Rahul9090
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NEW DELHI: The government on Friday confirmed the long-pending $885 million deal with the US government for 145 ultra-light howitzers, which were to be acquired for the new Army divisions being raised along the border with China, had hit a dead-end.
TOI was the first to report that the proposed deal for the M-777 howitzers, which had escalated from $647 million (Rs 3,882 crore) to $885 million (Rs 5,310 crore), was not going to be inked because the Indian defence establishment felt the artillery guns were way too expensive.
Moreover, artillery manufacturer BAE Systems has "failed to come with a viable and compliant offsets package'' in what was supposed to be a government-to-government deal under the US foreign military sales (FMS) programme.
"The case has not progressed due to cost issues and because the vendor has not been able to come up with a proposal fully-compliant to the offset requirements," said defence minister Arun Jaitley, in a written to Lok Sabha on Friday.
The defence establishment feels "alternatives" to the M-777 howitzers can be found at half-the-cost involved. The Army, however, has been demanding 155mm/39-calibre light-weight howitzers, with a strike range over 25-km range, for around a decade without any success till now.
Such howitzers can be swiftly air-lifted to "threatened high-altitude areas" along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, which has the military infrastructure in place to swiftly mobilize troops and equipment to outnumber Indian forces by 3:1 there.
The howitzer project, among others, is meant to equip the new XVII Mountain Strike Corps (90,000 troops) being raised to gain "quick reaction force capabilities" against China.
The Indian Defence Acquisitions Council (DAC) in June 2006 had formally given the go-ahead for acquiring 145 ultra-light howitzers from abroad. But the frontrunner, the Pegasus gun of Singapore Technology Kinetic's, was ejected after the firm was blacklisted in the corruption scandal against former Ordnance Factory Board chairman Sudipto Ghosh.
India then went in for the M-777 howitzers under the FMS programme, which does not involve an open competition. The US Defence Security Cooperation Agency in January 2010 notified its Congress of the Obama administration's intention to sell the 145 M-777 guns to India for $647 million. The US offer was renewed in August 2013 with the new project cost being pegged at $885 million.
Govt confirms deal for ultra-light howitzer artillery guns with the US has hit a dead-end - The Times of India
TOI was the first to report that the proposed deal for the M-777 howitzers, which had escalated from $647 million (Rs 3,882 crore) to $885 million (Rs 5,310 crore), was not going to be inked because the Indian defence establishment felt the artillery guns were way too expensive.
Moreover, artillery manufacturer BAE Systems has "failed to come with a viable and compliant offsets package'' in what was supposed to be a government-to-government deal under the US foreign military sales (FMS) programme.
"The case has not progressed due to cost issues and because the vendor has not been able to come up with a proposal fully-compliant to the offset requirements," said defence minister Arun Jaitley, in a written to Lok Sabha on Friday.
The defence establishment feels "alternatives" to the M-777 howitzers can be found at half-the-cost involved. The Army, however, has been demanding 155mm/39-calibre light-weight howitzers, with a strike range over 25-km range, for around a decade without any success till now.
Such howitzers can be swiftly air-lifted to "threatened high-altitude areas" along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, which has the military infrastructure in place to swiftly mobilize troops and equipment to outnumber Indian forces by 3:1 there.
The howitzer project, among others, is meant to equip the new XVII Mountain Strike Corps (90,000 troops) being raised to gain "quick reaction force capabilities" against China.
The Indian Defence Acquisitions Council (DAC) in June 2006 had formally given the go-ahead for acquiring 145 ultra-light howitzers from abroad. But the frontrunner, the Pegasus gun of Singapore Technology Kinetic's, was ejected after the firm was blacklisted in the corruption scandal against former Ordnance Factory Board chairman Sudipto Ghosh.
India then went in for the M-777 howitzers under the FMS programme, which does not involve an open competition. The US Defence Security Cooperation Agency in January 2010 notified its Congress of the Obama administration's intention to sell the 145 M-777 guns to India for $647 million. The US offer was renewed in August 2013 with the new project cost being pegged at $885 million.
Govt confirms deal for ultra-light howitzer artillery guns with the US has hit a dead-end - The Times of India
