NEW DELHI: On Tuesday, The Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) received clearance from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Indian Army for the production of 114 'Dhanush' long-range artillery guns. Here in part of its production it described as a product of joint efforts of the OFB and the Indian Army, this is the first ever indigenous 155 mm x 45 calibre long-range artillery gun. 'Dhanush' is the first long-range artillery gun to be produced in India under the NDA government's  'Make in India' initiative. Dhanush is also referred to as “desi Bofors”.

It has a strike range of 38 kilometres and 81 percent of its components are indigenously sourced. The gun is equipped with inertial navigation-based sighting system, auto-laying facility, on-board ballistic computation and an advanced day and night direct firing system. The indigenous gun’s hitting range is said to 11 km more than the imported Bofors guns. The self-propulsion unit allows the gun to negotiate and deploy itself in mountainous terrains with ease.

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It is to be noted that 'Dhanush' has also been electronically upgraded to enhance firing accuracies, laying speeds of the existing gun and to provide compatibility with various kinds of ammunition as well. The Dhanush artillery gun system has earlier passed tests under severe cold conditions in Sikkim and Leh and in hot and humid weather in Balasore, Odisha, Babina in Jhansi and in the desert of Pokhran in Rajasthan.

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DRDO, DGQA, Defence PSUs such as BEL and PSUs including SAIL and several private sector enterprises have also contributed to the development of the artillery gun. The manufacture of a 155 mm modern artillery gun was initially a challenge for the OFB. This was due to a change in the vision parameters from 155x39 calibre to 155x45 calibre. The OFB received the Transfer of Technology (ToT) documents pertaining to 155x39 calibre and then converted it to 155x45 calibre successfully.