Why this Swedish town raises a hurrah for Kargil

Says Bofors’ R&D chief Claes Carpenfelt: ‘‘The Kargil war defined the way Bofors will develop its future artillery systems. It has changed the way technology is looked at. Kargil was necessary for our development.’’

Walking through the winding corridors of its huge research centre, the recognition of India’s victory at Kargil, at least in part because of the performance of the Bofors guns, is based on a detailed study of how the Indian Army pushed the guns beyond their prescribed limits.

In every sense, the inventive use of L-39 field artillery (purchased in 1986) at the Kargil heights is seen in these buildings here as nothing short of genius.

The Army’s use of the direct firing method (with a low trajectory never before employed by the Swedish Army or Bofors), its appealingly simple use of high-altitude short-range firing and the resourceful use of ordnance in anti-material operations has created a revolution in artillery technology.

In short, Bofors and the Swedish Army learnt things about their guns that they didn’t think had previously been possible.

It was in 2000 that the company, after being bought over by American firm United Defense, went to work, putting the knowledge of Kargil into its 155mm L-52 towed gun. Lt Col Nils Gustafsson, who commanded the Swedish Army’s artillery development department last year, was hired in May by Bofors to be a liaison between the needs of global armies and the development process at Bofors Defence. His perception of the Indian Army’s needs—despite its ambitiously multifarious requirements—perpetuate a yardstick that it has become crucial for Bofors to follow.

‘‘Sweden and India have a lot in common, especially in field artillery. India is an ideal scenario to judge the use of artillery because it has both predictable and unpredictable conflict scenarios. I cannot overstate how much Bofors has learnt just from trials held in India, about out very own guns,’’ Gustafsson said.

The third round of trials for the Bofors L-52 gun ended last month in Rajasthan and Sikkim and the ‘‘exhaustive nature of the trials’’ has convinced Bofors that all future development will stem from the L-52 platform.

Interestingly, based on the notes prepared by Bofors on its own perception of the L-52’s performance in India, the Swedish Army has decided to induct the L-52 in large numbers, and will progressively alter the operational profile of the gun, from conventional warfare scenarios to peacekeeping and peace enforcement missions. It currently operates three L-39 gun battalions.

Carpenfelt said: ‘‘It was important for us to see how our systems performed in a war scenario. There is only so much you can learn from trials and joint exercises. Kargil was crucial to the future of the science of making artillery guns.’’