Bhim Not On Track After All

Trust DRDO not to put out the full picture. The Indian BHIM 155-mm tracked self-propelled howitzer was recently noted by DRDO to have been "evaluated" and "accepted" by the Indian Army. Well, it turns out the DRDO was referring to its nearly decade old evaluation/acceptance by the Army when the BHIM had a Denel T6 gun turret. After Denel was blacklisted by the Indian government following apparent evidence of malfeasance in a separate deal for anti-materiel rifles, the BHIM became effectively gun-less, and has remained so ever since. Efforts have been made twice to give the BHIM a gun, but those efforts are nowhere close to complete. And when I checked with DRDO, they told me they were "planning to" restart efforts to find the BHIM a new gun. So, no new gun. It's just a couple of Arjun chassis stored away somewhere.

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