The post Bharat Forge Partners with Duma Engineering for Defense Innovations appeared first on IMR.

The post CCS Greenlights ₹7,000 Crore Deal for 307 ATAGS Howitzers  appeared first on IMR.

The post Kalyani Targets 350+ Artillery Guns Annually, Eyes US, EU Exports appeared first on IMR.

The proposal, worth over Rs 8,000 crore, has been floated by the Indian Army and is expected to be cleared soon, top government officials told India Today.

The Indian Army has conducted trials of the gun in different altitudes and terrains and the weapon has been upgraded as per the suggestions made by the users, said officials.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has shared the technological know-how of the howitzer with Tata and Bharat Forge. The two private firms will be supplying the system to the Army, including over 320 high mobility-vehicles. The trials of the 155mm/52 calibre ATAGS howitzers were completed at the Pokhran Field Firing Range (PFFR) between April 26 and May 2 last year.

The ATAGS is an indigenous towed artillery gun system project undertaken in mission mode by the DRDO as a part of the artillery modernisation programme of the Indian Army, said the statement of the Indian Army.

The Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE) Pune is the nodal laboratory of the DRDO for the design and development of ATAGS, along with other DRDO laboratories.

The post Two Indian firms to manufacture 307 ATAGS howitzers appeared first on IMR.

Under the terms of the MOU, Bharat Forge and General Atomics’ Electromagnetic Systems Group (GA-EMS) will collaborate for Lithium-Ion Battery System for naval platforms/submarines to address the requirements of Indian Navy. The parties have also agreed to partner with each other in the area of permanent magnet motors.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Baba Kalyani, Chairman Kalyani Group said, “We have been relentlessly working towards bringing niche technologies in the country with the aim of making Indian self-reliant in defence verticals. GA is a market leader for in-service Li-Ion Battery solutions for naval platforms/submarines and and our partnership with General Atomics is a firm step in the direction to develop Make in India solutions for Indian Navy and setting up a strong defence technology and manufacturing vertical within India.”

“We look forward to working with Bharat Forge to meet the requirements of Indian Navy. Our Li-Ion battery system has been developed after 10 years of rigorous R&D. Instead of the usual ‘fault prevention’, our design philosophy is based on assuming a fault and requiring fault containment’, which has made our system extremely safe and reliable”, stated Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS. “We are committed to working with companies like Bharat Forge, whose reputation for excellence and dedication to quality is synergistic with ours, as we continue to deliver technology innovations and cutting-edge systems for undersea and surface platforms.”

The post Bharat Forge Signs MoU With General Atomics appeared first on IMR.

“Kalyani Strategic Systems Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bharat Forge Ltd has been awarded an export order for a 155 mm Artillery Gun platform to be executed over a 3-year time frame. The total value of the order is $155.5 million,” the company disclosed in a regulatory filing.

“This order, to a non-conflict zone, is a great testament to the Government of India’s Atma Nirbhar Bharat agenda and its sustained push to promote exports of Indigenously Designed Developed and Manufactured advanced defence platforms from India.”

Even though the identity of the recipient was not disclosed, Saudi Arabia is speculated to be the recipient because the Middle-Eastern nation in 2020 had conducted trials of Bharat-52, a 155 mm, 52-calibre towed howitzer, which was the first artillery gun manufactured by the defence firm led by Baba Kalyani. It has a range of about 40 km and is capable of firing six rounds in 50 seconds.

The Kalyani Group has multiple versions of 155 mm artillery guns including the ATGS (advanced towed artillery gun system), which was developed in collaboration with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the Indian Army. The ATGS has not been inducted into the Indian Army as it is still under testing.

This is the second major defence export from India within the last two months, but the first big one from the private sector. Earlier in September, a government-to-government contract was closed between India and Armenia for the supply of Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers. The Pinaka order, believed to be a $250 million contract, is to be executed within the next two years.

India’s defence exports have grown over the years, from less than Rs 900 crore in 2014 to over Rs 13,000 crore now. The Defence Ministry has set a target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore of defence production by 2025, which includes exports of Rs 35,000 crore.

The post Bharat Forge to export howitzers worth Rs 1,266 crore appeared first on IMR.

The drone is a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAS), with a maximum take-off weight of 150 kg and empty take-off weight of 58 kg. The craft comes integrated with an indigenously developed radio communication system and Inertial Navigation System (INS) with anti-jamming and anti-spoofing capabilities, making it operational in jamming and GPS-denied environment as well.

The drone’s batteries can give minimum 30 minutes of endurance with a communication link encryption (128 AES) for 50 km – 200 KM. The endurance can be enhanced as per the application.

The water and dust proof Bharat 150 can be used in the temperature range of -30°C to 65°C with an average speed of 50 Km/h and a gust resistance of 15 m/s. It can operate at 1000 m above the take-off ground and is designed to work at 5500 m ASL.

It’s autonomous and electronically stable design makes it suitable for application in Logistics, Search and Rescue, Signal Intelligence and communication intelligence, ISR, Loitering Munition for warhead dropping etc.

Commenting on revelation of the drone, Mr. Rajinder Bhatia, President and CEO Bharat Forge Defence, said, “We are extremely proud to have developed Bharat 150, a state-of-the-art Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. These indigenous achievements further reinforce our commitment towards making the country more self-reliant, additionally the drone can be used across multiple sectors with varied requirements. We are optimistic about its performance and hope for a speedy induction.”

The post Indian Army begins trials of drone for high-altitude regions appeared first on IMR.

ATAGS is a fully indigenous towed artillery gun system project undertaken in mission mode by DRDO as a part of the artillery modernization programme of the Indian Army. ATAGS has been produced by two firms Bharat Forge and Tata Advanced Systems Limited.

The gun is expected to be the mainstay of the Indian Army tower howitzer fleet and may also be used to replace the Bofors howitzers.

The post Successful trials of ATAGS howitzers carried out in Pokhran appeared first on IMR.

The ATAGS is an indigenous towed artillery gun system project undertaken in mission mode by the DRDO as a part of the artillery modernisation programme of the Indian Army, the statement added.

Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE) Pune is the nodal laboratory of the DRDO for the design & development of ATAGS, along with other DRDO laboratories.

The development has been done with two industry partners, Tata Advanced Systems Ltd and Bharat Forge Ltd, along with the active participation of other industries. The reliability of both the guns has been proven by firing multiple rounds in various zones, including burst, intense & sustained modes. High accuracy and consistency in range and line with maximum range have been established, the DRDO said.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO, the Indian Army, DPSUs and private industries on the successful conduction of trials of the ATAGS and called it a shining example of AatmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan.

The post Trials conducted successfully for indigenous towed artillery guns ATAGS appeared first on IMR.

So far, the Indian Army possesses only towed gun systems, which are longer and heavier than mounted gun systems, and thus offer less mobility in hilly terrains.

A Request for Information (RFI), published by the Army on 29 April, stated field regiments of the Army will be equipped with the new mounted gun systems for “shoot and scoot” capabilities for operations in mountains. The information has been sought from Indian vendors.

The RFI has stated that the gun systems should be able to fire all in-service ammunition during trials, have an inertial navigation system based sight system with capability to provide orientation and fixation to the gun system and the capability to engage targets by direct firing during day and night, while also having a built-in test facility to identify faults and support repairs of the equipment.

The RFI has also sought details from the vendors on the status of development, whether the components of the equipment will be sourced indigenously, the communication system to be used for inter-communication within the gun crew and the maintenance philosophy of the equipment, aside from details about its mobility parameters such as its fuel, emission norms and speed among others.

The latest RFI indicates efforts towards the Army’s artillery modernisation plans which have gained pace in the past few years. Last year, a separate RFI for 155mm mounted gun systems (for medium regiments) was published.

Among prominent Indian firms, Bharat Forge had launched the indigenous Multi-terrain Artillery Gun (MArG) 155 – BR last year during multinational military exercise of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) countries. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had launched the multi-terrain artillery gun in presence of Army Chief General M M Naravane.

As per a senior Army officer, the advantages of a mounted gun system over a towed gun system are several.

The officer explained that in a towed gun system, the gun has to be towed by the vehicle, increasing the combined length of the vehicle and the gun, while in a mounted gun system, the barrel element is mounted on a body of the vehicle instead, leading to a lesser combined length.

“Roads in the mountains are narrow and the bends are sharp. With the combined length of the vehicle and the gun being towed, the turning radius in mountains becomes low and mobility becomes a challenge,” the officer said.

“But in a mounted gun system, the barrel is mounted atop a vehicle. This reduces the combined length, thus increasing the mobility of the vehicle in difficult mountainous terrains. The reduced size also makes it look like any other vehicle and makes it difficult to detect,” the officer explained.

During firing, the gun in a mounted gun system slides down and gets anchored on ground and is pulled up later.

While as part of its artillery modernisation programme, plans to procure medium guns are underway, sources said field guns are lighter and convenient for deployment in high-altitude areas.

“In medium guns, the barrel is longer and thus the vehicle on which it would be mounted is also bigger. Field guns are lighter and the vehicle carrying it would thus be smaller in size, facilitating increased mobility on difficult terrains,” the officer quoted above explained.

Towed howitzers such as the indigenously made 105 mm Indian Field Gun and the L118 gun are among the artillery field guns in use with the Army.

The post Army Looks to Buy Indigenous 105mm Mounted Gun for Mountains appeared first on IMR.