Indian Army Decommissions two of longest serving artillery systems ‘130mm Self Propelled Catapult Guns’ and ‘160mm Tampella Mortars’ from Service
- The Indian Army decommissioned two of the longest serving artillery systems from service on March 16, 2021 at Mahajan Field Firing Ranges in Rajasthan.
- These include: 130mm Self Propelled M-46 Catapult Guns and the 160mm Tampella Mortars.
- The two weapon systems, have been in the inventory of the Indian Army for around 60 years.
- They have been decommissioned to make way for newer equipment with the latest technologies.
130mm Catapult
- It had a range of more than 27 km.
- The system was developed by merging two existing weapon systems: Vijayanta tanks and 130mm M-46 guns.
- The guns were inducted in 1981
160mm Tampella mortars
- It had a range of 9.6km.
- They were inducted after the 1962 war with China to fulfill the need for a weapon system to clear high crests of the Northern borders.
- Originally the system was imported from the Israeli Defence Forces.
- This mortar was successfully deployed on the Line of Control in the Leepa valley and the Hajipir Bowl and played a crucial part in maintaining the sanctity of the Line of Control.