1. Home
2. Defence

A Look At India's Artillery Line Up

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 5/19/2017 6:25:36 PM

Almost three decades after Swedish-made Bofors Howitzers were inducted into the Indian Army, the force has received the first two units of its newest batch of 155mm/39 Caliber Ultra Light Howitzers (ULH) from BAE systems. The complete induction of the 145 guns is expected to be completed by June 2021.

India plans to equip 169 regiments with 3,503 of these guns by 2020. There is a huge importance of artillery in border warfare, especially in the mountainous kind that we share with both Pakistan and China. The M777 guns procured by India will fire Indian ammunitions and be able to strike targets anywhere between 24-40 km. While optimised for Indian conditions, guns of this make have already proven battle effectiveness in Iraq and Afghanistan. As many as 25 guns will arrive ready for induction while the remaining 120 will be assembled in India by BAE’s partner Mahindra Defence as part of the offset agreement. The US-made C130J Super Hercules aircraft can transport two M777 howitzers at once. The gun weighs around 4.2 ton, which is roughly a third of what a normal 155mm howitzer weighs. This explains the ultra light tag.