DRDO/Denel Bhim

     Notes: When the Indians began searching for a new self-propelled artillery system, it seemed everyone was in.  The South Africans has a G-6 turret on a T-72 hull (which they called the T-6), the Russians had their 2S19 with a 155mm gun, the Germans had their PzH-2000 – the list went on and on, and due to the size and specific requirements of the package, competition was heavy.  The South Africans tried again, though, and presented an Arjun chassis topped with their T-5 turret.  The Indians, seeing the possibility of being able to build the vehicle in their own country, reacted positively to the design and purchased manufacturing rights and equipment from Denel.  The new vehicle was called the Bhim after a hero from Indian folklore (Bhima).  This also dealt this the mounds of design work the Indians did on the Arjun; since the Indians decided to go primarily with the T-90S for their tank needs, the Bhim development allowed the Arjun factories to remain open, especially since Arjun production ended in 2008 after a rather abortive run.

     Note that the Bhim was ready as early as 1998, but blacklisting of Denel by the Indian government over a bidding scandal delayed manufacture for almost 10 years.

     The resulting Bhim does in fact look something like a PzH-2000 or 2S19; this makes sense, since they are all tank chassis with SP howitzer systems atop them in large turrets.  The Bhim is essentially as modern an artillery system as any of the first-name SP artillery systems in the world today.  Having the T-6 turret, the Bhim is armed with a Denel L/52 155mm howitzer, replete with a full system of electronics and computer controls which unites GPS, mapping, blue/red force tracking, and the ability to function as its own FDC; it is also capable of 5-round MRSI firing.  The initial burst is 8 rounds per minute for 3 minutes; an extreme rate burst rate of 3 rounds in 15 seconds, and a sustained rate of 8 rounds per minute.  The gun is fed by a “limited capacity” autoloader; 20 rounds may be in the autoloading system at once, though others may be continually fed into the autoloader.  Due to the high mountains and cliffs of the Kashmir area, gun elevation design was a prime consideration; Maximum elevation is an astounding +78 degrees, and depression -6 degrees.  The turret also has a fast slew rate; if the gun is raised to max elevation, it can turn at 6 revolutions per minute. The turret and gun have 360-degree rotation and fire.  The front of the turret on each side has a large door for ingress and egress, and a large door in the rear of the turret and the hull.  The Bhim carries a conveyor which is hooked to vehicle power to allow the Bhim to feed from a ground pile, crates, vehicles, etc.  (India is considering acquiring or building a dedicated ammunition support vehicle to work with the Bhim.)  The gun has a muzzle brake and a fume extractor.

       The vehicle, though not heavily-armored by many standards, is well armored for an SP artillery vehicle.  Given the current state of affairs with mines and IADs, top and belly armor are strengthened.   The Bhim has an NBC overpressure system, with a collective vehicular backup.  All over the hull and turret are large equipment boxes for storage of gear and equipment.  As stated, the Bhim has a mapping system; interfaced computers onboard join the GPS (with inertial backup), the mapping computer, and fire control computers.  They also have a secondary role of reporting on the state of the Bhim.

     The hull is a modified form of the Arjun’s hull, and has the MTU-838 Ka-501 turbocharged diesel developing 1400 horsepower and coupled to an automatic transmission.  Furthermore, a 10kW APU is provided to power the gun when the engine is off, including the conveyor belt (which, if given another power source, can also be powered by that system).  Unlike most such systems, the APU is located in the turret on the right side instead of being in the hull.  The driver is in the front right hull with the engine to his left; the commander and loader have hatches in the roof of the turret, the commander on the left and the loader on the right.  The commander has a manually-operated cupola with all-around vision blocks; the loader merely a hatch.  The commander also has a pintle mount, usually used by an Indian-built version of a MAG.  On both sides of the turret are banks of four smoke grenade launchers.

     Track design posed a special problem for the designers of the Bhim.  Himalayan roads can be muddy, rutted, snowy, and slushy.  Then again, parts of India resemble trackless deserts.  The treads are, therefore, a middle ground between wide tracks and normal or narrow tracks.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This vehicle does not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

     Merc 2000 Notes: The Indians decided to buy a modified 2S19 model (with a 155mm gun) from Russia instead of the Bhim.

Price

Fuel Type

Load

Veh Wt

Crew

Mnt

Night Vision

Radiological

$1,895,010

D, A

550 kg

54 tons

4

25

Passive IR (D, G), Image Intensification (G, C)

Shielded

 

Tr Mov

Com Mov

Fuel Cap

Fuel Cons

Config

Susp

Armor*

172/120

42/30

1610

514

Trtd

T6

TF16Sp  TS10  TR8  HF20Sp  HS8Sp  HR6

 

Fire Control

Stabilization

Armament

Ammunition

+2

Fair

155mm Denel L/52 howitzer, M-2HB (C)

50x155mm, 2000x7.62mm

*Turret Deck and Hull Deck AV is 4; Hull Floor AV is 6Sp.

 

DRDO M-46 Catapult

     Notes:  During the 1990s Indo-Pakistan wars, India had a large number of M-46 130mm field guns that they wished to be more mobile, and a number of Vijayanta tanks that they wished to retire from service.  Rather than buy more self-propelled guns from an outside source and junking the Vijayantas, they combined 400 of these weapons into single self-propelled howitzers.  These first saw action in Kashmir in 1996.  Though it is supposed to be replaced by the Bhim, Bhim production has been slow and the Catapult soldiers on. The Catapult is also known as the Vijayanta/130mm and Vijayanta/M-46.  Some 170 such conversions were done; only about 100 are still operational officially; it’s possible that only 20 are still operational.

     The vehicle retains the driver's position, but the center of the vehicle has an open area for the gun and crew, with a frame that has a metal roof for overhead protection. This metal roof normally is covered with sandbags or extra pieces of wood or metal, but the sides are open.  The Vijayanta in generally modified to serve its new role; the most obvious modification is the addition of a seventh roadwheel to the chassis and the accompanying lengthening of the chassis by a little over half a meter.  The overhead roof covers the gun, and the gun extends partially into the former turret of the Vijayanta chassis.  The suspension has a unique hydraulic locking system which is used to help absorb recoil when the gun is fired.  The ad hoc nature of the chassis means that the gun has a maximum elevation of 45 degrees and a depression of -2.5 degrees.  Traverse is extremely limited, as only 12.5 degrees left or right. The gun faces and fires over the rear of the vehicle.  The low depression means that the Catapult can function as a tank destroyer if required, and a small number of rounds for such a purpose are generally carried by the Catapult.

     The Catapult uses an earlier version of the engine of the Bhim, a turbocharged diesel.  The driver is on the front right side with the engine to his left; the rest of the crew are in the hull or in the raised gun section.  There are no other weapons except for the gun, and the crew’s small arms.  Hull armor is actually fairly heavy for such a vehicle, but the armor of the raised section (which is represented by the “turret” section below) is virtually nonexistent.  The hull looks almost like a US M-88 Hercules ARV.  No other crew amenities or protection are supplied, other than a hot plate and water/ration heater.

Price

Fuel Type

Load

Veh Wt

Crew

Mnt

Night Vision

Radiological

$373,739

D, A

500 kg

40 tons

5

14

Passive IR (D)

Shielded

 

Tr Mov

Com Mov

Fuel Cap

Fuel Cons

Config

Susp

Armor

137/96

34/24

1000

284

Stnd

T6

TF3  TS2*  TR2* HF38  HS13  HR7

 

Fire Control

Stabilization

Armament

Ammunition

+1

Basic

130mm M-46 Gun/Howitzer

40x130mm

*The “turret” AV ratings are a bit strange for the Catapult.  The side and rear ratings are only 50% likely to hit the metal of the superstructure; otherwise, TS and TR are 0.  The TF rating is the gun shield and a bit of an extension on each side, but applies in all cases to TF hits.  TR, HR, and belly AV are 4.