LONDON, April 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

As the Indian Armed Forces encounter mounting pressure to speed up the country's artillery procurement process, the newly-appointed Director of the Indian Armed Forces' Artillery Directorate, Lieutenant General Anjan Mukherjee, will be delivering the keynote address at Defence IQ's Future Artillery India conference in June, on the strategy for the nation's artillery modernisation over the next decade, and where investment will be prioritised.

Formerly the Director General, Financial Planning, Lieutenant General Anjan Mukherjee has assumed the position of 34^th Director General of the Directorate of Artillery at a decisive time in the Indian Army's military upgrade plans, as critics warn of serious implications should the procurement of new artillery equipment continue to be delayed:

"The failure to modernise the Indian artillery is likely to have adverse repercussions for national security. If there is any field of defence procurement in which the government must make haste, it is this one," Brigadier (Retd) Gurmeet Kanwal, former Director of the Centre for Land Warfare Studies, New Delhi, told Defence IQ this month.

Meanwhile AK Anthony, the Indian Defence Minister, has continued to stress his government's continued commitment to ensuring India has the optimum artillery resource at its disposal:

"Arms and equipment including gun systems in the Indian artillery are available in adequate quantity," he noted, but added that "modernisation of artillery, which entails replacement of the equipment of older technology, is an on-going process and is being given priority to ensure that the artillery remains equipped with modern weapons systems".

Speaking on day one of the conference, Lieutenant General Mukherjee will be joined on the expert speaker panel by other key decision makers involved with the nation's artillery modernisation programme, including:

• Major General Vikas Joshi, Additional Director General, Directorate Artillery
• Lieutenant General J.P. Singh (Retd), Former Deputy Chief of Army Staff
• Lieutenant General Vinod Nayanar (Retd), Former Director General, Directorate Artillery
• Major General P.K. Chakravorty (Retd), VSM, Former Additional Director General Artillery

Full conference details can be found at http://www.futureartilleryindia.com. Serving flag officers 1 star and above, as well as serving member of the Indian Armed Forces, are eligible for a complimentary pass which can be requested from futureartillery@iqpc.co.uk

Calum Jeffray | Defence IQ, 2nd Floor, 129 Wilton Road, London SW1V 1JZ | Tel: +44-20-7368-9300

SOURCE Defence IQ