According to Manjeet Negi in India Today on March 2, the Indian Army is going to place orders for 307 Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) howitzers, which will be manufactured by two private firms in India. The proposal, worth over Rs 8,000 crore, has been floated by the Indian Army and is expected to be cleared soon, top government officials told India Today.
The Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) project was started in 2013 by DRDO to replace older guns in service in the Indian Army with a modern 155mm artillery gun. DRDO laboratory Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) partnered with private players Bharat Forge, Mahindra Defence Naval System, Tata Power SED and public sector unit Advanced Weapons and Equipment India for this purpose. With ARDE as the nodal laboratory, development is being assisted by Instruments Research and Development Establishment (IRDE), Vehicle Research and Development Establishment (VRDE), Proof and Experimental Establishment (PXE), Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR), and Defence Electronics Applications Laboratory (DEAL). It was part of the Development cum Production Partner programme (DCPP) of DRDO.