India is set to import more of the specialised Excalibur precision-guided artillery munition—used against Pakistan during Operation Sindoor—and the Javelin anti-tank missile system under emergency procurement from the US, at a total cost of nearly USD 93 million.This is being seen as a first in a series of defence deals to be signed with Washington, DC, in the coming months and comes weeks after both countries signed a 10-year framework to deepen bilateral defence relations. The signing took place in Kuala Lumpur at a meeting between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his US counterpart Pete Hegseth.
The deals, pursued under emergency procurement powers, allow the armed forces to bypass the convoluted and long procurement process for contracts, with a maximum ceiling of Rs 300 crore, have been approved by the US State Department under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route.

FMS is a government-to-government deal that Washington, DC, enters.

Excalibur is fired from the M-777 Ultra Light Howitzer, a specialised artillery gun, 145 units of which India had bought almost a decade ago.

While these guns were originally meant to be deployed in the Northeast, following the Pahalgam attacks, the Indian Army flew some of them to the Line of Control with Pakistan. While nine Pakistan-based terror camps were targeted by the Indian Armed Forces on 7 May this year, only two were hit by the Indian Air Force. Indian Army hit the remaining seven, mostly using the M777 guns with the Excalibur.

Interestingly, Colonel Koshank Lamba was awarded the Vir Chakra for executing the first-ever air mobilisation of a specialised equipment battery, thereby ensuring its timely inter-command induction into the ‘Operation’ under complete secrecy.

This was the M777, as reported by ThePrint earlier.

According to a notification to the US Congress by the Defence Security Cooperation Agency, the Government of India has requested up to 216 of the M982A1 Excalibur tactical projectiles for purchase. 

The deal includes ancillary items: Portable Electronic Fire Control Systems (PEFCS), along with their Improved Platform Integration Kit (iPIK), as well as primers and propellant charges. Government technical assistance, technical data, repair and return services, and other related elements of logistics and programme support are also included. The estimated total cost is $47.1 million.

The US Defence Security Cooperation Agency added that the proposed sale would support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to strengthen the US-Indian strategic ties and the security of a major defence partner. India continues as a significant force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia regions, it said.