Exclusive: Tata to unveil India's first indigenous 155 mm howitzer

[SpArK]

Exclusive: Tata to unveil India's first indigenous 155 mm Bofors-type howitzer
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The Tata group is to unveil India's first indigenously developed 155 mm howitzer in New Delhi on Monday.

The 155/52 mm howitzer is mounted on an eight-wheeled Tata truck for enhanced mobility. The gun was developed by its defence subsidiary Tata Power Strategic Electronics Division (SED) this year. The 'mounted gun system' can fire a six-round salvo on a target 40 km away in less than three minutes.
The truck-mounted howitzer will be displayed at an army seminar at the Maneckshaw centre tomorrow. The rollout comes even as the Indian Army and the Ministry of Defence have struggled to import howitzers over the past 25 years.

The Army acquired its last howitzers over 25 years ago, 410 FH-77B howitzers from AB Bofors of Sweden in 1987. Since then, the army's howitzer arsenal has been critically depleted.

Tata Power SED, the defence arm of the $ 100 billion Tata group, began work on its 'Mounted Gun Project' over two years ago. The prototype gun was rolled out of the Tata Power SED facility in Bangalore's electronic city this October. It will spearhead the group's bid for the Army's requirement for 814 mounted gun systems for Rs.8500 crore.

The Tata gun is India's first new howitzer since its purchase of Bofors guns. The subsequent bribery scandal torpedoed the acquisition of additional howitzers from Sweden.

The Bofors howitzers performed spectacularly in the Kargil conflict of 1999. The Indian Army wants to buy over 2200 such howitzers in five different categories but has been unable to do so because of other bribery scandals involving firms like Rheinmetall, Singapore Technologies Kinetics, Soltam and Denel.


Read more at: Exclusive: Tata to unveil India's first indigenous 155 mm Bofors-type howitzer : North, News - India Today

Check out our gallery on the TATA's 155 mm Howitzer

http://defenceforumindia.com/tatas-155-mm-howitzer-mounted-gun-system-1072

 

[Yusuf]

I am so bloody happy hearing this. Finally some company has taken an initiative and come up with a product regardless of any govt proposal. Not surprising to hear the name TATA.

More private company which has deep pockets should come up with products and showcase it to the armed forces.

 

[Singh]

image in the original article.

 

[Singh]

Is this the Denel T6 Condor Gun that @bengalraider talking about ?

http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/indian-army/25620-defexpo-2012-a-39.html#post458857

The said post and image posted by @bengalraider
Smart move by TATA to rebrand Denel Gun as TATA to circumvent the ban on Denel by GoI

 

[Yusuf]

Is this the Denel T6 Condor Gun that @bengalraider talking about ?

http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/indian-army/25620-defexpo-2012-a-39.html#post458857

The said post and image posted by @bengalraider
Smart move by TATA to rebrand Denel Gun as TATA to circumvent the ban on Denel by GoI

Thr report says they have been working on making that gun for 2 years. I really hope its a home grown gun/

 

[Daredevil]

These are the pics posted by Kunal of TATA's 155mm mounted gun system

 

[Singh]

Thr report says they have been working on making that gun for 2 years. I really hope its a home grown gun/

Maybe doing some "indigenization" to meet defence offset policy/benefits etc. ?

 

[Yusuf]

Maybe doing some "indigenization" to meet defence offset policy/benefits etc. ?

Question of offset does not arise as TATA is an Indian company.

 

[Singh]

Question of offset does not arise as TATA is an Indian company.

I don't know much about the lacunae in the Defense offset policy. But if this is Denel Gun, then anyone can circumvent around the policy by claiming the IP rights to the product for India, and passing it as indigenous ? :consufed:

 

[Yusuf]

I don't know much about the lacunae in the Defense offset policy. But if this is Denel Gun, then anyone can circumvent around the policy by claiming the IP rights to the product for India, and passing it as indigenous ? :consufed:

Even if that is the case, it's good enough for India. It means a private company got ToT and made the guns in India. Gives them valuable experience and they will come out better next time.

 

[Singh]

@Yusuf What's valuable in getting ToT of a 25 year old gun ?

 

[Kunal Biswas]

This gun is probably best in all 155mm guns over Globe..

Its design inherits legendary Gerald Vincent Bull inputs..

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The same Gun was on Bhim and specs will be same of Bhim in new wheeled SPGH of the Gun..

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Hires Photo :

The gun can be mounted on 8X8 and Even 6X6..

 

[Singh]

@Kunal Biswas so this is indeed Denel G6 developed by Bull.
Iirc SP G6 lost out to ARCHER based on Bofors in army trials.

 

[Kunal Biswas]

More accurate can be 155mm T6 L/52 gun, I do not know about such development..

But if indeed Archer won back then the credit goes to mech reloading system and faster rate of fire..

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But about the Gun, Its the best in design than any other..

@Kunal Biswas so this is indeed Denel G6 developed by Bull.
Iirc SP G6 lost out to ARCHER based on Bofors in army trials.

 

[Damian]

Seems to be better designed than French Ceasar... but I wouldn't want to operate it during conflict with enemy that have decent, modern artillery force... counterbattery fire can be deadly. So fully tracked and armored SPH is definetly needed.

 

[Tronic]

@Yusuf What's valuable in getting ToT of a 25 year old gun ?

25 years old technological experience is still better than having no experience at all. If we could make better guns, we woud've done so already. (Though should add, this isn't exactly a 25 years old gun. The design has evolved significantly, like all other defence products).

 

[Rage]

It's Denel's alright. They're just getting it through customs under the Tata brand name.

There's some indication there may be some tacit official confunction in this whole alliance. Having witnessed the adverse effects of banning Bofors, HDW and Denel, the Government is now moving to restore some of these connexions through subsidiary channels, so as to avoid jeopardizing the whole modernization program, without compromising on the anti-corruption frontage they've been maintaining.

Plus this has more to do with the self-propelled howitzers, rather than the Bofors towed artillery replacement program.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

I guess Denel was not really blacklisted after all? The long range will
be a great advantage in any conflict. This looks more like the G6?

http://www.army-technology.com/contractors/machine_guns/denellandsystems

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Denel is a huge organization, Only the branch attached to OFB / DRDO got banned not the arty area..