Bharat Forge took to Twitter to announce the successful completion of highest altitude trails of its flagship towed artillery gun, the ATAGS (Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System) jointly developed by the DRDO in partnership with Bharat Forge of the Kalyani Group and the TATA Power SED.

Bharat Forge twitted:

We are proud to share that #ATAGS has successfully completed trials in the highest altitude with harshest conditions. This would not have been possible without our partners. We express our gratitude to #DRDO for guidance and faith in manifesting this achievement into reality.

We thank our PM Shri Narendra Modi for Aatmanirbhar Bharat mission laid out which has re-energised and motivated the Indian Industry to raise the bar.

Setting 'Gold Standard' for Towed Artillery Gun in the 155mm/52Calibre segment

Key Features

Fired at 13,00o+ feet height at the Menla firing range in Sikkim, creating new record with no other 155mm gun has reach and fired, thus proving endurance and reliability

Successfully completed 500+ km in treacherous high-altitude terrain up to 15,400 feet and proving ease of mobility

World record with longest firing range of 48.074 km (HE-ERFB BB), thus proving range

System has the phenomenal ability to fire in zone 7 chare (only gun in the segment with larger chamber volume), thus proving lethality

Shortest Turning Circle Diameter for any towed gun of 155mm calibre with patented technology.

About ATAGS

The ATAGS is a 155mm, 52 calibre artillery gun jointly developed by the DRDO in partnership with Bharat Forge of the Kalyani Group and the TATA Power SED.

In August, 2018 the Defence Acquisition Council had accorded approval for the purchase of 150 of these guns at an approximate ₹3,365 crore which would be split between the two companies. The deal will be split in 60:40 ratio between thee lowest bidder (L1) and L2.

Once the user trials are over, the Army has to give the Request For Proposal (RFP) and the initial lot can be supplied immediately, the official said. The Army requires 1,580 guns in this category and Israeli firm Elbit Systems was shortlisted for a tender floated to procure them.

It may be recalled that in September 2020, the ATAGS had suffered a barrel burst during trials which have since been stopped. A committee was set up consisting of DRDO scientists, Army representatives and OFB officials to determine the cause and submit an evaluation report.

An official was quoted saying that it certainly did not appear to be a design issue and the investigation will determine if it is an ammunition issue.