Guest Column | Lt Gen. B.S. Pawar (retd)
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Fire’s Been Put Out
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Indian artillery modernisation programme is woefully slow |
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By Lt Gen. B.S. Pawar (retd)
Despite the lessons learnt during the Kargil operations of 1999
about the battle-winning role of firepower in modern warfare, the modernisation
plans of Indian artillery continue to stagnate for various reasons, some beyond
the control of the army. This is largely attributable to different scandals that
continue to stymie the long delayed acquisition of the 155mm howitzers,
resulting in the blacklisting of some of the major players in the defence market
who are producing state-of- |
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art modern artillery gun systems. The last major acquisition of guns was in the mid-Eighties, when we bought 400 pieces of 155mm/39 calibre FH 77B howitzers from Bofors of Sweden with a range of 30km.
The only silver lining in this dismal gun acquisition stalemate is the upgrade of 180 pieces of 130mm/39 calibre M-46 Russian guns to 155mm/45 calibre with the ordnance and kits supplied by Soltam of Israel. Despite its initial teething problems, this has been a successful venture giving an enhanced range of 39km from its original 26km though not the ideal solution. However, to meet the inescapable operational requirements of additional artillery deployment especially on our northern and eastern borders with China, the army is acquiring additional 130mm guns from erstwhile Soviet Republics, some of whom are stated to have surplus stocks of these guns. Upgrading them to 155mm is only an interim option. In this case, private industry has been approached to undertake the project in collaboration with a foreign vendor right from providing the required ordnance and accessories to eventual upgunning. Companies like Tata, L&T and Bharat Forge are some of the private vendors involved in this venture.
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