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Date Posted: 30-Oct-2009

Jane's Defence Weekly


Indian Army may turn to 1950s-vintage artillery

Rahul Bedi JDW Correspondent - New Delhi

Key Points
The Indian Army is looking to acquire 1950s-vintage Soviet artillery to plug a serious shortfall

Red tape and accusations of 'irregularities' have undermined successive Indian artillery upgrade plans



The Indian Army's artillery directorate is considering the acquisition of additional Soviet-designed 130 mm M-46 field guns, developed in the 1950s, from surplus stocks within the former Soviet republics to augment its severely depleted firepower.

Official sources said delays and constant postponement in acquiring new howitzers to replace and supplement the 410 Bofors 155 mm/39 cal guns procured in the late 1980s had promoted this possibility in a bid to plug the army's artillery shortfall.

India was the largest export customer for M-46 artillery pieces, with an estimated 800 purchased from the late 1960s onwards and employed during the 1971 war with Pakistan.

Thereafter, under the Field Artillery Rationalisation Plan finalised in the late 1980s, the army aimed by 2020-25 to acquire a mix of around 3,200 to 3,600 155 mm/52 cal and 155 mm/39 cal towed, wheeled, tracked and light howitzers for 180 of around 220 artillery regiments. The new guns were intended to replace the six different calibres the artillery currently deploys.

However, over the years all artillery acquisition attempts had been delayed by both the army and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) due to vacillation, complex procurement procedures and allegations of corruption involving overseas vendors.

Artillery officers told Jane's that under the "most optimistic scenario" it would take between six and nine years to begin executing the army's artillery plans. Until that time the army would remain largely dependent on around 390 Bofors FH-77B 155 mm/39 cal howitzers, many of which have been cannibalised to keep the rest operational.

The remaining firepower would be provided by the relatively small number of M-46 130 mm guns upgraded by Israel's Soltam to 155 mm/39 cal weapons, as well as various other guns that would remain in service.

The Soltam upgrade programme to retrofit 180 M-46s is mired in controversy, with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) tasked to inquire into "alleged irregularities" in the award of the USD45.5 million contract by the Hindu nationalist BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government in 2001.

The outcome of the CBI inquiry is pending nearly five years after the investigation was ordered by the incoming Congress Party-led administration and military sources said the operational efficiency of the upgraded guns also remained "questionable".

Artillery sources said the principal problem with the upgraded 130 mm guns was their inability to hit targets at a distance of 40 to 41 km as agreed upon in negotiations.

A senior artillery officer said their range was "substantially less" than what had been promised by Soltam and that the entire upgrade programme was "over ambitious". The upgraded guns also have "obduration" problems with their barrels and breech block.

A proposal to upgrade the FH-77Bs is also in jeopardy, primarily due to the "over-ambitious" qualitative requirements drawn up by the artillery directorate for the retrofit. This includes replacing the gun barrel and breech block, strengthening the undercarriage and fitting it with a state-of-the-art sighting system to allow heavier rounds to be fired to register greater damage on the target.
 
France offered Friday to sell artillery and tanks to the Indian army as the two sides expand existing defense ties now that India has emerged as a major arms buyer.Defense relations between India and France have deepened over the last few years, and the two countries share similar views on global terrorism and regional security, French Defense Minister Herve Morin told reporters.Morin said he discussed with his Indian counterpart A.K. Antony the possibility of New Delhi buying artillery and tanks from his country. He did not provide details.They also discussed upgrading nearly 50 French Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft currently being used by the Indian air force and six Scorpene submarines that are being built in a dockyard near Mumbai, he said.Morin also said India and France agreed to exchange intelligence to counter the threat posed by terrorism to both countries.A French Embassy statement said Morin’s talks in New Delhi were also in preparation for the proposed visit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to India early next year.Morin was to leave for Paris later Friday.

France offers to sell artillery, tanks to India IDRW.ORG
 
Contracts and Key Events Update


Jan 26/10:

The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency announces [PDF] India’s formal request to buy 145 M777 155mm Light-Weight Towed Howitzers with Laser Inertial Artillery Pointing Systems (LINAPS), warranties, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, publications and technical documentation, maintenance, personnel training and training equipment, and U.S. Government and contractor technical assistance and support.

The estimated cost is $647 million, but a DSCA announcement is not a contract. In this case, it may not even be an intended sale. DSCA requests can be issued as a way of ensuring that the way is clear for a contract, if a competition continues, and if that vendor requiring American arms export approvals turns out to be the winner.

If the 9,700 pound/ 4,400 kg, part-titanium M777 should win a re-started competition against the likes of ST Kinetics’ Pegasus semi-mobile lightweight howitzer, the principal contractors will be BAE of Hattiesburg, MS; Watervliet Arsenal of Watervliet, NY; Seiler Instrument Company of St Louis, MO; Triumph Actuation Systems of Bloomfield, CT; Taylor Devices of North Tonawanda, NY; Hutchinson Industries of Trenton, NJ; and Selex in Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

Uncharacteristically for India, the DSCA says that there are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale. Implementation of this proposed sale will require annual trips to India involving up to 8 U.S. Government and contractor representatives for technical reviews/support, training, and in-country trials, over a period of approximately 2 years.

Jan 15/10:

Singapore’s ST Kinetics issues a release touting “the longest in-service 155 mm 52 Calibre towed Howitzer, the FH 2000,” which is expected to enter field trials in February 2010. It also says that:

“The company is hopeful that the stalled [Indian] trial of the 155 mm calibre 39 Pegasus Lightweight Howitzer (LWH) will also recommence very shortly…. ST Kinetics plans to address India’s strategic needs and is fielding tailored solutions to meet the requirements of the modernisation programmes of the armed forces. These include the iFH2000 155mm 52 Calibre Howitzer for the Towed Gun requirement and the Pegasus 155mm 39 Calibre Lightweight Howitzer for the Ultra Lightweight Howitzer program. ST Kinetics has also offered the SAR 21 Carbine with its proven reliability and performance.

Speaking at the Press Conference, Brig Gen Patrick Choy, Chief Marketing Officer, said ”....The company is respected for its integrity, transparency and high standards of corporate governance. [The Pegasus 155mm / 39 howitzer].... is already in India in Gwalior and is awaiting a call to trials.”

Complete details here:

Murky Competition for $2B India Howitzer Order May End Soon… Or Not
 
2 decades after Bofors, India is all set for artillery purchases

PTI, Friday, March 19, 2010 20:30 IST

New Delhi: Remaining without a single purchase of artillery guns since Bofors scandal broke out two decades ago, India has lined up series of procurements of such weapons to bridge the growing gap in the operational preparedness of its army.

Among the guns it plans to buy soon include towed, wheeled self-propelled, tracked self-propelled and ultra light howitzers.

Defence ministry sources said these acquisitions are at various stages of procurement and these guns would strengthen the artillery arm of the 1.13 million strong army.

While it has scheduled trials for two such weapons in the
coming months, the defence ministry has ramped up its bid to
procure 145 ultra light howitzers for deploying in mountainous
terrains from the US.

The Obama administration has notified the US Congress of its intention to sell the howitzers through the foreign military sales (FMS) route.

The FMS sales to India comes at a time when the country is planning to schedule a trial of Singapore's ST Kinetics
'Pegasus' gun in the next couple of months.

Though the trials, on a 'no cost-no commitment' basis, was to happen last year, it got shelved after the defence ministry blacklisted ST Kinetics along with six other companies after
the CBI named them in the corruption case against former
Ordnance Board chief Sudipto Ghosh.

But the defence ministry changing its policy to allow the trial, but not to award the contract before the CBI case was complete, provided an opportunity to the Army to complete testing the gun and await the outcome of the corruption case against Ghosh.

The defence ministry had issued a global tender to 10 firms for the 155mm/39 calibre ultra light guns, but only ST Kinetics had responded with an offer.

Simultaneously, the US too came forward with a proposal to supply BAE's M777A2 guns to India and the process of
procurement is in its final stages.

Sources said apart from the ultra light howitzers, the trails for the wheeled self-propelled guns would commence next month in which Slovakian firm Konstrukta and German company Rhienmetall would compete for the supply of 180 guns to India.

India had issued a global tender for the 155mm/52 calibre wheeled self-propelled guns and only the Slovakian and German
firms were shortlisted out of the five which received the
tenders.


Another trial for the 155mm/52calibre towed guns in which ST Kinetics and United Kingdom's BAE Systems would compete is
to take place in a couple of months, after the Singapore firm
sought time to bring its guns for the test following damage to
the one it was bringing to India during loading.


Under the global tender issued for the towed guns, India had projected that it would buy 400 of them off-the-self from the selected firm and another 780 would be manufactured in India through technology transfer to one of the Ordnance factories.

2 decades after Bofors, India is all set for artillery purchases - dnaindia.com
 
India all set for artillery purchases


9682745934ba46580cc915.jpg



NEW DELHI (PTI): Remaining without a single purchase of artillery guns since Bofors scandal broke out two decades ago, India has lined up series of procurements of such weapons to bridge the growing gap in the operational preparedness of its Army.

Among the guns it plans to buy soon include towed, wheeled self-propelled, tracked self-propelled and ultra light howitzers.

Defence Ministry sources on Friday said these acquisitions are at various stages of procurement and these guns would strengthen the artillery arm of the 1.13 million strong Army.

While it has scheduled trials for two such weapons in the coming months, the Defence Ministry has ramped up its bid to procure 145 ultra light howitzers for deploying in mountainous terrains from the US.

The Obama Administration has notified the US Congress of its intention to sell the howitzers through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route.

The FMS sales to India comes at a time when the country is planning to schedule a trial of Singapore's ST Kinetics 'Pegasus' gun in the next couple of months.

Though the trials, on a 'no cost-no commitment' basis, was to happen last year, it got shelved after the Defence Ministry blacklisted ST Kinetics along with six other companies after the CBI named them in the corruption case against former Ordnance Board chief Sudipto Ghosh.

But the Defence Ministry is changing its policy to allow the trial, but not to award the contract before the CBI case was complete, provided an opportunity to the Army to complete testing the gun and await the outcome of the corruption case against Ghosh.
The Defence Ministry had issued a global tender to 10 firms for the 155mm/39 calibre ultra light guns, but only ST Kinetics had responded with an offer.

Simultaneously, the US too came forward with a proposal to supply BAE's M777A2 guns to India and the process of procurement is in its final stages.

Sources said apart from the ultra light howitzers, the trails for the wheeled self-propelled guns would commence next month in which Slovakian firm Konstrukta and German company Rhienmetall would compete for the supply of 180 guns to India.

India had issued a global tender for the 155mm/52 calibre wheeled self-propelled guns and only the Slovakian and German firms were shortlisted out of the five which received the tenders.

Another trial for the 155mm/52calibre towed guns in which ST Kinetics and United Kingdom's BAE Systems would compete is to take place in a couple of months, after the Singapore firm sought time to bring its guns for the test following damage to the one it was bringing to India during loading.

Under the global tender issued for the towed guns, India had projected that it would buy 400 of them off-the-shelf from the selected firm and another 780 would be manufactured in India through technology transfer to one of the Ordnance Factories.

The fourth procurement would be the 155mm/52 calibre tracked self-propelled guns for which the Army has projected a requirement of 100 units.

The purchase of these tracked guns would be done through a global tender, which is currently under formulation of technical parameters, Defence Ministry sources added.

The Bofors scandal had broken out in 1987 and allegations flew thick and fast that Rs 66 crore was allegedly paid off as kickbacks to politicians for the deal with the Swedish gun maker, leading to the fall of the then Rajiv Gandhi government.

Since then, India has not bought weapons for its artillery units, leading to a major gap and the Army last year projected that it was only 50 per cent battle ready in all critical areas of its fighting arms.

The 2007 report, submitted by the Army to a Parliamentary Committee, had claimed that if procurements started now, it would take about 20 years to bridge the gap and would be fully battle ready only by 2027.

As per the report, the Army's artillery arm was only 52 per cent battle ready at present and it would attain 97 per cent capability by 2027.

India all set for artillery purchases :: Brahmand.com
 
Great news. Its been a long time since we bought some artillery.
 
Finally, been waiting to hear this for a long, long time.
 
Great news. Its been a long time since we bought some artillery.

Why it's so hard to make it by our own:coffee:

May be we dont make it as good as othere in starting but we wan fill that capability game by Great no (Like 10,000 howitzer).

and in future keep improowing it, which give us self reliance and JOBS for our people. and also save our hard earn money:coffee:
 
Keshet 120mm Mortar Israel


keshetcroppedbigeu8.jpg



The Dragon Fire system is a US based designed to be able to use all NATO types of rifled and smoothbore 120 mm mortar ammunition












NEMO is a single 120 mm unmanned mortar turret currently being developed by Patria Weapons System Oy (PWS) in Finland



wiesel2lepzmrs3iujl.jpg



Bw_M113_120-mm-Moerser.jpg



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Pakistan should also proceed in this direction and buy mortar systems
 
Keshet 120mm Mortar Israel


keshetcroppedbigeu8.jpg



The Dragon Fire system is a US based designed to be able to use all NATO types of rifled and smoothbore 120 mm mortar ammunition












NEMO is a single 120 mm unmanned mortar turret currently being developed by Patria Weapons System Oy (PWS) in Finland



wiesel2lepzmrs3iujl.jpg



Bw_M113_120-mm-Moerser.jpg

wow, so this is what army wants............cool
 
can any body tell me what is range of these kind of mortar system. also weight and prize.
 
Well army scouts for many things rarely signs the contract.Hope at least this will be signed and on time.
 
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