New Delhi: Faced with a belligerent China at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Army is set to order 100 more K9 Vajra Tracked Self-Propelled Howitzers from private defense major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) for their deployment along the northern borders.
The Army is also trying to fast-track the remaining trials of the indigenous Advanced Todd Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) 155mm/52 caliber howitzers, which were used for ceremonial firing at the Red Fort on Independence Day.
The new order for 100 and 155mm/52 caliber Vajra will be a duplication for the South Korean guns which are indigenously manufactured by L&T at its facility in Gujarat.
In 2017, L&T won a contract worth Rs 4,500 crore for the supply of 100 units of K9 Vajra under the ‘Make in India’ initiative, for which it signed a transfer of technology contract with South Korean company Hanwha Corporation.
According to L&T, K9 Vajra is delivered with over 80 per cent indigenous work package and over 50 per cent indigenization (by value) at program level.
The company says that it started indigenization from the beginning of the program, replacing 14 critical systems in the Korean ‘K9 Thunder’, with indigenously developed and produced systems for the test gun for user evaluation trials.
L&T had delivered all the guns ahead of schedule handed over in February last year,
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There is a plan for 200 more thunderbolts
“We have got approval from the Defense Ministry for an order for 100 more Vajras. The Request for Proposal (RFP) will be issued to L&T shortly after which the cost will be negotiated. We will expedite the process and hopefully deliveries will start soon.”
ThePrint learns that there may be another order for 100 more Vajras once the new Vajra is executed and the Army plans to eventually keep 300 of these guns that were initially procured for the desert.
But with tensions rising along the LAC in May 2020, the Army decided to deploy three of these tracked howitzers to Eastern Ladakh as a test measure. These guns were equipped with winterization kits that enabled the howitzers to operate in sub-zero temperatures, even though they were designed to operate in the desert.
As ThePrint reports, the gun system proved his worth After which the army deployed an entire regiment of these guns (20 guns make up a regiment) in eastern Ladakh to increase its firepower.
“We have already procured winterization kits for the existing 100 Vajras. The new ones are being procured for the mountains and will come with winterization kits,” said another source.
The winterization kit includes nine items including special oils, lubricants, heating systems, and minor changes to the gun’s fire and control systems.
thunderbolts were originally for the desert
When the military conducted tests for the Vajra before ordering it in 2017, it was done in the desert, not in high-altitude areas where the howitzer’s systems work differently in rarefied environments and extreme cold.
“When the Ladakh crisis started, we had to rethink our strategy. We put these guns to the test in Ladakh and they performed well, exceeding our expectations. And so, we have decided to go more,” said a third source.
Sources said the army is looking for 200 more Vajras, but could not order more repeats than the original. He said the new order would be for 100 howitzers and the order could be placed later after the second order is placed.
Because these are powerful tracked howitzers, the military can deploy them extensively in the mountains and give them more firepower.
The Army has already procured 145 M777 light howitzers from the US, which will be deployed exclusively in the mountains. These light howitzers are easily transportable by Chinook helicopters and can be easily moved from valley to valley.
ATAGS is being fast tracked
Giving details of the ATAGS, sources said the Army is eyeing the remaining trials to induct the rapid gun system, which will be jointly developed by the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and private players Bharat Forge and Tata He is going.
Sources said that the firing trials have been completed and the gun has performed very well.
It has also undergone maintenance tests and is currently undergoing environmental tests. During this phase, the various parts of the howitzer are put through rigorous environmental tests such as dust, cold and heat to see how they perform in each situation.
“Both companies recently gave us more than one piece of the same piece to speed up testing. Thereafter, there is a process to follow for acquisition which will involve cost negotiation and others. Hopefully the entire process will be completed as soon as possible.”
(Edited by Tony Rae)
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