Pune: The Ammunition Factory at Khadki has made a 40 mm Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL) for the Border Security Force. All components for this UBGL were secured from Indian industries making it completely Atma Nirbhar.
This ammunition is fired from a launcher fitted under the barrel of 5.56 mm Rifle (INSAS). The advantages of 40 mm UBGL ammunition vis-a-vis traditional hand grenade are that it is lightweight, the range is 400 meters in place of 30 meters of a hand grenade, it can be fired by the same equipment by the soldier and it is also very safe ammunition for carrying by soldiers.
40 mm UBGL AMMUNITION is designed and manufactured by Ammunition factory, Khadki with the components sourced from Indian Industries. This ammunition has been imported by the Army and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Units. Thus, there was a perceived need to indigenize the design and manufacture the said ammunition. There are four varieties of this ammunition. First is a 40 mm UBGL (Practice), second is 40 mm UBGL (HEAP), third is 40 mm UBGL (HEDP) and fourth is 40 mm UBGL (RP).
M K Mohapatra, Senior General Manager of Ammunition Factory of Khadki (AFK) had handed over the Inspection Note of the 40 mm UBGL (Practice) manufactured at AFK to BSF DIG Ashok Kumar Jha on August 4, 2020.
Mohapatra along with Hari Mohan, DGOF and Chairman of Ordnance Factory Board flagged off the first consignment of 40 mm UBGL (Practice) to BSF in the presence of Senior Officers of OFB, AFK and members of JCM, Works Committee and Unions and Associations on Tuesday (August 11).
A statement released by the Ministry of Defence said, "Inspired by the Prime Minister's clarion call for an Atmanirbhar Bharat, Ammunition Factory Khadki, Pune wrote a new chapter on self-reliance and indigenization of 40 mm UBGL Ammunition production on August 11, 2020, by sending the first consignment to Border Security Force. With this event, Ammunition Factory Khadki joined the national endeavour to make India self-reliant in direction of defence production and save valuable foreign exchanges by way of import substitution."
