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Out of the five projects to purchase various categories of howitzers, only two have been realised so far – delivery of K-9 Vajra and M-777 ultra lightweight howitzers – meeting just about 9 per cent of the planned acquisition. In the sixth project on the up-gunning of older generation 130 mm guns, the forces received only about 16 per cent of the guns that the army was to receive by March 2022.

The bulk (77 per cent) of the proposed howitzer acquisition comprising 155 mm/52 calibre towed and 155 mm/52 calibre mounted gun systems has not materialised though they were the first two artillery modernisation projects that received the Defence Minister’s approval in 2007 and 2009 respectively.

“Out of the six cases of acquisitions and upgradation of artillery guns, only three culminated into contracts, comprising merely 17 per cent of the total number of guns proposed to be acquired. The replacement of existing artillery guns has been progressing at a very slow pace for over two decades,” the CAG said in its report tabled in the Parliament earlier this week. As of March 2022, only 8 per cent of the guns had been delivered.

Acquisition of self-propelled (wheeled) guns was dropped from the modernisation plans without identifying a suitable substitute.

The 155 mm/52 calibre towed guns, which is to be the mainstay for the Regiment of Artillery in the future – has not been purchased even after a decade-long procedure to identify the vendor, conducting trials and fixing the price after protracted negotiations.

In December 2020, the Narendra Modi government imposed an embargo on their import on the ground of self-reliance. This was one of the 101 items which were brought under the embargo. Going by the original plan approved in 2002, the defence ministry was to directly buy just about 13 per cent of the towed guns while 38 per cent were to be made in India under technology transfer. The 155 mm towed guns were more than half of the total number of howitzers that the army planned to buy.

The army in December 2022 issued a fresh request for information to buy such guns from Indian vendors, once again starting the procurement process as per an acquisition plan drafted in 1999.

The procurement of the mounted gun systems, which was approved with a transfer of technology clause, did not progress beyond the first stage approval (acceptance of necessity) accorded in 2009. It didn’t even progress to the tendering stage (request for proposal) even after 12 years. Asked by the audit, the ministry remained silent on the procurement of such systems.

“The entire (artillery) acquisition process was mired in delays at various stages of procurement for almost all type of guns,” the CAG said in the report, noting that actions like up-gunning of older guns and buying Dhanush (using the Bofors technology) systems would only serve as “stopgap measures.”

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The proposal, worth over Rs 8,000 crore, has been floated by the Indian Army and is expected to be cleared soon, top government officials told India Today.

The Indian Army has conducted trials of the gun in different altitudes and terrains and the weapon has been upgraded as per the suggestions made by the users, said officials.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has shared the technological know-how of the howitzer with Tata and Bharat Forge. The two private firms will be supplying the system to the Army, including over 320 high mobility-vehicles. The trials of the 155mm/52 calibre ATAGS howitzers were completed at the Pokhran Field Firing Range (PFFR) between April 26 and May 2 last year.

The ATAGS is an indigenous towed artillery gun system project undertaken in mission mode by the DRDO as a part of the artillery modernisation programme of the Indian Army, said the statement of the Indian Army.

The Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE) Pune is the nodal laboratory of the DRDO for the design and development of ATAGS, along with other DRDO laboratories.

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So far, the Indian Army possesses only towed gun systems, which are longer and heavier than mounted gun systems, and thus offer less mobility in hilly terrains.

A Request for Information (RFI), published by the Army on 29 April, stated field regiments of the Army will be equipped with the new mounted gun systems for “shoot and scoot” capabilities for operations in mountains. The information has been sought from Indian vendors.

The RFI has stated that the gun systems should be able to fire all in-service ammunition during trials, have an inertial navigation system based sight system with capability to provide orientation and fixation to the gun system and the capability to engage targets by direct firing during day and night, while also having a built-in test facility to identify faults and support repairs of the equipment.

The RFI has also sought details from the vendors on the status of development, whether the components of the equipment will be sourced indigenously, the communication system to be used for inter-communication within the gun crew and the maintenance philosophy of the equipment, aside from details about its mobility parameters such as its fuel, emission norms and speed among others.

The latest RFI indicates efforts towards the Army’s artillery modernisation plans which have gained pace in the past few years. Last year, a separate RFI for 155mm mounted gun systems (for medium regiments) was published.

Among prominent Indian firms, Bharat Forge had launched the indigenous Multi-terrain Artillery Gun (MArG) 155 – BR last year during multinational military exercise of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) countries. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had launched the multi-terrain artillery gun in presence of Army Chief General M M Naravane.

As per a senior Army officer, the advantages of a mounted gun system over a towed gun system are several.

The officer explained that in a towed gun system, the gun has to be towed by the vehicle, increasing the combined length of the vehicle and the gun, while in a mounted gun system, the barrel element is mounted on a body of the vehicle instead, leading to a lesser combined length.

“Roads in the mountains are narrow and the bends are sharp. With the combined length of the vehicle and the gun being towed, the turning radius in mountains becomes low and mobility becomes a challenge,” the officer said.

“But in a mounted gun system, the barrel is mounted atop a vehicle. This reduces the combined length, thus increasing the mobility of the vehicle in difficult mountainous terrains. The reduced size also makes it look like any other vehicle and makes it difficult to detect,” the officer explained.

During firing, the gun in a mounted gun system slides down and gets anchored on ground and is pulled up later.

While as part of its artillery modernisation programme, plans to procure medium guns are underway, sources said field guns are lighter and convenient for deployment in high-altitude areas.

“In medium guns, the barrel is longer and thus the vehicle on which it would be mounted is also bigger. Field guns are lighter and the vehicle carrying it would thus be smaller in size, facilitating increased mobility on difficult terrains,” the officer quoted above explained.

Towed howitzers such as the indigenously made 105 mm Indian Field Gun and the L118 gun are among the artillery field guns in use with the Army.

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He was delivering an online lecture on “Accelerating Defence R&D for Atmanirbhar Bharat” as part of Administrative Staff College of India’s public lecture series. Speaking on the occasion, he said India was set to join the ranks of key countries in the world in the coming years in defense products manufacturing and exports.
Already, steps have been taken in this direction. Over the past few decades, research has shown that India has achieved self-sufficiency in the manufacture of missiles, radars, aircraft, army vehicles, and communication systems, he said. Similarly, India was among the top countries in the world to have ballistic missile defense systems. After United States, Russia and China, India has emerged as the country equipped with the system of direct demolition of satellites.

“Gradually, we are moving from importing to exporting defense products. It is our endeavor to develop all the systems to be equipped with AI technology,” said Satheesh Reddy, revealing that the BrahMos updated system was successfully launched again on 20 January.

Lot of activity was being taken up in the cyberspace solutions. One cannot be ignorant of this space and to ensure secured solutions, lot of things, including hardware, software and operating systems are being developed, he said. “Similarly, we are encouraging private companies to manufacture defense products. DCPP (Development from Production – Partner) policy was brought,” Sateesh Reddy said, adding already a few missile and bomb manufacturing projects have been sanctioned to some private companies in Hyderabad.

This apart, nearly two thousand companies were currently in the manufacturing of defense products across the country.

He said as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s instructions, five specialised laboratories were set up at five locations, including Hyderabad, to encourage young scientists under the age of 35 to further promote research in the defense sector. ASCI Chairman Padmanabhayya said that only one per cent of GDP was spent on research. He said the DRDO had a crucial role to play in strengthening the national defense system.

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The gun has an all electric drive to ensure reliability and minimum maintenance over a long period of time. It has advanced features like high mobility, quick deployability, auxiliary power mode, advanced communication system, automatic command and control system with night capability in direct fire mode. The gun is almost equal in weight to guns in the same category and is designed to provide better accuracy and range. It is capable of firing five successive rounds in short duration. It is compatible with C4I systems like Artillery Combat Command and Control System (ACCCS) called Shakti for technical fire control, fire planning, deployment management, operational logistics management of the Indian Army.

The development of the complex system has been carried out in a very short time of four years. ATAGS was first publicly showcased at the Republic Day parade on 26 January 2017. In August 2018, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved the procurement of 150 ATAGS with an estimated cost of ?3,364.78 crore, however, no order has yet been placed.

Trials

DRDO achieved technological breakthrough by successfully conducting maiden dynamic firing trials of two fully integrated ATAGS. The trials conducted at Proof and Experimental Establishment (PXE), Chandipur, from 13-20 December 2016, successfully met the mission objectives.

During trials, ATAGS broke the world record for 155 mm gun by firing the round to a maximum distance of 48.074 kilometres with Extended Range Full Bore-Base Bleed (ERFB-BB) ammunition, surpassing the maximum ranges fired by any artillery gun system in this category.

Labs Involved

ARDE, Pune is the nodal lab, which carried out the development work of ATAGS. Sister DRDO labs – Instruments Research and Development Establishment (IRDE), Dehradun; Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (VRDE), Ahmednagar; Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR), Bengaluru; Defence Electronics Application Laboratory (DEAL), Dehradun and PXE – chipped in with solutions in specific areas. The in house development has led to headway in the advanced technologies, which include higher pressure, higher chamber volume gun barrel, breech mechanism, compact recoil system and an efficient muzzle brake. A very robust yet compact structure, high power compact auxiliary power unit (APU) for achieving higher mobility during cross-country, walking-beam suspension for negotiating highly undulating terrains, SDR-based advanced communication, simultaneous voice and data communication, fire control computer, compact thermal imaging (TI) sight and surveillance system are some of the advanced features of the gun system.

The ATAGS is configured with all electric drives to ensure maintenance free and reliable field operations. The automation ensures five Multiple Rounds Simultaneous Impact (MRSI), automatic shell loading and ramming, higher rate of fire, and fast coming into/out of action in the day/night war scenario. It is equipped with Integrated Fire Control system consisting of INS-based Automatic Gun Alignment and Positioning System (AGAPS), Muzzle Velocity Radar (MVR) and Ballistic Computer to carry out online computations. The system comprises a Tactical Computer (TC) that commands and controls a battery of six to eight guns over radio and line and has been configured to be integrated as per ACCCS Shakti network protocol of the Artillery regiment.

Many Firsts

There are many firsts in the design, development and manufacturing of ATAGS. The designers, ie, DRDO went straight for the large calibre length of 52 calibre, much more than the Bofors 155mm/39 calibre. It meant a longer barrel, which had to sustain higher chamber pressure and larger chamber capacity for the first time in an artillery gun.

The ATAGS has enhanced accuracy and consistency. It has proven platform stability in trials. Laying accuracy with servo-based drives has been excellent. The inertial navigation system provides accurate positioning and pointing characteristics. Muzzle Velocity Radar and sensors provide data on barrel wear, temperature online. Real time met data update is available. The fire control computer provides digital fire control computation.

ATAGS provides enhanced performance through INS-based Automatic Gun Alignment and Positioning System, sighting system and superior barrel parameters and safety features.

ATAGS has remarkable deployability and survivability for its class. New materials and recoil management methods have resulted in a lighter gun. High-powered FAT provides higher tactical mobility. Agility is enhanced by a high-power APU, which also enhances shoot-and-scoot capability. Its compactness, backpack system and shape optimisation has given it strategic mobility. Passive protection from countermeasures has been built in.

ATAGS incorporates many of the latest trends. In automation a number of mechanisms – elevation & traverse, ramming, primer feeding, loading tray and breech operating –  along with a unique ammunition table, have all used innovative techniques. This is the only gun with servo-based all electric drives for all upper mechanisms.

To reduce weight and make the gun lighter, the recoil system was optimised during all stages of development – design, manufacturing, firing and post-firing. During the design stage, static and dynamic finite element analysis was done. During manufacturing stage, some components were manufactured with casting, investment casting and near net-shape forging and by using optimised welded joints.

During the firing stage, the design was optimised based on strain gauging and ‘g’ levels measurements. In the post-firing stage, material thickness was reduced at lower stress levels, Titanium alloys were used where possible and fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) was used for non-load bearing components.

During all stages, modularity, maintainability and affordability was kept central to the design. A fine balance was achieved in trade-offs between

•             Longer range and deployability.
•             Lethal effect vs precision attack.
•             Automation vs simplicity.
•             Autonomy vs Manual operation.

In all these decisions on trends the overriding factor was the requirement to have indigenous content and have a gun which is fully a “Make in India’ product.

ATAGS – Salient Features

Range   BT>35km. BB>45km
Accuracy & Consistency – 0.6% in Range,
                0.2% in Line
Rate of Fire         Burst of 5rds per min
Direct Fire           2km
Gun Laying          ILNS in loop
Communication       SDR, VDCU, DIS
Automation        All electric
Compactness     Back Pack
Self-propelled mobility  >18km/hr
Technologies incorporated in ATAGS
* All electric drive based Servo-control
* Inertial land navigation system
* Online muzzle velocity update for FCS
* SDR based communications
* Non-moving optics based TI sight
* Autofrettaged gun barrel
* Hydro-pneumatic recoil system
* Hydrostatic transmission for self-prop
* Uses all indigenous ammunition

===============

Artillery Guns From Kalyani Group

Kalyani Group has gone for development of new guns without waiting for MoD orders. After the army launched a programme to procure 145 ultralight howitzers from the international market – a $700 million contract that BAE Systems eventually won with its M777 gun system – the Kalyani Group has unilaterally designed and built two different ultralight howitzers, which it intends to offer the army under the “Make-2” category.” Under this procurement category, companies can offer the MoD defence products they have developed at their own cost.

Of these ultralight howitzers, one is a 155 mm, 39-calibre titanium gun that weighs a mere 4.8 tonnes. Kalyani Group has dubbed it Mountain Artillery Gun – Titanium (MArG-T). Its range matches the BAE Systems M777 gun, with conventional ammunition fired to a range of 25 km. The other gun is a larger, cheaper, all-steel 155 mm, 52 calibre gun that weighs 7.8 tonnes and fires conventional ammunition to a range of 30 km.

Both these guns are truly indigenous, having been designed by Kalyani Goup’s R&D centre in Pune. While Bharat Forge’s metal working skills are acknowledged worldwide, their Pune R&D centre develops the command and control systems, central computers and automation that goes into gun systems.

In December 2018, with the Sino-Indian border roiled by the recent Doklam confrontation, then army chief, General Bipin Rawat, visited Kalyani Group and asked whether they could build a truck-mounted 155 mm, 39 calibre gun that could move around on the narrow roads of northern Sikkim. The gun that Kalyani group developed in response is on display at Defexpo. Based on a 4×4 vehicle produced by Bharat Earth Movers Ltd, the so-called “Go Anywhere Vehicle” offers unparalleled mobility.

The Kalyani Group has a growing relationship with BAE Systems and purchased the British company’s barrel production unit located in the UK. This facility has been physically relocated from the UK to Pune. For any future artillery orders BAE Systems gets from the international market – including a possible follow-on order from India for more M777 ultralight howitzers – it is likely to source barrels from the Kalyani Group.

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Adrift for two decades, India’s artillery modernisation plan appears finally falling into place. In 2018, the Indian Army started inducting the M777A2 ultra-light howitzers and the K-9 Vajra tracked self-propelled guns. Both these guns are in the 155 mm/52 calibre class and the Indian Army’s first new artillery inductions since the infamous Bofors deal in 1986.

The Dhanush, an upgrade of the Bofors FH-77B by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), too has provided some cheer. The Army is buying 145 M777s, 100 K-9 Vajras, and has committed an order for 114 Dhanush guns after receiving the first six.

Lesson from Our Military History

In the 1965 war with Pakistan, India had a total of 628 artillery pieces against Pakistan’s 552 tubes. This small numerical advantage was largely neutralised by the fact that a fair amount of Indian artillery was deployed against China. This left Pakistan with a slight overall edge. The major edge that Pakistan had in firepower, however, was caused by the generous American allocation of medium and heavy artillery guns and howitzers. Thus, Pakistan had a total of 174x155mm and 155mm guns/8 inch howitzers to India’s 112 medium and heavy guns (5.5 inch howitzers and one regiment of 7.2 inch howitzers). Of these 112, some 30-40 per cent were deployed against China. As such, Pakistan had a marked preponderance of artillery – especially medium and heavy artillery. This had a major impact on the outcome of the various battles in the 1965 War – especially in the Chhamb, Sialkot and Lahore sectors. Let us analyse this in detail.

Chhamb Sector. Pakistan’s 7th Infantry Division that launched the offensive on Chhamb was allocated two regiments of Patton tanks and the 4 Corps Artillery Brigade, which had three medium regiments, one field regiment and a heavy battery each of 155mm guns and 8 inch gun-howitzers. Pakistan’s 7 Division itself had 2×field regiments. Thus, Pakistan had 20 fire units (11 of them medium and heavy) against just four with India (a lone field regiment and a troop of mediums). The Pakistani medium guns just simply destroyed the sole Indian field regiment and blasted a path for the Pakistani tanks, which almost reached the Akhnur bridge. It was only India’s 1 Corps counter-offensive in Sialkot that forced Pakistan to pull back the formidable 4 Corps Artillery Brigade and one tank regiment out of Chhamb. This recoil forced a halt on the Pakistani advance to Akhnur.

Sialkot Sector. Pakistan’s 6th Armoured Division was located there with 6 armoured regiments. The Indian 1 Armoured Division attacked with 5 tank regiments. Pakistan threw in its tank regiments one by one and suffered heavily. Its 11 Cavalry Regiment was wiped out by our Centurions. In panic, Pakistan withdrew the 4 Corps Artillery Brigade and one regiment from Chhamb. The medium and heavy guns now stopped the Indian advance before Chawinda. In fact, the Pakistani medium guns destroyed more tanks than the Pakistani armoured regiments could. The preponderance of medium guns heavily affected the outcome of the battle. It finally stopped the Indian 1 Corps advance well short of Sialkot.

Lahore Sector. On the first day of the war itself (6 September) an Indian battalion had crossed the Ichhogil Canal. Had India’s 1st Armoured Division been allocated to this sector, as Gen Harbaksh Singh wanted, we could have encircled Lahore. Pakistan’s artillery played a major role in slowing down the Indian advance to a painful slog that just managed to lean on to the Icchogil Canal by the end of the war. Pakistan’s 1 Armoured Division counter-offensive, to get behind our two attacking corps, was trapped in the flooded fields of Asal Uttar and decimated by a combination of tanks and artillery. The value of medium guns was evident.

Indo-Pak War 1971. In the 1971 War, India had a clear edge in Artillery – especially in the East and it proved decisive. Pakistan had misused US aid given for cyclone relief to make concrete bunkers in Bangladesh. To neutralise these, additional medium artillery regiments were allocated to Eastern Command. In addition, 80 close air support (CAS) sorties per day were provided by the Indian Air Force (IAF) and these paved the way for a rapid advance in East Pakistan.

Kargil War 1999. Medium artillery once again proved to be a decisive and war-winning factor. Bofors medium guns and BM-21 Grad rocket regiments were pulled out from the Strike Corps to support our counter-attack in Kargil. 120 guns were deployed to support the attack on Tololing and proved to be the turning point. The norm set in this war was a 100 artillery tubes to support each battalion attack in the mountains. This won the war for us.

Mediumisation of the Artillery

No wonder, after the Kargil War, the Indian Army planned to rapidly rationalise the plethora of guns in its inventory and mediumize the artillery by standardising it around the 155/52mm calibre. Unfortunately, the ghost of Bofors has delayed this very vital artillery modernisation plan by over three decades. It was a disaster of monumental proportions. Only now, after a painful gap of 30 years, we have started inducting the American M-777 ultra light howitzers and the Dhanush locally made 155/45 cal medium guns along with the tracked 155/52 K- 9 Vajra of Korean origin. These have, at long last, started trickling in.

We need to standardize and rationalize the plethora of calibres and guns to the 155/52mm standard calibre. This one major step itself will give us a revolutionary overmatching capability over Pakistan in the West and serve to deter China in the North. This process was sabotaged by the Bofors scandal. This, along with the tragic draw down in our air power and squadron strength, ensured that for three decades India could not react or respond in any meaningful manner to Pakistan’s provocations and proxy war in Kashmir and its hybrid terror war all over Indian cities. We just had to patiently grin and bear it. The clear cut military modernization task for our government is, therefore, apparent and most urgent.

The Artillery Profile

Current Profile. India’s current artillery profile is a bewildering mish mash of various calibres and different artillery guns with the same calibre. Thus, India has:-

•             950 units of 130mm (M-46) Russian medium guns (some being upgraded to 155mm as the Sharang gun).

•             500 units of 122mm (Russian field guns).

•             1800 units of 105mm Indian Field Gun (IFG).

•             800 units of 105mm Indian Guns.

•             80 units of 105mm Abbot self-propelled (SP) guns.

•             110 units of 122mm Gvozdika (SP) guns.

•             410 units of 155mm FH-77 Bofors (now down to half).

•             150 units of 122mm Grad multi-barrel rocket launchers.

Proposed New Induction

The proposed new inductions are-

•             150 x 155mm K-9 Vajra SP tracked guns (of Korean origin).

•             145 x 155mm M777 Ultra Light Howitzers (ULH of US origin).

•             150 x 155/52 Advanced Artillery Towed Gun System (ATAGS) of Indian origin.

•             114 x 155/45 calibre Dhanush gun made by OFB.

This would cater for about 500-600 new guns of the 155mm calibre. The need is to induct almost some 3000 guns of the towed, truck mounted and tracked class.

Option Matrix

We need to ensure that we not only mediumise but also indigenise in a manner that gives a major boost to defense production in the private sector. The option matrix so far is:

Public Sector. The Dhanush was developed as a 155/45 cal from the design drawings of the FH-77 Bofors. This gun now developed by the Indian ordinance factories is 25-30 per cent superior in performance to the Bofors. The first six guns were handed over to the Indian Army in April 2019. It has done well in trials and has a range of 40 kms.

Private Sector. In 2013, DRDO started the development of the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS). Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE) was the lead design agency in a project ably partnered by the Bharat Forge, Tata Power and OFB. Bharat Forge’s Baba Kalyani had rendered yeoman service in this effort. Kalyani had purchased an entire Austrian 155mm gun factory and shipped it to India. With the companies inherent expertise in metallurgy it has resulted in the development of a radically advanced gun. In firing trials it touched ranges of 48kms and consistently fired beyond 47kms. It has a rate of fire of 6 rounds per minute. Compare this with the American gun of the same class, which has a range of 45 km and a rate of fire of 3 rounds per minute. Thus, India has come up with a world beater design.

Need for Sector Specific QRs. However, our military and civilian bureaucracy is far more concerned with the fine print of the GSQR. This gun, at nearly 20 tons, is said to be some 6 tons overweight. We are completely prepared to overlook the far superior performance parameters and demonstrably superior metallurgy of this gun in our obsession with the weight of this gun. How is the weight such a disqualifying factor? Most bridges in the plains and desert environment are class 70-capable of taking a 70-ton load of a tank transporter with a tank. In the mountains, our bridges can take 45-ton medium tanks. So this furore over 20 tons being a catastrophe is most uncalled for hogwash designed to somehow sabotage our Make in India project. Public sector behemoths are most uncomfortable with competition emerging from the private sector. And, if the 20-ton weight is such a major drawback, please first explain why we can always do away with the platform or try some other ways to bypass bureaucracy. In future, to avoid such bureaucratic bottlenecks, we should go for sector specific QRs. The critical factor is reliable metallurgy. We simply cannot afford to have barrels flowering on the battlefields and that is the key distinguishing parameter of the ATAGS.

Given this analysis, the obvious choice is to induct the ATAGS rapidly in much larger numbers. The defence minister, new chief of defence staff (CDS) and new Army chief must take the key command decision and circumvent the petty bureaucratic hurdles to the large scale induction of the ATAGS – an indigenous Indian gun produced in our private sector. It is the only major Indian success story of the private sector in the entire Make in India initiative. Why our bureaucracy should be so keen to kill it is mystifying.

Export Potential. India has desperately been trying to export its weapon systems to achieve economies of scale . If we wish to sell the ATAGS in the world market, the Indian Army will first have to induct it in large numbers that go beyond tokenism (a la Arjun). Let us reinforce success. Let us give due weightage to performance and reliability factors over staff quibbles. Let us launch a major drive to push this gun in the export market once our own requirements are met – that is the only way our Make in India drive will ever take off. It will generate many new jobs in India. Perfect should not become an enemy of the good.

Precision Guided Munitions. Krasnopol Russian precision Laser-guided shells were extensively used in the 1999 Kargil conflict and were useful against enemy bunkers and mortar positions. However, these had limitations. Hence, in 2019, emergency purchase was made of the M-982 American Excalibur Satellite/ GPS guided PGMs (artillery shells). These have a circular error of probability (CEP) of some 5 meters and have proved particularly effective against terror training camps and command and control targets as also counter-battery tasks. With 50 km plus ranges, these are a formidable weapons against such hybrid war targets.

Multi-barrel Rocket Launchers. India has some 150 units of Russian 122mm Grad MBRLs (range 20 kms), which have more than proved their worth in the 1971 and 1999 Kargil Wars as very effective area neutralization weapons. These are reaching obsolescence and are being replaced by the indigenous 214 mm Pinaka MBRLs, with ranges of 75 kms and plans to increase the range to 120 kms. In the time of extreme poverty of medium artillery, Pinakas were being used to replace medium guns. This is principally incorrect. We have also acquired the formidable Russian BM-30 Smerch MBRLs, which with their range of 70-90 kms and greater throw weight, can put the fear of God in any enemy.

New Mounted Gun. The Gun Carriage Factory, Jabalpur has developed a new truck-mounted gun system. Its range is 40 km. This gun can fire multiple rounds in a short duration. It was featured in Defense Expo of 2018. It is undergoing a series of tests. It will be manufactured in collaboration with the private sector.

Athos 2052 Howitzer. The Elbit-Bharat Forge bid for the Autonomous Towed Howitzer Ordnance System (ATHOS) is a long-range 155mm/52 caliber gun was found significantly lower than that of French Nexter, which offered the Trajan gun jointly with its Indian partner Larsen & Toubro. Elbit-Bharat Forge are said to have pulled their price below even that of the Dhanush 155 mm/42 calibre. While the requirement is for 1,580 towed guns, reports have suggested the possibility of the order being pruned to 400 imported guns.

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