Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 18

Thirty-one years after the Bofors artillery guns were ordered from Sweden and the resultant bribery scandal, the first addition to the Indian artillery happened today, breaking what is often termed as the ‘Bofors jinx’.The first two pieces of the Ultra Light Howitzer (ULH) M-777, arrived at the New Delhi airport on board a special aircraft. These are a part of the 145 guns on order from BAE Systems at a cost of $ 737 million. These are set to be formally handed over to the Army in the next 2-3 weeks. The Army wants to start firing the guns immediately in the peak summer at Pokhran, Rajasthan.The Army said as per the contract, the first two guns would be used to create what are known as the ‘firing tables’. “The induction will commence from March 2019 onwards at the rate of five guns per month till the complete consignment is received by mid-2021,” its spokesperson said. The two guns have been shipped in parts that need to be assembled at the Mahindra facility here. BAE will supply the first 25 guns in a ready-to-use condition.Made of titanium, each gun weighs 4,000 kg, making it transportable with ease by CH-47 Chinook helicopters, C-17 Globemaster and C-130 Hercules aircraft or on trucks to provide increased mobility in the mountains.India hasn’t ordered any new 155 mm artillery guns after March 1986 when 410 pieces of the Swedish company Bofors’ FH-77B 155mm/39 calibre Howitzer were purchased for approximately Rs 1,437 crore.The Army’s Field Artillery Rationalisation Plan, drawn in 1999, aimed to acquire 2,800-3,000 artillery guns of various types. The projection included 814 truck-mounted guns, 1,580 towed guns, 100 tracked self-propelled guns, 180 wheeled self-propelled guns and 145 ultra-light Howitzers.Besides the ULH, there has been progress on three separate artillery projects. The Rs 4,500 crore contract for 100 pieces of the self-propelled tracked gun Vajra K-9-T was signed last week. This will be a joint venture between Larsen and Toubro and Samsung Korea.The other order is for 114 pieces of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) gun, the Dhanush, a variation of the Bofors design. This is presently being field tested.In November 2014, the MoD okayed the proposal to acquire 814 truck-mounted 155mm/52 calibre artillery guns for Rs 15,750 crore. International companies have been invited for this.The DRDO is also developing a 155 mm / 52 calibre gun and has named it the Advance Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS). It promises to be a light-weight long-range automated gun. With private participation, The DRDO aims to produce it by 2019 after six years of development and testing.