Indian Army To Get Indigenously Developed, Best-In-Class ATAGS Howitzers

Balasore: Giving a solid boost to the fire power of Indian Army, the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully completed its field trials at Chandipur in Balasore.

Informing about the development, the Project Director of ATAGS, Shailendra Gade said, "We have completed the working trials of the guns, it will soon be inducted into the Indian Army."

As per reports, the gun has a firing range of 48 Kms, which is basically the longest for any artillery gun in the world right now. It is reportedly far better than the Bofors, which was instrumental in winning the Kargil war and is being used now. The ATAGS can be fitted in tanks and can be used to hit projectiles both on land and sea.

Better than the Israel made ATHOS guns, the ATAGS is being produced by two Indian farms, namely Bharat Forge and TATA Advanced Systems Limited.

Speaking about its advantages, Gade said, "The gun is 155*52 calibre. It has got a 25 litre chamber. So it is capable of hitting projectile up to 48 Kms."

"Indian Army's requirement is 1580 towed artillery guns. Apart from that, they also need 150 guns of ATAGS and 114 Dhanus guns. So there is a total requirement of more than 1800 guns right now. But looking at the performance of these guns, I am sure that the ATAGS can fill the shoes of all kind of artillery gun requirements of the Army. We can provide 1800 ATAGS to them if they want us to," said Gade while listing out the requirements of Army.

"It is a futuristic artillery gun system, designed keeping the requirements of 2030 in mind," added Gade.

(Edited By Suryakant Jena)