Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli on Saturday handed over 25 12.7mm heavy machine guns to the defence forces. Fifteen out of 25 guns would be handed over to the Indian Navy and the rest to the Indian Coast Guard.

The guns have been manufactured after a transfer of technology from Israel. The guns used in marine applications can be controlled and operated remotely. As per the official release by the Ordnance Factory Board, the gun is meant for marine applications and can remotely engage targets. It is equipped with an inbuilt CCD camera, thermal imager and a laser range finder for observation and tracking of targets through day and night operations. OFT has also created modern state-of-the-art assembly and testing facilities for the indigenous manufacture of the SRCG system.

The guns were handed over to the Director-General of Naval Armament (DGONA) KSC lyer by the Director General Ordnance Factories (DGOF) and Chairman of Ordnance Factory Board, CS Vishwakarma in a colourful ceremony at the Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli. Meanwhile, the Indian Navy accepted the first two of its MH-60R Multi-Role Helicopters (MRH) from the US Navy in a ceremony held at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego yesterday.

The ceremony marked the formal transfer of these helicopters from the US Navy to the Indian Navy, which were accepted by his excellency Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Indian Ambassador to the USA. The ceremony also witnessed an exchange of helicopter documents between Vice Admiral Kenneth Whitesell, Commander Naval Air Forces, US Navy and Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (DCNS), Indian Navy.

Agencies