BALASORE: Indian-made ATAGS howitzer can meet Indian Army’s full requirement of 1800 artillery guns systems and there is no need to procure foreign items in this field, said a top DRDO scientist on Saturday. The indigenous gun was test-fired at a facility in Odisha’s Balasore.
While speaking to media, Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) project director and senior Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientist Shailendra V Gade said the gun system is far better than the legendary Bofors in the Indian Army along with any other artillery gun in the world including ATHOS gun of Israel.
The Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) has been developed by the DRDO and produced by two firms Bharat Forge and Tata Advanced Systems Limited. It has already fired over 2,000 rounds in places like Sikkim near the China border and Pokharan near the Pakistan border.
“The Indian Army’s requirement is for 1580 towed artillery guns and apart from that, they need 150 ATAGS and another 114 Dhanush guns. So, there is a requirement of a total of 1,800 guns. The way the ATAGS is performing and come up, I am sure that this entire requirement of 1,800 guns can be met by this gun only,” said Gade.
Stressing on the remarkable range of the gun, Gade said the DRDO-developed gun is the longest firing howitzer in the world with 48 km and this will help it to be safe during a strike against the enemy.
“The enemy won’t be able to counter you as they would not be able to reach you but you can reach them at 48 kilometers. You can be eight kilometers behind their strike range but still hit them,” he said.
Asked if the ATAGS was better than the guns available with China and Pakistan, Gade said, “in fact, this is the best gun in the world because no other country has been able to such a system built on this high-technology with a high rate of firing capability.”
The Indian Army is looking at the acquisition of around 1600 artillery guns and was looking at Israeli guns ATHOS as an option for quick induction of 400 pieces. (AGENCY)
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