OFB gets nod for Producing Long Range Artillery Gun Dhanush

The Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) has received clearance from the Indian Army and the Ministry of Defence for production of 114 ‘Dhanush’ long-range artillery guns.

Dhanush Long Range Artillery Guns

The features of the Dhanush long-range artillery guns are:

• Dhanush Long Range Artillery Guns are the first ever indigenous 155 mm x 45 calibre long-range artillery gun.
• Dhanush Long Range Artillery Guns are equipped with inertial navigation-based sighting system, auto-laying facility, onboard ballistic computation and an advanced day and night direct firing system.
• The self-propulsion unit on Dhanush allows the gun to negotiate and deploy itself in mountainous terrains with ease.
• Dhanush is also electronically upgraded to enhance firing accuracies, laying speeds of the existing gun and to provide compatibility with various kinds of ammunition as well.
• Dhanush howitzer is an improved version of  Bofors guns acquired by India between 1987 and 1991.
• Dhanush howitzer is a reverse-engineered upgraded variant of the original Bofors design.
• Dhanush reportedly has a new maximum effective range of 38 kilometres in salvo mode.
• Dhanush howitzer is capable of firing eight rounds per minutes and needs a crew of six to eight artillerymen.

Ordnance Factory Board

Indian Ordnance Factories organisation is a family of 41 Ordnance Factories under the aegis of its corporate headquarters Ordnance Factory Board, Kolkata. It works under the aegis of Ministry of Defence.
The ordnance factories form an integrated base for the indigenous production of defence hardware and equipment. The primary objective of the ordnance factories is achieving self-reliance in equipping the armed forces with state of the art battlefield equipment.

Month: Current Affairs - February, 2019