WASHINGTON & DUBAI (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Soltam Systems, an Israeli armament company, will bid for an artillery contract with India worth somewhere between $750 million and $1.5 billion.
The Israeli company will compete with firms from four other countries, including Sweden.
Defense contracting firms from Sweden, France, Spain and South Africa are also making bids for the Indian contract, the Israel English daily Ha'aretz reported Friday.
A long-range cannon is the main piece of equipment Soltam Systems is developing for the proposed deal to be issued next March. The deal will include 1,000 of the artillery pieces.
The 155mm cannon will be capable of firing shells a maximum distance of 41 km, and will be mounted on a heavy truck, lowering the cost of the system and enabling greater operational mobility. The gun will be capable of firing nine shells per minute.
A single cannon will cost an estimated at $1.5 million.
Soltam has previously supplied the Indian army with weapons before, winning a $50 million bid for upgrading 180 artillery field pieces.
Another company, Elbit Systems, is providing electronic components for the artillery piece in cooperation with Soltam in the project.
The cannon includes an automatic navigation system and computer-operated firing mechanism linked to command and control centers.
