A top Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientist has claimed that The Advanced Towed Artillery Gun (ATAGS) Howitzer is the best gun in the world. It can meet the Indian Army’s full requirement of 1800 artillery gun systems. He also said that there is no need of importing guns.
ATAGS project director and senior DRDO scientist Shailendra V Gade said that the gun system is far better than the Bofors and Israel’s ATHOS gun. ATAGS has fired over 2,000 rounds in places like Sikkim near the China border, and Pokharan near the Pakistan border. ATAGS has been developed by DRDO and produced by Bharat Forge and Tata Advanced Systems Limited.
DRDO-developed ATAGS underwent trials in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar on 7 December. The indigenous howitzer broke the world record for 155mm gun by firing the round of ammunition to a distance of over 47 km in the 2017 trials. In September 2020, DRDO’s howitzer ATAGS got into an accident in Rajasthan’s Pokhran while undergoing firing.