The L/70 and double barrel

They stand in groups of six behind the L/70 gun. At the crack of the command, the group consisting of female and male officers load the gun in five seconds flat. Each officer has her/his assigned task on the equipment, that is rotated constantly to give each officer a chance to do every task.

Costing Rs 20 million (Rs 2 crores), the L/70 can launch 300 rounds of ammunition in a minute and was used in the 1971 India-Pakistan war. Four Air Defence units equipped with this gun have won battle honours and training on this weapon takes three weeks.

During wartime and in the units the weapons are handled by the jawans (soldiers) under the command of the officers. Drills are essential for operating guns effectively in battlefield and the regiment’s main role is to provide air defence protection to the assets of a field army.

“These officers will lead the actions of their jawans, so they need to be trained in operating all weapon systems,” says Major Amit Baveja, the instructor, gunnery.

The officers are also taught about the maintenance and upkeep of the weapons.

Lieutenant Anuradha Mulasi, who hails from Dehradun, and Lieutenant Iman, a native of Patna, move from the Swedish-made L/70 to the Russian origin double barrel ZU 23mm 2B gun which needs a crew of five to operate it.

Known to be a versatile weapon, it has been used on the Siachen glacier and at the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. This gun is very accurate and can bombard an enemy aircraft with a very high volume of fire, but this morning, Lt Mulasi and Lt Iman’s target is a remote controlled airplane model for which they have to calculate the estimated speed, engage and fire.

Reportage: Archana Masih. Photographs: Jewella C Miranda