India’s Coming ‘Rocket Force’
The idea of an Integrated Rocket Force is a clear signal that India is wholeheartedly embracing the era of “non-contact” warfare in a joint force environment.
thediplomat.com
India’s Coming ‘Rocket Force’
- Thread starter Ashwin
- Start date
Some 5-7 years back, we were discussing about F INSA till death. Wish similar fate will not happens with rocket force.India’s Coming ‘Rocket Force’
The idea of an Integrated Rocket Force is a clear signal that India is wholeheartedly embracing the era of “non-contact” warfare in a joint force environment.thediplomat.com
F INSAS is an upgrade of equipment within the army. This is a discussion about the creation of an additional structure with separate C&C (Like SFC).
F-INSAS had to fail because the concept of future Soldier has failed in every country, except for France which is the only country to implement it successfully.
Rocket force is a very real requirement to counter the Chinese and something which won't be import dependent.
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Lets Wait and see, in india's case nothing is certain when comes to defense . What happened to our proposed mountain strike corps? Is it fully fledged now?
You cannot have a meaning full potent rocket force without a Herculean increase in defense budget, and it is highly unlikely from this government too. Also i beleive that without finalising the development of pinaka mk2/120 km ranged version of pinaka, pranash/pragathi, pralay or iskander type missile, Nirbhay missiles. The only platform which battle ready & suitable for rocket force is Brahmos, and its damn costly ( my main fear is instead of procuring more Brahmose, cds may transfer existing brahmose regiment to rocket force )
Proposed Rocket Force
With the impending entry of Pralay, there have been reports of formulating a ‘Rocket Force’ . These are some of my views on the proposal which is in the air. These are early days and there is a long way to go. his short video gives you an idea of the issues involved.
With the impending entry of Pralay, there have been reports of formulating a ‘Rocket Force’ . These are some of my views on the proposal which is in the air. These are early days and there is a long way to go. his short video gives you an idea of the issues involved.
This isn't retarded idea. Air superiority is important but so is air denial.
Both are equally important.
It's pure stupidity to purely rely one aspect, you are basically setting up yourselves for disaster if you think you can win a modern conflict with only one of them.
Maybe IAF forgot that less than year ago an Air launched variant of what was essentially a ground based supersonic cruise missile helped them wreck Pakistani airbases.
Also when it comes to drones, it was a loitering munition which helped them neutralise an entire HQ-16 battery by wrecking it's command post and BBQing the operators inside.
Koi inko batao ki Western countries don't have a neighbour like China. The USA literally has no enemy near it. So, they don't need dedicated rocketry force. Also, European are literally arming Ukraine with rockets, drones and artilleries for last 2 years. They themselves are building up their Air denial capabilities.
Not surprising since the IAF has been against the whole idea of theatrization. It was they that opposed Gen Rawat's proposal of a joint AD command to avoid sharing its resources.
At the same time, they won't give up control of tactical assets like AHs to the Army.
At the same time, they won't give up control of tactical assets like AHs to the Army.
About that.
UK:- The UK is developing a new, cost-effective tactical ballistic missile under Project Nightfall (also referred to as Project Brakestop) to bolster Ukraine/UK's long-range strike capabilities, designed for high mobility ("shoot-and-scoot") to evade countermeasures. The project aims for a 600km range and 200kg warhead, with test-firing planned within 12 months.
US-: Dark Eagle (LRHW), Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) & its increments within the umbrella term prsm, that includes SRBM,anti-ship,modular payload, MRBM etc.
And that's when U.S. way of war is power projection half way around the world, which means they need lots of flexibility that's why they relied so much on airpower mostly + ground/ship/sub launched tomahawks.
But now, even they are realising they need this capability too, to some extent.
Compared to U.S., China & Russia are relatively more a static land powers & were/are focused on defence against a superior enemy that had/has air-superiority, quite a similar situation that we are in against china.
Hence we should look lot more towards russian & Chinese doctrines than we are currently.
France-:Land-Based Conventional Ballistic Missile (MBT)
France's primary response to the "deep-strike gap" in Europe is the Missile Balistique Terrestre (MBT) program:
Range: Targeted at 1,000 km to 2,000 km, significantly longer than the UK's 600 km goal.
Poland-:
Poland is working to transition its research into military hardware:
ILR-33 Amber 2K: Originally a suborbital research rocket, Poland is looking to adapt this technology into a domestic ballistic missile. It has already reached altitudes of 100km and is being scaled for potential military use.
CTM-290 (Homar-K): Poland is establishing domestic production lines for the CTM-290 tactical ballistic missile (a Polish variant of the South Korean Ure-2). It has a range of approximately 290 km and is fired from the Homar-K mobile launcher
In February 2026, Poland officially joined the UK and France in the European Long-Range Strike Approach (ELSA).
The Goal: To jointly develop and mass-produce a "One-Way Effector" (OWE) with a range exceeding 500 km.
South korea-:
. The "Monster Missile" (Hyunmoo-5)
As of early 2026, South Korea has begun the frontline deployment of the Hyunmoo-5, its most powerful conventional ballistic missile to date
2. Submarine-Launched Capabilities (Hyunmoo-4-4)
South Korea is the only non-nuclear state to possess a Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) capability
Hyunmoo-6 & 7: These next-generation missiles are reportedly in development with even greater range and improved penetration capabilities than the Hyunmoo-5.
As can be seen, both U.S. & Europe are starting to incorporate land based conventional ballistic missiles in their force structure.
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That airmarshal is ignorant at best.
On an organizational level
Air-forces has always been the biggest roadblock on progess, always wanting to be in control & being spoonfed.
Gen Rawat said nothing wrong when he called the IAF support arm of the Army
The IA, particularly the RF will play a vital role in any conflict with PakChina. That doesn't mean the IAF wont play an important role in protecting AD. Or the IN in controlling the IOR.
IMHO, the IAF has a rather high opinion of itself - the other branches of India's armed forces are equally capable.
Theaterization is imminent with inter-service reporting structures and joint doctrines already being set up.
The fundamental problem seems to be asset distribution. We haven't heard much from the CDS Chauhan on timelines either. Hr doesn't seem to be as hands-on as Gen Rawat. Recall his faux pass in Singapore right after Op Sindoor.
GoI needs to step in now and set a deadline for implementation.
Quite frankly since when did the IAF have a veto on raising the Rocket Force . I can understand their veto on theater ization or distribution of assets but what's their connection to the Rocket Force ?
This is plain laziness apathy myopia & incompetence of the highest level from the IA primarily & the office of the CDS , MoD but most importantly from the Raksha Mantri himself for not laying down the line on either positions which has brought us to this day .
Perhaps the GoI ought to take a leaf from the Trump administration & sack a few recalcitrants to get the message across.
This circus has gone on for nearly a decade now . It'd take another decade to get things moving seamlessly & coherently once the process of theater ization is initiated. That's how late we are .
Btw China is scheduled to be completing both - theater ization as well as modernization by 2027-28 though with the recent upheavals in the PLA & associated arms along with the CMC there's no saying if things are on schedule or if it has been delayed & if so by how long ?
IRF is largely an IA idea, imo. The IAF might not be willing to give up control of its land based Brahmos and Prithvi sqns just yet. Similarly the IN want control of coastal defence missile units at INS Trata, etc.
Ideally, the IA should be given charge of all land based conventional vectors because of its domain expertise. We don't yet know what the C2 structure will look like.
IRF has always been spoken of as a separate entity to the 3 theatre commands.
China was the first to implement an IRF with C2 and logistics all sorted out. They likely have alternate chain of command to cater for changes in staff appointments.
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Frankly how exactly did the IAF come to possess Brahmos & Prithvi SSMs ? Does any AF the world over have C&C of Surface to Surface missiles ? If not how come we create such C&C & further complicate matters ?
Theater ization means peninsular India will be under the IN's command.
Ideally they should be given all offensive rotary platforms as well . You know well where the issue lies.
Not only is the subject of defence finance a subject of low priority with this government , so is defence reform. Except local procurement that too selectively & MII the closet's empty. Earlier we implemented the corporatisation plan. That's about it.
Yeah well their top command is either behind bars now or in exile in Inner Mongolia or 6 feet below.