Army chief Gen J J Singh on Friday said the process of acquiring more than 400 155mm howitzers to boost the force's firepower was going smoothly and that the guns were likely to be inducted by next year.
"Our projection of the artillery profile of the Army is to have the 155mm/52 calibre howitzer as our primary weapon and we are proceeding on the acquisitions. The contenders are being trial-evaluated and the tests are likely to be completed by the end of this year," he said at a press conference on the eve of the Army Day.
The Army chief said the force would carry out two trials - the summer tests in the deserts and the high-altitude tests in the winters - before deciding on its choice.
He declined to answer queries on whether the newly-risen controversy over Bofors can hamper the acquisition plans, as the gun of AB Systems - the successor to the Swedish arms major - was one of the contenders.
"We will select the one which performs the best and meets all our parameters. It is then upto the government to approve. Whatever they decide, we will accept," Gen Singh said, adding, "We anticipate inductions to begin by 2007. If we get a gun that meets all our requirements."
The Indian Army's planned acquisition of howitzers from among three contenders - AB Systems, Israel's Soltam Systems and the South African Denel Ltd - had been stymied after the Defence Ministry blacklisted Denel following revelations of improper conduct by the South African firm, and the Israeli gun did not meet the necessary criteria.
This left the Swedish gun as the only contender, thus violating the Comptroller and Auditor General guidelines of not going in for single-vendor procurement.
Since then, new contenders, including Russia, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom, had reportedly entered the contest. There were also indications that the Indian Army was willing to rely on the test results, conducted elsewhere in similar conditions than go in for tests itself, in a bid to speed up the deal.
© 2025