FIRST TWO M777 ULTRA LIGHT HOWITZERS REACHED INDIA

The first two out of the total 145 M777 ULTRALIGHT HOWITZERS ordered by Indian army yesterday reached Indian soil. Though the deliveries of others are still some time away these two have been delivered in advance as per request of Indian army.

The reason  these two were procured faster is because Indian army does not want to delay the induction of other HOWITZERS after it starts receiving larger batches and so these two guns will be tested extensively and a firing and range tables of same will be established. These tables are useful while operating the guns and this tells the operators about how far the gun can strike and in what manner the projectile goes when fired in some specific way. This helps the user in real time to estimate what angle, amount of charge etc is required to strike the designated target. 

For next few weeks these guns will be extensively fired and tested in Pokharan range to establish the firing charts and to get the required data. This will in future help the army to fast-track induction of these guns and training of soldiers with these guns.

These guns will be posted in China border and have been ordered for strategic purpose as these are capable of being airlifted by Chinook helicopter as they weight about 5 tonnes which is about 3-4 tonnes lighter than normal ARTILLERY guns of same caliber because of use of titanium in construction.