Indian Army announces mounted gun competition

SOURCE: SP’s Special Correspondent

Following a generic request for information (RFI) issued in August last year, the Indian Army has announced a fresh and more specific request for information to meet the Army’s requirement of 814 mounted gun systems—a 155mm/52cal artillery gun mounted on a wheeled vehicle. The procurement is likely to be worth about Rs. 9,000 crore.

The Army has stipulated that the gun needs to be supplied by an Indian vendor. The RFI comes as only the latest in a retinue of competitions in various stages to give the Army’s artillery regiments their first guns in a quarter century. The Army has active processes on to acquire towed guns, ultra-light howitzers (the BAE Systems M777) and tracked guns. Tata Strategic Electronics Division (Tata SED) last year unveiled its first mounted gun system on a wheeled Tata track. Other like Indian competitors are Mahindra Defence, L&T, Bharat Forge and others.