Indian Army begins trial of Howitzer M-777 guns in Rajasthan

The Indian Army began trial of the ultra light Howitzer M-777 guns in Pokhran Range of Rajasthan's Jaisalmer district on Wednesday. Two of these artillery pieces were procured from the United States and brought to New Delhi onboard a special aircraft in May this year. A group of the Indian Army's Artillery Unit conducted the test firing in the presence of team of American members and its creator BAE Systems' engineers. The Centre under its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme sealed the deal with the U.S. government on November 17 which is worth Rs. 4,700 crores. India has ordered 145 guns, out of which two were delivered in May. The delivery of the remaining will take another five or six months In addition to this, only 25 guns will be delivered by the U.S., remaining 120 will be assembled by Mahindra Defence under the government's flagship programme 'Make in India.'