For the first time, an indigenously designed and manufactured Howitzer gun will be used for ceremonial gun salute during the Independence Day here to showcase capabilities of the Indian defence industry.
Also, people from different walks of life like mortuary workers, mudra scheme borrowers and anganwadi workers will be special invitees for the event at the Red Fort.
Besides these novel additions, National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets, wearing traditional and local dresses, will form the gathering when Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation on Monday, Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar said here on Wednesday.
Giving details of the new features of the Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort this year, he said an indigenously made Howitzer will be used for the ceremonial 21-gun salute. The gun salute entails firing of blanks by the World War II era howitzers of British make till now.
The Howitzer or the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) is developed under the Government’s “Make in India” initiative by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The ATAGS will give the ceremonial 21-gun salute along with the British guns which are being traditionally used till now, Kumar said.
The initiative to use the gun will stand as a testament to India’s growing capacity of developing arms and ammunition indigenously. The gun has been especially customised, with certain technical specifications tweaked for the ceremony. The DRDO’s Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune, led by scientists and artillery officers worked on the project to make use of the gun possible for the Independence Day ceremony.
The ATAGS project was started in 2013 by the DRDO to replace older guns in service in the Indian Army with a modern 155mm artillery gun.
This specialised gun system is compatible with C4I systems like the Artillery Combat Command and Control System called Shakti for technical fire control, fire planning, deployment management, operational logistics management of the Indian Army. The ARDE has collaborated with Bharat Forge Limited and Tata Advanced Systems Ltd for the manufacturing of this specialised gun.
The Defence Secretary also said the NCC cadets from all districts of the country have been invited to attend the main event at Red Fort. These cadets will be seated at ‘Gyan Path’ in front of the Red Fort’s ramparts in a geographical formation of the map of India.
The cadets will adorn local dresses, symbolising India’s cultural diversity, to carry forward the message of ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat,’ he said.
Moreover, in an effort to involve sections of society, which are usually overlooked, this year’s celebrations at the Red Fort will see the presence of anganwadi workers, street vendors and mudra scheme borrowers besides others. They have been invited as special guests, he added. This initiative was first taken during the Republic Day parade this year.
A total of 26 officers and supervisors and 127 foreign cadets from 14 countries -- US, UK, Argentina, Brazil, Fiji, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, The Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Seychelles, the UAE and Uzbekistan -- are already in India for the Independence Day celebrations. Apart from attending the main event at Red Fort, they will visit places of cultural and historical importance in Delhi and Agra.