Understanding India's Artillery Evolution: Self-Propelled Systems Take Center Stage

The Indian Army's planned acquisition of an additional 100 K-9 Vajra self-propelled howitzers highlights an intensifying debate over the role of self-propelled artillery in its future arsenal.

Lessons learned from the Ukraine War, where towed artillery has proven highly vulnerable to counter-battery fire, underscore the vital need for survivability and rapid deployment in modern warfare.

The Case for Self-Propelled Artillery​

Wheeled and tracked self-propelled howitzers offer a distinct advantage over towed systems. They provide potent firepower combined with the ability to quickly maneuver and re-position, improving survivability against enemy attacks.

India's ambitious plans to acquire over 800 wheeled self-propelled howitzers and expand its tracked artillery fleet point to a growing recognition of this requirement.

Setbacks and the Potential for Revival​

The cancellation of the Bhim tracked self-propelled howitzer program, a collaboration with South Africa's Denel, created a gap in India's tracked howitzer development.

However, indigenous efforts have led to breakthroughs, including the successful development of the ATAGS (Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System) and its derivative, the Mounted Gun System.

Senior officials from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) assert that the ATAGS gun technology is readily adaptable to a tracked platform.

If the Army commits to a substantial order (at least 300 units), this has the potential to revive a domestically produced tracked howitzer.

Balancing Priorities and Building for the Future​

Former Army Chief Gen Naravane has been a vocal advocate for reducing reliance on towed howitzers in favor of self-propelled systems. This stance aligns with the lessons of the Ukraine War, emphasizing the need for rapid deployment and survivability against advanced threats like loitering munitions.

The Indian Army faces a critical decision as it navigates its artillery modernization program. Self-propelled systems are rapidly becoming a critical requirement for future battlefields.

Reviving a tracked-howitzer based on ATAGS technology offers a path toward self-reliance and a solution tailored to India's unique terrain and operational challenges.

 

[NSR]

Until domestic tracked Howitzer systems becomes available to India, it must still consider ordering 200 more K-9 Vajras if South Korea transfers gun technology.
Any howitzer including tracked ones take time to develop as we have all experienced so far so ordering additional K-9s makes a good sense.

In future, India must order only Indian maal Howitzers of all kinds and also their ammunitions too.

 

[Mango_Indian]

This order was needed for multiple political reasons and not necessarily the gun performance including

- Idling of L$T "factory" ( cannot call it a factory when all it is doing is screwdriving only, but hey ...) in Gujarat as it no longer has any orders. Cant let that happen now...can we?

- Hanhwa Techwin did not allow its chassis to be used for Zorawar Light Tank - which is nothing but the K9 Thunder chassis minus a set of wheels to shorten the wheel base. The 2nd order is to get their approval for this purpose.

All the jokers claiming the Zorawar Light Tank chassis is indigenous - Read this article written by Col Alok Mathur, IA

 

[The_rED_dEVIL]

ATAGS×Arjun chassis should be given a try... maybe even T90 (bcoz of the weight factor)

 

[Satya Dev]

Bhim SPH can be revived as BhimMK1 by asking BEML (or TATA/BharatForge) to mount ATAGS i/o Denel gun on the Arjun Chassis. Alongwith the ATAGS mounted on Tatra trucks we can deploy them on the western front.
Bharat Forge has already developed 30km range MArG-BR 155mmx39cal MGS with autoloader for Armenia, so IA can ask them to offer 48km range MArG-ER 155mmx52cal MGS for deployment on the North/North East LOC/LAC mountains (Kashmir-Ladakh-Himachal-U'Khand-Sikkim-Arunachal).

 

[Enforcer]

We cannot build the track ones yet and artillery is in dire need. Just buy more K9 vajra under tot and order atleast 200 more. So we can have around 300 tracked artillery and 500 or more indigenous truck mounted ones. Simple plan.

 

[Pink Panther]

Vehicle mounted artillery is the best for modern day warfare as they are mobile can be relocated at the last minute based on incoming counter attack, towed artillery takes a ling time to disassemble and to connect to the towing vehicle , also need additional man power to do this job.

 

[Satya Dev]

We cannot build the track ones yet and artillery is in dire need. Just buy more K9 vajra under tot and order atleast 200 more. So we can have around 300 tracked artillery and 500 or more indigenous truck mounted ones. Simple plan.

We can import K9 Vajras directly from Techwin @ Rs 23 crore apiece, otherwise if we take the ATMANIRBHARTA route (screwdriver assembly of CKD kits) we will have to pay LT a whopping Rs 45 crore apiece.

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

This notion that towed howitzer is worse than self propelled because it cant shhot and scoot is wrong. The number one threat to howitzers is not counter battery fire but drones and loitering munities and other air strikes. They can just as easily take out self propelled howitzer as they can towed.

In fact ukraine has lost more self propelled howitzers than it has towed. Best way to use howitzers is to use camoflage. Watch videos of how ukrainian artillery crews are using howitzers today. They dig a pit, put howitzer in it(both types). Put huge amount of netting and other camoflage on top and just keep the barrel visible so itcan fire.

There needs to be very careful thought aboit which type of howitzer to buy and in what numbers. Just calling towed ones useless now is not good. They are cheaper, and they dont have size constraint, so you can build them bigger for longer range.

 

[bonito]

If Ukraine war is the case study wonder which machine was ever successful. Even advanced drones were shot down. Equally low cost drones too. Any thing mobile (himars) or sitting ducks were all shot down by each side.

 

[k2b2]

If Ukraine war is the case study wonder which machine was ever successful. Even advanced drones were shot down. Equally low cost drones too. Any thing mobile (himars) or sitting ducks were all shot down by each side.

missiles

 

[Kira]

Until domestic tracked Howitzer systems becomes available to India, it must still consider ordering 200 more K-9 Vajras if South Korea transfers gun technology.
Any howitzer including tracked ones take time to develop as we have all experienced so far so ordering additional K-9s makes a good sense.

In future, India must order only Indian maal Howitzers of all kinds and also their ammunitions too.

This makes ample sense as there is already a plant ready to build more K-9.Also,there is no point in returning to an older platform like Bhim when far modern guns with better features are already available like the K-9 itself alongside potentially many domestic alternatives,although I don't see the wisdom in building an entirely new tracked platform as K-9 has already proven itself sufficient for the task.
Say,the IA needs 500 tracked artillery guns at the end of the day,and now IA already has 200 units of K-9s,then it makes prudence to stick with the same platform for 300 more units for better logistics,training and maintenance of the fleet instead of splitting the orders for same needs to different platforms.
I am all for indigenous development,but it does not make sense here in this case as K-9 already perfectly fits the bill,and it will only indigenize further with greater orders in near future.

 

[The Presence]

I am all for indigenous development,but it does not make sense here in this case as K-9 already perfectly fits the bill,and it will only indigenize further with greater orders in near future.

The article says that the requirement is for 800 Wheeled SPGs.
So it makes perfect sense to go for an indigenous option after the order of 200 Vajras.

 

[Akshat]

We can import K9 Vajras directly from Techwin @ Rs 23 crore apiece, otherwise if we take the ATMANIRBHARTA route (screwdriver assembly of CKD kits) we will have to pay LT a whopping Rs 45 crore apiece.

Just like how we could have imported Su30 mki at 30 million usd but paid a whopping 68 million usd to HAL.

 

[Akshat]

This order was needed for multiple political reasons and not necessarily the gun performance including

- Idling of L$T "factory" ( cannot call it a factory when all it is doing is screwdriving only, but hey ...) in Gujarat as it no longer has any orders. Cant let that happen now...can we?

- Hanhwa Techwin did not allow its chassis to be used for Zorawar Light Tank - which is nothing but the K9 Thunder chassis minus a set of wheels to shorten the wheel base. The 2nd order is to get their approval for this purpose.

All the jokers claiming the Zorawar Light Tank chassis is indigenous - Read this article written by Col Alok Mathur, IA

-A factory that makes a product with 70%+ indigenous content, but let’s call it screw driving because…why not?

- The factory delivered the promised numbers of guns on time, and was left alone for over 2 years, ‘idling’, but let’s give it a regional political twist, because…why not?

- Hanhwa’s chassis was rejected and a whole new chassis has been already developed and will be given for trials even before this new deal reaches MoD. But let’s spread rumors because…why not?

All the jokers claiming Zorawar is not indigenous please don’t read the official information from L&T itself because…why shall you?

 

[bonito]

missiles

Missiles will not kill infantry. Thinking on the infantry paradigm even the gurella attack didn't work.

I suppose the quantity is what won in the war however worst the quality was.

 

[Baiju Bhaskaran]

Very pathetic decision to order only 100 instead of atleast 1000 under pressure from pro Chinese lobby in the bureaucracy. K9 was originally designed by Korea to operate in high altitude. When Galwan incident happened and other Indian tanks were having problems operating in high altitude, only K9 operated satisfactorily. It was only at that time our Generals realised that it is designed for high altitude and they wanted to order more. But unfortunately the Chinese lobby in the bureaucracy put a hold on it. Now also they are creating obstacles. It is unfortunate that even after ten years the government is not able to get rid of many anti Bharath deep state in our administration.

 

[Sandeep]

Based on the war in Ukraine it shows that if your towed artillery is protected by EW or camouflaged very well and by not firing it regularly or continuously then it's possible that the tactic might work to keep your artillery protected.

The problem is that in Indian conditions we have the desert and dusty terrain on the Pakistan border and then the rough, rocky, snowy, frozen hard ground, mountainous terrain in Ladakh and towards the east in Arunachal Pradesh the thick jungle, marshy, poor road, landslide prone areas. None of these terrain or areas allow us to hide or camouflage any towed guns and they would be left exposed to counter fire.

The only option that suits India is to have more 155mm mounted guns on wheels or have tracked versions and if it's used along with the mounted tracked 81mm or 120mm mortars then these are ideal for our strike corps which need a fast momentum to keep on the offensive battle. The only use where towed guns are useful is to defend against a attack or limited small offensive missions if they can move positions. The only problem is that any towed or mounted gun will be more expensive. India has only just started to develop a truck/jeep mounted gun and have made very good progress and the ATAGS which combines both. India still needs to develop its own indigenous tracked guns but until then we have to import the K9 Vajra with 70+% indigenous content and we need different variants that's suited for freezing cold winter and hot weather desert conditions.

India has recently tried to develop our own 100% indigenous tracked gun based on the Arjun chassis and installing a 130mm gun on top. It's not clear how much success or progress that's been made.

 

[Kira]

The article says that the requirement is for 800 Wheeled SPGs.
So it makes perfect sense to go for an indigenous option after the order of 200 Vajras.

I believe the tracked version like K-9 is already there,so there is no need for any other alternative,as for wheeled versions,there are already several versions aka mounted guns that can be quickly produced.
Although,I don't know whether they want a strictly wheeled AFV armed with a howitzer or just truck carrying howitzer which already exists in several avatars.

 

[Rajesh]

Drdo has enough experience from the bhim program and not to forget we can make the gun system ourselves. Drdo should join with l&t along with kalyani to develop an Indigenous k9 vajra after all we have paid for the tot and those should be utilised . These systems can find export market in the future as non thought Indian howitzers would be exported in the future when those program was initiated.

 

[Prashu Sam]

-A factory that makes a product with 70%+ indigenous content, but let’s call it screw driving because…why not?

- The factory delivered the promised numbers of guns on time, and was left alone for over 2 years, ‘idling’, but let’s give it a regional political twist, because…why not?

- Hanhwa’s chassis was rejected and a whole new chassis has been already developed and will be given for trials even before this new deal reaches MoD. But let’s spread rumors because…why not?

All the jokers claiming Zorawar is not indigenous please don’t read the official information from L&T itself because…why shall you?

Totally agree.

Forget L&T have Gujrat plant and this is political move etc.

K-9 repeat order is dire necessity as it is not economical to handle small number of fleet for artillery. It is proven platform. LT did marvelous job finishing delivery before time and quick to update winter kit. Tracked artillery like this one assisted with MGS (hopefully ATAGS and Dhanush) will be game changer. We are wasting time in discussion, planning, testing, procurement while platforms like K-9, ATAGS , ATAGS Mounted can be inducted very short time and proven.

Lets cut all the BS and order 200 more K-9 ASAP. L&T is smart enough to increase local content and absorb technology.

 

[Sunnyj]

Get all types, each has its uses.