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Army ignored desi Bofors for 3 years before going for it - The Times of India
After the last round of firing trials ended in September, the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) is now awaiting the final word from Army's directorate general of quality assurance (DGQA) on the indigenous Bofors guns. With the DGQA expected to take its own time to finalize a report, it is felt that probably the Desi Bofors project should have started some years earlier. Or, at least the work on upgrading the existing fleet of Swedish Bofors guns could have begun sooner.
TOI has learnt that in 2008 itself the OFB had upgraded an existing Bofors gun of 155x39 calibre to 155x45, and was keen to go for user trials with the Army. The Army Headquarters (AHQ), for reasons best known to it, did not respond positively, say sources here. Though OFB finally got the order to make Bofors-type guns from the Army, this happened only in 2011.
As the calibre goes up, the range also increases. The OFB had modified the existing guns by including new features. The gun upgraded from 155x39 to 155x45 could achieve the desired range of over 40km, which is 5-6km more than the existing guns procured from Sweden. The performance was also displayed to the Army in 2008. But when it came to holding user trials, which is the next step in evaluating a weapon system, Army asked OFB to come through the open tendering mode.
However, the request for proposals (RFP) to buy the guns from the open market did not succeed, and the Army had to revert to OFB again, said sources in this organization. Finally, the OFB got an order to make the guns in 2011. The Desi Bofors, now named Dhanush, are being made in the Gun Carriage Factory at Jabalpur, for which firing trials concluded last month and a DGQA report is awaited.
The gun made in 2008 was upgraded from an existing gun with the Army. At that time, OFB was also ready to give a prototype of the guns within 24 months of getting a go-ahead, with the final production starting 36 months after getting a subsequent clearance.
OFB reminded the Army about its readiness a year later, when the latter sought its views on procuring over 100 upgraded Bofors type guns. At that time, OFB reminded the Army about the upgraded version it had developed and its readiness to take up production.
For the guns with 155x39, OFB had secured the transfer of technology when the howitzers were purchased from Sweden. The ToT covered almost all aspects, though certain spares needed to be purchased from open market vendors.
Apart from making the guns with an upgraded calibre, even earlier OFB was keen to take up production of the 155x39 type guns on the basis of the TOT it had, but got no orders from the Army. The OFB acts on the basis of orders from the Army.
OFB feels that probably because the Army was interested in buying higher calibre guns it was not keen on making more units of existing guns.
Finally, when efforts to buy the artillery guns from open market did not succeed, a decision was taken by the Defence Acquisition Council in 2011 to revert to OFB
After the last round of firing trials ended in September, the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) is now awaiting the final word from Army's directorate general of quality assurance (DGQA) on the indigenous Bofors guns. With the DGQA expected to take its own time to finalize a report, it is felt that probably the Desi Bofors project should have started some years earlier. Or, at least the work on upgrading the existing fleet of Swedish Bofors guns could have begun sooner.
TOI has learnt that in 2008 itself the OFB had upgraded an existing Bofors gun of 155x39 calibre to 155x45, and was keen to go for user trials with the Army. The Army Headquarters (AHQ), for reasons best known to it, did not respond positively, say sources here. Though OFB finally got the order to make Bofors-type guns from the Army, this happened only in 2011.
As the calibre goes up, the range also increases. The OFB had modified the existing guns by including new features. The gun upgraded from 155x39 to 155x45 could achieve the desired range of over 40km, which is 5-6km more than the existing guns procured from Sweden. The performance was also displayed to the Army in 2008. But when it came to holding user trials, which is the next step in evaluating a weapon system, Army asked OFB to come through the open tendering mode.
However, the request for proposals (RFP) to buy the guns from the open market did not succeed, and the Army had to revert to OFB again, said sources in this organization. Finally, the OFB got an order to make the guns in 2011. The Desi Bofors, now named Dhanush, are being made in the Gun Carriage Factory at Jabalpur, for which firing trials concluded last month and a DGQA report is awaited.
The gun made in 2008 was upgraded from an existing gun with the Army. At that time, OFB was also ready to give a prototype of the guns within 24 months of getting a go-ahead, with the final production starting 36 months after getting a subsequent clearance.
OFB reminded the Army about its readiness a year later, when the latter sought its views on procuring over 100 upgraded Bofors type guns. At that time, OFB reminded the Army about the upgraded version it had developed and its readiness to take up production.
For the guns with 155x39, OFB had secured the transfer of technology when the howitzers were purchased from Sweden. The ToT covered almost all aspects, though certain spares needed to be purchased from open market vendors.
Apart from making the guns with an upgraded calibre, even earlier OFB was keen to take up production of the 155x39 type guns on the basis of the TOT it had, but got no orders from the Army. The OFB acts on the basis of orders from the Army.
OFB feels that probably because the Army was interested in buying higher calibre guns it was not keen on making more units of existing guns.
Finally, when efforts to buy the artillery guns from open market did not succeed, a decision was taken by the Defence Acquisition Council in 2011 to revert to OFB
