India Seals Rs 7,000 Cr Deal for ATAGS Howitzers to Boost Artillery Power

India has taken a significant step towards strengthening its indigenous artillery capabilities with the approval of a ₹7,000 crore deal for Advanced Towed Artillery Gun Systems (ATAGS).

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, cleared the procurement of 307 ATAGS howitzers and 327 gun-towing vehicles for the Indian Army, marking a major milestone in the country’s push for self-reliance in defence manufacturing. The contract is expected to be signed early next week.

Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), ATAGS is India’s first indigenously designed and developed 155mm/52-calibre artillery gun. Bharat Forge and Tata Advanced Systems will manufacture the guns, with Bharat Forge producing 60% as the lowest bidder and Tata handling the remaining 40%. The ATAGS will replace outdated 105mm and 130mm artillery guns, significantly enhancing India’s firepower along the borders with China and Pakistan.

An official stated that over 65% of the system’s components are domestically sourced, including critical subsystems such as the barrel, muzzle brake, breech mechanism, firing and recoil system, and ammunition handling mechanism.

India has already received export orders for ATAGS, which boasts superior accuracy, mobility, reliability, and automation compared to foreign alternatives. The gun can fire five-round bursts, surpassing the three-round bursts of many contemporary systems. With an all-electric drive system for reliable, maintenance-free operation, ATAGS is poised for large-scale exports in the coming years. The gun has undergone extensive trials since its development began in 2013, with successful winter trials in Sikkim in 2021-22, followed by summer user-firing tests at the Pokhran ranges.

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has underscored the importance of long-range, high-volume firepower, prompting the Indian Army to accelerate the induction of advanced artillery, missile, and rocket systems. In December last year, the Defence Ministry signed a ₹7,629 crore contract with Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and South Korea’s Hanwha Defence for 100 additional K-9 Vajra-T self-propelled tracked gun systems, which have a strike range of 28-38 km and can be deployed in high-altitude areas along the China border.

In February, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) inked contracts worth ₹10,147 crore for high-explosive pre-fragmented extended-range rockets (45 km) and area denial munitions (37 km) for the indigenous Pinaka multi-barrel rocket system, which is also being exported. With the ATAGS deal now cleared, India is reinforcing its artillery firepower while making strides towards self-sufficiency in defence production.

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