Light on weight, heavy on damage: India will be able to hit deep inside Pakistan with THIS ultralightweight howitzer

New Delhi: There is some really bad news awaiting the Pakistan Army on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir in the near future. The Indian Army is about to get lightweight artillery with some serious range and firepower. According to reports, India and the US are discussing the possibility of jointly developing and manufacturing an extended-range variant of the M777 ultra lightweight howitzer. This M777-ER (Extended Range) gun is slated to get an effective range of 70 kilometres, way higher than the current version of the gun, which can hit targets at 24.7 km with unassisted rounds and 30 km with rocket-assisted rounds. The M777 howitzer can also fire specialised ammunition that can increase the range to around 40 km. This effectively means that artillery duels across the LoC may get extremely costly for the Pakistan Army. The Indian Army has targeted important installations of the Pakistan Army – including their brigade headquarters – across the LoC in the past. The most recent was in October 2018 when the administrative headquarters of the Pakistan Army across the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) was shelled by the Indian Army. However, that action by the Indian Army, which was a response to the Pakistan Army’s shelling of Poonch city a couple of days earlier, was carried out with the Bofors artillery, which uses 155 mm shells and has a range of 45 km. The induction of the M777 ER will allow the Indian Army to target Pakistan Army positions and other installations of the Pakistani military much beyond the current range of Indian artillery. The Indian Army had bought 145 units of the original M777 ultra lightweight howitzer for deployment against the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

#WATCH: Pakistan army administrative HQ targeted along LoC near Poonch by Indian Army in retaliation to Pakistan’s mortar shelling of Poonch and Jhallas on October 23 pic.twitter.com/o0C6UJQqcr

— ANI (@ANI) October 29, 2018

As part of the joint initiative by India and the US, the guns already with the Indian Army will also be fitted with upgraded barrels which will improve their firing range. ‘ThePrint’ quoted officials in the defence and security establishment as saying that National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval had discussed the issue with his US counterpart Jake Sullivan in Washington earlier this month. According to reports, the US military also does not have the proposed version of the M777 artillery. Thus the development of the M777 ER will require the production of a new barrel along with a specialised kit. The ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative of the Indian government may also get a boost as there is scope for India to produce the M777 ER indigenously. As part of the agreement, India will also be able to export the gun and become a part of the global supply chain for the M777 artillery manufactured by US-based BAE Systems. The Indian Army had acquired the 155mm/39 calibre M777 howitzer during the military standoff with the PLA of China at the LAC in Ladakh. All 145 units of the M777 howitzer - which is meant for mountainous terrain – with the Indian Army have been deployed along the LAC with special focus on the mountainous terrain of the Northeast. The Indian Army had bought 25 M777 howitzers off the shelf while the rest were assembled in India by Mahindra Defence, which has signed an agreement with BAE Systems. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.