Ahmedabad, May 12: The "Make in India" initiative will contribute to the Indian Army as the Gujarat made Howitzer guns are set to be received by the Army in June. The guns will be named as "K9 Vajra-T" and will be made available to the defence force in June said an official today.

Sanjiv Mulgaonkar, head of the Larsen & Toubro Limited's (L&T) defence manufacturing unit at Hazira said that they (his team) were building the K9 Vajra which is a 155 millimetre /52 calibre Howitzer. He was giving an audio-video presentation of the gun at the Defence Conclave 2018 which was organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry in Ahmedabad.

The gun is a type of K9 Thunder artillery used by South Korean army. The guns are being made with help of "Hanwha Techwin" company of South Korea which is providing technical support to the process.

Hazira is a town in the district of Surat in Gujarat state. The guns are being tested in Hazira's newly built testing facility. The guns were also displayed at the recent Defence Expo in Chennai which was also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a comparatively short barrel and the use of relatively small propellant charges which propel projectiles over relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent. Since World War II howitzers have gained longer barrels and hence increased range to become gun-howitzers.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 12, 2018 05:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).