While the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) notification of ‘Second Positive Indigenisation List’ of 108 items finally confirms that both the Indian Army (IA) and Indian Air Force (IAF) will now receive only the indigenous Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) developed by the MoD-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and not the Kamov Ka-226T, the absence of any mention about any type of 155mm/52-cal field artillery howitzer (be it towed, mounted gun system of MGS and tracked self-propelled) can only mean that such items will be imported for the foreseeable future. While the towed 155mm/52-cal howitzer was mentioned in the first negative list released on August 9, 2020, and the embargo on imports was to kick in from December 2020, the date was subsequently changed on August 21 to December 31, 2021. Now it has been left open-ended.
The process for acquiring 155mm/52-cal towed howitzers and MGS began in 2001 as part of the IA’s Field Artillery Rationalisation Plan, which had been drawn up in 1999. Multiple requests for proposal (RFP) were issued, starting with the first in February 2002. Nearly 14 years ago, the MoD had cleared the proposal for a 155mm/52-cal towed howitzers under the ‘Buy and Make’ category. In the last RFP, which was issued under the UPA government in June 2013, only two companies—ELBIT Systems of Israel (teamed up with the MoD-owned OFB) and Nexter Systems of France (teamed up with Larsen & Toubro) participated. The competition was for the supply of 400 towed howitzers off-the-shelf and licenced-production of another 1,180 howitzers by Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), under a full Transfer of Technology (ToT) process that guarantees 50% local material content.
In March 2019, following exhaustive ‘Field Trials Cum Evaluation Process’ spread over two years of ELBIT’s Autonomous Towed Howitzer Ordnance System or ATHOS (weighing less than 15 tonnes) and Nexter’s Trajan (weighing 13 tonnes), ELBIT Systems was declared the lowest bidder (L-1). ELBIT had quoted €477 million for 400 fully-built ATHOS, while Nexter quoted €776 million, which translated into each ATHOS costing €1.2 million, significantly cheaper than the Trajan’s €1.94 million per unit cost. Thus, the ATHOS cost 40% less than the Trajan. cost negotiation process was successfully completed between SIBAT, the International Defence Cooperation Directorate of Israel’s Ministry of Defence (representing ELBIT Systems) and the MoD in July 2019.
However, in December 2020, SIBAT wrote a letter to the MoD to expedite contract signature and even stated that in case the MoD wanted to order only 400 ATHOS (for 20 IA medium regiments) and forego the option of licenced manufacture, the related cost corresponding to the ToT process can be deducted from the total contract price. In addition, ELBIT Systems through SIBAT offered the ToT for the 1,180 ATHOS as an option for India, at the same cost as mentioned in the commercial offer made. ELBIT has also committed itself to achieve 70% indigenisation within the contract for the first 400 ATHOS howitzers, starting from the first units.
Finally, ELBIT also promised to supply the 400 howitzers much earlier than the contract delivery schedule—the first six within 10 months after contract signing, an additional six within 14 months, and the remainder according to an accelerated delivery schedule, which will ensure finalisation of the deliveries not later than 54 months from the date of contract signature, instead of the 72 months stipulated in the draft contract.
For meeting its ambitious 70% indigenisation target, ELBIT has proposed to take the unprecedented step of setting up two parallel production facilities in India, under which it will partner with the Pune-based Kalyani Group’s Bharat Forge Ltd (BFL) for supplying the first 400 ATHOS howitzers. After that, ELBIT has proposed to undertake ToT with OFB to build the next 1,180 howitzers. ELBIT has an existing industrial joint venture (JV) with Bharat Forge called BF-Elbit Advanced Systems, and another JV with Alpha Design Technologies, called Alpha ELSEC, and another JV with Hyderabad-based Aditya Precitech Pvt Ltd.
From the above, we can safely conclude that the procurement of 400 ATHOS is now a foregone conclusion, and the fight is now between two opposing lobbies: one within the MoD where the Department for Defence production & Supplies’ Secretary (who is a sitting member of the OFB’s Board of Directors) being duty-bound to mandate the licenced-production of 1,180 ATHOS howitzers by OFB; and the other led by the MoD-owned Defence R & D Organisation, which is lobbying against the ATHOS and instead pushing for the procurement of 1,580 indigenously developed Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS).
The ATAGS project commenced in 2012 with two strategic industrial partners—BFL and Tata Aerospace & Defence Ltd. The ATAGS was developed in a record time of 30 months and has gone through extensive trials over the last four years and performed admirably with remarkable consistency. Electrical power is used for gun-laying and ammunition-handling. ATAGS is configured with an all-electric drive that ensures maintenance-free and reliable operation over longer periods of time. The 155mm/52-cal howitzer has automatic setting up, laying with high-end SIGMA-30 ring laser gyro-based system (from SAFRAN/SAGEM of France) and an automated ammunition handling system that loads the shell, bi-modular charge and primer simultaneously, with manual back-up for gun-laying.
The ATAGS also has an advanced hydraulic drive system that provides effective manoeuvrability in different terrain such as on roads, cross-country terrain, deserts and high-altitude areas. The high-power auxiliary power unit (made in India) provides effective self-propelled speed, rapid deployment and short response time. ATAGS has greater than 95% indigenous content. It comprises 7,463 components of which 4,977 are manufactured parts involving about 30,000 manufacturing processes and more than 2,00,000 inspection parameters. The longer range of the ATAGS comes from its larger chamber, which houses a larger quantity of high-explosive propellant that shoots out the warhead further. The ATAGS chamber volume is 25 litres, compared to 23 litres in all other existing 155mm/52-cal towed howitzers. The project entered the TRL Stage-10 (as per DRDO TRL stages) last October and was put through mandatory trials over the period of last five years and has completed them successfully.
The 18-tonne ATAGS performed well in high-altitude trials in January 2018 at the 12,000-foot-high Menla Firing Range in Sikkim. In these trials, the BFL-developed ATAGS prototype fired a total of 130+ rounds, mostly in Zone 7, and the feedback was that the system had met the parameters. The howitzer prototype fielded by TATA Aerospace & Defence Ltd too succeeded in firing 99 rounds. However, when it went for additional trials in September, a gun barrel burst while being fired. At the 100th round, which was fifth of the rapid-fire practice, the gun tube sheared off, thus creating the first unfortunate incident during the entire process of design and development. It must be noted that the two prototypes, which have till now fired almost 2,000 rounds between them, can easily withstand pressures up to 560 mega Pascals and are the only ones to fire munitions in Zone 7.
PLAGF MGS For Warfare In High-Altitude Areas
