Military officials said on Thursday that the Indian Army has put a large number of M-777 ultra-light howitzers in mountainous areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh. These howitzers are easy to move around.
The Army is increasing its firepower in the forward areas of Arunachal Pradesh after putting howitzers in several sensitive areas in the Ladakh sector. This is because of the ongoing standoff with China along the border.
After the clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020, which caused a major rise in tensions between the Indian and Chinese armies, India has been building up its military power in all strategically important areas along the nearly 3,500-km-long LAC.
Army officials said that the addition of unmanned aerial vehicles, military aircraft, and surveillance equipment, along with the deployment of M-777 howitzers, has made India’s military preparedness in the Arunachal Pradesh sector better.
In mountainous areas, it was hard for the Army to move heavy artillery guns, but this problem has been solved by the use of ultra-light howitzers.
“Chinook helicopters can move the M-777 quickly because it is so light. We can now move them quickly from one place to another based on what we need for operations. “Now we’re much better prepared to handle any situation,” he said.
Last year, the Army put M-777 guns in Bum-La. Now, the howitzers are being used in Arunachal Pradesh’s RALP area, which is made up of several important mountain regions.
The Army got its first M-777 artillery guns in 2018. They have a range of up to 30 km and were made by BAE Systems. Since the Bofors scandal, it had been 30 years since any new artillery guns had been bought.
In 2016, India spent USD 750 million to buy 145 M-777 guns from the US.
Upgraded L70 air defence guns were added to the Bofors guns already in place in forward locations in Arunachal Pradesh. This gave the Army even more power in battle.
The Swedish defence company Bofors AB made the first L-70 guns in the 1950s, and India began buying more than 1,000 of them in the 1960s.
Bharat Electronics Limited, which is run by the government, has improved the guns (BEL).
The Army has taken a number of steps to improve its ability to do its job in the eastern border area with China.
Officials say that the Army has been working hard to improve operational capability in both the northern and eastern sectors.
The Indian and Chinese militaries got into a standoff at the eastern Ladakh border on May 5, 2020, after a violent fight in the Pangong lake area. Both sides gradually strengthened their positions by sending in tens of thousands of soldiers and heavy weapons.
After a fight that killed people in Galwan Valley, the situation got worse.
After a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides finished separating in the Gogra area and on the north and south sides of the Pangong lake last year.
The last round of military talks, which took place in July, ended in a stalemate because there was no progress toward ending the standoff in the remaining areas of conflict.
Along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the sensitive sector, each side has somewhere between 50,000 and 60,000 troops at the moment.
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