Howitzers

The U.S. will buy 100,000 rounds of howitzer artillery from South Korean manufacturers to provide to Ukraine, a U.S. official said Thursday, in a deal the two governments have been working on for some time. The agreement comes as Ukrainian leaders press for more weapons and aid to take advantage of a counteroffensive that is pushing Russian forces out of some areas they had taken over earlier in the war. And it relieves concerns within the U.S. military particularly the Army and the Marine Corps who are worried that persistent transfers of the Pentagon's howitzer ammunition to Ukraine are eating into their stockpiles. Other defense officials confirmed the broad outlines of the contract and said it would help with stockpile pressures, specifically involving the howitzer ammunition, which Ukrainian forces have been using at a high rate. Last week a defense official briefing reporters said Ukraine was burning through as many as 7,000 rounds of ammunition a day, while Russia was firing

The Excalibur can penetrate 8-10 inches thick concrete bunkers and walls and will reduce the chances of collateral damage when used against the enemy

The first regiment of K9 Vajra is expected to complete by July 2019

Engineering conglomerate Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has been awarded a contract to supply 100 self-propelled howitzers to the Indian Army for nearly Rs 4,500 crore. The first batch of the 155mm/52 calibre tracked self- propelled (SP) gun -- K9 VAJRA-T -- will be delivered later this year and the entire supply will be made within next 42 months. L&T, supported by its South Korean technology partner Hanwha Tech Win (HTW), had bid for the contract in 2011. The contract valued at about at Rs 4,500 crore is the largest order placed by the Defence Ministry (MoD) with an Indian private company, Jayant Patil, Head of Defence and Aerospace at L&T, said. Among the four bidders, L&T emerged as the sole qualified aspirant, after a series of user trials and evaluations, based on the performance of the K9 VAJRA-T self-propelled Howitzer. The K9 VAJRA-T gun is an enhanced version of HTW's K9 Thunder - a world class self-propelled howitzer, customised and co-developed by L&T and

US envoy Richard Verma says that Indian industry will partner with the US defence subsidiary of BAE Systems to locally assemble the howitzers