Watch: Indian Army Tests Its New Howitzer M-777 Guns

The Indian Army has begun trials of the ultra-light Howitzer M-777 guns. The trials took place in the Pokhran Range of Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district on Wednesday.

A group of the Indian Army’s Artillery Unit conducted the test firing in the presence of a team of American members and BAE System’s engineers.

The M-777 Howitzer is a 155 mm artillery piece, manufactured by BAE Systems, a London-based multinational defence and security firm. With a weight of 4,200 kg, the M-777 is 41 per cent lighter than the M198 Howitzer it replaced.

The artillery piece has been in use since 2005 and has taken part in combats of the Iraq War, War in Afghanistan and the Military intervention against ISIS.

The Centre under its Foreign Military Sales programme sealed the deal with the Government of United States of America for the M-777 guns on 17 November 2016, which is estimated to be at Rs 4,700 crores.

India has placed an order of 145 guns, out of which two were delivered to Delhi onboard a special aircraft in May this year. The remaining are set to be delivered within the next five to six months. Moreover, only 25 of these guns will be delivered by the United States.

The remaining 120 are set to be assembled by Mahindra Defence, who maintains a joint venture with BAE Systems called Defence Land Systems India, as part of the Government’s flagship ‘Make in India’ programme.

The Indian Army is the fourth army, after the Canadian Army, the Australian Army and the United States Army to use the Howitzer M-777 Guns.