MoD Sign Rs 7628.70 crore Deal to Buy K9 VAJRA Artillery Guns from L&T

The Union Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a contract with the Indian company Larsen and Toubro(L&T) to buy 100 K9 VAJRA-T Self-Propelled Tracked Artillery Guns for the Indian Army at the cost of Rs 7628.70 crore.

This is the second deal for the  K9 Vajra --T Artillery Gun with the L&T.In 2017, the MoD signed a Rs 4366 crore deal with L&T to procure 100 Artillery Guns.

Earlier, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had approved the purchase of additional K9-Vajra T Guns in a meeting held on 12 December 2024.

The inking of the deal with an Indian defence company is part of the Indian government's effort to promote the indigenous defence ecosystem in the country and make the country self-reliant in critical defence technology and equipment.

About the K9 VAJRA-T Artillery Guns 

The K9 Vajra-T Artillery Guns is an indigenous version of the South Korean mobile howitzer (K9) developed by the Samsung Techwin company, now known as Hanwha Defence.

The Artillery Gun has been modified according to the needs of the Indian Army and has been co-produced by Larsen and Toubro Heavy Engineering and  Hanwha Defence in India. 

The modified Artillery Gun is called K9 Vajra -T. 

The K9 Vajra-T Gun is being produced at the Talegaon plant of the L&T near Pune, Maharashtra.

K9 Vajra -T is the first Artillery Gun produced by a private Indian company for the Indian Army.

Features of the Vajra-T Artillery Guns 

The Vajrat-T Artillery Gun is a shoot-and-scoot type of artillery gun. The Indian Army normally uses towed artillery guns, which are attached to a vehicle and towed to a battlefield.

The Vajra-T is a self-propelled artillery gun equipped with a 1,000-horsepower engine. It can move at over 60 km per hour and travel up to 450 km.

The gun has a 155 mm/52 calibre ordnance with a maximum firing range of 40 km. 

The K9 can fire ammunition in MRSI mode- multiple rounds of simultaneous impact. It can fire eight rounds per minute into enemy targets simultaneously.

The gun can be deployed in plains, desert sectors, and high-altitude areas with sub-zero temperatures.