Winter trials for indigenous artillery gun in Sikkim

: A locally made gun is set to undergo crucial trials in January at a time when the army has sharpened its focus on its long-delayed artillery modernisation programme.

The indigenous 155mm 52-calibre Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS), jointly developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the private sector, will kick off winter trials in the Sikkim sector, a senior army officer said.

The ATAGS set a record during trials in Rajasthan’s Pokhran in September, firing shells to a range of 48km, against army’s requirement of 40km. The defence ministry sanctioned the ATAGS project in September 2012 and the DRDO has partnered with Bharat Forge and Tata Power (Strategic Engineering Division) to develop two prototypes of the towed artillery guns. The two prototypes underwent their maiden structural stability trials in December 2016 at Proof & Experimental Establishment, a government test facility at Balasore in Odisha. A letter of intent has been given to the DRDO for 150 ATAGS, an army source said.

The value of DRDO-developed/upgraded systems inducted into the armed forces during the last three years stands at ₹1.1 lakh crore, the government told Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The army’s field artillery rationalisation plan (FARP), cleared in 1999, lays down the roadmap for inducting new 155mm weaponry, including tracked self-propelled guns, truck-mounted gun systems, towed artillery pieces and wheeled self-propelled guns.