Clearance awaited for bulk production of homemade Bofors gun

New Delhi, May 9
Having cleared the summer and winter trials satisfactorily, the homemade advanced version of the Bofors artillery gun is now waiting for bulk production clearance, defence ministry sources said.

Officials said the Gun Carriage Factory in Jabalpur was preparing for bulk production, and infrastructure was being augmented.

Production was likely to start some time in 2016, sources said.

According to officials, six prototypes of the gun named Dhanush were ready and the army would eventually be inducting over 400 guns.

However, before beginning full scale production clearance from the army headquarters was awaited.

"Technical sanction of production of the gun is awaited from the army headquarters," official sources said.

A parliamentary consultative committee was recently informed by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar that the indigenously designed and manufactured 155 mm/45 calibre artillery gun Dhanush has successfully met all technical parameters during the winter and summer trials.

The gun incorporates many improved features compared to Bofors, on which the gun is based, the most important being a longer barrel compared to the 155mm/39 calibre Bofors.

The blueprints for the gun were provided by the Swedish company to India as part of the controversial 1986 purchase of 410 FH-77 howitzers.