JABALPUR (PTI): The Ordnance Factory Khamaria (OFK), a defence ammunition production unit in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur, has handed over a 500-kg GP bomb to the Indian Air Force (IAF), a senior official said on Sunday, claiming that it is the largest ever such indigenously-developed bomb.

This bomb will add to the fire power of the IAF, OFK General Manager S K Sinha told PTI.

"This indigenously-developed largest ever 500-kg GP (general purpose) bomb has been supplied to the Indian Air Force," he said.

The first batch of consignment carrying 48 pieces of this new bomb has been handed over to it, Sinha said.

"Experts from various defence institutions were involved in developing the state-of-art technology of the bomb," he added.

According to the OFK website, this factory, set up in 1943, is one of the major ammunition production units. It has provided supplies during the World War II.

Post-Independence, the factory played a crucial role in supplying different types of ammunition to the armed forces during the Chinese war 1962, and Pakistan wars in 1965 and 1971.

The factory also supplies ammunition to the paramilitary forces.

Presently, the production activity is done through the latest combination of hardware components manufacturing, explosive filling and ammunition assembling, it said.

The factory has three divisions to execute production of different categories of ammunition - ammunition component and engineering division, small arms ammunition division and ammunition filling division, it said.