The PCL-191 Multi-Launch Rocket System is a long-range, stand-off precision rocket artillery system. The system is designed to deliver long-range, guided, accurate firepower within enemy territory, regardless of the electromagnetic environment at the target location, and specifically an advanced, layered, and integrated air defense network. is designed to be bypassed and bypassed. The weapon system offers significant advantages over conventional military approaches to deliver precise firepower to critical enemy tactical and strategic targets, including conventional artillery and MLRS units. Much longer range, faster than turbojet/turbofan cruise missiles, and tactically much cheaper. / Ballistic missiles on the battlefield. Considering the wide-theater benefits, it offers a very high potential, evidenced by the fact that the PLA tested it on Taiwan after US Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s volatile trip to the separatist island. The PLA was eager to test the system in a real-world environment to assess its performance, proof that the weapon had major features in China’s planned military occupation of Taiwan. The Chinese PCL-191 itself is a self-propelled guided MRL system. The system is operated in a battery of 6 or more transporter-erector launchers, each with 8-10 tubes, and supporting two types of modularized ‘cells’ of 5 or 4 launch tubes each. , for 300 mm and 370 mm rockets respectively. Range of 350 km. Certain variants of the system can fire 750 mm aero-ballistic rockets with a range of 500 km and 380 mm guided anti-ship rockets.
These systems were seen during the 2020 India-China standoff in Ladakh. India currently has no system that can match or replicate the capabilities of the PCL-191.
The weapon system, if deployed in Ladakh, would place all Indian military targets up to and including New Delhi within range of a significant concern to the Indian Armed Forces. If deployed in Pakistan’s strike arsenal, the system would essentially cover all of India’s western and northern military assets, including 60-70 percent of the country’s military capabilities, including the Occupied Kashmir Army.
A PCL-191 battery is located 38 km from Shekwanhe Airport, a dual-use civil-military airport serving as a staging port and forward operating base for People’s Liberation Army forces engaged along the India-China Line of Actual Control. Works on LAC) in our scenario. The range circles shown in the figure indicate the range of the various warheads in the PCL-191 system, the 370 mm rocket with a range of 350 km is indicated by the yellow circle and the 750 mm aeroballistic rocket with a range of 500 km. are indicated by blue circles. Major Indian airports are also marked within the range circles. The Indian capital New Delhi, as can be seen, is within the ambit of the MLR system even if fired from Chinese territory.
This poses serious problems for Indian war planners. These ranges include not only some of India’s major military bases, radar installations, air defense sites and air bases, but also strategic-level infrastructure, including potential targets in and around New Delhi. , including but not limited to strategic oil reserves, electrical power grids. Railway nodes, bridges over major river systems, large scale military cantonments, UAV stations, command and control nodes and early warning radars. Indian nuclear facilities are also located within the range. The range also covers important Indian military ground lines of communication choke points and army logistics roads and railway lines.
Overall, this gives PLA forces a massive conventional advantage in a serious conflict with the Indian Army. As for the system adversary in such a conflict: our analysis of the Indian air defense umbrella reveals a system that is certainly layered, but not well integrated, and includes Russian or Indian-made systems of Russian origin are included which will undoubtedly perform very poorly against it. A sophisticated saturation attack consisting of rockets, large and small drones, cruise missiles and strike aircraft, simultaneously layered with a large-scale electronic attack. Indian air defenses in theater will be forced to choose between protecting themselves, dispersing and switching off for security and survival, or eliminating air threats involving critical military nerve centers and air bases.
All in all, a very bad day for the Indian Army, which has a very real ability to coordinate its forces, mount a counter-attack or move supplies to the northern and western sectors of the country.
