Army Prepares for 100 More K9 Vajra Howitzers to Boost Defences Along China Border

The Indian Army is on the brink of a substantial artillery upgrade as the government prepares to approve the procurement of an additional 100 K9 Vajra tracked, self-propelled howitzers.

The decision, expected to be finalized in a cabinet committee meeting this month, will significantly enhance India's firepower capabilities, particularly along the sensitive border with China.

This repeat order comes in the wake of the successful delivery of the initial 100 K9 Vajras by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) in 2022.

Built in India under a technology transfer agreement with South Korean defence firm Hanwha Defense, these howitzers were initially designed for desert warfare.

However, their deployment in the high-altitude Ladakh region during the 2020 standoff with China showcased their versatility. The Army subsequently procured winterization kits to ensure the howitzers operate seamlessly in extreme cold conditions.

The acquisition of 100 more K9 Vajras aligns with India's defence procurement policy, which permits repeat orders up to the quantity of the original purchase.

The new howitzers are projected to be delivered in phases, with the final units expected to join the Army's arsenal by 2028.

 

[Shrujanam Syama]

Agreed. This kind of rule is just silly. Say, for instance, we get 5 pieces of a particular item for trials and then decide to procure a 1000 of them. This silly rule would mean we would have to place 199-200 orders, which is just nonsense.

Ideally, we would be wanting to loon at upwards of 500 self-propelled artillery pieces. The future of artillery is mobile artillery, be it SPA or MGS. Static artillery is still useful, but also very vulnerable.

Poor argument. Mobile artillery needs huge amount of diesel and another vehicles to load the shells. All of these causes massive problems. The towed artillery needs much less number of logistical equipments and also has a small APU which can drive it around at speeds of 5-10kmph which is enough for deployment condition. There is a reason why no country prefers SPG over towed guns

 

[Shrujanam Syama]

Because IA had asked for 300 from start but govt gave funds for only 100. If you don't know how these order works don't blame the army.

Wrong. IA did not ever use towed artillery and this was the first trial. How would IA be so confident to ask for 300 pieces of something it has never used? This is just fake news and lies

 

[Anant]

India should also Think of Exporting this to Third Countries (Freindly Nation ).

The K-9 is not an Indian product. As such, we cannot export it unless we have an export license from the South Koreans. If we do apply for such a thing, the Koreans will just export them themselves.

 

[sanket]

The K-9 is not an Indian product. As such, we cannot export it unless we have an export license from the South Koreans. If we do apply for such a thing, the Koreans will just export them themselves.

wait & watch Export may reality soon. There are chances of exporting similar Like Brahmos Missile.

 

[sanket]

These howitzers were all delivered by 2022, that is 2 years ago. Why not place repeat order then, when army loved them so much. Why waste 2 years. The production line was empty for 2 years.

poor planning ,No vision waste of Time. same was happen with scorpene class Subs .Infact follow-on order should have been place when production was on.orignal should have been in Bigger Nos atleast 500 .

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

Instead of buying the K-9 from LT, Gujarat under Atmanirbhar (screwdriver assembly) @ a hefty Rs 45-50 Crores apiece, why not directly import both K-9 & K-10 (ammo replenishment vehicle) @ Rs 40 crores?

How does manufacturing over 70% of it indigenously with Indian content make it screw driving? Do you know any Indian company that can design and develop something similar or better?

it seems that your love at peddling the corrupt jihadi party propaganda is exposed 😂

 

[Anant]

wait & watch Export may reality soon. There are chances of exporting similar Like Brahmos Missile.

Boss, the BrahMos and the K9 are very different in many aspects. We build the K9 under license, while we own most (if not all) of the IPR for teh BrahMos, and the nature of BrahMos Aerospace means that the missile is an Indian product.

As a result, when we export the BrahMos, we only need a go-ahead from Russia. Theoretically, once we completely indigenise the BrahMos, we can cut Russia out as well. Russia can only veto a sale in theory, and after indigenisation, they have no veto power.

When we look to export the K9, we need approval and an export license from the Koreans. They can easily veto a sale if they want it. The only way to work around it would be to produce and sell unlicensed copied, which is an excellent way to invite penalties and damage relations.

 

[Sandeep]

If India orders more then we should make sure that we can increase the amount of ToT we receive and local manufacturing that we do. In the first batch we manufactured over 70% of it in India with indigenous content and now we should get the private sector to take a comprehensive look at the foreign parts and technology and to replace them as quickly as possible. The most crucial parts are the engine and main artillery gun which is where we should focus on developing an indigenous gun and turret or reverse engineer whatever we have.

 

[Borodine]

Why only 100. At present Vajra is the only one we have which is specifically suitable for high altitude operations as it was designed for high altitude operations by the Koreans. We should go for more than 700.

700 K9s alone is overkill, but 500 K9s+ 6-700 truck mounted howitzers should defo be inducted. Unfortunately, we have been very slow to modernize our artillery and are falling behind Pakistan, never mind China.

 

[Borodine]

It is a tracked arty gun..... But IA using them as 155mm tanks now!

SPHs do have a direct fire mode akin to tanks, but that isnt how they should be used.

 

[Borodine]

YES. Buy this and 155mm main guns T14 Armatas also!

Armatas are useless junk that even the Russians arent using.

 

[sanket]

Boss, the BrahMos and the K9 are very different in many aspects. We build the K9 under license, while we own most (if not all) of the IPR for teh BrahMos, and the nature of BrahMos Aerospace means that the missile is an Indian product.

As a result, when we export the BrahMos, we only need a go-ahead from Russia. Theoretically, once we completely indigenise the BrahMos, we can cut Russia out as well. Russia can only veto a sale in theory, and after indigenisation, they have no veto power.

When we look to export the K9, we need approval and an export license from the Koreans. They can easily veto a sale if they want it. The only way to work around it would be to produce and sell unlicensed copied, which is an excellent way to invite penalties and damage relations.

In Future South koreans(License holder) if allow permission to export then in mutual interest there is possibility of export.

 

[Bharat007]

These howitzers were all delivered by 2022, that is 2 years ago. Why not place repeat order then, when army loved them so much. Why waste 2 years. The production line was empty for 2 years.

Same should be said about Rafale. Instead of 36, it should have been around 60s so as to fill ever depleting strength of IAF. Looking back, India wasted so many precious years.

 

[Pad UwU]

SPHs do have a direct fire mode akin to tanks, but that isnt how they should be used.

Oh yeah I forgot the 155mm ones... We need all types for all certain scenarios

 

[INDI-NEXT INCORPORATION]

Not 100 go for 1000

 

[Pad UwU]

YES. Buy this and 155mm main guns T14 Armatas also!

Correction bruh...
its it said they installed a 152mm turrets not 155mm when I saw that video

 

[beencensured]

How does manufacturing over 70% of it indigenously with Indian content make it screw driving? Do you know any Indian company that can design and develop something similar or better?

it seems that your love at peddling the corrupt jihadi party propaganda is exposed 😂

Yes, the Bhim SPG was better as having longer range and built on Arjun's chassis. Just killed with false complaint. Further, if it was a local product and not been able to do high altitudes it would have never been ordered. Let s feel shame a Indian designed and developed product was killed, but a foreign product that did not pass high altitude trials was selected. B . J P. lacks in logic, still licks s#t, because it cannot change the awari anti-Hindu education that Mullah Nehru and his Khilafat movement education minister made. .

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

Same should be said about Rafale. Instead of 36, it should have been around 60s so as to fill ever depleting strength of IAF. Looking back, India wasted so many precious years.

Reason for buy so few rafales was that france was asking for too much money. Price Negotiations did not go well for india and so we had no choice but to reduce our order

 

[Rinku Pandey]

There were multiple reports that a good chunk of budget allocated was left unused till new allocation even by IA.

Any purchase over 500cr has to be done by govt. Army has no control over it.

 

[Rinku Pandey]

Wrong. IA did not ever use towed artillery and this was the first trial. How would IA be so confident to ask for 300 pieces of something it has never used? This is just fake news and lies

Haha never used towed artillery? India has over 1500 towed artillery.