IIT -Madras tech boosts Army artillery range by nearly 50%
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras on Monday announced a defence-technology breakthrough that significantly enhances the range of artillery guns used by the Indian Army.
IIT Madras said it has developed an artillery ammunition system assisted by a compact ramjet engine, extending the range of existing gun systems by nearly 50 per cent without any loss of lethality. The technology eliminates the need for new artillery platforms or costly missile systems.
“Trials across multiple platforms show substantial range improvements,” IIT Madras said in a post on X.
According to the institute, the range of the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) has been tested at up to 70 km from the existing 40 km. The range of the K9 Vajra gun has been extended from 36 km to 62 km, while the Dhanush artillery gun’s range has increased from 30 km to 55 km.
The project, launched in 2020 in collaboration with the Army, has undergone extensive gun and field trials at Deolali and Pokhran.
The project was led by Prof P A Ramakrishna of IIT Madras, along with Lt Gen P R Shankar (retd), Prof H S N Murthy, Prof G Rajesh, Prof M Ramakrishna, Prof Murugaiyan, Lt Gen Hari Mohan Iyer (retd), Prof Lazar C and Dr Yogesh Kumar Velari.
