Indian army received the first batch of towed howitzers M777

The Indian army for the first time in thirty years, armed with new howitzers. The American division of the British company BAE Systems delivered the first batch of towed howitzers M777 to the Indian armed forces, reports "Warspot" with reference to indiatimes.com portal

In 2006, the Indian Defense Ministry announced its intention to acquire M155 777 towed howitzers, but only in November last year approved their purchase. According to the signed contract, the Indian Defense Ministry will receive 737 howitzers M145 in A777 modification for $ 2 million. At the same time, 25 guns will arrive from the US, and 120 units will also be assembled at the Indian enterprise Mahindra Defense Systems.

M777 howitzer

18 May 2017 it became known that the first two howitzers arrived in India, which were delivered to the Pokran military base in the city of the same name (Rajasthan). The first guns will be used for testing with various projectiles of Indian production and the preparation of ballistic tables. Delivery of the next batch of guns is scheduled for September 2018.

The last attempt to purchase towed howitzers for the Indian armed forces ended with the so-called “Bofors” case. In 80-ies, the Ministry of Defense of India and the Swedish company Bofors signed a contract for the supply of FH-77B howitzers worth about $ 1,2 billion, but it was canceled due to a loud corruption scandal.

The M777 howitzer was developed by the British company BAE Systems and is in service with the US Army (about 1000 units), Canada (37 units) and Australia (35 units). In the US, these howitzers entered service in the 2005 year and replaced the M198 artillery systems. Due to the use of aluminum and titanium alloys, the developers managed to reduce the weight of the artillery system to 4,2 t, which made the M777 the lightest howitzer in its class. For comparison, the Russian 2A65 "Msta-B" weighs 7 t, and the weight of the M198 is 7,1 t. Due to the small weight of the M777 it can be transported on external helicopter suspensions. The maximum range of the M777 standard projectile is 24 km, while using the M982 Excalibur “smart” ammunition - up to 40 km.

Comments

[AID.S]

Good Masha ....

[RASKAT]

Nothing good about her, just weight. As they say, evaluate the rate of fire yourself.

but it seems the Indians decided that it was better than their own.

[strannik1985]

Not better, they most likely supplement towed artillery with APU somewhere in the mountains, the conflict with Pakistan is not over.

[DOCTOR ZLO]

RASKAT Today, 16: 16 ↑
Nothing good about her, just weight.

In the first form, a dude with a patch of the 82 Airborne Forces of the USA, armed with the US Airborne Forces are light 105-mm howitzers ...

[Megatron]

Like all over the world there is a rejection of towed guns and the transition to self-propelled artillery systems?

[DEPARTMENT]

Well, let them play, they already have a museum there, you can create the world's weapons!

[rumpeljschtizhen]

you, as always, just to blurt out.
Or do you justify how bad this howitzer is the lightest in the world in its class

[DEPARTMENT]

Quote: rumpeljschtizhen

you, as always, just to blurt out.
Or do you justify how bad this howitzer is the lightest in the world in its class

Well, I can blurt out, I do not argue .. But as for India, it’s funny to me, they are buying everything in the world!
If you buy, then it’s already from some one country, but it’s better to produce it yourself .. Because the ammunition needs service s / h, etc. If a serious kneading begins, India does not last a week (this is without the use of nuclear weapons). Such huge sums are spent, but as they were a regional country, they remained .. It’s just a shame for India to breed them like suckers

[art030765]

India has long wanted weapons for the United States Americans have imposed restrictions on this country; now they have removed the calculation from India; they simply buy weapons from the United States; they give their goods access to the American market, as they say, business is business. India really does not want to drive grandmothers in one direction, i.e. for purchases

[Alexey RA]

Quote: DEPARTMENT

If you buy, then from a single country

And at the same time risk being in the position of Iran after the Islamic Revolution: there is equipment, but there is nowhere to buy spare parts - the United States imposed an embargo.
And now sanctions and embargoes can be imposed for the slightest deviation from the general line of the Washington Regional Committee. And no old ties and good relations will help: with the same Gaddafi a couple of years before the aggression against Libya in the West, they almost kissed passionately.

Quote: DEPARTMENT

but better to produce

And you look at the Indian competitions in recent years: one of the main conditions in their TK is the localization of production and the transfer of technology.

Quote: DEPARTMENT

If a serious kneading starts in India and does not last a week (this is without the use of nuclear weapons)

Somehow the experience of the Indo-Pakistani wars proves the opposite. And there will not be a long serious kneading with the owner of nuclear weapons - either a creeping war of low intensity at the borders, or a powerful disarming strike right away.

[xetai9977]

"Or will you justify how bad this howitzer is?"
Not bad at all, dear. A number of users think that if produced abroad, it means obviously bad, rusty, sucks, and the product cuts the dough. That is the whole reason.

[Orionvit]

India completely forgot what weapons unification is. In the event of a conflict, they risk staying with a huge number of different ammunition, other than necessary. The same applies to aviation and the navy. That is, the availability of spare parts, oils, process fluids, various devices for repair and everything else, to its diverse fleet of weapons, from around the world according to different standards. Not to mention the training of a huge number of specialists for this military “zoo”. I don’t understand, they don’t have this headache, really only in pursuit of technology?

[A1845]

miracles, the famous Pak 43 weighed as much!
Well, about Excalibur, this is clearly not at the address

[karakol]

There is no sense in purchases. From the Indians, warriors like from shit bullets

[Alexey RA]

Quote: karakol

There is no sense in purchases. From the Indians, warriors like from shit bullets

That you confuse them with the Arabs. The Indians just fought well - both in the world, and during regular batches with packs.

[Sergej1972]

They are good warriors. A significant part of the military of India is the Sikhs, who have always been considered good warriors.

[DOCTOR ZLO]

I don’t understand why our Hindu howitzers are not satisfied?

Due to the use of aluminum and titanium alloys, the developers managed to reduce the weight of the artillery system up to 4,2 twhich made the M777 the lightest howitzer in its class. For comparison, the Russian 2A65 MSTA-B gun weighs 7 tons, and the M198 mass is 7,1 tons.

The author is apparently off topic and does not know about the existence of the Russian 152-mm towed howitzer 2A61 "PAT-B" (weight 4,3 t.)

http://zonwar.ru/artileru/sovr_buks_art/PAT-B.htm
l
In the range, of course, loses, but localizing production in India will be cheaper ....

[APASUS]

Quote: DOCTOR ZLO

The author is apparently off topic and does not know about the existence of the Russian 152-mm towed howitzer 2A61 "PAT-B" (weight 4,3 t.)

There is one not unimportant fact like a "roof." The Americans want to tighten India under their sphere of influence, and the Indians are trying to play on the brink of everyone. This is a purely political purchase, so to speak, a "bribe" for political patronage

[DOCTOR ZLO]

I don’t see any problems, we just need to tell the Indians that, in principle, we don’t care who can equip India or Pakistan ....

[SCHNIFER]

They made 1 battery of the installation batch. Out of 6 units, one 2A61 Pat-B howitzer now lives in the Vadim Zadorozhny Museum of Technology in Arkhangelsk. So here it is ...

[Sergej1972]

Maybe I'm wrong, but howitzers, like most small arms, India never bought from the USSR (Russia).

[DOCTOR ZLO]

Quote: Sergej1972

Maybe I'm wrong, but howitzers, like most small arms, India never bought from the USSR (Russia).

You are wrong.
PA:

110 Soviet 122-mm self-propelled guns 2С1 "Carnation"

about 150 Soviet BM-21 Grad (122 mm)

62 Russian system "Tornado" (300 mm)

PTS

250 ATGM “Cornet” Russian production

several thousand Soviet and Russian anti-tank systems "Baby", "Bassoon", "Competition", "Storm",

https://topwar.ru/87710-vooruzhennye-sily-indii.h
tml

[Sergej1972]

Thanks for the information. It was just that somehow I watched a program on TV, they said that they didn’t buy most of the small arms from the USSR.

[DOCTOR ZLO]

Quote: Sergej1972

Thanks for the information. It was just that somehow I watched a program on TV, they said that they didn’t buy most of the small arms from the USSR.

Well, they spoke correctly about small arms, they have in service the English L1A1 (licensed version of the Belgian FN FAL), which has long been in service with the British army

Here is an article about her on VO
https://topwar.ru/63627-avtomaticheskaya-vintovka
-fn-fal-pravaya-ruka-svobodnogo-mira.html

[Großer feldherr]

145 howitzers for $ 737 million, are you all right?
5 million American bucks for each towed cannon ... something tells me that the Indian bureaucrat who pushed through the deal received one of the biggest bribes in the history of the Earth ... does it take envy, why didn’t the Russians learn how to sell their products like that?

[k_ply]

Just compare the char-ki and the weight of the main ammunition (OFS) for the 152-mm light howitzer 2A61 Pat-B (4,3t; OFS-43kg; 15,2km), and for the 122-mm howitzer 2A18M D-30A (3,2t ; OFS-22kg; 15,4 / 22 (ARS) km) and we conclude that, despite the Pat-B caliber, neither the army nor the landing units (howitzer or pallets with ammunition on external Mi-8 sling) are needed.

[DOCTOR ZLO]

One problem, all NATO countries are transferring their PA from 105-mm guns to 155-mm (105-mm will remain only in the Airborne Forces and light infantry units).
In response to this, ours removed the SV D-30 from service, and what kind of replacement is it only for Msta-B, I think so and came up with to replace the D-30 -

152-mm light howitzer 2A61 Pat-B

[k_ply]

You can think and plan anything, and what does NATO artillery have to do with it, despite the fact that there were 105 mm systems, they remained (UK, Canada, USA), and their divisions were supplemented by batteries of 155 mm light BG ( USA), and where they were not (Germany) - 155-mm BG replaced the SG with a general reduction in the park of 155-mm howitzers.

[DOCTOR ZLO]

Here an article on this topic has already been ....

At the beginning of 1990-s, within the framework of NATO, it was decided to switch to a new system of ballistic characteristics of field artillery guns. The optimal type was 155-mm howitzer with 52 caliber barrel (that is, in fact, howitzer-cannon) and 23 charging chamber volume of liter instead of previously adopted 39 caliber and 18 liters. By the way, the same G-6 firms "Denel" and "Littleton Engineering" were upgraded to the level of G-6-52, installing a barrel with a length of 52 caliber and automating the loading.

https://topwar.ru/307-artilleriya-xxi-veka.html

[k_ply]

Well? 155 mm howitzer with a barrel length of 39 klb. led to a possible replacement with the new standard 155 / L52, but only if the army of a particular state considers it appropriate, however, in the same US army howitzers M109A6 and new A7, like the M777, have caliber 155 / L39. Yes, and where is it about supposedly replacing 105-mm artillery systems with 155-mm systems, or did they share the news? And, the articles here are not the ultimate truth.

[DOCTOR ZLO]

Well, basically I’m not in the topic of where to get the information from, I’m not a military man.