印度国防部长周一在国会表示：自行研发的新型“Dhanush” 155mm/45倍径榴弹炮在锡金和博克兰的冬季和夏季试验中成功地满足所有技术参数，终于可以交付陆军咧，第一批6门火炮即将交付，2016年开始批量生产。

Desi Bofors Trials a hit, Army to induct 6 guns
Published April 28, 2015 | By admin
SOURCE: TNN

                               
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This is one ‘Make in India’ defence project that is now finally booming. The desi howitzer, christened Dhanush, can outgun the original Swedish Bofors 155mm artillery gun in range, accuracy, reliability, angle of fire and shoot-and-scoot capabilities.

The Army is now getting set to induct the first battery of six Dhanush guns, which will be the first 155mm howitzers to be acquired by the force since the infamous Bofors scandal torpedoed all its artillery modernisation plans in the mid-1980s.

Recurring scandals in artillery procurement projects kept it derailed thereafter, with the infamous Bofors ghost looming large over attempts to plug the Army’s operational gaps in long-range, high volume firepower.

Ironically enough, it’s the original Bofors gun that came to the rescue of the beleaguered force. The Army-DRDO-OFB team kicked off work on the long-forgotten original designs, obtained under transfer of technology provisions in the infamous Rs 1,437 crore Bofors contract of 1986, a few years ago. It has led to the electronically upgraded Dhanush howitzer now.
Defence minister Manohar Parrikar told the parliamentary consultative committee on defence on Monday that the 155mm/45-calibre Dhanush howitzers had “successfully met all technical parameters” during the winter and summer trials at Sikkim and Pokhran. Dhanush incorporates “many improved features” over the Army’s existing artillery guns, he added.

While the first battery of guns would be ready “in a couple of months”, the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) is stepping up its manufacturing line for “bulk production” at the Jabalpur Gun Carriage Factory from 2016 onwards.

“The first order for 114 guns worth Rs 1,260 crore, already indented by the Army, would be completed in a three-year timeframe. The production capacity will go up to 30-35 guns a year. The Army has said it eventually requires 414 such guns,” said a source.

The desi howitzer has been upgraded to 45-calibre from the 39-calibre of the original Bofors gun to extend its strike range to 38 km with “extended range, full-bore” ammunition. Costing around Rs 14 crore apiece, the Dhanush is about 83% indigenous. “The ore to steel for the gun barrel is made by the OFB. The only imported parts are the auxiliary power units, electronic dial sights and some others,” said the source.

There was a major hiccup in the project when a Dhanush prototype’s barrel burst during firing trials at Pokhran in August 2013. But a detailed analysis showed the problem was due to the usage of 12-year-old ammunition rather than the howitzer itself. “The trials took around two years to reach this stage,” he added.

The Dhanush, however, will plug just a small operational gap. The overall artillery modernisation plan for 155mm/52-calibre guns, worth around Rs 1 lakh crore, envisages the induction of 814 mounted, 1,580 towed, 180 wheeled and 100 tracked guns, among others.

恭喜三哥，等了30多年的新火炮，不是说45倍口径和23升药室不配合，52倍才能发挥威力，印度这个是否不同？

Desi Bofors howitzer clears Winter and Summer Trials
Published April 27, 2015 | By admin
SOURCE: IDRW NEWS NETWORK (INN)



Sitanshu Kar Spokesperson for Ministry of Defence (MOD) has tweeted and confirmed that Homegrown 155mm 45 Caliber Artillery Gun Dhanush has met all tech parameters in Winter and Summer Trials. desi Bofors howitzer completed its final round of user trials in Pokhran field firing ranges after successful winter trials in the mountains of Sikkim.

Earlier last year Indian army has placed a part order with the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) to make 20 pieces of these howitzers which will be followed by bulk order of more than 100 guns which now will be placed since it has cleared final rounds of user trials now . Indian Army final order might be of more than 400 guns and OFB can produce 100 guns every year after guns are cleared for production.

Desi Bofors dubbed ‘Dhanush’ has been electronically upgraded over the original Swedish 155 mm Bofors howitzer bought by India in the mid-1980s and Dhanush also has been upgraded to 45-calibre from the 39-calibre of the original Bofors gun, increasing its strike range to 38 km with “extended range, full-bore” ammunition.

Dhanush provides 25 % improvement over Original Bofors howitzer and focus gradually will now shift to DRDO’s Advance Towed Artillery Guns System (ATAGS) project under which it has been tasked to develop Indigenous 155x52mm howitzer guns which will begin final assembly of the gun from next year and gun will be ready for user trials by 2018 and enter production year later .

DRDO has claimed that ATAGS concept design is ready and will be one tonne lighter than original Swedish 155 mm Bofors howitzer and two tonnes lighter than other guns of its category and Private players like Tata, Larsen and Toubro, Bharat Forge have all been roped in to complete the project.

mm6fan 发表于 2015-4-28 13:13