Moscow and New Delhi have concluded an agreement to develop a new self-propelled gun (SPG) intended for the Indian domestic market. The CEO of Uralvagonzavod, Oleg Siyenko, and the Executive Director of Bharat Forge (a subsidiary of Kalyani Group), Amit Kalyani signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the presence of Russia’s Minister for Industry and Trade, Denis Manturov and India’s Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Nirmala Sitharaman at the Innoprom 2016 industrial exhibition in Ekaterinburg. The MoU is aimed at the strengthening of technical cooperation between companies under the ‘Make in India’ programme and the promotion of the UVZ’s production in India. According to the official notification, “the memorandum drives for the deepening of industrial ties between two countries”.

As Siyenko pointed out, Russia and India were planning to develop a new SPG for Indian armed forces under the MoU. “The memorandum provides for the possibility of a new SPG joint development. The Uralvagonzavod Corporation is a traditional partner of New Delhi in the area of military-technical cooperation. India is the biggest foreign operator of military hardware produced by UVZ,” Siyenko pointed out.

“Our Indian partners have been collaborating with Russia’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) for a long period, while Uralvagonzavod is a leader in the area of SPG development. We are planning to transfer documentation under the ‘Make in India’ programme to produce the SPG on a joint basis,” the UVZ’s CEO said. He pointed out that the establishing of an assembly line in India would be the first stage of cooperation in the SPG production area. At present, Uraltransmash (a subsidiary of UVZ) is producing SPGs for Russia’s armed forces and potential foreign customers.

According to official data provided by Uralvagonzavod, 2S19M1-155 has a combat weight of 43 t, a firing rate of 6-8 rds/min, a maximum firing range of 30 km using high-explosive fragmentation rounds, 41 km using rocket assisted projectiles and 25 km using guided projectiles, and an ammunition load of 45 rounds. The SPG can be based on either T-90 or T-72M1 main battle tanks (MBTs).