Thaindian News

New Delhi, March 4 (IANS) A Delhi court may have allowed closure of the Bofors pay-off case against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochhi, but the Indian Army will still continue to grapple with the Bofors ghost that has blocked its Rs.20,000 crore (Rs.200 billion/$ 444.8 million) artillery guns modernisation programme for over 24 years now.

When India bought the 410 155mm guns from Swedish firm Bofors in 1987 for Rs.15 billion, it not only became a controversy that cost then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi his government in the 1989 general elections, but has also become a bogeyman for scuttling of all plans of the army to modernise its artillery.

The kickbacks controversy also led to India dropping its original proposal to add another 1,000 Bofors guns and the army has remained content with that decision for nearly two and a half-decades now.

Between 1987 and now, India has not bought even a single artillery gun and most of its existing guns in its arsenal are several decades old.

But in 1999, when India fought a short, but bloody battle in the Kargil heights against Pakistani intruders, the most important gap in the army’s preparedness was felt its ability to unleash its fire power and pound enemy positions using artillery.

But what came in handy for the army were the much-maligned Bofors guns that boomed in the Kargil sector and were instrumental in winning the war for India.

Army chief General V.K. Singh himself has vouched for it when at an international artillery seminar in the capital last year he said: “At the sub-continental context, Operation Vijay (the Kargil operation) is considered to be a bench mark for employment of artillery where overwhelming superiority of fire-power destroyed the intruders.”

But on Jan 14, Singh had indicated that the army will break the jinx and buy some guns this year to spruce its artillery that has entered the stage of obsolescence.

In January, the army refloated tenders for purchase of 1,580 155mm 53calibre towed guns and another 100 155mm 52calibre tracked guns. Several vendors from France, the US, Britain, Israel and Czech Republic were invited to respond to the tenders.

This tendering process comes after four earlier attempts last decade to buy artillery guns for the army, but all of which had to be cancelled due to the Bofors hangover after allegations of kickbacks in other defence deals led to blacklisting of some of the companies such as Singapore Kinetics, Soltam and Rhienmetall Defence.

India is also in the process of purchasing 145 M777 155mm 39calibre ultralight howitzers from the US in a deal worth Rs.2,900 crore. Singh will be in the US next week when the talks on the purchase of the ultralight howitzers is likely to figure.

Another artillery gun that India intends to purchase is the 155mm 52calibre wheeled and self-propelled guns numbering 180. But the tendering process of this is still in preparation with the army.

Apart from the Bofors, the army at present operates 105mm indigenous field guns that are in service for over 30 years and are said to be obsolete needing replacement.

It also has 130mm M-46 guns, which are the backbone of the artillery corps and which were due for replacement in the 1990s. The M-36 are being upgraded to 155mm by Soltam as an interim step.