| Bhim Self Propelled Howitzer | |
| Origin: | South Africa/India |
| Type: | Self-propelled artillery |
| Is Vehicle: | yes |
| Is Artillery: | yes |
| Design Date: | 1994 |
| Production Date: | 1999- |
| Traverse: | 360° |
| Max Range: | 52km (32miles) |
| Length: | 12.4m (40.7feet)[1] |
| Width: | 4.7m (15.4feet) |
| Height: | 3.1m (10.2feet) |
| Weight: | Combat: 54t |
| Suspension: | hydropneumatic |
| Speed: | Road: 60 km/h (38 mph) Off-road: 45 km/h (28 mph) |
| Vehicle Range: | 450 km (281 mi) |
| Unit Cost: | US$4.5 million |
| Primary 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 |
| Armour: | welded steel, 14.5 mm resistant additional bomblet protection |
| Engine: | MTU 838 Ka-501 |
| Crew: | 4 (commander,loader, driver and gunner) |
| Engine Power: | 1400 hp(1000 kW) |
| Pw Ratio: | 26 hp/t |
The Bhim self-propelled howitzer was 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".
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.
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.
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 155mm howitzer gun, while its secondary armament consists of a single 7.62mm machine gun.