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For the first time in the history of India, the indigenously developed artillery gun ATAGS (Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System) prototype developed under the government's Make in India initiative will be fired from the Red Fort during the Independence Day celebrations on August 15.
The completely indigenous gun designed and developed by DRDO will give the ceremonial 21 Gun Salute along with the "25 Pounder British guns" which are traditionally fired till now. A team of DRDO's Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune led by Scientists and Artillery Officers have been responsible for making this possible. Sangam Sinha, DG (R&M), DRDO said, "On the occasion of the elixir of freedom, folding cannon is a great gift for India. This is the longest-range cannon in the world and is capable of hitting targets from 45 to 48 km." "The biggest thing is that for the first time it is Made in India by Bharat Forge. It is an indigenous artillery gun being used for the 21-gun salute on Independence Day. The ATAGS is developed by DRDO and is currently at the Red Fort. This will be a big support to the Indian Army," he added. The ATAGS project was started in 2013 by DRDO to replace older guns in service in the Indian Army with a modern 155mm artillery gun. ARDE partnered with two private firms Bharat Forge Limited and Tata Advanced Systems Limited for the manufacturing of this specialised gun. ATAGS is a 155mm calibre Gun System with a firing range of 48 km and 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. ATAGS is a world-class system which fires the Bimodular charge system in Zone 7. No other Gun in the world is known to have that capability yet. ATAGS has already proved its mettle during the recently conducted summer trials and is currently undergoing DGQA evaluation. This gun system is designed to provide one of the best accuracy and consistency in gun systems compared to other gun systems of the same calibre in the world. ATAGS has been proven in extreme weather conditions and has gone through rigorous trials and evaluations. This specialised Gun System is compatible with C4I systems like the Artillery Combat Command and Control System (ACCCS) called Shakti for technical fire control, fire planning, deployment management, and operational logistics management of the Indian Army. (ANI)
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