DRDO Successfully Test ATAGS Howitzer Cannon

Dec 20, 2020 – 00:17

National Desk: Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) on Saturday tested the country-made ATAGS (Advance Tower Artillery Gun System i.e. Advanced Artillery System) howitzer cannon at Balasore firing range in Odisha. This cannon can aim for 48 kilometers. At present, the Army needs 1800 artillery guns. According to DRDO, this cannon can meet this need. After this, there will be no need to call for cannons from abroad.

According to news agency ANI, DRAGO’s ATAGS project director Shailendra V Gadhe said, “It is the best cannon in the world.” So far no other country has been able to develop such a cannon. DRDO scientists say that it is the best cannon in the world. This has given more strength to the Indian Army. This cannon is capable of meeting the requirement of 1800 artillery gun systems of the Indian Army. The DRDO has said that imports will no longer be needed in the region.

He said that this cannon was designed within three years and put to the test. Soon, it will be subjected to PSQR tests. We are hoping that India will have the biggest achievement in the artillery system sector. During the field trial of ATAGS, DRDO scientist and project director Shailendra V Gadhe said that this gun system is superior to any cannon in the world, including Bofors, India’s biggest force so far. It also includes the Israeli gun system ATHOS, considered to be quite fast. We have tested this cannon at Sikkim near China border and Pokhran near Pakistan border. More than 2 thousand shells were fired from it.

The Advanced Todd Ortillary Gun System (ATAGS) has been developed by DRDO. They are formed by two private companies Bharat Forge and Tata Advanced Systems Limited. Gadeh said that the Indian Army currently needs 150 ATAGS and 114 Dhanush cannons in addition to 1580 Todd cannons. Thus the army needs a total of 1,800 cannons. The way this gun system is performing, it seems that this will fulfill the need of these 1800 guns. Significantly, the government is emphasizing on making weapons through indigenous technology, so that the country can be made self-sufficient in the defense sector also.

According to media reports, this advance towed artillery gun is capable of hitting targets in a precise manner up to 48 kilometers away. At the same time, this cannon can move at 25 km per hour by itself. It takes 52 caliber rounds. This cannon can prove to be very effective in dealing with China. It is being told that in the coming days, India can deploy these cannons in the high altitude areas of Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh along the border with China.

Courtesy: Opera News/The Print