Army is trying to push in Athos. Somebody has to sponsor a general's brat's "studies" in an ivy league college. No matter how refined the ATAGS become in it's evolutionary iterations, Army will keep stalling until it gets it's quota of Athos. GoI needs to just straight up ban certain imports at this point. But through the massive gaping hole they kept open in the name of "Atmanirvar Bharat", you'll find Kalyani or Adani kit assemble the Athos here with indigenous paint and CEAT tires.
There's a weight penalty with ATAGS that the IA isn't willing to overlook in spite of the sheer range, capacity ( 25 litres) & electric / electronic drives used by ATAGS which brings us to the all important important question of the framing of SQRs presumably the pre PSQRs.
Was the IA consulted by the DRDO before freezing the preliminary requirements of the mandate or did the latter do so on its own? If the latter's the case why didn't the MoD insist on the IA being on board before sanctioning the project?
In the meanwhile for the ATAGS to reduce its weight to the IA's satisfaction, it'd need to get back to the drawing board which means another 4-5 yrs at least before it passes all weather & user trials which leaves the door wide open for ATHOS.
I suspect given the situation on the LAC & the "urgency " by GoI standards behind it, GoI will opt for the same solution as before - a via media, wherein part requirement will be fulfilled thru imports cum local production & part thru DMII . To what extent & proportion the order's divided remains to be seen .
Another aspect to be considered is our requirement of ~ 1600 nos towed artillery with limited SP capabilities. In the light of the Ukraine war, do we actually require so many towed artillery or more of the SPH - tracked & wheeled?
Once again I suspect this is being debated in the senior echelons of the IA think tank which is why we're seeing urgent trials of the MGS. By the looks of it the quantum of MGS will shoot up from the planned ~ 800 nos & the towed artillery nos will come down with the MGS scheduled to be an all India solution without any foreign participation .
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