Mahindra gets the deal to produce M777 for Indian army

[$@rJen]

Mahindra gets the deal to produce M777 for Indian army

PublishedMarch 4, 2016

SOURCE : NEWSGRAM

An Indian firm (Mahindra) and BAE (a major British arms manufacturer) have agreed to jointly produce 145 M777 howitzers for the Indian Army. It was only in mid-2015 that India and BAE finally settled all their contract differences and confirmed the M777 sale. One of the conditions was BAE finding an Indian firm to assemble the howitzers in India. The Mahindra M777 facility will begin production in late 2018.

India first approached BAE about buying the M777 in early 2010. Selling weapons to India is a very complicated process, made more complex since 2006 because of an escalating Indian crackdown in corruption in weapons procurement. Thus Indian procurement bureaucrats became even more troublesome and obstinate than usual.

The M777 deal was almost completed in 2013 but more problems kept showing up. All those have been worked out. This sale went through the BAE American subsidiary, which because of its size, ownership and track record basically operates as an American defense firm.

With this purchase, India is joining the United States, Canada and Australia in using the M777 towed 155mm howitzer. India is buying the lightweight (3.4 ton) M777 howitzers for about $5 million each. India is particularly attracted by the fact that the M777 can be moved slung under a helicopter, and thus quickly moved to inaccessible areas near the Pakistani and Chinese borders.

The M777 is a British design and, at four tons (for the standard version), is the lightest 155mm towed howitzer ever fielded. M777 fire control is handled by the computerized system that allows faster response time and more accurate shooting. The M777 can use all current 155mm ammunition, including the Swedish/American Excalibur GPS guided shell. The guided round cuts ammo use enormously.

India already uses a similar Russian guided shell called Krasnopol. The helicopter is the preferred method of moving the M777 across rough terrain. An M777 on a mountain top, with a few dozen Excalibur or Krasnopol rounds, provides precision fire support for troops within a 30-40 kilometer radius. Indian land borders are largely mountainous and difficult to reach by land routes, especially for artillery that could not be flown in. The M-777 changes that.

The M777 is also the first new artillery for the Indian Army since the late 1980s. Currently, most Indian artillery is either obsolete or soon to be. All these guns are also quite worn and less reliable as a result. Decades of pleas to parliament to speed up the acquisition of new weapons. Until 2010 nothing much happened, but since then public pressure and the rapidly deteriorating (and publicized) state of Indian artillery led to some action.

 

[Skull and Bones]

5 million is too steep price for a howitzer, what could be the expected final numbers of this howitzer in Army arsenal?

 

[Ankit Kumar]

2018?

5 million is too steep price for a howitzer, what could be the expected final numbers of this howitzer in Army arsenal?

Upto 645.

 

[Water Car Engineer]

Omgawd, I cant wait to see Mahindra's plant for this. This is by far their biggest deal they've bagged. Finally, we actually see this sector open up, with actual firms outside the public sector getting big deals. I didnt think this change would happen as fast as it is going.

 

[dadeechi]

2018?


Upto 645.

2018 is indeed a very aggressive timeline considering that the deal is yet to be closed.

 

[mike2000 is back]

Mahindra gets the deal to produce M777 for Indian army

PublishedMarch 4, 2016

SOURCE : NEWSGRAM

An Indian firm (Mahindra) and BAE (a major British arms manufacturer) have agreed to jointly produce 145 M777 howitzers for the Indian Army. It was only in mid-2015 that India and BAE finally settled all their contract differences and confirmed the M777 sale. One of the conditions was BAE finding an Indian firm to assemble the howitzers in India. The Mahindra M777 facility will begin production in late 2018.

India first approached BAE about buying the M777 in early 2010. Selling weapons to India is a very complicated process, made more complex since 2006 because of an escalating Indian crackdown in corruption in weapons procurement. Thus Indian procurement bureaucrats became even more troublesome and obstinate than usual.

The M777 deal was almost completed in 2013 but more problems kept showing up. All those have been worked out. This sale went through the BAE American subsidiary, which because of its size, ownership and track record basically operates as an American defense firm.

With this purchase, India is joining the United States, Canada and Australia in using the M777 towed 155mm howitzer. India is buying the lightweight (3.4 ton) M777 howitzers for about $5 million each. India is particularly attracted by the fact that the M777 can be moved slung under a helicopter, and thus quickly moved to inaccessible areas near the Pakistani and Chinese borders.

The M777 is a British design and, at four tons (for the standard version), is the lightest 155mm towed howitzer ever fielded. M777 fire control is handled by the computerized system that allows faster response time and more accurate shooting. The M777 can use all current 155mm ammunition, including the Swedish/American Excalibur GPS guided shell. The guided round cuts ammo use enormously.

India already uses a similar Russian guided shell called Krasnopol. The helicopter is the preferred method of moving the M777 across rough terrain. An M777 on a mountain top, with a few dozen Excalibur or Krasnopol rounds, provides precision fire support for troops within a 30-40 kilometer radius. Indian land borders are largely mountainous and difficult to reach by land routes, especially for artillery that could not be flown in. The M-777 changes that.

The M777 is also the first new artillery for the Indian Army since the late 1980s. Currently, most Indian artillery is either obsolete or soon to be. All these guns are also quite worn and less reliable as a result. Decades of pleas to parliament to speed up the acquisition of new weapons. Until 2010 nothing much happened, but since then public pressure and the rapidly deteriorating (and publicized) state of Indian artillery led to some action.

India made a good choice. Our M777 howitzer are regarded as the best of their kind in the world.

 

[Pulsar]

Omgawd, I cant wait to see Mahindra's plant for this. This is by far their biggest deal they've bagged. Finally, we actually see this sector open up, with actual firms outside the public sector getting big deals. I didnt think this change would happen as fast as it is going.

Modi's 'Make In India' is finally coming to fruition! And this is just the beginning. The flood is yet to come!

Way to go!

 

[Echo_419]

India made a good choice. Our M777 howitzer are regarded as the best of their kind in the world.

The peak of British engineering

 

[dadeechi]

The peak of British engineering

That would be rolls royce jet engines.

India made a good choice. Our M777 howitzer are regarded as the best of their kind in the world.

Any chance that UK & France would invite India as partner in the 6th generation fighter program. India may not have any tech contribution but can support funding.

 

[Abingdonboy]

Any chance that UK & France would invite India as partner in the 6th generation fighter program. India may not have any tech contribution but can support funding.

Neither the UK or France is working on this. The UK has commited to the F-35 and France has no concrete plans beyond the Rafale as of yet.

 

[dadeechi]

Neither the UK or France is working on this. The UK has commited to the F-35 and France has no concrete plans beyond the Rafale as of yet.

So was the below shelved?

Added later: @Abingdonboy See the second link. the program is alive.

London, 12 February 2015

Secretary of State, mon cher Michael, ladies and gentlemen, I have little to add to what my British colleague has just said. Our cooperation in the defence field is exceptional. It draws on the Lancaster House agreements, which the British Secretary of State talked about, and it’s existed ever since. It’s existed in the operational sphere. As you’ve recalled, we’re together today in the Levant to combat Daesh [ISIL] in the coalition that has been organized, in which you and we are stakeholders; we’re also together in Mali, because you’ve made a significant contribution, both to the action we took and also, now, to the training of the Malian army; and we were together in Libya, we were together in Afghanistan, we’re together in all theatres of combat, to protect our values and guarantee our security.

Moreover, we’ve built operational cooperation, which is continuing year on year, in particular to establish the Franco-British Combined Joint Expeditionary Force; we’re completing the process by carrying out joint staff exercises, which you talked to us about, and so we’re in a position – after that decision at the time of the treaty – to set up this joint force, which will now make our military relationship more effective.

Furthermore, we have strong relations in the industrial field; I’m thinking in particular of the work being done today for the future plane, the future unmanned plane, the future combat UAV, which we began in Brize Norton last year; we also cooperate closely in the field of missiles.

So all this manifests itself in trust and transparency in our discussions.

Today we were due to have a more wide-ranging meeting, but events at the meeting [in Minsk] prevented Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius from coming to join the group initially planned, and everyone will understand that; so we’re going to focus on defence issues; we have a lot to say to each other, in a very constructive and very cooperative spirit./.

France-UK defence cooperation "exceptional" - Minister - France in the United Kingdom - La France au Royaume-Uni

Britain, France Agree on £1.5 Billion Plan for Combat Drone

By Pierre Tran, Defense News 3:15 p.m. EST March 3, 2016

PARIS — Britain and France have agreed to pursue a £1.5 billion (US $2.1 billion) program to build an unmanned combat air vehicle, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday at a bilateral summit with French President François Hollande.

The two countries decided “to jointly invest” to build the most advanced combat air system in Europe, Cameron told a joint news conference at Amiens, northern France. The work would support jobs and expertise in Britain and France.

Since the 2010 Lancaster House defense agreement “there has been much progress, much common willingness, which have also been translated into programs,” Hollande said.

French authorities also agreed to consider an order for the MBDA Brimstone guided missile to arm the Tiger attack helicopter and Britain will provide a monthly strategic airlift to support French troops deployed in Africa, the British Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

The bilateral agreement was for a £1.54 billion project “to build a prototype of the next generation of unmanned aircraft,” the ministry said. Full scale development of prototypes is due start in 2017.

The future combat air system project is based on a £120 million feasibility study conducted by BAE Systems, Finmeccanica Airborne and Space Systems Division, and Rolls-Royce work on the British side, with Dassault Aviation, Safran’s Snecma, and Thales on the French side. The 2014 bilateral summit announced the feasibility study, which was equally funded by Britain and France.

Defense ministers Jean-Yves Le Drian and Michael Fallon agreed the cooperative projects at the summit meeting, also attended by the interior and foreign ministers.

“Brimstone missile would be a significant option for the upgrade of their Tiger attack helicopters,” Fallon said in a statement.

A French decision to pick the Sagem Patroller as a tactical UAV for the French Army over the Thales Watchkeeper had irritated the British authorities, business website La Tribune reported.

The Anglo-French 2010 Lancaster House defense treaty sought to boost bilateral cooperation on the operational and industrial front.

That cooperation at an operational level reached a new high when the British Ministry of Defence announced Feb. 24 that it was conducting an officer swap with the French Army not seen since World War I. A senior French officer is set to become deputy commander of the 1st (United Kingdom) Division, the British Army’s light role adaptable force.

At the same time a British Army colonel is heading in the opposite direction to become deputy commander of the French equivalent , the EMF1 ( Etat-major de force).

A separate move will see a French general join the senior ranks of the British military. An MoD spokesman said there were presently no details on the move.

The meeting between Hollande and Cameron at Amiens marked a 100-year commemoration of the battle of the Somme during the World War I, when British and French troops led an allied attack on the German front line. The fighting left some 600,000 dead and wounded.

Andrew Chuter contributed from London.

Britain, France Agree on £1.5 Billion Plan for Combat Drone

 

[Echo_419]

That would be rolls royce jet engines.



Any chance that UK & France would invite India as partner in the 6th generation fighter program. India may not have any tech contribution but can support funding.

The peak of British Artillery engineering then

 

[Abingdonboy]

So was the below shelved?

London, 12 February 2015

Secretary of State, mon cher Michael, ladies and gentlemen, I have little to add to what my British colleague has just said. Our cooperation in the defence field is exceptional. It draws on the Lancaster House agreements, which the British Secretary of State talked about, and it’s existed ever since. It’s existed in the operational sphere. As you’ve recalled, we’re together today in the Levant to combat Daesh [ISIL] in the coalition that has been organized, in which you and we are stakeholders; we’re also together in Mali, because you’ve made a significant contribution, both to the action we took and also, now, to the training of the Malian army; and we were together in Libya, we were together in Afghanistan, we’re together in all theatres of combat, to protect our values and guarantee our security.

Moreover, we’ve built operational cooperation, which is continuing year on year, in particular to establish the Franco-British Combined Joint Expeditionary Force; we’re completing the process by carrying out joint staff exercises, which you talked to us about, and so we’re in a position – after that decision at the time of the treaty – to set up this joint force, which will now make our military relationship more effective.

Furthermore, we have strong relations in the industrial field; I’m thinking in particular of the work being done today for the future plane, the future unmanned plane, the future combat UAV, which we began in Brize Norton last year; we also cooperate closely in the field of missiles.

So all this manifests itself in trust and transparency in our discussions.

Today we were due to have a more wide-ranging meeting, but events at the meeting [in Minsk] prevented Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius from coming to join the group initially planned, and everyone will understand that; so we’re going to focus on defence issues; we have a lot to say to each other, in a very constructive and very cooperative spirit./.

France-UK defence cooperation "exceptional" - Minister - France in the United Kingdom - La France au Royaume-Uni

Britain, France Agree on £1.5 Billion Plan for Combat Drone

By Pierre Tran, Defense News 3:15 p.m. EST March 3, 2016

PARIS — Britain and France have agreed to pursue a £1.5 billion (US $2.1 billion) program to build an unmanned combat air vehicle, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday at a bilateral summit with French President François Hollande.

The two countries decided “to jointly invest” to build the most advanced combat air system in Europe, Cameron told a joint news conference at Amiens, northern France. The work would support jobs and expertise in Britain and France.

Since the 2010 Lancaster House defense agreement “there has been much progress, much common willingness, which have also been translated into programs,” Hollande said.

French authorities also agreed to consider an order for the MBDA Brimstone guided missile to arm the Tiger attack helicopter and Britain will provide a monthly strategic airlift to support French troops deployed in Africa, the British Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

The bilateral agreement was for a £1.54 billion project “to build a prototype of the next generation of unmanned aircraft,” the ministry said. Full scale development of prototypes is due start in 2017.

The future combat air system project is based on a £120 million feasibility study conducted by BAE Systems, Finmeccanica Airborne and Space Systems Division, and Rolls-Royce work on the British side, with Dassault Aviation, Safran’s Snecma, and Thales on the French side. The 2014 bilateral summit announced the feasibility study, which was equally funded by Britain and France.

Defense ministers Jean-Yves Le Drian and Michael Fallon agreed the cooperative projects at the summit meeting, also attended by the interior and foreign ministers.

“Brimstone missile would be a significant option for the upgrade of their Tiger attack helicopters,” Fallon said in a statement.

A French decision to pick the Sagem Patroller as a tactical UAV for the French Army over the Thales Watchkeeper had irritated the British authorities, business website La Tribune reported.

The Anglo-French 2010 Lancaster House defense treaty sought to boost bilateral cooperation on the operational and industrial front.

That cooperation at an operational level reached a new high when the British Ministry of Defence announced Feb. 24 that it was conducting an officer swap with the French Army not seen since World War I. A senior French officer is set to become deputy commander of the 1st (United Kingdom) Division, the British Army’s light role adaptable force.

At the same time a British Army colonel is heading in the opposite direction to become deputy commander of the French equivalent , the EMF1 ( Etat-major de force).

A separate move will see a French general join the senior ranks of the British military. An MoD spokesman said there were presently no details on the move.

The meeting between Hollande and Cameron at Amiens marked a 100-year commemoration of the battle of the Somme during the World War I, when British and French troops led an allied attack on the German front line. The fighting left some 600,000 dead and wounded.

Andrew Chuter contributed from London.

Britain, France Agree on £1.5 Billion Plan for Combat Drone

This is about co-developing a UAV, not a manned fighter. An agreement to this end was signed recently:

France, Britain agree to invest 2 billion euros in drone prototype project

The peak of British Artillery engineering then

I always found it interesting that the British Army was used around the world to showcase this product but they never actualy inducted it for themselves.

 

[Imran Khan]

private sector is great if join defense production

 

[dadeechi]

This is about co-developing a UAV, not a manned fighter. An agreement to this end was signed recently:

France, Britain agree to invest 2 billion euros in drone prototype project


I always found it interesting that the British Army was used around the world to showcase this product but they never actualy inducted it for themselves.

Yes I meant the UCAV program. I thought 5th generation would be the last manned fighter but seems like it is not.

Northrop Grumman Ad Teases 6th-Generation Fighter | Popular Science