Article Posted on : - Jun 24, 2009

The Indian Army will acquire new 155 mm/42 calibre towed gun replacing the older generation M46 guns. A file photo of M-46 130-mm Towed Gun.

NEW DELHI (BNS): The Indian Army will purchase new artillery guns worth approximately Rs 1,000 crore. It has issued a Request for Information, which will be followed by formal global tenders, to acquire new 155 mm/42 calibre towed guns to fill vital gaps in its artillery arsenal, according to a media report.

The Army is planning to acquire close to 400 guns at the earliest, according to the website “Indian express.” A contract for upgrading the older generation M46 guns to modern 155 mm/45 calibre standards had been signed with Soltam earlier. Soltam is partially owned by arms agent Sudhir Choudhary, wanted by the CBI in several arms procurement cases.

While Soltam has already upgraded 180 Russian M46 guns, further orders have been stalled after a probe was initiated against it, forcing the Army to place orders for new guns, it said.

The Army’s artillery modernisation programme, which is years behind schedule with scandals hitting most defence vendors like Bofors, Denel and lately Singapore Technologies, envisages a force of more than 500 of the 155mm/45 cal towed guns. The Army has not received even a single new gun in the past two decades since the Bofors scandal, it added.