India replenishes stock of specialised artillery ammunition used during Op Sindoor

India has replenished its stock of specialised artillery ammunition called ‘Excalibur’ which was used during Operation Sindoor to target terrorist camps in Pakistan.

India has asked for 216 of the ‘Excalibur projectiles’ and these have been okayed by the US under a $47.1-million deal along with another $45.7-million deal to procure about 100 Javelin Missile Systems.

The artillery ammunition ‘Excalibur Projectiles’ is fired from the M-777 Ultra Light Howitizer, a specialised artillery gun. India sourced 145 such guns from the US almost a decade ago.

The ‘Excalibur’ has precision firing ability to home in on a target. A few of the terror camps in Pakistan were hit by Excalibur on May 7.

The Excalibur and the Javelin have been given a nod under a foreign military sales route, the first such deal since the India-US relations soured since August. The US imposed 50 per cent tariff on India goods reaching US markets. This includes a 25 per cent   punitive tariff for buying crude oil from Russia.

The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) delivered the required certification for the two sales to India notifying Congress on Wednesday.

The DSCA notification said India requested to buy up to 216 Excalibur tactical projectiles. The DSCA also approved with the deal a portable electronic fire control system.

The US Government will also provide technical assistance, technical data, repair and other related elements of logistics and programme support.

The DSCA said on India, “This proposed sale will improve the security of a major Defence partner which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia regions.”

The sale will improve India’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing precision capability equipment, which will increase first strike accuracy in its brigades. India will have no difficulty absorbing these articles and services into its armed forces.

Separately, the DSCA notified the Congress about the sale of Javelin Missile System and related equipment for an estimated cost of $45.7 million.

India has requested to buy 100 Javelin rounds and 25 Javelin Lightweight Command Launch Units. The deal includes missile simulation rounds; battery coolant unit; interactive electronic technical manual; lifecycle support; physical security inspection; spare parts; system integration and check out and other related elements of logistics and programme support.