Indian Army Artillery

[Blood+]

Does anyone here know how many OFB factories produce 155mm artillery ammunition and and what might be their approximate annual production rate??

 

[SajeevJino]

India Postpones Purchase of 145 Ultra Light Howitzers​

India's Ministry of Defense has deferred a decision on the purchase of 145 ultra light howitzers from the US subsidiary of BAE Systems because of issues relating to offset obligations, said an MoD source, although the program has not been canceled.

The Defense Acquisition Council, the MoD's top decision-making body, at a Feb. 24 meeting deferred a decision on the howitzer buy because BAE systems wanted six years, instead of four, to meet its offset obligations. According to Indian law, overseas defense companies have to discharge offsets up to 30 percent of the value of the contract.

The program had been approved in 2010 but formal agreement is still awaited.

Meanwhile, the estimated cost of the 145 guns has risen from about $493 million in 2010 to $885 million because of inflation.

MoD originally selected Singapore Technologies, but that deal was canceled after charges of alleged corruption.

India Postpones Purchase of 145 Ultra Light Howitzers | Defense News | defensenews.com

 

[ladder]

'In two years, we have a field gun ready; it costs $2 million'

Interview with Baba Kalyani

'In two years, we have a field gun ready; it costs $2 million' | Business Line

 

[Kunal Biswas]

I wish best of luck ..

 

[Sridhar]

Hope it is not a repost ..

'In two years, we have a field gun ready; it costs $2 million'

Baba Kalyani, Chairman and Managing Director, Kalyani Group

Baba Kalyani on challenges the Group faced building an indigenous field gun
Chennai, March 12:

During the Kargil War, "a senior Defence Ministry official barged into my office in Pune asking us to immediately produce ammunition for Bofors guns. We made over 100,000 shells. There was no tender, no RFQ, no nothing," Kalyani Group Chairman Baba Kalyani recalled in an interview to Business Line.

Now, the $2.5-billion group is ready with a home-built field gun costing $2 million and wants to prove that the "Made in India" label is the best. Excerpts:

You have built an indigenous field gun. What's the cost and what opportunities do you see in defence manufacture?

Two years ago, we decided to be in land systems, including artillery, infantry, armoured vehicles, ammunition, rockets and allied stuff, and a little electronics, now integral to defence systems. We passionately set up a programme that we call the Indian gun programme. I challenged Colonel Bhatia, who heads our defence business, that let's build an Indian gun. There's a belief that Indian companies aren't capable of this and we want to prove them wrong, as we did in components. In two years, we have a gun ready; it costs $2 million.

How competitive is this compared to imported guns?

It would be much more expensive if we import. We are far more competitive.

Have you got any orders from the defence establishment?

Not yet. We did this due to our automotive background where people keep designing new product components, unveil them and then develop a market.

What kind of gun have you made?

We've made two products; one is a 155 mm 52-calibre gun, with self-propelling and towing capability. This is a field gun, the mainstay of the Indian army like the Bofors guns. Our gun is similar but of a longer range. That was 39 calibre, this is 52; the calibre denotes the length of the barrel and the range.

We've also built an ultra-light howitzer gun, weighing around 900 kg; normal guns weigh around three tonnes. The technology of soft recall is from the US but we've built the whole gun in Pune, right from the special steel, forging in our plants and so on.

This gun has the advantage of much more mobility and can be mounted on a small truck, or lifted in a helicopter and put at the front on the mountains. The government is importing from the US 150 ultra-light Howitzers at a cost of $600 to $700 million. Ours has a smaller calibre, but by next year, we'll also have a 155 mm gun at a substantially lower cost.

Who are your competitors?

Nobody, except for the Ordnance Factory. But the competition will be from outside — France, Israel. This wasn't against a tender, but to show an Indian capability. There is a feeling within our system that defence equipment can't be made here and should be imported. I wanted to break this myth, so we spent our money and made a product to prove we have capability in this country, so don't just brush us aside.

What kind of business potential do you see for this?

From quotations we know the Indian army now needs about 1,500 to 2,000 guns. Their existing weapons platform – the Bofors guns bought in 1984 – is obsolete and needs replacement. India is the second biggest defence procurer in the world after the US. The European market is shrinking. With our current fiscal situation and the weaker rupee, if a home grown quality product is available at a competitive price, why would you import?

But some Indian businesses do tend to cut corners and compromise on quality.

Not everybody, or else our company wouldn't be supplying to Mercedes Benz, Audi and BMW. But the media doesn't write about manufacturing because it's not glamorous!
(This article was published on March 12, 2014)
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com...n-ready-it-costs-2-million/article5777719.ece

 

[t_co]

Quick question: does the IA organically integrate target acquisition and designation drones into its artillery units?

 

[sayareakd]

Good thing is that we have lot of different tech with us, all we have to do is to find what is best and build system around it.

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Its been since we got Searcher - 1

Quick question: does the IA organically integrate target acquisition and designation drones into its artillery units?

 

[Ajeesh Kumar S]

Probably nishanth uav is used as a laser target designator. But no.of nishanth inducted into the army is...very less

 

[t_co]

Its been since we got Searcher - 1

Got it... does it support laser-designated artillery shells?

 

[Kunal Biswas]

I don`t know about specifics ....

At present IA dont have any precision guided shell based on laser guidance, Though its highly possible that GPS rounds are procured in small number from US ..

Got it... does it support laser-designated artillery shells?

 

[Ajeesh Kumar S]

i think indian army seriously thinking about the purchasing of krasnopol laser guided shell from russia in kargil war time
Terminally Guided Munitions (Krasnapol) - The Times of India

 

[Ajeesh Kumar S]

krasnapol is service with pla army

 

[Kunal Biswas]

"CAG also blasted MoD for procuring 3,000 Krasnapol

"CAG also blasted MoD for procuring 3,000 Krasnapol terminally-guided munitions (TGMs) and 81 laser-designators, from Russia for Rs 526 crore "without necessary trial evaluation'' and "adherence to prescribed norms."

"But it proved to be a complete dud during testing at high altitudes, as it was woefully short on both range and accuracy. "Such procurement of defective quality ammunition adversely impact the Army's operational preparedness,'' said CAG."

A firing check in 2006 showed that the ammunition had degraded within seven years even though it is supposed to have a shelf life of 15 years. Till 2008, the munitions have not been repaired, says the report. Even though the ordering was understandable because of the Kargil issue, the CAG has raised fingers towards a fresh batch of 2000 ammunition, ordered and procured in 2002 without any trial evaluation. "

"During a high altitude test, five rounds were fired and none hit the target. One more round did not open. Subsequent firing tests by the company were unsatisfactory too. The conclusion was that these munitions are not fit for 155 mm guns."

"In June 2005, all commands were instructed not to use the munitions and the issue of repair or replacement of those worthless ammunition is yet to be settled."

Source :
Army spent crores on dud ammunition: CAG
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...ct-Krasnopol-purchase/articleshow/4763861.cms

i think indian army seriously thinking about the purchasing of krasnopol laser guided shell from russia in kargil war time
Terminally Guided Munitions (Krasnapol) - The Times of India

 

[Hari Sud]

If I remember correctly, the above ammunition was purchased in a hurry during Kargil and post Kargil operations. This ammunition has 50% faiilure rate. Comparable American ammunition does not fair any better, although three times pricier. Reasons: high pressure developed in the chamber during firing operation is hard on the sensitive electronics of the round being fired. Although huge amount of effort is made to protect these sensitive electronics, still chances of each and every round coming out perfect are slim. Hence world's artillery units who use these rounds are never sure, if the round is going where it is designated to go.

Krasnapol is less to be blamed, andIndian Army even less During rush purchases, you only read the glossy brochures and salesmen's worthless assurances. Armies know about it, but hope that if they fired five rounds they fired at a particular target, hope is that two of these hit it.

CAG is a bunch of accountants, not a front line situation manager. They read the same brochures and expect results as the brochure says. Brochure will never say that success rate is 50% or less.

I am glad the American ammunition was not acquired at triple the rice with similar results.

 

[t_co]

As I recall, the PLA has reverse-engineered the Krasnopol/Copperhead circuitry and hardened it to 'improve' the accuracy and fuzing reliability from the original.

 

[ladder]

Dhanush heads for summer trials

Calcutta, March 18: Dhanush, a derivative of the Bofors gun, has cleared the winter trials in Sikkim and is headed for a final round of tests in the Rajasthan deserts this summer.

If it clears the last round of trials on accuracy, range and rate of fire, it could find its way into the Indian army by year-end.
-------------------------
-------------------------

Work on version 2 of the Dhanush was also under way, officials said. "The sub-systems for this product are being developed and once this gun fires successfully, work on the next-generation Dhanush would gather momentum."

Dhanush heads for summer trials

 

[ladder]

OFB also hopes to get its improved shells developed for 105 Indian Field Guns (IFGs)-the basic artillery guns used by the army. The new shells developed by OFB give IFGs an additional 3 km range taking it to 20.5 kms. After recent user trials, the range table for the gun is being prepared. This means it has to be tested whether the gun can fire up to the same range from different angles.

Desi Bofors' winter trials a success - The Times of India

 

[Sea Eagle]

Bhim SPH was good in terms of rate of fire also the amount of rounds stored in turret, Anyways i hope DRDO come quick with the new chassis of Arjun mk-2 which will be 7 wheeler..

Dada Himalya SPH never heard of it.. could you give the details ?

 

[Kunal Biswas]

This was offered by Slovakian, Its a good SPGH ..

BEML is JV partner and under BEML, This SPGH call ARZU ..

Dada Himalya SPH never heard of it.. could you give the details ?