Indian Army to Upgrade over 300 M-46s Towed Artillery Guns

[Chanakya's_Chant]

Indian Army hands over first M-346 guns for upgrade contest

The Indian Army on 10 September approved the release of four Soviet-era M-46 130 mm field guns to four local contractors that will upgrade them to 155 mm/45 calibre standard.

Industry sources told IHS Jane's that the guns would be handed over to Bharat Forge, Punj Lloyd and Tata from the private sector and the state-owned Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) sometime in October.

The four companies, which will be allowed to form overseas tie-ups for the upgrade, will have 12 months to complete the retrofit before offering the guns for trials. Thereafter, one gun will be shortlisted and its vendor awarded a tender to upgrade 300 M-46s.

The OFB and Israel's Soltam upgraded 180 M-46s to 155 mm/45 calibre under a USD 45,524,137 contract awarded in 2001; they equip 10 artillery regiments.

The M-46 upgrade is a delayed response to the army's 1999 Field Artillery Rationalisation Plan, which aims by 2027 to acquire 2,800-3,000 155 mm/52-calibre towed, wheeled, tracked and mounted guns and 155 mm/39-calibre lightweight howitzers.

India's last major artillery acquisition was the 1987 purchase of 410 Bofors FH-77B 155 mm/39-calibre towed howitzers from Sweden. The army currently has around 200 guns in service following cannibalisation due to a shortage of spares.

The army is planning to buy 144 OFB-built 155/45 cal FH-77Bs, prototypes of which are in their final round of trials. (Correction - Dhanush Howitzers - The Indian Version of FH-77B have cleared the final rounds of trails and are already in production - will be handed over to the Indian Army by the end of this year) Source:- Indian Army to receive Dhanush howitzers by end of year - Army Technology

Source:- Indian Army hands over first M-346 guns for upgrade contest - IHS Jane's 360

 

[Armstrong]

ON TOPIC : How exactly does one upgrade a gun to a higher caliber ? Isn't that essentially reproducing the muzzle from scratch ?


If only @levina Apa had gone for Mechanical Engineering this shortage could've been addressed !

But no she, like @SarthakGanguly @Indischer & @Ayush , had to be a Fashion Designer designing some of the most horrid dresses known to mankind !

I mean only Levina Apa can design this & call it art:

 

[Killswitch]

This should have been done years ago. I cant believe how careless the MOD is. 12 months to fix the gun is far too long. 4 months is plenty of time. Every last M46 shouldve been upgraded by now.

This is brutal.

 

[Chanakya's_Chant]

If only @levina Apa had gone for Mechanical Engineering this shortage could've been addressed !

But no she, like @SarthakGanguly @Indischer & @Ayush , had to be a Fashion Designer designing some of the most horrid dresses known to mankind !

I mean only Levina Apa can design this & call it art:

View attachment 63266

Bhai tu unki jaan ke peeche haath dhoke kyun pada hai? I have been observing you since the beginning - you tend to tag both @levina and @Ayush for no reason whatsoever!

 

[Zarvan]

Indian Army hands over first M-346 guns for upgrade contest

View attachment 63252​

The Indian Army on 10 September approved the release of four Soviet-era M-46 130 mm field guns to four local contractors that will upgrade them to 155 mm/45 calibre standard.

Industry sources told IHS Jane's that the guns would be handed over to Bharat Forge, Punj Lloyd and Tata from the private sector and the state-owned Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) sometime in October.

The four companies, which will be allowed to form overseas tie-ups for the upgrade, will have 12 months to complete the retrofit before offering the guns for trials. Thereafter, one gun will be shortlisted and its vendor awarded a tender to upgrade 300 M-46s.

The OFB and Israel's Soltam upgraded 180 M-46s to 155 mm/45 calibre under a USD 45,524,137 contract awarded in 2001; they equip 10 artillery regiments.

The M-46 upgrade is a delayed response to the army's 1999 Field Artillery Rationalisation Plan, which aims by 2027 to acquire 2,800-3,000 155 mm/52-calibre towed, wheeled, tracked and mounted guns and 155 mm/39-calibre lightweight howitzers.

India's last major artillery acquisition was the 1987 purchase of 410 Bofors FH-77B 155 mm/39-calibre towed howitzers from Sweden. The army currently has around 200 guns in service following cannibalisation due to a shortage of spares.

The army is planning to buy 144 OFB-built 155/45 cal FH-77Bs, prototypes of which are in their final round of trials. (Correction - Dhanush Howitzers - The Indian Version of FH-77B have cleared the final rounds of trails and are already in production - will be handed over to the Indian Army by the end of this year) Source:- Indian Army to receive Dhanush howitzers by end of year - Army Technology

Source:- Indian Army hands over first M-346 guns for upgrade contest - IHS Jane's 360

Seriously one year time to upgrade Artillery Guns

 

[Trawllu]

wrong 1 year time is not only for upgrade - to carry out modifications but also to test them

but i think this is a wrong move

instead of upgrading these M46 we should have bought out the Dhanush (bofors based - 155mm/45 cal) which has just completed trials and for which 114 guns order has already been placed

and these M46 guns should have been mounted on modified (arjun armour/suspension/etc) T72 chasis and converted into tracked / mounted mountain guns (quick deployment/ light) with the same 130mm

this would also have utilised the T72 chasis and opened up slots for furthur order of Arjun (inplace of upgrading of T72 which would be utilised in these guns )

 

[Ayush]

ON TOPIC : How exactly does one upgrade a gun to a higher caliber ? Isn't that essentially reproducing the muzzle from scratch ?


If only @levina Apa had gone for Mechanical Engineering this shortage could've been addressed !

But no she, like @SarthakGanguly @Indischer & @Ayush , had to be a Fashion Designer designing some of the most horrid dresses known to mankind !

I mean only Levina Apa can design this & call it art:

View attachment 63266

ye sab tu kahan se dhoondh kar lata hai??

 

[The Unnamed]

why wait till october ? it can be done in 2-3 days. before 20th.

 

[Levina]

M46 even without the upgrade is a pretty solid gun and is suitable for Deployment in Cold and Mountain regions.
As of now India has about 550 non upgraded M46.

Indian Army hands over first M-346 guns for upgrade contest

Oops!
M-346s (Lavi) 're Israeli aircrafts.
Though the title of this thread is correct but the first line of your post confused me.

ON TOPIC : How exactly does one upgrade a gun to a higher caliber ? Isn't that essentially reproducing the muzzle from scratch ?


If only @levina Apa had gone for Mechanical Engineering this shortage could've been addressed !

But no she, like @SarthakGanguly @Indischer & @Ayush , had to be a Fashion Designer designing some of the most horrid dresses known to mankind !

I mean only Levina Apa can design this & call it art:

View attachment 63266

Meet me at whatever.

 

[kaykay]

Apart from these upgrade, eagerly waiting for our Dhanush guns to induct in our army as they have cleared all the trials successfully and under production now. Most importantly Dhanush is our gun so we can produce as much as we want if needed.

 

[indoPunjabi]

Indian army have this bad habit of spending more cash on upgrading obsolete junk than buying new ones at the less or same cost.

 

[Water Car Engineer]

155mm/45cal (M46 upgrade)
Kalyani with Israelis

M46 upgrade OFB Metamorphosis IOB M46 FG

guns would be handed over to Bharat Forge, Punj Lloyd and Tata from the private sector and the state-owned Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) sometime in October.

I like how they're doing it in a multi pronged approach.

 

[Archie]

M46 is a good gun
specially useful in Cold climate of Ladhak

 

[HariPrasad]

View attachment 64813
View attachment 64814
View attachment 64815

155mm/45cal (M46 upgrade)
Kalyani with Israelis

M46 upgrade OFB Metamorphosis IOB M46 FG


I like how they're doing it in a multi pronged approach.

@Water Car Engineer is always a good source of information.