L&T-built K9 Vajra howitzer (File photo)
New Delhi: The Indian Army is preparing to make one of its biggest artillery acquisitions in recent memory, moving a proposal to procure more than 300 additional K9 Vajra self-propelled howitzers, worth about ₹23,000 crore.
As per the reports, the proposal is expected to be tabled before the Defence Procurement Board this week.
Should the proposal receive approval, the contract will be awarded to Larsen & Toubro, the Mumbai-headquartered engineering conglomerate that currently assembles the K9 Vajra indigenously under a licensing arrangement with South Korean defence manufacturer Hanwha Aerospace.
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The fresh order would take L&T’s cumulative production tally for the platform well past the 500-unit mark, rendering it the single largest artillery procurement the Army has undertaken in decades.
What is K9 Vajra self-propelled howitzer?
The K9 Vajra is a 155mm tracked howitzer capable of hitting targets over 40 kilometres away. The Indian Army first brought it into service back in 2017, when the Army signed an initial contract with L&T for 100 guns at roughly ₹4,500 crore. Those deliveries wrapped up ahead of schedule by 2021, with the guns being positioned primarily along the western desert frontier.
A second batch of 100 guns followed in December 2023, under a follow-on contract worth around ₹7,600 crore.
Why this matters now?
The urgency behind this expanded buy comes down to geography and the nature of modern conflict. The military planners are looking to bolster long-range firepower on two very different fronts, the scorching flatlands of the Thar Desert in the west and the freezing, high-altitude terrain along the Line of Actual Control with China in the north.
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Unlike towed guns that need time to set up and pack away, self-propelled howitzers like the K9 Vajra can fire and relocate within minutes, a tactical advantage that’s hard to overstate in fast-moving situations. The system has already been put through its paces in Ladakh to test how it holds up in extreme cold, and by all accounts, it passed.
The larger procurement is now seen as a way to plug the gaps that remain across both theatres.
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