BEML has reportedly offered a 155mm,52-caliber state-of-the-art artillery gun. 

The Bangalore-based defencepublic sector undertaking is ready with the wheeled gun and fieldtrials have already started at its testing tracks in the Kolar GoldFields (KGF), Karnataka.

This development comes in the backdrop of the fact that the artilleryhas not purchased a long-range gun in about 20 years following theBofors gun controversy. The Government recently gave the nod toinviting global tenders for the 155mm guns and the proposed contractfor over 1000 guns, besides other range of artillery guns includingHowitzers, worth over Rs. 20,000 crore.

BEML chairman and managing director VRS Natarajan said they were thenodal processing agency for this gun, which would enhance the lethalityof the defence forces. The gun is part of a technology transfer betweena Slovakian company, DMD, and BEML to produce this high-precision gunfor the Indian armed forces.

Natarajan said, "We have already been made a nodal processing agencyfor the 155mm, 52-caliber gun which is a state-of-the-art weapon to beinducted by India. We will produce and supply this to the defenceforces. It’s a technology transfer; India wants to go for a veryupgraded tank which is faster, lighter and able to have a greater firepower with lethality."

He also said, "For the wheeled gun project, we have tied up with aSlovakian company, DMD, for a defence offset and the vehicle hasalready been made available for trial. The time frame is about threeyears from the date of order by the defence forces. We expect it tocommence in the current year or at most the next year."

According to the BEML chief, the company was also looking at thetracked version of the same gun, which will give better fire power. "Wehave already set up a state-of-the-art, world-class test track. We havea firing range too," Natarajan said, adding that the PSU was also inthe process of setting up infrastructure for the overhauling of T72 andT90 tanks.

A fresh RFI (Request for Information) for the Indian army’s 155 mm/52 caliber towed artillery guns was issued two months back for a record fourth time after the current ongoing process was scrapped, signaling yet again the process going back into the never ending loop of proposals, trails, accusations and cancellations.

There seems no end in sight to the Indian army’s artillery modernization. The ghost of Bofor’s and corruption continue to haunt the force and the result: the army has not inducted any new piece of artillery in the last two decades since the infamous bofor’s scandal. The 400 Bofor’s guns bought in the 80’s are the latest in the inventory and some of them have been cannibalized for spares to maintain the others. We just don’t seem to get over the ghost of Bofor’s and the lackluster attitude of the government in general and the defense ministry in particular is further pushing back things when we urgently need to augment the most potent force multiplier and area dominating arm of the land forces.



The government is in the process of rising to new mountain divisions to be deployed in the northeast border but the question is – where are the guns to equip them? In the event of a conflict in the north east or in Kashmir, armored divisions will be greatly limited due to the mountainous terrain and it’s the artillery that will play a crucial role in enabling the forward thrust by the infantry which we have seen happen during the Kargil conflict. And with future conflicts being short and swift this assumes even greater importance.


The requirement of the towed guns is about 1580 units, 400 purchased off the shelf and remaining to be license produced in India. The just cancelled process was approved in 2007 and after all the delays two short listed guns were supposed to commence field trials last month for which the guns are in the Phokran test range when it was stalled. The reason is with one of the contender’s ST kinetics (gun iFH 2000), Singapore being blacklisted, only BAE Systems (fielding the FH77 B05) was left in the fray, resulting in a single vendor situation and resulted in the cancellation of the process. There is also a requirement of other types of guns as well albeit in lesser numbers but even with them the story is no different.

The army is trying to procure 145 light guns (BAE Systems M777 lightweight howitzer) through the direct Foreign Military Sale (FMS) route from the US for which the process is underway. The other requirements of the army are 145 units of 155 mm/39 Caliber Ultra-Light Howitzers,

The Indian defense ministry is expected to issue the request forproposals (RFP) for the third time for 140 wheeled guns within the nexttwo weeks.
Trials will be held for the same guns that participated in earlierrounds to evaluate performance in extreme hot and cold conditions inthe harsh desert terrains of Rajasthan and Ladakh. Firing rate andcommand and control will be assessed.

Bidders being named include Kerametal of Slovakia, with its Zuzana gun, and Germany’s Rheinmetall RWG-52.


The latest development, however, comes amid ongoing confusion andallegations regarding so-called “blacklisting” of some contenders inthe past (Aerospace DAILY, April 2). For instance, SingaporeTechnologies Kinetics was not invited to participate in the RFP afterbeing named in a report related to an Ordnance Factories Board (OFB)scandal. But Rheinmetall, which was rejected on another tender forbeing involved in the same OFB report, was called to participate intrials for bi-modular charges in Pokhran, and now for the wheeled guns.

Rheinmetall recently denied any wrongdoing regarding the acquisition ofdefense contracts in India, saying it had broken no rules. ARheinmetall spokesman says it has not received any notification as tothe basis of the corruption allegations.

“With regard to future projects, as well, the company is eager to clear this matter up,” a Rheinmetall representative says.

Armed with 155-mm. ordnance, the 48-ton Rheinmetall Wheeled Gun(RWG)-52 is designed to be a mobile 6x6 artillery system for flexiblefire-support operations. The vehicle has a maximum road speed of 80kph. (50 mph.), and can reach speeds of up to 70 kph. when operatingoff-road. Its strategic range is 700 km. (435 mi.) and its tacticalrange is 300 km. A built-in tire pressure management system furtherenhances the vehicle’s off-road performance, according to a Rheinmetallspokesman.

Its autonomous turret is equipped with the L/52 Rheinmetall gun used inGermany’s PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzer in service with the armedforces of Germany, Italy, Greece and the Netherlands, the latter havingdeployed it in combat operations in Afghanistan.

While BAE Systems’ Archer does not fit the Indian army requirements forthe wheeled gun bid, the company has submitted a response to the latestrequest for information for towed 155-mm. howitzers, following previoustenders that were canceled due to the inability of other potentialsuppliers to meet the requirements.

The company’s offer will be based on the FH77 B05 155-mm. howitzer, anda significant number will be manufactured in India to meet the specificneeds of the Indian army.

BAE representative Guy Douglas told AVIATION WEEK earlier that the155-mm. FH77B05 howitzer was the best choice for India since it hasproven itself in previous trials. “It is the big sister of the FH77 B02that performed well in the Kargil conflict, so its pedigree isunquestionable,” according to the company spokesman.

Meanwhile, BAE’s M777 ultra lightweight howitzer is now in the U.S. foreign military sales process for purchase by India.
Source Here

EW DELHI: Faced with a huge shortfall of anti-tank guided missiles(ATGM), coupled with the delayed induction of the indigenous `Nag'missile, India will order a "large'' number of the quite-expensiveJavelin ATGM systems from the US.

The deal for the man-portable, fire-and-forget Javelin ATGM systemswill once again be a direct government-to-government one under theAmerican foreign military sales (FMS) programme, without any globalmulti-vendor competition.

Much to the dismay of Russians and Europeans, India is increasinglytaking the FMS route to ink big arms deals with US. The biggest on theverge of finalisation, of course, is for 10 C-17 Globemaster-III giantstrategic airlift for upwards of $3 billion.

As for the Javelin contract, defence minister A K Antony toldParliament on Monday the "letter of request'' to US government forprocurement of the third-generation ATGM, along with "transfer oftechnology'', would be issued soon.

This means India will buy some of the 2.5-km range Javelin systemsoff-the-shelf, while a much larger number will be indigenouslymanufactured under licensed production. The US has already showcasedthe ATGM system during bilateral combat exercises like `Yudh-Abhyas' inBabina last October, as reported earlier.

While the exact number of Javelin systems India will induct is yet tobe decided, it could well run into thousands. The Army, after all, hasa shortfall of around 44,000 ATGMs of different types. "Though Army hasan authorised holding of 81,206 ATGMs, not even half that number ispresent in its inventory,'' said a source.

This when Pakistan is inducting a wide array of missiles, including2,769 TOW-2A heavy anti-armour guided missiles from US. Mechanised aswell as regular infantry units armed with advanced ATGM systems aredeemed critical to slow down, if not halt, enemy armoured thrusts intoone's territory.

Indian infantry units are as of now equipped with variants of thesecond-generation 2-km-range Milan and 4-km-range Konkurs ATGMs,produced by defence PSU Bharat Dynamics Ltd under licence from Frenchand Russian companies.

As for the third-generation Nag ATGM, with a 4-km strike range, Armyhas placed an initial order for 443 missiles and 13 Namicas (Nagmissile tracked carriers). After 20 years of development, the Nag isonly now getting ready to enter the production/induction phase.

The urgency about the fast-dwindling ATGM stock can be gauged from thefact that Army has ordered 4,100 "advanced'' Milan-2T missiles, with"tandem warheads'', as well as 15,000 Konkurs-M missiles over the lastcouple of years.
Source Here

With the Indian Army’s procurement of 155 millimetre towed artilleryguns stymied again by CBI strictures against 5 international artilleryvendors, the Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO) has pointed out thatdeveloping an Indian gun would bypass the problematic selection of agun from the global arms bazaar.
Business Standard has reported (29th July 10, “155 mm gun purchase:DRDO enters the fray”) that the DRDO is joining hands with a privatesector company to develop and manufacture an Indian gun. Now, DRDODirector General, Dr VK Saraswat, has explained the rationale for thisDRDO decision. He says that, amongst the foreign guns on offer, thereis no clear winner. And, given the cutthroat nature of competition forthis Rs 8000 crore contract for 1580 guns, a drumbeat of corruptionallegations will keep derailing any decision.

Dr Saraswat told Business Standard, “The differences [between competingguns] are miniscule and people would like to exploit those minisculedifferences… and [the MoD’s] life becomes more difficult. The[acquisition] process is today back to zero. This is not the first timeit has come to zero; this has happened before…. So it is better todevelop your own system.

The purchase of artillery guns, the Indian Army’s most crucialcomponent of combat power, was stalled for 16 years by the Boforsscandal of 1987. Restarted in 2003, the procurement process hasremained dogged by scandal. Over the years, the CBI has asked the MoDto blacklist five of the vendors whose guns India was evaluating forpurchase: Singapore Technologies Kinetics (STK); German giant,Rheinmetall; Israel Military Industries (IMI); another Israeligun-maker, Soltam; and South African major, Denel. BAE Systems, afront-runner in this race, is offering the FH-77B-05 howitzer, amodernised version of the controversial Bofors gun.

“The armed forces felt that this gun system can always be acquiredabroad, so why should the DRDO spend time and effort (on developing thegun)?” says Dr Saraswat. “We too thought it better to focus our effortson [technologies that could be denied to us]. But now, Indian industryand DRDO, along with the army, should make a concentrated effort to cutthis Gordian knot.”

Business Standard has learned that the DRDO laboratory that willspearhead the development of an Indian 155 mm gun --- the ArmamentResearch & Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune --- is finalizingits development partners for this project.

This will not be the first time that an Indian consortium will havecome together to develop an artillery gun. In the 1950s the so-calledGun Development Team was constituted by the MoD. Functioning from theOrdnance Factory at Khamaria, the Gun Development team oversaw the“Indianisation” of two of the Indian Army’s most successful artilleryguns: the 75/24 howitzer; and the 105 mm Indian Field Gun (IFG).Inexplicably, this successful experiment was wound up around the timethat the Bofors FH-77B gun was imported.

Since those early days, says the DRDO chief, the Indian private sectorhas dramatically honed its manufacturing skills. Earlier, only theOrdnance Factory Board (OFB) had the technological capability and thefacilities to manufacture guns. Today, the DRDO is turning to privatesector companies like the Tata Group, L&T and Bharat Forge, whileretaining its traditional option, the OFB.

BAGHDAD: Soldiers serving on Camp Taji, Iraq, trained Iraqi troops on the fundamentals of marksmanship with the M-16 rifle, June 15. The training was part of a continued effort by the U.S. to phase out the Iraqi Army's use of the Soviet-era AK-47 Kalashnikov assault rifle.
The swap between the two weapons has gun-enthusiasts across themilitary and social-media sites up-in-arms, as fans of both weaponsdebate the practicality of the initiative.
The AK-47, which has become symbolic of Middle Eastern militaries,has been used by the Iraqi Army since the 1960s. The weapon is lessaccurate than the western M-16 rifle, yet its more durable design makesit a more suitable match for a desert climate, critics say.
But the transition to the M-16 is not based solely on the weaponscapability. As the rifles are issued to Iraqi soldiers, they will beregistered individually -- a measure intended to reduce the number ofAmerican weapons being acquired by insurgents.
The new M-16s will also update the Iraqi Army's arsenal, as many oftheir AK-47s are in varying states of disrepair, military officialssaid.
On Camp Taji it was all smiles from the Iraqi troops, as the U.S. Soldiers walked them through the basics of firing the M-16.
"For their first time, they shot very well -- even compared to someU.S. Soldiers," said Sgt. Kevin Averre, the noncommissioned officer incharge of the training. Averre is assigned to the Combat AviationBrigade, 1st Infantry Division, serving as a battle NCO in thebrigade's tactical operations center.
In 2003, Averre served with Iraqi Security Forces as an infantryman assigned to the 4th Infantry Division.
"Even in 2003 they spoke very highly of the M-16's accuracy," said Averre.
The training focused primarily on "zeroing" the weapons, a process by which Soldiers adjust the weapon's sightsto align with their eyesight. The Iraqi soldiers also receivedinstruction on weapons maintenance, something seldom necessary with thedurable AK-47.
While the Iraqi Army has already received thousands of weapons inaccordance with the proposed one-for-one swap of AK-47 for M-16,receipt of the weapons is prioritized by necessity.
Many Iraqi soldiers on Camp Taji do not use M-16s, and as theweapons continue to arrive, U.S. units will remain actively engaged inthe training of the Iraqi Army.

France: Developed and produced by Sagem, the Sigma 30 is a laser gyro land navigation and pointing system for artillery pieces, enabling highly accurate firing on short notice.
Sagem has also set up a maintenance shop near New Delhi to help the Indian army keep its Sigma 30 systems in fighting trim. Indian mechanics received specialized training for this system in both France and India.
The Defense R and D Organisation, part of the Indian Ministry of Defence, originally chose the Sigma 30system in 2008. They were installed by Larsen and Toubro and Tata PowerCompany, the two Indian companies in charge of integrating the PinakaMLRS.
The Sigma 30 pointing system has been proven in combat on a Caesar155 mm gun. It is also used with NATO's Mars MLRS and the 2R2M 120 mmmobile mortar, within the scope of a modernization program. In addition, the Sigma 30 has been qualified on the Archer, Donar, PZH 2000 and FH 77 B05 155 mm guns.
Artillery systems by Sagem, now deployed by 20 armed forcesworldwide, cover a wide range of state-of-the-art applications,including advanced observation systems, optronic sensors, navigation and pointing systems, fire control, computers, digital mapping, systems integration.

ASIAN DEFENCE