The upgraded 155 mm artillery gun Sharang was successfully test-fired at the Long Proof Range (LPR) of Ordnance Factory Khamaria in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday.

The gun, indigenously upgraded from 130mm to 155mm/45 calibre, has a striking range of 39 kilometres.

Programme Coordinator (Sharang) Brigadier Jayant Kar said the first batch of 18 artillery guns will be inducted into the Army by March end this year.

The gun went through integrated firing check on different parameters ranging from 0 degree to 45 degrees on Tuesday at the Long Proof Range at Khamaria.

"The indigenously-designed Sharang will be inducted in the Army by this fiscal-end. The barrel of the gun has been upgraded from 130 mm to 155 mm and this has increased its hitting range by 12 km kilometres, to 39 kilometres," Brigadier Kar said.

The official said that Gun Carriage Factory (GCF) in Jabalpur had won the global contract to upgrade the Sharang artillery gun. The upgradation work was carried out by the GCF with the help of the state-owned ordnance factories, and teams from the Army and DRDO, he said.

The ‘Made in India’ artillery guns will be supplied to the Indian Army from Gun Carriage Factory, Jabalpur and the Ordnance Factory, Kanpur. Its commercial production is likely to begin soon.

The Vehicle Factory Jabalpur (VFJ) has been tasked to assemble 12 Sharang gun systems. Sharang gun systems will also be equipped with night vision sensors which would allow the armed forces to target the enemy at night.

The 155 mm Sharang gun is an upgraded version of Soviet-era 130 mm/52 calibre M-46 field guns. The original version has a striking range of 27 kilometre.

The Indian Army is expected to save Rs 100 crore annually due because of the indigenous upgradation of the gun.