'DRDO's Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System or ATAGS is one of the best gun systems in the world'

Director of the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), a major laboratory under the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), A. Raju claimed that the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS), designed and developed by ARDE, is one of the best gun systems in the world.  

 

The maximum range of this howitzer is 48 km, and the gun system has special features like 25 25-barrel capacity, and 52 52-calibre system, he said.

 

"The existing ammunition is unguided... We are working on developing the guided ammunition system, which will have better accuracy," Raju said.

 

We are going to work on ramjet-based ammunition wherein it will have its own propulsion system, Raju said.

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Ramjet-powered ammunition refers to artillery shells or projectiles equipped with a ramjet engine, dramatically increasing their range and, in some cases, precision.

 

"Guidance and ramjet will be part of the ammunition, giving it higher accuracy," he added.

 

"The Indian Army has ordered 307 ATAGS, for which the contract was signed in March 2025. The order has been split in the ratio of 60:40, between Bharat Forge Ltd and Tata Systems Bengaluru. These guns will be supplied in a duration of five years."

 

The gun system has 75 per cent indigenous content, and work is on to increase the domestic content.

 

“ATAGS has been envisaged with high degree of excellence in terms of higher range, best-in-class accuracy and consistency, all electric drives for exceedingly reliable gun operations, superior rate of fire, higher mobility and all-weather and terrain deployability," Raju had written in Technology Focus, an in-house science and technology bulletin of DRDO.

Defence