IIT-Madras partners with Munitions India for 155mm smart ammunition

Professor G Rajesh, Faculty, Department of Aerospace Engineering at IIT Madras, and his team of researchers will be developing the smart ammunition, which has a duration of two years.

Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-Madras) has partnered with Munitions India Ltd (MIL), a defence public sector enterprise, to make the country’s first indigenously-designed 155 smart ammunition.

The objective is to increase the accuracy of a 155 mm shell within a circular error probable (CEP) of 10 metres. At present, ammunitions developed in India have a CEP of 500 metres. Another key goal is to increase the lethality at the terminal impact point, IIT Madras said in a statement.

“This will be a giant leap forward for the country in achieving its goal of Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” said Ravi Kant, IOFS, Chairman and Managing Director of Munitions India.

The might of Munitions India in conventional ammunition manufacturing and the brain of IIT-Madras in developing a guidance system would pave the way for MIL’s foray into modern ammunition manufacturing with niche technologies

Munitions India comes under the defence ministry and is India’s biggest manufacturer and market leader in the production, development, testing and marketing of a comprehensive range of ammunition and explosives for army, navy, air force and paramilitary forces.

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Professor G Rajesh, Faculty, Department of Aerospace Engineering, and his team of researchers at IIT-Madras will develop the smart ammunition.

The key characteristics and components will include smart ammunition to be launched from 39 and 45 calibre -155 mm artillery guns without any changes in the gun system; fin-stabilised, canard-controlled, guided shell; Maximum range is 38 km with Minimum range of 8 km; 3-mode fuse operation – Point detonation, Height of Burst, Delayed Detonation; Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) Guided- GPS Back-up.

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The Special Purpose Shell will house the guidance, navigation and control system along with roll isolation strategies, canard actuation system, fuze, shell body and warhead, Prof Rajesh said.

The smart projectile will have complex technologies and use the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System for guidance. “This means independence from foreign governments’ satellite systems,” he said.