Breaking news
India is ready to finalize a $600 million deal to purchase 100 K9 155mm self-propelled howitzers 10501171.
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Defence & Security News - India
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India is ready to finalize a $600 million deal to purchase 100 K9 155mm self-propelled howitzers.
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India is ready to finalize a $660 million deal to purchase the mobile artillery system K9, a South Korean product manufactured by the Company Samsung Techwin. The K9 will be manufactured locally by the Company Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (L&T) in partnership with Samsung Techwin to modify the howitzer for Indian conditions under the name of K9 Vajra.
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 K9 Vajra 155mm tracked self-propelled howitzer at DefExpo defense exhibition in India, March 2016. |
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It's a part of the modernization program of the Indian Armed Forces to purchase new military equipment for artillery units.
According Bloomberg news website, the purchase contract for the 100 howitzers offered by L&T is pending final clearance and will soon go to the Indian Cabinet Committee on Security for approval. The first 10 self-propelled howitzers are to be supplied by L&T to the Indian Army within 18 months of signing, with the balance 90 howitzers to be supplied in the next two years. These will be the first howitzers to be inducted in the Army after the procurement of controversial Bofors 155mm guns nearly three decades ago. Industry sources said that L&T has modified Samsung’s K9 to create the K9 Vajra. About 50 per cent of the gun is planned to be indigenised by L&T in India, including the fabrication and machining of the hull and turret structure and 14 indigenously developed sub-systems. In July 2016, the Indian defense ministry also approved the purchase of 145 M777A2 Ultra Lightweight Howitzers from BAE Systems at a cost of about $750 million. Since July last year, India’s state-owned Ordnance Factory delivered six locally-made 155-mm 45-caliber ‘Dhanush’ guns. India’s Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar said on Nov. 18 in New Delhi that the Indian Army had in mid-2016 inducted the Dhanush guns which would be tested by soldiers before more were added to the artillery regiments. |
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 Indian-made Danush 155mm towed howiter during firing test. |
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