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Bofors too hot, new bid for big guns
SUJAN DUTTA
New Delhi, Feb. 8: The Indian Army this week quietly sent out invitations to at least eight companies to bid for an order for heavy guns mounted on wheels, a development prompted by the cancellation of a competition last year in which Bofors had topped the list.
The requests for proposals for 185 wheeled self-propelled howitzers of the 155mm/52calibre category were issued on Monday.
This follows within a fortnight of another tender that went out to the UKs BAE Systems and Singapore Technologies for ultra-light guns of the same calibre.
The ultra-light howitzers are distinct from the wheeled self-propelled ones. They are lighter and can be lifted under-slung from some helicopters.
The 185 wheeled self-propelled howitzers that the army is now seeking also have to be small and light enough to be airlifted preferably in the Lockheed Martin-produced Hercules C-130J aircraft that the Indian Air Force decided to buy in January.
This specification has come out of the Indian Armys experience in the 1999 Kargil war, where artillery guns were in short supply along the front initially.
The price of the guns will be decided based on the bids but is estimated to be upwards of Rs 4,500 crore. The army may also be in the market for an additional 400 towed howitzers the same variety as the Bofors guns that are already in service.
The drive to buy the big guns many of which will be on show during a defence exposition in New Delhi next week is part of the armys field artillery rationalisation plan. Since India bought 410 Bofors FH 77B howitzers in 1986, there has not been a single new induction into its artillery.
An artillery competition that it opened in 2001 was cancelled ostensibly because the bidders and the guns did not meet the quality requirements. But it is widely acknowledged that Bofors outperformed its rivals, most notably the Israeli Soltam, and the government developed cold feet in giving it the order since the shadow of the commission during Rajiv Gandhis tenure.
The army was also at that time considering self-propelled guns mounted on tracked chassis like in tanks but has now decided on wheeled chassis only. The exact number of competitors who have been invited to bid for the order is not disclosed.
But army sources said they were well-known companies. There are few companies capable of making the guns with the general specifications of the guns that are known. Among them are the K9 Thunder (South Korea), BAE Systems (Bofors), Slovakian firm Kermetals Zuzana, French Giat Industries Caesar, German Rheinmetalls Panzerhaubitze 2000, Israeli Atmos 2000 and Israeli Soltams TIG 2000.
The original field artillery rationalisation plan envisaged that the army would have a mix of 3,600 ultra-light, wheeled, tracked and towed guns all of 155mm/52calibre for around 180 artillery regiments. But the execution of that plan has got delayed.
The Telegraph had reported earlier that defence minister A.K. Antony had ordered a reopening of the artillery competition after Bofors had outperformed its competitors in the last trials. The Bofors guns contracted in 1986 fared well in the Kargil war.
In September last year, the company operating as BAE Systems SWS got back into business in India when it signed an agreement with the Ordnance Factory Board in Calcutta to upgrade anti-aircraft guns for the Indian Army.
The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Frontpage | Bofors too hot, new bid for big guns
SUJAN DUTTA
New Delhi, Feb. 8: The Indian Army this week quietly sent out invitations to at least eight companies to bid for an order for heavy guns mounted on wheels, a development prompted by the cancellation of a competition last year in which Bofors had topped the list.
The requests for proposals for 185 wheeled self-propelled howitzers of the 155mm/52calibre category were issued on Monday.
This follows within a fortnight of another tender that went out to the UKs BAE Systems and Singapore Technologies for ultra-light guns of the same calibre.
The ultra-light howitzers are distinct from the wheeled self-propelled ones. They are lighter and can be lifted under-slung from some helicopters.
The 185 wheeled self-propelled howitzers that the army is now seeking also have to be small and light enough to be airlifted preferably in the Lockheed Martin-produced Hercules C-130J aircraft that the Indian Air Force decided to buy in January.
This specification has come out of the Indian Armys experience in the 1999 Kargil war, where artillery guns were in short supply along the front initially.
The price of the guns will be decided based on the bids but is estimated to be upwards of Rs 4,500 crore. The army may also be in the market for an additional 400 towed howitzers the same variety as the Bofors guns that are already in service.
The drive to buy the big guns many of which will be on show during a defence exposition in New Delhi next week is part of the armys field artillery rationalisation plan. Since India bought 410 Bofors FH 77B howitzers in 1986, there has not been a single new induction into its artillery.
An artillery competition that it opened in 2001 was cancelled ostensibly because the bidders and the guns did not meet the quality requirements. But it is widely acknowledged that Bofors outperformed its rivals, most notably the Israeli Soltam, and the government developed cold feet in giving it the order since the shadow of the commission during Rajiv Gandhis tenure.
The army was also at that time considering self-propelled guns mounted on tracked chassis like in tanks but has now decided on wheeled chassis only. The exact number of competitors who have been invited to bid for the order is not disclosed.
But army sources said they were well-known companies. There are few companies capable of making the guns with the general specifications of the guns that are known. Among them are the K9 Thunder (South Korea), BAE Systems (Bofors), Slovakian firm Kermetals Zuzana, French Giat Industries Caesar, German Rheinmetalls Panzerhaubitze 2000, Israeli Atmos 2000 and Israeli Soltams TIG 2000.
The original field artillery rationalisation plan envisaged that the army would have a mix of 3,600 ultra-light, wheeled, tracked and towed guns all of 155mm/52calibre for around 180 artillery regiments. But the execution of that plan has got delayed.
The Telegraph had reported earlier that defence minister A.K. Antony had ordered a reopening of the artillery competition after Bofors had outperformed its competitors in the last trials. The Bofors guns contracted in 1986 fared well in the Kargil war.
In September last year, the company operating as BAE Systems SWS got back into business in India when it signed an agreement with the Ordnance Factory Board in Calcutta to upgrade anti-aircraft guns for the Indian Army.
The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Frontpage | Bofors too hot, new bid for big guns
