On a military test site outside Poclain, India, in September 2017.
With an order, 4 Baharat guns were fired out in an instant, heading straight for the shooting range dozens of kilometers away.
This Baharat artillery is a new 155 mm 52 times caliber howitzer developed by India over many years.
The final test results also lived up to expectations, with the average range of the four shells reaching 47.2 kilometers.
This achievement directly set a new world record for 155 mm guns!
The Indian military immediately announced that the performance of the new artillery reached the standard, and Baharat officially entered service!
The news spread, and the whole country rejoiced.
However, the Americans quickly broke the range record for Baharat with the M777, but India was not to be outdone.
Just a few months later, the improved Baharat set a new record of 49.4 km and regained its position as the king of range.
With such a powerful weapon, India naturally wants to show off to the world and at the same time sell it to make more money.
And Saudi Arabia, a wealthy landlord, is their target.
Exhaust all means to get the Saudis to pay for it
In order to sell this proud piece to the Middle East market, India specially transported the Baharat artillery to the Abu Dhabi Arms Exhibition in the United Arab Emirates for display.
At the exhibition site, the Indian representative focused on introducing the advanced performance of this weapon to representatives of Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries.
They claim that this artillery can be compared to American-made artillery, and the range far exceeds that of Chinese products, and all data are world-class.
At the same time, the Indian media also actively cooperated, and published articles one after another, saying that India already has world-class artillery.
At first, the Saudi military was skeptical of India's boasting.
However, looking at the preferential price offered in India, Saudi Arabia still sent a procurement team to make more in-depth contact with India.
In order to win over Saudi Arabia's business, India specially arranged a grand Baharat artillery firing show.
They chose a test site in the Rajasthan desert, and even the Indian defense minister was present at the scene.
However, I didn't expect that there was a big problem in the live fire test session.
When the Baharat artillery is fired at the range,
The shell hit the barrel of the cannon, and the barrel of the cannon cracked, and fragments were scattered, and the scene was chaotic.
The Saudi representatives were dumbfounded, and the Indians were all dejected.
Saudi Arabia refuses to buy "knockoffs"
The investigation found that, for technical reasons, the barrels and shells of the Baharat artillery did not match, and the chambers were often blown up when fired.
To make matters worse, the various performance data that India boasts of are also "water-filled", and the actual range is only more than 30 km.
Moreover, when the Saudis looked at the Baharat chassis, they also found that its maneuverability and reliability were far less than those advertised by India.
In addition, there are several more important reasons why Saudi Arabia refuses to buy.
First of all, they found that the design of the Baharat gun was actually copied from the French T5-52 gun, rather than the completely independent research and development claimed by India.
Saudi Arabia is naturally reluctant to buy these "knockoffs".
Secondly, the $9 million offer from India is simply too high.
You must know that the price of the copied French T5-52 gun is only $4.5 million, while the similar American M777 gun is only sold for $5 million.
India's sky-high asking price, with no regard for the actual performance of the product, is difficult for Saudi Arabia, as a savvy buyer, to accept.
Moreover, in order to pursue a longer range, India has done some "cutting corners" in the design of artillery shells.
In this way, although the firing range has increased, the destructive power of the shells has been seriously reduced.
As a buyer who really wants to fight, Saudi Arabia naturally attaches more importance to the actual power of the weapon, and will not be simply confused by a seemingly dazzling range data.
India's approach of emphasizing data over effectiveness has also made Saudi Arabia lose confidence in the performance of its products.
In the end, even India's own army does not procure Baharat artillery, which in itself speaks of questionable reliability of this artillery.
As a buyer, Saudi Arabia naturally has to consider the seller's "own use" to judge the reliability of the product.
Weapons that India itself does not dare to use, Saudi Arabia naturally will not take this risk.
In fact, the Baharat artillery was originally copied from a Swedish weapon.
"High imitation" of homemade domestic weapons
India's Baharat artillery project stems from a batch of FH77B wheeled self-propelled howitzers that they purchased from Sweden in 1999.
After the delivery of this batch of guns, the Indian military realized in the actual exercise that the FH77B has excellent performance in all aspects.
Whether it is range, accuracy, or reaction speed, it is far beyond their existing equipment.
In particular, the FH77B was able to fire extended-range shells with a maximum range of more than 50 kilometers, which could be said to be one of the top Western advanced artillery guns at that time.
In order to prove that they also have the ability to make such advanced artillery.
Therefore, the Indian military decided to use the FH77B as a blueprint for domestic imitation, and at the same time develop the "Baharat" artillery as a replacement and supplement to the FH77B.
Since FH77B provides an important design reference and technical basis, this reduces the difficulty and risk of Baharat development to a certain extent.
However, in the early stage of research and development, the "Baharat" artillery still encountered many technical bottlenecks, and there was a considerable gap between the performance parameters and the expected goals, and the progress was slow for a time.
At first, the project did not receive significant support from the Indian military and government, and resources were relatively limited.
However, with the explosion of another domestic artillery gun, "Danush", during the test firing, its prospects were questioned, and the "Baharat" project was a blessing in disguise and gained more attention and support.
Since then, the "Baharat" project team has continuously optimized the design, overcome one technical difficulty after another, and the performance of the gun has continued to improve in many rounds of tests.
The R&D team made a lot of detailed improvements to the problems that were exposed early.
For example, the design of the gun carriage and the gun tail brake has been optimized, the level of gun barrel materials and technology has been improved, and the loading mechanism and the hydraulic system of the gun have been improved.
In the subsequent finalization tests, the "Baharat" gun not only completely eliminated many early defects, but also fully met or exceeded the design requirements in various performance indicators.
In the end, this gun, which has gone through ups and downs and has undergone several drafts, has delivered a remarkable report card:
During live-fire tests, its extended-range projectile set a world range record for a 155 mm howitzer at 48 km.
In fact, if you want to talk about the origin of this weapon, you have to start with the surprise attack of the Pakistani army.
A war made them realize their own inadequacy
The Sino-Indian border war in 1962 made the Indian army completely realize that
Its backwardness in operational concepts, weaponry, logistical support, and other aspects, especially in artillery, is almost insignificant.
In stark contrast, although the overall equipment level of the Chinese army is not advanced,
But heavy artillery was intensively used on key mountain battlefields, and some beautiful battles were fought.
This is a wake-up call for the Indian military to realize the enormous power of artillery in modern warfare.
After the war, India carried out a series of reforms of the military system and began to introduce advanced artillery systems from the Soviet Union and other countries.
Including D-30 howitzers, M-46 cannons, etc., greatly improving the firepower strike capability.
But they didn't stop there, setting their sights on the longer term.
The Indian top is aware that in modern local wars.
Artillery not only provides powerful fire support for infantry and armored units, but also breaks through the opponent's defenses.
Moreover, it can independently perform key tasks such as counterfire, attacking positions, and cutting off supplies.
Therefore, in order to build an army that can fight tough battles and win battles, it is necessary to have first-class artillery units.
Based on this strategic consideration, India decided to develop artillery on a large scale and formulated an ambitious development plan.
According to India's concept, in the future, the Indian Army will have an artillery force composed of artillery of various calibers, firing ranges, and degrees of automation.
According to the needs of different combat missions, both heavy artillery are used for campaign-level destruction.
There are also medium artillery to perform tactical support and precision strikes against points,
There are also light artillery for the needs of rapid mobility and special operations.
At the same time, at the level of informatization and intelligence of artillery systems,
India also wants to be at the forefront of the world, so that artillery can achieve terminal sensitive ammunition and precision attacks without relying on forward observers.
Therefore, the Baharat project was launched in 2012 and successfully developed in 2019 after 7 years of research.
During this period, India's military industry overcame a number of technical problems such as lightweight design, high-temperature resistant materials, and automatic loading.
These technologies are not only applied to Baharat guns, but also promote the overall research and development level of India's military industry.
Represented by Baharat, a series of domestically produced weapons in India have been intensively unveiled in recent years, covering many fields such as fighters, aircraft carriers, and missiles.
Cutting-edge equipment such as Meihua Fengyun, Arjun tank, and supersonic cruise missiles have been put into actual combat deployment to accelerate the process of India's localization.
In terms of arms exports, India has also tasted the sweetness.
The entry of the BrahMos anti-ship missile into the Southeast Asian market has given India a taste of the sweetness of arms exports.
Analysts point out that thanks to a huge defense budget and a constantly improving scientific research system.
India's military industry is catching up with the developed countries of the West at an accelerated pace In recent years, India's military spending has continued to grow at an average rate of 8%.
Of course, India's military industry also faces many challenges.
Problems such as the reliability of domestic weapons that need to be improved, the high dependence of core components on foreign countries, and the low level of military-civilian integration still restrict the further development of India's military industry.
However, judging from the research and development process of Baharat artillery, India has demonstrated the ability to independently develop advanced weapons.
In the future, it is expected to grow into a veritable military industrial power and occupy a place in the international arms trade market.
bibliography
1. Overseas Network: India's Domestic Artillery Test Failure Depends on China, Indian Netizens Can't Stand It.2017-07-24
https://world.huanqiu.com/article/9CaKrnK4g62
2. People's Daily Online: India's artillery test failed and Henan's "inferior parts" threatened India's national defense.2017-07-25
http://m.people.cn/%2Fn4%2F2017%2F0725%2Fc45-9393217.html?from=singlemessage
3. Global Times: India is full of expectations to send artillery to sell, will Saudi Arabia, which is accustomed to seeing top-notch weapons, be rare?.2020-02-14
hatps://baijiyahao.baidu.com/s?id=1658474977256617983&dfr=spider&for=pc
4. Global Times: Large-caliber artillery shells are not well made, and they have been blown up many times, and India wants to fight against the PLA at this level?.2020-09-23
hattapus://baijiyahao.baidu.com/s?id=1678595603347989150&dfr=spider&for=pc