Along with Tata Advanced Systems Limited and Bharat Forge Limited DRDO has developed the ATAGS howitzers and is of the belief that it is capable to fulfill the Indian army requirement of 1800 artillery gun systems and also claim that it is the “Best gun in the world”. The Indian Army required 150 ATAGS and 114 Dhanush guns along with the requirement of 1580 towed artillery guns, so in total there is a requirement of 1800 Guns by the Indian Army. While speaking to the news agency DRDO scientist Shailendra V Gade said that the way ATAGS is performing, it will surely fulfill the requirement of 1800 Guns by indigenous gun only and there is no need for imports in this field.

The DRDO is of the view that ATAGS howitzer is capable to hit its target that is 8 kilometres behind there is strike range as it has been developed as the “Longest firing gun in the world” with the capability to strike the target at the range of 48 km. If we talk about its specifications then it is a gun which is of 155 calibres having a weight of 18 tons and having the length of 6975 mm. Along with that it also required a crew of 6 to 8 personnel. Along with that, the ATAGS howitzer is also equipped with advanced features like automatic command and control system, auxiliary power mode, advanced communication system and night vision system. DRDO also says that it can fire at the rate of 60 rounds in 60 minutes in sustained mode while it can fire three rounds in 15 seconds during burst mode.

It also says that this gun is better than in the legendary guns used in the1999 Kargil war by Indian Army. Various trials in the field have also been made recently and it fired over 2000 round in places like pokharan near the Pakistan border and Sikkim near the China border. So it is of the belief that it would give an edge to the Indian Army during the war scenario over Pakistan and China. It is notably state that ATAGS will surely fulfill the requirement of 1800 artillery gun system requirement of Indian Army and there is no need for import of such things for defence team of our country.

Industry interface

In order to to develop products and technologies, several systems equipments for spin off applications and military DRDO has collaborated with more than 1800 industry partners. Directorate of industry interface and Technology Management interfaces with industry Chambers for commercialization and productionisation of DRDO developed Technologies and Systems.

Technology management

DIITM has been worked as a nodal agency for DRDO in order to frame policies that address all matters related to the issue of license to industries as well as for the transfer of technology both in India and abroad for DRDO developed Technologies and Systems. Basically, DIITM is responsible for managing technology related to DRDO. With that DIITM is also involved in technology acquisition through offsets and interface with DDP regarding NOC for export applications of industries and in Limited series production.

1. Transfer of Technology

Various Technologies products or systems required by the Indian armed force is delivered and developed by DRDO which is a defence and Research and Development hub for developing various defence Technologies. All these technologies have been developed by DRDO in the project mode. DRDO also supports various products and technologies whose development has been undertaken through technology development fund (TDF) research boards grant-in-aid schemes and extramural research.

After the acceptance and evaluation of the system by armed forces, this is transferred to the Indian industry for manufacturing as well as for supply and production. DRDO also provides liberty to the industry so that they will produce the technology that will be able to add value to the base technology. While this freedom is not available to the manufacturer, when they acquire technology from the foreigners, such value addition is prohibited to the receiver. Several Technologies that developed by DRDO has the utility and potential for or application in civilian market as well. In this way we can say that the audio technology and system contributes towards the national development as they are promoting self-reliance and industrial growth.

2. Limited series production

The main aim of Limited series production(LSP) is to resolve any issue that arises during the production of DRDO products(if any) before starting manufacturing of the required product in bulk quantity. This is not an hour process and unlike R&D projects which are in-house activity that is funded by R&D budgets, LSPs are funded by the concerned user is time-bound.

3. Technology acquisition through offset provision by DDP

Through offsets, all the matters related to acquiring technology by DRDO has been handled by DIITM. The technical manager forwarded all Technology acquisition proposal to DIITM, DRDO HQ. These proposals are then assessed by the technology acquisition committee on the basis of viability of the proposal, option for the availability of the technology, range, and depth of acquisition indicated, Technology applications status of IP before and after acquisition absorption capability in the country  and the assessment of the cost of the technology, the committee recommends Technology acquisition.

4. Export of military products

In order to maintain a friendly relation with other countries, DRDO assesses the application received from Indian industries that are requesting for no objection certificate (NOC) for making export to the friendly countries of military products. DIITM carries out all the interface and coordination for customization for making the export of military products on the basis of DRDO Technologies in order to suit the export requirements.