India gets ball rolling on truck-mounted howitzers
This is a prototype of the DRDO’s offering for the army’s Mounted Gun System requirement. (Photo: Gordon Arthur)
Truck-mounted 155mm howitzers are one important element of the Indian Army’s goal of modernising its artillery inventory.
On 9 February India’s Defence Acquisition Council approved an acceptance of necessity for 155mm L/52 Mounted Gun Systems (MGS). These are essentially truck-mounted howitzers destined for the Indian Army.
The weapons will be obtained under the Buy (Indian) category of the country’s procurement regulations.
The selected MGS will weigh no more than 30t, and it must be capable of firing a 155mm shell to at least a distance of 38km. The system will have a 20-year service life, and each gun barrel needs to be able to fire the equivalent of 1,500 full charges.
The army first kicked off an
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