Defence ministry signs Rs 7,628 crore contract with L&T to procure Vajra guns, Navy gets first AI-enabled warship

The contract with L&T for procurement of 155 mm, 52 calibre self-propelled tracked artillery guns was signed a week after Cabinet Committee on Security approved deal.

New Delhi: The firepower of armed forces received a boost on Friday with the Defence Ministry signing a Rs 7,629 crore contract for 100 K-9 Vajra artillery guns for the army while the navy received two frontline platforms including the country’s first Al enabled warship.

The contract with Larsen & Toubro for procurement of 155 mm, 52 calibre self-propelled tracked artillery guns was signed a week after the Cabinet Committee on Security approved the deal. This comes amidst continued high-level of troop presence along the Line of Actual Control, the disputed boundary between India and China.

“The gun being equipped with cutting-edge technology is capable of delivering long-range lethal fires with high accuracy and higher rate of fire. It will be able to operate in sub-zero temperatures in high-altitude areas to its full potential,” an official said.

Though the Indian Army’s initial plan was to deploy the first batch of 100 K-9 Vajra in the desert area, the guns with a range of 40 km, were taken to Ladakh for use in mechanised formations along the northern border once tension with China broke out.

The procurement of such versatile artillery gun systems at a cost of Rs 7,628.70 crore would play a pivotal role in enhancing the army’s firepower, enabling deeper strike with precision, the official said. The company will deliver the guns in the next four years.

Navy gets warships from NDL

Meanwhile, in a parallel development, Mazagon Dock Ltd (MDL), Mumbai delivered two capital warships – a destroyer and a stealth frigate - to the Indian Navy.

The guided missile destroyer Surat is the fourth and final warship under Project -15B. This is the tenth mid-sized missile destroyer that the Indian Navy indigenously built since 1997. The next generation of destroyers will be bigger.

With a displacement of 7,400 tons and an overall length of 164 meters, Surat is a potent and versatile platform equipped with state-of-the-art weapons and sensors, including surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles and torpedoes.

“It is poised to be Indian Navy’s first Al-enabled warship utilising indigenously developed Al solutions which would enhance its operational efficiency manifolds,” said an official.

Another platform handed over to the navy was Nilgiri, the first stealth frigate of the P17A class. These multi-mission frigates are capable of operating in a ‘blue water’ environment dealing with both conventional and non-conventional threats.

Under P17A, seven frigates will be constructed at MDL and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata. All of them are to be delivered between 2025 and 2026.

Around 60 ships and submarines of the Indian Navy are under construction at various domestic shipyards as the blue water force plans to commission at least one warship every month over the next 12 months.