ST Kinetics targets India

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ST Kinetics Targets Major Opportunities in Indian Defence

(Source: ST Engineering; issued Jan. 15, 2010)

-- Hopeful of early trials for Pegasus ULH as it prepares for Towed Gun trials with its FH 2000, the world's first and longest in-service 155 mm 52 Calibre Towed Howitzer.

-- The company is all set to offer the Bronco All Terrain Tracked Carrier, which is currently being delivered to the UK MOD for operations in Afghanistan.

NEW DELHI --- ST Kinetics today said that it will be fielding the world's first and longest in-service 155 mm 52 Calibre towed Howitzer, the FH 2000, in field trials next month. The company is hopeful that the stalled trial of the 155 mm calibre 39 Pegasus Lightweight Howitzer (LWH) will also recommence very shortly.

ST Kinetics is a subsidiary of the ST Engineering in which the Singapore Government has a stake of 51 per cent through Temasek Holdings. ST Engineering, with a turnover of US$3.8 billion in 2008, has a workforce of over 20,000 employees, and global operations in Aerospace, Electronics, Land Systems and Marine.

ST Kinetics plans to address India's strategic needs and is fielding tailored solutions to meet the requirements of the modernisation programmes of the armed forces. These include the iFH2000 155mm 52 Calibre Howitzer for the Towed Gun requirement and the Pegasus 155mm 39 Calibre Lightweight Howitzer for the Ultra Lightweight Howitzer program. ST Kinetics has also offered the SAR 21 Carbine with its proven reliability and performance.

Speaking at the Press Conference, Brig Gen Patrick Choy, Chief Marketing Officer, said "ST Kinetics has a 40 year lineage in defence and over a billion dollars in revenue earned from being a market leader in many areas. For example, we are a leading 40mm grenade solutions provider and manufacturer of other class leading defence products. We are a much accoladed company, recognised with many awards for our innovation in defence technologies including those for the Pegasus, Trailblazer, Bronco, SAR 21, 40mm Air Bursting Munitions. We have a strong Engineering background and a large number of IPs. The company is respected for its integrity, transparency and high standards of corporate governance.

"We are ideal partners for the modernisation programs of the Indian armed forces. ST Kinetics' 155mm 52 Calibre Howitzer is the first to be fielded in the world. Our head-start in the development of the whole family of 155mm Howitzers has given us certain advantages in the design and development of a towed gun that could meet the Indian Army's total fire power needs. ST Kinetics believes our system is superior in many ways and it would prove itself during the field trials. The strongest credential for the FH 2000 is its long years in service, having been inducted in regular service as far back as 1993," he said.

He further said, "The Lightweight Howitzer Pegasus is a highly operable and portable system that meets the Indian Army's total battlefield needs. The ST Kinetics engineering team has also ingeniously retained the flexibility for the Indian Army to retrofit it into self propelled lightweight 155mm Howitzer system that could operate in the plains. Pegasus is deemed to be superior in its class with its unique self propelled capability, flexible configuration and lower crew fatigue due to powered handling. The gun is already in India in Gwalior and is awaiting a call to trials."

ST Kinetics has been designing and developing Howitzers for the last 30 years, including the FH 88, a 155mm Calibre 39 towed Howitzer, the FH 2000 155mm 52 Calibre Self Propelled Howitzer, the Pegasus Lightweight Self Propelled Howitzer and the Primus 155mm tracked Self Propelled Howitzer. ST Kinetics will continue to develop capabilities in artillery systems.

ST Kinetics is also offering innovative and customised engineering solutions including dual use systems such as the Bronco All Terrain Tracked Carrier for frontline defence and disaster relief applications. With its all terrain capability, the Bronco would be an excellent protected mobility solution in view of India's vast and diverse terrains.

ST Kinetics (Singapore Technologies Kinetics Ltd) is the land systems and specialty vehicles arm of ST Engineering. It delivers integrated land systems, specialty vehicles and their related through life support for defence, homeland security and commercial applications.

ST Engineering (Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd) is an integrated engineering group providing solutions and services in the aerospace, electronics, land systems and marine sectors. Headquartered in Singapore, the Group reported audited revenue of S$5.34b in FY2008 and ranks among the largest companies listed on the Singapore Exchange. ST Engineering has more than 20,000 employees worldwide, and over 100 subsidiaries and associated companies in 24 countries and 42 cities.

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The Indian Army wants to evaluate ST Kinetics’ Pegasus lightweight howitzer, but the Defence Ministry has banned the company from competing. (Singapore MoD photo)

Army, MoD Lock Horns Over Ban on Singapore Technologies


(Source: Indian Business Standard; dated Jan. 22, 2010)

NEW DELHI --- The Ministry of Defence (MoD) faces accusations of serious contradictions in the apparently ill-considered ban it had imposed last June on arms vendor Singapore Technologies Kinetic (STK). The ban was slapped on seven companies after the May 19, 2009 arrest of former Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) chairman, Sudipta Ghosh, on charges of corruption.

The ban on STK is all but collapsing. Next month, STK’s 155-mm towed gun will take part in firing trials — cleared by the MoD - for selecting a new-generation artillery piece for the Indian Army. STK’s Lightweight Assault Rifle will also begin army trials in February. Inexplicably, though, the ban remains on STK’s 155-mm Pegasus ultralight howitzer, which the army wants urgently for India’s mountain divisions.

The Pegasus trials remain blocked despite efforts of the army chief, General Deepak Kapoor — himself an artilleryman — who requested the MoD for trials to continue alongside the Central Bureau of Investigation’s investigations, to save time (reported in Business Standard on July 18, 2009). Rejecting that request, the MoD approached Washington to allow India to buy the American BAE Systems’ M777 ultralight howitzer.

The army, however, wants the option open on both, not a single-vendor situation in which the US-based company can dictate its price. Despite the MoD ban, the army chief has publicly declared that the STK howitzer remains an option.

On January 14, 2009, General Kapoor told the press, “We have one gun (the Pegasus) waiting for trials and, at the same time, we have approached a foreign country (the US) for purchasing an ultralight howitzer directly. We will follow both routes. The moment one of them is successful, we will go ahead with that purchase.”

But, MoD sources say they are not rethinking the ban on the Pegasus. They say the CBI has solid proof that STK paid money into Ghosh’s bank account in Singapore. Asked why the CBI has failed to file charges against Ghosh, who was freed on bail last July, they have no answers.

Now, STK has also, for the first time, publicly protested the ban. Last week, STK’s CEO, Brigadier-General Patrick Choy, revealed to the press in New Delhi that he had travelled to India last year to assist the CBI in its investigations into Ghosh’s alleged corruption. Choy said he had invited the CBI team to Singapore for a full audit of STK, promising that he would fully open the company’s books to investigators. The CBI has not, so far, responded.

STK first encountered the unpredictability of the Indian defence market when it flew a Pegasus howitzer into India for trials last year, in response to an MoD request. On June 5, 2009, just as the Pegasus reached the Pokhran Field Firing Ranges in Rajasthan, a media statement from the MoD spokesperson announced that STK had been banned. To this day, the MoD has not officially intimated STK about any ban.

After remaining stranded by the roadside in Pokhran for several days, the Pegasus was moved to Gwalior, where it remains housed in an army unit.

The Indian Army’s artillery modernisation plan has remained stalled, for various reasons, for over two decades; the ultralight howitzer is only the latest procurement fiasco. The army’s 180 artillery gun regiments — each having 18 guns — have not received any new weaponry since the Bofors gun was bought in the late 1980s.

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[buglerbilly]

While the Indian Army wants to test Singapore’s Pegasus, but the Ministry of Defence wants to buy the US-made M-777, seen here in combat with the US Marine Corps. (USMC photo)

India – M777 155mm Light-Weight Towed Howitzers

(Source: Defense Security Cooperation Agency; issued Jan. 26, 2010)

WASHINGTON --- The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress Jan. 22 of a possible Foreign Military Sale to India of 145 M777 155mm Light-Weight Towed Howitzers with Laser Inertial Artillery Pointing Systems (LINAPS) and associated parts, equipment, training and logistical support for a complete package worth approximately $647 million.

The Government of India has requested a possible sale of 145 M777 155mm Light-Weight Towed Howitzers with Laser Inertial Artillery Pointing Systems (LINAPS), warranty, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, publications and technical documentation, maintenance, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor representatives’ technical assistance, engineering and logistics support services, and other related elements of logistics support.

The estimated cost is $647 million.

This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to strengthen the U.S.-India strategic relationship and to improve the security of an important partner which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in South Asia.

India intends to use the howitzers to modernize its armed forces and enhance its ability to operate in hazardous conditions. The howitzers will assist the Indian Army to develop and enhance standardization and to improve interoperability with U.S. Soldiers and Marines who use the M777 as their primary means of indirect fire. India will have no difficulty absorbing these weapons into its armed forces.

The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.

The principal contractors will be, BAE of Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Watervliet Arsenal of Watervliet, New York; Seiler Instrument Company of St Louis, Missouri; Triumph Actuation Systems of Bloomfield, Connecticut; Taylor Devices of North Tonawanda, New York; Hutchinson Industries of Trenton, New Jersey; and Selex, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale.

Implementation of this proposed sale will require annual trips to India involving up to eight (8) U.S. Government and contractor representatives for technical reviews/support, training, and in-country trials for a period of approximately two years.

There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale.

This notice of a potential sale is required by law and does not mean the sale has been concluded.

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