NEW DELHI: To add more artillery firepower along the northern borders, the Indian Army is proceeding to issue Request for Proposal (RFP) for the towed gun systems. Meanwhile, the guns for the second regiment of the indigenously manufactured Dhanush artillery guns are in the induction phase.
Sources in the defence establishment said the RFP for the towed gun system will be issued anytime with all the supporting work completed.
In an important move towards inducting indigenous weapon systems, the procurement of 155mm/52 caliber Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS), along with high mobility & gun towing vehicles for the Indian Army were approved last year.
The guns are developed by the Defence Research and Development Organization along with private players Tata Advanced Systems and Bharat Forge Ltd. These have been tested in high altitude with 307 of them expected to be inducted, with each being estimated to cost around Rs 18 crore.
Tensions along the Line of Actual Control between India and China have persisted since 2020 with major deployment along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh.
The Dhanush is the country’s first indigenously built artillery gun to be inducted. The initial plan is to induct 114 guns with 80% indigenous content by 2026. One regiment of Dhanush will be inducted along the Line of Actual Control. Its indigenous content makes its maintenance easier in terms of spare parts’ availability.
The cost of each gun, which also has electronic sites, is about Rs 14 crore, much lower than the per unit cost of Bofors. Dhanush can travel through difficult terrains and target enemy targets both day and night. The Army has inducted 100 155mm/52 calibre K9 Vajra-T guns for which a $720 million contract was signed in 2017. These guns also, with upgrades, have been deployed along the LAC in Ladakh. The plans of the Army include inducting 100 more K9 Vajra-T guns.
The Army aims to standardize its bulk of the guns to 155mm/ 52 calibre, said defence sources. The Regiment of Artillery is said to be the second largest arm of the Indian Army, after the infantry. Artillery with its missiles, guns, mortars, rocket launchers and unmanned aerial vehicles is also described as an ‘Arm of Decision’.