New Delhi issues RFI for 155 mm/52 calibre self-propelled howitzers for the Indian Army

India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has invited responses by 9 June from domestic and foreign original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to its request for information (RFI) regarding the supply of an unspecified number of 155 mm/52 calibre “mounted gun systems (MGSs)” – elsewhere more typically referred to as self-propelled howitzers (SPHs) – to the Indian Army.

Issued on 1 April, the RFI states that the systems, which must incorporate a minimum indigenous equipment/parts content of 50%, must be capable of operating on “existing road and track networks” in the plains, mountains, and the high-altitude, semi-desert, and desert regions along India’s northern and western borders.

The proposed howitzers, which are to feature an inertial navigation system (INS)-based sighting system, will also be required to fire “all in-service ammunition” and “provide day-and-night direct and indirect firing”, according to the document. The offset liability for the shortlisted vendor would be no more than 5%, noted the RFI.

Under a previous procurement attempt in November 2014 the MoD’s Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) had approved the purchase of 814 155 mm/52 calibre MGSs for the Indian Army for an estimated INR157.5 billion (USD2.1 billion). However, senior MoD sources pointed out that the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) clearance for this procurement has since lapsed.

At the time, the DAC stated that 100 of the systems would be imported, while the remaining 714 would be licence-built under a joint venture between an Indian company and a foreign OEM. The recently published RFI, however, did not specify whether these conditions still apply for the latest procurement plans.