India is negotiating with South Africa to purchase 155 mm self-propelled (SP) artillery guns. The deal could cost up to Rs 3,000 crore. If the deal is done, it could be one of the biggest arms deals of the decade after the purchase of the Su-30 aircraft (Rs 7,000 crore) and bigger than the T-90 tank deal with Russia.
The Army needs the 155 mm SP gun (that is akin to the 155 mm Bofors gun purchased from Sweden) for its strategic mechanised strike formations so that advancing columns are never out of reach from their gun support.
Nearly 10 years after it first demanded the guns, the Army, only now, is talking to South Africa to buy 14 regiments of 300 SP guns. The system is called the G-6 wheeled system and will be effective in the Punjab and north Rajasthan terrain.
Nine regiments of 180 wheeled guns are proposed to be bought outright while another five regiments will be a hybrid of 155 mm South African turret mated with the Arjun chassis.
It is the latter gun that will be used to defend the border in the real desert, further South. Extensive trials of this combination have been carried out and have proved successful.
During the Kargil war, South Africa was the leading supplier of ammunition for the 155 mm guns which are used in the static role.
The addition of 14 155 mm SP regiments to the strike corps will considerably sharpen the edge of India's conventional deterrence.
The Pakistani Army uses the vintage US-made M109 A2 155 mm which has just an 18 km range. By contrast the South African gun will have a range of 30 km. That will allow mechanised formations to go deeper into enemy territory without relocating guns.
