Indian Army’s Field Artillery Rationalisation Plan (FARP) in 2008 called for 3,000 – 3,600 artillery guns. 1,580 towed, 814 mounted, 180 self-propelled wheeled, 100 self-propelled tracked and 145 ultra-light artillery guns. Total project cost was expected to be INR 20,000 crore or USD 3 billion.
Of it, 145 M777 (155×39) ultra-light howitzers were procured relatively quickly in 2012 for around USD 900 million.
300 ATAGS (155×52) towed howitzers, costing USD 6,900 crore (US$740 million) are expected to start induction by 2027.
100 self-propelled tracked K9s were bought in 2017 for INR 4500 crores and another 100 were ordered in 2024 for INR 7600 crore. 335 more were just ordered for INR 20,000 crore bringing the total to 535.
114 towed Dhanush (155×45) worth 1260 crore were ordered in 2013 with option for 300 more. Due to typical Bharat sarkar work quality, only 50 have been delivered so far.
300 Soviet era 130 mm M46 guns were to be upgraded to 155×45 calibre for INR 6000 crore. 150-160 were delivered but project was halted due to gun failures.
No truck mounted guns have been ordered so far.
FARP is still a long way from completion with room for 2000-2500 more guns and is costing a lot more than initial estimated. So it is nice to see large orders of K9 and ATAGS. These are the two which can fill up the numbers relatively quickly. I suppose, recent events will result in induction of more self-propelled platforms.
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