Indian Army to deploy M777A2 and K9 howitzers at Kashmir border.

The Indian Army is all set to get advanced artillery guns: 145 ultralight Howitzer M777A2 and self-propelled K-9 Vajra artillery guns. Twenty-five M-777A2 howitzers will be brought to India in a ready-to-use-in-war condition. They will be first deployed in hilly regions.

K9 Vajra (Thunder) self-propelled howitzer displayed at DefExpo India 2018 (Picture source: Army Recognition)

Nirmala Sitharaman, Defence Minister, will instate the weapons into the Indian Army at the School of Artillery near Nashik in Maharashtra. This deal of the two new artillery guns comes almost after 30 years since the Bofors scam. The Indian Army will get all the weapons by 2021, receiving five weapons per month.

The M777A2 is an ultralight howitzer designed and manufactured by BAE Systems. It is a 155mm/39 calibre towed gun which, through proven technology and the innovative use of titanium and aluminium alloys, meets the requirement for rapidly deployable and accurate artillery fire support. The M777(A2) is the world's first 155mm howitzer weighing less than 10,000 lbs (4,218 kg).

The K9 Thunder – named Vajra in the Indian army – is a South Korean self-propelled 155mm howitzer developed by Samsung Techwin for the Republic of Korea Armed Forces and now manufactured by Hanwha Land Systems. It was developed to supplement and then replace the K55 self-propelled howitzers in South Korean service. K9 howitzers operate in groups with the K10 automatic ammunition resupply vehicle variant.