Ladies and Gentlemen, you will now witness the heli-landing of a 120 mm mortar", the voice of the commentator was heard. No sooner had he said than one saw the 420 kilogram 120 mm artillery mortar hanging in the air ‘underslung’ from the Cheetah helicopter emerging from behind the trees left of the Grand Stand. It was the beginning of the Exercise Topchi-2001 arranged for media to demonstrate the awesome firepower of the Indian Artillery.

Even before the shutterbugs could have enough of clicks, the mortars and the detachment was on the ground with the gun into action. The stage was set to fire at the assigned target in the ranges of the School of Artillery at Deolali in Maharashtra.

"Within approximately 40 seconds from now you will see the rounds of the mortar landing on the white stone area’’, the commentator said. Soon the journalists were checking whether the rounds took 42 seconds or 39 seconds. Of course, they forgot to take a note of their own reaction time to look at the watches.

It was then the turn of the indigenously developed 105 mm Indian field guns to show their prowess. It took approximately 15 seconds for the 16.8 kilogram shells with a lethal area of 35 metres to reach the target. The media was told that these guns were capable of fixing with devastating accuracy even in Siachen Glacier.

The 130 mm guns were then pressed into service. With precision, the 130mm guns hit the targets and filled the ranges with thunderous roars. The Grad BM-21, the 40-barrel rocket launcher, brings hailstorm of fire on the target. One could imagine what they did when they landed on the enemy during the Kargil conflict.

Till now the spectators had hardly any time to review in retrospect. The pride of Indian Artillery, the 155 mm Flt 77B (Bofors gun) towed by Scania, made its appearance. It hardly took any time for the ‘gunners’ to bring the gun into action and rotate the target 360 degrees to show its all-round firing capability. Then, with thundering roar, the 42 kg shells went out of the barrel in 14 seconds. The way the gun crew handled the firing made one realise that it is not only the machine but also the man behind it who actually makes guns a battle-winning factor.

The media was also given a glimpse of the other equipment of the ‘Gunners’ like the Digicora met system which gives accurate meteorological data for making an accurate surface-to-surface target engagement. There was a host of other surveillance and target accusation systems like long-range surveillance radar display and weapon-locating radar on display. The media was told that the Artillery had already acquired the Prithvi missile system and unmanned aerial vehicles for surveillance.

The Army Aviation gave a display of the nape of the earth flying when the Cheetah helicopter used the ground to evade detection. The aircraft flew more than 2500 m in front of the stands without being seen, only to emerge to fly overhead. After all, magic is also a skill! There was little doubt in all minds if only one arm of the Army could produce so awe-inspiring results what the combined power of all the arms and services could produce!