Article Posted on : - Jul 10, 2015

A file photo.

NEW DELHI (PTI): Dhanush artillery guns have gone for confirmatory trials that will last till early next year, as the army looks for new howitzers.

Defence sources said if the confirmatory tests of the indigenously-developed guns comes out as positive, it will pave the way for Bulk Production Clearance (BPC).

Under the first phase, the army will place an order worth over Rs 1,200 crore for 114 such guns with the Ordnance Factories Board.

"The confirmatory trials are going on after and if they prove to be successful, the guns will go in for bulk production for the Army," sources told PTI.

The Gun Carriage Factory, Jabalpur, plans to supply 6 guns within 6 months, another 12 within the next one year before ramping up the production.

Dhanush will be the first artillery gun to be acquired by the army since the purchase of Bofors guns from Sweden in 1987.

It is a modified version of the Bofors and underwent winter trial in 2013 and summer trials in 2014.