TATA Power SED's 155mm/52-cal Motorised Howitzer Detailed: by P.K Sengupta

[IND151]

Dubbed as being 55% indigenous by content, this motorised howitzer was jointly developed by TATA Power SED and South Africa’s DENEL Land Systems. Essentially a re-engineered version of DENEL’s T5-52 motorised howitzer (which was showcased during DEFEXPO 2002 along with SOLTAM Systems’ ATMOS, with both of them at that time making use of a TATRA-built truck, the latest ‘avatar’ of this weapon system has unveiled last March/April at the DEFEXPO 2012 expo at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. At that time, TATA Power SED officials seemed confident of exporting this motorised howitzer to Indonesia. If this deal does fructify, then Indonesia’s Army (TNI-AD) would become the third ASEAN army to procure such howitzers, the other two being the Royal Thai Army with six Nexter Systems-built Caesars in service, and Myanmar’s army with 12 Yugoimport SDPR-built Noras in service

DENEL Land Systems has supplied the monoblock gun barrel fitted with a double-baffle muzzle brake, gun cradle with an integrated buffer system, swing-and-slide breech mechanism, electrically-activated firing mechanism, autoloader/rammer, ballistics charts, muzzle velocity radar, an automatic laying and land navigation system using a RLG-INS, a panoramic optical-mechanical sight mounted directly to the trunnion, incorporating a compensation system for trunnion cant, which forms a backup for indirect fire, and a telescopic sight for direct fire that is mounted to the compensation system. TATA Power SED ,on the other hand, developed the digital ballistics computer, telecommunications system, the hydraulic system that supplies hydraulic power for deployment of the outriggers and the top-carriage hydraulics, all on-board electrical systems, the gun management computer, and the ‘Rajak’ driver’s vision enhancement system. The customized 8 x 8 truck comes from TATA Motors.

Overall, TATA Power SED’s solution is being touted as being the cheapest option, a claim that will undoubtedly be contested by the likes of other contenders like the Larsen & Toubro/Nexter Systems partnership that is offering the Caesar, the Kalyani Group/ELBIT Systems partnership that is likely to offer the ATMOS, and the Punj Lloyd/Yugoimport SDPR partnership that is likely to propose the Nora. However, a simple visual comparison between TATA Power SED’s solution and the Caesar reveals the fact that the latter’s overall design is superior as it can be airlifted by transporters like the C-130J-30. In addition, the Caesar has also been combat proven in both Afghanistan and along the Thai-Cambodian border.

However, one thing is certain: the Indian Army’s demand for such motorized howitzers (labelled by the Indian Army as Mounted Gun Systems), which first arose immediately after OP Vijay in 1999, will be for at least 1,800 units (and not 814 as is being erroneously claimed in some quarters) in the years to come, since it is now virtually certain that the Indian Army will no longer procure the 1,580 towed 155mm/52-cal howitzers that it had earlier planned to, given the fact that the DRDO has succeeded (only God knows how!) in convincing the Ministry of Defence that it, along with India’s private-sector firms and public-sector undertakings, will be able to deliver a futuristic 155mm/52-cal advanced towed artillery gun system (ATAGS) by 2022.

TRISHUL: TATA Power SED's 155mm/52-cal Motorised Howitzer Detailed

 

[IND151]

Hope IA orders 1800 such Motorized Howitzers like the OP suggests

And the best part is this gun can fire in a 360 degree arc

 

[acid rain]

All three Indian companies with JV's should be supported and their systems procured by the IA, if done this will boost local production and R&D among local manufacturers.

JD's have been immensely successful in India and there's every reason to believe that pvt firms will improve a great deal in the future.

 

[IND151]

^^ I think The TATA-DENEL gun or Gun by Larsen & Toubro/Nexter Systems will be procured

 

[ptltejas]

Well the Excalibur type projectiles will be helpful in Accuracy and, the question is arisen in mind it its on vehicle its hard to take it at the mountain area have no roads and at desert area.

 

[IND151]

^^ interesting point

This is what if found on wiki

Conversely,towed artillery was and remains cheaper to build and maintain. It is also lighter and can be taken to places that self-propelled guns cannot reach, so despite the advantages of the self-propelled artillery, towed guns remain in the arsenals of many modern armies.

 

[KRAIT]

Kindly post more nfro on Caesar and if possible provide some comparison with Tata's gun.

 

[IND151]

^^ OP already compared Ceaser with TATA Power SED's Howitzer

However, a simple visual comparison between TATA Power SED’s solution and the Caesar reveals the fact that the latter’s overall design is superior as it can be airlifted by transporters like the C-130J-30. In addition, the Caesar has also been combat proven in both Afghanistan and along the Thai-Cambodian border.


Source: http://www.defence.pk/forums/indian...tzer-detailed-p-k-sengupta.html#ixzz2EjYeb7If

 

[KRAIT]

^^ OP already compared Ceaser with TATA Power SED's Howitzer

However, a simple visual comparison between TATA Power SED’s solution and the Caesar reveals the fact that the latter’s overall design is superior as it can be airlifted by transporters like the C-130J-30. In addition, the Caesar has also been combat proven in both Afghanistan and along the Thai-Cambodian border.
Source: http://www.defence.pk/forums/indian...tzer-detailed-p-k-sengupta.html#ixzz2EjYeb7If

That I read buddy. I wanted more.

 

[sancho]

Kindly post more nfro on Caesar and if possible provide some comparison with Tata's gun.

http://www.defence.pk/forums/indian...ath-self-propelled-howitzers.html#post2835245

 

[IND151]

That I read buddy. I wanted more.

The Caesar truck-mounted artillery system is a 155mm 52-calibre self-propelled gun developed by Nexter Systems (formerly Giat), based in Versailles, in cooperation with Lohr Industrie of Hangenbieten, France.
An initial five systems were ordered by the French Army and were delivered in June 2003 for technical and operational evaluation. In December 2004, Giat was awarded a contract for 72 Caesar systems to equip eight land artillery batteries of the French Army, to replace towed TRF1 systems.
Caesar entered production in June 2006. The first vehicle was delivered to the French Army in April 2007 for extensive firing trials.
The first production Caesar system was delivered to the French Army in July 2008. Seven further systems were delivered by the end of 2008 and deliveries are scheduled to complete in 2011. The system has also been demonstrated in Malaysia and in the US.
In April 2006, Thailand placed an order for six Caesar systems for the Thai Army, the first export order for the system. Deliveries were completed in 2010.
In July 2006, an order for 80 systems was placed by the Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG). These will be mounted on a Unimog 6x6 chassis. In March 2010, the SANG received first four Caesar 155mm self-propelled artillery systems. The remaining deliveries are scheduled to complete in 2011.
Systems for the French Army and the Thai Army are mounted on the Sherpa 5 6x6 truck chassis from Renault Trucks Defense.
Caesar artillery system development

The Caesar artillery system evolved from the earlier 155 AM F3 automotive gun, which used the chassis of the AMX-13 light tank.
Caesar is equipped with all the systems needed for independent operation, a cabin to protect the six man gun crew against shell fragments and small arms fire, an initial ammunition supply of 16 complete rounds and instrumentation for navigation, aiming, ballistic calculations and command aids. The system was specifically designed to meet the fire support requirements of rapid deployment forces.
In March 2004, Giat entered an agreement with United Defense (now BAE Systems Land and Armaments) for that company to market Caesar in the USA.
In September 2004, Giat signed a teaming agreement with ADI of Australia to offer Caesar to the Australian Army for its Land 17 artillery replacement programme.
Caesar 155mm, 52-calibre barrel

Caesar is equipped with a 155mm, 52-calibre barrel and can maintain a firing rate of six to eight rounds a minute in sustained fire, or three rounds in 15 seconds in rapid fire.
"A unit of eight Caesar self-propelled artillery vehicles can dispense more than 1t of projectiles in one minute."
The FAST-Hit computerised fire management system, developed jointly by Nexter and EADS Defense Electronics, an Intertechnique ROB4 muzzle velocity radar system and a SAGEM Sigma 30 navigation system and global positioning system (GPS) are fitted so there is no requirement for topographical teams and goniometers.
The weapon has an automatic hydraulic laying system and the loading system is semi-automatic.
The gun can be set into and out of action in under a minute. The weapon system configuration and the provision of hydraulic drives give a time of approximately 30 seconds to take the Caesar out of battery.
A unit of eight Caesar self-propelled artillery vehicles can dispense, in less than one minute, more than 1t of projectiles, 1,500 bomblets or 48 smart anti-tank munitions on targets at ranges up to 40km.
Fire control
In the French Army, Caesar is integrated with the Thales Land and Joint Systems Atlas artillery C4I (command, control, communications and intelligence) system. The system provides onboard terminals for communications and real-time firing sequence management including fowarding of fire-support requests and transmission of firing orders according to target type, ammunition type and gun availability.
Munitions

Caesar is capable of using a wide range of ammunition for deployment against protected and unprotected targets, to create counter-mobility obstacles to block the manoeuvres of enemy armoured forces and to obscure or illuminate an area.
Caesar can fire conventional high-explosive (HE) or new-generation cargo rounds, which provide increased accuracy and terminal effectiveness.
The Ogre shell, which is in series production for the French Army, is an anti-tank and fragmentation bomblet dispensing round for use against relatively unprotected area targets such as command posts, artillery batteries, light armoured vehicles or logistic sites.
Ogre dispenses 63 bomblets, each fitted with a self-destruct mechanism. The bomblets are capable of penetrating more than 90mm of armour. A salvo of six Ogre shells releases 378 bomblets to saturate an area of 3ha at a range of 35km.
Bonus rounds with smart submunitions can be launched against tanks and other types of medium and heavy armoured vehicles. Bonus rounds have been developed by Nexter Ammunition and Intertechnique of France, and Bofors of Sweden.
"Caesar has an unrefuelled travel range of 600km and maximum speed of 100km/h."
The Bonus round carries two smart anti-tank submunitions to a range of 34km. A top-attack flight profile delivers the explosively formed penetrator (EFP) warhead to the roof of the tank which is generally more vulnerable than the heavily armour-protected sides and front.
Base bleed shells provide a considerably increased range by filling the vacuum and reducing the turbulence behind the projectile without any loss of accuracy.
The maximum ranges are up to 42km for extended range full bore – base bleed (ERFB-BB) rounds.
Self-propelled artillery system

Prototypes of Caesar used the Daimler-Benz Unimog 6x6 series chassis, which has been ordered by Saudi Arabia Production systems for France and Thailand are mounted on the Renault Trucks Defense Sherpa 5 6x6. Sherpa 5 has a 5t payload capacity.
Caesar has an unrefuelled travel range of 600km and maximum speed of 100km/h. A centralised ground pressure distribution system gives speeds of 50km/h on hardened tracks. It has a six-cylinder diesel engine, developing 240hp and a power-to-weight ratio of 13.6hp/t.
Excluding its crew and ready ammunition supply, Caesar can be carried in a single load of a C-130 Hercules transporter.

http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rc..._YGwBA&usg=AFQjCNHtd60Vv4xBJBjUwGV5TrsfBYZiqw

 

[The A-5]

Well done, TATA. You have prompted the DRDO/OFB to slap their face with their own shoe.

The OFB sat on the designs of Bofors 155mm gun they had since last two-and-a-half decades and the the new OFB-built 155mm towed gun is undergoing trials.

Tata by efficiently seeking support from blacklisted foreign OEMs (which can't sell their products in India by themselves anyway) has not only created a nice 155mm SP howitzer in just 2 years, but also looked to it that indigenous content of the gun is now 55% (more than half)

Wonderful, IA is very much likley to order 1,800 of these 155mm SP guns, along with thw 100 already-ordered OFB 155mm towed guns, and 147 US-bought M777 155mm guns - all ready to flood the IA's inventory with modern state of the art artilerry!

We should also export the Tata 155mm SP gun to Indonesia & Afghanistan

 

[sancho]

but also looked to it that indigenous content of the gun is now 55% (more than half)

Boeing said the same about the ammount of ToT they would provide in MMRCA, the problem is to distinguish between the critical parts!
TATAs content is mainly the truck, on which the howitzer is placed and some minor parts that has not much to do with the gun itself. Similarly, Boeing was able to meet the ammount of ToT that was officially required in MMRCA, but not from any critical techs.

So yes, such JVs are good for India, but this is not an indigenously developed howitzer, because the R&D for the gun was made by Denel only.

 

[The A-5]

Boeing said the same about the ammount of ToT they would provide in MMRCA, the problem is to distinguish between the critical parts!
TATAs content is mainly the truck, on which the howitzer is placed and some minor parts that has not much to do with the gun itself. Similarly, Boeing was able to meet the ammount of ToT that was officially required in MMRCA, but not from any critical techs.

So yes, such JVs are good for India, but this is not an indigenously developed howitzer, because the R&D for the gun was made by Denel only.

Sir, so that TATA is offering this new 155mm SP howitzer, I think IA should scrap plans for purchase of foreign SPHs if this gun performs nicely?

The requirement could be for upto 1800 units as said by this guy PK Sengupta...that is a huge number and TATA Defence sector will get a huge boost if it secures this contract, which I think could be worth around 1.5 billion USD easily.

 

[sancho]

Sir, so that TATA is offering this new 155mm SP howitzer, I think IA should scrap plans for purchase of foreign SPHs if this gun performs nicely?

Why, Tata is not the only Indian company that formed JVs in this field and we should compare the offers with eachother and take the one that offers the best mix of advantages. A competition gets you a more realistic view of the performance of the arms and techs, not to mention that it reduces the costs, since the vendors have to compete each others with good offers.

Reports from any blogger should be taken with caution.