Denel applied for its India G5 howitzers back in the 90s, but has been blacklisted along with several other manufacturers. Now these companies are not eligible to submit their applications for any of the existing Indian projects
The Indian army's artillery has long faced longstanding corruption scandals and new procedural and bureaucratic delays, but is now in dire need of modernization and replacement of its materiel. Let's see how things stand in this area
Despite the experience of conducting periodic artillery duels on the Siachen glacier and other clashes with their neighbors, which in this way reminded of their claims, the Indian artillery corps was in disrepair for a long time, since plans to replace weapons were repeatedly thwarted or bogged down in the quagmire of administrative hell.
As a result, the Indian army is now in urgent need of replacing or upgrading virtually every caliber of artillery. But some positive shifts can be discerned: after a long hiatus, various 155 mm / 52-caliber cannons are being field tested, programs are slowly but surely being developed to develop and modernize howitzers in the private and public sectors, and, finally, the procurement process for 145 light howitzers is nearing completion. M777 from BAE Systems.
However, the artillery command claims that these shifts are infinitely small and have little effect on the progress of the Field Artillery Rationalization Plan (FARP), which was constantly delayed, which was launched back in 1999 and provided for the purchase of 3,000 - 3,200 howitzers of various calibers in the amount of $ 5-7 billion by the end of the Army's 14th Five-Year Financial Plan, ending in 2027.
“Artillery procurement delays of more than a decade will continue to occur, with serious operational implications,” said retired general Sheru Tapliyal. The former artillery officer warned that if the procurement issue is not resolved immediately, the army could find itself in a situation of complete loss of effective long-range firepower, in stark contrast to regional adversaries.
The FARP plan envisages not only the purchase of artillery from abroad, but also the development and production of howitzers by private and public joint ventures under technology transfer agreements. More than 200 artillery regiments will be equipped, which will remain the backbone of the army's offensive "maneuver fire" capabilities and revised combat doctrine.
The shortage of howitzers, however, made itself felt when the army was faced with the task of equipping two newly formed mountain divisions in northeastern India in response to the rapid build-up of Chinese military power in Tibet. The creation by 2017 of an additional mountain strike corps, consisting of three divisions, and possibly a fourth artillery division for deployment along an undefined 4057 km border of China, further complicates the army's howitzers problems.
The following purchases are planned under the FARP program: 1580 new towed gun systems (TGS) 155-mm / 52 caliber; 814 guns on self-propelled chassis 155 mm / 52 caliber; and 145 ready-made light howitzers 155 mm / 39 caliber. The financial plan also includes the purchase of 100 self-propelled tracked howitzers 155mm / 52 cal and 180 self-propelled wheeled howitzers with an additional 120 howitzers manufactured in India under a technology transfer agreement.
At the present time, three artillery divisions are armed with guns of six different calibers, most of which are not only outdated, but also continuously reduced in number. These include the 122 mm D-30 towed cannon and the 130 mm M46 cannon of the Soviet era, as well as the guns of the local Factory Board (OFB) plant - the 105 mm Indian field gun IFG (Indian Field Gun) and its variant, the light field gun LFG. (Light Field Gun).
Other models include Bofors FH-77B 155mm / 39 caliber howitzers, 410 of these guns were imported in the late 1980s, but less than half remain in service due to a lack of spare parts and the resulting dismantling. In total, since 2001, according to the Karan project, the Israeli company Soltam and the Indian OFB have modernized 180 M46 cannons (155 mm / 45 caliber barrels), as a result of which their actual range has increased to 37 - 39 km.
Senior artillery officers say that from an operational point of view, most of these guns are completely inadequate, since 17 km of the actual range of the IFG and LFG guns (and this is the basis of the army for more than four decades) ceased to "match", since the contact boundary at the tactical level is now the time is over 30 km.
In addition, neighboring armies currently have mortars with an increased range of 12-14 km, practically neutralizing the slightly longer range of IFG / LFG at a minimal cost. In several locations along the Pakistani and Chinese borders, the range of these guns barely allows them to cross the Indian border, making them "ineffective," according to an anonymous artillery officer.
India buys a batch of light M777 howitzers and ordered heavy Chinook helicopters for quick airlift
India produces a full range of artillery ammunition
Big guns
In order to eliminate this "inefficiency" in May 2013, on tests in the Rajasthan desert, a modified TRAJAN 155mm / 52 cannon from Nexter opposed the updated ATHOS 2052 light howitzer from Elbit. Both howitzers fired ammunition produced by the Indian company OFB. These trials will culminate in the 2014 winter firing and selection of one of these systems by the Artillery Directorate, which will continue to negotiate the final cost of the contract (an estimated $ 2 billion budget).
The request for proposals for the TGS 2011 towed howitzer stipulates that the competing guns submitted for the competition should have a range of 42 km when firing various ammunition. The final contract provides for direct delivery of 400 guns and a technology transfer agreement for the manufacture of an additional 1,180 systems in India; this number is enough to equip about 85 regiments.
Since 2001, these tests are already the fifth attempt, four previous tests were closed by the Artillery Directorate in 2006. These tests involved the FH-77 B05 L52 from BAE Systems, the G5 / 2000 from Denel Ordnance and the TIG 2002 from Soltam; in the first three rounds, all three howitzers and only the last two in the fourth round of trials.
Denel was barred from further strife after the Prime Minister's newly elected coalition blacklisted it in 2005. The company was accused of corruption while negotiating with the resigned administration on a previous contract for 400 rifles designed to destroy materiel.
The blacklisting also led to the halt of limited production of the Bhim SPT 155mm / 52 caliber self-propelled howitzer, which included the installation of a Denel / LIW T6 turret on a locally developed Arjun MBT hull, which was to be manufactured by the state-owned company Bharat Earth Movers. Limited in Bangalore.
Nexter is currently partnering with Indian private contractor Larsen & Toubro (L&T), which has installed new hydraulic and related systems on TRAJAN. If selected, L&T is expected to mass-produce the entire vehicle with a high proportion of local components. According to the DPP Procurement Procedure, at least 50% of local components can be considered a local product.
As part of its application, Elbit entered into an agreement with the world's largest manufacturer of stamped and forged products, the Kalyani Group, headquartered in Pune. The Kalyani Group - better known as Bharat Forge after its most successful subsidiary - acquired an entire artillery division from the Swiss company RUAG and rebuilt and re-launched it in Pune in 2012. “We are at an advanced stage of development for a 155mm / 52 TGS towed howitzer that should be ready by the end of 2014,” said retired Colonel Rahendra Sikh, chief executive of Kalyani Defense and Aerospace. “We are confident that over time we will be able to meet the significant needs of the Indian army for artillery systems,” he added, emphasizing the high proportion of local components in the entire project.
Kalyani Steel will provide the blanks for the howitzer, while the drives, transmission and engine will be supplied by another Automotive Axles company. Kalyani Steel is also open to cooperation with the government defense development organization (DRDO) and will provide know-how and software for gun control, fire correction and operational control.
The company is currently working with the DRDO branch in Pune, which recently received a technical assignment from the army to produce an advanced 155mm / 52 ATAGS (Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System) towed artillery system by 2016 with an effective range of 50 km. At the same time, an automatic loading and guidance system and a propulsion system should be developed, allowing the howitzer to independently move over rough terrain at a distance of 500 meters.
The Department of Defense has given DRDO permission to design the ATAGS and has allocated $ 26 million for this, but is looking for a private partnership for this project. According to Colonel Rahendra Sikh, Kalyani intends to apply here, even if it competes with its own TGS.
In July 2013, they were tested at high temperatures in support of the army's demand for 100 155mm / 52 caliber SPT tracked howitzers (worth approximately $ 800 million).
As part of the revived Bhim SPT howitzer project, which was stopped in 2005, Rosoboronexport submitted an application based on the T-72 MBT equipped with a 152 mm / 39 cal cannon, modernized for firing 155 mm / 52 caliber shells. The Russians are going to fight a variant developed by the Indian company L&T based on the K-9 "Thunder" tank from Samsung-Techwin.
If chosen, L&T intends to equip the SPT howitzer with a sufficient number of locally produced subsystems, such as fire control systems, communications and climate control systems, as well as localize the hull and turret in order to obtain a “local” product.
Resuscitation FH-77B
Six prototype Bofors FH-77B 155mm / 39 cal and 155mm / 45 cal cannons, manufactured by the OFB plant in Jabalpur, were also tested by a customer in the Rajasthan desert in the summer of 2013, followed by further tests in the mountains at the end of this the same year.
These tests followed successful factory firing tests conducted by OFB, after the Ministry of Defense, under pressure from the army, approved the purchase of 114 locally produced FH-77B 155mm / 45 caliber towed howitzers in October 2012. High army officials noted on this occasion that they expected an increase in the number of new howitzers to 200 pieces.
India acquired 410 FH-77B 155-mm / 39 caliber cannons in 1986, along with documentation and technology for their production, but did not reach this stage due to the fact that the acquisition of howitzers got bogged down a year later in corruption scandals related to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, his party and representatives of the Ministry of Defense. The investigation into this case was closed in March 2011 after 21 years of inconclusive investigation, which cost the federal government 2.5 billion rupees, and no one was charged.
Cannon FH-77B
The platforms being tested in the army include two standard FH-77B 155mm / 39 caliber cannons, two similar models with onboard computers and two 155mm / 45 caliber howitzers. Officers involved in the FH-77B project said that the steel for the gun barrels is supplied by state-owned Mishra Dhatu Nigam and processed at OFB's Kanpur plant.
The OFB plant in Jabalpur, which manufactured the IFG and LFG and upgraded the M46 cannons with Soltam kits back in the early 2000s, will eventually set up serial production of 114 FH-77B howitzers.
Army sources said BAE Systems (which bought AB Bofors in 2005) has expressed a desire to work with OFB on its FH-77 project, but its share as a component supplier remains uncertain.
In accordance with the planned delivery schedule for the FH-77, OFB, by special order from the Ministry of Defense, will initially deliver six guns within eight months. This will happen around the beginning of 2014, and then within three years the company will completely transfer all 114 systems to the army.
“The acquisition of OFB's FH-77B cannons is long overdue and is an alternative to what the army and defense ministry had to accomplish years ago,” lamented General Pavar, a former commander of an artillery school in western India. "The lack of howitzers during the transition period significantly affected the firepower of the army."
Industry interference
The modernization of the artillery was prevented by the corruption scandal with the FH-77B. Since 1999, the state of affairs has not changed until the Ministry of Defense embarked on a stunning round of recalling, redistributing and re-issuing already selected proposals for the howitzer.
The unfinished tests and over-ambitious performance requirements issued by the Artillery Directorate for the purchase of new platforms and the modernization of existing ones further hampered the modernization process.
For example, the program to upgrade the FH-77BS to 155 mm / 45 cal was stopped in 2009 after performance requirements were deemed unattainable. To complete them, it was necessary to replace the barrel, the bolt, strengthen the lower carriage and install a modern sighting system.
"Some of the modernization requirements were simply unrealistic for these 25-year-old guns," said an industry source associated with the project. The army and the defense ministry did not want to revise the requirements or reduce the parameters, even though many in the artillery management admitted that they were unrealistic. Even BAE Systems, despite the status of the leading manufacturer of howitzers, refused to respond to the request for modernization requirements due to "unbearable performance requirements."
Further complicating matters in the already limited market for artillery systems was the 2005 Defense Ministry's blacklist, which included the three main suppliers of howitzers for 10 years on corruption charges. In addition to Denel, Switzerland's Rheinmetall Air Defense (RAD) and Singapore's Singapore Technologies Kinetics (STK) were also rogue. All of them were already at an advanced stage of either performing operational tests or negotiating relevant contracts for howitzers. All three companies deny any wrongdoing and dispute the corresponding prohibitions in different ways.
“Blacklisting suppliers reduces competition and deprives the army of the main weapons, which in turn impacts combat readiness,” said General Mrinal Suman, a major procurement and offset specialist. The new tenders, conducted under a complex and opaque Procurement Procedure for the Indian Ministry of Defense (DPP), are only causing further delays and higher costs.
General Suman's words briefly reflect the position of the Parliamentary Defense Committee and the Auditor General and Auditor, who more than once reproached the Ministry of Defense for compromising the army's combat capabilities due to the delay in the purchase of howitzers. In a December 2011 report, the Auditor General in Parliament categorically stated that purchases of howitzers "are not foreseen in the near future."
India currently buys over 75% of its defense needs overseas, and most current officers admit that such a radical change in defense procurement policy could further stall already delayed military modernization, especially artillery.
In the revised DPP Procedure, emphasis is placed on the development and production of local weapons systems, and purchases abroad are referred to as "extreme measures." It also expresses confidence in an increase in private sector participation in the Indian military-industrial complex, which has been monopolized for decades by government organizations such as DRDO, 40 divisions of OFB and eight more so-called defense enterprises in the Indian public sector.
Accordingly, the Ministry of Defense issued a request for proposals in September 20113 to upgrade 300 M46 cannons to 155mm / 45 caliber as part of a program that will involve OFB and four private defense contractors, as well as selected foreign suppliers.
After Soltam and OFB completed Project Karan, the Army, in the face of constant delays in its FARP program, "resurrected" the Soviet M46 modernization program due to the fact that it still has 300-400 of these 130- mm guns. The artillery department argued that since the guns were mostly removed from service and constituted part of the army's Free Issue Material stocks, the modernization would be not only effective, but also economical.
Tata showed a prototype of its 155mm / 52 caliber MGS howitzer in New Delhi in December 2012.
Improvements for the M46
India was Moscow's largest exporter of M46 guns (developed in 1948). Since the end of the 60s, 800 units were purchased and already in 1971 they were successfully used in the conflict with Pakistan. Seeking more firepower, in October 2009, the desperate Artillery Directorate even considered importing an unnamed number of M46 cannons from surplus former Soviet republics, but later rejected the offer.
In early 2012, the army approached the OFB, Kalyani Group, L&T, Punj Lloyd and the Tata Power Strategic Engineering Division (SED) to bring the M46 cannons to the 155mm / 45 caliber standard under the Buy and Make (Indian) category. do (Indian))”from the DPP Order. Under this rule, local public and private companies can be selected to form joint ventures with foreign manufacturers to design and manufacture weapons systems for the Indian army.
Tata Power SED CEO Raul Chowdhry said all four private companies submitted their feasibility reports on upgrading the M46 to the Department of Defense in March 2012 in response to a limited request for information sent to them earlier. They are currently awaiting a request for proposals.
Immediately after the request is published, the army will provide each applicant with one M46 cannon for modernization within 12 months, after which they will take part in competitive tests. However, it is unclear today whether one or two candidates will be selected out of five applicants, who will then take over the entire modernization process.
While the Kalyani Group has teamed up with Elbit to upgrade the M46, L&T is partnering with Nexter in this direction. OFB already has experience with the previous Karan project, while Tata Power SED and Punj Lloyd have entered into agreements with Eastern European countries, including Slovakia and the former Soviet republics, which are very familiar with the M46 cannons.
In the foreground, upgraded by Nexter and Larson and Toubro, the M46 cannon of Soviet origin.
However, all private contractors are cautious about the special conditions of the upcoming DPP, fearing that preference will again be given to state-owned enterprises with the award of tax breaks, which make up about a third of the total project cost. "Until the government fulfills its promises to the private sector, its involvement in the military sector will remain minimal, limited to small and medium-sized enterprises producing components and subassemblies," Choudhry said.
Even so, most agree that the private sector will remain dependent on the government for artillery systems, because it is not allowed to produce these systems and, therefore, is unable to conduct tests during the development of artillery and similar platforms.
Tata Power SED, for example, is awaiting permission from the Ministry of Defense regarding firing and ammunition ranges in order to conduct fire tests of its MGS 155mm / 52 caliber howitzer, which has been developed over the past five years at the Bangalore plant. Chowdhry said Tata Power SED has teamed up with many local and foreign partners to produce the prototype, which was shown in New Delhi in December 2012. He stated that the MGS howitzer underwent extended firing trials in South Africa ahead of Tata Power SED delivering an unspecified number of howitzers to the Indonesian army, but that the deal ultimately fell through.
“We are currently requesting permission from the Indian Army to conduct technical firing of the howitzer to test its effectiveness and accuracy,” said Chaudhry, confident that this will help her qualifications and 814 MGS howitzers will finally enter service with more than 40 regiments.
He stated that this system was the first locally developed howitzer with an effective range of approximately 50 km, as it contains 55% of local parts with essential know-how in ballistic technology and related systems developed in cooperation with the Indian industry. However, other technologies, such as the inertial navigation system of the weapon, were taken from partners in eastern Europe and Africa (most likely from Denel), but Choudhry declined to name them or the cost of developing the howitzer, which he said was "significant."
Chowdhry also declined to comment on partnerships with banned foreign howitzer manufacturers, such as Rheinmetall, which worked with Tata Power SED on various defense projects before becoming rogue. He also stated that his company "planned" the entire process and supply chain for the howitzer components and is awaiting the results of technical shooting before offering it to the army.
“Expanding the private sector is vital to building and manufacturing local military systems,” Chowdhry said. Without this, all branches of the armed forces will remain dependent on imports.
Tata's 155 mm / 52 caliber MGS howitzer developed over five years at the Bangalore plant
Arjun artillery
As another measure that would contribute to solving the problem of the shortage of artillery systems, the DRDO organization in July 2013 began a second round of "confirmatory" tests in Rajasthan of its self-propelled artillery system, obtained by installing an M46 cannon on an Arjun Mk I MBT chassis.
The first round of sea and fire tests of the Catapult M46 Mk II hybrid gun, developed by one of the DRDO units in Chennai, was successful, after which the Ministry of Defense approved the serial production of 40 platforms. However, the artillery department wants to conduct a second round of tests on the Arjun Mk II chassis. Production of 40 new Catapult platforms is expected to begin around mid-2014; all of them will go into service with two artillery regiments.
These platforms will replace the same number of Catapult Mk I SPGs. They were manufactured in the 80s, when the M46 gun was installed on an extended chassis manufactured under license from the MBT Vijayanta (Vickers Mk I). The army wants to deploy them along the Pakistani border in the state of Punjab.
The reckless Arjun of the Catapult Mk II system retains the driver's seat, but in the center of the chassis there is an open area for the gun and crew of eight people, and on top there is a square metal roof to protect against attacks from above. The 130 mm Catapult Mk II cannon is mounted with a fixed vertical angle of 14.5 ° and has a valid range of 27 km, but can only fire from a standstill. It can carry 36 rounds of ammunition.
Project manager Mr Srithar said the heavier Catapult Mk II unit, powered by a 1400 hp MTU 838 Ka-510 diesel engine. is a more efficient option over the former lightweight 535 hp Leyland engine. and has a more effective anti-rollback system.
Club M777
Meanwhile, the Indian Army is inevitably close to purchasing 145 M777 towed 155mm / 39 caliber light howitzers from BAE Systems. Approx. 1] and LINAPS (Laser Inertial Artillery Pointing Systems) laser inertial targeting systems under a $ 647 million contract. After the delegation traveled to the United States in January 2013 to discuss all the delivery formalities, including the maintenance evaluations, the process got off the ground.
These tests follow a request from the US Department of Defense to the US government in November 2012 to purchase 145 M777 howitzers and LINAPS systems as part of a foreign arms and military equipment sales program to arm seven regiments in two new mountain divisions.
However, senior officers say that the need for light howitzers is expected to increase by 280-300 guns in order to arm the future strike corps and artillery division. The M777 howitzers will be transported by heavy Boeing CH-47F Chinook helicopters, which the Indian army bought 15 units in October 2012 (the deal has not yet been signed).
Defense sources said that the final round of negotiations on the price of the contract, parts and services and further signing of the contract should take place in the current fiscal year, which ends in March 2014.
“The process [of negotiations between the two governments] is progressing well and we hope for a timely result,” a BAE Systems spokesman said, but declined to say whether the contract is part of a foreign arms and military equipment sales program. The company has previously stated that they can begin deliveries of M777 howitzers within 18 months after signing the contract.
And as usual, the acquisition process is not going very smoothly yet. Initially, the M777 competed with STK's 155mm / 39 lightweight Pegasus howitzer, but the latter was blacklisted in June 2009 and a legal battle with STK caused the purchase of light howitzers to be suspended for more than two years. In the end, the court decision was never made, the case was closed in April 2012 and negotiations with the United States for the supply of M777 howitzers were resumed.
There is another development to be mentioned here that negatively affected the procurement process for the M777. The classified results of "confirmatory" firing tests of the M777 howitzer, conducted in mid-2010, were anonymously reported to ground forces headquarters in February 2012. This information forced the now former army commander, General Singh, to halt the acquisition of the M777, on the grounds that during those tests, poor results were shown when firing 155 mm Indian-made ammunition. All this hype called into question the entire project, but in the end, the information from the published report was found to be inconclusive.
A year later (in 2012), a request for information was sent out on 180 self-propelled howitzers 155 mm / 52 in alleged "deviations from the test method".
The Ministry of Defense canceled the tests after the army submitted its test report, which stated that the barrel of the Slovakian cannon exploded during the tests. The details are classified, but the Rheinmetall company was also blacklisted and the process of purchasing self-propelled howitzers remained in limbo.
The problems of the army are added by an acute shortage of ammunition for all artillery systems, including 50,000 155-mm high-precision projectiles, more than 21,200 two-module charging systems and about one million electronic fuses and a shortage of many other positions.
In recent years, the army has successfully implemented the Shakti, an artillery command and control system. This large and significant system includes a global network of military tactical computers that provide decision-making for all operational artillery functions in the chain of command, from the artillery corps to the artillery batteries. The system is also designed for seamless integration into complex network-centric combat control systems that are currently being developed and tested in the military.
India is testing a version of Nexter's 155 TRAJAN howitzer modified by local contractor Larson and Toubro. This howitzer competes for the Indian order with the ATHOS 2052 howitzer developed by the Israeli Elbit
[Note. 1] At the time of publication of the article, it was reported that the Indian Ministry of Defense had postponed the signing of a contract with the British company BAE Systems for the supply of 145 M777 155mm howitzers. It is reported by Defense News. The reason for the suspension of negotiations was the intention of the British company to extend the deadline for fulfilling offset obligations from four to six years. According to the Defense Procurement Council (DAC) of the Indian Ministry of Defense, there is no talk of refusing to purchase the M777 yet.
According to Indian law, foreign suppliers of arms and military equipment are required to reinvest in the Indian economy up to 30 percent of the transaction amount. The Indian Ministry of Defense insisted on the inclusion of a clause in the contract, according to which BAE Systems would be obliged to fulfill offset obligations within four years from the date of signing the agreement.
The Indian military department decided to purchase M777 howitzers in 2010. Preliminary negotiations on the supply of guns have already taken place, but the contract has not yet been signed. During the negotiations, the cost of 145 guns for India increased from 493 to 885 million dollars; the growth in value was mainly due to inflation. India originally planned to buy howitzers from Singapore Technologies, but the company was blacklisted for bribery charges.
