over a distance of more than 100 metres. The US artillery has developed such ammunition for 203 and 155 mm calibres and call it SADARM (Sense & Destroy Armour). Still more sophisticated projectiles known as the Intelligent Ammunition are also being developed - which, in fact, terminally guided projectiles ( a motorless missile). This shell is inactive in a ballistic trajectory, and is activated in a target seeking phase at the end of the trajectory, acquires the target, homes on to it and finally initiates the warhead when it hits the target.
UNITS ALLOWED TO PAKISTAN
Artillery
Designation in India.....Designation in Pakistan.....Remarks
21 Mountain Regt .......I Mountain Regt.....................3.7 Inch Howitzer
3 Field Regt ................2 Field Regt ..........................25 Pounders
4 Field Regt ................3 (SP) Field Regt ..................Two batteries self . Propelled 25 Pdrs
5 Field ........................4 Field Regt ...........................25 Pounders
33 Anti Tank Regt .........7 Field Regt ..........................25 Pounders
38 Medium Regt ............8 Medium Regt .....................5.5 Inch Howitzer
18 HAA Regt ..................5 HAA Regt ..........................3.7 Inch HAA Guns
25 LAA Regt ..................6 LAA Regt ...........................40mm LAA Guns
2 Survey battery .............13Survey Battery ...................Survey, Flash spotting and Sound Ranging Troops.
At the cost of some repetition and due to some security constraints - it is not possible for me to provide the entire artillery orbit here - suffice it to say that adequate artillery fire support can be provided to all the formations - to which adequate artillery support is organic and on call. I should say there was some shortages which had come out during the large Ex 'Zarbe-Momin' - but I find that these are being made up. One sector which was weak was the SP Medium which now is perhaps the only sector in which we are even better than India - and India is much scared of Pakistani (US Provided) Medium guns. We might as well induct more of Multiple Rockets Launchers for area saturation tactical tasks. Such pieces were found extremely useful by the Americans and the Allies during the 1991 - Gulf War.
A brief summary of holding of weapons i.e., artillery assets of India and Pakistan as per Military
Balance 1996-97 is as below:
Pakistan
Towed Artillery - 1,580 pieces including
155MM M-59 30
MII4 60
MI98 114
203
MM MII5 - 26
SP Artillery - 240 pieces including
I55MM I09 A-2 150
203 MM MII0 A2 40
MRL I22 MM - 45
Mortar 8I MM - 500
Mortar I20 mm 225
India
Towed Artillery 4175 (with 600 in stores) including Bofors I55 MM FH 77B- 4I0
SP Artillery - above 105 mm Calibre - 100 plus 70 in store (M-46)
MRL I22 mm I50
214 mm Pinacha - being developed.
Mortars 8I mm - to 160mm total of 1200
Finally it is indeed encouraging and confidence giving that the Pakistan Artillery is a potent arm and possesses all such support assets which can provide timely and effective support to the supported arms at all times. The artillery as I have said earlier is somewhat self effacing arm - but a time has come when I should assert itself and demand the same place amongst the fighting arms as armour or infantry.
Of late the Indian artillery is poised for this place and surely during the 1991 Gulf War - SP artillery and Multiple Rocket Launchers played havoc with the Iraqis - and later there was hardly anything left to be fought for - and the Allied Armour was able to make massive encircling movements and thus make Iraqi positions untenable. The present artillery technique i.e., resection from satellites and target acquisition with UAVs makes engagements a real pleasure. It can be quick and lethal - and surely accurate and cost effective in ammunition. The Pakistan artillery is fast getting acquainted with these modern technologies.
Further Reading
1. The Pakistan Army - 1947-49 Maj Gen Shaukat Riza.
2. Armament & History. Gen JFC Fuller.
3. The Military Balance 1996-97, IISS - London.
DJ
old article from 1997 but still a interesting read....
ACE OF THE AIR
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Not at present. It is possible to increase the numbers though.
fatman17
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The Frontier Force Regiment
1st Battalion ( Scinde),
The Frontier Force Regiment, Pakistan Army.
This alliance stems from the close association formed in Italy in 1944 when the 1st Battalion, The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders fought alongside the then 6th Royal Battalion (Scinde), the Frontier Force Rifles.
Headquarters: Abottabad, North West Frontier Province.
Facings: Red.
Motto: 'Ready Aye Ready'.
Regimental March: 'A Hundred Pipers'.
1843: Raised as the Scinde Camel Corp.
1851: 6th Punjab Infantry, The Scinde Rifle Corp, Punjab Irregular Force.
1865: The Scinde Rifle Corp, Punjab Frontier Force.
1903: 59th Scinde Rifles, Frontier Force.
1921: Royal Scinde Rifles, Frontier Force.
1922: 6th Royal Battalion (Scinde), 13th Frontier Force Rifles to Pakistan on Partition.
1947: 6th Battalion Frontier Force Rifles (Scinde).
1956: 1st Battalion (Scinde) The Frontier Force Regiment.
ghazi52
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Gen Raheel meets Chinese minister for public security
Gen Raheel meets Chinese minister for public security – The Express Tribune
Published: December 7, 2014
PHOTO: ISPR
RAWALPINDI: Army chief General Raheel Sharif on Sunday met state councilor and minister for public security of China Guo Shengkun, Inter Services Public Relations said.
During the meeting, issues of mutual interest, regional security and measures to enhance bilateral defence and security collaboration were discussed.
Shengekun and other members of the Chinese delegation were briefed about prevalent situation in the region.
“Chinese dignitaries acknowledged Pakistan’s efforts towards fighting terrorism and regional stability and appreciated the successes achieved in the ongoing operation Zarb-e-Azb,” the statement added.
Gen Raheel meets Chinese minister for public security – The Express Tribune
Published: December 7, 2014
PHOTO: ISPR
RAWALPINDI: Army chief General Raheel Sharif on Sunday met state councilor and minister for public security of China Guo Shengkun, Inter Services Public Relations said.
During the meeting, issues of mutual interest, regional security and measures to enhance bilateral defence and security collaboration were discussed.
Shengekun and other members of the Chinese delegation were briefed about prevalent situation in the region.
“Chinese dignitaries acknowledged Pakistan’s efforts towards fighting terrorism and regional stability and appreciated the successes achieved in the ongoing operation Zarb-e-Azb,” the statement added.
fatman17
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Modern Pakistani Army
By Dan Fraser.
Pakistan1950+
The main foil for India on the sub-continent, this army follows the British model but is more involved in the internal politics of Pakistan and the international politics of Islam. A tough fighting army it has reputation holding on no matter what the cost and has become extensively involved in UN Operations at the battalion level.
Pakistani Infantry Brigade Headquarters(Commands 3 Infantry Battalions)
HQ 1 HQ
Anti Aircraft Company 6 SA7, 6 Truck
Anti Tank Company 3 SPAT
Note Before 1970 replace the M577 with a Truck.
SPAT is:
M36B1 (1950 to 1965)
Jeep/106 (1965 to 1980)
Jeep/Cobra (1980 to 1990)
Jeep/TOW (1990+)
Jeep/Red Arrow (1995+)
Pakistani Armored Brigade Headquarters(Commands 3 Tank Battalions, 1 Mechanized Infantry Battalion, 1 Artillery Battalion Self Propelled)
HQ 1 HQ
Anti Aircraft Company 4 SA7 or RBS70, 4 APC (Stinger is available in limited amounts after 1988)
Engineer Company 2 Engr, 2 APC, 1 PT54
Anti Tank Company 3 SPAT
Note APC is:
M113 (1970+)
M3HT (1950 to 1969)
SPAT is:
M36B1 (1950 to 1960)
Jeep/106 (1960 to 1975)
Jeep/Cobra (1975 to 1985)
Jeep/TOW (1980+)
Jeep/Red Arrow (1985+)
M901 (1990+)
Pakistani Infantry Battalion 1950 to 1965
HQ 1 HQ
3 Infantry Companies each 3 Rifle, 1 MG
1 Anti Tank Company 2 75RR, 2 Truck
1 Mortar Company 2 76M, 2 Truck
Pakistani Infantry Battalion 1966+
HQ 1 HQ
3 Infantry Companies each 3 Rifle, 1 MG
1 Anti Tank Company 2 Jeep/106
1 Mortar Company 2 81M, 2 Truck
Pakistani National Guard Infantry Battalion(local defense units that do not serve outside their locality)
HQ 1 HQ
3 Infantry Companies each 3 Rifle, 1 RPG7
1 Mortar Platoon 1 82M, 1 Truck
Note This organization holds for irregular “liberation”forces engaged in Kashmir
Pakistani Special Services Group Commando Battalion
HQ 1 HQ
3 Infantry Companies each 3 Cdo, 1 RPG7, 1 MG
1 Anti Tank Company 1 Cobra, 1 82RR, 2 Truck
1 Mortar Company 2 81M, 2 Truck
Note 3 SSG battalions form the SSG Group.
Pakistani Mechanized Infantry Battalion 1950 to 1969
HQ 1 HQ
3 Infantry Companies each 3 Rifle, 1 MG, 4 APC
1 Mortar Platoon 1 81M, 1 Truck
Note Before 1970 replace the M577 with a Truck. APC is:
M113 (1970+)
M3HT (1950 to 1969)
Pakistani Mechanized Infantry Battalion 1970+
HQ 1 HQ
3 Infantry Companies each 3 Rifle, 1 RPG7, 1 MG, 4 M113
1 Support Company 1 81M, 1 Cobra, 1 82RR, 3 Truck
Note
Pakistani Tank Battalion
HQ 1 HQ
1 Recon Company 1 Jeep/MG, 1 Jeep/106
3 Tank Companies each 3 Tank
Note Tank types are:
M4/76 (1950 to 1965)
M48 (1960 1990)
M47 (1975+)
Type 59 (1975 to 1990)
M48A5 (1980+)
Type 69 (1985+)
Al Kalhid (1993+)
T80U (2002+)
Pakistani Divisional Cavalry Battalion
HQ 1 HQ
1 Recon Company 3 A/C
3 Tank Companies each 3 Tank
Note Tanks are usually light tanks, although Main battle tanks have been used. Again there are no hard and fast rules for this. Light tanks used are:
M24 (1950 to 1965)
M41 (1960 to 1985)
AMX13 (1966 to 1976)
PT76 (1975 to 1990)
Type 63 (1980+)
Armored cars used in the recon company are:
M8 (1950 to 1969)
M20 (1950 to 1969)
AML90 (1970 to 1990)
Pakistani Artillery Battalion(Light and Medium)
4 Batteries each 1 FAO, 2 How, 2 Truck
Note Howitzers is
Light Guns
3.7H (mountain units)
75H
25H
105H (after 1960)
122H (after 1965)
Medium Guns
5.5H
130H (after 1965)
155H (after 1960)
Pakistani Artillery Battalion(Self Propelled)
4 Batteries each 1 FAO, 2 SPH
Note Units were re-equipped from 1980 at a very slow pace. Self-propelled howitzers used are:
M7 HMC (1950 to 1995)
M109A2 (1980+)
Pakistani Mortar Battalion
HQ 1 FAO
3 Batteries each 2 120M, 2 Truck
Note Available mortars are 120mm and 107mm. 107mm is the WW2 British mortar and is considered obsolete but was in general use before 1965.
Pakistani Anti Aircraft Artillery Battalion
2 Batteries each 2 AAG, 2 Truck
Note Available anti aircraft guns are:
14.5AA (after 1965)
23AA (after 1970)
37AA (after 1965)
40AA (after 1950)
57AA (after 1965)
Pakistani Engineer Battalion
HQ 1 HQ
2 Engineer Companies each 2 Engr, 2 Truck
1 Bridging Company 2 Bridge, 2 Engr, 4 Truck, 1 MLG
Pakistani Attack Helicopter Squadron
2 Flights each 2 AH-1S/F
Large Units:
Infantry Division– 2 to 4 Infantry Brigades, 1 Artillery Brigade (3 Battalions Light, 1 Battalion Medium, 1 Mortar Battalion), 1 Engineer Battalion, 1 Cavalry Battalion
Armored Division– 3 Armored Brigades, 1 Artillery Brigade (3 Battalions Light, 1 Battalion Medium, 2 Anti Aircraft Artillery Battalions), 1 Engineer Battalion, 1 Cavalry Battalion
this data is roughly from 2002. kindly update if possible:
By Dan Fraser.
Pakistan1950+
The main foil for India on the sub-continent, this army follows the British model but is more involved in the internal politics of Pakistan and the international politics of Islam. A tough fighting army it has reputation holding on no matter what the cost and has become extensively involved in UN Operations at the battalion level.
Pakistani Infantry Brigade Headquarters(Commands 3 Infantry Battalions)
HQ 1 HQ
Anti Aircraft Company 6 SA7, 6 Truck
Anti Tank Company 3 SPAT
Note Before 1970 replace the M577 with a Truck.
SPAT is:
M36B1 (1950 to 1965)
Jeep/106 (1965 to 1980)
Jeep/Cobra (1980 to 1990)
Jeep/TOW (1990+)
Jeep/Red Arrow (1995+)
Pakistani Armored Brigade Headquarters(Commands 3 Tank Battalions, 1 Mechanized Infantry Battalion, 1 Artillery Battalion Self Propelled)
HQ 1 HQ
Anti Aircraft Company 4 SA7 or RBS70, 4 APC (Stinger is available in limited amounts after 1988)
Engineer Company 2 Engr, 2 APC, 1 PT54
Anti Tank Company 3 SPAT
Note APC is:
M113 (1970+)
M3HT (1950 to 1969)
SPAT is:
M36B1 (1950 to 1960)
Jeep/106 (1960 to 1975)
Jeep/Cobra (1975 to 1985)
Jeep/TOW (1980+)
Jeep/Red Arrow (1985+)
M901 (1990+)
Pakistani Infantry Battalion 1950 to 1965
HQ 1 HQ
3 Infantry Companies each 3 Rifle, 1 MG
1 Anti Tank Company 2 75RR, 2 Truck
1 Mortar Company 2 76M, 2 Truck
Pakistani Infantry Battalion 1966+
HQ 1 HQ
3 Infantry Companies each 3 Rifle, 1 MG
1 Anti Tank Company 2 Jeep/106
1 Mortar Company 2 81M, 2 Truck
Pakistani National Guard Infantry Battalion(local defense units that do not serve outside their locality)
HQ 1 HQ
3 Infantry Companies each 3 Rifle, 1 RPG7
1 Mortar Platoon 1 82M, 1 Truck
Note This organization holds for irregular “liberation”forces engaged in Kashmir
Pakistani Special Services Group Commando Battalion
HQ 1 HQ
3 Infantry Companies each 3 Cdo, 1 RPG7, 1 MG
1 Anti Tank Company 1 Cobra, 1 82RR, 2 Truck
1 Mortar Company 2 81M, 2 Truck
Note 3 SSG battalions form the SSG Group.
Pakistani Mechanized Infantry Battalion 1950 to 1969
HQ 1 HQ
3 Infantry Companies each 3 Rifle, 1 MG, 4 APC
1 Mortar Platoon 1 81M, 1 Truck
Note Before 1970 replace the M577 with a Truck. APC is:
M113 (1970+)
M3HT (1950 to 1969)
Pakistani Mechanized Infantry Battalion 1970+
HQ 1 HQ
3 Infantry Companies each 3 Rifle, 1 RPG7, 1 MG, 4 M113
1 Support Company 1 81M, 1 Cobra, 1 82RR, 3 Truck
Note
Pakistani Tank Battalion
HQ 1 HQ
1 Recon Company 1 Jeep/MG, 1 Jeep/106
3 Tank Companies each 3 Tank
Note Tank types are:
M4/76 (1950 to 1965)
M48 (1960 1990)
M47 (1975+)
Type 59 (1975 to 1990)
M48A5 (1980+)
Type 69 (1985+)
Al Kalhid (1993+)
T80U (2002+)
Pakistani Divisional Cavalry Battalion
HQ 1 HQ
1 Recon Company 3 A/C
3 Tank Companies each 3 Tank
Note Tanks are usually light tanks, although Main battle tanks have been used. Again there are no hard and fast rules for this. Light tanks used are:
M24 (1950 to 1965)
M41 (1960 to 1985)
AMX13 (1966 to 1976)
PT76 (1975 to 1990)
Type 63 (1980+)
Armored cars used in the recon company are:
M8 (1950 to 1969)
M20 (1950 to 1969)
AML90 (1970 to 1990)
Pakistani Artillery Battalion(Light and Medium)
4 Batteries each 1 FAO, 2 How, 2 Truck
Note Howitzers is
Light Guns
3.7H (mountain units)
75H
25H
105H (after 1960)
122H (after 1965)
Medium Guns
5.5H
130H (after 1965)
155H (after 1960)
Pakistani Artillery Battalion(Self Propelled)
4 Batteries each 1 FAO, 2 SPH
Note Units were re-equipped from 1980 at a very slow pace. Self-propelled howitzers used are:
M7 HMC (1950 to 1995)
M109A2 (1980+)
Pakistani Mortar Battalion
HQ 1 FAO
3 Batteries each 2 120M, 2 Truck
Note Available mortars are 120mm and 107mm. 107mm is the WW2 British mortar and is considered obsolete but was in general use before 1965.
Pakistani Anti Aircraft Artillery Battalion
2 Batteries each 2 AAG, 2 Truck
Note Available anti aircraft guns are:
14.5AA (after 1965)
23AA (after 1970)
37AA (after 1965)
40AA (after 1950)
57AA (after 1965)
Pakistani Engineer Battalion
HQ 1 HQ
2 Engineer Companies each 2 Engr, 2 Truck
1 Bridging Company 2 Bridge, 2 Engr, 4 Truck, 1 MLG
Pakistani Attack Helicopter Squadron
2 Flights each 2 AH-1S/F
Large Units:
Infantry Division– 2 to 4 Infantry Brigades, 1 Artillery Brigade (3 Battalions Light, 1 Battalion Medium, 1 Mortar Battalion), 1 Engineer Battalion, 1 Cavalry Battalion
Armored Division– 3 Armored Brigades, 1 Artillery Brigade (3 Battalions Light, 1 Battalion Medium, 2 Anti Aircraft Artillery Battalions), 1 Engineer Battalion, 1 Cavalry Battalion
this data is roughly from 2002. kindly update if possible:
