Army's Howitzer damaged in test firing

The Army's new M-777 Howitzer — manufactured in the United States — the first artillery gun to be imported after Bofors, got damaged during its test firing in Pokhran.

The gun was firing Indian ammunition on September 2 when the shell exited the barrel leaving it damaged. This comes as a big setback to the Indian Army that is set to procure 145 of these guns as this accident might delay the process.

"The barrel of the gun has been damaged to such an extent that it needs to be assessed by a joint investigation team," army sources said.

The test firing has been put on hold, and will commence after a proper analysis is carried out by the investigation team. The ultra light Howitzer artillery guns used by US forces in Afghanistan were expected to boost military capabilities to guard the China frontier.

The field trials of the 155 mm, 39-calibre guns manufactured by BAE systems were being carried out at Pokhran in Rajasthan with an aim to collate and determine various critical data like trajectory, speed and frequency.

The Indian Army procured two of these guns in May this year and started test firing. The cost of acquiring 145 such guns is more than Rs 5,000 crore. While 25 guns will come to India in a fly away condition, the rest will be assembled at the proposed Assembly Integration and Test facility for the weapon system in India in partnership with Mahindra.

The light weight guns can be transported by air unlike Bofors which has to be carried to high altitude regions only by road.