The first artillery gun after three decades — a 155mm/45-calibre Dhanush gun — will be inducted in the Indian Army, said defence minister Manohar Parikkar during an event organised by ex-servicemen in Panvel on Thursday evening. The last artillery gun — a Bofors gun — was inducted in 1984.

By the next month, the Dhanush artillery gun, a towed howitzer with a strike range of 38km developed by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) in Kolkata, will be handed over to the Indian Army. Dhanush artillery guns are also called 'desi Bofors'.

Parikkar said: "The required critical trial of the gun has been completed and, by next month, the gun will be inducted in the artillery." He added that this is the first gun to be inducted in the Indian Army artillery after the Bofors gun.

The gun has been developed by the OFB after going through the design and voluminous documents that were delivered to India under the first phase of the Transfer of Technology (ToT) as part of the Bofors gun deal in the late 80s. The Swedish Bofors company (now owned by Britain's BAE System) could not complete the ToT for the 155mm howitzer with 39 calibre to India as the deal got embroiled in a major political row in the 80s over alleged kickbacks.

However, during this period, OFB manufactured and supplied several components or spare parts to keep the Bofors howitzers operational in India, especially during the Kargil war.

In addition, Parikkar also informed that in the next four months, a self-propelled gun developed by L&T and specially designed for operation in the desert areas bordering Pakistan will also be inducted.

Taking note of the Indian Army facing an acute shortage of artillery, Parikkar said that in two-three years, all artillery deficits will be covered. "The intention of our government is clear when it comes to strengthening our forces," Parikkar said.

On the Kashmir issue, the defence minister said that freedom has been given to the forces to take action, without needing to wait for orders. "The lives of our security personnel are more important than that of our enemies,"

Parikkar said. He added, in regard to the recent Pathankot attack, "I do not see this as a terror attack. This is similar to war and we will give a befitting reply. We will decide the nature of the reply — how, when and where."