Govt nod to buy 145 Howitzers from US

Guns to be bought at a cost of $750 million

Three decades after purchasing the Bofors guns, the central government has finally gone ahead with procurement of artillery guns for the army, which is severely short of fire power.

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) on Saturday approved buying 145 M-777 Howitzer guns from the US at a cost of approximately $750 million besides induction of 24 indigenously manufactured Dhanush 155 mm artillery guns, based on Bofors technology.

India and USA were in discussions to purchase 145 M-777 ultra lightweight Howitzers from the BAE Sytems through the foreign military sales route. It was being negotiated for many years after successful trials in the mountains.

 The army plans to utilise these guns for high-altitude warfare in the Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir.

The costing, however, was the bone of contention. In March, 2013, the US government offered the deal at $694 million with 30% offset. The proposal did not materialise as the deal expired for want of a response from the Defence Ministry in time.

The US government subsequently took an approval from the US Congress to offer the M-777 deal to India at a ceiling price of $ 885 million—an increase of 27%.

However, shifting the AIT facility to India is expected to reduce the cost factor significantly.

“The project would now cost around $ 750 million. After DAC approval, it would have to go the Cabinet Committee on Security for approval. Offset will progress independently,” officials said after the DAC meeting.

These light weight guns—proposed by the army almost a decade ago—can be airlifted by helicopters or carried on horseback to the forward most posts for deployment.

The first 25 guns will be bought off the shelf and delivered in India. This will save the cost of transportation.

The remaining guns will be brought to India in knock down condition and assembled here, they said.