The UPA Government is all set for its first major weapons purchase — 300 self-propelled and tracked 155-mm Howitzers from South Africa for the Army, worth two billion dollars.Defence Secretary Ajai Vikram Singh is learnt to have sent the contract file to Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee this month. The much-awaited self-propelled gun contract will be sent to the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for final clearance at the political level.The contract involves purchase of 100 T-6 tracked Howitzers on Bhim chassis (used for Arjun Main battle tank), 180 G-6 self-propelled guns and another 20 SP guns for general reserves from South Africa’s Denel Corporation.While the deal with the South African firm was finalised by the Army Headquarters in November 2003, it could not be cleared by the previous NDA government due to the general elections. The gun contract was reviewed again by the UPA Government and will shortly get a green signal from the Central Government.However, the Army Headquarters had a lot of explaining to do on the deal before the Defence Ministry cleared the contract. Soon after coming to power, Minister of State for Tourism Renuka Chowdhury wrote to the Defence Ministry for reviewing the Denel contract and endorsed the Russian self-propelled gun. This was not Renuka’s first letter, though. Only last year, she and another senior Congress MP (who is now a Cabinet Minister) wrote similar letters on the contract.The Army had to clarify in detail to the Defence Ministry that they could not consider the Russian gun as it did not meet the requirements. The Army said the Russian gun was of 152-mm calibre and the worldwide and Indian standards for the self-propelled gun were 155 mm.Apart from the Army’s requirement for a self-propelled Howitzer and the fact that Denel G-6 gun is a proven weapon system, the deal is one of the facets of India’s growing relationship with South Africa and Brazil.
