A premier research establishment located in Visakhapatnam has facilitated patenting and trademarking of India’s first home-made long-range howitzer gun Dhanush, which was formally inducted into the Indian Army recently after trials in the desert regions, and glaciers of the Himalayas.
Termed ‘desi version of the Bofors gun,’ the patent facilitation was made by experts of the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) Intellectual Property Facilitation Centre and UN-WIPO Technology Support Centre located at Innovation Valley here.
“We feel proud because of our association with the innovation made by the Indian Ordnance Factory, Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh). We also feel that due to thrust on indigenisation in defence production, which is key to global competitiveness, a system should be evolved for recognising and protecting the IPs,” NRDC Chairman and Managing Director H. Purushottam, told The Hindu on Wednesday.
Fully loaded
Dhanush has inertial navigation-based sighting system, onboard ballistic computation and most advanced any time firing system. The ordnance factory, also known as gun carriage factory, has successfully passed through accuracy, quality, speed, timing and other rigorous tests during the trial phase.
The design was made on the lines of Bofors Haubits fh77 of the 1980s.
Production started in 2019 after development trials during last year. Sources said the Army had ordered for 114 guns, which could go up to 414 for phase-wise supply.
The new weapon, which will give a fillip to the Army’s firepower, will replace 105mm Indian field gun, Russian 122-mm gun and 105mm light field gun.
This is the third type of artillery gun manufactured in the country after K-9 Vajra and M-777 ultra light howitzers.
“We are very happy that we have facilitated the IP and trademark for Dhanush howitzer gun. So far we have made IPs for 19 products from our Visakhapatnam-based office. We are keen to create awareness on IPs and help researchers to patent all their innovations,” B.K. Sahu, head of NRDC’s IPFC in the city, pointed out.
