India To Request Sale Of Howitzers In October

India in expected to issue a request to the U.S Government this month for the sale of 145 M777 ultra-light howitzers worth $660 million for the Indian Army. "The Letter of Request (LoR) for procuring 145 Ultra-Light Howitzers for the Indian Army through the Foreign Military Sales route would be issued in October," a Defence Ministry official was quoted as saying. India recently approved the purchase of the M777 guns manufactured by BAE Systems. The sale is the first of its kind in 26 years. The howitzers, with a maximum range of 30km, will be used by the army’s mountain artillery divisions along India’s high-altitude frontiers. The other planned acquisitions include ones for 814 mounted gun systems, 180 self-propelled wheeled guns and 100 tracked guns.