DELHI, India (BulgarianMilitary.com) – BAE Systems announced last week that the Indian Army celebrated receiving its first M777A2 Ultra Lightweight Howitzers (ULH) at an official handover ceremony on 9th November 2018, which is an important move toward the modernization and strengthening of the artillery capabilities of the Indian Army, learned BulgarianMilitary.com

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The VP and GM of BAE Systems’ weapon systems business Joe Senftle shared, “The Indian Army is receiving an extremely reliable and battle-proven artillery platform. The M777 brings a new level of capability to the artillery unit by offering rapid deployment and extreme accuracy. It can operate in areas that are difficult to access and is also very easy to maintain.”

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The first 25 M777 ULHs are being built and delivered by BAE Systems completely assembled, and the rest 120 of the ordered 145 gun systems, under an agreement between the U.S. and Indian governments, will be assembled in India by Mahindra Defence Systems Ltd. (MDSL) after an arrangement developed to support defence industrial cooperation and promote local economic growth.

Nik Khanna, managing director India, BAE Systems commented, “The M777 ULH is more than a very effective piece of artillery technology. With the M777 program, BAE Systems has made the first step of our substantive Make-in-India commitment, which includes our pledge to develop a network of Indian suppliers for our global supply chain and deepen our relationship with industry in India. We are committed to a strong and collaborative working relationship between BAE Systems, the Indian Armed Forces and Indian industry.”

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It was recently certified by the U.S. government that MDSL can perform the relevant works in relation to the in-country assembly and integration of 120 of the ordered gun systems within a purpose-built production facility established for the needs of this program to conduct.

The first batch of spare parts and other logistics such as tooling, technical publications and training materials were delivered by BAE Systems to the Indian Army earlier this year.

The M777 howitzer is a towed 155 mm artillery piece manufactured by BAE Systems’ Global Combat Systems division. It made its combat debut in theWar in Afghanistan.

The M777 began as the Ultralight-weight Field Howitzer (UFH), developed by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering’s armaments division in Barrow-in-Furness, United Kingdom, later bought by BAE Systems.

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Source: BAE Systems, Wikipedia