India’s artillery modernisation finally progresses
LandWarfare 26th November 2014 - 10:31 by Neelam Mathews in New Delhi The Indian Army’s long-delayed artillery modernisation programme finally got a boost with new defence minister Manohar Parrikar clearing a more than $2 billion procurement for 155mm/52-calibre mounted gun systems. The decision to procure 814 artillery gun systems comes after three decades of procurement malpractices and as Pakistan and China both induct 155mm/52-calibre artillery guns. The Indian Army’s last major acquisition was in 1987 for 410 39-calibre 155mm FH-77B howitzers from Sweden’s AB Bofors, in a scandal over illegal commissions that contributed to the defeat of the government the following election. The army’s aging artillery presently consists of a mix of 105mm field guns, and 130mm and 155mm howitzers. A request for proposal for the new systems is expected be released in the first quarter of 2015, Shephard understand. One hundred guns are to be bo...