Bhim self-propelled howitzer

Bhim Self Propelled Howitzer
Side view of the Bhim SPH prototype
Type	Self-propelled artillery
Place of origin	South Africa/India
Production history
Designed	1994
Unit cost	US$4.5 million
Produced	1999-
Specifications
Mass	Combat: 54 t (60 short tons)
Length	12.4 m (40 ft 8 in)[1]
Width	4.7 m (15 ft 5 in)[1]
Height	3.1 m (10 ft 2 in)[1]
Crew	4 (commander,loader, driver and gunner)
Traverse	360°[1]
Maximum firing range	52 km (32 mi)[1]
Armor	welded steel, 14.5 mm resistant additional bomblet protection
Main armament	Denel 155 mm L52 G5 howitzer (50 rounds) 3 rounds in 9.0 seconds (Burst) 8 round/min
Secondary armament	MAG 7.62 mm machine gun[1]
Engine	MTU 838 Ka-501 1400 hp(1000 kW)
Power/weight	26 hp/t
Suspension	hydropneumatic
Operational range	450 km (281 mi)[1]
Maximum speed	Road: 60 km/h (38 mph)[1] Off-road: 45 km/h (28 mph)

The Bhim self-propelled howitzer is a type of self-propelled artillery developed by the South African company Denel under the supervision of the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation. It was designed to meet the Indian Army's requirements for self-propelled artillery units.^[2] The howitzer is named after Bhima, one of the main protagonists and brother to Arjun of the Indian epic "Mahabharata".

History[]

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The Bhim artillery system was developed by the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation in the 1990s. Trials of the Bhim artillery system were successfully conducted in 1998 and 1999, but its development remained on pause for over ten years, as Denel was blacklisted by the Indian government.

Development[]

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Bhim is a self-propelled howitzer. It consists of the Denel T6 turret mounted on an Arjun MBT chassis. It was developed and tested successfully and was cleared for production but was put on hold after Denel was banned from working on the project.

Specifications[]

The Indian army required 400 mounted 155-mm /52 howitzer, of which 200 would be mounted on the Arjun chassis and another 200 to be mounted on modified TATRA trucks.

The Bhim artillery system has a fully automatic ammunition loading system^[3] as well as a turret-mounted auxiliary power unit, which powers all systems.^[1] The Bhim's primary armament is a Denel 155 mm howitzer gun, while its secondary armament consists of a single 7.62 mm machine gun.

References[]

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