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Rebirth of Catapult artillery system with Arjun Chassis

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In unusual twist of events and as per latest media reports, Indian Army plans to bring back M46 howitzers mounted on Vijayanta tank chassis (originally the Vickers MBT) back to life. Indian army will soon place orders for 40 Arjun chassis to be used for mounting Soviet era M46 Howitzers.

‘Bhim’ self-propelled howitzer project which was supposed to replace Catapult system before it was shelved after supplier of 155mm / L52 howitzer guns by Denel of South Africa was blacklisted by Indian government . Project went cold and find for replacement Gun to be mounted on Arjun chassis not yet been successfully, Bhim was successfully tested by Indian army and was cleared for Production before the project went cold due to blacklisting.

After success with M-46 guns in 1971 war with Pakistan , Indian army had used soviet union supplied towed 130 mm Field Gun M-46 and mounted it with Vijayanta tank chassis and was known has Catapult artillery system which served in Indian army till 2008 before it was put in reserve .

According to Military experts India had put into reserve around 100 Catapult artillery systems most of the guns will come from here, but before it is mounted on Arjun chassis, Guns will be upgraded to 155mm 52 calibre standard by OFB and then DRDO will integrate it with Arjun chassis.

Initial order of 40 can go up if Army is satisfied with the Final Product and Indian army can procure more of these guns from old soviet bloc countries, Indian army had a requirement of 200 mounted howitzers on Arjun chassis for the Bhim Project.
 
130mm version had 27km-30km range.
The 155mm 52 calibre will have 40 km effective range like phz2000.

Depending on ammunition used...

30,000 m (HE)
38,000 m (DP-ICM base bleed)
41,600 m (Extended range full-bore-base)
52-56,000 m (BB+RAP extended range)
K9 Thunder - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The maximum range of the gun is 30 km with the standard L15A2 round (a UK design for FH-70 and stockpiled by Germany for M109G and FH70), about 35 km with base bleed rounds, and at least 40 km with assisted projectiles. In April 2006 a PzH 2000 shot assisted shells (Denel V-Lap) over a distance of 56 km with a probable maximum range of over 60 km
Panzerhaubitze 2000 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
In unusual twist of events and as per latest media reports, Indian Army plans to bring back M46 howitzers mounted on Vijayanta tank chassis (originally the Vickers MBT) back to life. Indian army will soon place orders for 40 Arjun chassis to be used for mounting Soviet era M46 Howitzers.

‘Bhim’ self-propelled howitzer project which was supposed to replace Catapult system before it was shelved after supplier of 155mm / L52 howitzer guns by Denel of South Africa was blacklisted by Indian government . Project went cold and find for replacement Gun to be mounted on Arjun chassis not yet been successfully, Bhim was successfully tested by Indian army and was cleared for Production before the project went cold due to blacklisting.

After success with M-46 guns in 1971 war with Pakistan , Indian army had used soviet union supplied towed 130 mm Field Gun M-46 and mounted it with Vijayanta tank chassis and was known has Catapult artillery system which served in Indian army till 2008 before it was put in reserve .

According to Military experts India had put into reserve around 100 Catapult artillery systems most of the guns will come from here, but before it is mounted on Arjun chassis, Guns will be upgraded to 155mm 52 calibre standard by OFB and then DRDO will integrate it with Arjun chassis.

Initial order of 40 can go up if Army is satisfied with the Final Product and Indian army can procure more of these guns from old soviet bloc countries, Indian army had a requirement of 200 mounted howitzers on Arjun chassis for the Bhim Project.

Rebirth of Catapult artillery system with Arjun Chassis | idrw.org
 
The M-46 should be easily able to take a larger caliber tube. After all, the RUssians themselves developed a nearly identical 152mm version (M-47) in parallel. The M-47 had a range of 20,470 m and was commercially far less successful than its 130 mm counterpart. Only a small number was build between 1954 and 1957. Externally, the M-46 and M-47 are virtually identical, except for the calibre. China produced a licensed version of the M-46 as Type 59. MOre recently, for the export market, NORINCO (China North Industries Corporation) developed this upgrade package where the original barrel of the Type 59 is replaced by the 155/45 mm ordnance of the WA 021. By using the carriage of an existing artillery system, the GM-45 can reduce its combat weight and lower the unit cost. However, the lighter carriage of the GM-45 also results in less stable platform when firing, causing lower fire accuracy. The GM-45 was tailored for the export market in some third-world countries, but has received no order. The Type GM-45 has a maximum range of 39 km when ERFB-BB ammunition is used. Another 155 mm upgrade of the M-46, this one designed by Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) is the Metamorphosis IOB M46 FG. This upgraded M-46 also has a range of 39 km.

M-46S - This is an upgrade of an existing M-46 or Type 59, carried out by Soltam Systems Ltd. The original barrel is replaced by a new model of 155/45mm for a range of 25.8 (HE) till 39 km (ERFB-BB). A 39-cal barrel is optional. In March 2000, Soltam won a contract worth $47,524,137 for upgrading 180 M-46s to M-46S standard (Indian designator: 155/45mm (E1) Soltam). A follow-on deal for 250 retrofit kits was optioned for. In 2005, after only 40 howitzers were modified, the M-46S programme was terminated due to a fatal barrel explosion.

From former Yugoslavia, the M46/84 conversion involved replacing the original 130 mm barrel with a new 155 mm barrel, 45 calibres long. With ERFB-BB ammunition, this version has a range of 38,600 m. The Netherlands now-defunct RDM Technology BV also offered an upgrade of the M-46/Type 59 that involves fitting a new 155/45mm barrel

130 mm towed field gun M1954 (M-46) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

155/45 conversions of the basic gun are quite common. The tracked chassis allows usages of a longer barrel, I suppose...
 

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