INDiaN Navy’S NeW-geN ShiPS Face ‘gUN’ UNceRtaiNty

A single vendor situation could throw the Indian Navys effort to zero in on a primary deck gun for its new generation indigenous frontline warships: specifically the seven Project 17 Alpha (follow-on Shivalik class) stealth guided missile frigates, three Project 15 Alpha (kolkata class) and four Project 15 Beta guided missile destroyers.

The Indian Navy had identified the Oto Melara Otobreda 127/64 Lightweight (LW) naval gun and the BAe Systems Mk 45 Mod 4 127/62 naval gun system. However, with BAe Systems choosing not to bid for the competition, a peculiar situation has arisen. Oto Melara, the only company that has responded to the Navys call for interest, is a subsidiary of Finmeccanica and speculation remains over whether Oto Melara has a fighting chance in any situation. However, the immediate chance of forward movement have been stalled by the more serious issue of non-competition.