Bharat Forge Kalyani Group to supply 84 ATAGS guns to Armenia within a year

Armenia is a small land locked country which has turned to India to beef up its defences amid continuing tensions with Azerbaijan, a close ally of Pakistan and Turkey.

India has already exported 4 sets of Swathi Weapon Locating Radar, which has outperformed Russian and Poland’s RADAR in the trials conducted to win defense deal worth $40 million.

In September 2022, Armenia had also signed a government-to-government deal worth over Rs 2,000 crore with Indian for the import of missiles, rockets, and ammunitions.

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In April 2023, The Ministry of Defence of India has released a list of defence exports, which reveals that in the year 2022-23, the indigenous Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) were exported. These guns are being manufactured by Bharat Forge and were exported to Armenia.

In August 2023, Bharat Force has revealed that the firm has received tremendous traction from global markets and just in quarter one, it has won an additional Rs. 280 crores of new orders in defence and many more orders are in the pipeline. The combined order pipeline for Bharat Forge is now in excess of Rs. 2,200 crores to Rs. 2,300 crores, which is largely exports. This will be executed over the next 18 months and this encompasses orders across vehicles, artillery systems, components, naval solutions and unmanned systems.

The Chairman and Managing Director Baba Kalyani told businessline in an exclusive interview that over a period of three years, the company has to supply nearly 84 guns to a former Soviet Republic country in conflict with Azerbaijan. Of that, six have already been shipped.

Bharat Forge is also in process to receive big orders for guns from Indian MoD which has already received proposal from Indian Army to buy 307 ATAGS for deployment along border with China and Pakistan. The proposal worth over $1 Billion is under discussion and is expected to clear soon by CCS. They would also be supplying 320 high mobility vehicles. Bharat Forge Limited has reported in its Q1 FY24 Earnings Conference Call that the request for a quote (RFQ) for ATAGS is out and the orders are expected within 6 months.

Interesting Camo of ATAGS

On the eve of Independence Day, the Kalyani group has released a video in which we can see a glimpse of ATAGS and its beautiful CAMO. In the video, we could also see Baba Kalyani flagging off the ATAGS. These ATAGS are most likely for Armenia. I personally liked the new CAMO and do let me know your opinion about it. What looks more amusing is that the ATAGS which is an indigenously designed and developed artillery gun is still awaiting orders from India and is expected in next 6 months, the gun is being exported.

The ATAGS – World’s no.1 Artillery Gun

The armament system of the ATAGS which comprises 52 calibre Gun Barrel with Breech Mechanism, Muzzle Brake and Recoil System has been designed and developed to fire 155mm calibre ammunitions. ATAGS is not just any artillery gun but the world’s best artillery gun with unmatched fire power. But the question is what makes the gun world’s best artillery? There are many features because of which the gun is way ahead of its league. ATAGS was able to achieve because of the optimistic parameters set by DRDO for Bharat Forge while developing this.

25L Chamber – The bigger The Better

The 1st feature that gives it massive fire power & range is its 25L chamber which no other artillery gun has. The maximum volume of chamber featured around the world is 23L. The bigger chamber allows the gun to fire ammunition with more charge which in turns provide more velocity and range to the ammunition. This is the reason why ATAGS is able to fire till range of 48KM while the other artillery guns can fire at a maximum range of 40KM. The difference of 8km is huge as is keep the artillery regiment 8KM behind the enemy’s artillery and literally untouchable by enemy’s artillery gun.

Unmatched Range of ATAGS

This is a huge advantage when compared with other light and medium artillery in service with Indian Army which has maximum range of upto 30km.

ATAGS can fire ERFB BB projectile in excess of 45 kms while other artillery guns in this class can fire this projectile till 40km range. When we talk about ERFB BT, ATAGS can fire at a range of 35 kms while other guns can fire this ammo till range of 28KM. Baba Kalyani has recently revealed in an interview that the Bharat forge is also working on a rocket assisted hypersonic artillery that can fire upto a range of 120km. This is definitely going to be a disruptive technology in the world of artillery guns.

All Electric Gun

The system has an All-Electric Drive configuration, a first in the world, which enables relatively maintenance free and reliable operation over longer periods of time. The wear and tear is less as the number of moving parts has reduced considerably. Also, management of spare parts is easier in case of all electric drives, whereas this becomes a concern for hydraulic and pneumatic assemblies. The ATAGS’ all-electric drive operates all its gun controls, ammunition handling, opening and closing the breech, and ramming the round into the chamber. This makes firing faster and easier. It was not easy to achieve especially when the gun is being developed for the 1st time.

Zone 7 Charge!

ATAGS has been designed to fire all current 155mm caliber ammunition in use with the forces

At present the artilleries around the world are designed to fire shells of 155mm calibre with up to six charge modules and can handle pressure up to 340 megapascals.

However, ATAGS can fire Existing ammunition HE shell M1 ERFB BT/BB for Zone 7 charge with service pressure of + 420 megapascals. So far more than 500 rounds of Zone 7 with existing ammunition have been fired and there has not been any requirement for any special class/modifications.

It will also have the capability to programme and fire future Long Range Guided Munitions (LRGM) to achieve precision and deep strikes.