Boost for Make in India: Armenia orders artillery guns developed jointly by India and France

US, France and Armenia have emerged as India's top three defence export customers.

The Trajan 155 mm towed artillery gun system, developed jointly by India and France, has been chosen for induction by Armenia, according to Economic Times.

Developed jointly by L&T and KNDS France, the 52-calibre towed gun system has been tested by the Indian Army. ET reported it has met all qualitative requirements, including operations in marshy plains and high-altitude cold deserts. Several subsystems such as auxiliary power unit, control panel and rolling gear assembly of these guns were developed indigenously in India.

According to the ET report, these artillery guns will add to a growing number of Indian-origin armaments with Armenia, which already includes multi-barrel rocket launchers, artillery guns and a range of ammunition. The indigenous advanced towed artillery gun systems have already been pressed into service by Armenia.

Similarly, supplies of first launchers and associated equipment of the Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher system have also arrived in Armenia. According to reports, the “Made in India” Pinaka is exported to Armenia under an export contract valued at $250 million. The Pinaka weapon system, named after the bow of Hindu god Shiva, was developed by the Pune-based Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), an important unit of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Orders have also been bagged for Akash anti-air systems that are manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Limited, stated the ET report. The system has an indigenous content of 82% and around 60% of the project cost is awarded to the private industry, including MSMEs.

The Defence Ministry has been pushing defence exports and manufacturing in the country to improve domestic production of these equipment to meet internal and international requirements.

According to reports, US, France and Armenia have emerged as India's top three defence export customers. Defence ministry insiders told PTI that the value of defence production in India has gone up significantly since 2014-15.

"There has been around three times increase in the value of production since 2014-15. While the Indian firms produced equipment worth Rs 46,429 crores in 2014-15, it has come to Rs 1.27,265 crores in the last fiscal," Defence ministry insiders told media.

According to PTI, the contribution of the private sector in this value of production is 21 per cent. The major defence platforms produced in the India include the LCA Tejas fighter jets, aircraft carriers, warships, submarines, Dhanush Artillery Gun system, MBT Arjun, Advanced towed artillery gun system Light Specialist Vehicles, High Mobility Vehicles, Weapon Locating Radar, 3D Tactical Control Radar, Software Defined Radios and Akash Missile System.

Historically, Armenia relied heavily on Russia for arms procurement. According to SIPRI, from 2011 to 2020, Russia was the main supplier of arms to Armenia accounting for 93.7 per cent of its imports