Indian Army Artillery

Army, MoD lock horns over ban on Singapore Technologies

Ajai Shukla / New Delhi January 22, 2010, 0:10 IST

Firm invites CBI for a comprehensive audit, no official response

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) faces accusations of serious contradictions in the apparently ill-considered ban it had imposed last June on arms vendor Singapore Technologies Kinetic (STK). The ban was slapped on seven companies after the May 19, 2009 arrest of former Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) chairman, Sudipta Ghosh, on charges of corruption.

The ban on STK is all but collapsing. Next month, STK’s 155-mm towed gun will take part in firing trials — cleared by the MoD - for selecting a new-generation artillery piece for the Indian Army. STK’s Lightweight Assault Rifle will also begin army trials in February. Inexplicably, though, the ban remains on STK’s 155-mm Pegasus ultralight howitzer, which the army wants urgently for India’s mountain divisions.

The Pegasus trials remain blocked despite efforts of the army chief, General Deepak Kapoor — himself an artilleryman — who requested the MoD for trials to continue alongside the Central Bureau of Investigation’s investigations, to save time (reported in Business Standard on July 18, 2009). Rejecting that request, the MoD approached Washington to allow India to buy the American BAE Systems’ M777 ultralight howitzer.

The army, however, wants the option open on both, not a single-vendor situation in which the US-based company can dictate its price. Despite the MoD ban, the army chief has publicly declared that the STK howitzer remains an option.

On January 14, 2009, General Kapoor told the press, “We have one gun (the Pegasus) waiting for trials and, at the same time, we have approached a foreign country (the US) for purchasing an ultralight howitzer directly. We will follow both routes. The moment one of them is successful, we will go ahead with that purchase.”

But, MoD sources say they are not rethinking the ban on the Pegasus. They say the CBI has solid proof that STK paid money into Ghosh’s bank account in Singapore. Asked why the CBI has failed to file charges against Ghosh, who was freed on bail last July, they have no answers.

Now, STK has also, for the first time, publicly protested the ban. Last week, STK’s CEO, Brigadier-General Patrick Choy, revealed to the press in New Delhi that he had travelled to India last year to assist the CBI in its investigations into Ghosh’s alleged corruption. Choy said he had invited the CBI team to Singapore for a full audit of STK, promising that he would fully open the company’s books to investigators. The CBI has not, so far, responded.

STK first encountered the unpredictability of the Indian defence market when it flew a Pegasus howitzer into India for trials last year, in response to an MoD request. On June 5, 2009, just as the Pegasus reached the Pokhran Field Firing Ranges in Rajasthan, a media statement from the MoD spokesperson announced that STK had been banned. To this day, the MoD has not officially intimated STK about any ban.

After remaining stranded by the roadside in Pokhran for several days, the Pegasus was moved to Gwalior, where it remains housed in an army unit.

The Indian Army’s artillery modernisation plan has remained stalled, for various reasons, for over two decades; the ultralight howitzer is only the latest procurement fiasco. The army’s 180 artillery gun regiments — each having 18 guns — have not received any new weaponry since the Bofors gun was bought in the late 1980s.

This is ridiculous attitude of MOD, they are not thinking about danger of not having decEnt artillery in case of war.

ST Kinetics Plans to Build Land Systems in India | India Defence Online

http://www.dsca.mil/PressReleases/36...ndia_09-79.pdf
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress Jan. 22 of a possible Foreign Military Sale to India of 145 M777 155mm Light-Weight Towed Howitzers with Laser Inertial Artillery Pointing Systems (LINAPS) and associated parts, equipment, training and logistical support for a complete package worth approximately $647 million.

More info on the LINAPS system.

http://www.selex-sas.com/EN/Common/f...linaps_dsh.pdf

US okays howitzers worth $647 million for India

BY : TNN

Asserting that its sale to India will “improve interoperability with US Soldiers and Marines,” the US defense agency tasked with transfer of military hardware and promoting military-to-military ties has notified the US Congress of the Obama administration’s intention to sell 145 M777 Howitzers to India in a deal worth $ 647 million.

The mandatory notification follows a request from India for the light-weight towed Howitzer with Laser Inertial Artillery Pointing Systems (LINAPS), the first major artillery purchase by New Delhi after the star-crossed Bofors deal going back to the 1980s.

The $647 million deal will include warranty, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, publications and technical documentation, maintenance, personnel training and training equipment, US government and contractor representatives’ technical assistance, engineering and logistics support services, and other related elements of logistics support, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in its January 22 notification.

“This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to strengthen the US-India strategic relationship and to improve the security of an important partner which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in South Asia,” DSCA said.

The Agency said the howitzers will assist the Indian Army to develop and enhance standardization and surprisingly asserted it will also “improve interoperability with US Soldiers and Marines who use the M777 as their primary means of indirect fire.” India will have no difficulty absorbing these weapons into its armed forces, it added.

In its standard caveat, the Agency also assured the Congress that the “proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region,” and “there will be no adverse impact on US defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale.”

The M777 purchase, seen in some quarters as a political decision favoring US, was not without the usual controversy that has come to dog almost every major defense acquisition in India.

The gun trailed the front-runner, the Pegasus lightweight howitzer developed jointly by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) and Singapore Technology Kinetics, for several months, But Pegasus was knocked out of the race following reports of corruption and bribery that necessitated a CBI investigation.

While that inquiry is continuing, the government decided to go in for the US artillery given the Army’s urgent requirement.

The M777 howitzer was originally developed by the British Vickers group, but is now produced by BAE Systems Land Systems in the US. It has largely replaced the M198 howitzer 155mm towed howitzers in the US Marine Corps and US Army and has seen action since March 2008 in Afghanistan. US allies Canada and Australia are the only two countries the US has sold the guns to.

http://idrw.org/?p=287

This is ridiculous,4 million a howitizer and when you dont even know about future sanctions.

US buys this howitzer for its own army at a price of under 2 million per gun....arnt we paying a bit too much...but perhaps additional costs may be for spares and maintanenance...still i think too costly....anyway buying something after so many years is better than nothing....i hope they negotiate harder on the price next time....

At-least read the whole article before commenting on the price, that is a very big tender that includes much more than the gun itself.

Here is Corrupt Indian Mod are active, with their American Hands, Everyone knows that American are so munch infuencial by giving thier Arms, But Our corrupt and very bad (boys) babus of Mod favours US over singapore stk
Ultimetly Solider fought the war and not the babus
Anyone please send these babu to Siyachin, Rajasthan, or eastern boundries
I am shame on this peoples. They are going to sold thier Mother India

same thing happenned with the P8-I they cost 120-200 million a piece while the pakistan orion p-3 cost 36 million a piece to do the same thing, someone is over paying or getting rich in the Indian government ,probably the latter.

LIKE I KEEP SAYING THE AMERICANS ARE COMING LIKE IT OR NOT

The article does say that the deal includes spares for the maintenance of the guns and training support as well, hoever even after including all that the pricing still looks a bit too high; what was the unit price of the ST pegasus?

$650m US howitzer deal may give Army welcome firepower

Chidanand Rajghatta & Rajat Pandit, TNN, 29 January 2010, 03:51am IST

WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI: India has now moved closer to buying 145 ultra-light howitzers, which can be swiftly deployed in forward and inaccessible areas by helicopters and aircraft, from the US in a direct government-to-government deal worth $647 million.

The American Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has now notified the US Congress of the Obama administration's intention to sell 145 M777 howitzers to India, surprisingly asserting that the sale will boost `interoperability' between Indian and American soldiers and marines.

The mandatory notification follows a request from India for the light-weight towed howitzers, with laser inertial artillery pointing systems and other equipment, which could well be the first 155mm artillery gun purchase by New Delhi after the star-crossed Swedish Bofors deal going back to the 1980s.

Sources say the procurement of the air-mobile howitzers is in tune with the Indian Army's `cold start' war doctrine, which revolves around the strategy to mobilise fast and strike hard as well as strengthen `threatened sectors' in a hurry.

The all-weather howitzers, with a 25-30 km range, will also come in handy for supporting Para-Special Force battalions while they operate behind enemy lines and in `out-of-area contingencies'.

Moreover, the two new mountain divisions being raised primarily for the eastern front with China, with around 15,000 soldiers each, are also to be equipped with these ultra-light howitzers manufactured by BAE Systems.

The DSCA, on its part, said, "India intends to use the howitzers to modernise its armed forces and enhance its ability to operate in hazardous conditions.''

The proposed sale, without altering the basic military balance in the region, will `contribute' to US foreign policy and national security "by helping to strengthen the US-India strategic relationship''.

"It will also improve the security of an important partner which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in South Asia,'' added DSCA.

The potential M777 purchase, seen in some quarters as a political decision to favour the US once again, has not been without the usual controversy that has come to dog almost every major defence acquisition in India.

Indian Army's long-delayed Rs 20,000 crore artillery modernisation programme is yet to kick-off, with the acquisition of different types of 155mm guns still stuck in different stages due to scandals.

The only ultra-light howitzer to make it to the trial stage in India, the Pegasus gun of Singapore Technology Kinetics (STK), has been virtually knocked out of the race.

The Pegasus trials, which were scheduled to begin at Gwalior from June 22, were put on hold after STK's name surfaced in connection with the corruption scandal against former Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) chairman Sudipto Ghosh.

While the CBI investigation into the case is in progress, the government has fast-tracked the `parallel track' of acquiring the M777 from the US under its foreign military sale (FMS) programme.

The M777 howitzer was originally developed by the British Vickers group, but is now produced by BAE Land Systems in US. It has largely replaced the M198 howitzer 155mm towed howitzers in the US Marine Corps and Army, and has seen action both in Afghanistan and Iraq.

US, of course, is now increasingly cornering a major chunk of the lucrative Indian arms market, having already bagged the $2.1 billion contract for eight Boeing P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft and the $962 million deal for six C-130J Super Hercules planes.

The stage is now also set for what will be the largest-ever Indo-US defence, with New Delhi formally approaching Washington for another FMS deal to acquire 10 C-17 Globemaster-III giant strategic airlift aircraft, each of which comes for over a whopping $220 million, as reported by TOI earlier.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/i...ow/5510388.cms

Trials of Towed Howitzer to start soon
According to Singapore Technologies sources the Bofors FH77B05 iFH 2000 face off near Kargil for the high altitude winter trails from february27.The summer trials will be held in the Rajasthan desert,probably in June

http://www.telegraphindia.com/110020...y_12076788.jsp