Forces seek more ammo amid rift with Pak
The armed forces have put in additional requirements for specific items with the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB). OFB Chairman Saurabh Kumar said, “There is no scarcity of ammunition... But there have been some additional requirements in recent times”.
As tensions between India and Pakistan rage on after two rounds of aerial skirmishes between the two nations, the Indian armed forces have put in additional requirements for specific items with the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB).
When asked if any of the branches of the Indian armed forces have asked for speedier delivery of ammunition or equipment or have placed urgent orders, OFB Chairman Saurabh Kumar said, “There is no scarcity of ammunition with the three branches of the Indian armed forces and they are adequately supplied. But there have been some additional requirements in recent times”.
He was speaking on the sidelines of an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry here.
Asked about the demand from the land forces, Kumar said, “This time, it was an aerial dogfight”. However, he declined to elucidate further.
It is also reviving manufacturing of anti-aircraft guns at one of its factories in West Bengal.
“Now, the demand for such equipment, from India as well as abroad, has come up,” he said.
The OFB is also in discussions with other countries to manufacture and supply ordnance and equipment for them.
The OFB had been producing anti-aircraft guns since 1962 and had upgraded its capability to 12.7 mm air defence guns in 1999. However, the demand for such equipment fell and production lines went idling.
Two weeks ago, the Indian Army placed orders for 114 long-range artillery guns christened Dhanush — built and developed by the OFB.
Kumar expects the demand for Dhanush, a modern 155 mm modern artillery gun with an 81 per cent localisation, will run into four digits, from its current level, based on the positive response the OFB has received from the Indian Army.
The current order size of Dhanush is around ~1,000 crore.
This series of development follows a terror attack in Jammu & Kashmir, where 40 CRPF personnel were killed, which led India to launch air strikes on terror camps. Pakistan retaliated with its air force the very next day and in the ensuing dogfight, one of the Indian pilots, whose jet was downed, was captured by Pakistan. Later, this country released the captured pilot in good faith.
Currently laden with an order book of around ~50,000 crore, Kumar said more products “are on the horizon”, which offers huge opportunity for the private manufacturing sector to bid for defence production contracts.