An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) squad of the Indian Army takes position

New Delhi: A team of the Indian Army's anti-tank squad did a missile-firing demo in Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang sector, near the border with China, to show how they would destroy armoured targets. In visuals, the heavily armed soldiers are seen taking positions in bunkers on a mountain ridge, from where they could observe enemy movement on a road in the distance. Visibility is low in the area due to a thick blanket of fog.

"I will simulate the scenario with a radio telephony procedure," a soldier said in the video shared by news agency ANI, and picked up the field radio to coordinate the missile launch. "Now you will see the deployment of the anti-tank guided missile team in front of us," he said, after getting the go-ahead from the commander on radio.

Two men quickly reached the bunker and started setting up the anti-tank guided missile or ATGM within seconds. Much shouting went on behind them as they got information from observers perched atop the hill. Then they fired the missile in a simulation.
"As soon as the enemy target is engaged, the confirmation of the kill is taken from an observation post and it is passed to the company commander," the soldier said.

After firing, the squad quickly uninstalled the ATGM system and ran towards another end of the ridge. Explaining the manoeuvre, the soldier said, "What you have just seen is the team disengaged from their position to avoid sustained incoming fire on them and take a new firing position."

India has deployed upgraded L70 anti-aircraft guns in the mountains along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh sector in addition to its existing M-777 howitzers and the Swedish Bofors guns, officials said on Wednesday, news agency PTI reported.

The deployment, which came months after the induction of the M-777 ultralight howitzers, is aimed at boosting the Indian Army's overall fire power in the face of China's aggressive posturing following the eastern Ladakh standoff, they said.

India has a sizable number of Bofors howitzers in the eastern sector, which have been the backbone of its firepower capability in the region.

"The (L70) guns can bring down all unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned combat aerial vehicles, attack helicopters and modern aircraft. The gun has enhanced target acquisition and automatic target tracking capability under all weather conditions with high-resolution electro-optical sensors comprising a daylight television camera, a thermal imaging camera and a laser-range finder," Captain Sariya Abbasi of the Army Air Defence told PTI.