Barrow BAE to make Indian Army field guns Published duration 14 January 2017

image copyright BAE Systems image caption The US government is paying for the M777 howitzers to be made for the Indian Army

Defence giant BAE Systems is being paid by the United States government to supply the Indian Army with field guns.

The 145 M777 ultra-lightweight howitzers will be made at the company's site in Barrow, Cumbria.

The £445m ($542m) contract will mean 130 new jobs, it said.

The US Department of Defence is buying the weaponry through its Foreign Military Sales programme, which supports other countries' defence if it is in US and world security interests.

Joe Senftle, BAE vice president and weapon systems general manager, said it would give the Indian Army "superior artillery capability".