New Delhi: The Ministry of Defence (MoD) Friday signed a contract for procurement of 100 more of the 155 mm/52 calibre K9 VAJRA-T self-propelled tracked artillery guns for the Indian Army at a cost of Rs 7,628.70 crore.
The guns, which were originally meant for the desert, are manufactured by private player Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Limited.
Back in September 2022, ThePrint reported that the Indian Army had moved to procure 100 more Vajras. The new order for 100 more Vajras is a repeat for the South Korean guns that are manufactured indigenously at L&T’s facility in Gujarat.
In 2017, L&T won the Rs 4,500-crore contract to supply 100 units of K9 Vajra under the ‘Make in India’ initiative for which it signed a transfer of technology contract with South Korean company Hanwha Corporation.
According to L&T, the K9 Vajras were delivered with more than 80 percent indigenous work packages and above 50 percent indigenisation (by value) at the programme level.
When the Army did the trials for Vajras before selection, it was carried out in deserts and not in high-altitude areas where the howtizer’s systems work differently in rarefied atmosphere and extreme cold.
But with the tensions breaking out with China at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Army decided to deploy three of these tracked howitzers in Eastern Ladakh as a trial measure in 2020.
The three guns were fitted with winterisation kits that enabled them to work in sub-zero temperature even though they were designed to operate in deserts.
As reported by ThePrint, the gun system proved its mettle following which the Army deployed a full regiment (20 guns make one regiment) of these howitzers in Eastern Ladakh to add to its fire power.
“The procurement of K9 VAJRA-T will catalyse the artillery modernisation and enhance overall operational readiness of the Indian Army. This versatile artillery gun, with its cross-country mobility, will play a pivotal role in enhancing the firepower of the Indian Army, enabling deeper strike with precision and its lethal firepower will bolster the capability of artillery in all terrains,” the MoD said in a statement.
“The gun being equipped with cutting-edge technology is capable of delivering long-range lethal fires with high accuracy & higher rate of fire and will be able to operate in sub-zero temperature in high-altitude areas to its full potential,” it added.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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