"The barrel of the gun has been damaged, extent of which is being assessed by Joint Investigation Team," the source said. India had last procured howitzers in the mid-1980s from Swedish defence major Bofors. Three more Wood plastic crust foam screw barrel Factory guns are to be supplied to the Army in September 2018 for training.The field trials of the 155 mm, 39-calibre guns manufactured by BAE systems were being carried out at Pokhran in Rajasthan with an aim to collate and determine various critical data like trajectory, speed and frequency. Thereafter, induction will commence from March 2019 onwards with five guns per month till the complete consignment is received by mid-2021."
During the firing, the projectile which was fifth of the series, exited the barrel in multiple pieces, causing the accident," an army source said. There was no injury to anyone.The Army badly needs the howitzers considering the evolving regional security scenario.end-ofTags: indian army, bofors deal, ultra-light (ulh) howitzer m-777Location: India, Delhi, New Delhi.India had struck a government-to-government deal with the US in November 2016 for supply of the 145 howitzers at a cost of nearly Rs 5,000 crore.The Army had received the howitzers as part of an order for 145 guns.The sources said the barrel of the US-manufactured gun exploded when it was firing Indian ammunition on September 2.The alleged pay-offs in the deal and its subsequent political ramifications had severely crippled the Indian Army's procurement of artillery guns.