Army gears up to order 300 more K9 Vajra self-propelled artillery guns under Rs 23k crore modernisation programme

NEW DELHI: Indian Army is gearing up for one of the biggest artillery modernisation programmes as it prepares to procure 300 more K9 Vajra self-propelled tracked artillery guns under a proposed Rs 23,000-crore programme.“The Army currently operates 100 SP guns (K9 Vajra T guns). 100 more have already been ordered (under a 2024 contract). These 300 guns will be in addition to 200 already procured or ordered,” a defence source told TOI. The proposal for 300 guns is expected to be placed before the Defence Procurement Board (DPB) this week.“Self-propelled gun systems can be deployed anywhere. They have been deployed along the northern border and in some places along the western border,” the source said, adding “the new guns will be manufactured along the lines of the earlier orders”.

The proposed 300 guns are likely to be made at L&T’s Hazira facility in Gujarat, which was recently visited by PM Modi.The K9 Vajra-T is a 155-mm, 52-calibre tracked self-propelled howitzer and can provide deep-fire support, high battlefield mobility and excellent protection. It is designed for rapid deployment, high-altitude operations and “shoot-and-scoot” tactics. It can fire up to 40 km with standard ammunition and up to 50 km with extended-range projectiles and can fire 6 to 8 rounds per minute in burst mode.

With a max speed of 67km/hr, it can do 360- 450 km on a single tank of fuel.K9 Vajra-T is a customised version of South Korean K9 Thunder, which is widely recognised as the world's most exported self-propelled howitzer. The K9 Vajra-T was earlier built for the Army by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) under Make-in-India initiative in collaboration with South Korea's Hanwha Aerospace.Indian Army signed its first order for K9 Vajra-T in May 2017. This initial contract was worth Rs 4,500 crore and was awarded to L&T for supply of 100 units in partnership with Hanwha. In 2024, the defence ministry signed another contract worth Rs 7,629 crore with L&T for an additional 100 guns.During defence minister Rajnath Singh's recent visit to Seoul, India and South Korea had signed key MoUs to deepen cooperation on the K9 Vajra artillery programme.