Article Posted on : - Feb 20, 2019

A file photo.

NEW DELHI (PTI): The Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) has received a bulk production clearance from the Indian Army and the Defence Ministry for production of 114 'Dhanush' artillery guns, officials said Tuesday.

'Dhanush' is the first long-range artillery gun to be produced in India and it is a major success story of the 'Make in India' initiative, the defence ministry said in a statement.

The OFB has received a bulk production clearance from the Army and the Defence Ministry for production of 114 first-ever indigenous artillery gun 'Dhanush', it said, adding, the clearance was received on Monday.

"The gun is equipped with inertial navigation-based sighting system, auto-laying facility, on-board ballistic computation and an advanced day and night direct firing system. The self-propulsion unit allows the gun to negotiate and deploy itself in mountainous terrains with ease," the ministry said.

'Dhanush' has been mechanically upgraded to fire standard NATO 155 mm ammunition and can accommodate the bi-modular charge system (BMCS) which has resulted in increasing the range, it said.