Indian Army set to acquire Artillery Guns, Finally

New Delhi. The Government has finally decided to go ahead with the acquisition of 145 M777 Ultra Light Howitzers (ULH) from BAE Systems, US, and also induction of an indigenously upgraded version of the Swedish Bofors FH 77 Field Howitzer whose purchase in the 1980s had created allegations of corruption and cast a jinx on the Indian Artillery by politicians.

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), the highest decision making body of the Ministry headed by the Defence Minister, cleared the process for acquiring the guns at a meeting in New Delhi on June 25.

It is after 30 years now that the Indian Army’s efforts to replace its ageing guns have got a hope.

Notwithstanding the allegations of corruption, the Bofors FH 77 was a great gun and proved its worth in the 1999 Kargil War when it delivered three rounds per minute with precision strike on Pakistani positions up to 29 km away. VP Singh, who had led the campaign to replace Rajiv Gandhi as Prime Minister in the 1980s, had described it as “a poor quality gun which fires backwards and kills own troops”. He did succeed Rajiv Gandhi but thanks to the intensity of the campaign against Bofors, no government was able so far to take a decision to renew the Army’s inventory of artillery weapons.

Headed by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, the DAC also gave clearance for indigenous production of the Dhanush gun, which is based on the designs supplied by the Swedish company 30 years ago. The Dhanush, being developed by Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), will be an upgraded variant though, and has been tested in trials to the Army’s satisfaction.

The M777 is being purchased in a $750 million deal with the US Government under its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme. The US Army will coordinate the supplies with the Indian Army.

BAE Systems, which manufactures the gun, will supply 25 guns directly, and the remaining under progressive assembly in India in collaboration with the Mahindra group.

Diplomatic paperwork between the two Governments like Letter of Request (LOR) and Letter of Acceptance (LOA) is under process.

Being light, the M777 will be ferried to high altitude locations. The gun can easily be carried by Chinook helicopters that the Indian Air Force (IAF) is acquiring from the US Boeing.