Indian Military

New Delhi – The Indian government has once again floated tenders for Towed and Tracked Gun Systems and vendors from various countries like France, Britain and the U.S have been invited for the bids. The acquisition is a major part of the Indian Army’s modernisation programme but has always suffered setbacks due to repeat cancellations of the tender. While the process to acquire towed and tracked gun systems was initiated in 2006, tenders have been cancelled due to the alleged corruption and scams involving the bidding companies from abroad.

However, India has come close to negotiating the acquisition of 145 ultra light guns from BAE Systems US called the M-777 A1 since the trials for the same have been concluded in India. India plans to acquire this gun through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route and the US Congress has already given its clearance.

The M-777 A1 is an ultra light 155mm/45 calibre gun and its striking features include its mobility, transportability, survivability and lethality.

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New Delhi –The Indian Army has come under the scanner once again following the recent mysterious leaking of a classified report related to the field trial of the M777 ultra-light Howitzer that was concluded recently. The pages of the classified report that have leaked contain evidence that the M-777 howitzer had failed the field trials concluded in December 2010.

The company that now own Bofors, the BAE Systems of US, makes the ultra light Howitzer M777 which is to be procured through a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route by India from the US. The acquisition is to be made through the government-to- government FMS route and is worth over $647 million for 10 regiments (160) guns. However, according to the leaked pages of the report, the Howitzer gun appears to have failed the recent trials on several parameters.

New Delhi – Indo-US military ties are expected to be heightened as the Indian Army Chief General VK Singh’s six-day long visit to the US is currently underway. The US visit comes two years after former Indian Army Chief had visited the country. The current Indian delegation includes the Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar.

Among the main highlights of this US visit will be a discussion regarding the procurement of 145 ultra light howitzers (ULHs) which India intends to buy from the US through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route. It may be noted that since the infamous Bofors scam in the 1980s, Indian artillery has not seen the induction of a new gun in the last two decades. Currently, BAE Systems of US is making the M-777 ULH but the process has been disrupted again as trial reports of the howitzer were leaked prompting the Army Headquarters to order a court of inquiry.

During the current visit, the Indian Army Chief General VK Singh would also be discussing the acquisition of ten C-17 heavy lift transport aircraft and the procurement of the Javelin missile system which India plans to acquire through the FMS route as well.

Indian Defence Online, New Delhi — After a spate of scrapped tenders and trials for the Indian Army’s artillery gun, defence public sector undertaking Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) has announced that it is ready with the indigenous 155mm, 52-calibre wheeled gun.

BEML has been made the nodal processing agency and the Indian government has permitted BEML to invite global tenders for the 155mm guns and the proposed contract for over 1,000 guns, besides other ranges of artillery guns including Howitzers. The estimated worth of these contracts is 20,000 crore.

The Indian Army has been desperately short of artillery firepower and a long-range state-of-the-art gun has been due for two decades since the Bofors gun controversy in the 1980s. The Indian Army’s 180-odd artillery gun regiments, each having 18 guns, have not received any new weaponry since the Bofors gun was bought in the late 1980s.

The selection of a suitable 155 mm, 52-calibre towed howitzer to fill this gap began only in 2002, when the Defence Ministry began evaluating three guns from BAE Systems, Israeli firm Soltam and Denel of South Africa.

[Stratpost]

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has published a paper in response to the solicitation of views by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), arguing for conditional increase, if at all, in the limits to investment by foreign players in Indian defense industry beyond the current limit of 26 per cent, to 49 per cent. The DIPP, in its discussion paper, was considering hiking FDI limit up to 74 per cent, and even 100 per cent in some cases.

The Indian Ministry of Commerce allowed the participation of the private sector in the defense industry in May 2001, permitting 100 per cent equity with a maximum of 26 per cent of FDI, subject to licensing. Under the Defense Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2008, limit was raised to 49 per cent FDI on a case-by-case basis. But the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has not, so far, approved the formation of a venture with a 49 per cent FDI component.

FICCI sees little reason to permit FDI above 26 per cent, considering the existing FDI into the Indian defense sector, saying in a statement, “The 26% FDI cap in the defense sector has already attracted top overseas defense OEMs like BAe, EADS, Sikorsky, Lockheed Martin, Electtronica Defence Systems, etc to hugely invest in India’s defense sector.

[The Financial Times Limited] BAE Systems is in talks with the Indian government to supply up to 60 more Hawk trainer jets to the country’s military in a deal that could be worth up to £500m ($768m). A deal would probably see Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), the state-run defence company, place an order for the aircraft with the UK-based defence group. This could happen in the next few months, according to industry sources.