Ordanance factory babus had "misplaced" drawings and designs received from Bofors when Gen Y (blog readers)vwas still at school.
Now this reinventing the wheel is being celebrated.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said here today that the indigenously designed and manufactured 155mm x 45mm calibre artillery gun, Dhanush, had successfully met all technical parameters during the winter and summer trials.
Addressing members of Parliament of the Consultative Committee attached to his Ministry, he said Dhanush incorporates many features which are an improvement over the guns the Army is possessing at present.The committee was discussing the role, performance and future of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), the largest production organisation of the Ministry of Defence.
OFB is a conglomerate of 39 ordnance factories with another two new projects being set up at Nalanda in Bihar and Korwa in Uttar Pradesh.Mr Parrikar said another notable achievement of OFB in recent times was the indigenous development of 40mm Multi Grenade Launcher (MGL) for 40 x 46 mm Low Velocity Grenades (LVG).
He also said the assault rifle ‘Ghaatak’ (7.62x39mm) developed through in-house research and development had met all the parameters as per the General Staff Qualitative Requirements (GSQRs) during the trial evaluation by paramilitary forces under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Mr Parrikar said the Ministry had taken a number of initiatives towards improving the performance of OFB. These include efforts to operate OFB on a corporate model with a commercial accounting system. The procurement manual has also been revised keeping in view the Make In India plan to facilitate long term procurement.
He said quality audit of eight factories will be undertaken by a globally reputed firm to improve upon the existing processes and attain zero defect production system. He said OFB was undergoing a paradigm shift from that of a manufacturer of defence equipment to a complete solution provider. OFB’s new role will encompass design, development, bulk production and life cycle sustenance equipment.
Mr Parrikar said OFB would be made into a lead integrator of major platforms and as a manufacturer of world class defence equipment. With the offset regime in place, OFB is also looking forward to delivering many sub-systems to leading overseas players.
During the discussion, Members of Parliament appreciated the contribution of OFB towards national security and for the transformation it has undertaken over the years. Some Members wanted that a manufacturing unit of OFB should be set up in the North-East.
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