Indian Army Artillery

Prashant12

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Over an hour ago the user exploitation trials of Dhanush the indigenous howitzer made in lines of Bofors guns were completed.



So far the Dhanush guns has fired 4000 rounds in trials conducted over the years. Earier trials were marred by incidents like barrel burst and muzzle hit, These were due to fauly ammunution and not gun said sources.


 

Prashant12

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Dhanush artillery gun clears final test, ready for induction: Official


India's first indigenous, long-range artillery gun "Dhanush" has passed its final test at Pokhran, paving the way for its induction into the Army, a senior official said today.

Between June 2-6, fifty rounds of shells each were fired from six Dhanush guns, Gun Carriage Factory (GCF) Senior General Manager SK Singh told reporters here today.

Dhanush is a 155mm x 45mm calibre artillery gun and is also called the "desi Bofors".

"Six guns in battery formation (at one go and at one target) successfully fired 101 rounds on June 7," Singh informed.

He said that the GCF got the Dhanush project in October 2011 and the first prototype was made in 2014. Later, 11 more prototypes were made from which 4,200 rounds were fired.

The gun has passed tests under severe cold conditions in Sikkim and Leh and in hot and humid weather in Balasore, Odisha, Babina in Jhansi and in the desert of Pokhran in Rajasthan, Singh said.

He said that during the trial in Pokhran a year ago, the muzzle and barrel of the howitzerexploded two times.

A probe by different Ministry of Defence departments into the two incidents, however, did not find any fault with the gun, Singh said, adding that Dhanush is among the finest artillery guns in terms of accuracy.

It has a strike range of 38 kilometres and 81 per cent of its components are indigenously sourced, the official said.

This, he said, would be scaled up to 90 per cent by 2019.

Singh said that 12 guns would be supplied to the Army in the current fiscal while the total number for the initial phase is 114 guns.

He said that, under an agreement to be inked soon, a total of 414 Dhanush guns would be supplied to the Army.

Manufactured by the Jabalpur-based Gun Carriage Factory (GCF), each of the 155-mm gun costs about Rs 14.50 crore while each shell costs Rs one lakh, a former top official of the factory said.

Besides features like electronic gun-laying and sighting systems, the indigenous gun's hitting range was 11 km more than the imported Bofors guns, he added.

"The Dhanush project has received support and active cooperation from other ordinance factories and PSUs such as SAIL, BEL, and many private sector companies. Their support has made the project a huge success," he said.

The gun has been developed by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), Kolkata, after going through design documents running into over 12,000 pages.

These documents were given to India as part of the first phase of "Transfer of Technology" (ToT) under the Bofors gun deal inked in the late 1980s, he added.

The Swedish Bofors company (now owned by Britain's BAE System) could not complete the ToT for the 155mm x 39mm calibre howitzer as the deal got embroiled in a major political row over alleged kickbacks.

Subsequently, the OFB struggled for long to produce the howitzer indigenously, he said.

This was despite the fact that it had manufactured and supplied several components and spares to keep the Bofors howitzers operational in India, especially during the Kargil War.

"The Army had been desperately looking for 155mm howitzers for more than three decades. It had roped in an Israeli company, Soltam, to upgrade the imported, Russian-made 130mm gun to 155mm at GCF. But the project, after the upgraded gun's trial, ran into issues of alleged kickbacks," the former official claimed.

Six years ago, the Defence Acquisition Council had decided to look for artillery guns within the country and asked OFB to start manufacturing howitzers.

Towards that end, former Defence Minister A K Antony inaugurated a 155-mm gun manufacturing facility at GCF on September 22, 2012.

According to defence experts, the Army needs a huge number of howitzers of different types, and Indian firms, some in partnership with foreign manufacturers, are in the race to fulfil the demand.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...r-induction-official/articleshow/64511167.cms
 

Kalki_2018

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Great. Now order 400-500 to replace the 39 cal Bofors and get started on the 52 cal ATAGS.
 

Abhi9

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Inferiorty complex and commission mafia . Quickly buying foriegn maal gives generals and babus a retirement gift and offcourse the inherent inferiorty complex is there as all desi maal is rubbish. Ofcourse we are taught this way while we end our glorious ceremony under chetewood hall. Therby we are still celebrating our oppresors , let us sip on our tea and whiskey like gentlemen. Foriegn maal is battle tested like k9, has seen no war. Jolly me mate
 

Abhi9

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Better thy brochure and presentation video and of course to sweeten the deal after presentation talk about kickbacks commision, i thee general and this clumsy babu garantee super fast induction of your non proven product in britsh royal indian oops i meant indian army
 

darshan978

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Later, 11 more prototypes were made from which 4,200rounds were fired

Lol itna test k-9 thunder ka kyun nahi Kiya

BC army ne partiality ki had Kar di
LEAVE K9 ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT M777 OUR TAXPAYERS PRECIOUS MONEY IS BEING WASTED ON SHITTY GUNS WITHOUT PROPER TRIALS
 

Hari Sud

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The nay sayers will never be satisfied. They probably are searching for any avenue to be critical of this long range artillery piece.

The remaining older BOFOR guns can now be retired or kept standby, although artillery guns never retired. From time to time these are upgraded and back to service again.

Anybody knows, how many 155mm long range guns Pakistan has? I am not asking about China, they cannot lug up 12 ton beast of a gun up and down the Himalayan mountains. Yes they can parade them in the four lane highways of Tibetan pleateau. It is crossing the mountain passes which is harder. Hence long range artillery is key offensive weapon against the Chinese.

Now again how many self propelled 155mm guns Pakistan has? I am aware that Pakistanis had old 1962 vintage M109 Paladins which US was delighted to upgrade for Pakistan during good old days in 2008. They got about 120 of them.

India has no self propelled 155mm artillery guns whether tracked or wheeled. The Army is eagerly awaiting the ATAGs. How soon, a sufficient number will be delivered.

As regards the M777 from US. Have we got over the bursting of barrel issues. It was definitely Indian ordinance factory made third rate ammunition. Is the testing progressing? These guns in hands, it can blow big holes in Chinese defence and offence lines in the Himalayas.

Cheers.....
 

mayfair

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Neither tested nor ordered..

No movement on that front either courtesy desi babus.
 

Zer0

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100 K9 have been ordered and deliveries have begun.

The wheeled SPH tender seems to be going nowhere though.
That tender is shelved, DRDO or OFB maybe developing one though nothing on paper yet. DRDO newsletter though did mentioned it as an option being derived from ATAGS. While Dhanush 52 cal MSG is on trials.
 

cannonfodder

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are we ordering dhanush units or this will be followed up with usual randi-rona of additional improvements, further testing cycles and so on? For goodness sake have some mercy on the civilians.
 

sthf

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Now again how many self propelled 155mm guns Pakistan has?
Around 150 M109. Most of them are A2 variants upgraded to A5. Fairly decent gun in its day, outdated today. PA's SH-1 acquisiton was a hoax as far as I can tell. Same goes for the Turkish Panter. I am having trouble finding reliable sources and so far I haven't found a single picture that can corroborate.

If you are comparing IA & PA, you need to keep in mind IA's procurement woes stems from red-tape, PA's from being broke. In the past 4 years, ever since Saint Antony left the office, procurement has been speeded up. Much of the procurement including artillery is stuck because of Make in India. Also, as far I know PA doesn't have a comprehensive modernisation plan like IA's FARP. So, PA will be using it's salad bowl of arty guns for a long time, many of whom are older than Bofors.
 

sthf

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100 K9 have been ordered and deliveries have begun.

The wheeled SPH tender seems to be going nowhere though.
Wheeled SPH tender has been cancelled indefinitely. From what I gathered, it'll be merged with either the mounted gun requirment or ongoing the tracked SPG procurement.

It was an asinine proposition from day one. Wheeled guns do not bring anything new to the table.
 

mayfair

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I wonder why K9 order was capped at 100. Does our ORBAT ascribe only a limited role for these systems- mostly in the deserts of Rajasthan/Gujarat?
 

Enquirer

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I wonder why K9 order was capped at 100. Does our ORBAT ascribe only a limited role for these systems- mostly in the deserts of Rajasthan/Gujarat?
These will be part of the strike corps - which are limited in numbers.
The other guns (towed/mounted/wheeled) that are in larger quantities will not be in the frontlines.
 

Zer0

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Around 150 M109. Most of them are A2 variants upgraded to A5. Fairly decent gun in its day, outdated today. PA's SH-1 acquisiton was a hoax as far as I can tell. Same goes for the Turkish Panter. I am having trouble finding reliable sources and so far I haven't found a single picture that can corroborate.
Panter is a hoax they got only 3 for trials no orders after that as far i know. Still pak has decent amount of 155mm guns: 150 M198, 150 M109A2, 115 M109A5 , 65 M109L(Italy will deliver more), also 203mm 60 M110 SPH.


I wonder why K9 order was capped at 100. Does our ORBAT ascribe only a limited role for these systems- mostly in the deserts of Rajasthan/Gujarat?
Yes, SPH is mainly for shoot-and-scoot tactics for long range targets.
 
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HariPrasad-1

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Can't we build on the Bhim to develop into a good arty system? Many components will be similar. We know how to make guns as proved in Arjun. Wonder why we have not moved in thst direction.
May be mounting problem. I discussed with one of my friend engaged in production of Korean K9 gun at L & T. They faces some welding issues and some robots used in manufacturing are not working well.
We can do that but we have to invest few years in research and development.
 

Prashant12

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Army may launch summer trials for towed guns

HYDERABAD: The Army, which has been looking for an Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS), is likely to take a decision soon on whether to conduct summer trials on the ATAGS offered by the Kalyani group, sources close to the development said Thursday.
The Pune-based Kalyani group, whose flagship is Bharat Forge, had developed the ATAGS in association with the Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE), which is a part of the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO).

According to the sources, the Army had completed the “winter trials” on the ATAGS earlier this year.

“The army prefers to conduct both winter and summer trials on new weapons systems, to ensure that they function as per the army’s specifications. The summer trials are likely to be held in Rajasthan,” the source said.

Apart from Bharat Forge, the DRDO also has a partnership with Tata Power (Strategic Engineering Division).

“The tests have to be sought by the client, the Indian Army, or by the DRDO. The Indian Army will place orders only after the ATAGS pass the trials. The biggest challenge for the ATAGS is the stability and consistency of the gun barrels and breeches, which require precision engineering and the ability to fire consistently without melting or the barrel bending out of shape because of the heat generated in the barrel,” the sources said. More importantly, the sources, another area that was intensively scrutinized by the army, through tests, was the recoil of the ATAGS.

Besides the ATAGS, the Indian Army was also looking to buy another gun called the Bharat 52, a 155mm, 52-calibre gun similar to the ATAGS. The army had tested the Bharat 52 in Itarsi, Madhya Pradesh.

The Indian Army has been scouting for an ATAGS because the last major supplier of towed guns had been Bofors, back in 1986, when India purchased 410 guns from the Swedish arms supplier. The purchase later turned controversial with claims that Bofors had paid bribes to senior government figures to win the contract. The Bofors contract cost former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi a second term in 1989.

If the trials are successful, the government is likely tin instruct the Indian Army to procure up to 40 ATAGS to begin with. The procurement of the ATAGS is expected to cost the government well over Rs. 900 crore.

“ATAGS are a critical component of the Indian Army, which has not procured any new towed guns in over 32 years. I think the two Indian companies, Bharat Forge and the Tata group company, will probably be the first recipients of the contract for the purchase of ATAGS,” the sources said.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...rials-for-towed-guns/articleshow/64591932.cms
 
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