Indian Army Inducts Its First M777 Ultra Lightweight Howitzers
November 12 2018 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
The Indian Army celebrated receiving its first M777A2 Ultra
Lightweight Howitzers (ULH) at an official handover ceremony today,
a key step toward the modernizing and strengthening of the Indian
Army’s artillery capabilities. The 155mm M777 systems will deploy
to their first regiment in 2019. The gun systems, produced by BAE
Systems, were accepted earlier this year, as part of a 145-gun
agreement between the U.S. and Indian governments.
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BAE Systems-built 155mm M777 Ultra
Lightweight towed Howitzer (ULH) painted in the unique Indian
Artillery camouflage design, is reporting for duty as the Indian
Artillery inducts its first gun systems at a ceremony held in
Maharashtra, India on 9 November 2018. (Photo: BAE Systems)
“The Indian Army is receiving an extremely reliable and
battle-proven artillery platform,” Joe Senftle, vice president and
general manager of BAE Systems’ weapon systems business, said while
attending the event. “The M777 brings a new level of capability to
the artillery unit by offering rapid deployment and extreme
accuracy. It can operate in areas that are difficult to access and
is also very easy to maintain.”
BAE Systems is building and delivering the first 25 M777 ULHs
fully assembled, with the remaining 120 to be assembled in India by
Mahindra Defence Systems Ltd. (MDSL) under an arrangement designed
to support defense industrial cooperation and promote local
economic growth.
“The M777 ULH is more than a very effective piece of artillery
technology,” said Nik Khanna, managing director India, BAE Systems.
“With the M777 program, BAE Systems has made the first step of our
substantive Make-in-India commitment, which includes our pledge to
develop a network of Indian suppliers for our global supply chain
and deepen our relationship with industry in India. We are
committed to a strong and collaborative working relationship
between BAE Systems, the Indian Armed Forces and Indian
industry.”
“This is a landmark event with the first M777s being delivered
to the Indian Army. It is a product of our long-standing business
partnership with BAE Systems,” said SPShukla, Group President -
Aerospace & Defence Sector, Mahindra Group, and Chairman -
Mahindra Defence Systems. “In this program each of the M777
howitzers have value addition from Mahindra Defence. I believe
that this is the first step towards Make-in-India with much bigger
programs to follow.”
The U.S. government recently certified that MDSL is ready to
carry out the work at a purpose-built production facility created
for this program to conduct the in-country Assembly and Integration
of 120 of the 145 gun systems on order. The newly-handed over M777
ULHs were instrumental in establishing the new MDSL capability in
India. The Mahindra team finalized these weapons by replicating the
proven manufacturing processes to the highest of quality
specifications, including modifications specifically tailored for
the Indian Artillery, such as a unique camouflage paint scheme.
Earlier this year, BAE Systems delivered the first spares and
other logistics including tooling, technical publications and
training materials, to support the Indian Army as it brings these
new M777 ULHs into service. The company also recently received a
contract to provide 18 additional M777 systems to the U.S. Army,
taking the total number of systems ordered and in service with the
United States, Canada, Australia and India to more than 1,250.
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