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The Defence Research and Development Organisation has developed the gun in partnership with private sector industry.

Officials said the Made in India Advanced Tower Artillery Gun System howitzers would be in a position to meet the requirements of the Indian Army in the quickest possible timeframe as they have their production facilities ready while the Israeli gun on offer would take a long time just to create a production infrastructure.

The Indian Army is on a lookout for advanced howitzers which are to be deployed at the China border at the earliest. The Israeli gun has been cleared after a long tendering process.

Howitzers are in the negative import list and whichever option is exercised has to be produced in India under Make in India.

“The Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) is undergoing trials at Ahmednagar in Maharashtra. We can offer 200 plus of these guns to the Army within 18-24 months of the order,” DRDO officials told ANI.

CDS Supports Industry

The DRDO-developed ATAGS has shown immense capability as it has fired at the longest striking range in its class of guns but suffered a minor accident during trials in the Jaislamer desert a few months ago.

Asked to comment on the issue, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said: “Failures during trials will happen but these must not dampen the spirit, instead it must lead to timely reviews and encourage the manufacturers to seek ways to overcome the problems.”

“Services on their side also need to prepare acceptable and desirable requirements and continue to support the development process for further enhancement of quality,” he added.

ALSO READ: ARMY MODERNISATION: The 155mm/52-cal Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System

Rawat said defence manufacturing in India was at the cusp of transformation and the success of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for Atmanirbhar Bharat would necessitate that the services do the handholding of the local industry.

“Service officers with practical experience must be in integrated into the design and development processes. Navy has set standards that have helped in indigenisation but more needs to be done. Army and Air Force have gradually entered into the fray,” the CDS said.

The Narendra Modi government has embarked on the ambitious Atmanirbhar Bharat process in the defence sector and the CDS has been tasked to prepare the list of items which have to be produced in India only.

The CDS with the support of the three services and the DRDO has already issued one negative imports list and is soon going to issue another shortly to promote local industry.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has also made it clear to the forces that wherever there is an option of acquiring good local products, foreign equipment would not be allowed.

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The gun has an all electric drive to ensure reliability and minimum maintenance over a long period of time. It has advanced features like high mobility, quick deployability, auxiliary power mode, advanced communication system, automatic command and control system with night capability in direct fire mode. The gun is almost equal in weight to guns in the same category and is designed to provide better accuracy and range. It is capable of firing five successive rounds in short duration. It is compatible with C4I systems like Artillery Combat Command and Control System (ACCCS) called Shakti for technical fire control, fire planning, deployment management, operational logistics management of the Indian Army.

The development of the complex system has been carried out in a very short time of four years. ATAGS was first publicly showcased at the Republic Day parade on 26 January 2017. In August 2018, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved the procurement of 150 ATAGS with an estimated cost of ?3,364.78 crore, however, no order has yet been placed.

Trials

DRDO achieved technological breakthrough by successfully conducting maiden dynamic firing trials of two fully integrated ATAGS. The trials conducted at Proof and Experimental Establishment (PXE), Chandipur, from 13-20 December 2016, successfully met the mission objectives.

During trials, ATAGS broke the world record for 155 mm gun by firing the round to a maximum distance of 48.074 kilometres with Extended Range Full Bore-Base Bleed (ERFB-BB) ammunition, surpassing the maximum ranges fired by any artillery gun system in this category.

Labs Involved

ARDE, Pune is the nodal lab, which carried out the development work of ATAGS. Sister DRDO labs – Instruments Research and Development Establishment (IRDE), Dehradun; Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (VRDE), Ahmednagar; Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR), Bengaluru; Defence Electronics Application Laboratory (DEAL), Dehradun and PXE – chipped in with solutions in specific areas. The in house development has led to headway in the advanced technologies, which include higher pressure, higher chamber volume gun barrel, breech mechanism, compact recoil system and an efficient muzzle brake. A very robust yet compact structure, high power compact auxiliary power unit (APU) for achieving higher mobility during cross-country, walking-beam suspension for negotiating highly undulating terrains, SDR-based advanced communication, simultaneous voice and data communication, fire control computer, compact thermal imaging (TI) sight and surveillance system are some of the advanced features of the gun system.

The ATAGS is configured with all electric drives to ensure maintenance free and reliable field operations. The automation ensures five Multiple Rounds Simultaneous Impact (MRSI), automatic shell loading and ramming, higher rate of fire, and fast coming into/out of action in the day/night war scenario. It is equipped with Integrated Fire Control system consisting of INS-based Automatic Gun Alignment and Positioning System (AGAPS), Muzzle Velocity Radar (MVR) and Ballistic Computer to carry out online computations. The system comprises a Tactical Computer (TC) that commands and controls a battery of six to eight guns over radio and line and has been configured to be integrated as per ACCCS Shakti network protocol of the Artillery regiment.

Many Firsts

There are many firsts in the design, development and manufacturing of ATAGS. The designers, ie, DRDO went straight for the large calibre length of 52 calibre, much more than the Bofors 155mm/39 calibre. It meant a longer barrel, which had to sustain higher chamber pressure and larger chamber capacity for the first time in an artillery gun.

The ATAGS has enhanced accuracy and consistency. It has proven platform stability in trials. Laying accuracy with servo-based drives has been excellent. The inertial navigation system provides accurate positioning and pointing characteristics. Muzzle Velocity Radar and sensors provide data on barrel wear, temperature online. Real time met data update is available. The fire control computer provides digital fire control computation.

ATAGS provides enhanced performance through INS-based Automatic Gun Alignment and Positioning System, sighting system and superior barrel parameters and safety features.

ATAGS has remarkable deployability and survivability for its class. New materials and recoil management methods have resulted in a lighter gun. High-powered FAT provides higher tactical mobility. Agility is enhanced by a high-power APU, which also enhances shoot-and-scoot capability. Its compactness, backpack system and shape optimisation has given it strategic mobility. Passive protection from countermeasures has been built in.

ATAGS incorporates many of the latest trends. In automation a number of mechanisms – elevation & traverse, ramming, primer feeding, loading tray and breech operating –  along with a unique ammunition table, have all used innovative techniques. This is the only gun with servo-based all electric drives for all upper mechanisms.

To reduce weight and make the gun lighter, the recoil system was optimised during all stages of development – design, manufacturing, firing and post-firing. During the design stage, static and dynamic finite element analysis was done. During manufacturing stage, some components were manufactured with casting, investment casting and near net-shape forging and by using optimised welded joints.

During the firing stage, the design was optimised based on strain gauging and ‘g’ levels measurements. In the post-firing stage, material thickness was reduced at lower stress levels, Titanium alloys were used where possible and fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) was used for non-load bearing components.

During all stages, modularity, maintainability and affordability was kept central to the design. A fine balance was achieved in trade-offs between

•             Longer range and deployability.
•             Lethal effect vs precision attack.
•             Automation vs simplicity.
•             Autonomy vs Manual operation.

In all these decisions on trends the overriding factor was the requirement to have indigenous content and have a gun which is fully a “Make in India’ product.

ATAGS – Salient Features

Range   BT>35km. BB>45km
Accuracy & Consistency – 0.6% in Range,
                0.2% in Line
Rate of Fire         Burst of 5rds per min
Direct Fire           2km
Gun Laying          ILNS in loop
Communication       SDR, VDCU, DIS
Automation        All electric
Compactness     Back Pack
Self-propelled mobility  >18km/hr
Technologies incorporated in ATAGS
* All electric drive based Servo-control
* Inertial land navigation system
* Online muzzle velocity update for FCS
* SDR based communications
* Non-moving optics based TI sight
* Autofrettaged gun barrel
* Hydro-pneumatic recoil system
* Hydrostatic transmission for self-prop
* Uses all indigenous ammunition

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Artillery Guns From Kalyani Group

Kalyani Group has gone for development of new guns without waiting for MoD orders. After the army launched a programme to procure 145 ultralight howitzers from the international market – a $700 million contract that BAE Systems eventually won with its M777 gun system – the Kalyani Group has unilaterally designed and built two different ultralight howitzers, which it intends to offer the army under the “Make-2” category.” Under this procurement category, companies can offer the MoD defence products they have developed at their own cost.

Of these ultralight howitzers, one is a 155 mm, 39-calibre titanium gun that weighs a mere 4.8 tonnes. Kalyani Group has dubbed it Mountain Artillery Gun – Titanium (MArG-T). Its range matches the BAE Systems M777 gun, with conventional ammunition fired to a range of 25 km. The other gun is a larger, cheaper, all-steel 155 mm, 52 calibre gun that weighs 7.8 tonnes and fires conventional ammunition to a range of 30 km.

Both these guns are truly indigenous, having been designed by Kalyani Goup’s R&D centre in Pune. While Bharat Forge’s metal working skills are acknowledged worldwide, their Pune R&D centre develops the command and control systems, central computers and automation that goes into gun systems.

In December 2018, with the Sino-Indian border roiled by the recent Doklam confrontation, then army chief, General Bipin Rawat, visited Kalyani Group and asked whether they could build a truck-mounted 155 mm, 39 calibre gun that could move around on the narrow roads of northern Sikkim. The gun that Kalyani group developed in response is on display at Defexpo. Based on a 4×4 vehicle produced by Bharat Earth Movers Ltd, the so-called “Go Anywhere Vehicle” offers unparalleled mobility.

The Kalyani Group has a growing relationship with BAE Systems and purchased the British company’s barrel production unit located in the UK. This facility has been physically relocated from the UK to Pune. For any future artillery orders BAE Systems gets from the international market – including a possible follow-on order from India for more M777 ultralight howitzers – it is likely to source barrels from the Kalyani Group.

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