IIT Madras, Munitions India To Jointly Develop 155mm Smart Ammunition Shells: Here's All About It

As part of a recent collaboration, IIT-Madras and Government-run Munitions India Limited (MIL) are spearheading the development of indigenously designed 155mm Smart Artillery shells, that offer a remarkable 50 times more accuracy than current counterparts.

The project, guided by the Indian NavIC satellite constellation (Navigation with Indian Constellation), aims to revolutionize artillery capabilities for the Indian Army.

Led by Prof G. Rajesh and his team at IIT Madras, the team's objective is to increase the accuracy of 155 mm shell within a Circular Error Probable (CEP) of 10 metres, as reported by Wion.

At present, ammunitions developed in India have a CEP of 500 m.

MIL, a government enterprise that specializes in ammunition and explosives for the armed forces, will take charge of manufacturing the Smart shells.

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The artillery is designed to be fired from existing 155mm artillery guns without necessitating modifications to the gun system.

Unlike conventional shells, it will feature control surfaces for improved manoeuvrability, adopting a fin-stabilized, canard-controlled, and guided shell configuration.

"We are confident that the might of MIL in conventional ammunition manufacturing and the brain of IIT Madras in developing a guidance system will pave the way for MIL’s foray into modern ammunition manufacturing with Niche Technologies," said Ravi Kant, IOFS, Chairman and Managing Director, Munitions India Limited. 

Anticipated to have a minimum range of 8km and a maximum range of 38km, the Smart shell incorporates three distinct detonation modes: point detonation, height of burst, and delayed detonation.

Speaking about this project, Prof G. Rajesh, Department of Aerospace Engineering, IIT Madras, said, “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. The smart projectile will have complex technologies such as miniaturised electronics/sensors and mechanical structures."

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