Indian Army has decommissioned two of the longest serving artillery systems from service. The 130mm Self Propelled M-46 Catapult Guns and the 160mm Tampella Mortars were decommissioned today at Mahajan Field Firing Ranges. The ceremony was marked by the customary firing of last salvos. The decommissioning firing was attended by Lt Gen K Ravi Prasad, Director General Artillery and other senior officers.
The 130mm Catapult, with a range of more than 27 kilometres, was a successful merger of two existing weapon systems – Vijayanta tanks and 130mm M-46 guns. This hybrid platform was a response to the need for a mobile Artillery gun system to support strike formations on the Western borders, after the 1965 and 1971 wars.
The 160 mm Tampella mortars, with a range of 9.6km, were inducted after the 1962 war with China to fulfill the need for a weapon system to clear high crests of the Northern borders.
These weapon systems, having been in the inventory of the Indian Army for close to 60 years, have been decommissioned to make way for newer equipment employing the latest technologies.
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