New Indian-made 155mm artillery howitzer Dhanush ready for use by Indian army end of this year.

After trials, India's indigenous artillery gun 'Dhanush' would be ready for use by the Army by the end of this year.Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) chairman M C Bansal today said the winter trials of the 'desi' howitzers were successfully completed in Sikkim and after the summer trials to be held in the deserts of Rajasthan in the next few months, it would be ready for use.

"We will add another laurel to the country by producing them with indigenous technology," he said. After the extensive trials, 'Dhanush' would be produced in bulk in the Gun Carriage Factory in Jabalpur and the Army has placed an initial order of 114 such guns.

An improved and indigenous version of the Swedish Bofors, 'Dhanush' is a 155mm and 45 calibre gun. While the original Bofors gun has a maximum effective range of 27 km, 'Dhanush' can fire a salvo up to 38 km in the plains. With the Defence Ministry focusing on indigenous technology, OFB had also decided to increase production capacity for making 5000 rockets for the Pinaka multi-barrel weapons system. 

Despite Delay, Indian Buy of Howitzers Remains on Track.

Indian Govt says date of signing 31st March 2014?

The Indian government has announced that the purchase of 145 ultra light howitzer artillery guns from the US is not being withheld, despite a three-year delay since clearance was granted to buy the guns from the US subsidiary of BAE Systems.

Anonymous complaints to the Defence Ministry regarding the process have delayed finalizing the contract, officials said.In August, Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony told the Indian Parliament, “Various anonymous complaints regarding alleged irregularities in the procurement of ultra light howitzer guns have been received. The main issues raised in these complaints relate to technical parameters, cost effectiveness and economic viability of the gun.”

Defence Ministry sources said a Technical Oversight Committee set up by the MoD has since cleared the procurement.In a written reply to Parliament Dec. 9, Antony said, “The Government has not held up the purchase of 145 Ultra Light Howitzer artillery guns from the United States. The Government is proposing the procurement of 145 Ultra Unit Howitzers through the Foreign Military sale route as per Defence Procurement Procedure.”

Delay in finalizing the buy has led to nearly a doubling of the price in the last three years because of inflation and the falling value of the Indian rupee against the US dollar.The estimated cost of the 145 guns in 2010 was around 29.6 billion rupees. However, in the Pentagon’s Aug. 7 letter giving notification of the sale, the price of the guns is quoted at more than $885 million, or about 58 billion rupees.

The deal was awarded to BAE Systems after the tender was earlier canceled when Singapore Technologies was blacklisted in 2009.Ministry of Defence sources said the contract will be signed in the financial year ending March 31.

India's Tata group unveils India’s first indigenously developed 155 mm howitzer

The Tata group is to unveil India's first indigenously developed 155 mm howitzer in New Delhi.

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.

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.

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